Traveling through the late Ming Dynasty to promote Chinese civilization

Chapter 278 Money Talks

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At this moment, Li Fei and Li Fu walked up to Liu Ye. Liu Ye, disregarding the matter of the raw silk, whispered to them, "Who are these people? What are they saying?"

Li Fei used to travel to Japan frequently and speaks fluent Japanese. After listening, he said, "The one speaking is the town magistrate of Nagasaki, named Nabeshima Yoshishige. He is from the Nabeshima family of the Hizen Domain, which is similar to the Shunten Prefecture Governor or the Oten Prefecture Governor in our country. He told them that samurai of daimyo from other regions cannot cause trouble under the rule of the shogunate."

Liu Ye was somewhat surprised. Although he knew a little about the history of the Japanese shogunate era and knew that powerful western domains such as Satsuma and Choshu were naturally opposed to the shogunate, it was still considered an internal conflict. He was a foreigner, and the fight had resulted in deaths. Logically, it should be considered an enemy-us conflict. Shouldn't the town magistrate be protecting his own people and pointing the finger at him, a foreigner?

At this moment, Shimazu Chiyo pointed at Liu Ye with some dissatisfaction, explaining something under her breath.

Li Fei translated simultaneously: "This woman said she was the eldest daughter of the Shimazu family, and that she took action because you, General, insulted the Yamato people..."

Nabeshima Yoshishige turned to look at Liu Ye and the others, then gestured with his chin for the person next to him to come over and question them.

A fat man with a large head and big ears walked over with a smile, and spoke fluent Chinese: "Sir, I believe you have heard what the Shimazu family said. Is what they said true?"

Li Fei whispered in Liu Ye's ear, "This is Amazaki Hyosuke, a town official in Nagasaki. He is a town official under the magistrate, a real power holder. The town magistrate doesn't really manage things; he's the one who handles the specifics."

Liu Ye immediately understood what he meant. In modern terms, this would be equivalent to the executive vice mayor, who is in charge of specific tasks. In some ways, this is even more important than offending the mayor who oversees the overall work of the government.

He put on a smiling face and replied with a grin, "That's nonsense. I just glanced at that pretty girl, and she wanted to gouge my eyes out, so we started fighting..."

Hyosuke Amazaki glanced back at Chiyo Shimazu, who was fit and beautiful, and gave Liu Ye a knowing smile, his eyes saying, "You have good taste, I think she's pretty good too."

He nodded, "I understand." He bowed to Liu Ye, then walked back to Nabeshima Yoshishige's side and started chattering away.

Liu Ye asked in disbelief, "I just made it up on the spot, how could this fat guy believe me so easily?"

Li Fei smiled and said, "General, you brought 500,000 catties of top-quality raw silk to Nagasaki all at once. That's almost half a year's worth of raw silk trade in Nagasaki. With such a large sum of money, these town officials would love to invite you back immediately and treat you as an honored guest. Why would they favor these country bumpkins from Kyushu? They just need a plausible reason."

Liu Ye chuckled and said, "I didn't expect you, Li Fei, to be so cunning. You've turned a powerful western state into a country bumpkin."

Liu Ye felt a pang of emotion. In later generations, Japanese investors came to China and were treated as honored guests by the local government. But as time passed, he himself traveled to several centuries ago and became an honored guest of the Japanese. It seems that no matter what era you are in, money talks!

The tragedy of a mass execution was averted. Under the mediation, or rather suppression, of the town magistrate Nabeshima Yoshishige, the Shimazu family, however unwilling, had no choice but to collect the corpses and wounded of their samurai and prepare to leave dejectedly.

As she passed by Liu Ye and the others, Shimazu Chiyo stopped in front of Liu Ye and bowed.

Liu Ye looked at her, puzzled. If she bowed for this, then Japanese politeness had become outrageously complicated. Who had ever seen someone bow to an enemy?

Shimazu Chiyo's opening words surprised him: "Sir, your ability to distort the truth is quite impressive. I've learned my lesson. Since you say I want your eyeballs, then I will not disappoint you and will find an opportunity to take them." After saying that, she led the Shimazu family's samurai and female arquebusiers away.

Liu Ye was stunned for a long time before uttering a single word: "Pervert!"

After resolving the conflict, Nabeshima Yoshishige nodded to Liu Ye as a greeting, and led a group of samurai away first.

Amagasaki Hyosuke smiled and said to Liu Ye, "Sir, the magistrate instructed me to treat you well. Please follow me."

Inside a very spacious courtyard, a long table was placed on the tatami mats. Everyone took their seats as host and guest. After everyone was seated, Amagasaki Hyosuke clapped his hands, and several maids dressed in gorgeous kimonos filed in carrying bowls and plates, placing drinks and dishes on the long table.

As the maids passed by Liu Ye, he smelled a peculiar fragrance. It was a blend of feminine scent and spices such as agarwood—spices from Southeast Asia were a major trade commodity in Japan every year, and Japanese nobles loved to use them. But this Amagasaki Hyosuke even used them on his maids, which showed how wealthy he was. It seemed that being a town official was indeed a very lucrative job.

Having grown accustomed to Chinese cuisine, Liu Ye found it difficult to adjust to the raw and cold seafood dishes. After forcing himself to try a few bites of sashimi, he lost his appetite.

Amazaki Hyosuke asked with a smile, "Sir, are you not used to Japanese food? I have eaten Chinese food, and it is indeed delicious. I really hope to go to the mainland of the Ming Dynasty to taste more authentic cuisine before I die."

Liu Ye smiled slightly and said, "Mr. Amazaki Hyosuke, let me introduce myself. My name is Liu Ye. You can call me by my name. Going to the Ming Dynasty is easy. You can come anytime. I will definitely do my best to be a good host."

Amazaki Hyosuke smiled and shook his head: "Liu-san, the shogunate does not allow Japanese people to leave the territory unless they go there and do not intend to come back. Everything I have is in Nagasaki, and I cannot abandon everything to leave."

Hearing him say that, Liu Ye remembered that before the Japanese government issued the isolation edict, the shogunate had strictly prohibited Japanese people from leaving the country. Although this was just a piece of paper for penniless ronin, people like Amagasaki Hyosuke, who had status and position, obviously could not avoid this rule.

"The Japanese are twisted," Liu Ye thought to himself. Although the Ming Dynasty imposed a maritime ban, it wasn't this harsh.

Hyosuke Amazaki clearly didn't want to discuss that, and he slowly changed the subject.

"I have never seen a merchant with such a large quantity of raw silk brought to Nagasaki in all my years as a town official. Apart from your country's Zheng Yiguan, I have not yet met a merchant with more vision than Liu Sang."

"Hehe, you flatter me." Liu Ye picked up a cup of sake, took a sip, and wondered what the other party's true intentions were.