Japan's Warring States Period: The Rise of the Wakasa Tiger

"What benefit will you get from doing this?" Wang Zhi was so eager to build Obama Port into the third largest trading port besides Hakata and Sakai Ports, which made Yoshishige murmur in his heart: "With your current strength, you can definitely do business with merchants in Hakata and Sakai. There is no need for the Takeda clan to share a piece of the pie."

"Your Highness, you may not know that the trade routes between Hakata and Sakai are almost monopolized by big merchants such as Fan Bozhu (Kaneko) and Xu Dadangjia (Xu Dong). I don't want to eat their leftovers, nor do I want to conflict with them. I can only open up a new trade route. I just happened to meet Master Hirai, so I followed him to Obama for inspection."

Yoshishige found this reason believable.

After all, Wang Zhi had just started his career at that time and was nominally just a ship owner under the Xu Dong Group. Although he had established a small base in the Goto Islands of Hizen Province earlier, he had not yet met Matsuura Takanobu, let alone acquired Hirado Island (now Nagasaki). Therefore, he was still in a state of casting a wide net and looking for a base everywhere.

However, Yoshishige was also worried at this moment. Why did Wang Zhi value Obama Port so much?

"Why did you choose Obama, sir? Is it just because you know Jinemon? You should know that the geographical location of Obama is not superior to that of Kyushu." Yoshishige expressed his confusion directly.

Wang Zhi was aware of Yoshishige's concerns. He had come all the way to Hokuriku and right away said that he wanted to build a major commercial port on par with Hakata and Sakai Port. Anyone would have had doubts.

In view of this, Wang Zhi gave his own explanation: "Hakata is in Kyushu, and Sakai Port is in Kinki. It is not safe for me to be too close to these two places. After all, I still need the support of Mr. Xu to gain a foothold at sea.

Your Takeda family is located at the intersection of Hokuriku, San'in, Nakayama, and Kinki, which is a natural gathering place for merchants. Obama Port is a good port that Your Highness has been working hard to build in recent years. If you can build a trade route from Obama to Shuangyu, you can avoid conflicts with other sea merchants and allow goods to circulate between the two places more quickly. This is why I am optimistic about Obama."

Yi Zhong agreed with Wang Zhi's explanation, but he was also very curious because he didn't have anything competitive or rare that could be exchanged for the goods from the Ming Dynasty.

"Your Highness, a commercial port is mainly a distribution center for goods. It does not mean that it can produce or provide valuable goods. This is the case with Hakata, Sakai Port, and even Shuangyu and Ningbo in our country."

Wang Zhi patiently analyzed to Yizhong: "Japanese taro (dried sea cucumber, dried abalone, shark fin, kelp), gold, silver, copper and their products, folding fans, screens and other handicrafts, as well as agar-agar, soy sauce and other items are all very popular in the Ming Dynasty.

I also went to the port to inquire about it these days. The local treasures in Wakasa are of high quality, but they were previously shipped to Sakai Port and then exported overseas, and the money was earned by the merchants there. Once the trade route is completed in the future, these rare items can be shipped directly from Obama Port to Ming Dynasty, and then Your Highness will make a lot of money.

Not only that, I heard that His Highness is also implementing the "Rakuichi Rakuza" and "Northern Ship Trade" in the territory, which is a good policy that benefits the country and the people. Merchants and goods from all over Japan are constantly gathering in Obama, and then from Obama to Echigo, Ou and other places, which can really make a fortune. But compared with the trade with Ming Dynasty, this is really a bit of a small fight.

Your Highness should export these goods gathered in Obama Port overseas. The profits generated from this will be ten or even a hundred times higher than before!"

After hearing Wang Zhi's eloquent speech, Yi Zhong was very excited and quickly thanked him: "I did intend to expand overseas markets before, but I never had a way. Now I have met you, which is really a timely help."

"Your Highness, please don't say that. If you hadn't managed Obama Port so well, I would be powerless even if I wanted to." As he spoke, Wang Zhi suddenly paused, then sighed, "It's a pity that even with such favorable conditions, Your Highness can't get a share of the big share of this maritime trade." "You mean... silver?" Yi Zhong asked tentatively.

Wang Zhi nodded and said, "Your Highness may not have seen it, but I often go to Hakata Port and see with my own eyes that ships full of silver are transported from there to Ming Dynasty, creating huge wealth for the Ouchi family. To be honest, compared with silver, the treasures are nothing but small fry."

"I know very well the profit of silver, but the Ouchi family owns the Iwami Silver Mine and has mastered the 'Ash Blowing Method', so they can produce a large amount of silver to export to Ming. But I, Wakasa, do not have these advantages." Yoshishige did not reveal the matter of the Ikuno Silver Mine. After all, before mastering the "Ash Blowing Method", doing so would not only be meaningless but could also bring disaster.

In fact, before the large-scale mining of American silver mines, Japan was once the world's largest producer and exporter of silver. In the nearly 100 years starting from the early 16th century, Japan exported an average of about one million taels of silver to China each year, accounting for one-third of the world's production, most of which came from Iwami Ginzan.

However, the mining and refining of silver is a highly difficult operation. Due to the limitations of the technical conditions at the time and the impact of the war, Iwami Ginzan could not be effectively mined for a long time after it was discovered.

In the past, Japan often concentrated gold and silver ores at Hakata Port, exported the ores to North Korea, refined and purified them, and then imported them to Japan. Due to the many links, long cycle and high cost of long-distance transportation, the quantity was limited.

It was not until 1533 that Hakata merchant Kamiya Hisamoto, with the support of the Ouchi clan, recruited two Korean craftsmen who were proficient in the "ash blowing method", which led to a leap forward in silver mining and production.

The "ash blowing method" is a precious metal refining technology that was introduced from West Asia to China during the Later Han Dynasty and then to Korea. The successful application of this refining technology has greatly increased the silver production of Iwami Ginzan.

After hearing what Yizhong said, Wang Zhi also looked helpless: "The matter of 'ash blowing method' is easy to solve. It is not difficult for me to recruit a few craftsmen who are proficient in this method from the Ming Dynasty. The difficult thing is that there is no silver mountain in your territory. After all, a good cook cannot cook without rice."

"We will discuss this matter in the long run." Since the problem of the "ash blowing method" can be solved, mining the silver mine can be put on the agenda. However, this matter should not be made public, and Yizhong plans to discuss it privately with Wang Zhi in the future.

"Well, let's establish the trade route first and talk about these things later." Wang Zhi didn't care much about the matter of Yinshan. In his opinion, the most urgent task was to establish the Obama base.

Yoshishige was very generous to Wang Zhi. Since Wang Zhi wanted to use Obama as his base, Yoshishige simply lent him a small island called "Aoshima" in Obama Bay.

The island runs from north to south, covers an area of ​​about twelve acres (8200 square meters), and is about ten cho (1 kilometer) from the shore. There are huge caves on the island for fishermen to shelter from the wind and waves. The "Aojima Fishing Fire", one of the "Eight Views of Unhama" in Wakasa, is located here.

Yizhong had carefully considered lending this island to Wang Zhi. On the one hand, this island is convenient for ships to dock and is indeed suitable for building a base; on the other hand, because it is located in Obama Bay, it is also convenient for Yizhong to monitor on a daily basis. After all, no one can guarantee that these private merchants from Ming will abide by the business code and stay within the law. (End of this chapter)