Chapter 216: Opened for Business
The Imagawa Family possessed three excellent ports: Sunpu Port, Shimizu Port, and Puquan Port.
The former two were located in Suruga Province, while the latter was in Tōtōmi Province. However, both Shimizu Port and Puquan Port were situated within Shimizu Bay, similar to Shimazu Port and Atsuta Port, each controlling one end of the bay.
After Yuan Ye led his fleet away from Chenjin in Mikawa Province, they naturally arrived first at Puquan, located in the northwest corner of Tōtōmi Province.
The Imagawa Family also placed great importance on ports. Like Oda Nobunaga, they controlled good ports and collected high “ship taxes” to maintain their army. Naturally, Puquan, being a major port, was heavily guarded, not only with numerous watchtowers and rock fortresses but also with a stationed navy.
Now that Yuan Ye had arrived with over a hundred ships, the watchtowers near Puquan immediately sent up thick smoke to warn allied forces, while various naval vessels began to depart the port and sail towards the open sea, preparing for battle.
The Wanjin fleet also quickly divided into two parts. Over twenty warships of various sizes, led by the “Chita,” began to advance, while the remaining eighty-plus armed merchant ships fell behind. Simultaneously, rowing boats were dispatched, carrying envoys towards Puquan Port.
A naval battle was highly likely, but Yuan Ye, lacking expertise in naval command, humbly yielded the command position and politely asked Yu Da, “Do you have confidence?”
Yu Da was an old water bandit whom Yuan Ye had previously hired to help explore saltpeter routes. He had originally planned to live a quiet life with his wife and children after one last risky endeavor. However, the treatment and respect Yuan Ye offered were too generous. Coupled with having a son, he regained his ambition and never left the Wanjin Navy, even becoming more enthusiastic over time.
Facing the inquiry from Yuan Ye, his “benefactor,” and having a “Large Ataka Copper Ship” like the “Chita” at his disposal, he replied without hesitation, “Yes, Your Highness!”
“Then it’s in your hands!”
“As you command, Your Highness!”
Yu Da unhesitatingly accepted, but his words remained concise. Upon receiving authorization, he immediately began issuing orders, directing each ship to further prepare for combat. Numerous matchlock gunners were dispersed to various positions on the ships, and the sailors began arming themselves in preparation for boarding. Yuan Ye, not waiting to watch the spectacle, descended from the deckhouse with A Qing to rendezvous with his personal guard and prepare his ultimate weapon as a final safeguard for the battle.
Of course, a battle wasn’t necessarily required, but preparations had to be made.
While the Wanjin Navy busied itself, the dispatched envoys wasted no time. Under Yuan Ye’s banner, they passed through the Puquan Navy without obstruction and entered Puquan Port. Within a short period, they met with the Castle Lord, Ishiyama Heisuke, and delivered Yuan Ye’s personal letter.
Ishiyama Heisuke read the letter at a glance and fell silent, gazing at the golden “Chita” on the distant sea.
The samurai, local lords, and subordinate officials beside him grew impatient and asked him, “Lord, what does the Yuan Ye Family intend to do?”
“They’ve made some requests, asking us to… establish an alliance.”
Ishiyama Heisuke casually handed the letter to his subordinates to read and then asked the envoy, “If we refuse, will Lord Yuan Ye attack Puquan Port?”
“No, Lord Ishiyama, we are merely here for business,” the envoy replied with utmost sincerity. “Lord Yuan Ye has always been on good terms with the Imagawa Family, and we would not be so impolite. However, precisely because of our good relations, we hope to receive the Imagawa Family’s assistance in exempting Wanjin merchant ships from ship taxes and in protecting the personal safety and property of Wanjin merchants in the future.”
Ishiyama Heisuke looked at the envoy, the flesh on his face twitching. The Imagawa Family and Yuan Ye could hardly be called on good terms. They had only been forced into a non-aggression pact because they couldn’t defeat him, and both sides had spilled each other’s blood; they were no different from enemies.
However, they had never truly broken ties, and Yuan Ye had, in fact, kept his promise by not participating in the Battle of Okehazama, and had not attacked the Imagawa Family.
He pondered for a moment, then turned to the samurai beside him and asked, “What do you think we should do?”
“This is absolutely impossible! Lord, we cannot agree!” a young samurai in his twenties immediately responded indignantly. He had just read Yuan Ye’s letter. While the unconditional protection of merchants and ships was acceptable, exempting ship taxes was absolutely out of the question. The Imagawa Family imposed heavy taxes on merchant ships, with tea, for example, subject to a 30% tax regardless of entry or exit. For strategic goods like ironware, they demanded a 40% tax, not in coin, but in kind.
In other words, if someone transported ten iron farm tools, the Imagawa Family would take four without spending a single coin.
This might seem strange, but even in the Modern Era, 100% tariffs are not uncommon, though they are usually for trade wars or to protect domestic industries from collapse. The Imagawa Family, however, was simply after money. The Imagawa Family collected nearly two hundred thousand koku in taxes annually from its three major ports; otherwise, Imagawa Yoshimoto could not live so luxuriously, nor would he have the capital to march on the capital.
Furthermore, the Imagawa Family had no need to worry about a lack of merchant ships. Land routes in this era incurred greater losses, with checkpoints everywhere. Daimyo demanded transit fees, local lords demanded transit fees, and even temples, shrines, river bandits, and mountain bandits demanded transit fees. If some fool transported ten farm tools by land, they would be lucky to have one left upon reaching Tōtōmi, even if that fool was exceptionally capable!
Or rather, if they could make it and remain alive, that would be considered exceptional!
On land, it was incredibly easy for local powers to ambush a merchant caravan, making it disappear without a trace and creating numerous unsolved mysteries.
Now, Yuan Ye had also come by sea but was unwilling to let the Imagawa Family pilfer 30-40% of Wanjin’s goods. The samurai of Puquan Port were also unwilling to lose such a large sum of money for nothing. The conflict between the two sides was difficult to reconcile. The Imagawa samurai immediately attacked the envoy sent by Yuan Ye, with some even drawing their swords, declaring that Yuan Ye was insulting them and that they should kill the envoy first.
The envoy was not afraid. He had participated in the defense of Xin Wanjin with Yuan Ye and had personally killed Imagawa samurai, giving him a psychological advantage. He also deeply believed that the Imagawa samurai would not dare to harm him in the slightest. Wanjin was looking for a pretext to act against the Imagawa Family, and if he were killed by an Imagawa samurai today, Yuan Ye would storm Puquan Port tomorrow and empty it.
Even if he died, it would be worth it. He would surely be buried in the Wanjin Mausoleum, and his family would receive the highest treatment.
The envoy was completely fearless; he wouldn’t have been chosen as an envoy if he were timid. He stared at Ishiyama Heisuke, awaiting his decision.
Seeing that he was not intimidated, Ishiyama Heisuke waved his hand, signaling everyone else to be quiet, and stared at the envoy, asking, “If we disagree, what will Lord Yuan Ye do?”
The envoy’s attitude and tone remained sincere. He bowed his head and said, “Lord, Wanjin suffered a famine two years ago, and these goods must be sold. If you do not permit us to trade at Puquan Port, we will have to find a place nearby to sell our goods. We hope you will not mind.”
Silence fell in the room, but soon all the samurai became enraged.
This was genuine anger. Someone immediately said, “All the land here belongs to the Imagawa Family. Does the Yuan Ye Family intend to provoke a war?”
“We will choose an uninhabited wasteland, sell our goods, and leave!” the envoy remained unafraid, stating calmly, “We will not use this as a reason to occupy Tōtōmi land. We can swear this before the gods.”
“No one will trade with you!”
“Then we will wait until someone comes!” The envoy raised his head, looking at the samurai, and did not back down. “Alternatively, we can blockade the bay entrance and send foreign ship merchants to trade there.”
The man was momentarily speechless, but another immediately roared, “Over a hundred ships will not intimidate us! If we wish, we can sink you at any time!”
The envoy also became angry and shouted even louder, “Any provocation against Wanjin will be considered an attack! Lord, if you dare repeat that, I will turn and leave, and the war between our two families will begin with you!”
Silence fell again in the room. Even the samurai who had been confronted merely opened his mouth but did not dare to repeat his words.
The envoy looked around, took a deep breath, and shivered three times with exhilaration. He felt this was the highlight of his life, and he wouldn’t mind being chopped into mincemeat afterward. Ishiyama Heisuke again waved his hand, signaling his subordinates to talk less nonsense, and spoke gently to the envoy, “Envoy, it is impossible to completely waive the ship tax. How about twenty percent? For the sake of Lord Yuan Ye, we are willing to charge only twenty percent ship tax for merchants of the Yuan Ye Family, regardless of the goods.”
The envoy immediately shook his head. “No, Lord! A ship tax of thirty percent for ordinary goods and forty percent for special goods is already unreasonable. Even changing it to twenty percent is still unreasonable. Wanjin merchants are protected by Lord Yuan Ye, and they cannot accept unreasonable treatment. Therefore… we demand a complete exemption from ship taxes.”
Ishiyama Heisuke’s brows furrowed, and he was somewhat angered by the commoner’s attitude, but he did not lash out. He merely reminded him, “You should seek instructions from Lord Yuan Ye!”
“No need. I am Lord Yuan Ye’s plenipotentiary envoy. I have already received authorization, and my words are Lord Yuan Ye’s words.” The envoy took out a document from his pocket, unfolded it for display, and after a moment, said to Ishiyama Heisuke, “Lord Ishiyama, please make your decision. Do you agree to Lord Yuan Ye’s demands?”
Ishiyama Heisuke took a deep breath. He truly wanted to give the order to have the envoy’s head cut off and sent back to Yuan Ye, that scoundrel. But he only thought about it, not daring to act. After a moment, he conceded again, sighing, “How about ten percent?”
The envoy shook his head again. “Lord, I have made myself very clear. Wanjin people are not ship merchants who can be pushed around by samurai. They are protected by Lord Yuan Ye, and with Lord Yuan Ye’s power, he is qualified to demand special treatment from the Imagawa Family. Therefore… Wanjin people will not pay a single cent in ship tax. This is Lord Yuan Ye’s demand, and you had better accept it!”
Ishiyama Heisuke was silent for a while longer, then shook his head. “I cannot make decisions on such matters. Please wait a few days, Lord Yuan Ye. Whether it is possible will be determined by Sunpu.”
He intended to stall for time, but the envoy was not swayed. He stood up and said, “If you insist on this, then so be it. However, before that, we will commence landing operations and construct some defensive rock fortresses. We ask that you do not interfere. As per Lord Yuan Ye’s instructions, I solemnly declare that any action within fifteen ri of the Wanjin Army, whether on land or at sea, will be considered an attack. You will bear all consequences arising from this!”
With that, the envoy turned to leave, seemingly unwilling to linger for another moment. Ishiyama Heisuke hesitated for a moment, then finally reached out and sighed, “Very well, Envoy. If you don’t pay, you don’t pay. Let’s discuss the time for our alliance.”
He was truly out of options. Although it was somewhat humiliating, the Imagawa Family had dealings with Yuan Ye before. The fighting on the Chita Peninsula had been brutal, with many casualties, and he did not want to repeat it.
Moreover, Matsudaira Motoyasu had completely conquered Eastern Mikawa and was sharpening his knives towards Tōtōmi. Provoking the Yuan Ye Family at this time was not opportune. Despite the humiliation, he could only endure it for now.
Otherwise, what? Facing the Matsudaira Family to the west and the Yuan Ye Family at sea? If he could bring over a hundred ships this time, next time he could transport thousands of followers and ashigaru, and then be attacked from both sides by the Matsudaira Family…
It was not worth risking such a danger for a mere ship tax. Thus, he had no choice but to accept!
But if the Imagawa Family were still strong as they once were, would it have come to this…
Ishiyama Heisuke suddenly looked as if he had aged ten years.
