Chapter 226: Go Do a Side Quest
The Wanjin Fleet remained in the Ota Port area of the Satake Family for nearly ten days before proceeding along the coastline, with their course gradually shifting northeast.
The next stop was the Soma Family.
The Soma Family’s territory was small, or rather, in the sparsely populated northeastern region of Japan, the territory controlled by the Soma Family seemed a bit small, with an actual area roughly equivalent to Owari. However, this place was quite famous in later generations.
In later generations, this area was near Futaba District, Fukushima Prefecture, the place where Japan has long been disgusting the world by discharging nuclear wastewater.
Of course, there were no nuclear power plants in the Japanese Medieval Period, so it was safe here. There was no possibility of fish suddenly coming onto the ship to greet Yuan Ye, nor of Godzilla appearing and blasting the Wanjin Fleet out of the sky with a single shot.
After sailing for several days, Yuan Ye led the Wanjin Fleet to Onahama Port, controlled by the Soma Family.
Onahama Port is located at the mouth of the Abukuma River, with the Soma Family’s castle, Takakō Castle, not far behind. Because the Soma Family’s neighbors were all stronger than them and their own territory was relatively small, the Soma Family valued trade more than their neighbors to acquire more resources for survival.
Therefore, they were welcoming towards the imposing Wanjin Fleet and proactively offered preferential treatment. The downside was that the area was relatively barren, with ordinary products. The most famous were pig iron, wood, and sea salt.
Indeed, the coastline in this area is relatively gentle, with large mudflats that are conducive to building salt fields. The climate is also very suitable for sun-drying salt, making it one of the main salt-producing areas in the Japanese Medieval Period. Furthermore, Japanese people had only officially migrated here for over four hundred years, and the level of development was relatively low, resulting in extremely abundant forest resources, with hundred-year-old timber being commonplace. Large rivers originating from the mountains flowed through here, allowing for iron fields to be developed, and the quality of iron sand was excellent.
Frankly, the products of the Soma Family overlapped with those of Wanjin, making them indirect competitors. However, fortunately, Wanjin’s craftsmanship was far superior to this region. In the future, this place could serve as a raw material supply base, from which pig iron and wood could be transported back for processing.
The Wanjin merchants inspected the area. Although they didn’t sell much, they weren’t disappointed. Instead, they placed high hopes on this place and actively signed some contracts.
These were mainly barter procurement contracts. The Mutsu region lacked cloth and grain—this area’s grain production capacity was actually decent, but the Soma Family was constantly being beaten by the Date Family and was in a state of defense for a long time, leading to high grain consumption. Therefore, some Wanjin merchants, especially those who had just transferred to trading, were tempted. They planned to procure grain and coarse cloth from the Nōbi Plain and transport it here in exchange for various raw materials.
It definitely wouldn’t have been profitable before. Wanjin had found iron mines and had been developing iron fields, leading to a temporary surplus of iron production, with prices on the verge of collapse. But with the recent development of so many new markets and all workshops’ orders filled again, the prices of various raw materials in Wanjin had rebounded.
Especially the iron price, which had recovered to about seventy percent of its normal level, and was expected to rise further. These contracts were more about testing the waters, a precautionary measure.
If orders were to be fully booked and Wanjin’s iron prices were to skyrocket again, many merchants would panic. This must be guarded against.
Moreover, the unit cost of sea transport is very low. A sea route of 1,000 li costs less than 100 li on land. As long as they are not robbed by water bandits, the shipping costs for these raw materials can be ignored. This is still the case in later generations, even more so. The unit cost of sea transport for 10,000 kilometers in a container is only slightly higher than that of a car carrying goods for 100 kilometers.
For example, Argentine beef, transported across the Pacific to China, can drive down the price of Chinese beef, showing that its price is not much different from its local price.
Yuan Ye also took action, assigning personnel from the “state-owned factories” to actively liaise and procure high-quality wood, preparing to tow it back to Xin Wanjin Port for shipbuilding. He also purchased coarse salt, intending to transport it back to refine into refined salt, thereby increasing production, crushing the salt industry markets of other regions, and monopolizing this profitable business.
Otherwise, it would be difficult to achieve this with only the few salt drying plants in the central part of the Chita Peninsula. Moreover, cost was not an issue. The price of salt in the Mutsu region was very cheap, and it had been exported for a long time. Even the Soma Family’s income relied on selling salt for 30% of their revenue. Wanjin purchasing large quantities and reprocessing it would be similar in cost to their own salt production.
The Mutsu region, in ancient times, could be considered a treasure land. Apart from its underdeveloped state, everything else was better than the Chita Peninsula. There was even a gold mine here. Yuan Ye was truly unlucky. As he traveled east, every place had either a gold mine or a silver mine, yet the Chita Peninsula had nothing. The only thing it could boast of was iron ore.
This truly makes one envious to death.
He also liked the gold from the Soma Family. He tried hard to sell matchlock guns to the Soma Family for a while and even held live-fire demonstrations for these country bumpkins to observe, strongly urging them to use the matchlock guns to attack the Date Family. This was another significant contribution to the widespread adoption of matchlock guns in the Japanese Medieval Period.
Selling weapons was still very profitable in those days. Yuan Ye obtained another sum of gold before reluctantly weighing anchor and continuing northeast along the coastline.
After the Soma Family came the Date Family, but at this time, the Date Family’s center of power had not yet shifted to the vicinity of Sendai. Sendai Castle and Sendai Port were not yet the Date Family’s stronghold.
The Date Family had no particularly valuable goods. Their specialties were armor and rice, which Wanjin did not need. However, the samurai stationed at Sendai Port by the Date Family were extremely interested in Wanjin’s superior matchlock guns, believing their head of the family would greatly appreciate them. They purchased a small batch, and Yuan Ye did not push for large-scale sales, lest the Soma Family be suddenly destroyed or crippled by the Date Family—for example, Onahama Port was later annexed by the Date Family.
He still hoped for some chaos in the coastal areas. In the region of Satake, Date, and Soma, he had decided to support the weakest, the Soma Family.
At the very least, he did not want this area to become entirely Date territory, and he also wanted to acquire the gold that the Soma Family had accumulated over generations.
He did not stop in Sendai for long. After resting, he immediately departed. The next would be the Ōsaki Family, but the Ōsaki Family’s coastal territory was only a small patch of barren land, lacking even a proper port. Yuan Ye merely left a few “Life Preservation Style” members as observers near a fishing village before leaving, making large-scale trade with the Ōsaki Family impossible for the time being.
After the Battle of Orihara, the Ōsaki Family was also apparently annexed by the Date Family. Yuan Ye had wanted to support them too, to let the Ōsaki Family live a little longer, but there were no conditions for it.
After the Ōsaki Family came the Kasai Family, which was also annexed by the Date Family in the future. Yuan Ye also sold some goods here and, through the Kasai Family, contacted the inland Ashina Family. He also signed a contract, willing to provide gunpowder and matchlock guns at a low price, earning a little less, as a contribution to “opposing Date hegemony.”
I didn’t realize until I came here, but it’s astonishing. Most people focus on Oda Nobunaga and the Monkey when looking at the Sengoku period of Japan. However, the Date Family was also quite formidable, single-handedly beating all their neighbors and making them unable to lift their heads. This is not good; a single dominant power would affect Wanjin’s business. Yuan Ye had to help.
After dealing with the Kasai Family, Yuan Ye led the fleet to set sail again. This time, the course was almost due north, and they soon reached the territory of the Nambu Family, also known as “Kai-ba-tō” (Seahorse Head).
This is the easternmost and northernmost point of Honshu Island in Japan. The Nambu Family also had a vast but sparsely populated territory and was also at odds with the Date Family, vying for control of the Ōu region.
At the same time, the Nambu Family also possessed a considerable navy to maintain trade with Korea and Ezo.
Yuan Ye traveled slowly, spending most of his time waiting for the Wanjin merchant ships to complete their transactions. By this time, news of the Izu Sea Battle had reached the Nambu Family’s area. Although the Nambu Navy did not welcome him, an outsider, to share the spoils, they were ten times more cautious than the Satomi Navy and had no intention of clashing with the Wanjin Navy.
However, the Nambu Navy still tightly controlled the Tsugaru Strait, refusing to allow the Wanjin Navy to enter the crucial passage in large numbers.
Yuan Ye observed the strength of the Nambu Navy for a while and found that they could mobilize at least two to three hundred ships. The small islands in the strait were also manned by Nambu Navy personnel. Furthermore, the hydrology and terrain of the strait were extremely complex, making it difficult for the Wanjin Navy to investigate immediately. He did not impulsively decide to forcibly bombard the Nambu Family’s stronghold.
His fleet was too small at the moment, putting him at a disadvantage in a fight. There was no rush; it wouldn’t be too late to go there in the future.
Yuan Ye stopped at the Nambu Family’s territory, not intending to cross the strait to the north of Honshu Island for the time being. That area was the territory of Ishiyama Hongan-ji Temple, which was even stronger, at least two to three times stronger than the Satomi Navy. With the current strength of the Wanjin Navy, they might not fare well there.
This “Sales Expedition” would end here. The gains were already substantial: new markets were found, numerous new orders were secured, and sources of raw materials were obtained, which would be enough for Wanjin to develop further for a period.
Therefore, with a command, he began to execute the side quest and led the fleet to turn east again, heading towards Ezo Island.
Ezo Island is the future Hokkaido, and he needed people there.
