Chapter 1171 - Japan-Korea Trade

"To develop ginseng resources," Li Yao'er explained. "I'm deeply interested in ginseng and have accumulated considerable specialized knowledge. Korea and Liaodong's specialty is ginseng, isn't it?"

She then launched into an elaborate discourse on ginseng identification, cultivation, and extraction—rather esoteric material. Ping Qiusheng couldn't fathom how a girl trained in accounting had developed such fascination with obscure botanical knowledge.

"Conditions on Jeju Island are fairly rough," he cautioned.

"That's quite alright. I love traveling by nature—I'm not afraid of hardship. Must have inherited my father's adventurous genes." Li Yao'er spoke in rapid bursts. "Just thinking about how many magnificent mountains and rivers in this timeline remain unpolluted and unaltered by humanity—it thrills me beyond words!"

The escort fleet made a brief stop at Kaohsiung to replenish water and supplies and offload cargo, then continued toward Jeju Island. They finally sailed smoothly into Chocheon Harbor in early June.

After coming ashore, Ping Qiusheng immediately set about preparing for his Japan expedition.

Developing trade with Japan had long been stated Senate policy. Previously, the lack of a suitable departure port—combined with concerns about the Zheng, Liu, and Dutch forces—had prevented action. Now, with Jeju firmly in hand, the Dutch functioning as quasi-allies, and Zheng and Liu at each other's throats in mutual restraint—while their own naval strength had grown substantially—the time had come to move. The Industry and Energy Committee and Finance were already salivating over Japanese silver and copper.

Si Kaide's instructions called for Ping Qiusheng not merely to develop trade with Japan, but also to conduct a degree of infiltration into Japanese society: establishing trade and intelligence networks, gathering information, and preparing the groundwork for the next phase of Japan operations.

"Simply setting up a trading post in Hirado wouldn't suffice. The shogunate is quite suspicious of the Chinese as well," Si Kaide had explained. "Originally, Chinese in Hirado could rent and live scattered among Japanese residences, but that was later prohibited. If we merely establish a trading post, we'd be no different from foreigners confined to Canton's Thirteen Factories."

Si Kaide had also wanted him to purchase grain in Japan to supply the refugee camps on Jeju—but Ping Qiusheng considered this impossible. The entire northern portion of the East Asian mainland was suffering under Little Ice Age conditions. Whether the Great Ming, Korea, or Japan, harvests had declined year after year. Even if he could secure some grain, it wouldn't come cheaply—and whether the shogunate would even permit exports remained an open question.

Fortunately, since the Agricultural Committee had dispatched Wan Lihui to Jeju to cultivate potatoes, the island's food supply should soon ease. This was no longer an urgent concern.

Regarding Japan trade, Ping Qiusheng believed relying on exports from Lingao was inherently unreliable—Lingao's industrial output was itself constrained by production capacity, while internal consumption ran high. Add the thousand-li journey northward, and costs became prohibitive. The ideal approach was for the Shanghai Station to purchase goods throughout Jiangnan and export them to Japan. After all, these products had long been popular in the Japanese market. On Jeju, they could also establish simple processing industries to manufacture basic Australian goods and crack open the Japanese market.

As for trade with Korea, his concept was to exchange patent medicines shipped from Lingao for Korean ginseng and cotton cloth. Korea of this era had limited purchasing power, but a definite market existed for medicines—including the frostbite ointment Lingao had developed, which proved invaluable in the frigid north. Ginseng was a hot commodity in both Japan and the Great Ming; cotton cloth was a major item in Japan-Korea trade, given Japan's substantial textile demand.

Ping Qiusheng had previously submitted a report to the Executive Committee proposing that trade with the Jurchens should likewise focus on such goods. First, the Jurchens had no shortage of silver; second, Hong Taiji was quite resistant to luxury goods trade. But regardless of official policy, medicines were always in demand—especially for a regime built on military conquest and a bandit-style economy of plunder. Demand for medical supplies was particularly acute. If they wished to exchange for Liaodong's population without trading large quantities of grain, patent medicines made an excellent product category.

The raw materials for pharmaceuticals could come directly from Korea or be imported from the Great Ming. Jeju's advantage lay in its proximity to Korea, Japan, and the Great Ming alike. Some lower-cost medicines could even be manufactured directly on the island.

Though the Shanghai-to-Hirado route was fastest and most convenient, with Jeju Island available as an excellent transit station, the trade routes now offered diverse options. Some degree of triangular trading could certainly be conducted.

(End of Chapter)