Chapter 1178 - The Journey to Hirado

Ping Qiusheng pressed on without pause, resolving to visit Hirado and Nagasaki immediately. First, to assess Takeya's situation; second, to quickly identify Japanese export goods; and if possible, to make a trip to Okayama to secure channels for the copper that Lingao so urgently needed—Japan's copper-producing regions were concentrated primarily in that area. Otherwise, when Lingao's bulk cargo arrived with nothing to trade for in return, the situation would prove embarrassing. After receiving his telegram, Zhao Yingong had already replied: the Hangzhou Station was organizing cargo and ships on a large scale, preparing to ride the summer's southeast monsoon and sail directly from Shanghai to Nagasaki.

Qiao Tianzhi would manage affairs at Fukue. Though Elder Qiao's skill points left something to be desired, with Master Zhou keeping things in order, nothing major should go awry. Ping Qiusheng's assignment for him was straightforward: lead the naturalized cadres and locally recruited laborers in continuing repairs to the trading post and port, while using his status as representative to make contact—through Zhou Xingru—with lower-level local officials and domain figures for socializing and negotiations.

Ping Qiusheng also specifically instructed Qiao Tianzhi to have Master Zhou help purchase camellia oil throughout the Gotō Islands. Camellia oil—known locally as tsubaki oil—was a common oil crop here, produced in fairly abundant quantities. China also cultivated it, but the crop remained exportable—and Lingao's hunger for oils was voracious, particularly for industrial applications.

"There's another matter. Walk among the Gotō Islands and make inquiries about whaling," Ping Qiusheng said. "The Gotō Islands were a major whaling port during the Edo period. You need to investigate roughly how many whales are caught each year, the fishermen's whaling methods, and their processing techniques."

The Gotō Islands' whaling industry had once flourished, and Fukue Domain had prospered for centuries on its back.

Whales—these not particularly palatable marine mammals—played an extraordinarily important role in early industrialization. Their oil served as both a chemical industry raw material and machinery lubricant; their baleen was a natural elastic material. The Elders had long coveted whale resources, but China's coast was not a whale habitat, leaving no opportunity for large-scale industrial whaling.

"Whale meat stew is really hard to eat," Qiao Tianzhi smacked his lips. "Too oily..."

"Who's asking you to eat it? This is what Industry and Energy wants!" Ping Qiusheng said, exasperated. "Camellia oil and whales—do proper research on both. And make the fisheries survey as comprehensive as possible. The seafood here is also quite abundant. We can consider building a seafood processing plant later."

Lingao certainly did not lack for seafood, but given Japan's pitifully limited export categories, this counted as something better than nothing—at minimum it could supply the Senate's future operations on the mainland, and processed dried seafood could be exported to the Great Ming.

Five people would make the journey to Hirado: Ping Qiusheng and his personal secretary Ping Ayako, two specialized security personnel from the newly established Elder Protection Squad of the Special Recon Team—Li Biao and Zhou Shiqun—plus an interpreter.

These two guards had both come through the connections of Zhou Shizhai, an armed escort from the Qiwei Escort Company. One was his disciple, the other his cousin. Zhou Shizhai had long provided close protection for Elders. Though he had never formally "naturalized," his reliability was beyond question. His temperament was rather stubborn—he had no objection to naturalization itself, but strongly resisted the requirement that all naturalized citizens shave their heads. Thus he remained an "externally hired" guest retainer to this day.

But he held his disciples and cousins to different standards. Though escorts insisted on traditional morality, they were not inflexible old fogeys blind to the times. When the Chiefs proposed recruiting security personnel, he immediately recommended these two young men for the training program.

As the governed territory expanded and more Elders were dispatched on business, personal security had risen on the agenda. Previously, Elders active in Lingao and Hainan's counties received coverage from the Police Headquarters, while those posted elsewhere relied on crack personnel drawn from local regular military units. The system was scattered and haphazard.

Moreover, Elders like Zhao Yingong who operated in Yellow and Red Zones required covert close protection. Previously, they had mostly depended on escort guards hired from Qiwei. While these men's professional ethics were sound and they had passed sufficient vetting, they remained external hires, lacking adequate modern security training and political education. Using them had significant limitations.

So under Ran Yao's leadership, an Elder Protection Squad was added to the Special Recon Team Command, training protective personnel according to VIP security requirements. Specific training was handled by professionals from both the Special Recon Team and Police Headquarters. Senior escorts from Qiwei were also brought in as instructors—traditional escort guards possessed rich social experience and coping skills invaluable for Elders dispatched to enemy-occupied areas.

Li Biao and Zhou Shiqun were both quiet young men. For operational requirements, neither had shaved their heads. The interpreter was recruited locally on Fukue Island through the Zhou family—also of mixed Chinese-Japanese heritage. This person was semi-literate, spoke passable Nanjing Mandarin and Japanese, and had often accompanied Great Ming ships visiting Hirado, Nagasaki, and other ports. But his fortunes had never flourished. Ping Qiusheng gave him a new name: Ping Kefu.

Ping Qiusheng and the bodyguards all carried pistols and daggers for self-defense. Chinese merchants were quite welcomed in Japan at this time. Under Tokugawa shogunate rule, conditions were generally peaceful, and travel along main roads posed no danger. As an added precaution, they also carried authorization letters issued by Lingao. If anything truly went wrong, they could attempt escape via the Dutch trading post in Hirado—though they harbored little confidence in Dutch reliability, nor did they anticipate serious danger on this journey.

The party traveled on a small boat—one of the many vessels plying between Kyushu and the outlying islands in this era. Even fully laden, its displacement was only seventy or eighty tons. The ship was packed with trade goods and carried some commoners heading to Kyushu. This was a regular trading vessel the Zhou family operated between here and various Nagasaki destinations, carrying mixed cargo and passengers. According to plan, upon arrival the time-travelers would act independently. If things went smoothly, they would return to the Gotō Islands aboard the same ship; if they still needed to travel to Okayama, they would have to find their own passage or wait for other trading ships from the Gotō Islands.

They set out before five in the morning. Though the weather was fair, the wind-powered boat would still require most of the day to reach Hirado.

The boat sailed north along Fukue Island's western coast—a deliberate arrangement by Ping Qiusheng. He wanted to observe Nakadōri Island's conditions along the way. Nakadōri Island lay at the Gotō Islands' northern end, the second-largest island after Fukue, and far from Fukue Domain's center of power. In the old timeline, Nakadōri Island's Aogata Port had been the Gotō Islands' principal port.

Ping Qiusheng's true thinking was this: the current Nintendo operation was merely intended as the time-travelers' commercial agency point here. They still needed a truly stable transit station that could guarantee transshipment of bulk goods. Their shipping capacity was already stretched thin enough. Having a suitable cargo storage location directly under Fukue Domain's nose was neither wise nor prudent. More critically, once the upcoming Shimabara Rebellion erupted, if they wanted to absorb refugees or station troops, operating directly on Fukue Island would prove extremely difficult.

Around noon, the boat entered a stretch of water enclosed by several small islands.

"That over there is Aogata Harbor." Ping Qiusheng studied the chart while pointing to a trumpet-shaped strait entrance about two li off the starboard side.

Li Biao and Zhou Shiqun were both Special Recon Team members; courses in geography and terrain were mandatory content.

Zhou Shiqun observed, "If the Chief wants to establish a port here, it will require considerable construction work."

"I don't believe it will be a problem," Li Biao replied with confidence. "This port has good natural conditions, and our initial requirements aren't extensive. The project can proceed in phases, and we won't need to accommodate very large ships in the short term." He had "joined the dragon" quite early, and compared to Zhou Shiqun felt far more at ease around Elders.

"The name is rather nice. Let's develop it as a logistics base," Elder Ping mused, finding the island's name quite appealing.

"On the inner side of that peninsula ahead, there's another fishing port surrounded by excellent fishing grounds. I just don't know how developed it currently is." Ping Kefu did not understand what was so "nice" about Nakadōri Island, but over the past few days he had grasped the Australians' preferences—they showed keen interest in natural resources. He offered eagerly, "Would you like to stop by for a look, sir?"

"That won't be necessary. The terrain will remain unchanged. We're on a schedule—a detour would take too long and require us to turn back. We'll cut east through the strait; there's still a stretch to go. Let's try to reach Hirado before evening."

After turning through the strait, the boat's speed picked up considerably. Ping Qiusheng knew that less than thirty nautical miles to the front right lay where Nagasaki would stand in the old timeline. He checked his watch—today was July 12th. On August 9th, 1945, an atomic bomb had fallen there. Being so close to Nagasaki now, he could not help but sigh. He sighed not merely because Nagasaki had earned the grim distinction of being one of only two cities in history to suffer atomic bombardment, but because of the technology from the old timeline. If Lingao's technological capabilities in this timeline could still be comprehended by some people of this era, then many things from the old timeline would not merely shock—they would far exceed the understanding of anyone alive today.

The setting sun cast its afterglow across the water as seabirds swooped low over whitecapped waves—Hirado had arrived. Hirado was one of the larger islands among the Matsuura archipelago, very close to Nagasaki. In the old timeline, it was part of Nagasaki City. But now it was ruled by a daimyō and stood as an East Asian international port whose foreign trade rivaled Nagasaki's own.

The island featured many small bays, with foreign ships carrying cargo coming and going through these inlets. But the island itself was rugged and uneven. Several small rivers wound between the hills; rice paddies lined the riverbanks, but harvests were pitifully meager. The goods brought by ships entering port here enriched the merchants even as they kept the islanders fed.

(End of Chapter)