The reason why Zhang Jingquan exposed Li Dan's family's fortune to Xiubao was to increase the bargaining chips for applying for red seals. However, she didn't expect Xiubao could see through his own details at a glance, so she said guiltily: "Your Highness is joking. Your brother is in Manila, I am in Nagasaki. In addition, there are Xu Xinsu from Xiamen, Fujian, Huang Kang from Gulangyu, and Su Minggang from Batavia (now Jakarta). It is no exaggeration to say that we Ming people control the entire East maritime trade. Your Highness should have learned a little about our strength."

"Oh?" Xiu Bao said in surprise, "But I remember that the Governor of Manila handed over the trade rights to the Franchisemen of Malacca last year; the Ming Dynasty seems to have not lifted the sea ban yet, so how can the maritime merchants in Xiamen and Gulangyu ensure the safety of the trade routes? Batavia is in the Java country controlled by the Red Barbarians. The situation there is not much better than Luzon. With such a sea route without any guarantee, how could Taige agree to issue a letter of red seal to you?"

Zhang Jingquan didn't expect Xiu Bao to know their details clearly, and he couldn't help but blush and even felt a little overwhelmed. In fact, since the Portuguese broke into East Asia in the second half of the 16th century, the territory of indigenous countries in Southeast Asia has been gradually eroded. By the end of the Battle of Wenlu, the Portuguese occupied Malacca and Macau, the Spaniards occupied the Philippines, and the Dutch East India Company annexed Indonesia.

Seeing Zhang Jingquan being shocked by Xiubao, Li Dan finally couldn't help it. This person was Zhang Jingquan's brother-in-law, but in fact he was his boss. If you were a little more accurate, everyone Zhang Jingquan mentioned just now was Li Dan's agent in the local area. In other words, Li Dan was the overlord who controlled the entire East Asian maritime trade. The financial resources he had were inferior to even Europeans in Southeast Asia, and even often borrowed money from him, which led to the later tragedy in Manila.

Li Dan sat upright and replied calmly to Xiubao: "Your Highness lives in Japan, but can reach overseas. It really makes me admire you. Yes, as Your Highness said, our Ming people's monopoly position in overseas trade has been gone forever. Most of the overseas strongholds that were originally dependent on for survival have been occupied by the Thais, and their sea trade routes have also been occupied by them. The situation of our Ming merchants is getting worse and worse. In addition, the court has not yet opened a ban and does not recognize the legitimacy of our maritime merchants, which is even worse."

Shubo asked: "Even if you have lost your overseas route, I remember that the routes from Quanzhou to Manila, Malacca and Nagasaki are still under your control?"

Li Dan shook his head and smiled bitterly: "Except for Quanzhou to Nagasaki, the other two routes are no longer as beautiful as ever. Just take the route from Manila, this route originally sent Luzon silver and cotton to China to exchange for domestic raw silk and cotton cloth, but the Franchise believes that this will lead to a large outflow of silver. Moreover, the cotton cloth in Ming Dynasty is of high quality and low price, which basically suppressed the local textile industry in Luzon, which seriously damaged their interests. Therefore, the Franchise staff no longer imports cotton cloth from China. In order to suppress our Ming merchants from profits from it, they actually abandoned Quanzhou and instead imported raw silk from the West Franchise staff in Haojingao (now Macau). In this way, our Ming merchants have no place to gain a foothold in Nanyang."

"So Brother Li hopes to open a route from Japan to Ming Dynasty?" Xiu Bao couldn't help but sympathize with this fellow villager.

Li Dan nodded, but felt helpless: "That's true, this is the only way. In Nagasaki, Hirado has a total of about 30,000, which is even better than in Manila. But the most important thing is to have the support of His Highness Matsuura, which is enough to let us have no worries and be confident and bold in conducting overseas trade. However, His Highness Matsuura is just the lord of Hirado after all. To truly legitimately carry out trade throughout Japan, there must be a red seal letter issued by His Highness Matsuura. This is why we ask you to see you."

"Are you referring to His Highness Matsuura Shinnobu?" asked Hideopo.

"Yes, but it can be said that it is not." Li Dan didn't know how to answer, "Although His Highness Zhenxin has become the governor of the Matsuura family, the real power is still controlled by his father Daoke. We followed his advice and asked His Highness for his request."

"It turns out to be the uncle of the Guo-sai master." Hideopo smiled silently. It was Matsuura Takanobu's Buddhist name. The Matsuura Party led by this person was a samurai group in northern Nagasaki, Japan since the Heian era. These people began to retaliately invade the coast of Korea after the Battle of Funyo and Hong'an (that is, the two eastern expeditions of Japan by the Yuan Dynasty). Because the bases were Tsubasa, Iki, and Hirado Mishima, they were called the Japanese pirates of the Three Islands by North Korea.

After the Ningbo Rebellion, the Matsuura Party took risks and returned to its old business. However, unlike before, they opened Hirado Castle as a free port, allowing fleets of various countries to enter and exit freely, sponsored the smuggling trade between Hiratsune, and looted coastal areas. This was the prototype of Japanese pirates.

Over time, many merchants from the Ming Dynasty gathered under Hirado Castle, of course, among which Wang Zhi and his son who dominated the southeastern coast of China. The Matsuura Party also established huge wealth due to trade and became the overlord of the Matsuura Peninsula.

It was precisely with the economic support of the Ming Dynasty's maritime merchants that conquered the northern part of the Hibishi Kingdom and the Iki Kingdom, and officially became a daimyo. After the Kyushu conquest, the Matsuura family obtained 63,000 stones of ability to safeguard the country.

After Li Dan died of illness in history, Zheng Zhilong inherited the position of East Asia's maritime overlord. Matsuura Takanobu had a good relationship with Zheng Zhilong, so he married his mother, the adopted daughter of Matsu East Courtyard, to him. This wife of Takawa was Zheng Chenggong's mother, so it is not an exaggeration to say that Takanobu was Zheng Chenggong's uncle.

Even though it was introduced by the uncle of Guo's uncle, Xiu Bao remained calm in the face of reality. He also replied with a helpless expression: "Although you were introduced by His Highness Daoke, if you have no significant benefits to Taige, I believe that even if you beg for it, you will not succeed. In addition, it takes capital to open up new routes. I wonder what is Brother Li's current economic strength?"

When it comes to money, Li Dan's face suddenly looked ugly: "Because the Governor of Manila was betrayal, all the funds and workshops he had been snatched by Franjimen for himself. If he hadn't run fast, my dozens of sea boats might have been taken away by them. The reason why I went to Hirado instead of Nagasaki was to borrow from His Highness Daoke as the principal for opening up new routes, but..."

"But Your Highness Doke doesn't have that much money to sponsor you, so he pushed you to me, right?" Xiubao said kindly.

"It's true," Li Dan was already in shame at this time. The maritime business giant who was in Southeast Asia was now becoming a pirate-born little daimyo. There was nothing that made him look ugly than this.

Xiu Bao continued to ask, "Then do you think, with your current situation, Taige will provide you with funds to make you make a comeback?"

Li Dan shook his head in disappointment and sighed: "I know that Taige, like our businessmen, has the word "profit" first, and will not rashly provide opportunities for such a down-and-out maritime businessman. However, the red seal is the only way to make Ming merchants come back to life. Whether it is successful or not, I am willing to give it a try. I also ask Your Highness to wait for me for a few good words. No matter what the result is, I will remember your kindness."

After hearing Li Dan's heartfelt words, Xiu Bao said casually: "In my opinion, don't waste your energy on this matter, the result is obvious."

Li Dan knew that Xiubao was intending to refuse him. Although he was unwilling to give up, he still clenched his fists and leaned down and said goodbye: "Since that's the case, I won't let Your Highness make things difficult for you. Let's say goodbye now. However, it's not appropriate to take a boat at night. Please allow us to leave Jincheng tomorrow morning." After that, he and Zhang Jingquan stood up and walked towards the door.
Chapter completed!