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Fang Ruoren's main business was selling illegal salt, and he didn't do many other bad things. In the court, people who sold illegal salt in large quantities would be beheaded, but in Tang Tong's eyes, this person's crime was not punishable by death, so Tang Tong only detained Fang Ruoren and his family. Also detained were two incense masters who had a similar status to Su Da in the Suhuai Salt Gang.
This time, Tang Tong plundered all the property, whether it was private or owned by the Suhuai Salt Gang, leaving Su Da with only an empty shell of the Suhuai Salt Gang and a group of penniless disciples. The property Tang Tong seized totaled more than 300,000 taels of silver.
In fact, the combined personal property of Fang Ruoren and the other two incense masters was not as rich as Su Dayou's. Most of the 300,000 taels of silver were owned by the Suhuai Salt Gang. Tang Tong left 100,000 taels of silver as reserve funds, and the remaining 100,000 taels were all exchanged for porcelain, silk, tea, and daily necessities such as soap, perfume, glass, and perfume produced by his own factory. In total, they were loaded onto large ships, two of which were forcibly requisitioned from other sea merchants. Tang Tong then took 3,000 men, plus Fang Ruoren and his men, and went out to sea.
The purpose of Tang Tong's voyage this time was to establish a place for trade with the Westerners on the Japanese island and in the South Seas. As for colonizing the South Seas, Tang Tong's current strength was not enough. Because in a naval battle, Tang Tong estimated that his men were not the opponents of the Westerners, so Tang Tong's goal was to monopolize the overseas trade of the Ming Dynasty first. Once he had money and improved the strength of the army, Tang Tong would naturally not be polite to those Westerners.
Fang Ruoren had originally thought he was doomed. He had long heard that Lord Tang was a ruthless killer. After the group left the sea, Tang Tong approached him and said, "Boss Fang, I asked you to come here to speak frankly with you. According to Ming Dynasty law, what you did is punishable by death. However, I have spared you because you haven't done too much evil. As for the silver, I only borrowed it to make ends meet. I will repay you at a monthly payment of 3,000 taels in ten years. Therefore, I hope you will understand and not force me to commit such a murder."
"Don't worry, Lord Tang. I will behave myself." Fang Ruoren had to bow his head when he was under someone else's roof. He breathed a sigh of relief when he heard Tang Tong say that he would not kill them. He could not care about his own life, but he could not care about the lives of his father, wife and children. Moreover, what he hated more at this moment was Su Da, who had betrayed him.
Tang Tong did not kill Fang Ruoren because he did not like Su Da. Even though Su Da listened to him now, Tang Tong knew that if Su Da could betray him once, he would betray him again. Moreover, Tang Tong saw that Fang Ruoren was a decent person and had good martial arts skills, so it would be a pity to kill him.
"No matter how much you hate me in your heart, you know best, Gang Leader Fang. Your life is not just your own, but also your family's. If you want revenge, you must first understand that I will forgive you once, but I will not forgive you the second time. Of course, if you behave well, I will make you the Governor-General of Japan or the Governor-General of Nanyang." After Tang Tong warned Fang Ruoren, he promised Fang Ruoren a deal.
Fang Ruoren's eyebrows twitched, and he asked, "Sir Tang, I wonder what the governor you are talking about does?"
"The position of governor is the highest official in a place. For example, the Governor-General of Japan is the highest official in Japan. The governor's duty is to manage the politics and military of the area we occupy, and to plunder the local resources and property into our own hands as much as possible. If the locals are disobedient, the governor must lead his troops to guide the locals. If they still are disobedient, he must use his troops to beat them into obedience. This is what a governor has to do." Tang Tong explained the means of colonization used by Westerners in another time and space.
After listening to Tang Tong's explanation, Fang Ruoren didn't say anything else, but he was somewhat tempted. According to Tang Tong, the position of governor was much more glorious than when he was the leader of the Suhuai Salt Gang. It sounded like it had more power than the prefect in the court. How could he not be tempted?
At this time, Fang Ruoren still felt a little uneasy. In a short period of time, he could not bring himself to surrender to Tang Tong. Tang Tong saw his expression and knew that Fang Ruoren was already tempted, so he said nothing more. After all, he had robbed someone else's money. Although he said he would return it, he did not take this information into account. Naturally, Tang Tong was not at ease to use him now, so he asked his men to take Fang Ruoren away.
Tang Tong had 3,000 men under his command, and 100 of them were newly recruited and had no training. These 100 men could only be used by Tang Tong as porters. However, with such a team equipped with guns and cannons, pirates along the way naturally did not dare to provoke them. Moreover, Tang Tong was lucky. When the fleet was halfway there, they encountered a group of sea merchants consisting of three fleets. Although these sea merchants also had cannons and other weapons, they still surrendered after Tang Tong and his men fired a few shots.
The main reason why these people surrendered easily was that they saw that Tang Tong and his men were from the Ming Dynasty's navy. In their opinion, the Ming Dynasty's navy did this just to get some money, and it was impossible for them to kill them all like pirates, so there was no need for them to fight to the death with Tang Tong and his men.
These people were all merchants from Zhejiang Province, who had joined forces to do business in Japan. This time they brought goods to Japan a little earlier than Tang Tong and his companions, but they were unexpectedly caught up by Tang Tong and his companions. The goods on their ship were similar to those of Tang Tong and his companions, including porcelain, silk, tea, and some soaps and perfumed soaps produced by Tang Tong's factory.
Tang Tong did not make things difficult for these people. He just told them that he was in charge of anti-smuggling at sea in the Ming Dynasty. In the future, all the goods going out to sea and entering the customs of the Ming Dynasty would have to pay a 100% tariff to him. The goods on these three ships were worth more than 100,000 taels of silver, which meant that they had to pay a tariff of more than 100,000 taels of silver. When those people heard this, they all had sad faces. These people used to think that the Ming Dynasty had a lax management, and they made a lot of money. Tang Tong would not pity them.
Seeing the expressions of these people, Tang Tong felt unhappy and told them viciously that they were lucky this time and they were not held accountable. In the future, those smugglers who were caught would not only have all their goods confiscated but also be thrown into jail. After hearing what Tang Tong said, these people immediately became obedient.
In fact, although Tang Tong said this, he did not dare to force him too much in his heart. These maritime merchants were very powerful. Like the powerful people who mined illegal mines, they had each formed a huge force. Emperor Chongzhen had tried every possible way, but the benefits produced by the country's mineral resources basically flowed into private pockets.
And now, if Tang Tong pushed these sea merchants into a corner, with the little power he had now, Tang Tong would have no choice but to rebel. Although Tang Tong had never played politics, some knowledge he gained later made him understand that everything had to be done step by step and that one couldn't be impatient. If he was impatient, he might be the one who suffered.
Although the journey was not smooth, Tang and his companions successfully arrived at Satsuma in Japan after more than ten days. At that time, the shogunate of Japan was ruled by Tokugawa Iemitsu, while Satsuma was ruled by a daimyo who was only nominally subject to Tokugawa Iemitsu, but was independent in its internal affairs.
At this time, Satsuma was ruled by Shimazu Matsudaira, whose original name was Shimazu Tadatsune. He was an ambitious man with good vision. When Tokugawa Iemitsu implemented a policy of isolation, this guy overcame all difficulties and established trade relations with the Ming Dynasty.
Tsurumaru Castle is the current political center of Satsuma. Although it is a nice big city in the eyes of the Japanese, it is a run-down place in the countryside in the eyes of Tang Tong and his people. Of course, when Tang Tong saw the land from the sea, he only knew that this place was called Satsuma, and he didn't know that there was a small city called Tsurumaru Castle.
Moreover, this is not a friendly place, at least when a Japanese navy arrived, its attitude did not seem friendly, because the flag of the Ming navy was flying on Tang Tong's ship.
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