Chapter 257: The Japanese firearms developed by selling daughters, the Portuguese stole the chicken but lost the rice
In that turbulent era, the Tanegashima family welcomed their fourteenth head, Tanegashima Tokiyo, who was only sixteen years old.

This young and courageous leader made a surprising decision: to allow the ships of the southern barbarians to dock at Akaogi Port.

At that time, the southern barbarians brought a mysterious and powerful weapon - the iron cannon.

This unprecedented firearm aroused great interest in Tanegashima Tokiyoshi.

So he used a Ming Dynasty man named "Wufeng" to act as an interpreter and started a thrilling transaction with the southern barbarians.

In the end, Tanegashima Tokiyo paid a huge price of two thousand taels of silver in exchange for Japan's first two precious cannons.

After obtaining the iron cannon, Tanegashima Tokiyoshi realized its extraordinary value.

He immediately gave one of them to the Tanegashima family's highly respected "blacksmith pillar" Yaita Kiyomasa, hoping to rely on the latter's superb skills to imitate the iron cannon.

However, things did not go as smoothly as he had imagined. He soon discovered that the manufacturing technology of this new weapon was far beyond what he had learned from his predecessors.

Despite Yaita Kiyoshida's best efforts, the imitation work ended in failure after several months of hard work and continuous attempts.

In desperation, he had to bite the bullet and ask the Portuguese for help.

Unexpectedly, these Portuguese people put forward an extremely harsh demand without any hesitation.

"As long as you betroth your beloved daughter to me, I will naturally teach you everything without reservation."

Yaita Kiyoshida's heart was filled with turmoil, and he could not calm down. He wanted to marry his precious daughter to these barbarians of unknown origin and unknown depth.

That is simply a foolish dream!
However, if you fail to complete the task assigned by the lord satisfactorily, you will be ruthlessly executed.

Not only his own life would be in danger, but his entire family, including his daughter, might be implicated and suffer a devastating disaster.

Seeing her father in such a difficult situation, the considerate, well-behaved and clever daughter stepped forward and expressed her willingness to marry the Portuguese.

She was well aware of the enormous pressure and risks her father faced, and also understood what this decision meant for the entire family.

God will not let down those who work hard. After countless days and nights of dedicated study and repeated practice, Baban Qingding finally achieved his goal.

Finally, in the second year, the long-awaited "Tanegashima Cannon" was successfully manufactured.

At this moment, according to the agreement reached by both parties, Yaita Kiyomasa should fulfill his promise and give his daughter to the Portuguese as a wife.

But who could have imagined that in the end, a dramatic scene would occur.

Yaita Kiyosada suddenly announced to the public: "My daughter unfortunately contracted a serious illness and has passed away."

At the same time, he also organized a funeral with great fanfare, which seemed grand but was actually full of falsehood.

Faced with such an unexpected outcome, although the Portuguese knew that there must be something fishy going on, they were ultimately helpless.

They could only watch the cooked duck fly away, leaving behind only resentment and unwillingness.

In this way, the musket, which was originally born in China, first spread to the Middle East and Europe through the Silk Road and the Mongol Westward Invasion, and then was brought to Japan by the Portuguese across half the globe.

In the same year that the "Tagenaga Iron Cannon" was successfully copied, Tsuda Sancho of Negoroji Temple in Kii Province arrived at the Tanegashima family.

One of the two iron cannons from faraway Portugal was carefully brought back to Saiga in Kishu like a precious pearl.

The person in charge of replicating this cannon was Shibaji Kiyomataemon, a famous and highly praised cannon craftsman in Japanese history. This skilled master devoted all his energy to this task.

With his extraordinary talent and profound experience, he ultimately made this replication an astonishing and huge success.

From the beginning of the following year, Kishu rose rapidly like a rising star and became one of the leading iron cannon production core areas in Japan.

The already powerful Saga Neki clan became even more powerful and benefited greatly from it.

Thanks to the advanced artillery equipment, they have transformed themselves into a powerful army that is feared by the enemy, fully armed and extremely powerful!
Soon after that, Shibaji Seimataemon, full of ambition and passion, resolutely embarked on a journey to Sakai City, the largest and most prosperous commercial center in Japan at that time, carrying with him the artillery manufacturing technology.

Here, he met another like-minded partner, the famous local craftsman Matasaburo Tachibaya.

It turned out that Matasaburo Tachibaya had already studied under Kiyosada Yaita, devoted himself to studying the art of making teppo, and successfully brought this valuable skill back to his hometown.

As the saying goes, great minds think alike. When two industry leaders meet, dazzling sparks instantly appear.

They had a tacit understanding with each other and hit it off immediately, and decided to work together.

The two men fully absorbed and integrated the essence of the local long-standing Ming Dynasty firearms technology, and devoted themselves vigorously to the iron cannon production and wholesale business.

Looking back on the past, the merchants in Sakai City were able to accumulate huge wealth during the turbulent and competitive Warring States Period.

It moves among various forces like a fish in water and firmly controls the economic lifeline.

The cannon in his hand undoubtedly played a crucial role.

It is no exaggeration to say that it is these powerful weapons that have made Sakai merchants a glorious legend!
In February of the 23rd year of the Jiajing reign, Shimazu Takahisa, a daimyo in southern Kyushu, presented the Tanegashima cannon to Shogun Ashikaga Yoshiharu, which aroused the other party's interest.

So, under the order of Shogun Ashikaga Yoshiharu, the iron cannon was successfully manufactured again in Kunitomo Village in Omi Province.

Kunitomo Tojiro, the "head" of Kunitomo Village, also became famous because of this.

He, Shibaji Kiyomataemon and Tachibaya Matasaburo were known as the three major producers of Warring States iron cannons.

Later, Kunitomomura became a supporter of the Oda family, allowing Oda Nobunaga to take advantage of the arquebus.

Firearms not only changed the landscape of warfare in Japan, but also became a remarkable legendary chapter in the long river of history.

The beginning of all this is thanks to the brave and visionary young lord, Tanegashima Tokiyoshi, and the tenacious Yaita Kiyomasa.

The above relevant historical materials all come from the book "Wu Yao Bian Lue" written by the Japanese themselves.

It was later posted online in the form of a short video by a military science blogger, and Zhu Gang also learned about it from that.

However, in the end he chose to falsify history and confuse the public, in order to remind Li Wenzhong to be wary of the Japanese pirates' development of firearms.

At the same time, Zhu Gang hinted that some people along the coast of the Ming Dynasty were colluding with the Japanese pirates, hoping to use this as an excuse to interfere in the Ming Dynasty's coastal defense.

However, no matter what era, there is always a lack of armchair strategists who like to argue.

Soon, a tribute student from the Imperial College stood up and tried to refute Zhu Gang's "Japanese threat theory."

(End of this chapter)