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Post by Fleischmann on Jan 29, 2022 2:03:51 GMT
After having returned to friendly ports and even exchanged information with a passing Sheenish ship of a truly amazing character (It had sails in this day and age!), the crew of so Fralosan Saip loaded up their holds with as many things as they could as possible. They took on moderns guns, they took on nice white goods, and they then took a slight detour south to the Andal Islands for a little bit of slave raiding, coming across a relatively undefended village and taking seventy-one slaves of strong character and good condition.
After registering their new cargo with the proper authorities and loading on a few extra crew, the men set off once more for the distant land they had named Hrawfiskonland. Rather than sailing far north and around, they instead chose to take a more southerly route in order to avoid possible icebergs. In doing so, they came across some of the islands that they had heard about from the Sheenish and were able to take on more water and fresh food at one of the larger ones.
Fully stocked and rested, the intrepid adventurers set forth once more and sailed west across the deep ocean until they came once more to the islands with the flat faced people. This time however, they had arrived further south than before and were greeted by what appeared to be proper civilisation, after a fashion. The architecture was different, the ships were foreign, and the language still incomprehensible, but there were buildings in grids and proper infrastructure here!
Coming into port in an unknown city, so Fralosan Saip allowed itself to be pulled into a mooring by tug boats and had its ship's band play as best they could the anthem.
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Post by United Ryukyu Empire of Yūhi on Jan 29, 2022 2:26:15 GMT
The people of the harbor, upon seeing a foreign ship, grew curious. They much enjoyed the music played by the ship’s crew and interpreted it as a sign of goodwill. In response, some of the more musically inclined people replied with sanshin (a plucked instrument like the Japanese shamisen), flutes, and drums.
The people attempted trade, and it was somewhat successful with the use of hand gestures. Furthermore, there were signs of an early pidgin forming. It was nothing extensive, of course, a mere few words. The most popular goods were cloth and furniture, with jewelry being bought by only richer men. There was, however, hesitation to buy guns or slaves, as these were restricted goods.
Later, men with uniforms and sheathed weapons, three-pronged bludgeons called sai arrived. These were local authorities who came to regulate the sale of slaves and firearms. Most of these products were bought directly by the police, although some were given to civilians who could prove that they had the necessary permits.
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Post by Fleischmann on Jan 29, 2022 5:10:17 GMT
'All right lads... We have done it... We have sold everything.'
The captain surveyed his empty ship and then his crew before continuing.
'New issue... We do not know how to speak with these people. Two of us are going to have to stay behind... Whoever does it will get an extra share of the profits.'
None of the men stepped forward.
'All right, fine. We will draw lots... Nah, nuts to that. Everyone, gather round! We've dicing for this!'
And so the men engaged in nearly five straight hours of gambling on the deck. Ultimately, the first man to lose and the last man standing were chosen to be left behind, given enough food to last them a month and some money. The crew spent several hours scouring the shops for exotic and impressive looking wares that could be used to secure funding and interest in further expeditions. If they did well, they might be granted a charter from the government for a trading company.
When so Fralosan Saip came back to home waters and presented their haul of goods to the local government officials, they were almost immediately sequestered away and their vessel impounded temporarily.
What followed was some six weeks of intensive interviews followed by waiting and the examination of the goods brought back. As was to be expected, nothing with writing on it could be understood. The men were not treated poorly, but were now being held at the Hauhkuno's pleasure. They were kept in well furnished apartments, had their needs for food and drink taken care of, and were overall well seen to.
While the interviews were quite thorough and they soon realised that they might have made a mistake in telling the Sheenish about the island, it was determined that the damage was minimal and that the Raikh ultimately held the advantage given the fact that the Sheenish were only aware of there being an island with barbarians, rather than a seemingly civilised trade partner.
At the end of their six week stay in government hands, news finally came that a charter had been granted to them. They, as well as some other more professional sorts, were to go west once more and establish outposts near this new land and see to establishing proper diplomatic ties and treaties. Failing that, they were to at least attempt to ingratiate themselves with the local merchant class and recover as much as possible before the rest of the world became aware of this new nation.
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Post by United Ryukyu Empire of Yūhi on Jan 29, 2022 14:47:22 GMT
Now, the authorities and the people saw that two of the men from the foreign trading-ship had been left behind. They were confused, some even scared that these men were betrayed and left stranded, but it did not seem right to them to leave these men to their own devices in a land strange to them. Therefore, the local authorities attempted to, as gently as possible, bring the two men to their office.
They were placed under a ‘protective custody’ whereby they had total privacy in their rooms, but were escorted by officers when they wanted to go outside. The men were given water, and initially only rice because of its neutral flavor. Over time, however, different fish, meats, fruits, and teas were offered.
The administrative office of the district, also made a request to different scholarly organizations, asking for scholars specialized in linguistics so as to create a translative dictionary of these men’s language or to create a pidgin or otherwise facilitate communication between the men and the people.
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Post by Fleischmann on Jan 29, 2022 20:35:31 GMT
With a plan of action set, so Fralosan Saip along with three ships of the Hauhkunoleiksflutt set sail with a full diplomatic party aboard. Their goal was to negotiate the formal opening of trade and hopefully secure exclusive rights that would give them an advantage over the Sheenish and others. So Drugkan Skaf (0↋-KSlS), so Haldja af Airknitha (01-KKtS), and so Haarshlaugs' Räsen (02-KKtS) while not the most powerful and modern warships, were still very likely to impress any that saw them and could easily dispatch any pirates that might choose to attack.
After an uneventful voyage, the ships arrived in the port which so Fralosan Saip had first visited and the party was offloaded with honour guard once they had been given what seemed like permission to enter. There they were met with the two crewmen that had been left behind to try to learn the local language as well as many men appearing to be officials of some sort or another, with some more academic sorts.
With stumbling words, an initial offer was made.
'We want... Lower tariffs... We give gun designs.'
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Post by United Ryukyu Empire of Yūhi on Jan 29, 2022 22:05:38 GMT
Members of the Department of Supply have been stationed at the port ever since the day that the two men were left behind. They had with them some military police and a small squadron of soldiers. These were better armed than the local police, as they wore saber-like blades, revolvers and bolt-operated rifles. They motioned to a convoy of carriages and cuirassiers. It was shyly explained by one of the scholars that they would bring them to a diplomatic representative of the government.
Upon arrival to the capital of Kawa No Matsubayashi Prefecture, the diplomatic party, their honor guard, and anyone deemed able to facilitate communications was allowed into a large government building. After everyone was offered tea and small traditional sweets, a Ryukyuan man, wearing a black Ryusou, stood up to preside over the meeting.
He began to speak, although it was clumsily translated.
“Greetings, friends from another land. I am Shō Gaikōkan Jūyū, I understand that you would like to trade with my lord’s nation at a reduced tariff rate. Furthermore, you offer some gun designs that my military friends say are quite interesting. This, my lord believes, is an acceptable deal. Your merchants will be allowed to buy and sell at our ports at a 1% tariff rate. Of course, slaves and civilian guns will be regulated by local authorities, but these will be purchased by the appropriate departments.”
As he said this, two officers brought out an elaborate box decorated in the local art styles.
Gaikōkan Jūyū continued to speak: “As a sign of goodwill and cooperation, we have prepared some gifts for this delegation.”
Inside the box, there was high quality jewelry, bottles of lightly flavored rice-wines, and a beautiful artisan gunto sheathed in a traditional bamboo scabbard instead of the military steel scabbard, all wrapped in a red silk. In addition, less luxurious items, such as books with translations and transliteration methods were given.
Thus, a trilingual treaty was drafted, one part in Yaeyama, one in Hundisch, and one in an experimental Yaeyama-Hundisch Trade Pidgin.
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Post by Fleischmann on Jan 29, 2022 22:17:01 GMT
After much stumbling and scrutiny of the treaty, the diplomats gladly affixed their seals to the document and signed. This was sure to be the start of a wonderful new venture, but would require new outposts in these western lands. The isles were far from here and patrolling the waters of the great ocean would take a concerted effort... An effort which would be better supported by new colonies in this frontier.
As the diplomats accepted the foreign gifts and exchanged their own, this time comprising mostly works of literature and history, they plotted ways to get their families or themselves sent to the west to help with its taming.
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