On the third day of the first month of April, the Japanese mission had just left its stay at Honglu Temple, and before the bed was hot, it received a notice from officials of Honglu Temple that the two countries were holding diplomatic talks.

The matter came too suddenly, and the Japanese emperor's envoy was worried that the Ming side would refuse, regardless of the time, and ran to give gifts early in the morning, wanting to get through the upper and lower levels.

Not surprisingly, the officials of the Ming Dynasty did not accept the gift, but said that they would charge an extra 10% of the price on top of the price of the weapon.

Being able to negotiate the price means that this can be done, and the Japanese mission is excited.

The arms deal negotiations were simpler than they imagined, the Ming Dynasty was very happy, and the Japanese mission was even happier.

In this way, the first arms deal in Chinese history was quickly negotiated, and both sides were happy, and the emperor's envoy happily returned to Japan, waiting for the addition of official ranks.

Because before leaving, Daming's Honglu Temple Qing took his hand politely and said bluntly that no matter how much arms Kyoto wants, Daming will provide as much as possible, as long as the money is in place, it will be enough!

A few days later, the hearty laughter of Emperor Shohito came from the Imperial Palace in Kyoto, and his confidence in unifying Japan was once again raised by a class.

As the first order for arms, Daming's delivery speed was very fast, and in less than a month, several ships of equipment arrived at the Osaka dock.

Then, Emperor Shohito held a meeting to divide the shares, and the Mori family of the Nagato clan, as the leader of the Shogunate Alliance, was given 4,000 muskets and 50 cannons;

The three major feudal clans of the Izumo Domain, the Bichu Domain, and the Iwami Domain were each given 3,000 muskets and 30 cannons, and the other muskets and artillery were divided among the other small domains.

After receiving this batch of munitions, the Fallen Curtain Alliance was relieved, its momentum soared, and the leadership group headed by the emperor was further strengthened.

Although Shaoren was young, he had a lot of eyes, and he used this arms deal to constantly promote that the Ming Dynasty was the umbrella of Kyoto, putting pressure on the Tokugawa shogunate.

However, what he didn't expect was that it was this batch of arms that accelerated the pace of the showdown between the two sides.

Edo Castle, the Shogun's Mansion.

In the spacious study, the shogunate elder Sakai Tadakatsu and the shogun Tokugawa Ietsuna knelt opposite each other.

Sakai Tadakatsu was sixty-eight years old, with a full beard, and Tokugawa Ietsuna opposite him was only fourteen years old, and the two sat like this, and the study was immersed in a suffocating silence.

After a while, Sakai Tadakatsu slowly got up and looked out the window with a tired expression.

In the courtyard outside the window, there are several cherry blossom trees in an orderly position, and it is the season of cherry blossoms in full bloom at this time, and the pink petals slowly shake with the wind, and the fragrance gently sprinkles all over the courtyard with the breeze, which makes people look refreshed.

Sakai Tadakatsu sighed lightly, the current situation is difficult, the batch of arms that the emperor purchased from the Ming Dynasty, and the already fragile shogunate rule is even more precarious.

This incident greatly stimulated the shogunate and caused an internal uproar, with the hardliners advocating a fierce attack on Kyoto first, and not allowing the emperor's fallen coalition to grow stronger.

Of course, Sakai Tadashi is a representative of the hardliners, while the old Naka Abe Tadaaki and others advocate appeasement.

The appeasement faction thought that the emperor had the backing of the Ming Dynasty, and if he forcibly sent troops to kill the emperor, the Ming would definitely not be happy.

The old middle Abe Tadaaki proposed that the shogunate should take the initiative to contact Daming, whether it is licking or sending it thousands of miles, first make Daming comfortable, make it his own person, and then clean up the emperor's side of the curtain alliance, it will be much simpler.

The two sides are incompatible with each other, and the situation has developed to this point, and it looks like the shogunate is about to split, and the elder Sakai Tadakatsu, as the regent of the shogunate, has a headache.

Sakai Tadakatsu turned his head and saw that Tokugawa Ietsuna was still kneeling respectfully, bowing his head and saying nothing.

A few years ago, he could not have imagined that the high-ranking Tokugawa shogunate would serve him so respectfully.

It's just that now this general is more like a mascot and has no effect.

Tokugawa Ietsuna, this kid, has a bad brain, is mentally handicapped or something.

His learning ability is extremely poor, his ability to adapt to life is also discounted, his communication skills are even worse, and he has no head or brains when he speaks.

Just now, Tadashi Sakai asked him, "My lord, would you like to enter Kyoto and live in the Imperial Palace?" ”

As a result, Tokugawa Ietsuna thought for a long time and replied: "If I go to the Imperial Palace, where will the Emperor live?" What about my Expeditionary General's Mansion? ”

Encountering this kind of retarded mind, Sakai Tadashi really didn't know how to answer.

Fourteen years old! The emperor of the Ming Dynasty next door, who was still a prince when he was fourteen years old, had already pulled out his own team around him, politics, strategy, military, and economy, and other people's means were perfect.

Look at this again, it's worse than ordinary children, and you can't take it at all!

As a powerful minister, it should be a good thing to encounter this kind of lord.

However, now that the shogunate is in crisis, without the suppression of the prestige of the shogun, it is easy to cause chaos inside, and all the burdens will be pressed on the elder.

At this time, the old middle Abe Zhongqiu came, the two glanced at each other, and they were ready to raise the bar again.

Abe Tadaaki asked Sakai Tadashi to change his stance and take the initiative to contact the Ming to strengthen trade and cultural exchanges, even if he opened a few more places, to gain the favor of the Ming in order to introduce their firearms and strengthen the shogunate.

Hearing this, Sakai Tadashi was immediately displeased, and sternly reprimanded: "Abe Tadaaki, if you do this, you will definitely put Japan in a catastrophe!" ”

Tadakatsu Sakai has studied China and found that this ancient country has a glorious history of expansion.

For thousands of years, their territory expanded from the narrow strip of the Yellow River Valley to the east, west, north and south, and the east and north gradually submitted to him, which formed a large country with a radius of thousands of kilometers.

In the process of expansion, their weapons are not only swords, but also something even more terrifying, culture!

The Chinese have always attached great importance to cultural governance, and in their way of thinking, culture is the overriding force and the most effective means of governing the country and the world.

Culture is like flowing water, soft and clear, and anyone can easily deform the water.

However, water is pervasive and indestructible!

Today's Japan is still influenced by Chinese culture inherited from the Tang Dynasty.

Sakai Tadakatsu also learned that a scholar named Zhu Zhiyu came from the Ming Kingdom a few years ago to teach in the Mito Domain, and his learning and virtue were immediately courteous and respected by the Japanese government and the opposition.

Tokugawa Mitsukuni, the prince of the Mito Domain, actually held a discipleship ceremony and hired a native of the Ming Kingdom surnamed Zhu to give lectures in Edo, and many Japanese scholars came to study there.

Tokugawa Iemitsu didn't understand what kind of ecstasy soup that the Ming scholar poured into those feudal lords, and he actually attracted many people to attend the lectures, and they were willing to serve as disciples, and even their subordinates worshipped Zhu Zhiyu as a teacher.

There were also some feudal lords who introduced friends to each other to the scholars of the Ming Kingdom, just like pyramid schemes.

Sakai Tadashi couldn't help but sigh secretly, China's ancient culture has long been infiltrated into the blood of Japan, is Japan really the opponent of the Ming Dynasty?

Looking at the Abe Tadaaki in front of him, the dignified shogunate elder, the lord of the Mibu domain and the ninja domain, and the daimyo of 60,000 stones, such a big man in the second command of the shogunate, he was willing to be a dog of the Ming Dynasty!

While Sakai Tadashi was disappointed, he had a flash of inspiration and said, "Abe Tadaaki, in this way, you will go to the Ming Kingdom on behalf of the shogunate, tell them what you think, and see if you can exchange it for the arms trade." ”

His meaning is very simple, you have to do such a thing as betraying the country yourself.

Abe Zhongqiu looked at him suspiciously, thinking to himself, you old thing, don't you want to abolish me while I go abroad?

Then after thinking about it carefully, he dispelled this idea again, anyway, he is also a 60,000-stone daimyo with military power, which is equivalent to ten ordinary daimyos, Sakai Tadakatsu will not take risks with himself if he has a point in his heart.

Abe Tadaaki said: "Okay, I'll go to Mingguo for a trip, but within a month, you can't act rashly and send troops to Kyoto privately." ”

Sakai Tadashi smiled slightly and said, "Don't worry, you Abe Tadaaki is the mainstay of the shogunate, and I won't harm you by killing myself." ”

After the two sides negotiated, they began to work separately, completely ignoring the Tokugawa Ietsuna, the general of the Seiyi next to him.

Tokugawa Ietsuna was still kneeling there, looking at the two who left in a daze, still holding a copy of Zhu Zhiyu's "Zhu Shun Shui Anthology" in his hand.