When Saigo Takanaga wrote to Shimazu Saibin, he thought about how to reach an agreement with Naohide.

For military affairs, personal friendship is just a stepping stone, and Xixing feels that Naoxiu is not so stupid and will send the iron-making process away at no cost.

The only thing that Saigo can rely on is that the white lord is in ruins, people, money and goods, there is always one thing that Naohide needs, and he has confidence in the new head of the family - Qi Bin is "smart and heroic, very decisive", and has a great reputation in Edo as "no one can match the three hundred sons", and as soon as Qi Bin returned to Kagoshima, he publicly declared that "rice, salt, cotton and iron are indispensable necessities for a day, and they should be greatly increased".

But when Saigo arrives at the White Lord, he finds that things seem to be different from what he imagined, and it is rumored that the market has obtained thousands of precious furs, and if it is true, Naohide may not be willing to take this risk.

He asked Okubo privately, and Okubo affirmed this statement, and Okubo was not very satisfied with Saigo - Naohide has great favors to both families, and if you don't change to the office, it's just a matter of preventing others from the Jingzhong Group from coming to the White Lord, which is basically a tear in the face, and today you come to the White Lord to get the big secret of iron smelting, which is a bit too much.

Saigo received a cold reception at Okubo, but he was not discouraged, Saigo was an apprentice of Yomei, and he continued to patiently look for opportunities.

He was overjoyed when he found out about the breech rifle, because although Naohide showed it to him, he asked for secrecy, and Saigo felt that there must be a story in it. He didn't want to use this to get Naoxiu, what kind of hatred and resentment, Naohide treated him as enthusiastically as before, and besides, it was not good for Satsuma and himself to report Naoxiu - you ran all the way from Tiannan to Jibei in your feelings, just to catch your friend's sore feet, and the shogunate couldn't ponder the story in this, why did you turn your face? Not to mention the ruined reputation, Satsuma's motives are also suspicious.

Of course, if Saigo secretly spreads rumors in line with the idea of harming others and not benefiting himself, he can also add chaos to Naoxiu, but Saigo is really not so idle - he had the opportunity to benefit, so he did this immoral thing for a while, and the wise man didn't do it.

Therefore, after thinking about it, Xixiang finally found a breakthrough from his past interactions.

Naoxiu once told him that when people in Fusang only had a view of the world and no real world view, everything was centered on Fusang and the existing situation to consider the problem, which was biased.

What is Fusang's view of the world? Naoxiu didn't say it explicitly, but the implication is that Fusang uses his own cognition to trap others, which is not suitable at all, Naoxiu said at the time, "There are hundreds of people, and the country is different", what others like to do is their own business, we can take care of ourselves, there is no need to pretend to be big.

And Naoxiu scoffed at Fusang Guoxue, thinking that the "love" of ancient studies was right, and what "Fusang heart" and the like began to deviate, and the Chinese school from ancient studies was even more dependent on the wood and sought fish, arrogant and arrogant, spread out the world map, Fusang is a few small islands, what to say is eight and one Yu, which makes people laugh off their big teeth.

To be honest, Saigo was a little disgusted by this, he felt that Naohide was too frivolous, but at that time, Naohide and Saigo and Okubo had been dating for a while, and Naohide was very decent on weekdays, studying hard, doing things seriously, treating others equally, and even being polite to servants, and never fooling around on the street, although spending money lavishly, but it was not extravagant, and the clothes were also very simple, just delicious.

Therefore, Saigo thinks that Naohide may be a teenager who is inevitably flamboyant, or that he has the idea of a stranger—Fuso's strangers are people who have different views from the world, and their clothes, behaviors, and words are very different people, so as to express their dissatisfaction with reality.

Saigo has always been known for his generosity and is very accommodating to other people's opinions, and some of Naohide's opinions at that time were not lacking in insight, so Saigo's bizarre remarks about Naohide were just a laugh.

But now, Naohide is already the acting official of the shogunate, so his words and deeds can't

When the joke was treated. So, when Saigo thought about what Naohide wanted to do in the white master, he remembered everything from before.

When Saigo and Okubo were invited to Kagoshima last year, Naohide only said that he would build a business in the white lord, with a focus on resisting the southward invasion of the Lucian people, but Saigo saw more than this in the white lord:

First of all, the women of the white lord also work like men, and that's all, but the white lord blatantly appoints female servants, and Naohide is Saigo who is entertained in the large dining hall of the commission, when Saigo saw a woman scolding a Ashigaru for wasting food, Ashigaru's face was red at that time, but he still listened to the training in a proper manner, and Saigo was accustomed to Naohide and others, and he felt that it was wrong at the time.

Fuso is used to being inferior to men and women, and that woman does things herself, she is definitely not a noble woman of any family, and if she dares to scold Ashigaru, she will be cut down in Kagoshima a long time ago.

In addition, Saigo found that the white lord did not emphasize dignity and humility. The most obvious thing is that the natives all over the street are swaggering around, and occasionally bumping into people and saying a word, Saigo knows from Okubo that the white lord is a soldier, and it seems that it is obviously not that the natives are rude, but they usually get along like this.

At the same time, Naoxiu traveled as an acting official, and no one knelt down, at most, he just gave way out, if he didn't give way, Naoxiu would generally wait, at that time, Xixiang's eyes were about to stare out, and the essence of Corporal Lixian was to let people know that this was an exceptional treatment, what the hell is this habitual?

In fact, this is still the result of Naoxiu's intention to control the scope of Xixiang's action, if Xixiang entered the township school, it was found that although the township school did not completely abolish Confucianism, it was basically not taught, and now it is completely Lanxue in charge.

In short, combined with Naoxiu's previous words and deeds, Saigo felt that Naoxiu had a big plan this time, as for whether there was any objection, Saigo didn't doubt it, a place with a total of hundreds of people, can still turn the sky upside down?

Since Naoxiu doesn't have much of a role in the white master, it is not impossible to talk about the transfer of ironmaking technology, but it is just a condition.

In this regard, Saigo analyzed the pros and cons for Naohide and Okubo, and also promised the benefits.

First of all, Satsuma and the White Lord are friends and not enemies.

Since the white lord is engaged in all the soldiers and is still forging ahead, he must have a tough attitude towards the Lucians.

The white lord is in the northernmost part and Satsuma is in the southernmost part, and they are the first line of the fight against the Westerners, so mutual support is also being cleaned up - Saigo is sowing discord, and his unexpressed meaning is to imply that the shogunate is not fully supporting the white lord, they are all raised by stepmothers, and everyone is in a group.

Secondly, the Satsuma clan is not secretly thinking about any bad ideas, but Westerners are always harassing and trying to protect themselves.

The white master's breech rifle can't be produced by itself, right? The shogunate didn't start copying, so let's not ask, but even if the shogunate is successful in imitation, can it give the white lord less? I'm afraid that when the Lucia people invade, the white lord won't be able to get it, right?

Saigo really got to the point, last year Naohide detained all the new firearms, not at all for the shogunate, and the manufacturing process was not dedicated to the shogunate - because the rice boat merchant is not easy to say, how to say? Say that you admire Fusang culture and deliberately introduce new firearms? Mi people for no reason to offer heavy treasures, ordinary goods can still be hope to trade or something, to offer new firearms, it's okay, it's okay, it's good, but the detailed manufacturing method of new firearms, this is too outrageous, and it's not so compiled.

Saigo didn't know that the shogunate hadn't gotten the manufacturing method, but what he meant was that the shogunate couldn't be relied on, so it would be better if you gave me the manufacturing method today, and I'll give you additional weapons tomorrow, wouldn't it be good.

As for the reopening of the trade in the Northland, Xixiang really didn't have any hope, how many mounts can be collected and how many Tang specialties can be sold in the big places where the white lord is bigger, and if he wants to cooperate, he is also looking for the former family of the head snake pine in the north, but Qi Bin has just taken the position, and the former head of the family has retired because of secret trade, so he doesn't dare to repeat the mistakes of the past immediately anyway, and cooperate with the white master, more for the white lord

Transporting materials, purely sending benefits - the white lord must hesitate to send benefits, it is better to do things in the name of trade.

In fact, even if Saigo's tongue skills are not good, Naohide will give Satsuma the iron-making process and the manufacturing method of the breech rifle, and Naohide can't wait for Fuso to be engaged in the production and breeding industry now, so how can he be stingy?

Zhixiu doesn't want to engage in personal hegemony, basically has an attitude of poverty alleviation, as long as you can do it, you can do it, welcome! But Fuso is really not a few reliable now, on the side of the shogunate, except for the shogunate, most of the daimyo of the spectrum have no strength, and giving it to the shogunate is equivalent to giving it all, and the shogunate itself will spread, which is much stronger than Naohide sneaking around; As for the appearance, there are only a few powerful ones, and Naoxiu can't throw the drawings into people's yards, no, in the city walls, right? It's definitely not okay to give it away for nothing, Zhixiu can only find a chance to send it out, and it's not good to be tired.

In the end, Saigo promised to exchange the price of three thousand taels of gold for the iron-making process and the manufacturing method of the breech rifle, and at the same time, in addition to cash, the Satsuma clan could only trade with the white lord and his family in the north for three years, and the goods of no less than three thousand stone ships per year, as for this year, it was too late, and a shipload of goods was ready.

But unlike Saga, Naohide didn't agree with Saigo to take the drawings back first, and he couldn't even write the oath paper - Okubo put away Saigo's oath paper first, and then turned his face and didn't admit it, saying that he didn't have to talk about the small judgment, so Saigo had to set off back to Kagoshima in a hurry, and let the head of the family decide.

But neither Saga nor Satsuma went back empty-handed, Okubo was guarantored in the name of the commission, and the money house gave some furs, dried fish, and salted roe on credit, and as for Kinokuniya, it still did not participate in such a dangerous deal.

In addition, Naoxiu was in charge, and gave each family a hundred seal skins on credit, promising to buy a few thousand when he came next time, so as to show his muscles - the white lord still has money, and you must have confidence in doing business with me.

After Sugitani Yongsuke returned to Saga, he got the complaint of the head of the family, Qi Zheng, Qi Zheng was not dissatisfied, as long as he could make money, he was happy, the more he earned, the happier he was, but Naohide was too lacking in virtue, and the manufacturing method of the breech rifle was really true, but many places were very simple, at that time, Naohide drove away Sugiya in the name of early trade, and when he was on the ship, Sugiya found that the drawings were a little vague in the key places, but after all, the Saga clan didn't pay a penny, and the seven people only stayed as guests to help, so he knew that Saga was really going to break some money this time.

After complaining, Qi Zheng comforted Sugitani, "It's cheap and not easy to take advantage of", catch up with the goods and then run again, this time go to a few more people, figure out the manufacturing process and come back, it may be that they don't understand Zhixiu either.

"But what if Naoxiu really understands?"

"Then ask him what he wants?" Qi Zheng was very disappointed in the samurai under him, the work was okay, the people were too far away, but it was a pity that the white master was too far away, otherwise he would have a dragon fight between himself and Zhixiu with an abacus, which would definitely be extremely exciting.

Unlike Sugitani, Shimazu Kibin is full of praise for Saigo, to which Saigo is ashamed, saying that it was all a verbal agreement, but nothing was actually done.

"Originally, this kind of secret work needs to be cautious, if Naohide Hori really gave the drawings, I don't dare to use it, who knows if it's true or not." Qi Bin was very angry, and said that the gold three thousand taels were nothing compared to iron smelting and breech guns, "Hurry up, call the craftsman, Xixiang, you work harder, and if you run again, the prosperity of the Shimazu family will be tied to you." ”

Not long after the departure of Saga and Satsuma, the rice ship finally entered the white main port, and the leader was still John, but this time there were many ships, two steam-sail hybrid ships and a majestic whaling ship.

As soon as I met Naoxiu, the captain who hugged the whaling ship laughed, "Thinking about it at night, Naoxiu is looking forward to you for a long time!" ”