When the fleet sailed into Edo Bay, the Japanese gave a very high reception specification, and Ataka Maru actually walked a few nautical miles by paddling to greet him, looking at his bulky body, the sailors on this side of the Chinese fleet sincerely admired their Japanese counterparts, this is the rhythm of a tired dog!

Jiang Tian stood on the bridge and saw the pride of Japan for the first time, there was no grandeur or disdain in his heart, in his eyes the ship technology of this era is still in the primitive exploration stage, it is normal for a few freaks to appear, the first Chinese in history to put the giant wooden sailing ship into practical use, but unfortunately later the entire process and experience were lost, and when Jiang Tian took over the shipbuilding industry, his technical standards were too advanced, so there was a huge gap in the history of Chinese ships, Although this gap does not have to be filled, if there is a chance to see examples of backwardness and proven failures, it will be of great educational significance to Chinese designers.

Hoshina knew in his heart that Atakamaru would not be able to defeat the Yasukai, but the Tokugawa family was proud enough to build such a big ship. Besides, this ship's mission is to hold Edo Bay and carry out strategic deterrence against other foreign daimyos, and it is not used to fight against a maritime hegemon like China.

Jiang Tian, who had made up his mind, decided to hold a handful of the Japanese first: "Lord Baoke, this warship of your country is really powerful, and it is enough to see that General Tokugawa's military strength is strong. ”

"Lord Jiang has won the award, how dare my country show off this little skill of carving insects in front of your country!" Although Baoke was very modest in his mouth, the expression on his face betrayed him, and he had a typical insincere smile.

"This official is not talented, and in the Chinese court, it can be regarded as having some relationship with the navy, and today I see the majesty of your country's navy, and I have an idea, I don't know whether to talk about it or not?"

Although Masayuki Hoshina didn't know what Jiang Tian was going to do, he still replied politely: "If you have something to say, if my Tokugawa family can help anything, it can be regarded as doing a part for the friendship between the two countries." ”

These days of contact have made Baoshina Masayuki also have a bunch of new words in his mouth, Jiang Tian smiled and nodded: "I want to propose that the officers of both sides board each other's ships to visit and learn and exchange their experience in sailing, I don't know what you think?" ”

Jiang Tian was worried that the Japanese had concerns, so he proposed to visit each other, in fact, the Japanese in this era knew how to keep the technology secret, and besides, their shipbuilding level was not necessary to be kept secret, so even without Jiang Tian's request, the Japanese would like to be able to show their pride to the Chinese.

After listening to Jiang Tian's proposal, Bao Ke's heart blossomed, but he still had to maintain a reserved smile on his face: "I need to consult the general for this matter, but I personally think there is no problem." ”

When the Jinghai docked steadily on the dock, Ataka Maru also carried out mooring operations with the help of dock workers, but the standing posture of the Jinghai sailors and the snow-white sailor suit gave the Japanese a very strong impact, which is different from Sakai Port, where there are still most merchants and civilians, they just watch a lively, this is the special dock of the Tokugawa navy, the Japanese sailors have not seen this formation, the last time Li Xiuyuan led the team to visit, the various ritual regulations have not been formulated. From their professional point of view, the quality of these Chinese counterparts is absolutely first-class, of course, they think that they are not bad, as long as they can have a good ship like China, they are also fearless.

It's still the same old way in Sakai Port, when the carriage that was so windy that it was blinded was put down, all the Japanese who had never seen this car were stunned like chickens, but these samurai-born officials could still maintain their own image, and there was enough reason for Hoshina Masayuki to despise his colleagues and think that these uninformed guys were really humiliating.

The welcome ceremony of the Tokugawa family is not not grand, which can be seen only from the common people who knelt down on both sides of the road, and now China is gradually promoting the etiquette of not kneeling when seeing officials, and the banner is to revive the ancient system. Maybe you don't have to kneel when you see the emperor one day, let alone kneel an official.

In fact, when the whole fleet of people saw Edo Castle from afar on the seaside, if it wasn't for a special explanation, they wouldn't regard this earthen weizi as the political center of Japan, and if they saw the Japanese in Kyoto, then everyone in Edo really understood why Emperor Zhang liked to call each other Little Japan. Not to mention the dock that docked at the Jinghai and Atakamaru and there is no vacant place, and not to mention the entire market that is not much different from the fishing village, let's just say that the main city where the general of Zhengyi lives, and you are embarrassed to say that it is a castle if you build a landlord's compound on a mound? This time, even Wu Yuan, who has always been very steady, wanted to complain, but he really couldn't understand why such a country should have equal relations with him.

"Countries should not be judged by whether they are strong or not, but by whether they are worthy of our exchanges, even if the country is still in a primitive society, but as long as we can get what we want through dialogue and trade, then it is necessary to give due respect!"

When the car drove to the gate of Edo Castle, the advance personnel of the navy could not wait to board the Ataka Maru, which was originally the largest warship in Asia at the end of the Ming Dynasty, and it has always been a direct manifestation of its large and uselessness, but it is not completely useless, because the appearance of this ship made the daimyo who had different intentions for the Tokugawa family in various parts of Japan have to temporarily put away the idea of rebellion, and even many smaller daimyo did not dare to resist until they were cut. This is probably the most important and only use of this ship - strategic deterrence!

It's a pity that the Japanese don't understand this word now, and even if they understand that after seeing the Jinghai, they more or less understand that their trump card is useless. At the same time, there was also a group of Japanese pointing fingers on the Jinghai, they were all the elite of the Tokugawa family's naval army, naturally they were more knowledgeable than Hoshina Masayuki, and through observation they found that they were not only lagging behind China in shipbuilding technology, but in the overall field of the navy, they were completely at a disadvantage! Even if they are reluctant to admit this fact, the reality is here, and they can't help but admit it.

If it is said that when it was compared with the Zheng family fleet in the past, it was only slightly inferior to the ships and sailing experience (in fact, the gap was huge). So now it seems that the Zheng family's pirate navy is also different from this kind of regular army, there is a gap to have motivation, with their level can not discover the root of the strength of the Chinese Navy, but this can't stop them from thinking wildly.

Unlike the Japanese, the Chinese Navy's visitors had a clear division of labor from the very beginning, and the personnel of each different post were inspected according to their own responsibilities, and made all-round observations on the quality of personnel, professional level, equipment, etc. This sea castle with a displacement of up to 1,500 tons does look more majestic than the slender Jinghai next to it, but this is useless, the Japanese who don't know how to do it can still boast about it, but the Chinese group of sailors slowly turned into disdain from the solemn expression at the beginning, what is big and inappropriate? That's it! Not to mention that there are not a few guns on such a large ship, just look at the level of firearms of the Japanese, which is boasted by many Japanese fans as a well-made Tanegashima musket, in the eyes of these soldiers, it is needless to say that it is compared with the active equipment of China, even the bird guns of the former Ming Dynasty are not worse than it, not to mention the artillery, even the artillery of the Ming Dynasty is a few streets away from the Japanese, as for the mobility of the ship, you don't even need to look at it, China has also made giant wooden sailing ships, and the ratio of length to width of the ship is not high, but in order to push the treasure ship forward, But 12 sails were set! The Japanese let a ship of his caliber rely on manpower to advance, and if there was a war, the Chinese warships only needed to swim downwind to exhaust the Japanese, and they didn't even need to open fire.

If there are any advantages to the Ataka Maru, it is that the ship is relatively new, the sturdiness is acceptable, and it can withstand several rounds of solid shells, especially since there are few firearms, and the possibility of ammunition detonation is relatively low. In fact, in the eyes of these Chinese navies, this ship is not so much a warship as a mobile sea fortress, of course, provided that the number of artillery is tripled, and armor and structural reinforcement are laid in key positions.

Putting aside the evaluation of the Ataka Maru, Jiang Tian has made a new gain in the field of diplomacy, probably because of the low defense capability of Edo Castle, the Tokugawa family secretly made a request to purchase ten red-coated cannons to strengthen the defense capability of Edo Castle. Although it is not as tempting as the warship order, and we still have the Netherlands as a competitor in this deal, no matter how small the fly is, it is meat, at least catch this order in our hands first. And Jiang Tian also understood that the reason why the Tokugawa family would buy artillery was probably not to want these artillery to fall into the hands of the opposition, but they ignored a problem, that is, China's military production capacity is no longer what it used to be.

At this time, the shogun was Tokugawa Iemitsu, a man with some courage in doing things, and it was during his tenure that he completed Japan's policy of seclusion, and basically laid the foundation for the later history of Japan. The general seemed to be very good at taking measures, but after a symbolic meeting with Jiang Tian, he no longer showed up, everything was handled by his brother, whom he trusted very much, and as for whether he liked those Chinese weapons as samples, no one could reveal anything. Jiang Tian knew very well that the root cause of Japan's closure was that Tokugawa Iemitsu wanted to cut off the opposition forces' ties with overseas, but when the Jinghai sailed into Edo Bay for the first time, this general, who was still somewhat capable, knew that the attempt to lock the country had failed, and although he also secretly supported the sabotage of Li Xiuyuan's first visit to Japan, the combat effectiveness of the Chinese Navy was really terrifying, and the unbearable memory of the Japanese was awakened again, and the Tang Navy, which had shattered the Japanese dream of dominating the mainland, came back from the dead.

What choice did Tokugawa Iemitsu or all Japanese people have? There is no other way but to repeat yesterday's story and surrender again to an unusually powerful neighbor. But what is also frustrating for Tokugawa Iemitsu is that it seems that no one in Japan except him sees the danger of New China, and there is a group of people who are rushing to sell Japan's interests in exchange for the military strength to overthrow the shogunate, so he hates Jiang Tian very much, can it be that launching a ninja to assassinate this Chinese minister can solve the problem? Not to mention that the current Chinese emperor is a complete warmonger, let's just say that those Chinese ships anchored outside the port, any one of them carries a large number of artillery, according to the records of the last Seto Inland naval battle, these cannons can almost directly hit Edo Castle, if Edo Castle is destroyed, then the Tokugawa family will also usher in the end. In desperation, he could only avoid it for reasons of good health, and sent his most trusted and loyal brother to deal with him.

Jiang Tian also knows this, he likes this feeling of "you don't like me but you can't kill me", and it is estimated that the Japanese of later generations will also have this mentality when they look at Americans. But the current China has not yet been able to fully deduce the demeanor of the United States, because Japan has not experienced a complete defeat, a failure that was completely strangled by the new China to kill the last glimmer of hope, otherwise he Jiang Tian would not be the current status of a special envoy, but the Emperor MacArthur sent by the Chinese Dynasty to Japan to reign in the opposition! China needs a victory and Japan needs a defeat, this is the key to Jiang Tian's script can be promoted, but unfortunately Zhang Tao's attention is not here, Jiang Tian can only retreat to directing a proxy war, and eventually turn the winner into his puppet. Therefore, for Jiang Tian, it does not matter that the Japanese force wins, and it is always China that will gain the greatest benefits in the end.

After two days of negotiation, the envoy fleet finally sold out all the goods, and it was time to return to China with enough resources, and finally the carriage was also sent to the Tokugawa family with the carriage and horses, which was also regarded as a recognition of its position as the leader of Japan, as for Jiang Tian's most anticipated battleship sales contract, it was temporarily shelved because the price between the two sides was not negotiated, which made Jiang Tian very unhappy, so he negotiated with the emperor's connector to sell the improved Fubune at a lower price, and secretly assembled the Ming Dynasty version of the Franc cannon for self-defense firepower. The ships delivered will be second-hand old ships that sail between the Tianjin-Sakai port under the banner of merchants directly under the emperor's direct authority, and this type of ship with enough artillery is already able to move sideways off the coast of Japan.

"I wonder what the kind of artillery you are talking about is performing?" After all, the ninja of the joint is not a weapon expert, so he is very concerned about whether he is losing money in this transaction.

Jiang Tian said to himself noncommittally about this kind of question: "It would be nice if there was a target......

The ninja didn't dare to say anything more, for fear that he would be tied to a small boat and used as a target to shoot. When the envoy fleet sailed out of Edo Bay, Atakamaru escorted it all the way. Although it was nominally an escort and was actually a surveillance, it didn't let it follow for too long, and when the speed of the ship reached six knots, the cumbersome Ataka Maru was pulled farther and farther away until it disappeared. The fleet used to serve as a merchant ship is equipped with artillery, and it happens to be the Fran cannon, which was once used in the Ming Dynasty large-scale equipment of the artillery is very versatile, this time the sea for each merchant ship with six guns, but when sailing into the Japanese port in order to avoid unnecessary trouble, it was temporarily put in the cabin, originally did not expect that there was a chance to sell these guns, now it seems that this arrangement is simply too prescient.

"Sir......" Wu Yuan said worriedly: "After returning to Sakai Port to replenish supplies, we will sell these twenty-four cannons, although this saves space and reduces the load, but after all, it has not yet left Japan, in case it ......"

Wu Yuan is worried about the safety of the fleet, in fact, he is most worried about the safety of the prince, don't look at the firepower of these twenty-four guns in battle is far less powerful than the Jinghai and the accompanying destroyers, but after all, it is also a layer of security, and selling it so early will affect the safety.

"Don't worry!" Jiang Tian said confidently.

Sure enough, when the fleet had just sailed into the Seto Inland Sea, the receiving fleet secretly arranged by Jiang Tian also arrived at the same time, this was a rapid reaction fleet composed of three destroyers, which was originally a blockade force deployed around Taiwan, although it did not catch up with the envoy fleet to sail together, but after a simple repair, the method of replacing people without changing ships rushed to the periphery of Sakai Port on time to wait for the envoy fleet to return, the reason for this arrangement is because Jiang Tian did not trust the Japanese, There is also a fear that ships loaded with large quantities of silver and copper ingots will be too attractive and will make some people take risks. In addition, because there was no radio at this time, let alone satellite positioning, it was difficult for the two fleets to meet at a fixed point on the vast sea, on the contrary, the location of the port was fixed, and it was reasonable to arrange it at the gate of Sakai Port.

It's a pity that the Japanese don't see it that way, and the three destroyers just blocked the doorway, although it didn't affect the operation of the port, but no one knew what the ships were going to do, so they sent someone to ask, right? Few people dared to go. Just when they were worried, the envoy fleet returned smoothly, and after the three destroyers exchanged flags with the Jinghai, they dispersed in a search formation to be on alert, which made the Japanese feel a lot more calm, but fortunately they didn't come to find fault. The choice to dock at Sakai Port again was not only to resupply and sell artillery, but also because the six Japanese women who had been arranged to spread job advertisements should return, and Jiang Tian wanted to inspect their work, and more importantly, he wanted to see how the Tokugawa spy performed.

Jiang Tian didn't get off the boat, looking at the chaotic immigration team on the dock was a little funny, the six women simply overfulfilled the task, I thought that this time each person brought back an average of two or three people, but seeing that the formation of helping the old and the young had the meaning of moving the family, fortunately, he asked in advance to recruit only young and middle-aged and single women of appropriate age, otherwise it would become a scene of escape for the old and the young. Thinking of this, Jiang Tian suddenly had a flash of inspiration, although Zhang Tao did not let him take the initiative to create civil strife in Japan, but what if the curve strategy was adopted? For example, using the population to settle the arms can suffer a little loss in price, but it can definitely exacerbate the flow of people in Japan and artificially increase Japan's inflation, even if Tokugawa Iemitsu reacts to the ban on population loss, I am afraid that he will not dare to cut off trade with China, but before that he can get enough women to fill the border. For the sake of stability in the northern border area, even Zhang Tao will not stop himself from doing so.

Thinking of this, Jiang Tian finally breathed a sigh of relief, his seemingly glamorous visit this time did not actually make substantial diplomatic progress, even if others can't see this, he himself knows it, and now he finally has a breakthrough, and it is not a futile.