Time is running out, and the White Lord has decided to do a few big things before the snow falls in November, so as to prepare for next year.

The first big thing is, of course, the land grabbing - but the white master is too few people now, so he can only make some preparations in advance, and the official land grabbing will not start until next year.

The conditions for large-scale development of high-latitude cold areas are cold-tolerant crops, sufficient energy (coal or oil) and a large number of materials and population, and it has been nearly a year since Zhixiu arrived at the White Lord, and after practice, he has to admit that the North Ezo Land can only be a pedal, and the business focus will eventually be shifted to the Ezo Land in the south of the White Lord.

Matsumae and North Ezo are separated by only one strait, but the climate is very different, according to later generations, Ezo is a temperate oceanic climate with snow from December to March, while North Ezo has a cold temperate oceanic climate, with winter from November to June in the north and November to April in the southern part of the country.

Relatively speaking, the climate of Ezo is better than that of Northern Ezo, and it is still feasible to grow grain and develop animal husbandry on a large scale.

Naoxiu is now eyeing two places, one big and one small.

The small place is the Soya opposite the white lord, which is the later city of the wind "Wakkanai". Wakkanai Port does not have an ice period, and after the introduction of steamships, it can still be navigated under the influence of the northwest monsoon in winter, while the ice period of Shirakuju Port is from the end of November to March, during which there is no contact with the outside world, which is too unfavorable - of course, there is also an ice-free port on the west coast of Kitazo Land, but it is more remote than Soya.

The big place that was targeted by Naohide is the current East Ezo Land, and the range is the northeast of the Ezo Land, although it is difficult to navigate in winter because of the ice period of the port and the drift ice under the South of the North Sea, but it is rich in resources.

Naohide only honestly came to Beidi to become a contemporary official, because he knew that Ezo and Northern Ezo were rich in minerals and could be used as a small industrial base - North Ezo was rich in carbon, and East Ezo was an open-pit large coal mine, and as for iron ore, the Toshima Peninsula and the Ishikari Plain, which were strictly controlled by the Matsumae family, produced a lot of placer iron ore.

Moreover, there are three large plains in the East Ezo Land, which can be used to grow grain and develop animal husbandry—grain self-sufficiency can be hardened by waist poles, and cattle are still a necessity for arable land for a period of time, and horses are needed for war, so they cannot be ignored.

Naohide took out the map and gave everyone a detailed introduction to the mineral distribution and topography of the Northland, which everyone was surprised by and thought that Naohide had made a secret from the shogunate.

After knowing the advantages of these places, everyone coveted it, and felt that Matsumae's domestic violence was a natural thing, and it was necessary to do it, and they unified their opinions internally.

But the land doesn't come by itself, so how can you put your hand on the territory of the Matsumae family?

At present, the Matsumae clan only controlled the Toshima Peninsula in the southern part of Ezo and part of the Ishikari Plain in the west, and the rest of the place was run by merchants - there were few Matsumae clan lords and samurai in these places, and at most there were some tax offices, so there were many loopholes to exploit.

It is not possible to come hard, until there is enough strength, the shogunate will never hand over the Ezo land to the white lord office - but if the white lord office is strong, the shogunate will definitely not rest assured that Naohide, and if it is not good, Naohide will be transferred away.

It's not easy to do, but it's hard to do.

And the solution that the white master and Naohide came up with together was to mix sand. According to this system, we find a businessman to contract all the places to be occupied, and sign it for ten or eight years, isn't this the fact of possession?

Knowing three days in advance,

A thousand years of wealth. Naohide remembered that four years later, in 1855, the shogunate would assign a large area of land to the imperial domain and put it under the command of Hakodate, leaving only the Matsumae family with the territory they currently controlled closely, so theoretically it would be enough to sign a four- or five-year contract.

But the trick is that after the shogunate set up the Hakodate, the major names were allowed to assist in the defense of the northern land, and the contract signed with the Matsumae family was estimated to be invalid, so what should I do then?

Forget it, in order to have a righteous name, for the sake of insurance, the contract was still signed for nine years, and when the Sakurada Gate Incident broke out in 1860, the shogunate boss Ii Naobi hung up, and the reputation of the shogunate plummeted.

After deciding on the strategy of grabbing the land, the next step was to find a few businessmen to come forward and talk to the Matsumae family.

When it comes to digging pits and harming people, Kinokuniya, Joy and Joy House and Caiya House are not suitable for shirtless, and the money house that has a deep relationship with the Matsumae family is the most suitable, but the government does not have enough control over the money house, and others don't know that Naohide can still know that the money house will be seized by the shogunate this year, so it is absolutely impossible to choose the money house.

Living people can still be suffocated by urine, Naoxiu proposed to simply bubble a few businessmen out, and everyone began to feel unreliable, but after thinking about it carefully, this thing is really good.

Matsumae has always been a businessman's style, recognize money and do not recognize people, although the two hama group, money house is strong, but there is no money and no friendship, as long as the money is enough Matsumae family is not stupid will not push the money out, and both are concerned about the fishing and fur trade, and they can really insert a leg without walking the way of contracting land.

In addition, pushing a few businessmen out is also the way of self-preservation.

Now hunting and exploitation are all hung in the name of the commission, one day the shogunate really transferred Naohide away, all the effort is to make a wedding dress for others, and if the property is hung in the name of the merchant, then the shogunate will get just an empty shell - of course the shogunate can turn its face, but isn't there still a war rebellion. When the time comes, Bai will take the initiative to swing, and the king will not come out, what is the master of Naibai? Zhixiu's development of the Northland, there is no credit and hard work, and the cost of turning the face is too high, which can be regarded as stabilizing Zhixiu's position.

As soon as the idea was opened, everyone thought that this thing was feasible, so there was only one problem left, who would be the businessman?

At this time, merchants can also carry knives, isn't that the case with the Iron Cannon Grandmaster Takashima Akiho. Nowadays, there are many big merchants under the command of the shogunate and the princes who act in this way, and they are also samurai while making money. Therefore, everyone is not particularly resistant to being a businessman, of course, the premise is to be a wealthy businessman.

But the problem is that Miao Zi has to have a head of the family with a knife, if this businessman who pushes it out is still a retainer of Zhixiu, a fool can see that there is a problem. Moreover, what if the Matsumae family knew that this merchant was a retainer of the Hori family, what if they were vigilant and the contract could not be signed?

Someone also proposed, then don't let the Matsumae family know, this person doesn't say how can the Matsumae family know? Naoxiu smiled bitterly, the Matsumae family is not stupid, and the contemporary head of the family, Matsumae Chongguang, is also a master, and the businessman who pushes out will definitely not be able to do it without a safe heel.

Mr. Egawa Tanan and Oguri Tadashun are both shoguns, and they are not suitable for wading in this troubled water from all aspects, and in the daimyo that Naohide has a connection with, Saga Nabeshima Qi Zheng is better than a monkey can not be deceived, Satsuma Shimazu Qibin and Uwajima Date Muneshi have never seen each other, and the friendship is not enough, after thinking about it, it is more suitable for Tosa Yamauchi Toyonobu, one is that Naohide is barely and Yamauchi Toyonobu is a "cloth friend", the two had a friendship before they were developed, and the other is that Yamauchi Toyobu owes Koguri Tadashun and Mr. Tanan a favor, And the Yamauchi family has no foundation in the shogunate, so it is estimated that he can sell face - Naohide will not cheat him, and after signing a contract with the Matsumae family, he will immediately turn the merchant into a retainer of the Hori family, and whitewash the Yamauchi family in advance.

In addition to Ryoma, Naohide

There are also seven subordinates from Tosa, all of whom were students of his original private school in Kochi, and when they heard that the teacher became an acting official, these seven came to defect in the spring.

Among them, the one who is closer to Naohide is Kondo Chojiro.,It's the son of the owner of the steamed bun shop in the incident where Yurong stole steamed buns and then hit people to cause the Yamauchi family sergeant to pull out a knife.,He later joined Naohide's private school to study.,This time to the white master did well.,It's already a fan group leader.。

Naohide has a life-saving grace and a friendship between master and apprentice for Chojiro, and he is the benefactor of Chojiro's promotion from a townsman to a samurai, so he can be entrusted with big things.

As the head of the fan group, Chojiro is eligible to attend the evaluation meeting - this is a special excuse for Naohide to prevent the two fan heads from making excuses, and these fan group heads are personally involved in secret trade, which can be regarded as having a name for the exchange.

Chojiro is very keen, he listened carefully just now, and it is obvious that this businessman's status in the future is very high, although he can no longer serve in the commission, but the strength and name in charge are not trivial, and he belongs to Naohide's important chess piece hidden in the shadows, so he took the initiative to take on this matter.

Naohide and Chojiro made it clear that, first, this matter is risky; Second, he will not monopolize power in the future, there will be people transferred to the Chamber of Commerce, and Naoxiu will also send a ruler to control every move of the Chamber of Commerce, he is just a face.

In this regard, Chojiro was relieved, he knew that he was still inadequate, and he might not be able to afford it if it was all on him, but Chojiro, who was born in a steamed bun shop, thought very clearly, wealth and danger, if he wanted to stand out in the small team of Naoxiu, he must have a low background to be able to take the position - Naohide didn't know, he handed over the rice people to do secret trade and two big hunts to shock his subordinates, and everyone's confidence in him was more than Naoxiu himself. These subordinates are all from very low backgrounds, but their ambitions are not small, and they know that with their low-level samurai backgrounds, they can only leap into the dragon gate by following Naoxiu, and they all hope that Naoxiu can go further, so that they can make a fortune with their promotion.

People are harmless to tigers, and tigers are harmful to people's hearts. The Matsumae family really doesn't have much ill intentions towards Naohide, but there must be a conflict of interests.

The southward expansion was followed by the northward expansion.

The Lusia people have already set up a post station in Miaotun this year, and will set up a winter camp on the north bank of the Wulong River estuary next year. After that, the infantry will land on the west bank of North Ezo, and the warships will survey the coast, and then they will definitely "visit" the white lord.

As the saying goes, strike first to be strong and then suffer, and there will be a war between the Governor's Office and the Lucians from June to August next year, so we must be prepared this year.

The ice period at the mouth of the Wulong River was from early November to late May of the following year, and now it is early October, and everyone unanimously agreed to send two ships north to survey the vicinity of Miaotun.

Direct investigation is not possible, and the meeting has to fight, and the only way to do it is through the local residents, so the former Ainu head Suketaro appears again - the local residents of the Wulong River Estuary speak a similar language to the Ainu people, and some tribes are Ainu.

Otou Suketaro has been active since his naturalization, but he has not made many meritorious contributions - there are many Ainu who help the money house, and there are also a few people who are new to Japanese, so although the major head of the tribe has been outstanding several times, it is not necessary for him.

After being naturalized, Suketaro found out that his family was a commoner at the White Lord's Office, and although the Office abolished various rituals, he himself felt unreliable and wanted to become a samurai.

Naohide promised Suketaro that as long as he had a relationship with the coastal tribes this time, he would be promoted to a samurai regardless of whether he could find out about the defense geography of Miaotun, and Suketaro was very excited, saying that he would not come back if he couldn't complete the task.

Zhixiu laughed when he heard this, how could there be such an easy thing in the world.