The war against Japan was not a burden on the military. On the contrary, the army, which has a strong expansionist tendency, is very satisfied with the opportunity to use the weak chicken enemy to brush up on military merits.

As a good opportunity to further open up the Japanese market, all the capital groups in the Chinese Viceroyalty expressed their support for sending troops to sanction the shogunate. In order to better discuss the details of this war, and also to give the capitalists who are willing to bear part of the military expenses a stage to negotiate and share the cake, led by the governor of Qin, dozens of large and small business groups gathered at the governor's palace tonight to attend the war dinner held by the governor himself.

Fuzhou Shipyard is a comprehensive shipyard developed in recent years, which was the first to undertake the merchant ship maintenance business of the Ao-Song people and saved the first pot of gold.

This time, when he heard that Ao Song was going to Japan, the shipyard owner immediately made a decision and sent his heir, Zhao An, who is also the eldest son of the grandson, to Taipei, hoping to get a little oil and water from it.

Since it is not a local group of the Ao Song people, Zhao An put his position very low this time. He thought very clearly this time, the shipyard behind him could not take the lion's share, and this time he participated in the dinner more to leave a little trace in the circle of the Australian Song people, and lay a good foundation for becoming the "own person" of the Australian Song Dynasty in the future.

"Mr. Zhao, please come in."

The waiter in a white waiter's suit gently opened the gilded maple door for Zhao An, revealing the palatial hall in front of the latter's eyes.

Zhao An smiled and nodded, carefully checked the suit on his body to make sure there was no wrinkle, and then walked into the hall.

The decoration style of the Ao-Song people is very different from that on the other side of the strait, which Zhao An has long known. The main colors of this hundreds of square meters of banquet hall are ivory white and gold, and a large number of plaster reliefs decorate the ceiling very three-dimensionally, unlike the lobby of the home of the Fujian political envoy, and you can see the wooden beams when you look up.

There are no oil lamps or oil wax common in the Ming Kingdom in the hall, but smokeless candles unique to the Australian Song Dynasty. Candles were attached to the chandeliers, which were hung from the ceiling, shining a bright light without a glare of smoke.

At this time, there were already many guests in the hall who were holding wine glasses to discuss.

Zhao An kept a smile and greeted a few familiar Ming businessmen, but he regretted it a little in his heart. He really saw that the Australian Song people with short hair were all wearing Song-style Hanfu, while the Ming people from the mainland were all wearing solemn suits. If a stranger walks in, be sure to make a mistake about who is from the Australian Song Dynasty and who is from the Ming Kingdom.

In front of him, a middle-aged man wearing gold-rimmed glasses raised his wine glass to Zhao An, and Zhao An smiled and took a glass of fruit wine from the waiter's tray and touched the glass with the man: "Good evening, Mr. Su, you are here too." ”

The middle-aged man surnamed Su also responded with a smile: "Yes, I heard that the Great Song Dynasty is going to crusade against the Japanese people, don't I also want to contribute something to it." ”

Zhao An laughed, but his heart was very cold. The person in front of him is a shipbuilder from Hangzhou, who has been suppressing his family's business in the past, and has only been evenly divided in recent years, but he didn't expect him to run so far to come over.

"I don't know how Brother Su is here to help Da Song?"

Su smiled and waved his hand: "My shipyard is not good at building small boats, and I have no intention of competing with Brother Zhao for the order of the Great Song Dynasty." This time I came to see if I could get the business of the Song people's transport ship. ”

Zhao Anxin was relieved for a while, but he still didn't dare to say anything, looking like money was ownerless and capable.

A few more related colleagues came around, so Zhao An apologized to Su, greeted those people, and exchanged business cards from the Song people by the way.

Just when Zhao An and the others were still getting to know each other and expanding their contacts, in a meeting room outside the hall, the big names who really dominated the banquet were talking.

Sitting on the sofa next to the Governor, I kept an impeccable aristocratic smile and faced the representatives of the capitalists sitting in a circle.

Those who are qualified to come to this room are all bigwigs who can achieve a monopoly position in a certain field.

The Yuanhang Group in the navigation industry, the Luzon Plains Group in the agricultural trade, the Dasong North Military Industry Co., Ltd. in the arms industry, and the Daming Northeast Commercial Group that I have dealt with...

From logistics to transportation to frontal battlefields, all aspects of this war were contracted by various capitalists. In other words, the military uniform on the body, the food in the mouth, the bullets fired, every potentially profitable detail was grasped by the merchants like vultures who asked about the smell of carrion.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am glad that you are here to contribute to the great cause of expanding the territory of the Great Song Dynasty." Although everyone knows that this war is fought to expand the power in Japan and grab more benefits. But such a purely superficial effort is necessary at all times.

With his back to the Morning Star Banner of the Republic and the Sun and Moon Banner of the Viceroyalty of China, the Governor smiled at the merchants in front of him and patted me on the shoulder: "Next, I would like to invite Major Li Ruchu of the Navy to introduce the situation in Japan to you." ”

Amid the applause, I stood up and bowed slightly to the governor and the merchants. The fact that one of my major was the introducer was undoubtedly a semi-public expression of the Governor's respect for me. Although the armies of the various colonial states were not under the command of the governor-general, the influence of politicians on the military never disappeared.

I turned around and pulled down a map, took out a commanding officer, and explained to everyone in the room the latest news on the battlefield of Nagasaki.

Relying on the fortresses and fortifications designed by the Ao-Song engineers, the allied Shogunate forces, which began a full-scale offensive after receiving the news of the official declaration of war by the Austro-Song Dynasty, have been making slow progress. Over the past week, the shogunate's samurai legions have been battered by the modernized defense lines, even though they are also facing soldiers from the Saga Domain, who are physically and tactically poor.

"According to the latest information, we have abandoned the outer line of defense and concentrated our forces in the fortified area along the line between Oga Village and Minaa Village, and at the same time built a temporary fortress on Mt. Karatori to threaten the right flank of the shogunate army." I said, pointing to the circles marked on the map.

"The bad news is that the Tokugawa family has mobilized their navy and blockaded the waters of Nagasaki Free City, and merchant ships are no longer able to enter and leave the port. The good news is that the fort we built in the port of Nagasaki has worked more than expected, and all the military ports are intact and we can dock directly at the port. ”

"How many troops does the military decide to send?" The next person asked.

"The Pacific Fleet has assembled the main forces of the Taiwanese detachment, including two old battleships and six destroyers, and there is no problem in lifting the blockade of the shogunate."

"In terms of land forces, the Liaonan Regiment of the Marine Corps will send two battalions of marines, and at the same time, the 1st Regiment of the 2nd Division of the Dongjiang Army will be transferred to Phi Island. In addition, two companies of Japanese vassals sent by the Saga clan to Jeju Island for training would be dispersed into the battalions to serve as guides and interpreters. ”

"That is, there will probably be an expeditionary force of more than four thousand people?"

"Yes, sir, that's totally sufficient."

The man smiled and waved his hand: "I didn't doubt the combat effectiveness of the boys, it's just..."

The Governor nodded to me, motioned for me to stand down, and stood up himself, saying, "You don't need to worry about business. In return for this dispatch, the Saga clan will order 2,000 sets of military equipment from us, as well as a large number of related civilian products. ”

He pulled a stack of papers from the table and motioned for me to hand them to the merchants below.

"After defeating the shogunate army, the Tokugawa clan will agree to our conditions for further opening up the market, which can be regarded as a futures reward for you."

At this secret meeting, the Governor displayed the qualities of a professional colonist. The market, the tax rate, this is the thing that all imperialist businessmen care about the most. Compared to the vast market of the whole of Japan, orders from the Saga Domain, which can be directly grasped in hand, are not on the table.

In order to gain more support, the Governor did not hesitate to tear off the fig leaf of the colonists, and openly distributed the details of the relevant treaties proposed by the staff of the Governor's Palace.

Extraterritoriality, consular jurisdiction, one-sided most-favored-nation treatment, negotiated tariffs... If the Governor had extinguished the candles, I am sure that the house would have been illuminated by the green light that came out of the eyes of the capitalists.

Well, for a moment I felt like I was in the middle of a pack of wolves in Liaodong.

"Gentlemen." After everyone in the room had read the details of the treaty, the Governor smiled and clapped his hands, attracting everyone's attention. He raised his glass and said loudly to the people below: "In order to relieve the Tokugawa shogunate of the threat to the Japanese administration, and to punish the Japanese government for its shameful act of reneging on the Song-Japan Treaty, our invincible Wehrmacht will surely teach the Japanese people an unforgettable lesson!" ”

Everyone below looked at each other and smiled, and raised their glasses in response to the governor: "We will fully cooperate!" ”

Once the inner circle had reached a consensus, the Governor left the room with the others and headed to the banquet hall where the marginal forces were concentrated.

Zhao An, who was talking and laughing absentmindedly, heard the shout of "Your Excellency the Governor has arrived", and immediately put down the wine glass with his friends around him, and turned to face the open hall door.

I saw the governor wearing a black military uniform, wearing a golden tassel belt and several military medals slowly walking into the hall.

Zhao An bowed to the governor with everyone, but his eyes kept observing the man who ruled most of the coastal areas of the Ming Kingdom.

The governor from the Ao-Song Dynasty is close to fifty, which is already an old man in the Ming Kingdom. And in the Australian Song Dynasty, where the average life expectancy was much ahead of the times, the Governor General could still be regarded as a middle-aged politician in the prime of life. The military career when he was young gave this solemn-faced feudal official a momentum of not being angry and arrogant, as well as a strong physique, which made Zhao An subconsciously feel that he was better than a general and a bureaucrat, at least not like a bureaucrat of the Ming Kingdom.