"Let's talk about foreign things, what are the customs of the people there, and what is the strength of the Southern Barbarian army." General Zhengyi's words interrupted Zhikura's thoughts.

In the face of the questions of the lord of Japan, he said a lot, from the Philippines to New Spain, from Madrid to Rome, and of course the documents transmitted by the Pope and Philip III to the 'King of Mutsu' were not included, but there was a general description of how the Spaniards opened up their overseas territories and their daily life, trade and warfare, and as for the relations between Spain, Portugal, and England and the Netherlands, there was also some general information about the relationship between Spain and Portugal, and Miura was an adviser to the shogunate.

"In short, the situation in Europa is quite complicated, and if it were in China's case, it would probably still be in the Warring States period, and the state of Spain should be similar to the previous Taiko among the countries of Europa. And the Pope ......," Zhikura said here, hesitating slightly, but continuing to speak, "The Pope is quite equal to His Majesty the Emperor of our country. ”

Tokugawa Hidetada was a little moved, and sure enough, he was affected by this well-designed metaphor, "What ...... Toyotomi family?"

His Royal Highness the General muttered to himself, as if he had some meaningful association.

"I heard that you also met some special Tang people this time, they seem to be called Australians, right?" At this time, Yi Xin Chongling, who had been silent on the side, suddenly asked, this shogunate's foreign affairs and trade adviser really seemed to be very sensitive.

"There is indeed a group of Tang people who have built ports and workshops in Borneo in the South Seas, and they have created things with great ingenuity."

"They made this fan and that mercury mirror?" Tokugawa Hidetada was also a little moved when he heard this, and glanced at the gift that Zhikura Tsunaga had offered at first.

The hand-cranked fan was a common cooling device in the homes of Japanese aristocrats at the end of the Edo period, except for the need to rely on hand-cranked power instead of electricity, the rest of the main structure is no different from that of later generations of electric fans. It's just that this machine adopts a more complex gear transmission structure, which is quite labor-saving to shake, and the effect is much better than that of the folding fan, and it is smaller than the ordinary human wind curtain. The gift specially made by the Senate is much more exquisite than the original 200 years later, and the local gold and silver craftsmen in Sanya are invited to add a base decoration, and the three fan blades are all made of good cloth with straight pulp, which depicts the heroic posture of the shogunate army in the winter and summer battles of Sekigahara and Osaka respectively in ukiyo-e techniques, and the picture is very bright. The leaf is not much different from a work of art with a bamboo frame, but it is very practical, which makes His Royal Highness the General love it very much.

But the general's favorite is obviously the floor mercury mirror, I heard Zhicang say that the Australians call it a dressing mirror, but it is indeed worthy of the name, presumably his wife Ajiang will be very fond of the meeting, everyone is moral Chuan Xiu is loyal to the inside, in fact, the husband and wife respect each other and the matter is enough for outsiders, but also because of this, Zhicang's mind is a little more happy.

Next, under the attention of the general, Changchang Zhicang naturally introduced the affairs of the Australians, and the content was of course screened, and it was all pretended to be heard from the maritime merchants. During this period, Zhicang was even shocked to realize that his position had already been biased towards the Australian Song, even though he wanted to save the life of Che Chi Dan, but he inadvertently said good things for the chiefs in his words, and the spearhead was unconsciously pointed at the Spaniards who were originally trying to protect Che Chi Dan.

But he was secretly frightened by the emergence of this situation but gradually calmed down, thinking about it carefully, such a change of mentality seems to have started from a trip to Sanya, but he can't figure out whether this change is after eating fruit shaved ice in Sanya or watching the cannon drill of the Australian Song army, maybe it is only because he saw that Chezhidan lives much better in Sanya than Manila, and this trip to the Australian city was naturally deliberately concealed.

"There are Australian maritime merchants who will accompany you back to Japan this time?" Yi Xin Chongling asked again.

"Indeed, there are a few of them in Nagasaki right now." Nagasaki was the leader of the shogunate, and although it was customary for Nagasaki to return to Edo after the trade season in October every year, it did not prevent Hasegawa Gonroku, a relative of Hasegawa Gonroku (note: Hasegawa Gonroku's uncle was the former Nagasaki governor Hasegawa Fujihiro, and Fujihiro's sister was Tokugawa Ieyasu's side room Axia) to send back news to the shogunate, so he was also calm about the old monk's temptation.

"How do they come from for you to know?"

"It is said that it was for the purpose of opening a trading hall to trade in Japan, and the relevant documents must have been submitted to Nagasaki for implementation."

Hearing that it was for trade, Tokugawa Hidetada inquired carefully, and became curious when he heard that these strange people were not willing to buy copper for gold and silver. After all, most of those Nanban merchants were for Japan's gold and silver, at this time, the gold and silver ratio in Europe was about 1:16, and the price comparison between Japan and the Ming Dynasty was much lower, always around 1:6, it was a big deal just to exchange the goods for gold, which was often done by the Dutch East India Company, and the silver produced in Japan was also much and cheap, and the things in the sea trade were still known a lot because the shogunate valued Tokugawa Hidetada. However, there was a lot of gold and silver in Japan, and as long as they could buy the goods they needed, the shogunate did not care too much about the outflow of precious metals.

But whether it is a foreign merchant or a Tang merchant, even if he does not want gold or silver, he will choose lacquerware or swords, and copper is indeed a common commodity, but there will be no Tang merchant who only buys this thing, even if it is a good thing, it will be prepared to some extent, after all, the market always changes, and the merchant must not put this profit on the same goods. And in the past, some people specialized in trading Japanese copper, because Japanese copper is mostly associated with gold and silver, as long as the method of refining is a matter of great profit, but since the Keicho period, the wind of copper smelting in Japan has flourished, and there are thousands of large and small copper smelting institutes in Osaka alone, and many craftsmen have learned how to smelt gold and silver from copper materials, and they will not easily sell raw copper to maritime merchants.

However, it is strange to say that this Australian maritime business has refined copper ingots, and it seems that it really doesn't matter whether there is gold and silver.

"What do they want so much copper for?"

"Australians are skilled in workmanship, and I heard that this copper is not only used to make guns and cannons, but also to build ships."

"Ship from copper?"

"It's not about building a ship, it's about wrapping the bottom of the ship with a thin sheet of copper, so that the boat can travel for a long time."

As far as he could, he explained what he had seen in the Australian shipyard, including the steel keel and the windless automatic steam engine, but he still heard about it under the pretense of being a maritime officer, and he had specifically instructed the shogunate to make it clear that the Senate was also planning to sell limited-powered steam engines to the major powers.

When Tokugawa Hidetada heard this, he said, "Can they still make guns and cannons?" Have you seen that ship with your own eyes? So they also have an army, and their combat power is the same as that of Spain. ”

A series of questions came to his face, which made Zhicang a little difficult to parry, and he finally stabilized his voice before he said: "The military strength of the Australians is comparable to that of Spain, but it is only in Luzon, but I have only heard of that ship and have never seen it." ”

In fact, he had never seen the Australians fight, but what he saw in Sanya felt that the Australian military should be stronger than the Westerners, especially the big ship that could be sailless and automatic, and the cannon was not comparable to Manila, but he deliberately reserved it in front of the general.

"What do Australians believe in?" The person who asked the question was replaced by a person who worships him with his heart.

Zhicang thought for a while, "In my opinion, it is similar to the Tang people, and there is not much faith, and it is just a matter of following the customs." But ......"

"But what?"

"They're not as good at gambling as the average Don." Chinese businessmen are good at speculation, whether it is trade or weekday card games, gambling is extremely heavy, and many people earn a lot of money and the big business can not last, and the leaders are indeed beyond reproach on this point.

"Are they selling goods like this fan and mercury mirror?" Tokugawa Hidetada continued to pick up the conversation, in fact, although he liked this thing a lot, it was not the shogunate's favorite, but the guns and steamships he just talked about sounded more in line with the samurai's spleen.

"According to the Australian maritime road, they brought a lot of goods, and in addition to daily necessities, there were also many novelties."

Yi Xin Chongyan said on the side: "Quan Liu also said that there are indeed a lot of goods, but there are also guns. ”

After that, Tokugawa Hidetada asked a lot more, and Zhikura coped with it anyway, and after doing some homework, he conscientiously retreated.

After Zhicang left, Tokugawa Hidetada's eyes narrowed slightly, tilted his head and asked Yixin Chongtong on his side, "Have you investigated the details of this person?" ”

At this moment, Yi Xin Chongtong changed the square seat, changed the kneeling legs into coiled, and said with a piece of confectionery: "Zhou Defense (note: the Kyoto Institute of the Itakura Shigemune, the son of Itakura Katsushige) has already investigated, although this person has entered the outer way, but this time he came back to Kyoto only to worship the Buddha, not to mention going to five or six temples. ”

"Oh? He made a special trip to Kyoto just to worship the Buddha? ”

"No, I also went to two businesses, but they have nothing to do with Chezhidan, and it seems that they are indeed sincere converts." If Tsunecho Zhikura heard these conversations at this moment, he would definitely break out in a cold sweat, but fortunately, Heiqiu Sheng had already thought of it for him, and even if there were no spies from the shogunate, he would be suspected of witnessing the clearing of Cheshitan.

"Which two firms?" However, after thinking about it, His Royal Highness the Shogun no longer cared, the Sendai Domain was extremely heavy on commerce, including the promotion of the Date family on this mission, so there was no problem for him to go to the business, in fact, the other feudal clans were not the same, and the Satsuma Domain did not forget to continue to encroach on interests in the Ryukyus while giving Shimazu Yoshihiro a solution, and the shogunate pretended not to know about it in order to expand trade with the Ming Dynasty.

Not to mention that the former lord of the Hinoe Domain, Harunobu Arima, was exiled for trade and plundered the Takasago people, burned Portuguese merchant ships, and bribed the important ministers of the shogunate for such things, and finally ended up in exile with the fief confiscated.

"Izumiya and Fujiya."

"Izumiya ......" Tokugawa Hidetada pronounced the name, as if he had heard it somewhere.

"Does the public still remember the incident of Zhong Ming in Fangguang Temple back then?" Seeing the thoughts of His Royal Highness the General, he smiled with a smile, that thing was his proud work, "That bell was cast by Izumiya back then, and his family's copper smelting was the silver drawing method passed from the Nanban, and the entire Kansai counted his family's copper as the best and purest, and the Buddha statues of many temples and shrines in Kyoto came from this number." ”

Hearing this, Tokugawa Hidetada suddenly said, "It turned out to be the Izumiya, so he went to a large bronze house, so what kind of business did Fujiya make?" Also made of copper? ”

It seems that this warehouse has nothing to say, thinking of his relationship with Australian maritime businessmen, a trip to the copper smelting institute may also involve business, but this is harmless, after all, it is just business.

"Fujiya is just a small book shop, but the two businesses are in-laws, and the wife of the owner of Izumiya, Suga Riemon, is the sister of Sumitomo Masantomo, the owner of Fujiya, and Sumitomo Masantomo has no children, and is the son of the successor Soga clan and his sister." Yi Xin Chongling continued, "We have also investigated these two people separately in private, Su I clan is just a worker in the copper smelting house, Sumitomo Masanyou is a believer in the Nirvana sect of Buddhism, and he was a disciple of the Venerable Master Kongyuan before he was a layman, and his Dharma name is Wenshu Monastery Kong Zen, but he has nothing to do with the Catholic Church. ”

Nirvana sect is also the shogunate's newly forbidden so-called evil sect, but compared to Catholicism is much better, the founder of this sect is just a self-enlightened generation, relying on the preferences of Emperor Yang Cheng after the Ba attached to have a situation, the so-called heresy is only 'one Mahayana' is taboo for other sects, and there is nothing out of the ordinary, once the previous emperor collapsed, this position will be gone.

And the evil feeling of Catholicism comes from the threat of the general's side, when Arima Harunobu bribed Okamoto Daihachi with a lot of money, wanting to give the shogunate public power privately, if it wasn't for Harunobu himself being too anxious and stupid for a while to ask Okamoto's boss Honda Masa, the shogunate would still be kept in the dark.

Tokugawa Hidetada pondered for a while, and then continued, "I think I'll abandon this castle this year. ”

"What? Want to abandon Fushimi Castle? ”

"This is also to follow the shogunate's own decree of one country and one city, and the removed materials are sent to various temples and shrines in Kyoto for repair, which can be regarded as the merit of the shogunate."

"So the poor monk understood." With a high heart, he understands that this is a struggle for the right to speak in religious ideology, and it is better to donate to the temple than to make people believe in God.

"Also, the Sanglu Division will be encouraged by you in the future."

Yi Xin Chongling was stunned for a moment when he heard this, but he immediately understood what the general meant, and hurriedly sat up straight and gave a deep salute.

After arranging this matter, Xiuzhong called Okubo Tadadashi to come closer, "Three days later, there are dozens of Kiritan in Kyoto who are going to be executed?" ”

Okubo said: "It is true that there are more than fifty fanatical believers who are stubborn, and Zhou's defense has been arranged. ”

"Exile instead, I heard there are four more children."

"This ......"

"There is no need to advise, this matter is the Gaotai Yuan personally interceding, saying that 'God has the virtue of a good life'. But there's nothing wrong with that, the shogunate still shouldn't kill too much, and you can pass the word to Thirteen Lang for me (note: Itakura Shigemune) to act a little more restrained in the future, as long as there is no death, they will all be exiled instead. ”

After stretching a little, the general got up, and looked back again: "After the incident of the Hiroshima Domain, we should also give some face to the Takadaiin, otherwise it will be possible for the former Toyotomi ministers to find excuses for themselves." ”

[References]

1, "Japanese Customs" Hou Jigao

2. "Date Masamune's Annals"

3, "Overview of the History of the Domain" Kodama Kota, Kitajima Masamoto

4. "The History of the Three Hundred Domains of the Edo Three Hundred Domains of the Domain"

5, "Daimyo の日本地図" Nakajima Shigeo

6, "Edo 300 Domain, バカ殿と名君 うちの殿さまは偉かった?" Hachiman Kazuro

7, "シリーズ藩物語 宇和島藩" Yukio Ugami

8. "History of Character Science Coarse Copper" 銀を分離する「南barbar吹き」を開発した―蘇我理右衛門》もりいずみ

9, "Izumiya Industry Examination" Xiang Jing Fangyan

10, "Date Family History" Date Bangzong

11, "Edo Period Ordinary People's Life" Zhang Haimeng

12, "Shimazu Zhongxing" Watanabe Seiwei

13, "Shimazu Yoshihiro のすべて" Miki Yasu

14, "Satsuma Shimazu"

15, "さつま人国誌 戦国・近世編 2" Kirino Sakuren

16. "On the Samurai Regime in Modern Japan" Kohei Murakawa

17, "He Guozhi" Yuan rejuvenation

18, "Dictionary of Warring States People's Names"

19, "Fukushima Zhengzhi Change Incident に就いての一查" Bai Fengxun

20, "Tanba Naito" Naito ジョアン" Fukushima Katsuhiko

21, "High Mountain Right Near" Ebizawa has a way

22, "Hideyoshi 歿後の波瀾の半生―" Saburo Tsuda

23, "Women's Politics の Middle Ages" Tabata Yasuko