Zhang Yin said: "However, we want to choose a site on the territory of Takasaki Jun to build a walled city with a waterway to hoard goods and protect the safety of the trading house." As long as Takasaki-kun ensures this, we promise two conditions: first, we will send 1,000 catties of medicinal herbs and porcelain to Takasaki-kun every month in the future, and we can postpone the collection of money. Second, the price of all goods will be according to the market price in Tokyo, this is the list, please take a look at it. ”

Takasaki stared, flicked his hands on his gray sideburns, solemnly took the list with both hands, and read it carefully: "That...... If Mr. Zhang gave it at this price, plus the sea freight, wouldn't he lose money? ”

He had a point. There will be no pie in the sky in this world, not to mention that the two sides are not related, if Gao Qi doesn't know what Zhang Yin is trying to do, he will not be at ease; Only a fool wants to take advantage of it and not worry about the pitfalls.

What's more, there are some things that can't be hidden, and taking the initiative to say it is even more sincere. Zhang Yin pondered for a moment and said, "Ishimi has a state-owned silver mine. ”

Takasaki was stunned.

Zhang Yin said quietly: "Gao Qijun can also introduce a few Zhuang officials to do this together, you can use the ore to pay for the goods, we can get the silver ore can be refined, and we can earn back all the losses." ”

When Takasaki heard this, his face hesitated, "It is not a trivial matter to rashly allow foreigners to build a city......

Zhang Yin said softly: "Gao Qijun, wealth and danger are sought." ”

Two vertical lines appeared between Gao Qi's eyebrows: "How big is the walled city that Your Excellency wants to build?" ”

Zhang Yin raised his hand and said, "It's about the same size as this courtyard of Takasaki-kun." ”

When Gao Qi heard this, the expression on his face suddenly relaxed, his courtyard is really not big, and it can't be called a walled city at all, so he immediately said: "I hope that Mr. Zhang will send the first batch of 1,000 catties of goods as soon as possible, and he can take care of the nobles of Heianjing." ”

Zhang Yin laughed "haha" when he heard it.

Takasaki clapped his hands three times at the moment, and a maid came in with more dishes, and he picked up his wine glass: "Please!" ”

The three of them ate and drank, and were very happy. The two men drank very well, and Gao Qi accompanied him, and he got drunk, staggered up and left the table, and beckoned the maid to serve.

He was full of alcohol, came to the backyard, first went to a hot spring room by the mountain to take a bath, a young and beautiful concubine smiled and untied her clothes, and went into the water to accompany her.

Takasaki burped in the water, and suddenly felt his throat move, and as soon as he was not paying attention, he lay on the edge of the pool and vomited, and even he himself smelled a foul smell coming to his face. He breathed a sigh of relief, opened his eyes, and saw a look of disgust on the concubine's face, and then a sweet smile.

Takasaki sighed, and then looked down at the loose and ugly flesh of his abdomen, "Miko must not want to stay with me." ”

The concubine hurriedly said: "If you can win the favor of the lord, you can't ask for it, who doesn't want it!" Does my lord think I am not serving well? She snuggled meekly with that.

Takasaki reached out and stroked her young, smooth shoulder. The concubine groaned in devotion, stretched out her tongue and licked it on her lips, and looked at Takasaki with a teasing smile.

"No need." Takasaki suddenly said, "For someone my age, Miko can accompany me." ”

The concubine said softly: "Meizi is willing to accompany the lord all the time." ”

Takasaki smiled bitterly: "If I don't have family wealth and can't give you a reward, I'm afraid Miko won't even want to stay with an old and ugly person for a moment, in that case, it's really lonely!" ”

The concubine looked aggrieved: "The lord ......"

Gao Qi looked at her and smiled: "Money and power are good things, if there is no this, how can I enjoy so much, money is my life!" ”

…… After a while, by the time Zhang Yin wrote down the progress of the East Island and reported it to Beijing, the weather was already very hot.

It was afternoon, it was office time, but Guo Shao was in the bathroom in the apse of Jinxiang Palace, it was too hot, he ran here to wash and cool off.

A large pool of water, inlaid with solid wood on the edge of the pool, and many palace maids stood on either side, holding white and clean liners and towels in their hands. Guo Shao stripped naked without any pressure, he used to feel embarrassed, but now that so much time has passed, he has long been able to let go. However, the palace maids on both sides were all red-faced and red-eared, and their heads were lowered, and there were one or two who had just been on duty here, and their expressions were even more shocked.

Li Shanggong, who was in his early thirties, then entered the hall, regardless of the dress he was wearing, went straight into the pond, and took the towel from the palace maid.

Li Shanggong rubbed his back with the right weight, it didn't hurt or feel soft, Guo Shao could still feel the touch of her fingers appropriately, and his heart was comfortable. She said a few words to Guo Shao from time to time, all of them were good, she said: "The weather is hot, Your Majesty will rest more, and the dragon body is important." ”

Guo Shao originally wanted to come over and cool off and go back, but at this time he was a little nostalgic. He immediately said: "Call Cao Tai in and read Zhang Yin's recital to me, it's cool here." ”

After a while, Cao Tai bowed down and went into the bathroom. Anyway, the emperor did whatever he wanted, not to mention that he listened to the music in the bathhouse, even if he wanted to be in the thatched house, no one dared to say anything.

Because Guo Shao was particularly interested in his country's gold and silver for a while, Zhang Yin's very insightful recital made him listen to it with relish.

I didn't expect this Zhang Yin to be a talent, but he turned out to be just a small official. Guo Shao said twice in a row: "I want to send someone to reward Zhang Yin, he did a good job." ”

Guo Shao was very happy, and after the failure of his country's tributary diplomatic relations, Zhang Yin seemed to have found another way to solve the problem.

At this time, the time is not ripe for a large-scale war in the country, and it would be wiser to have a low-cost way to obtain a large amount of currency first...... The military expenditure of 3 million guan was still too small to carry out a large-scale expedition; The ability to transport troops across the sea is also limited.

In addition, Guo Shao did not approve of the strategy of directly attacking the capital of his country. One is limited by the scale of the war, and the other is that according to the information of the country that has been reported one after another, even if Heiankyo is captured, it is very doubtful whether it can control the country.

If Heianjing suddenly collapses, and the country enters a complete secession, Xu Jun will not be able to clean up this distant situation one by one. At that time, thieves were everywhere, guerrilla attacks harassed the Xu army, and no one responsible for this could be found. Guo Shao has always believed that when a place loses order, it is not good for anyone.

…… The goods promised to Takasaki were transported eastward in a timely manner, and it was indeed purchased by merchants, but it was a "sea trade bank" with a complicated background, and most of the shares were in the hands of the imperial family.

The construction of the big ship Mulan Boat of the Jiaolong Army is slow, and the world has just gone through the war, and it has not found a suitable dock for a while, and it has not been completed so far. The Jiaolong Army only has a few light boats that have been transformed into large food ships, and one of them can carry up to dozens of people and have to transport ordnance and materials. It was not easy for Haimao Qian Zhuang to find some sturdy sea boats to make do.

Guo Shao ordered Han Tong, the commander of the Jiaolong Army, to recruit 300 willing soldiers in the forbidden army and the guards, and asked the southern people who were familiar with the water to form the first batch of people from the east to cross the east, called "East China Sea Commander", and Zhang Jiankui, the commander of the founding Hou Forbidden Army, was the commander; Zhang Yin was promoted to the Privy Council and served as the superintendent of the former battalion military office.

These regular army officers and officials, dressed in civilian clothes and disguised as merchants and sailors, were successively transported to Iwami Province on the west coast of their country. Fine armor, weapons, and ** are hidden with the ship.

Zhang Yin was "talking about business" in the East Island, but the Tokyo Imperial Court had already formulated a national strategy. First, he established a base in Iwami Province, and then enlisted the local tycoons and nobles in the capital to share the benefits, assisted them in developing the silver mountain, and established a silver mine transportation line from Iwami Province to Haizhou (Lianyungang).

The purpose of sending troops was to guarantee the establishment of this transport line by force. This is not an ordinary business, it is related to the establishment of tens of millions of business-related "sea trade banks", and the emperor himself presides over the general strategy, how can it be allowed to slip away and give up easily?

Not long after, Lu Duoxun, the head of the Imperial Court's staff department, also took the officials of the Ministry of Industry to the east, and with the assistance of Gao Qi, the lord of the manor, he chose a place to build a "warehouse" base. Everyone has made clear the military law, and when they arrive on the East Island, they are not qualified for official positions, and they come and go as businessmen.

But in fact, the important ministers of the Great Xu State were all inside, and the officials of the Ministry of Industry had participated in the design and construction of the "Castle that will never fall" Wuding Fort. Everyone said to Takasaki to build a low walled city, but in fact, they were investigating in detail, and they were going to build a fortress!

The location was quickly determined, on the north bank of the estuary of the Sanbei River. It's not a good place, but there's no good natural haven off the coast of Iwami Province, so it's the only place that can make do. There is little choice, so there is no need to choose.

The mouth of the river has silt and sediment, and the water is so shallow that boats with pointed bottoms cannot enter the river. However, the officials of the Ministry of Industry who came here have done many water conservancy projects, even the Yellow River, and they can do this project. first funded Gao Qi and other manor owners to recruit strong men, plus Xu Jun soldiers and sailors, to dig a ditch to divert the mouth of the Sanbei River; When the water in the estuary recedes, a dam is built to cut off the water, and then the estuary bed is deepened to allow sea vessels to enter.

In this place, it is not as strong as the army of Xu Guo, and it is often tens of thousands of troops and tens of thousands of people, and the conditions are limited, so the project can only dig a very narrow river channel and lead to the water gate of the fortress base on the riverbank...... Rao is like this, for only more than 300 people and the recruited people, it is also a big project that takes a long time.

The sand and soil of the coast here are soft, which is not suitable for the construction of a fortress, and the fortress is built on a small hill with a solid foundation on the north bank of the Sanbei River...... To the northeast is the mountains.

The ramming of the castle wall required lime and other materials, but fortunately there was the help of the owner of Takasaki. The owner of Takasaki not only allowed them, but also provided them with help with human and animal materials...... If it weren't for this, Xu Jun would have just arrived in this place, and he would not be familiar with the place and have nothing, so it would indeed be difficult to gain a foothold, and it would be even more difficult to build a stronghold.

Takasaki seems to have noticed that the men are like soldiers, Zhang Yin explained that it was a hired family nursing home, and said that the firm also needed his connections in Heianjing, and the cooperation would be carried out for a long time, and everyone would get rich together! At this time, the cooperation had already begun, and Takasaki had also taken a lot of benefits, so it was really difficult to stop.

Within two months, another 200 people and a large number of equipment and materials will be transported eastward in batches.