When the sun was setting in the west, Ye Yuxuan finally left Zhiyue Mountain City with his entourage and empty car, and returned to the rented inn in the castle town. Several Chinese dressed as businessmen have been waiting for him for a long time.

After seeing Ye Yuxuan return, he hurriedly stepped forward and surrounded him and asked him about the results of the talks. Ye Yuxuan sent his entourage to prepare food and drink, and then took the others back to the courtyard where he lived.

After confirming that there were no outsiders nearby, Ye Yuxuan briefly introduced to everyone the results of his meeting with the Maori family this time, "... Roughly like this, we have been granted the right to select a suitable bay to establish a port in Nagato Province, and the forest steward will stay here and begin to explore and select a suitable site tomorrow with the personnel sent by the Choshu Domain.

Before the construction of the port was completed, the Maori family agreed to lend the port to us for a temporary period of time as a trading port and a base for the processing and transshipment of fish.

Well, that's the basic thing, and everyone else goes back and thinks about how to get this transshipment port up and running as quickly as possible. As long as the transit port can be operated, the efficiency of our fishing operations in the Whale Sea will at least be more than doubled, and I don't think you will miss this opportunity, right? In addition, Steward Lin will stay for a while, I still have some things to explain to him. ”

The news that Ye Yuxuan brought back, although it was not the result that these businessmen were most looking forward to, was not a bad result. So the crowd soon dispersed in twos and threes, and as they walked out of the courtyard, they began to discuss how to use the results for their own benefit.

After watching everyone walk out of the courtyard, Ye Yuxuan said to Lin Daorong, who was standing on the side: "Let's go into the house to talk, there are some things that we still have to explain to you." ”

Ye Yuxuan walked into the house and sat down opposite Lin Daorong before he continued to him: "Tomorrow, the Maori family will send 35,000 taels of gold to my ship, which is converted into a domestic weighing, which is worth about 17,500 taels of gold. I must personally escort the gold back, so this matter will be handled by you. ”

Hearing such a large amount, Lin Daorong was also a little dumbfounded, and he subconsciously asked: "The Maori family handed us so much gold to buy weapons, are they planning to start a war with the shogunate?" ”

Ye Yuxuan said disappreciably: "Now the production of iron cannons in Japan is controlled by the shogunate, except for the Satsuma Domain, which can secretly make a few, and the daimyo in other places can only buy iron cannons from the shogunate." The price given by the shogunate was 80 pieces of iron cannon, which was equivalent to 16 Japanese taels of gold, which was equivalent to 168 yuan per piece of the Ming Dynasty, and the large barrel was not even made by the shogunate, and it was strictly forbidden for daimyo from all over the world to buy privately.

As for the gold taken out by the Maori family, if it is based on the market price, it can buy more than 1,000 Japanese-made iron cannons, and this is already all the gold in the hands of the Maori family, and they don't even have military funds on hand, so what do they use to start a war with the shogunate?

But fortunately, they have now met us, and I have decided to sell them 3,000 muskets for 40 yuan a piece. In addition, a six-pound cannon costs 100 taels of gold, and an eight-pound cannon costs 200 taels of gold each, and a total of 20 pieces were sold. In this way, they will probably have a little more confidence to resist the shogunate's orders. ”

Lin Daorong thought for a while, and couldn't help whispering: "My lord, is the price of this musket lower than the price set by His Majesty?" ”

Ye Yuxuan nodded and said, "Yes, because the price is too expensive, they can't afford our weapons." Without these weapons in hand, the Mori family might have succumbed to the shogunate's orders, which would have been no fun. If the shogunate had taken complete control of the Choshu Domain, it is estimated that they would not have allowed us to build a port here.

So, I took matters into my own hands. But you don't have to worry, I will personally report this matter to Your Majesty when I go back this time. In addition, the Maori family wanted to buy other supplies besides weapons, but their treasury was empty. So I suggest that they set up a separate customs office to make up for the financial deficit in the domain by taxing overseas trading vessels, and of course this customs revenue will be pledged to us for a special loan of 300,000 yuan..."

In Ye Yuxuan's continuous telling, Lin Daorong kept writing down the other party's instructions in his heart, and it was not until Ye Yuxuan paused temporarily that he took the time to ask: "If the shogunate knows about our trading activities in the Choshu Domain and sends someone over to ask us to leave here, what should I do?" ”

Ye Yuxuan was silent for a while, and then said cautiously: "Let's find an excuse to delay it first, as long as it drags on until the shogunate and the Choshu domain clash first, the shogunate will not have time to take care of us."

In addition, I will order the transfer of an army of no more than 500 men from Vladivostok and Jeju Island, and if you think it is necessary, let them disguise the army of the Nagaju domain to attack the feudal states loyal to the shogunate in the east. Of course, it's better not to use such a strategy, if it is punctured, it may make both sides hostile to us..."

When Ye Yuxuan had almost given his instructions, the innkeeper outside had already begun to call the door, and it seemed that the wine and food he had ordered had been delivered. Lin Daorong hurriedly got up to receive the guys and brought the food over, while Ye Yuxuan looked at the yellowish sky outside the window, thinking about not knowing how Xu Xinsu's progress was.

Just as he thought of Xu Xinsu, the supreme governor of the Tokai Patrol Prefecture was standing on the hillside near Tanegashima Nishinomote, staring at the castle of the Tanegashima clan, a castle that did not look tall, relying on dozens of samurai and two or three hundred miscellaneous soldiers, it had already thwarted his attack for three consecutive days.

The young samurai standing on the city was also staring at him standing on the hillside. Xu Xinsu already knew from the residents of the castle town that this young man who always stood on the castle to inspire the soldiers to fight was the current head of Tanegashima, Tanegashima Tadashiki, who was only 18 years old.

The reason why this small castle was able to repeatedly block the attacks of Xu Xinsu's nearly 1,000 subordinates was mainly because the geographical location of the castle was too ingenious, and the castle was on three sides with steep slopes and one side was close to the river. With such terrain, the attacking troops could not spread their formation, and there were not many places where the artillery could be placed, not to mention that the 8-pound cannon brought by Xu Xinsu was too powerful to open a gap.

The guards in the city relied on the famous Japanese Tanegashima iron cannon, and when they fired at the attacking patrol house musketeers, they had an advantage in range, which made Xu Xinsu regret a little, and did not ask the emperor before going to sea to allocate a group of heavy arquebuses to equip his troops.

When Xu Xinsu was depressed, a small group of people came from the direction of the western port, and one of the leading generals walked up to him and said to him unceremoniously: "Lord Xu, we can't waste our strength here. Please keep the agreement you made with me yesterday, and leave an army to watch over this place, while the others remove the resistance from the other villages on the island as soon as possible.

It's the harvest season for the island's grain soon, and we just need to receive the grain that these island farmers have paid to the Shimazu family, so what does it matter if we occupy this castle or not? They are also human beings, and they are to eat. If they had levied the grain from the peasants again, the peasants on the island would have starved to death. If they don't collect grain from the peasants, then the Shimazu family will naturally clean them up, so why bother us? ”

Xu Xinsu was not angry at the general's rudeness, he just replied with some pretenses: "I'm just a little unwilling, there are not many people in the city, as long as this castle is laid, the entire Tanegashima will belong to us." Otherwise, even if we collect all the grain on the island, we won't have so many ships to transport it. ”

The general replied disapprenosingly: "I have already inquired, in the past, the harvest on the island was Gongliu Minsi, and when we levy it, we can change it to Gongsi Minliu, and take another 10% as the transportation cost for them to transport the grain to the designated place." In this way, most of the collected grain can be transported, and it does not matter if the rest of the grain is burned or dumped in the sea, as long as it is not left for the Shimazu family.

If the Shimazu family dares to plunder their own people, it will be tantamount to shaking the foundation of their rule on the island, and the next time we come back, I think the people of the island will be more willing to cooperate with us. There are no coveted resources on this island other than food, so we don't need to occupy this place. ”

Xu Xinsu glanced at the castle in the distance for the last time, and finally accepted the persuasion, he thought for a while and said: "Destroying the collected grain will also make the people on the island angry, I think it is better to do what you said, find something for those people to do, and send the grain that cannot be transported as wages." Did Vice Admiral He come to me just to persuade me? ”

The general who Xu Xinsu called Vice Admiral He was not his subordinate, but the commander of the battleship "Mingwei" sent by the emperor to assist him, and He Changqi, a teacher at the Naval Military Academy. He Changqi also has an identity as a disciple of Zhang Xie, and he is also a son of the Shieun clan in Fujian. Therefore, he was so unkind in front of Xu Xinsu, and Xu Xinsu could only ignore it.

Seeing that Xu Xinsu was willing to stop the attack on the castle in front of him, He Changqi also turned the topic to the main topic, "Lord Xu's guess is right, I did come here this time to discuss something with you, the ship that monitored the movements in Edo has returned, and the shogunate seems to have become a little nervous because of the disappearance of Tian Xiuni." ”

Xu Xinsu suddenly asked curiously, "What did the shogunate do?" ”

He Changqi shrugged his shoulders and said, "The shogunate seized the Dutchman's ships in Edo and demanded that the Byrne Merchant, who left Edo when Tenshuni disappeared, return to Japan, otherwise trade with the Dutch would be cut off. Now that Edo Bay has been blocked, no foreign ships are allowed to enter, and only merchant ships from our country can enter Edo if they have been issued a sign.

If it weren't for the presence of the two ambassadors stationed in Edo, it is said that the shogunate would have had to drive away even the whaling ships that docked on the Boso Peninsula. In addition, according to the inquiries of the two ambassadors in Edo, it seems that the shogunate was planning to issue a decree to close the country, and in the future, except for our ships, all Nanban merchant ships would not be allowed to trade ashore, and the total amount of trade in goods in Japan would also be restricted.

When I got the news, I brought the captain to you, and I wanted to discuss with you what to do next. ”

Xu Xinsu immediately left the castle opposite behind, he took He Changqi's arm and said, "Where is the captain, let's find a place to listen to the details..."