Early the next morning, the group came to the port of Naha, and returned the galleon to Mark, who accepted two merchant shipping tickets, but did not accept the 50,000 taels of silver from Roamin, and the captain of Naha City personally selected dozens of sailors to escort Mark and Louise, who were on a heavy duty, to Manila. [Full text reading. 】

Tomorrow is the birthday of the Ryukyu Prime Minister Ma Liangbi, and the stirrups and saddle brothers have prepared congratulatory gifts, and they want to "recognize their ancestors and return to their ancestors" on the day of their birthday, and suddenly receive a notice from the Prime Minister's Office to let the brothers go now.

So, the Ma brothers did not dare to slack off, and immediately carried the gifts into the city, and the hornet's nest was already waiting in front of the door.

The two brothers respectfully presented the gift list and were welcomed into the Prime Minister's Mansion, but they failed to see Ma Liangbi.

The son of the hornet's nest said with a smile: "The two families have been promoted, presumably you understand the reason, to be honest, our Ma family is not prosperous, and it really depends on the two of you to support the burden of the Ma family in the future, the family tree in the ancestral hall already has your name, and you are the people of the Ma family from today on." ”

"Thank you for the grace of Xiangye and Gongzi!" Saddle replied resignedly.

Ma Gongzi was slightly happy and said reservedly: "Good! Do you know why you are here today? ”

Stirrup glanced at his brother's saddle, nodded and replied, "Understood, understood." In order to help Gongzi go to Japan to hunt for treasures, it was inconvenient for us to come forward, so we had to arrange Zhang Gongzi to be our contact, and we did not discuss with Gongzi in advance, please bear with me. ”

"Well, it's rare for you two to be so sensible." Ma Gongzi nodded, and then asked, "Is that Zhang Gou'er reliable?" ”

"Very reliable, this kid has followed us since he was a child, not only alert, but also very loyal, please rest assured." The stirrup replied.

After a moment of silence, Ma Gongzi suddenly said sternly: "He is not reliable, he will soon know, if there is any mistake, I will ask your head!" ”

Finding that the Ma brothers were so frightened that they shuddered, Ma Gongzi smiled and continued: "Although you are wearing official clothes and hats like dogs, don't forget where did you come from? For capital crimes that cannot be punished by national law, my Ma family's family law can also destroy you, understand? ”

"Understand, understand, it is an honor for our brothers to serve Xiangye!" The stirrup replied.

"Well, if only you understood! Although the two of you have entered the genealogy of the Ma family, after all, you are from the market, and no one in Naha Port and Shuri Castle knows about it, so you two will not use it for the birthday banquet of Lord Xiangguo tomorrow, so as not to provoke rumors from the past and the future, and now, you can go. ”

Hearing that Ma Gongzi gave an eviction order, Ma An was unwilling, and he also wanted to make friends with high-ranking officials and dignitaries at the banquet, so he couldn't help but sigh: "Alas, this ......"

"What is this? Just do your errands. ”

felt that Ma Gongzi almost said "get out", so Ma Stirrup hurriedly pulled his brother to give Ma Gongzi a farewell salute, and left the Prime Minister's Mansion as if he had fled.

Back then, when King Shang Yuan was on the throne, Ma Liangbi had been suppressed, as an uncle of the country, he could not become an official, and he had already held a fire in his heart.

Ma Liangbi went to Beijing as an uncle to ask for the title of his nephew Yongwang Chitose, passing through Tongdu Temple in North Korea, ostensibly because he was fighting with Changshi Zheng Zhen, and inadvertently released Lin Feng, but in fact, he had long coveted this soju shop that was making money every day, but he had no power before, and he was afraid of offending the prince, so he didn't dare to be presumptuous easily.

Of course, he knew that the person detained in Tongdu Temple was Lin Feng, a criminal of the imperial court who was arrested by Jinyiwei twice in Ryukyu, and the reason why he was released was that he wanted to wait for Lin Feng to return to Ryukyu and personally arrest him.

What Ma Liangbi did not expect was that Lin Feng did not return to Ryukyu at all, but went south from the mainland to Chaozhou, packed up his uncle Lin Daoqian's old department, and continued to do his old business in Nanao.

Since Ma Liangbi became the minister of state, he has always been taboo about the Lin family's shochu shop, and the long history Zheng Zhen, like him, never dared to mention the past of Tongdu Temple in North Korea. Therefore, when the prince passed the hornet's nest to Ma Liangbi's opponent Zheng Zhen as an adopted daughter, he thought that this was secretly provoking the relationship between the two families.

Because it was still during the mourning period of Emperor Longqing, the imperial court did not officially canonize the newly succeeded King Shang Yong, although the prince Shang Kangbo was driven out of Shuri Castle, but the prince who had a Dongchang background and always supported Shang Kangbo was still there, so Queen Ma was worried that the prince would not be good for her son, so she accepted the opinion of the prince and let Yongwang Chitose marry the daughter of the old minister Shi Zheng Zhen's family.

This Miss Zheng was suddenly recruited into the palace and became the concubine of Yongwang Chitose, Ma Liangbi was dumbfounded, so he hurriedly entered the palace to find Queen Ma, and found a thousand reasons to stop him, but his sister was always unmoved, Yongwang Chitose was obsessed with the beauty of the concubine, and after knowing his uncle's behavior, he mistakenly thought that Ma Liangbi was fighting for power and profit with Zheng Zhen, and was extremely disgusted with the newly appointed prime minister.

Ma Liangbi was secretly anxious in his heart, and never dared to mention the past between his son and Concubine Zhengniang, only hoping that his son could completely cut off the relationship with Concubine Zhengniang in order to protect the peace of the Ma family, but unexpectedly, Concubine Zhengniang didn't know where to get a treasure map, and still regarded his precious son as a confidant, and the two wanted to work together to hunt for treasures.

Ma Liangbi couldn't control his son, but he knew in his heart that the behavior of the two of them could be hidden from Queen Ma and King Shang Yong, but it was impossible to hide it from the princess, and he was worried in his heart, and he planned to celebrate his birthday well, but he was not in the mood.

Just when he was teaching his son a hard lesson at home, he suddenly heard a very surprising news: the prince hanged himself in the palace.

After hearing the news, Ma Liangbi's heart blossomed, and he thought that he could do whatever he wanted in the Ryukyus in the future, so he immediately sent out invitations to Shurijo Castle to celebrate on the occasion of his life and establish his authority as a minister.

The sudden death of the prince made Guo Yi and Xu Linger suddenly fall into a predicament, and after sending Mark and Louise away, they immediately returned to the Lin family soju shop to discuss countermeasures.

According to the information provided by the Ma brothers, the prince should have lost his freedom soon after the two coffins were buried, so no one was able to get in touch with him again, so how did he pass the note to Chen Shen?

In order to solve this mystery, Luo Aping sent someone to bring Chen to his home and listen to him tell the ins and outs of the incident......

Chen Shen also just came back from Japan, and he didn't know Wang Gonggong, but Wang Gonggong should know that there was such a number as him, running between Japan and Ryukyu, secretly doing things for the imperial court.

Due to the awkwardness between Chen Shen and Lin Wenjing, the situation in Japan became more and more complicated, and the powerful people from all over the country reunited to build a "secondary seine net" against Oda Nobunaga who occupied Kyoto, and after losing a boatload of arquebuses, Oda Nobunaga threatened to wash the council in blood, so his business in Sakai Town became increasingly difficult, and he had no intention of going back again when he came back this time, so he went to Naha Port to wander around, because he often shipped goods from here, and many merchants were also familiar with him.

On this day, an old friend quietly called him to his home and said mysteriously: "Shopkeeper Chen, you have been doing business in Japan for so many years, do you know anyone in the Oda family?" ”

"I do business in Sakai and Jinai, both of which are against the Oda clan, and I really don't have a relationship with them." Chen Shen replied.

"What a pity!" The friend sighed.

Chen Shen knew that Oda Nobunaga was fighting all day long, and his military expenses were not abundant, and he relied on threats and blackmail to raise military funds all day long, so what benefits could he get from doing business with him, and he couldn't help but ask in surprise: "What's there to regret about this?" ”

"Brother Nian, don't you know that someone is paying a lot of money to deliver goods to the Oda family in Isewan." The merchant replied.

After pondering carefully, Chen Shen thought that the goods transported must be arquebuses, and they knew each other tacitly, shaking their heads and laughing: "It's okay to do this kind of business." ”

The merchant smiled mysteriously, "Hehe, you may not know whose business this is. ”

"No matter who it is, this kind of business may not be able to do it, it is difficult to pass the inspection of the Ming army from Nanyang to Ryukyu, and our Ryukyu government will not let it go, besides, if there is such a good thing, it may not fall on our heads." Chen Shen replied.

"Brother Chen has a point. Indeed, as you said, this business is not easy to do, so I asked for help from a Japanese expert like you. ”

"The line from Ryukyu to Japan is easy to do with a Japanese pass like me, but who can transport it from the South Seas to Ryukyu?" Chen Shen asked puzzled.

"You don't have to be C-minded, people have their own way." The businessman replied confidently.

Chen Shen hurriedly asked, "What way?" ”

"Brother Nian doesn't know, now our Ryukyu has a strong man, leading a team of men and horses to make trouble on Luzon Island, beating the Westerners to the ground, causing their crazy revenge, according to the businessmen from the South Seas, it is not easy for Westerners to eliminate pirates, the Ming Dynasty has asked to send troops to Luzon, but the Westerners refused, our Ryukyu is not far behind, is organizing the vanguard of the expeditionary force, ready to be sent to Luzon to participate in the suppression of bandits, you think about it, by them to come forward to traffic arquebuses, what else can be the problem?"

Chen Shen was secretly surprised when he heard this, needless to say, the strongman who made trouble on Luzon Island must be Lin Feng, but I don't know who this Ryukyu official who wants to take the opportunity to make military fortune is sacred? However, he also knew very well that there were princes in the Ryukyus, and such a thing must not be allowed to happen.

"Whose business is this? Who was the vanguard officer of the expeditionary force? Chen Shen asked.

The businessman thought for a while, shook his head and replied: "It's not good, some people say that the minister of state Ma Liangbi belongs to the family, and some people say that it is the family of Changshi Zheng Zhen, and it is even rumored that it is a partnership between the two of them, and the most outrageous statement is that the prince of the East Factory is secretly organizing and executing it through his two eyeliners, if not, why did the stirrups and saddles, the two gangsters who ran the boat, become the civil and military governors of Naha Port overnight?" As for the vanguard officer of the expeditionary force, it seems that the candidate has not yet been decided, and he will be selected in the ring in the future. ”

These words really didn't seem to be empty, which made Chen Shen break out in a cold sweat, and in order to find out who was behind this matter, he agreed without hesitation.

The merchant was overjoyed, and after giving Chen Shen a banquet, he said that he would participate in Chen Shen's business in the future, so he asked him to go home and wait.

Chen Shen went home and waited for several days, but still did not see the movement of the merchant, and he couldn't bear it, so he ran to Naha Port to inquire, and happened to meet the stirrup and saddle brothers who were greeting Guo Yi and Xu Ling'er, and wanted to go forward to meet them, but they were blown away by the officers and soldiers of the battalion.

Judging from this incident, Chen Shen denied the last statement, and it was absolutely impossible for the prince to use stirrups and saddles to do this kind of thing.

The next day, just as Chen Shen was about to come to meet Guo Yi and Xu Ling'er, he was blocked at home by the businessman early in the morning, and he was directly taken into a geisha house in Shuri Castle, where the two ate and watched a play together, waiting for the mysterious figure to appear.

waited until dark, a person who looked like a little eunuch came, asked Chen Shen to tell about his experience of doing business in Japan, and then asked a series of questions, Chen Shen responded calmly, and all the questions were answered fluently, making the businessman very happy, thinking that the matter had basically been finalized.

Suddenly, the little eunuch seemed very upset, and he lost his temper and threw the merchant out.

Thinking that there was something confidential to discuss, Chen Shen looked at the little eunuch silently, but found that he suddenly shed tears, took out a ball of paper from his arms, handed it to Chen Shen's hand, didn't say anything, turned around and left.

Spread out the paper, and found that the contact information was written on the note, and a poem was written on the other piece of paper, Chen Shen read it, and immediately understood that it was written by the prince, and his old man may be gone; So, he hurriedly chased out of the box to ask what was going on, only to hear the little eunuch say reservedly: "What are you doing with me?" Let's do what needs to be done! ”

Just when Chen Shen was in great grief, the merchant came back, pulled him back to the box with a smile, closed the door casually, and asked excitedly: "Now you should understand that the person who secretly conspires in this business is from the palace, you won't have any worries, right?" ”

Chen Shenqiang endured his sadness and replied, "I understand, let's go." ”

The merchant thought that the big thing had been decided, and he was afraid that Chen Shen would get rid of him in the future, so he had to sign a document with him that night, so he had to take him with him to the port of Naha.

So, Chen Shen agreed to him, and the two left the geisha house together, under the pretext of going home to get the seal, they hurriedly sent the note to the Lin family's shochu shop, and found that Guo Yi and Xu Ling'er and others were busy with it, so they didn't say anything, in order not to make the merchant suspicious, they hurriedly went to Naha Port.

According to Chen Shen's description, it is obvious that this is Ma Liangbi, who is trying to sell arquebuses, and is deliberately releasing smoke bombs, but what is strange is that the little eunuch he bought is actually a person from the prince.

I have lost contact with the prince for a while, and I don't know when he died, if it weren't for this opportunity, he might not even be able to pass this note, so it is certain that this little eunuch is the henchman of the prince, so he should be from the side of the concubine.

It seems that Ma Liangbi and his cunning, these things he did must be hidden from his sister Queen Ma and King Shang Yong, so that the eunuchs around Concubine Niangniang came forward to organize, once the matter is revealed, you can blame this Niang Niang Chitose, and her maiden family, Ma Liangbi's political enemy Changshi Zheng Zhen will also be burned.

So, Guo Yi made a decisive decision, taking advantage of tomorrow's birthday to meet Ma Liangbi in person, save the concubine as much as possible, and don't let the prince's hard work go to waste!

(End of chapter)