Nagasaki. Kyushu Prefecture Official.

Lin Hongnian was beside him, in addition to his fellow countryman and staff member Chen Qi, there was also a Japanese samurai in his 30s guarding behind him, who was the samurai Okubo Toshitsu, a close confidant of Shimazu Saibin, the original lord of the Satsuma domain.

Today, Okubo has become Lin Hongnian's right-hand man.

At the beginning, Lin Hongnian and Rosen sent people around to inquire about Yoshida Shoin, Saigo Takamori, Okubo Ritsu, and ? Takasugi Shinsaku、? According to Ito Hirobumi and others, after a year of investigation, they finally learned that Yoshida Shoin had been executed by the shogunate, and Saigo Takamori and Okubo Ritsu, who were looking around, were both subordinates of Shimazu Saibin, the lord of the Satsuma domain.

Shimazu Saibin had already led the Mosa Domain to surrender to the Saga Domain, which was controlled by the Chinese Empire, and then became a member of the Kyushu Domain. However, according to the conditions made by the Saga Domain at the time of the initial negotiation, Shimazu Saibin obtained an overseas fief, which is at the eastern end of the East Indies in the South Seas, an island called Misool Island, almost half of the islands are used as Shimazu Saibin's fiefdoms, and he brought tens of thousands of feudal soldiers and family members to take the troop transport ships of the Nanyang Fleet to there, and established a new Shimazu Domain.

Lin Hongnian and Lawson recruited Okubo Ritsu and Saigo Takamori, Okubo Ritsu switched to the Chinese Empire and became Lin Hongnian's assistants, while Saigo Takamori and his younger brother Saigo Congdo were unwilling to serve the Chinese Empire because they were grateful for the reuse of the feudal lord Shimazu Saibin, and insisted on following Shimazu Saibin to the desert island of the South Seas to rebuild their own feudal kingdom. Rosen Ben regretted Saigo Takamori's talent and wanted to forcibly detain him, but Saigo Takamori was so stubborn that he committed suicide to be loyal to Shimazu Qibin, and in desperation, Okubo Ritsu came out to intercede with Lin Hongnian, so that Saigo Takamori's family followed Shimazu Qibin to Nanyang to develop a desert island.

As for Takasugi Shinsaku, Lawson has recently found out that he is a low-level samurai of the Choshu Domain, and now he and Katsura Kogoro and others have become the staff celebrities in front of the Chōshū Domain's lord Mori Keiqin, and it must be impossible to recruit. And Ito Hirobumi has never found any news, as if there is no such person at all. I am afraid that not only Rosen, but even Feng Yunshan would not have thought that this famous first prime minister, who had long been sold to the Chinese Empire as a prisoner by the shogunate, became a glorious miner, and now he is sadly in a coal mine deep in the mountains and old forests of Jiaozhi, digging coal while counting the days and looking forward to returning to his hometown.

"Your Excellency, the 12th Infantry Division and the 33rd Infantry Division led by Division Commander Li have successfully landed at Hyogo Port (present-day Kobe), and sent troops north to occupy the main roads of the Bizen Domain and the Mimasaka Domain, blocking the entire Kansai Plain. At present, Division Commander Li did not move, and was stationed in the Okayama area of the Bizen Domain, only waiting for the Choshu Domain to return to Kansai to intercept it. Staff member Chen Qi flipped through a stack of military newspapers in his hand and reported to Lin Hongnian from top to bottom: "Deputy Division Commander Zhang, a subordinate of Division Commander Li, led another 10,000 infantry of the captive army, together with the 25,000 soldiers of the Kyushu Domain, under the cover of warships, has landed in Kochi Port and occupied Kochi Castle in one fell swoop. There were only about 3,000 soldiers of the Tosa domain in Kochi Castle, and half of them were killed in battle, and the rest fled in all directions. At present, the captives and the Kyushu feudal soldiers have begun to sweep the other feudal kingdoms on Shikoku Island, and it should be possible to wipe out the four feudal kingdoms on Shikoku Island and the Awaji Domain on the side in two days. ”

Lin Hongnian nodded, but before he could say anything, Okubo Ritsu, who was guarding the side on the side, gasped and exclaimed: "Oh my God, the army of the Chinese Empire is simply unstoppable, and the Great Japan is really hopeless." ”

Lin Hongnian glanced at Okubo Litong behind him and said, "Litong, what's wrong, I'm excited?" Have you thought about it? Lin has known his fate for a year, and he has no children under his knees, His Majesty the Emperor also attaches great importance to Lin, if you can have a heart, the war is over, Lin will hold a public ceremony to pass you into the Lin family, from now on, you are the descendant of my Fujian Marquis Lin family. Li Tong you are young and promising, erudite and talented, and familiar with my Han culture, since childhood to learn Yangming and Zhu Zi's Confucian principles, familiar with agricultural politics, understand the suffering of the common people, and more open-minded, is my emperor's mouth of the future of the unlimited talent, with this background, from now on can serve my Chinese empire, but also let your talent not be buried, in the empire's broad stage to show their ambitions. ”

When Saigo Takamori heard this, he hurriedly knelt down on his knees and bowed down: "Since he is loved by his father, Litong dares to disobey orders?" Li Tong is willing to serve his filial piety in front of his father's knees from now on. ”

Lin Hongnian laughed out loud and helped Okubo Litong up with his own hands: "In this case, Li Tong my son, you will change your name to Lin Li Tong from now on, how about it?" ”

Lin Hongnian was very happy to see that Okubo Ritsu sincerely agreed, and he was naturally extremely satisfied. I took the opportunity to bring up the matter of Okubo Ritsu changing his surname, and I couldn't help but be a little worried that the other party was not very happy. However, since it is inherited, it is necessary to change the surname, which is the principle.

"Listen to your father! Li Tong would also like to thank his father for giving him his surname. From now on, I am also a noble person surnamed Lin! "Okubo Ritsu is very respectful and grateful, in the concept of the Yamato people, changing the surname is a very common thing, just like the promotion of the position, the more noble the surname, the more attractive, depending on whether you are qualified to have that surname. Moreover, his surname "Okubo" is not a very lowly surname, but it is also very low, at the beginning, his father was originally just a craftsman, and he was not surnamed Okubo, because of meritorious service, he was promoted to the lowest of the samurai, and he was eligible to change his surname, and he Okubo Ritsu was originally named Masasuke, and later changed his name to Ritsu, so now that he has this opportunity to change his surname, it is indeed a very honorable thing for him, how can he be unhappy?

If Feng Yunshan knew, his eyes would definitely fall out. Originally, he just thought that these Japanese historical celebrities were very talented, and took advantage of them to co-opt and use them before they showed their skills, although it was impossible for a foreigner to give them a high position, but this kind of adjutant in the future overseas colonies was still very good. He may never have dreamed of the strength of the Chinese Empire today, and the attraction of China to today's Japan, and even the famous "Oriental Bismarck" in later history changed his surname to take refuge.

Chen Qi, a staff member who reported on the side, also smiled and congratulated Lin Hongnian: "Congratulations to your lordship!" Today is a double happiness. ”

Lin Hongnian's face was full of smiles and waved his hand: "Thank you Brother Chen for reminding me." You go on talking about how the war is going. ”

Chen Qi hurriedly took out the military report and continued to read: "The Korean governor Lu Shunde led his subordinates, Cheng Xueqi and Zou Shouzhang, each with a detachment of Oriental ships and 20,000 infantry to land at the westernmost Maguan Wharf of the Changzhou Domain, and took advantage of the weakness of the troops in the Changzhou Domain, urgently marched eastward, and successively conquered the core garrison of the Changzhou Domain, Zhoufang Mountain Pass and the area of Ogijo. Mori Mototoku, the heir adopted by the lord of the Choshu domain, Mori Mototoku, was captured, as well as the main family elders such as Shindo Harima, Nerai Lordma, Masuda Izu, Mori Oki, and Masuda Genbei Uiura Renshi, and more than 100 feudal lords were killed, and more than 200 fled eastward. More than 1,400 soldiers of the Choshu domain and its vassals were killed and wounded, more than 3,000 soldiers were taken prisoner, and the remaining 4,000 soldiers and young peasants fled to the Bigo domain in the east. ”

As soon as Chen Qi finished speaking, Okubo Litong, who should be called Lin Litong now, was so shocked that his eyes were about to fall. He couldn't help but be glad that he was originally a samurai of the Satsuma Domain, and had the opportunity to defect to the Chinese Empire early, and now he was accepted as a son by his father Lin Hongnian. If you had been born in the Choshu Domain, you might have become a cold corpse on the battlefield or a defeated soldier who fled in disarray.

Lin Hongnian was overjoyed, he couldn't imagine that Japan's most powerful Choshu Domain, which was so poor, that in just a few days, the old nest was so simply and directly broken by the imperial captive army. Although it was mainly due to the fact that the main force of the Choshu domain had been transferred to the Kyoto area, it was still unexpected. The Choshu Domain was a powerful feudal domain that could compete with the shogunate, with tens of thousands of troops, and even mobilized all the civilian samurai and peasants for war, and was able to gather enough troops of 100,000. Lin Hongnian even doubted that the shogunate would be so easy to pacify, so maybe he was too cautious, and it was not difficult to directly send forty or fifty thousand troops to conquer the past and occupy all of Japan.

Thinking of this, he was going to report to the emperor of Shengjing immediately, asking for instructions on whether he would simply send troops to occupy the whole of Japan.