The sky was overcast, there was not a single boat on the sea, only the high and low waves crashing against the reef, turning into large and small white splashes falling into the sea, and the damp sea breeze with a fishy smell made people sticky and uncomfortable.

Standing on the soft sand, looking at the horizon where the sea meets the sky, the current head of the Satsuma clan in Japan, Shimazu Tadayoshi, is in a gloomy mood as the sky, and the ugly but majestic face of his biological father Shimazu Hisamitsu continues to appear in front of him, as well as the face of the retainer Saigo Takamori who is as fat as a bulldog, and the other retainer Okubo Ritsu is thin and shrewd, his expression is depressed, and his mood is even worse, and he wants to roar at the sea more than once, "I am the lord of the domain!" I'm the lord of the Satsuma Domain! You should all obey me! You're not in a position to yell at me! You want me to do this and that! ”

There are only a few retainers who have made Shimazu Tadayoshi trustworthy, surnamed Yamoto Matajiro, silently guarding the side, or when the sky is getting more and more gloomy, Yamoto Matajiro nodded and said: "Lord, it's about to rain, let's go back to the city." ”

"I don't want to go back." Shimazu Tadayoshi replied crisply, saying, "Kagoshima Castle makes my whole body uncomfortable, and it is only outside that I breathe more heavily. ”

"But if you get caught in the rain, the father of the nation (Shimazu Hisamitsu) will lose his temper again." Yamoto Matajiro said cautiously: "The mood of the Father of the Nation is obviously not very good these days, if you make another mistake, the Father of the Nation will definitely not spare you." ”

Shimazu Tadayoshi sighed softly and said as if venting: "Matsujiro, don't call me the lord of the domain in the future, call me by my name, I am not the lord of the domain, the father of the country is the lord of the domain, Saigo Takamori and Okubo Ritsu are the lord of the domain, but I am not." ”

"The feudal lord forgives, but the clumsy one does not dare." Yamoto Matajiro was startled, and hurriedly saluted and pleaded guilty, lowered his voice again, and reminded in a low voice: "Domain lord, please be careful of your other subordinates, among them, there are people who are the father of the country. ”

After a long sigh and hesitation for a moment, Shimazu Tadayoshi still silently turned around and walked back, Yamoto Matajiro hurriedly followed, and beckoned other small surnames to lead the horse for Shimazu Tadayoshi to ride, but just when Shimazu Tadayoshi stepped on the back of the kneeling servant and rode on the war horse, a samurai with a flag behind his back galloped from the direction of Kagoshima Castle, and saluted Shimazu Tadayoshi and said: "The lord of the domain, Wu Chaoyue, the king of the southern town of Qingguo, sent an envoy to Kagoshima to ask to meet with you and discuss the issue of the Ryukyu vassals. Now that the Qing envoys had entered Kagoshima Castle, the Father of the Kingdom asked the feudal lord to return immediately and discuss how to deal with the Qing envoys. ”

"The envoy of Wu Chaoyue, the southern king of Qingguo Town?" Shimazu Tadayoshi was first stunned, and then immediately his face was full of anger, and he said angrily: "Good come! The matter of the Ryokari gold mine, Yu has not yet settled accounts with him, and he even dares to take the initiative to send an envoy to Kagoshima! Go, go back, and settle accounts with the envoy of the Qing Kingdom! ”

After that, Shimazu Tadayoshi, who had learned some martial arts, clamped his legs, and the war horse under his crotch immediately galloped out, and Yamoto Youjiro and other small surnames hurriedly followed, and kept shouting loudly to Shimazu Tadayoshi to be careful, but Shimazu Tadayoshi didn't listen at all, and just rushed to Kagoshima with a quick horse, and the momentum was as fierce as if he was in battle.

Can't blame Shimazu Tadashi so hated Wu Chaoyue, the key Wu Chaoyue himself did evil things, wild boar skin IX Xianfeng two years, the foreigner fleet under the pretext of protecting the Wu family's ancestors and grandsons committed Dagukou, at that time was just a small translator Wu Chaoyue in order not to betray the country, shamelessly betrayed the Japanese Satsuma Domain in the land of the Lingjia gold mine, Britain, France, the United States and other Western powers with the intention of trying their luck sent troops to Kagoshima, although it was pleasantly surprised to find that the foreigner friend Wu Chaoyue did not deceive them, but to the innocent Satsuma Domain brought countless suffering.

In order to annex the Ryogari Gold Mine, the Western powers first did not hesitate to use gunboat diplomacy to force the Satsuma Domain to hand over the Ryogari Gold Mine, and then forced the Japanese people to work as coolies to dig gold mines, and finally bought a group of prisoners of war from the Taiping Army and the Little Knife Society from Wu Chaoyue to open mines in Kagoshima, which turned the Satsuma Domain upside down, and the common people and samurai suffered heavy casualties. Later, after learning that all this was Wu Chaoyue's ghost, not only did Shimazu Qibin, the lord of the Satsuma Domain at the time, hate Wu Chaoyue to the bone, but Shimazu Qibin's adopted son Shimazu Tadayoshi also hated Wu Chaoyue to the bone, and he dreamed that Wu Chaoyue, who was leading to trouble, was caught in Kagoshima and fried to death in an oil pot! At this time, Shimazu Tadayoshi had become the nominal lord of the Satsuma Domain, and he heard that Wu Chaoyue took the initiative to send an envoy to contact him, and Shimazu Tadayoshi, who remembered his previous revenge, naturally did not want to miss this opportunity for revenge, and said that he wanted to use the envoy sent by Wu Chaoyue to vent his evil anger. - The little devil doesn't care what the two countries are fighting for, and the envoy sent by Zhu Yuanzhang to Japan in the Ming Dynasty was killed by the Japanese side.

After galloping back to Kagoshima Castle, the main city of the Satsuma Domain, Shimazu Tadayoshi first met with his biological father, Shimazu Hisamitsu, and learned that Wu Chaoyue had sent a five-rank official named Gong Cheng as an envoy to Kagoshima to contact the Satsuma Domain. Then although Shimazu Hisamitsu felt that he should first find out the specific intention of Gong Cheng before formally summoning him, the vengeful Shimazu Tadayoshi strongly advocated that he be summoned immediately, and said directly: "The father of the country (Shimazu Tadayoshi has been passed on to Shimazu Qibin as a son), there is no need to trouble and temptation, directly call the Qing envoy to ask for clarification, if he dares to be rude, he will be cut off immediately, let his entourage take his head back to the Qing country, and let the Qing people know that we are not easy to bully!" ”

Maybe he has been too restrictive to his own son over the years, and he feels a little guilty in his heart, or he also hates Wu Chaoyue to the bone, Shimazu Hisamitsu thought about it, and then made a very rare concession to his son, while sending someone to summon Gong Cheng, the envoy of the Wu army, and at the same time sending someone to summon important retainers such as Saigo Takamori and Okubo Ritsu, so that they could accompany and receive him.

So, soon, Gong Cheng, the envoy of the Wu army who was not amazing but full of bad water, was led into the Honmaru of Kagoshima Castle, and met Shimazu father and son, Saigo Takamori, Okubo Ritsu and others who had been infamous for thousands of years. As a result, to the exception of Shimazu father and son, Saigo and others, Gong Cheng, the envoy of the Wu army, who was supposed to regard himself as the superior kingdom of the Celestial Empire, not only spoke politely and behaved politely, but also gave Shimazu Tadashi a pair of exquisite revolvers with gold and jade inlaid handles in the gift box on behalf of Wu Chaoyue as soon as they met, and said with a smile: "Domain lord, this is a gift from the King of the South of our Daqing Town, our Nanban iron short cannon produced by the Qing Dynasty, I hope you like it." ”

When talking about the two words Nanban Iron Short Cannon, Gong Cheng, who is very talented in language, said it directly in Japanese, but Shimazu Tadayoshi was surprised when he heard it, and hurriedly asked: "Do you speak our Japanese?" Do you still know the word Nanban in our Japan? (In Japanese, Nanban refers specifically to European and American countries)

"Back to the feudal lord, I can only speak a little Japanese, which makes you smile." Gong Cheng was modest, and said with a smile: "As for using the word Nanban, of course, it is to follow the customs of the country, our Zhennan King has repeatedly asked me to respect the culture and customs of your country, so I used this word in the next." But the meaning is similar, in our Qing Shilin, we basically call the yellow-haired and blue-eyed ones Yangyi or Xiyi. ”

Listening to Gong Cheng's contempt for foreigners' language, Shimazu and his son, who are currently advocating respect for the king, looked a little better, and they also had some good feelings towards Gong Cheng, and Shimazu Tadayoshi, who is only twenty-three years old, nodded and said: "It's rare for your envoy to be careful, let's say, what did you Qingguo Zhennan King send you to do?" ”

Knowing that Wu Chaoyue had a feud with the Satsuma Domain, Gong Cheng, who was arrogant but extremely well-behaved, spoke very carefully, and said: "Domain lord, the king of Zhennan sent me here for the sake of the affairs of the Ryukyu Kingdom, and our king of Zhennan hopes that your domain can respect the relationship between the Qing Dynasty and the Ryukyu Kingdom, stop forcing the Ryukyu King to sever the tribute of the Ryukyu Dynasty with my Qing Dynasty, and respect the sovereignty of the Ryukyu Kingdom, and stop forcing the Ryukyu Kingdom to pay you tribute such as sugar, rice, salt, copper and iron." ”

"What if we don't say yes?" Shimazu Hisamitsu, who actually presided over the invasion of the Ryukyus, asked with a sneer.

"Then there is no way for our Zhennan King." Gong Cheng replied neither humbly nor arrogantly: "He can only assume the responsibility of the suzerainty for the Qing court in the name of the regent of the Qing Dynasty and send troops to protect the subject state of the Ryukyus." ”

Shimazu Hisamitsu's face changed, and he said with a sneer: "So, you are here to declare war on our Satsuma Domain on behalf of the Qing Kingdom?" If so, then come on, our Satsuma Domain is just about to settle an old account with your Zhennan King. ”

"Wait, Father of the Nation, it seems that this sentence should not be said by you." Gong Cheng hurriedly took over the conversation and said with a heartfelt voice: "If I am not mistaken, it seems that the lord of your country's Satsuma Domain is not you, and such a big matter should be decided by the lord of your country's Satsuma Domain." ”

"I am the founding father of the Satsuma Domain, and I have the right to make this decision for the lord of the domain." Shimazu Hisamitsu replied proudly.

Gong Cheng looked at Shimazu Tadayoshi with a surprised face, and asked in very stiff but clear Japanese: "Domain lord, you are already an adult, why do you still ask the father of your domain to decide the major affairs in the domain?" ”

Shimazu Tadayi was silent, but the dissatisfaction with his biological father in his heart deepened, and Saigo Takamori, who was black and fat next to him, saw that something was wrong, and hurriedly said through the translator: "Qing envoy, pay attention to your words and deeds, this is a family affair between our lord and our father of the country, and it has nothing to do with you." ”

The first time he went to Japan, he didn't know the temperament of the little devil, and Gong Cheng, who cherished his life, didn't dare to be too presumptuous, but hurriedly handed over his hand to Shimazu Tadashi and said: "The feudal lord, the little envoy is abrupt, and he inadvertently intervenes in your family affairs, Wanwang feudal lord." But the name is not right, and such a national event is not good, so I still ask the lord of the domain to open his mouth and confirm the reply given below. If not, I don't dare to report the answer of the father of your vassal country to our king of Zhennan as your reply to the lord of the domain. After all, you are the lord of your Satsuma Domain, and we, the King of the Great Qing Dynasty, only recognize your reply as an official reply. ”

"This Qing envoy is quite polite." After suddenly realizing that he liked Gong Cheng's words, Shimazu Tadayoshi first turned his head to look at his father's expression, and saw that Shimazu Hisamitsu did not look good, and Shimazu Tadayi did not dare to disobey, so he could only say to Gong Cheng head-on: "What the father of the country means, is what I mean, go back and tell you the king of Zhennan, about the Ryukyus, if he dares to send troops, our Satsuma clan will accompany him to the end." ”

"Domain master, I hope you can give a reply after careful consideration." Gong Cheng bowed his hand again and said: "As soon as the war starts, not only will the Ryukyu lives be devastated, but the war may also expand to the territory of your domain, affecting the military and civilian people of your domain. I also hope that the lord of the domain will think carefully about this matter for the sake of the people of your domain. ”

Because he knew very well that the Chinese civil war was still in full swing, Shimazu Hisamitsu spoke again and shouted: "Don't think about it! The affairs of the Ryukyus are a private matter between us and the Ryukyu Kingdom, and if you Qing dare to intervene, the samurai of the Satsuma Domain and Japan will definitely kill you all, just as Japan defeated the Mongols back then. ”

Gong Cheng didn't pay attention to Shimazu Hisamitsu at all, but just looked at Shimazu Tadashi, and Shimazu Tadayi felt a little comfortable in his heart, and said: "That's right, the meaning of the father of the nation is the meaning of Yu." Wu Chaoyue instigated the Nanban to rob our Satsuma Domain's Lingjia gold mine, we haven't settled that account with him, if his army dares to come, we just want to find him to settle the new account and the old account together! ”

Gong Cheng, who had been prepared for a long time, was most afraid of Shimazu Tadayoshi mentioning the Ryogari Gold Mine that was betrayed by Wu Chaoyue, and immediately said: "Domain Lord, about the matter of the Ryogara Gold Mine of your Domain, our King Zhennan has to explain it to him, in fact, the matter of the Ryogara Gold Mine, the feudal lord, you really can't blame the head of our King Zhennan, if you want to blame, you have to blame the retainers of the Satsuma Domain of the Gui Domain, it is their fault, which led to the Nanban sending troops to rob the Ryogara Gold Mine." ”

"The matter of the Ryokari gold mine, we have to blame the retainers of the Satsuma Domain?"

Shimazu father and son were a little dumbfounded, and Saigo Takamori and Okubo Ritsu also looked at each other, and they didn't understand Gong Cheng's crooked reasoning when they broke their heads. Gong Cheng said eloquently: "Yes, I think you also know that our Zhennan King has never been to Japan, and he has never been to Kagoshima and Ryogari Gold Mine. ”

Speaking of this, Gong Cheng paused for a moment, and then said: "Please think about it, if the retainers of your Satsuma Domain were a little more powerful at that time, and found out in time that the Southern Barbarians were secretly exploring the Ryogari Gold Mine, and knew that there was still a large amount of gold under the Ryokari Gold Mine, how could there be anything later?" Our Zhennan King also broke his head and didn't understand, your country and my Qing Dynasty were also closed to the country at that time, how could you let a southern barbarian swagger freely in Kagoshima, and even let him find out the situation of the Ryokari gold mine? Therefore, the king of Zhennan still doubted that there were any retainers of your clan who accepted bribes from the southern barbarians? Deliberately pretending not to see him, or even deliberately shielding him? ”

After finishing speaking, Gong Cheng hurriedly added, and said, "Of course, if you had succeeded as the lord of the Satsuma Domain at that time, this would definitely not have happened." Because both the king of Zhennan and Zaixia know very well that with your ability and ability, such a thing will never happen under your rule. ”

Not to mention, the Shimazu father and son really couldn't find anything to refute Gong Cheng's crooked reasoning, and Saigo Takamori and Okubo Ritsu were also frowning, and they didn't understand how the retainers of the Satsuma Domain could make such a huge mistake and let a foreigner sneak into the territory to find out the situation of the Ryogari gold mine. And Gong Cheng accepted it when he saw it, and hurriedly said: "Domain lord, about the matter of Ryukyu, I take the liberty of Xia, or please think about it carefully, if the feudal lord must insist on meeting our Zhennan King by force, Zai Xia will not dare to reluctantly stop it, only ask the feudal lord to send a letter, let Zai Xia bring it back and present it to the Zhennan King." If nothing else, the envoy took his leave and went back to the sea ship to Jinghou Domain's good news. ”

For the sake of Gong Cheng's behavior and words that made him very satisfied, Shimazu Tadaya did not have the intention of insisting on cutting off Gong Cheng, and it was rare that Shimazu Hisamitsu made the decision without asking for instructions, waved his hand and said: "Go, the letter will be given to you another day." ”

When Gong Cheng heard the great joy, he hurriedly thanked him respectfully, and then couldn't wait to return to the port where the Western ships were stationed, and Shimazu Hisamitsu, the de facto ruler of the Satsuma Domain, did not stop him, but just smiled contemptuously: "The people of the Qing Kingdom are really cowardly as rats, if we really want to kill him, he thinks it will be safe to escape back to the ship?" No matter how fast his ship is, can it be faster than our steamship Hakuho Maru, Tianyou Maru, and Qingying Maru? ”

After Gong Cheng left, Shimazu Hisamitsu symbolically solicited the opinions of all the retainers, and because they knew very well that the Chinese civil war was not over, all the retainers did not take Wu Chaoyue's threat of force seriously, and almost all advocated a tough response. Only Okubo Ritsu was more cautious, and suggested that Shimazu and his son temporarily communicate with Gong Chengxu and the snake, and first find out the maritime strength of the Wu army before making plans, but Shimazu Hisamitsu waved his hand even more contemptuously, and said: "Don't be so troublesome, let's not say that the Qing Kingdom is still in the civil war, and there is no way to open up overseas battlefields." Even if they did come, the sailors they had trained in the inland rivers would never be our opponents at sea. ”

At this time, the puppet lord Shimazu Tadayoshi of course did not have any qualifications to participate in the discussion, bored and aggrieved, Shimazu Tadaya had no choice but to pick up the pair of revolvers given to him by Wu Chaoyue to play, sincerely admired a few words of exquisite craftsmanship of the revolver, and inadvertently noticed the Chinese character inscription on the gun, curiously called the translator to translate the Chinese character inscription into Japanese, Shimazu Tadaya was very shocked to learn that these two beautifully crafted revolvers were actually produced in the Daye Arsenal of the Wu Army.

"These two short iron cannons of the Southern Barbarians were actually made by the Qing people themselves? Anyway, the Qing envoy spoke very beautifully, so it was better to meet him again and inquire about the situation carefully. ”

After making up his mind, Shimazu Tadaya immediately spoke, first showing the inscriptions of the two revolvers, telling Shimazu Hisamitsu about his curiosity about the Wu Jun Daye Arsenal, and then saying that he wanted to see Gong Cheng again to inquire about the specific situation of the Wu Jun Daye Arsenal, and asked Shimazu Hisamitsu for permission to meet Gong Cheng again. Shimazu Hisamitsu didn't think about it, just nodded directly, and said, "Since the feudal lord likes it, and this can take the opportunity to find out the strength of the Qing army, then let the feudal lord decide for himself." ”