"It seems that my pious prayers have finally touched God Almighty, and he has sent you to me, a humble servant!" Gomes took the little cane in his hand and came to me at a trot very inappropriate for his age. "It is a great honor to host you in such a place!" He's got my arm around me.

"It's as impersonal as it sounds, we're old friends!" I replied to his enthusiasm with kindness, though even with my experience I could not tell whether his enthusiasm was real or not.

Economic power has always been an important fulcrum of our regime, so maintaining economic networks occupies a large part of my energy, and all the wealthy merchants in Japan, even if I don't know them, have some trade ties with them. This is not to mention the formal tea parties and consultations in this regard!

But in the months since Oda Nobunaga's death, I haven't had any time like this, because this is a critical moment and politics is my business. After arriving in Kyushu, I have been leading troops to fight, and I can't even see the surrendered daimyo, the wealthy clan, and the envoys of all parties, let alone a merchant from the southern barbarians.

In fact, in this eventful autumn, I also know that there are many people who are anxious to see me, and at first I listened to the reward of an attendant, and then I simply blocked all of them. With Murai Sadakatsu and Masuda Nagamori, he didn't take care of them, so naturally nothing big would happen, and I was tight-lipped about some things, which I arranged in advance.

"Naturally, I don't doubt the character of His Highness the Stars, but I just think that a lowly businessman like me always wants to be blessed by your brilliance at all times!" When he came to the room and sat down, he said this to me.

"I've never rejected your legitimate requests, and I've always liked a bowl of water!" I picked up a cup of coffee on the table in front of me, lowered my eyelids and took a small sip, a little bitter but very refreshing.

"I have never doubted your kindness, but please be considerate of my old man's feelings!" Gomez understood what I meant, but he didn't care at all, and put on a pitiful look.

"If there's something, you can talk about it first!" My words are very plain.

"First of all, let me congratulate you on your deeds, now that Kyushu will be under your rule, no one will have any doubts!" After a word of compliment, Gomez immediately turned to the topic. "You are a man full of wisdom, so I will be blunt, in fact, I have been anxious to ask to see you all this time, just to talk to you about Kyushu......" and then he "heartbroken" about his worries about the environment in Kyushu.

I listened quietly to what he had to say, just taking a sip of the cup of coffee. To be honest, I prefer tea, especially green tea, but coffee is not an exclusion as a drink, provided that enough sugar is added. Juan. Gomez was indeed full of anxiety, and I could feel it very well, but the reason was definitely not as he said.

More than 30 years have passed since the first European merchant ship came to Japan from Portugal, and the landing site was in Kyushu, near Tanegashima Island in the south. Therefore, it can be said that Kyushu was the traditional sphere of influence of Portuguese merchants, and even nearly half of the daimyo joined Catholicism. Now that the pattern of Kyushu is about to undergo major changes, how can Kamikomez not be worried?

"I'm sure you've seen the chaos here with your own eyes, don't you know what to do?" Seeing that I didn't speak for a long time, he felt a little uncertain in his heart, but after asking this sentence, he felt a little inappropriate, and quickly added: "I don't mean anything else when I say this, it's just that as your consistent supporter, I am eager to contribute to your cause." My Chamber of Commerce has some small strength in some places in Kyushu, and it is our greatest honor to be able to contribute to you! ”

I was silent for a while, and then I said, "Indeed, as you said, I have seen all the towns in Kyushu, and I am not satisfied. Maybe other daimyo wouldn't care, but I can't, because I started my business with financial support! "When I said this, the conversation changed again." But...... After all, there is still some resistance to the complete pacification of Kyushu, and my current main strategy is to smooth over! ”

"That......" The wrinkles on his face were loosened.

"I don't intend to interfere with the various religious beliefs in Kyushu!" I replied.

"But......" His face changed slightly when he heard this, and the hand holding the cane couldn't help but clench.

Kyushu was originally a place where various shrine forces were mixed, and the traditional Buddhism was not very strong, so this form of Catholicism was able to take advantage of the void, and it occupied half of the country in just a few decades. It is naturally a good thing for the Portuguese that I do not move the religious pattern, but the implicit word is to do business management.

"Your Highness's decision is really wise, but it is better to make a suggestion and carry it out in a gentle way!" Gomez was really cunning and quickly adjusted. "From what I've seen and heard over the past decade, agriculture in Kyushu is developed enough compared to the rest of Japan, and even better than many of our places in Europe. But because of the fact that it is surrounded by the sea and far from political and cultural centers, commercial exchanges are not so developed. If His Highness were to adopt strict control measures, not only would the merchants of the state leave unprofitable, but the role of the European merchant supply port would be greatly reduced. I don't think anyone would be happy to see the prospect of turning Kyushu into a commercial desert. ”

"It is undeniable that there is some truth in what you said, but if you have the right of two evils, you can only choose the lesser of two evils!" I sighed, seemingly helplessly, and then reached out and pointed. "You should know better than I do the situation out there, even your own shop is doing the same, and the uncontrolled flow of sophisticated weapons is everywhere, and there may even be a few iron cannons in the hands of thieves and mobs. Even if I personally achieve a dominant position here in Kyushu, there will still be people who hate me, and I must be aware of the strength and movements of large and small forces. But if you look at the current situation, in order to maintain a smooth transition, I must block the source of the expansion of force by all parties, and there is no way to 'close the port' as a last resort! ”

"Closed port!" Gomez could no longer keep his composure, and if that was the case, Kyushu's overseas trade would be completely over. "You...... Too...... This ......"

I looked at his red face, which was wrinkled like a sun-dried orange peel, and I was a little worried that he had suffered a cerebral hemorrhage.

"That'...... That's a pity! After about five minutes, Gomez finally began to stabilize his emotions, and although his face was still an abnormal flush, he controlled himself and did not say anything excessive. I noticed that you are referring to the worst possible outcome, and I wonder if there is any other remedy? He asked.

"It's not like it will come this far!" I said this on my lips, but I was nodding secretly in my heart, talking to "people who understand" is to save trouble. "As you know, I have always been a discourager of shackling business, and I have no choice but to do so in order to stabilize law and order. If I can ensure that these things do not fall into the hands of dangerous people, then I would be happy to see Kyushu flourish! ”

"It's just very difficult, it's hard to refuse customers when we open the door to do business!" Gomez swallowed and said with some difficulty.

"At least I need to know who bought these things, so I can be prepared!" I finally said my purpose and continued to look at him silently. I'm not worried that he'll reject me, it's easy to overcome such a conscientious condemnation compared to profit, and besides, these European adventurers aren't good men and women who don't cling too much to "business ethics" or anything like that.

"Okay!" He finally nodded. "I will contact the merchants who deal in arms in Kyushu and issue you a regular report on the transactions of all customers!"

"I'm also interested in the extent of previous transactions, and I hope you can help me sort it out as much as you can!" I smiled and continued.

"How is this possible!" Gomez was a little excited.

"As far as I know, all firearms require regular maintenance, so it's impossible for a previous customer to be completely untouched!" I don't think it's so difficult to be "embarrassed" by him, and since I've taken the first step, it's actually simple. "I believe that your service is always high-quality, so there is nothing to worry about customers. Besides, Catholicism is now very widespread among the lower classes of the people in Kyushu, and you want to know that some such 'simple' things should be able to be done! ”

This time Gomez was even more surprised, he could not have imagined that I would know about another profession of Jesuit missionary. But it's not news to me, but I've almost forgotten it in the dust of memory. Countries like Spain and Portugal, unlike England, the Netherlands, and Venice, did not have an official background in any of the merchants.

"Okay!" In the end, he chose to cooperate.

"Thank you for your help, then I can rest assured about the affairs of Kyushu!" I nodded in satisfaction, thinking that I could give him some good. "I won't make major adjustments to Hirado for a while, and at the same time, your Chamber of Commerce will act as an agent for all the Nanban merchant ships that dock here to replenish them. I'm only going to talk to you about everything, and the rest is your internal affairs......"

At this moment, there was a sudden noise in the hall outside, and I glanced at Gomez, who was also confused. I stood up and walked to the door to look outside, and it turned out to be my squire arguing with a young European man.

"I told you, I want to see His Highness the Stars!" At this moment, he turned his head, and a fair face appeared under his golden hair, no more than 20 years old.