。 In the seventh year of Tianzheng, June.

Li Xiao's new home, Chengweishan Yufang, was finally completed.

Yufang is a word that has always been a believer, so it is naturally no longer suitable for the name of Xincheng.

So the new Weishan Imperial Fang, Li Xiao listened to the opinions of all the retainers.

felt a little bitter smile, such as the new capital, Ying Tiancheng and other powerful and domineering words, didn't it embarrass him.

Therefore, Li Xiao decided simply and low-key to call Xinju City Weishan City.

The new Oyama Castle is built on the Kotachino Terrace in the Kanazawa Plains.

This piece of terrace is actually not big, so before Li Xiao, he also wasted his efforts to level several nearby hills as the outer Guo of the city.

The new Oyama Castle did not follow the construction of Japanese castles, but was built according to the standards of Chinese castles.

That is, the defensive wall, which encompasses the entire residential area.

Just like the capital of the Ming Kingdom in this era, the castle tower, where Li Xiao was located, as well as the Honmaru and the Imperial Palace, were all located in the northernmost part of the city.

To the south of the castle are residential, commercial, and residential areas.

Here is a large avenue through, similar to the ancient Chang'an City of Suzaku Street, north and south, the entire Weishan City, divided into two, divided into two districts.

Higashi-Oku is the residence of the retainers and the townspeople.

In Nishi-Oku, there are three major towns: Ariake Province, Nanban, Terauchi, and Terauchi.

The first two towns entertained the Ming people respectively, and the southern barbarians came here to take charge.

The town of Ming Guo is completely composed of Li Dan. Wang Tanzhi raised and built their own buildings, and they didn't spend a penny on Li Xiao, and the same is true for Nanban Town.

As for what they build, Li Xiao has no restrictions.

Therefore, in Nanban Town, various churches were built, and when Li Xiao looked at the castle tower, a dome was erected.

In addition, you can also see all kinds of Western-style houses, so far, with Li Xiao's long-term good relationship with the Nanban, more than 2,000 Nanban people have come to settle here.

Plus the Nanban people in several other port towns. In Li Xiao's country, there are no less than 3,000 Southern Barbarians who have settled.

At first, the Portuguese were the main of these southern barbarians, but with the rise of Spain and the Netherlands during the Age of Discovery, there were more and more Europeans in the port towns.

Especially Spain, now the king of Spain. Philip I, in his capacity as a Portuguese royal family, attempted to annex Portugal.

Historically, in 1580, Philip I would send his general, Duke Alva, to occupy Portugal, and Spain's power would reach its peak in history.

And the Netherlands. At this time, it had not yet become independent from Spain, but the struggle against the Low Countries had not stopped.

On land, Prince Maurice, one of the creators of the Western Phalanx, led the Dutch in their struggle for independence.

And the Dutch, who were called sea coachmen at sea. It also took advantage of the strong maritime trade and began to compete overseas.

Therefore, in the town of Nanban, these western countries are at odds with each other.

But they didn't dare to be presumptuous in the Weishan Imperial Fang, because here, Li Xiao had a not weak water army. And his powerful Ming maritime allies.

A magnificent four-wheeled carriage drove slowly down the ramp in Minamiban Town.

Pulling the light gauze curtains, Li Xiao looked at the neat stone roads and the European-style houses that stood shoulder to shoulder on the hillside, and for a moment it seemed as if he had come to Europe in the movie.

It seems that these southern barbarians have the beauty of urban architecture.

The carriage passed slowly, and Li Xiao saw a small number of upper-class people from the Southern Barbarians in Shidao, wearing high hats. Holding a civilized stick in his hand, he held a lady in a lace dress in one hand, walking slowly along the side of the street, as if enjoying the afternoon sun.

When the other party saw his carriage, he immediately bowed and saluted, which was very polite. …,

Li Xiao bowed slightly, and lay back on the comfortable cushions of this carriage, and three pack horses drove the four-wheeled carriage on the stone road, which was also the legendary troika.

The troika was smooth and not bumpy, and its speed was much faster than that of the ox cart.

This carriage was naturally given to Li Xiao by the Portuguese.

Before the Meiji Restoration in Japan, because of the scarcity of horses, there was no horse-drawn carriage with only ox carts.

In China, there is no good solution to the steering problem, and there are only two-wheeled carriages instead of four-wheeled carriages.

Of course, although the two-wheeled carriage is simple and easy, the carrying capacity and travel comfort are definitely inferior to the four-wheeled carriage.

Li Xiao was lying on the carriage, surrounded by hundreds of flags and guards.

He had just enjoyed a sumptuous lunch with the new president of the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce in the East Indies, Cabrall, and several Portuguese businessmen in the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce in Nanban Town.

This Cabral has part of the blood of the Portuguese royal family.

The purpose of his visit to the East Indies was to expand the Portuguese trade in the area, and to prepare for the establishment of the Portuguese East India Company.

However, Cabral, who took office as a new official, did not stay in India or Macao for a while, but went directly to Japan by ship, and after only a short stay in Hirado, he came directly to Kaga Mikunato and landed.

For Li Xiao, under the vigorous recommendation of Father Torres and others.

Cabral knew that the other party's talents could not be regarded as an ideal oriental, but in the mouth of Father Torres, he described him as a great name with great ambition, vision, and insight.

At the same time, the other party was skillful, maneuvering between the Ming maritime merchants, Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands and other forces, relying on maritime trade, accumulating a large amount of wealth, and casting a powerful army.

After Cabral heard this, he didn't dare to slack off at the moment, not only to know Li Xiao, a powerful figure, but more importantly, Li Xiao is now an important business partner of the future East India Company.

At present, Li Xiao's gold and silver trade with the Portuguese has reached more than half of the Portuguese's gold and silver trade in the whole of Japan, and he is a major customer of the East India Company.

Whether it is Father Torres or others, they are all accepting and currying favor with Li Xiao, as for the great cause of mission, God forgive, and Cabral is not the most important place.

Therefore, at lunch, Cabral repeatedly mentioned that with the good relationship between Lord Li Xiao and the Portuguese, but in the proportion of gold and silver trade, the Portuguese occupied a share that was not as good as Li Xiao's Ming friends, so this is really a bit hurtful.

Li Xiao couldn't help but feel funny when he thought of what happened at the banquet just now.

Cabral tried his best to win over, and finally introduced his two younger sisters, and Cabral's two sisters are also of Portuguese royal blood.

If Li Xiao could agree to his conditions, he would not suggest that Li Xiao have an in-depth and meaningful exchange with his two younger sisters.

Li Xiao couldn't help but smile bitterly, did he accept the Xiaowan sisters as the main room, so others thought that he had the evil habit of sisters flying together.

So in the end, Li Xiao was still insensitive to the Portuguese Yanma sisters.

However, Li Xiao made a condition for Cabral to provide another interest-free or even low-interest loan, so that Li Xiao could now survive the current financial constraints, and in return, Li Xiao would consider favoring Portugal in the distribution share of gold and silver trade.

Anyway, under the abbot of Chang'an, the mining volume of Sado Gold Mountain and Shengang Silver Mountain is increasing day by day, and he is not unable to share a little share to his business partners. …,

The provision of the loan still made Cabral hesitate, after all, Li Xiao already owed a lot of money to the Portuguese.

As far as he knew, Li Xiao ordered three of the latest Spanish galleons from the Spaniards in one go this time to fill his sailors, and the money was paid in advance by Portuguese merchants.

Now that he is asking himself to take the money, Cabral has to convince the following big businessmen that it is indeed a bit troublesome.

However, when Cabral thought that the East India Company would be able to consolidate its position in Asian trade in the future, he finally agreed to Li Xiao's conditions.

In the carriage, Li Xiao was very comfortable and rested his head behind his hands.

After the completion of the negotiations with Cabral, he will indeed be able to tide over this period of financial crisis, and when the income from the trade between Japan and North Korea and the gold and silver trade will arrive next year, he will be able to say goodbye to the deficit on the books.

After leaving Nanban Town, Li Xiao's carriage drove into Mingguo Town.

Unlike Nanban Town, Meikoku Town also has its own characteristics, with Mazu Temple, Morichi Bodhisattva, and even a church in the town.

It is not surprising that many of the maritime merchants of the Ming Kingdom believed in Catholicism, and Zheng Zhilong is a good example of this.

However, in addition to Catholicism, Zheng Zhilong also believes in the Morichi Bodhisattva and the Japanese Hachiman God, which belongs to the type of worship when he sees the temple.

The buildings of Mingguo Town are basically in the style of Fujian and Guangdong, and many people speak rural slang, Hokkien dialect, and northern Hokkien dialect.

This made Li Xiao, who was accustomed to listening to Japanese in the carriage, feel doubly cordial.

He thought that if he really retired in the future, he would be able to live in this place, and he would be able to return to the tribe.

After all, the Chinese still pay attention to the height of the tree, the fallen leaves return to the roots, and the sense of identity of this point is hidden in everyone's heart.

So even though you can't go back to modern times, you can't go back to Mingguo, and living in such a place can be regarded as living in Chinatown.

Li Xiao's carriage drove by, and the people in the town knew Li Xiao's identity.

At that moment, many people were gathered outside, and when they saw the carriage, they stood on both sides and avoided it in an orderly manner.

For these uprooted people, it is enough to have a comfortable place to stay without worrying about being bullied.

Li Xiao did all this.

Therefore, these people's gratitude to Li Xiao is also real, and they feel different in the face of Li Xiao, who did not hold up the avoidance and traveled quietly with a sign.

Of course, for Li Xiao, it is also his duty to provide a safe place to live and give these compatriots who are drifting overseas. (To be continued)