Hearing Li Tu's words, Tokugawa Hidetada was stunned for a moment and looked at Li Tu again. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

The retainers of the general's family below Tokugawa Hidetada were also surprised by Li Tu's words, and looked at each other a few times, and finally the retainer at the top shouted: "Tang maritime merchant Li Tu, why is it inappropriate to only trade with the Tang Dynasty?" ”

Li Tu bowed again, then looked up at the shogun, and said lightly: "In my opinion, the so-called trade is actually the competition of economic power between countries. Although there is no smoke of gunpowder, this kind of competition, like war, requires the efficiency of a country to win. ”

"If the shogunate opens up trade and competes with other countries, it will stimulate efforts to improve the efficiency of production in various parts of Japan. In this case, the organizational skills of the samurai came into play. On the other hand, if the shogunate closed off the country, there would be no need for greater efficiency in all parts of Japan, and the samurai would lose the ability to stretch their skills. ”

I don't know why, maybe Li Tu was worried about the lockdown order, worried that this policy would eventually restrict his trade, or because the conversation with Shimazu Tadashi made Li Tu feel some sympathy for the Japanese samurai, hoping that the Japanese samurai could avoid the fate of destruction in the afterlife, in short, Li Tu faced the Tokugawa shogun and was ready to say a few words for the samurai for free trade.

"Without war, the status of the samurai has declined. If there is no trade competition, then the survival of the samurai family will be gone. The general's family is a samurai family after all. If the samurai in Japan as a social class had completely disappeared, the shogun's family would not have survived alone. ”

Litu was a well-organized analyst and advocated free trade. Several foreigners heard Li Tu's words through an interpreter, and their faces were pleasantly surprised, happy that someone spoke for them.

Hearing Li Tu's analysis, Tokugawa Hidetada put away his smile and listened carefully. After Li Tu finished speaking, Tokugawa Hidetada said loudly: "You mean that you want me to open up trade with all countries?" ”

Hearing the general's words, the two British fat businessmen became excited. They looked at Li Tu, as if hoping that Li Tu would say a few words for their merchant house.

Li Tu bowed lightly forward again and said loudly, "That's true. Western countries are fighting wars and competing with each other every year, and their national strength is growing day by day in competition with each other. In the West, every year, new inventions come out, and Westerners are getting stronger and stronger every year. By trading with Western countries, you can participate in the competition of Western countries, stimulate the need for samurai in Japan, and ultimately preserve the samurai class and the national capital of the shogun's family. ”

Tokugawa Hidetada listened to Li Tu's words, very seriously, but a little dissatisfied, and said loudly: "What if I insist on locking the country? ”

Li Tu didn't bow again, looked directly into the general's eyes and said, "If Japan closes off the country, the samurai will become poorer and poorer." Two hundred years later, the samurai as a social class ceased to exist, and the shogunate would perish with it. ”

As soon as Li Tu's words came out, the generals and retainers sitting at the top glared at Li Tu in unison. The retainer at the head shouted and scolded: "Bold! Bold Maritime! Dare to talk about the rise and fall of the general's family? ”

When Tokugawa Hidetada heard this, he was also a little dissatisfied, and stared at Li Tu's eyes fiercely.

Li Tu didn't give in, and looked straight into the general's eyes.

It took a long time for Tokugawa Hidetada to be defeated and look away from his eyes. With a sneer, Tokugawa Hidetada said, "What a powerful young man! After a pause, Tokugawa Hidetada smiled again and said: "The Chinese sage said that if you are a threesome, you must have my teacher!" There is some truth in what Li Tu said. ”

With a finger of the fan, Tokugawa Hidetada's retainers said, "Come, give Li Tu Zhu the seal and allow him to do business all over the country." Let all the feudal towns where the ships are berthed receive him! ”

One of the Tokugawa retainers sitting at the top of the house let out a loud sigh.

The full name of the Exotic Sea Crossing Seal was a trade license issued by the Tokugawa shogunate. Japanese ships with this document are allowed to leave Japan to engage in ocean trade. Foreign ships with this certificate were allowed to dock and trade in all ports in Japan, and were protected by the Tokugawa shogunate.

It seems that the mood was disturbed by Li Tu's bold remarks, and Tokugawa Hidetada was not in the mood to talk to other businessmen anymore. With that, he flicked his sleeves and left the hall.

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After the shogun left, Li Tu followed a retainer of the shogun's family, "Nagasaki Shinori", to Ninomaru in Edo Castle, where he registered and wrote down documents, waiting for the seal. In the end, it took him an hour to get the seal that the general had rewarded him.

Although Ming merchants can now call at Japan's ports for trade at will, Japan's lockdown policy is becoming more and more serious. In the future, if Li Tu wanted to trade in Japanese ports other than Hirado and Nagasaki, he would have to rely on this seal.

Li Tu left Edo Castle with the seal, but saw the two chubby British merchants outside the city gate. As soon as they saw Li Tu, the two Englishmen came up to greet him: "Kaptin Lee, okay, oil"

The British translator translated English into Japanese, and Li Tu's translator translated Japanese into Ming Mandarin, and Li Tu understood what the two British fat men said.

"Captain Lee, how are you?"

Li Tu nodded and said, "I'm fine, is there anything wrong?" ”

Oscar, the first of the two Englishmen, said, "Thanks to Captain Lee's words, the shogun changed his mind and decided to postpone the closure of the British trading house in Hirado!" Thank you so much! ”

Li Tu didn't expect his words to have such a big effect, so Tokugawa Hidetada suspended the policy of locking the country, smiled and asked, "How do you want to thank me?" ”

Oscar picked up a box that was placed on the ground, stuffed it into Litu's hand, and said, "The general hates us and does not accept our gifts." You help us speak, we give you the gift that would have been given to the general! ”

Li Tu didn't expect these Xiyi to know gratitude, so he lightly pushed open the box and said, "Li Tu doesn't dare to be!" ”

The two Englishmen did not understand the politeness of the Chinese, and when they saw Li Tu refusing the gift, they looked at each other. After thinking about it, that Oscar stuffed the box into Li Tu's hand again, and said loudly: "Captain Li, you must accept our gift!" ”

Li Tu took the box at this time. He didn't play with the British either, and opened the box in front of the British.

Lying in the box were two green glass bottles of rum and a flintlock pistol.

Two bottles of wine, Li Tu was not interested. Although glass was a rarity in this era, especially in East Asia, where glass was regarded as a luxury item and only a very few people owned, for Li Tu, he was not in the mood to show off everywhere with a glass bottle. However, the flintlock pistol in the box made Li Tu feel like he had picked up a treasure.