The castle of Natsurumaru Castle is quite large, divided into three layers from top to bottom, each layer is protected by a wall more than ten meters high, and it is called Sannomaru, Ninomaru, and Honmaru, and the highest castle tower in the castle is in Honmaru. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

The gate where Li Tu and others dismounted was called Otemon. After dismounting, the group followed the samurai who led the way, and went up the winding road of the castle.

The castle was topped with walls with arquebus holes of various shapes. These walls are decorated with many flags with black stripes on a white background, and the Shimazu family's Cross-Maru family crest is tattooed on them. There are also many Ashigaru soldiers patrolling the road, and Ashigaru also has a small flag on his back.

There are many samurai houses on both sides of the road in the castle. Different from the houses of the common people, these samurai mansions are very elegantly shaped, with all Tang-style roofs and white walls, which looks quite beautiful.

After passing through the two gates for a quarter of an hour, everyone walked to the top floor of the Honmaru and entered the Honmaru Palace. After entering the palace, Miyagi Naomitsu bowed slightly and said, "Let's go and tell the lord of the domain first." ”

After saying this, he left and walked to the inside of the palace.

Li Tu and his entourage followed the samurai who led the way into a large room in the palace. Seeing the furnishings in the room, everyone was taken aback.

Different from other rooms, this room is actually a complete set of Da Ming-style furnishings. In the middle of the room, there are mahogany tables, chairs, and coffee tables, on which are carved with unique wood carvings, and Chinese characters and calligraphy are hung on the walls.

Not only was the lord of the feudal domain happy to meet the merchants of the boats, but he also arranged such a room in the Honmaru Imperial Palace, so that the Daming maritime merchants would feel at home as soon as they entered the house. Everyone was amazed, and they all secretly said that this feudal lord Shimazu Tadashi was a great master.

The four of them took their seats in the guest seats, and someone brought Ming-style tea. The tea is the best Fujian Tieguanyin tea, the entrance is fresh, and the four of them are amazed.

After waiting for about a stick of incense, the side door was pushed open, and a waiter walked in and stood guard on the side of the door. Then, a large samurai dressed in a gorgeous costume walked in, surrounded by a group of samurai.

Watsubo pursued Miyashiro Naomitsu and was also among the attendant samurai.

The big samurai among the samurai was about forty or fifty years old, quite tall, more than one meter and eight, with a standard moon head combed on his head, a faint beard on his chin, a golden samurai haori on his body, not many wrinkles on his face, and a pair of bright eyes.

Without a little shelf, walking to the main seat, the great warrior smiled and said:

"Below is Shimazu Tadashi, the lord of the Satsuma Domain, and welcome to Tsurumaru Castle."

Hearing the self-introduction of the visitor, Li Tu and his party stood up one after another and saluted.

Shimazu Tadashi bowed slightly, and then led the group to sit down.

Taking a sip of tea, Shimazu Tadashi said loudly:

"We are very happy that His Excellency Hsiao Xiangui anchored in Watsubo and sold the goods to the Satsuma Domain. I have a large number of retainers in the Satsuma Domain, and I have various tasks in the shogun's family, and my finances are tight. His Excellency Xiao Xiangui's goods are tantamount to sending charcoal in the snow, which is of great benefit to the revitalization of our domain. ”

Xiao Xiangui's goods were sold to the Satsuma clan and he got more than 40,000 taels of silver. The Satsuma clan then sold these goods all over Japan, and made a lot of money. The lord of the Satsuma domain was a straightforward man, and he came up to explain his situation and express his gratitude to Xiao Xiangui for his deal.

The Satsuma Domain was located in the southwestern corner of Japan, close to the shipping lanes, and it seemed that Shimazu Tadashi wanted to compete with Heido and Nagasaki in international trade.

Xiao Xiangui hurriedly arched his hand and said, "The lord of the domain is polite. Not only did the feudal lord benefit, but he also made a lot of money selling goods under him, which was the best of both worlds. ”

The general translated Xiao Xiangui's words, and when Shimazu Tadashi heard this, he said: "Today next year, I also invite His Excellency Xiao Xiangui to come to the Satsuma Domain to trade, and prepare wine to welcome him." ”

Xiao Xiangui replied again: "I am willing to obey the king's wishes." ”

Hearing this, Shimazu Tadashi raised his head and laughed, looking quite happy. Seeing that the lord of the domain was happy, the samurai who accompanied him also burst into laughter.

After pondering for a moment, Xiao Xiangui no longer discussed next year's transaction with the lord of the Satsuma Domain, and said tentatively: "There is nothing to do but go to the Three Treasure Palace, and this time I came to visit Tsuruma City because I wanted to buy something with the Satsuma Domain." ”

Satsuma Domain's lord Masaseki asked, "What do you want to buy?" ”

Xiao Xiangui looked at Li Tu, who was sitting at the bottom, and said to Shimazu Zhongheng: "I want to buy some arquebuses and order some gunpowder bombs." ”

Hearing the interpreter translate the words into Japanese, the Japanese samurai sitting opposite Li Tu shook their heads and looked at each other. Firearms are hot weapons, weapons that kill people on the battlefield. Apparently, no one had ever asked them for such a thing before. They were all a little surprised to hear this.

Looking at the retainers of the Satsuma Domain sitting next to him, Shimazu Tadatsune, the lord of the Satsuma Domain, touched his beard and said, "Oh? Do you want to buy firearms? ”

Xiao Xiangui hurriedly clenched his fists and replied, "That's right." ”

Shimazu Tadashi turned slightly, took a breath, and sat down behind the chair without speaking.

Xiao Xiangui was anxious, and asked again: "I don't know if the feudal lord can sell it?" ”

Halfway through, Shimazu Tadashi turned around and said with a smile:

Recently, there has been a discussion in Japan that Japan's trade with the Ming Dynasty and the West has spread heresy and shaken the country's foundation. Shogun Tokugawa Hidetada had twice issued a lockdown decree to reduce the scope of permitted trade with foreign countries. Some say that it will not be long before the shogun will completely ban trade with foreign countries. ”

Looking at Xiao Xiangui, Shimazu Tadashi asked, "I don't know what Your Excellency Xiao Xiangui thinks of this matter?" ”

If it was just a trade of goods, the relationship between the Satsuma clan and Xiao Xiangui was just a simple trade relationship. Such a relationship can be completed as long as both parties have the willingness to trade. But arquebuses and bombs, are the cutting-edge weapons of this era, and in this era, they are a cutting-edge power.

It is only between partners that the most high-tech murderous weapons of this era will be sold. If the two sides trade heavily regulated muskets or even bombs, it is not just a trade relationship, but a partnership.

The Satsuma clan has already traded with Xiao Xiangui and has cooperated happily. Now, it is not that they are unwilling to regard Xiao Xiangui as their partner, but to see if the other party is qualified.

Shimazu Tadashi's question is to test whether Xiao Xiangui has enough insight and ability to be qualified to become a partner of the Satsuma Domain.

But this Xiao Xiangui is just a rich man who has been running for two years. Regarding the relationship between trade and national capital, Xiao Xiangui does not understand anything about national affairs.

After hesitating for a long time, Xiao Xiangui didn't come up with an ugly son, so he could only murmur hard:

"Trade, you can make money, it's good...