Soon, the mother and son broke up because of disagreements, and Zhao Yan's decision was still not something that the Zhang family could agree with, mainly because of Yuan'er's background.

As soon as Zhao Yan walked to the corridor in the courtyard, he saw Yuan'er with red eyes and threw herself into his arms. Zhao Yanwan smiled, gently pinched Yuan'er's nose and said softly: "Little flower cat, let you eavesdrop." ”

"Childe, I'm ......" Yuan'er looked at Zhao Yan with a little choked up, and was speechless for a while, but the crystal tears couldn't help but slide down.

Zhao Yan didn't speak, just reached out to wipe the tears off her face, then hugged the delicate body that was as soft as jade tightly in his arms, and whispered in her ear: "That position will always belong to you, no one can take it away, don't worry!" Results will be available soon. ”

"Hmm!" Yuan'er snuggled her face to Zhao Yan's chest and responded softly, Zhao Yan's words instantly dispelled all the hesitation in her heart.

…… The second day, Zhao Yan ran to the study early and wrote two letters by hand, one was addressed to Chen Zhongsheng, asking him to help rehabilitate Yuan'er's father.

Yuan'er's father, Zhou Junyi, was the prefect of Suzhou, and strictly speaking he was not a eunuch, but he was involved in the liquidation.

Another letter was addressed to Zhu Dadian, the old boss, mainly to ask him to take time out of his trip to Shandong and accept Yuan'er as a righteous daughter.

Since Zhang thought that Yuan'er's background was problematic, Zhao Yan began to prescribe the right medicine, first rehabilitating Yuan'er's father, and then posthumously presenting a first-class official. At the same time, let Zhu Dadian come forward and accept Yuan'er as a righteous daughter.

In this way, Zhang naturally has no reason to object.

As far as rehabilitation is concerned, now that the cabinet controls the executive power, and Yuan'er's father himself has no problems, it is naturally not difficult.

However, Zhao Yan still asked Chen Zhongsheng to carry out a large-scale and comprehensive rehabilitation operation in the letter, which was used as a cover, so that the world would not see Zhao Yan's intentions at a glance.

If Yuan'er's father is rehabilitated alone, he will naturally be successful, but it will inevitably be discussed, Zhao Yan is nothing, there are more ants and he is not afraid of biting, there are many people in the world who have objections to him, but Yuan'er will inevitably be discussed.

At the same time, Zhu Dadian was moved out to be Yuan'er's stepfather, such a two-pronged approach, the effect was absolutely good.

Zhu Dadian pacified Kong Youde's rebellion, and with the help of Zhao Yan, he pacified the thieves who jumped into Jianghuai.

In terms of fame, Zhu Dadian can be said to be famous, compared with Qian Qianyi, he only lacks the appeal of scholars, but his reputation in commanding troops surpasses Qian Qianyi.

Zhu Dadian, as Zhao Yan's old boss, is also the most suitable to be Yuan'er's father-in-law.

As soon as Zhao Yan sent out the letter, Zhao Quan ran in happily and said to Zhao Yan excitedly: "Childe, the merchant ship that went to Yuben has returned." ”

"How's it going?" Zhao Yan asked.

"There are a total of 30 clippers returning from the merchant ship this time, and they directly brought back 300,000 taels of gold, 11 million taels of silver, and about 3 million taels of other jewelry." Zhao Quan replied.

"Did the road go well?" Zhao Yan asked.

"There were three warships escorting the return voyage, and the Tokugawa shogunate basically had no sea power at its disposal, and the Dutch warships stationed in Tsumoto did not dare to come and disturb them. Zheng Zhilong's pirate ship can't catch up with our clippers, and they don't have the courage to provoke us. The thirty clippers returned home with great success. Zhao Quan rubbed his hands excitedly.

300,000 taels of gold is equal to 3 million taels of silver, plus 11 million taels of silver, that is 14 million taels of silver.

The value of other jewels is three million taels in the reporting list, but the appraisal is not professional, and the appraisal is carried out in a conservative way, and the value is definitely more than that.

Wang Wenyue grabbed the treasury of 8 million taels in Edo, plus the wealth of the whole city of Edo, there were about 15 million taels, and he was able to grab so much wealth because Wang Wenyue swept the entire Kanto region.

The Tokugawa shogunate not only monopolized the foreign trade of the Tokugawa shogunate, but also occupied the richest regions and major mines throughout the country, and even monopolized the coinage rights, so it was impossible for the Tokugawa shogunate not to be rich.

However, at present, Wang Wenyue has stopped the sweep, because Wang Wenyue intends to build Kanto into a production area of Japanese slaves, so as to provide Shandong with Japanese slaves for a long time.

From the operational report of the Honshu Mixed Brigade, Zhao Yan found that the Tokugawa shogunate was unusually tough.

The toughness of the Tokugawa shogunate surprised Zhao Yan.

Zhao Yan sent troops to attack Edo, not only to rob the silver and capture the Japanese slaves. At the same time, it was also to seize Tokugawa Iemitsu and force Tokugawa Iemitsu to sign a treaty, so as to open up the market.

Stealing silver is a temporary source of income, just an additional income to achieve a purpose. Dumping goods into the capital is a long-term, continuous income.

Tokugawa Iemitsu led the army to withdraw from the Kanto Plain and enter the mountainous area, Wang Wenyue naturally could not chase over, once he reached the mountainous area, the battle would evolve into infantry combat, and at the same time, firearms could not be fully utilized, and the advantage would be greatly weakened.

Obviously, the Tokugawa family just wanted to fight the Shandong army to the end.

This made Zhao Yan feel deeply troubled.

Zhao Yan naturally could not increase his forces to sweep away the capital, the Manchu Qing in Liaodong had not yet been resolved, and the attack on the Tokugawa shogunate was just to achieve the purpose of opening the market, so naturally there was no more energy to invest in it.

Originally, Zhao Yan thought that after Tokugawa Iemitsu ran out of Edo, he would soon come to sue for peace, but he really didn't expect it!

Later in the battle report, it was attached that Wang Wenyue's management of the Kwantung region was to be approved by Zhao Yan, and according to Wang Wenyue's intention, he wanted to occupy the Kwantung region for a long time.

But Zhao Yan had little interest in the Kanto region of Yuben.

First of all, it is very troublesome to manage it yourself, and secondly, it is said that this is just an island country, and although the Kanto region is good, it is limited to agriculture, and there are not many mines or anything, and earthquakes are frequent.

As for the problem of Japanese slaves, it is natural to get them through other means of plunder, and as long as the market is open, it is still very simple to get them.

The real thing to occupy is Hokkaido, where most of the coal is concentrated, and it is suitable for the development of animal husbandry, and there are also world-class Hokkaido fishing grounds, which is the essence of the city.

Zhao Yan immediately wrote a battle order to Wang Wenyue, asking him to launch a shaved loot in the Kanto region, striving to squeeze all the wealth in the Kanto region.

If he still refuses to come out to negotiate, he will attack Nagoya and Kyoto. At this time, Kyoto was not located in Edo (Tokyo), but on a small plain further west, and it was also a relatively agricultural area.

As soon as these most important areas were destroyed, the Tokugawa shogunate would be finished, and other daimyo would naturally take their place.

However, for the time being, a relatively stable and slightly chaotic book is the most in line with Zhao Yan's interests, because once the book is in chaos, it will be very unfavorable to open the market. If there is no confusion in the book, it is only necessary to sign a treaty with the Tokugawa shogunate family to sell the goods to the book.

After entering the market, in order to expand profits, the company must be chaotic.

Since the Tokugawa shogunate wanted to hold on to the death, Zhao Yan saw how long they could hold out.

…… Not to mention, Zhao Yan's figure appeared in the Academy of Science and Technology, and after nearly a year of research and manufacturing, the first new steam engine was almost completed.

Under the development of boring machine processing, the problem of cylinder finish has been solved, and the biggest problem restricting the manufacture of new steam engines no longer exists.

This new steam engine was more reliable and complete than the old steam engine that had already been developed. Theoretically, the steam engine should have four times as much power.

The Academy of Science and Technology has grown to a population of more than 200 people, who are engaged in a variety of research.

The gear device of the steam engine has also been studied.

Under Zhao Yan's visit, an old-style steam engine drove the mule machine for spinning yarn under the action of a gear linkage.

This is the universal machine! With the steam engine, we were about to get out of the era of production with many limitations of manpower, animal power, and water power.

Zhao Yan nodded with great satisfaction.

Now the steam engine is not very mature, but it can also enter production, but the new steam engine is about to come out, and it is more cost-effective to wait for the new steam engine to come out.

Another important thing is the train!

As long as the railway problem is solved, commercial circulation will be extremely fast, and logistical transportation, expeditions, etc. will no longer be a headache.

Steam ships can also be manufactured.

The two projects have already begun to be studied, and now a 500-meter straight track has been laid on the edge of the Academy of Science and Technology, and ironclad ships are also under development at the Longkou Shipyard.

Steamships made of steel are not built overnight, but have to be built through continuous experimentation to gain experience.

Zhao Yan's idea is absolutely crazy for the members of the Academy of Science and Technology.

Anyone who hears about the ironclad ship for the first time will think that it is at most a layer of iron on the outside, but when they know that the ironclad is made of all steel, they all widen their eyes in disbelief.

It's all made of steel?

Even if it doesn't sink, I'm afraid it won't be easy to drive with a sail! It is even possible that it will not be able to run at all, and only those who have seen the steam engine know that the construction of ironclad ships is theoretically possible.

A steel shell with one or more steam engines mounted on it, which then drove the propellers and a warehouse for coal.

The other is the cargo hold, living cabin, gun emplacement, and so on.

Integrate these together, then design, and then manufacture step by step, it should not take a few years to build an ironclad ship, as long as the sailing speed and artillery shooting are no problem, and there is nothing wrong with other imperfections, as long as these two points are done, it will be the strongest as soon as it appears.

Sailing warships, which are not yet sailing warships in their prime, can compare to ironclad ships made of steel, after all, the defense is too perverted, different from the hardness of wooden ships.

…… The port of Edo was full of ships, and almost all of the ships in Tokyo Bay were snatched up one by one, and all of them were concentrated in Edo.

There were at least a thousand of these ships, and Su Buheng led the First Fleet to intercept the ships in Tokyo Bay, and ten armed merchant ships had been blocking the Kapu Waterway to prevent the ships in Tokyo Bay from escaping, and at the same time, it was also to prevent the Dutch warships from rushing into Tokyo Bay to make trouble.

The Dutch were quite wise, their battleships were not stupid enough to run to eat cannonballs, and the ten battleships did not make a move in Nagasaki, although it was said that Tokugawa Iemitsu had very tempting conditions, but after several battles, the Dutch had already understood that the navy in the north of the Ming Empire was not something they could defeat, because they had powerful artillery.

Merchant ships from Shandong arrived in Edo one after another, and from mid-September, the first batch of clippers arrived, a total of thirty, followed by nearly forty merchant ships.

Wang Wenyue asked people to load the gold, silver, treasures, and the most valuable things into the flying scissors and transport them back to Shandong. In order to be safe, Su Buheng also sent several warships to escort the escort, and according to the speed of the clippers, there was no need to escort them.

The other forty merchant ships were carrying some heavy and not so valuable goods, and the forty merchant ships were also full.

The number of young and strong Japanese slaves captured has now reached more than 300,000, and they really can't be transported back, so they can't be arrested anymore.

Wang Wenyue took people to Edo on this day to watch the ships captured by Su Buheng in Tokyo Bay.

Thousands of ships of two or three hundred tons, as large as four or five hundred tons, docked in the port, Wang Wenyue looked around, and then asked Su Buheng: "Old Su, can we use these ships to transport Japanese slaves?" You can't capsize at sea, right? ”

After hearing this, Su Buheng said with a smile: "It is possible to capsize, but at most it is a minority, when the Japanese invaded our Ming coast, some of the Japanese were still sitting on small sampans, and they could still run to Zhejiang, Fujian, and some could even run to Guangdong." ”

"And how do they get back when they grab something?" Wang Wenyue asked puzzled.

"This is simple, grab a boat in Daming and go back!" Su Buheng said, "These are not bad to return to the ship, like a displacement of 100 tons, it is absolutely okay to stuff two or three hundred people into it, and there is no wind and waves on the road, basically it can't be overturned." ”

"......" Wang Wenyue was a little speechless when he heard Su Buheng say this. If Su Buheng did the same when he sent their army, at least 10% of the soldiers would lose their combat effectiveness after landing, and there would even be a large mortality rate.

"Anyway, it's useless to keep these Japanese slaves in Edo, and there are no ships to transport them back for a while, so just drive all these ships back, and bring some Japanese slaves back by the way." Su Buheng still attaches great importance to these thousands of ships, "Although these ships cannot sail to the sea, it is absolutely possible to travel from this to Shandong." Once we drive back, we can quickly increase our offshore capacity. ”

"Hmmm! So who's going to drive the boat? Wang Wenyue asked.

"Let me drive the boats, tie all these ships together with ropes, send a dozen people on each ship to keep an eye on it, and then let these ships follow the ships in front of us, and then use battleships to escort them around, and all the surnames can be brought back at one time." Su Buheng said.

"Serial ship? If someone sets it on fire, won't it be all over? ”

"Don't worry, we don't use iron locks, just use ropes, and if someone burns the boat, just cut the rope." Su Buheng explained.

"What if you get into a strong wind?"

"Then divide it into three parts!" Su Buheng continued, "In this season, there are generally not many storms on it, and even if they blow, they can't all turn over. ”

"Okay, that's it." Wang Wenyue felt that there was no problem when he heard it, so he immediately decided.

"Report to the brigade, Tokugawa Iemitsu sent an envoy to ask for negotiations." At this time, a fast horse ran over and reported to Wang Wenyue.

Wang Wenyue was a little stunned when he heard this.

Su Buheng wondered on the side: "Why did the Tokugawa shogunate suddenly want to negotiate?" ”

Wang Wenyue shook his head, he didn't know the reason, "Let's go, let's have a meeting right away." ”

Soon, Wang Wenyue and Su Buheng gathered the staff officers of the Honshu Mixed Brigade and the First Fleet together to discuss countermeasures.

The most discussed question at the meeting was why the Tokugawa shogunate suddenly wanted to negotiate.

As long as this point is clear, we can grasp the initiative in the negotiation and guess what the other party's bottom line is.

"Report to the brigade, the Japanese annihilation we sent out recently detected a piece of news, saying that there was a peasant riot on the island, and it was a large-scale peasant uprising, which began in September, and now it has been nearly a month." A staff officer stood up and expressed his opinion: "In the opinion of his subordinates, the Tokugawa shogunate is already facing a great crisis at this time, and it is urgent to talk to us about it, but to put an end to this rebellion. ”

One of the largest uprisings in history, the Shimabara Uprising, finally broke out in September of that year.

The biggest difference between this peasant revolt and other peasant uprisings in this revolt is that many of the people in this revolt were Christians.

So far, although the spread of Christianity has been banned, it has not been completely banned, that is, the means are not iron-blooded.

It is precisely because of this uprising that it was said that Christianity was completely suppressed, and at the same time, a more thorough policy of seclusion and seclusion was carried out.

As soon as the uprising broke out, the rebel army, under the guidance of several samurai, quickly conquered several important towns and moved forward.

This situation immediately shocked the Tokugawa shogunate.

Tokugawa Iemitsu had just withdrawn from the Kanto region, and he was bent on driving Akito out of the city, but he didn't expect a fire in the backyard to suddenly break out, and he panicked for a while.

However, Tokugawa Iemitsu was panicked and immediately sent people into the Kanto region to ask for negotiations with the Ming army.

Tokugawa Iemitsu knew that the reason why the Ming people invaded the Ming Kingdom was only an excuse, not the main one. The Ming people only came to steal money, and at the same time, it was also for trade issues.

There has always been a lot of research on the Chinese dynasties, and according to the habits of the Ming people, they generally did not invade any country, and this conclusion is indeed correct.

However, the Tokugawa shogunate mistakenly used Zhao Yan's Shandong power.

At this time, Tokugawa Iemitsu knew how aggressive the warlords of Shandong in the Ming Kingdom were. Fortunately, the other party is only trying to steal money and trade at the moment, and does not really want to destroy him.

The Shimabara Uprising was different, and the matter could not be delayed.

Once it is delayed, the Akito hooks up with the traitors, and then it will be troublesome. In order to muster enough strength to suppress it, Tokugawa Iemitsu had to first form a temporary state of peace with the Akito.

(To be continued)