Out of the Zhijun Palace, Zhenwu did not take a sedan chair, but walked along the high wall all the way, for the waste prince Yinren who was confined in the Xian'an Palace, he did have quite a concern in his heart, for the king and the minister, it can be said that it is the difference between cloud and mud, although Yinren suffered from two wastes and two stands, but he was the crown prince for more than 30 years, and he lived in the position of the prince for a long time, and it was pure luxury to expect him to be willing to bow down and be a minister.

It is precisely because of this that Zhenwu was quite hesitant, let Yinren out, stay in the capital, that was purely to add to his own blockage, Yinren finally had a rare good death, taking care of his brotherhood, let him go overseas to develop, and now the time is not ripe, mainly because the strength of the navy is limited, and he will not be thrown overseas to let go, which is tantamount to murder.

If you ignore it and let Yinren continue to be confined, and you lose your trust in Yinren, you can't stand without trust, not to mention that he is the king of a country? What's more important is that someone in the Persian Gulf must go to the striker first, and that territory must be grabbed no matter what, otherwise it will be really blind, and Yinren is undoubtedly the best candidate to go to the Persian Gulf.

Moreover, Kangxi is still alive now, the crown prince of more than 30 years, how can Kangxi have no feelings? Let's test Kangxi's attitude first, don't make him unhappy for this little thing.

Early the next morning, after the morning court, Yinxi went straight to the Ministry of Industry and the Beijing Division Firearms Battalion to learn about the situation of firearms and gunpowder, and in the afternoon, he still met Arai Junmi at the Huitong Hall in Dongjiang Mixiang.

After the ceremony, Yinxi did not go around in circles, and said straight to the point: "For the situation of the Edo shogunate, my emperor is deeply sympathetic, and has promised to help you, all of which should be grain, iron, cowhides, firearms and gunpowder, but it is not free assistance, it must be purchased with gold." ”

Hearing this, Arai Junmi couldn't help but be secretly happy, he never expected to be able to get free aid from the Qing State, grain, iron, and cowhide have always been controlled products, even if you have money, you can't buy them in large quantities, let alone firearms and gunpowder. It's a bit difficult to buy it just with gold, and now Japan's gold is not rich, and it has to pay 600,000 taels of compensation every year, which is even more stretched.

"Your subordinates bow to the Great Emperor Longen." After Arai Junmei kowtowed and thanked him, he got up and said, "There is also a shortage of gold in the country now, can you use silver to pay?" ”

Yinxu didn't know why Zhenwu specified that he wanted to use gold, but he had no intention of relenting. After all, there is still a price negotiation later, so as not to make the other party late and entangle on the price, so he just said lightly: "It is my emperor's decree to pay in gold." ”

Seeing that the other party did not let go at all, Arai Junmi changed his way and said: "The gold and silver exchange ratio of Shangguo is 1:16, can it be denominated in silver and then paid in gold?" ”

Listen to this request. Yin Xi couldn't help but groan slightly, and then said: "The gold and silver exchange ratio announced by the imperial court is one to twelve, and the official price must be respected. ”

The price has not yet been negotiated. In the gold and silver exchange ratio, Arai Junmi couldn't help but be very depressed, but considering that these substances are controlled commodities, he has no intention of fighting again, one to twelve, which is also higher than in Japan, and he groaned slightly, so he asked in a deep voice: "Is there a limit to the specific amount of aid?" ”

Yin Yu glanced at him and said, "There are a thousand large and small artillery." 5,000 muskets, 1,000,000 stones of rice, 2,000,000 pounds of pig iron, and 20,000 cowhides. ”

The number of listens is so huge. Arai Kimimi couldn't help but secretly rejoice, with this batch of firearms and food, Edo would immediately be able to form an army of tens of thousands of people, and he was worried about the rebellion of the powerful feudal clans in various places? He immediately bowed down and said, "The superior country has greatly assisted, and the subordinates are very grateful. With this strong support, the Lord will be as stable as a rock, how can it not be justified? Don't know the price? ”

"The price is calculated by another person," Yin Yu said, pausing slightly, before asking, "Does the King of the Middle Imperial Gate have any heirs?" ”…,

Hearing this, Arai Junmei was first happy, and then very frustrated, Yinxi has this question, must be the target who wants to transfer the pledge, however, Japan really has no good hostages to hold now, although the aid of the Qing State is good, I am afraid that it is not easy to get it, a slight groan, he bowed down and said: "Back to the king of Lian County, the king of Zhongyumen has only been on the throne for five years, only thirteen years old, and there are no heirs." ”

The king has no heirs? Only thirteen years old this year? Yin Yu was speechless for a while, he knew too little about Japan, but he couldn't blame them, the Japanese king was just a puppet, and no one really deliberately collected his information, and the intelligence collection was aimed at the shogun in Edo.

It's just that, in this way, isn't it impossible to carry out this pledge, and you can't pledge the king of the middle royal gate to the capital as a person, right? Seeing that Yinxu was silent, Arai Junmi also felt helpless, taking the emperor's son as a hostage was the best of both worlds, but it was just a matter of making people, and the emperor had no heirs. However, he was really impressed by this batch of aid, and after a little muttering, he tentatively said: "Several of the royal brothers of the Wa king, the sons and nephews of the Tokugawa family, all admired the culture of the kingdom, and the ministers begged that they would be allowed to come to Kyoto to study. ”

In this matter, Yinxi didn't dare to make a decision, and groaned slightly, and he said: "If you are willing to come to study, we naturally welcome it, but this king has to play the emperor in this matter, so you can step down." ”

Waiting for Arai Junmei and his entourage to retreat, Yinxi couldn't help but sigh secretly, fortunately, he had a little more heart, and asked about the situation first, otherwise this face would be lost, it seems that the intelligence spying on the vassal countries must be vigorously strengthened, otherwise, I don't know how many jokes will be made in the future, after thinking about it, he didn't dare to delay, hurriedly left the hall, rushed to the palace in a sedan chair, and came out of such a big oolong, Japan is afraid that it will be in the soup, and this matter must be quickly asked Zhenwu.

Qianqing Palace, East Warm Pavilion.

Listening to the Yin Yu report, Zhenwu smiled unconsciously, he didn't expect that the king was only thirteen years old and had no heirs. The Japanese king and the shogun have no heirs, so naturally there is no way to talk about this pledge, and the ordinary royal family and the heirs of the Tokugawa family have become meaningless, but he does not want to cheap Japan.

After a slight sigh, he said: "I don't want to cede land to stimulate them, but since there is no pledge, and there is only one way to cede land, I can't cheapen them in vain, so let them cede a piece of land for trade, so let them cede the entrance to Edo Bay, the peninsula where Yokoga Fort is located, Yokoga itself is a good port, and having this place is convenient for trade and trade and easy to know the situation in Japan at any time." ”

Cut a peninsula? How would Japan agree? Yin Yu couldn't help frowning slightly, and said, "Your Majesty, the entrance to Edo Bay is tightly choked by the Henghe Waterway. The Japanese also built forts and seized the area, and the minister feared that the Edo shogunate would strongly resist. ”

"Boycott?" Zhenwu said disdainfully: "Why should they resist? If they don't want to, can't I take it by force? Clearly tell Arai Kimimi that if the Tokugawa shogunate is not interested, we will instead support the local strong feudal clans, and no matter who governs Japan, we can still cede the land. No one dares to pay less. ”

Seeing Zhenwu's attitude so tough, Yin Yu couldn't help frowning slightly, if the Qing Dynasty turned to support several strong local vassals, Japan would inevitably be in chaos, and if it was well balanced, it would inevitably form a situation of secession in various places, but the imperial court's investment in Japan would inevitably increase greatly, and now it is asking for money everywhere. If you invest a lot in Japan, you will be criticized, and this account is not cost-effective.

A little groaning. He bowed down and said: "Your Majesty, if you want to make a large-scale expedition in the future, it is not appropriate to force it too tightly at this time, and besides, the Qing Dynasty is now immigrating to Australia and Nanyang, and the population is in short supply. It is better to cut Yokoga, so that the resistance of the Edo shogunate will not be too large, and it is really necessary to support the local strong feudal clan, and the investment is too large. There are worries that the gains outweigh the losses. ”…,

Hearing this, Zhenwu couldn't help but nod slightly, the gold and silver mines all over Japan are controlled by the Edo shogunate, and supporting the local strong feudal lords is bound to lose more than gain, and sooner or later they will have to be conquered. The investment is too big, and the gains really outweigh the losses, and after a little hesitation, he said: "Brother Starling's words are really Lao Cheng's words for the country, and if you allow it, you will cede Henghe." ”

"The Ministers respectfully honor the Holy Message." Yin Yu hurriedly bowed and said.

Zhenwu took a sip of tea before asking casually, "The price of the aid items hasn't been discussed yet, right?" ”

"Back to the emperor, how to set the price, the ministers have no bottom in their hearts, and please ask the emperor to show me." Yin Yu was busy with his body.

Zhenwu bowed his head slightly and said: "I then issued an order, the navy strictly forbade the ships of the Nanyang domains to go north to trade with Japan, so that the Qing Dynasty could monopolize Japan's overseas trade, and the prices of all the items traded with Japan this time were sold at the highest price. ”

After a slight pause, he continued: "Arai Junmei will not dare to make decisions about the land cutting, and he will inevitably go back to China to discuss, and immediately send people to Shanghai, Tianjin and other places to understand the prices of Japanese prices and the pricing of firearms, so that when the price is negotiated, he can know in his heart, and he can't cheapen them." ”

"Minister, honorable will." Yin Yu hurriedly bowed and said.

On the morning of the next day, Arai Kimimi was once again received by Yinxi, and after listening to other demands for the cession of the local castle trade around the Yokoga Fort, and the hint that if the Edo shogunate was not interested, the Qing Dynasty would turn to support the local feudal lords, she couldn't help but secretly complain in her heart, where is this assistance, it is clear that it is a stone falling into the well, taking advantage of the fire to rob, such a big thing, where did he dare to take matters into his own hands, and left the capital on the same day in the name of returning to China to discuss.

Arai Junmei and his entourage arrived in Tianjin two days later under the escort of local soldiers along the way, as soon as they entered the city, everyone felt that the whole city of Tianjin seemed to be immersed in great celebration, the whole city was full of firecrackers, the pedestrians on the street were full of excitement, the footsteps were hurried, and after a little inquiry, they learned that it was the Beiyang Fleet of the Qing Imperial Navy that returned from the port of Acapulco in the Americas and arrived in Tianjin.

It is not a secret that the Beiyang Fleet crossed the ocean to the Americas for the first time last year, Arai Junmei paid special attention to the Qing Navy, and it was naturally clear about this, and he heard that it was the Beiyang Fleet, so he decided to go to the dock to watch, in order to be able to observe it up close and explore the strength of the Beiyang Fleet, since the Beiyang Fleet was stationed in Tianjin Port, it was inevitable that he would have to deal with Japan in the future, and he was naturally unwilling to miss such a rare opportunity.

He immediately instructed his entourage to reward the soldiers who escorted them with five taels of silver, and then proposed to go to the dock to see the excitement, the military commander who escorted the soldiers was the four products of the capital division had no concept of secrecy at all, and he didn't care about this proposal, he himself wanted to see the excitement, and received the silver, how could it be not allowed, and the group should go straight to the dock.

At this time, dozens of large ships of 1,000 to 2,000 materials were moored along the shore of the three-way wharf, and both sides of the river were surrounded by people who came to see the excitement, Arai Kimimi and his party crowded to the dock, and saw such a large number of large ships, they were also shocked, because of Japan's closure and prohibition of the sea, although Edo is a natural harbor, but there has never been such a large number of large sea fleets.

He was disappointed that there was not a single warship along the coast, and when he inquired, he learned that the warships of the Beiyang Fleet were all anchored in the military port at the mouth of the sea and had not entered the city, but from the gossip of the people, he finally had a general understanding of the Beiyang Fleet, and it was worth the trip.

And the most discussed by the people is the silver and products of the Americas, as well as the opening of the route from the Americas to Tianjin, and the expansion of the feudal countries in the Americas, how much benefit will it bring to Tianjin, and what kind of benefits will it bring to them. …,

Looking at the people around him who were full of excitement and longing, Arai Junmi felt a bitterness, the Qing fleet had been able to cross the ocean, and began to try its best to open up overseas territories thousands of miles away, but Japan was guarding a few small islands and closed off the country, the gap was so huge, how could Japan resist the Qing Dynasty's ambitions to get involved in Japan?

The bitterness in the heart is not only Arai Junmei, the chief soldier of the Beiyang Fleet Yande is also full of bitterness in his heart, although he successfully opened up the route from the Qing Dynasty to the port of Acapulco, but a round trip, his fleet lost eight ships, three of which were warships, although they were auxiliary ships, but also lost thousands of elite soldiers, and returned to Tianjin safely, he was a little worried, this loss was the largest since the creation of the Qing Royal Navy, and he didn't know how to talk to Zhenwu.

After riding into the city, seeing the people in the city happy, Yande felt even more uncomfortable, and did not dare to stay longer, so he raised his whip and urged the horse to lead a group of entourages straight into the Naval Academy in Tianjin.

In the Naval Academy, the sixteenth elder brother has been ordered to return to Beijing, Wu Ge has been guarding the gate after hearing the news, and the Yande party to be seen galloped over, he was busy leading everyone to meet him, as soon as they met, he found that Yande's expression was wrong, his heart couldn't help sinking, a little greeting, he sent everyone away, led Yande into his own signing room, both of them were speechless all the way.

After closing the door, Wu Ge eagerly asked, "How much has you lost?" ”

Yande took off his military hat, pulled a chair and sat down, and said gloomily: "Three auxiliary ships, one thousand one hundred and twenty-three officers and men." (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to (.) to vote for recommendation, monthly pass, your support is my biggest motivation. )