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After a long silence, Masayuki Hoshina looked at Tokugawa Ietsuna and said in a muffled voice: "The general's words are indeed reasonable, the Mawei Army only fired one round of artillery into the city before, not because there were no shells, but to warn us!" Hey"

Tokugawa Ietssuna said in a deep voice, "It's not that I don't want to fight anymore, it's that I can't fight anymore now. Now, the soldiers are disheartened, and the people are also in a panic. If the Mawei fleet goes straight up the river again, we will have no means to resist it. And, if we don't say it, they expect to attack again early tomorrow morning, and we don't have the choice and the time. ”

Masayuki Hoshina nodded, he really didn't have time to prepare for them. Even if they wanted to mobilize a large number of artillery pieces and place them at the mouth of several rivers, it would not be possible to do so in a day or two. Furthermore, if the Mawei fleet could enter Edo Bay unscathed, it would mean that the Yokosuka battery was finished. The batteries in Yokosuka were not used, nor were the forts built on the banks of the Arakawa and Edogawa rivers, and the enemy's naval guns were too powerful! Baoke Masashi pondered for a moment and said, "But General, the Geng family's Mawei fleet is not the Manchu Imperial Court, isn't it appropriate to conclude a contract with it?" ”

Tokugawa Ietsuna frowned and said, "It doesn't matter, whether the Geng family's trip is on behalf of themselves or the Manchu court, we only say that it is a contract signed with the Manchu Qing Dynasty and a tribute to them." We do not have a history of paying tribute to China, and we will not provoke public anger. ”

Masayuki Hoshina sighed again and said, "Hey, I'm old. I can't turn my head anymore. Then I'll talk to them. See what conditions they are. ”

Masayuki Hoshina walked out of the Honmaru Hall with a lonely expression. This era has really changed, judging from the previous intelligence, the gap between their Wa Kingdom and China is not large, and it can be said that their samurai are far stronger than the guards of the Ming State. It's only been a long time, and my family has been beaten and has no power to fight back. The Shimazu family has been destroyed, and if they don't do anything, the Tokugawa family will soon follow in the footsteps of the Shimazu family. If it is true that Edo Castle is destroyed. Without the Mawei Army continuing to attack, these feudal lords in the country will take the initiative to jump out and fight for territory, and the Warring States Period will soon come again. After all, there has never been a shortage of ambitious people in this world.

The Mawei fleet retreated from Edo Bay to Yokosuka, a journey that took two and a half hours. It's not that Geng Jingzhong didn't want to camp in Edo Bay, it was indeed a good place, but in case Natokugawa Ietsuna's head twitched, he ordered the Japanese samurai to sneak attack at night. That's a bit of a hassle. There are quite a lot of tricks to sneak attack at night. This is also the best at this thing, what kind of ninja practices that ninjutsu all day long, and what he does is stealing chickens and dogs. Also, if the Wako sent water spirits to dive into the water and come to destroy the ships, they would not be able to guard against them. Instead of being troubled, it is better to retreat a little farther and deal with it calmly.

This night, it passed so peacefully. Although the soldiers returned to the cabin early and began to sleep, they did not sleep, and kept chatting about the battle situation during the day, and did not sleep until late at night. The Marines who occupied the Yokosuka Fort were responsible for keeping vigil in case of a night raid by Japanese troops. They don't have their share in the daytime battles, and the night vigil warriors are eager for the pirates to come and attack, so they can have a good time!

At night, the ponytail soldiers slept peacefully, but Tokugawa Ietsuna and Hoshina Masayuki didn't close their eyes all night. In the second half of the night, they received news that the Mawei fleet was anchored at the entrance to Edo Bay and occupied the Yokosuka Battery. At the same time, it was also received that the advance cavalry of the Mito Tokugawa family of the Mito family had arrived in Edo, but this did not help.

At that time, Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate, in order to consolidate his power, divided the daimyo in all parts of the country into three levels according to their kinship with the Tokugawa family, as was the practice of the previous shogunate. The closest daimyo was, of course, related to the Tokugawa family, and he gave his relatives the land near Edo, which he called the "kin-feudal daimyō". Among them, Tokugawa Ieyasu's nine male Tokugawa Yoshinao, ten male Tokugawa Yorino, and eleven male Tokugawa Yorifang are the closest and are called "Imperial Three Families". If the shogun has no children, he will choose a suitable person from the "Imperial Three Families" and pass on to the general as an adopted son to inherit the general's position.

Over the past few decades, the Gosan family has developed rapidly, and the closest to Edo is the Mito Tokugawa family. Although reinforcements have arrived one after another, nothing has changed, but at this time, Masayuki Baoke is also ready to go

"Yu Shizi, the old man of the Japanese Kingdom is coming to ask to see you!" Not long after the sun rose in the morning, Geng Jingzhong had just finished breakfast, and Masayuki Hoshina came to Yokosuka Pier.

"Hehe, they're really fast." Geng Jingzhong said with a smile after receiving the report. "Hoshina Masayuki is the biggest official in the Tokugawa shogunate in addition to the shogun, and he is also the uncle of the current shogun, he came to negotiate, and he is qualified, let's go and meet him together."

Wang Zhenbang said with a smile: "I hope that Baoke Zhengzhi will know something practical, otherwise, there will be a lot of shells on our battleship, and we will send them all into Edo City!" ‘”

"It's lightweight, that cannonball is not money, you are generous, I can't bear it!" Geng Jingzhong said angrily.

There are not many buildings around the Yokosuka Fort, and a simple row of low houses is the dormitory of the former fort defenders. A few slightly larger houses were the Commander's quarters. Masayuki was taken by the Marine soldiers to one of the houses, where he awaited Geng Jingzhong's reception.

Geng Jingzhong took Wang Zhenbang, Zeng Yangxing, Tang Zhi and others into the room, and Bao Ke Zhengzhi, who had been kneeling there and had not moved, immediately stood up and saluted. "I don't know which one is His Royal Highness the Prince of Jingnan!"

"Hehe, you're Masayuki Hoshina, I didn't expect Tokugawa Ietsuna to send you out!" Geng Jingzhong looked at the thin old man in front of him, with gray hair, and his skin was well maintained. He was over sixty years old, but he looked much younger than Geng Jimao, the king of Jingnan. This is also the case in the Wa Kingdom, where many people in the upper class can speak Chinese, and later generations do not recognize history one by one. Geng Jingzhong didn't talk nonsense with him, so he said directly: "You are the elder of the Wa Kingdom, presumably you can also be the master, let's make a long story short, hurry up and finish talking, and we can go back." To be honest, although it has only been half a month since I came out, I am already homesick! ”

Bao Ke Zhengzhi's heart couldn't help but tighten, this prince is really fearless, and after a little hesitation, he said: "We are very sincere in this negotiation. After bowing to Geng Jingzhong, he continued: "Can you tell me the reason for your army's unprovoked invasion of my Edo?" ”

Geng Jingzhong smiled slightly and said, "Originally, we came to seek revenge on the Shimazu family. The year before last, Shimazu Hisao led his sailors to attack my port without hesitation, thinking of robbing my warships. At that time, my navy had not yet developed, and I fought with it, suffering heavy losses and nearly 3,000 brothers killed. Now, our strength is enough, of course we have to come back for revenge! Geng Jingzhong paused and glanced at Bao Kezheng. After destroying the Shimazu family, all the officers and men of the navy made another request to me, that is, to avenge the people along the coast of Fujian! You should understand what the reason is. Your Japanese country has invaded our maritime frontier many times, and the coastal people have suffered countless casualties, and the soldiers of this blood debt have all remembered it, so we are here! ”

"Besides, we are famous, and you invaded Ryukyu and Korea, what should you say?" Jian Baoke had nothing to say, and Geng Jingzhong continued: "This world is where whoever has the big fist has to listen to whomever it is. Wolves eat sheep, and it never takes any reason! For the Ryukyus, you are wolves, but for me, you are sheep, and it is not difficult for my Mawei fleet to destroy your Tokugawa family, what to do, it depends on your appearance! ”

Masayuki Baoke's heart has sunk to the bottom of the sea, and the other party has already said it so clearly, no matter how much he says, it is unintentional. So he opened his mouth and asked, "I don't know what conditions His Royal Highness the Prince has?" ”

Geng Jingzhong discussed the terms of the negotiation with Li Guangdi when he was in Fuzhou. He opened his mouth and said: "I am not the Qing court, so I don't need you to be a minister, but paying tribute is necessary." Geng Jingzhong smiled and said his first condition.

"Originally, my Mawei fleet entered Edo Bay just to negotiate with your shogunate. After all, we have destroyed the Shimazu family and avenged it. As long as you can compensate my warriors, they won't care about anything. However, as soon as we entered the entrance to Edo Bay, we were physically attacked by your battery. Therefore, we had no choice but to fight back; Who knew that your sailors were attacking us again. We have made our intentions clear, and they have not stopped, causing us great losses. Especially your fireships, which directly burned more than a dozen of my battleships, there is no way, the soldiers can't help it, they can only destroy all the enemies! Geng Jingzhong said slowly.

Wang Zhenbang and several others on the side looked at each other, when did our Mawei fleet lose so many warships? At a glance at Geng Jingzhong's smiling expression, everyone understood that Geng Jingzhong was sneering at him.

Wang Zhenbang reacted quickly enough, and said on the side: "Yes, our warships are expensive, even shells and gunpowder are very expensive, and you must compensate for this loss!" ”

Bao Kezheng's heart was furious, you have to compensate for your losses, who will we find to compensate for the death of 70,000 or 80,000 people in the city and outside the city? As the saying goes, people are under the eaves and have to bow their heads; If you fall behind, you will be beaten, what a wise saying! Now he had to endure it, he gritted his teeth and said, "For the losses of your army, Edo will do its best to compensate for the losses. ”

War reparations are a must, and no victorious country has ever spared the defeated country so lightly. Seeing that he agreed to compensation, Geng Jingzhong said with a smile: "Your Tokugawa shogunate has controlled the Japanese kingdom for a long time, and you must have accumulated a lot of wealth. I don't want much, 10,000 taels of silver, how about it! Masahoke Masayuki's eyes widened and he wanted to express his opinion, but Geng Jingzhong interrupted him with a wave of his hand: "I know that your country is rich in gold, so I don't want silver, just give me 10 million taels of gold!" (To be continued......)