In the castle lord's mansion in the newly rebuilt Port of Hakata in Chikuzen Province, Kitakyushu, more than 30 merchants from all over the world who had been invited by the Luo family were carefully reading the commercial laws and regulations in their hands.

As Zhengliang said, on the one hand, these decrees protected the interests of merchants in all the ports open to the Luo family, and on the other hand, they also strictly and meticulously regulated the management of these open areas.

Although these regulations may seem a bit harsh, as long as they are not violated, the merchants are not only free in these open areas, but also their own interests are greatly protected. This is indeed a blessing for them. For a moment, everyone started laughing, and the atmosphere in the courtyard became lively.

At this time, everyone felt that the big thing had been decided, and the atmosphere in the tea room was relaxed. The topic has gradually developed towards elegant matters. The "forty stones" placed in the house were also seen by everyone and asked to see them.

"Forty koku" is a leaf teapot, and the Ashikaga Yoshimasa retainers exchanged forty koku of land for this thing, hence the name. During the Toyotomi Hideyoshi era, it was rated as "the best thing in the world after the death of the Three Days, Matsushima". In the games of later generations, this tea vessel is a treasure of politics plus six.

The "Forty Stones" were placed in the center of the courtyard, and people who knew elegance were amazed again and again: the glaze of celadon and the arched body of the pot produced a different visual sense, which made people praise it. The trees and flowers on the body of the pot can be called the finishing touch, which enhances the overall luxury of the body of the pot. But it doesn't feel luxurious.

Previously, Masayo had only one tea vessel in his hands, the Oto-Gomae Cauldral, which could be handled. When I was supposed to attend this tea party. In order to fill the scene, in addition to taking out the Yi Imperial Cauldron, Masara is also going to take out some porcelain from the Ming Kingdom. As a result, at this time, someone sent the tea vessel "Forty Stones" to Masahiro's hands.

And the person who gave the gift was none other than Shimai Muneshige, the father of the Shimai clan who was later known as one of the "Hakata Three Heroes".

The so-called "Hakata Sanjie" are the Shimai clan, the Kamiya Muzam and the Ohga Soku. Historically, the first two of these three great merchants were the royal merchants of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, while the latter served the Kuroda family, the lord of Toyozen Province.

But at this time, Shenwu Zongzhan's father, Shenwu Shaoce, had become a retainer of the Luo family. Shenwu Zongzhan himself has also become Zhengliang's surname, and the Shenwu family has also become one of the many institutions of the Luo family. It can be said that under the leadership of Kamiya Shaoze, the Kamiya family has realized the great dreams that many merchants could not realize in their lifetimes, from a low-status merchant family to a wealthy merchant family, and the governor has also become a samurai and a daimyo retainer with status and status. As for Ohga Sojiu, he belongs to the characters who only appeared in the late Warring States period, and it is estimated that he has not been born yet.

Among the three Hakata tribunes, the most mysterious is the Shimai clan. Masahiro also doesn't know anything about his origin. However, there is such an anecdote recorded in historical documents, and once the Shimai clan and Mori Terumoto shared a table in the tea room. Hui Yuan asked, "I heard that you are from a public family. Is it true? The Shimai clan only replied: "Such a superficial etiquette makes you laugh, please forgive me." "I didn't say much beyond that. Judging from the lineage map of the Shimai family, the Shimai clan originated from the Fujiwara Kita family, and it was not until the generation of Fujiwara Jiro Uemon Shigehisa that it was renamed the Shimai clan.

Of course, according to historical records, the Shimai clan at this time should not have become the governor of the family, and it is even very likely that he was still a child. So when Masara received a request from a local businessman who claimed to be Shimai Muneshige, the first thing he thought of was the Shimai clan. And when Masara also directly asked about the whereabouts of the Shimai clan after meeting, he also got a definite answer, Shimai Muneshige is only a one-year-old son-in-law, according to the family genealogy, he is indeed going to be named the Shimai clan.

Well, Masara is not a family governor who desperately recruited the other party into the Luo family for the sake of a businessman who is famous in history, and the other party is not only just a child at this time, but his father Shimai Muneshige donated the tea vessel "forty stones" to Masahiro, but it was for the snow salt of the Luo family. He wanted to get a monopoly on the sale of Roche's snow salt. Fearing that Masara would sell his monopoly on the sale of snow salt at a later tea party with many merchants, he hurriedly approached Masato in advance.

It's just that Shimai Muneshige's request must not have been agreed to by Masayo. At this time, the external sale of the Luo family's snow salt had been completely handed over to the Shenya family to operate (the internal sales were handled by the Luo family), and Masahiro would definitely not give up the interests of his own retainers because the other party had a sister-in-law who was likely to become a wealthy merchant in the future and gave a famous tea vessel.

However, Shimai Soshige's subsequent proposal to build a trade route with North Korea for the Luo family and provide the Luo family with various North Korean goods that they urgently needed suddenly moved the political conscience. The Shimai family was indeed able to trade with North Korea, and it seems that they had a good relationship with the North Korean side, and there are even historical records that the Shimai family was originally a Korean merchant who immigrated to the Wa Kingdom.

As for North Korean trade, Masato had previously sent people to investigate the possibility of smuggling trade with North Korea, but nothing was found. Moreover, the authority to conduct normal trade with North Korea has always been in the hands of the Tsushima clan. The Roche family simply could not engage in formal trade with North Korea directly. What's more, even if normal trade is possible, there are many potential water forces along Iki Island and Tsushima Island, and it is extremely unsafe for trading ships along the way.

The clan on Tsushima Island was originally subordinate to the Lesser family, but after the decline of the Lesser family, the Zong family threw themselves into the arms of the Ouchi family. At the beginning, taking advantage of the civil strife in the Hakuka family on Iki Island, the Luo family could still conduct some trade with Tsushima Island, but with the Luo family and the Ouchi family, such trade has also stopped.

Now that Shimai Muneshige took the initiative to assist the Luo family in smuggling some continued materials such as nitrate ore from North Korea as a condition for obtaining the monopoly right to sell snow salt to foreign countries, Masashi was naturally immediately moved. He had been thinking about how to obtain a supply line that could ensure the supply of materials that were in short supply to the Japanese country, such as nitrate, and now it was in front of him.

So immediately after convening the retainers to discuss, Masara finally gave four of the snow salt production in the territory to the Shimai family. However, the Shimai family could only sell these snow salts in Korea and the area east of Kyoto, and in the area west of Kyoto, the Kamiya family monopolized the sales area, and the Shimai family could not set foot in it.

Such an agreement was also finally agreed by Muneshige Shimai. In this way, by bartering, Shimai Muneshige obtained snow salt, while the Luo family obtained a relatively stable source of North Korean supplies, and Masara also obtained a tea vessel that could be used to fill face at the tea party.

"You can only use this kind of tea vessel with the Masaraden Palace." In the courtyard of the Hakata Castle Lord's Mansion, everyone exclaimed.

"The daimyo enjoys the daimyo thing, and it is a matter of course that the Zhengliang Hall enjoys it." Some businessmen chimed in.

Zhengliang Ha Lu smiled: "You have received your kindness, and the time is not early, so let's serve tea." ”

"Papa" Di Zhengliang immediately clapped his hands twice, and the wooden door of the courtyard was immediately opened, and more than 30 maids lined up to enter with food, and then placed the tea food in front of the guests one by one.

First, the staple food is sashimi, miso soup, and rice. After using it, it is served with non-staple food, boiled vegetables, grilled food, etc.

After the tea is eaten, the guests go to the tea garden to rest, which is "neutral". After that, I entered the tea room again, and this is the "back seat". The back seat is the main part of the tea party, and in a serious atmosphere, the host orders strong tea for the guests, followed by a thin tea after adding charcoal (houchar).

The crowd sat around and remained silent. The atmosphere was solemn, but there was no sense of urgency. Practitioners who think they have achieved their goals take it as a complete pleasure. The teapot around the hearth had been slowed down by the time the crowd was 'neutral'. The collocation is slightly heavy.

"The poor monk will order tea for you." After Master Chan Rong spoke, he sat down next to the hearth in the middle, put a tea kettle on the hearth, and added a little water. The eyes of the guests here were immediately attracted by the tea kettle, and those who had enough cultivation were even more staring.

"Is that the legendary Fuji-shaped kettle?"

"There is a beautiful pattern engraved on the ring that runs through the kettle wheel."

"The opening is narrow, and the body of the kettle becomes wider the further it goes. It does look like Mt. Fuji. ”

"Yes, this is indeed a Fuji-shaped kettle."

After Master Chan Rong took out his collection of tea utensils, everyone immediately tasted them. (To be continued......)