"Your Ministers obey." Jin Xinguo bowed, "There are many courtiers who are like-minded with the ministers, as long as everyone works together, I don't think it will cause any turmoil." ”

"Having said that, I still have to guard against it." The crown prince nodded, and then looked at Zhao Song, "Zhao Luzheng, it seems that you still have to leave a few days later...... I don't practice military affairs, so you will be in charge of the garrison in Seoul when the time comes. ”

"Your Ministers obey." Zhao Song, who had already been mentally prepared, immediately bowed down to receive the order, "The Han Embassy has stationed more than 1,000 troops inside and outside Goryeo City, all of whom are the elite of the Liaodong Army, and some of them are still the old subordinates of the ministers, and the command is very smooth, and it should be enough to suppress Hancheng." It's just that I don't know if they have been stationed in Goryeo all these years, whether they have corrupted the atmosphere, and they still need to go back to actually check and practice. ”

"Please rest assured that this brigade has been in Goryeo for many years, but the garrison has not slackened, both battalions are battle-hardened, and they have never stopped training their soldiers every day. And recently, because of ...... Because of the tense relations between Li Hui and our country, in order to be on guard all day long, the officers and men have been on guard all day long, and they have reached the point of waiting for the day. As a famous general of our country, and he is from the Liaodong Army, these officers and soldiers will be very obedient to the brigade, and they only need to give an order from the brigade, and the mere Seoul is just something in the palm of their hands. ”

In order to make up for the loss of impression points because of the performance just now, Shi Gaoyi deliberately flattered Zhao Song, and Zhao Song was also very useful, and a smile appeared on his face.

"On the way here, I saw that the soldiers in Goryeo were weak and weak, and there was very little drilling, and they were just chickens and dogs, and the Han army had a thousand people, which was enough."

"It's still necessary to pay attention to the movement." The crown prince suddenly interjected, "We are choosing an heir for Goryeo, for the sake of Goryeo's national ancestry, not to launch a palace rebellion to abolish the country, the reason why we are transferring troops is just in case, not to show off the might of the army, when the time comes, as long as we control Gyeongbokgung Palace, it is enough, there is no need to move in the city, so as not to disturb people's hearts!" ”

"Yes!" The prince's serious appearance made this group of people dare not slack off, and at the same time responded.

"Okay, you guys go back first, make the preparations that need to be done now, don't delay the time." The prince waved his hand and motioned for them to leave.

"Your Highness...... Otherwise, Your Highness should go back to the embassy with the minister......" Zhao Song suddenly suggested, "Your Highness lives in Gyeongbokgung Palace, if the lord of the country knows the news, I am afraid it will be unfavorable to His Highness...... If there is a mistake at that time, who can afford it? ”

"If I leave suddenly, it will be incompatible, and it will be easy for things to be discussed outside, and it will make us feel weak." The crown prince immediately rejected Zhao Song's proposal, "Now where will the lord know what we are going to do." Besides, even if he knew, how many people could he command? And there are so many guards from all over the country who come with me, all of them are carefully selected elite guards, isn't it enough to protect my safety? Forgive them and dare not do anything. ”

Zhao Song was still hesitating, but the prince didn't want to say more, and waved them to leave, and finally these people had to leave one after another.

When they left, the room was empty again, and the prince was the only one left. He was silent, walked to the window, and then opened the curtains, and the daylight outside swept in front of him, making him feel a dazzle that he had not yet accustomed, and finally got used to it.

Then, he looked up and looked out the window in the breeze.

As far as the eye can see, the pool outside the Qinghui Building is rippling in the blue waves under the light of the morning sun, and the rockery stubborn stones are swaying in the pool water.

The mountains and rivers were silent, and only when the wind passed through the window would there be some sounds, and the prince stood in front of the window, and looked out for a while. Originally, when he was studying, he could often sit quietly and look at the scenery outside in addition to his heavy studies, but since he left Beijing, he has been able to do so less and less.

How can these pavilions and stubborn stones understand the complexity of the world?

Qingpingjun Li Jue and his young son Li Liang, these two people he has never seen until now, but with a few words, he can make him the future monarch and lead thousands of people, and the power of power is indeed shocking.

And this seems to be only the beginning, when he will go south and become the chief defender of the rear of a large army, and then later, perhaps, he will take on a great role in more important operations, until finally, he will carry on the great work of his father, and carry it forward.

All this was indeed a bit overwhelming for a young man, but he endured it with great will, and began to play his part as needed. He was really worried that he would not be able to act well, but he could only meet it head-on, because of his father's expectations and the expectations of his ministers, he could not afford not to act.

Goryeo was given to him by his father, and he made it clear that he could do whatever he wanted, as long as he didn't make a big mess, even if he appointed an heir, the capital would only happily confirm it. However, he himself will not always be able to do what he wants.

"One step is one step." After a long silence, he whispered to himself.

……………………

On such a bright spring morning, on the island of Kyushu, not far from Goryeo, Zhou Pu also arrived with the merchant ships of Dutch merchants to their merchant house in the Hirado Domain. Because of the relationship between the previous two feudal lords, the Dutch had always been friendly with the Heito domain, but it was rumored that the shogunate had been planning to move them to Dejima in Nagasaki to facilitate management.

Perhaps in order to curry favor with the Han, the Dutch were indeed very trustworthy, bringing Zhou Pu and others to the Hirado Domain, and also finding an opportunity for them to meet the lord of the domain.

Zhou Pu didn't go alone, he and his retinue, as well as the two retainers assigned to him by the lord of the Shimazu domain, Togo Shigekata and Jiang Xia Mingxian. The two men, dressed as guides and interpreters, have been following him lately, tasked with communicating between the two sides.

By this time, they had already walked out of the Dutchman's merchant house and walked towards Hirado Castle, the main city of the Hirado Domain. The Hirado Castle was a small feudal clan with a small area and limited financial resources, so Hirado Castle was said to be a castle, but in fact it was just a small market town surrounded by low mounds of earth.

It is not the same as the Satsuma Domain, where the Shimazu family lived, but the Satsuma Domain had an output of 600,000 koku after land inspection, while the Hirado Domain had only 60,000 koku, and the land of the Hirado Domain was very barren, so agriculture did not flourish, and it was for this reason that they attached so much importance to overseas trade and traded with Western merchants at an early age.

When this group appeared in Hirado Castle, it soon ushered in an ambiguous view of the surrounding area, the merchants of the Han Dynasty were generally active in Nagasaki, and they generally rarely came to the small and cramped Hirado Port, and there were a few people who were obviously samurai backgrounds, which seemed to be a little suspicious.

Since the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate and the two conquests of Osaka, Japan has been largely stable for several decades, and the population has been multiplying, so there are more and more samurai ronins wandering abroad, and many of these ronins are remnants of Tokugawa's hostile forces, so they have become an insecurity factor in various places and are very guarded.

Seeing the people around Zhou Pu, the residents of the city thought that they were ronins hired by merchants, so they were secretly on guard, and did not come around to ask them what goods they could sell as they did in Nagasaki.

However, this made it easier for the group, and soon they walked through the streets of the castle to the castle tower in the center (because the Tokugawa shogunate issued a decree of one country and one castle after taking power, stipulating that there could only be one castle tower in a prefecture, the castle tower in Hirado Castle, like some other places, was renamed the Sankai Castle to avoid suspicion), which was both a fortress and a place where the feudal lords lived.

After the Dutch merchant who led the way handed over the paperwork, the gate of the outer wall of the castle tower was quickly opened, and then Zhou Pu and his party immediately crossed the bridge over the moat and walked in.

Hirado Castle is not large, but it was built during the heyday of trade between the Hirado Domain and the Portuguese during the Warring States Period, and it was necessary to defend oneself in troubled times, and there was money in hand, so the castle tower was built very carefully, and the specifications were not small. Even if you enter the wall, you can only look up at the few floors of pavilions that are high above the steps and high ground, and the white wall and the sky in the background almost merge into one, forming a picturesque beauty.

After the war, I will put the embassy in Japan in a similar place, Zhou Pu suddenly had a thought.

However, this thought was quickly suppressed by him, and he quietly walked up the stairs with the others, and then entered the castle tower under the watchful eyes of the feudal lord's retainers, samurai.

The ground floor and the second floor of the castle tower were the residences of the feudal lords, while the top floor was an observation deck. So they soon came to the main hall, and then saw the lord of the Hirado domain, Matsuura Takanobu, who was kneeling on the couch.

This is a middle-aged man about forty years old, and although he is very well maintained, he still has a lot of wrinkles on his fair face. He had a shaved head on his head in the shape of a samurai's common Tsukiyo head, a long beard on his chin, and a somewhat pale face, making him look not very healthy.

As soon as they entered, Matsuura Takanobu raised his head to look at Zhou Pu, who was in the lead, and then the corner of his eye swept over the few retinues next to him, who were obviously Japanese.

"You're the big merchant who wants to see me?" Soon, the feudal lord immediately asked Zhou Pu.

Although his attitude is a bit condescending, it is not very arrogant, after all, in today's days, because the shogunate has been restricting the rights of foreign daimyo in various aspects, so the income of these daimyo is getting less and less, the finances of the territory are becoming more and more strained, and it is becoming more and more difficult to maintain the original retainers, so Matsuura Takanobu also wants to expand his financial income in various ways. Therefore, as soon as he heard that the Han merchants wanted to see him, he immediately agreed, and looked forward to using these merchants to develop the commercial trade in his territory.

"The lord of Qiyu is the Han merchant Zhou Pu." Without waiting for anyone to translate, Zhou Pu immediately took two steps forward, and then knelt down and sat down, "I take the liberty of disturbing the feudal lord, and I ask for forgiveness." ”

"It doesn't matter." Takanobu Matsuura didn't want to go around in circles with this young businessman because he hadn't been in good health recently, "I heard the news from the Dutch Merchant House that you want to ask to see me, what is it for?" ”

"We are merchants, so it is natural that we are asking to see the lord of the domain for business matters." Zhou Pu hurriedly replied, "We have been doing business at sea, and we have always regarded Japan as the most profitable market for many years, and we have worked hard for a long time, which can be regarded as a small achievement......

"So what exactly do you want from the Hirado Domain?" Matsuura Takannobu interrupted Zhou Pu's polite words, "As far as I know, now that the Han merchants already have a trading house in Nagasaki, and they are doing a good job, why should they go to the Bad Domain to seek a deal?" As I said beforehand, the clan is very poor, and there is not much money left to trade with merchants like you. ”

Then, he suddenly stretched out his hand and pointed out the window, "Since you have come all the way, you should be able to find out that the Hirado clan is not rich, so if you want to come here to sell your great man's goods, I'm afraid you have come to the wrong place." ”

The Hirado Domain did not have gold and silver mines, and it was able to prosper a little in the past, but since the shogunate began to restrict maritime trade, the income of the Hirado Domain has plummeted, and there is no longer the same atmosphere as before. In order to limit the further outflow of wealth from the territory, Matsuura also took the initiative to restrict trade with the merchants of the Daihan, whose goods were rarely sold in other places - and it was for this reason that the inhabitants looked at them so strangely when they entered Hirado Castle.

The practice of the Hirado Domain was actually similar to that of the Shogunate, except that the Shogunate was larger, so it was more able to tolerate this trend of gold and silver outflow, and only thought about it

Zhou Pu didn't expect this feudal lord to be so direct, but he was a little surprised for a while. But he quickly regained his composure and smiled again.

"Domain lord, we are not here to seek trade with your domain this time, not to import the goods of the Han Dynasty into the territory of your domain. To tell the truth, our goods can be sold very well in Nagasaki, and we don't have to go to your domain, but we want to sell your goods to the Dahan to ask for the help of the feudal lord. ”

"What do we have that the big man needs?" Matsuura Takanobu was obviously a little strange, but his spirits were lifted.

"Presumably, the feudal lord already knows, the shogunate has now stopped exporting copper ore to the Great Han." Zhou Pu raised his head and looked at the other party, "The shogunate suddenly did such a thing, to be honest, it caught the big man a little off guard, I heard that the government is very angry now, and is negotiating with the shogunate to resume the import of copper as soon as possible." However, this kind of thing is a headache for the officials, but it is an out-and-out business opportunity for us businessmen...... So, we want to import copper from your domain. ”

After hearing his explanation, Matsuura's face suddenly turned even paler. "There are no copper mines in our territory."

"Even if you don't have copper mines in your domain, you can buy them from other places and resell them to us." Zhou Pu was still smiling, "The feudal lord is a Japanese daimyo, and it must be much more convenient to buy copper than us Han merchants...... Now that the shogunate has cut off exports, the price of copper has risen a lot in the Dahan territory, and if the feudal lord is willing to buy copper and pass it on to us, it will definitely make a huge profit, and if the feudal lord ......."

This was a clear hint, and of course Matsuura Takanobu could hear it, so he gently knocked on the soft collapse next to him and interrupted Zhou Pu's words, "You want to smuggle copper?" ”

“…… If the lord of the feudal clan said so, he would be right. Zhou Pu smiled and nodded. Copper is the largest commodity traded between Dahan and Japan, and now that it has been temporarily banned, there will be business opportunities. ”

Of course, this is not Zhou Pu's whole purpose, he wants to test Matsuura Takanobu's attitude towards the shogunate in this way, and at the same time establish the initial contact - although Matsuura Takanobu has a father's enmity with the shogunate, but his character and attitude Zhou Pu did not have a detailed understanding, so he didn't dare to tell him his intentions from the beginning, so he had to pretend to be a businessman to test the other party first. Anyway, there is a shortage of copper in the country, and if you can get some copper from him to smuggle it into the country, it will be regarded as a meritorious achievement.

He and the people at the Nagasaki Merchant House had already asked the Dutch that they had indeed increased their orders for copper recently, but not to the extent that they had not yet emptied all of Japan's treasury, and although they did not know what the shogunate's reason was, they must have found another plan to cut off the export of copper.

"This is a violation of the laws of the shogunate!" Takanobu Matsuura unnaturally raised his voice.

"What law has been violated?" Zhou Pu immediately asked, "The shogunate gave us the seal of the Han merchants, so that we can trade with the merchants of your country, what is the sin of us purchasing copper?" The shogunate said that because it needed to increase exports to the Dutch, there was no stock for the time being, so it could not continue to export to Japan...... There is no explicit ban on the export of copper from all over the country? I couldn't find it in the shogunate's treasury, but we merchants found it from other places, so why couldn't we import it into our country? Since this is the case, it is understandable for us businessmen to seize business opportunities and make profits, right? ”

His straightforward appearance made Matsuura Takanobu hesitate a little.

"This is a strong argument, and the shogunate will not approve of it."

"Whether the shogunate approves it or not, the key is whether the feudal lord wants to seize this business opportunity?" Zhou Pu was not intimidated by the other party's attitude, "Don't miss the opportunity and don't come again, although the shogunate has temporarily stopped the export of copper to the Han Dynasty, it will not stop forever after all, and it will recover soon, and the copper price will not be what it is now, and the opportunity to make a lot of money will be gone." ”