When he entered the city, Jia Run'an did not immediately follow Liang and Mu to see Wang Kunjun and others, but first led the people of the Cui family's caravan to an inn that they were used to living in. After settling down the caravan, he went to Jiedu Mansion with Liang Ziyue and Mutel, who had been waiting there.

Jia Run'an, accompanied by Liang Ziyue and Mutel, walked into the gate of Jiedu Mansion, and the first thing he saw was Wang Kunjun, Zhang Weixin, Xu Shaoan, Li Junwu and other four people standing under the corridor with a smile. Behind the four of them were more than twenty other members of the crossing team who could find time to participate in the welcoming ceremony. Seeing Jia Run'an enter the mansion, more than 20 people waiting to greet him applauded together and welcomed the arrival of this old friend and new brother.

Faced with such a warm welcome scene, Jia Run'an was quite moved, he hurriedly walked a few steps in front of Wang Kunjun, hugged his fists and arched his hands: "In the next He De, how can he be, I want the fifth brother and all the brothers to descend to greet each other." I really don't dare to be, I don't dare to be. ”

Hearing this, Wang Kunjun waved his hand again and again, and said: "Brother Run'an has come from thousands of miles away, and our brothers can't ask for it. It is really reasonable to welcome the Run'an brothers here, what should not be deserved. With that, Wang Kunjun and Jia Run'an walked hand in hand, and surrounded by a group of brothers, they walked to the conference room in the back hall of Jiedu Mansion with laughter.

Everyone sat down in the conference room, first exchanged a few words, and then gave each other a brief introduction to their respective situations for more than a year. On the side of the crossing team, it was naturally based on the battle of the clouds that ended not long ago, and gave Jia Runan a general introduction to the process of the war and the brilliant results and huge gains achieved by the crossing team in this battle. Jia Run'an, on the other hand, based on his own experience for more than a year, explained to the brothers of the crossing team the reason why he failed to join the crossing team after serving Cui Yongnian for five years as agreed.

According to Jia Run'an, he originally planned to resign to Cui Yongnian and go north in April and May of the previous year, that is, when he had completed the five-year period of doing things for the Cui family. But at the beginning of March last year, several men in the caravan sent by the Cui family to trade with the Wa Kingdom suddenly returned to the Central Plains on the sea ships of other caravans, and brought a very bad news - due to the conflict with the local nobles of the Wa Kingdom, not only several members of the Cui family caravan that went to the Wa Kingdom to trade were killed, but also the other people were also overwhelmed by the local nobles of the Wa Kingdom. Those guys who returned to the Central Plains were actually messengers who were sent back by the Japanese to deliver the news, asking the Cui family to send someone to the Japanese country to negotiate and compensate the other party for losses.

Since his second son was also in this caravan, Cui Yongnian was anxious when he learned the news. Although the strength of the Cui family is far stronger than that of the local nobles of the Wa Kingdom, there is no problem in gathering the armed forces of thousands of people in a short period of time to fight face-to-face with the armed forces of the local nobles of the Wa Kingdom; Although he understood from the mouths of the guys who were released back that this conflict was because the widows who cooperated with the Cui family in business were unwilling to let the Cui family make a lot of money all the time, and coveted the goods worth hundreds of thousands of yuan brought by the caravan this time, deliberately provoked the incident, and took the opportunity to overwhelm the caravan. Subsequently, while confiscating all the goods, he also demanded more money from the Cui family as hostages of the caravan members. However, considering that his son and more than 200 shopkeepers, men, and sailors are now in the hands of the other party, Cui Yongnian is no longer unwilling in his heart, and in the face of the Japanese kingdom thousands of miles away, separated from Shandong by a vast ocean, he can only suppress the anger in his heart, and send capable people to carry a large amount of property to the sea again, and go to the Japanese country to negotiate and negotiate with the other party.

When he said this, Jia Run'an also looked indignant, saying that the reason why this kind of thing happened this time was, on the one hand, of course, that the nobleman of the Japanese Kingdom saw that he was interested in making money, and he was jealous of the large profits that the Cui family made from his own territory every year. On the other hand, it was also Cui Minggu, the second son of Cui Yuanwai, who presided over the sea trade, who lacked experience in business and dealing with the world, and always thought that the merchants all over the world were like the businessmen he saw in his own home who rushed to do business with their Cui family, and offered their Cui family as their ancestors. So that when dealing with the nobles of the Japanese Kingdom, he was a little arrogant and arrogant. Not only did he not give the other party any room for bargaining, but he also repeatedly emphasized to the other party how rare and precious the goods he brought this time were, so that the nobles of the Japanese Kingdom, who were already a little dissatisfied with the Cui family's profit in the business between the two sides, were angry at Cui Minggu's rudeness, and at the same time, they also began to covet the goods worth hundreds of thousands of yuan brought by the Cui family's caravan this time, and finally decided to take a risk and swallow this treasure that was enough for him to enjoy for a long time. …,

As a result, this Japanese nobleman pretended to flatter and stabilize Cui Minggu, and at the same time secretly instructed his subordinates to buy and sell the local ordinary people of the Japanese Kingdom, and deliberately had friction and conflict with Cui Guys, guards and sailors who were wandering on the streets, causing these guys, guards and sailors to fight with those local people. Subsequently, the nobles of the Japanese Kingdom ordered the local government to detain several sailors and men who did not have time to leave the scene on the grounds that the Cui family's men, guards, and sailors were picking quarrels and provoking trouble.

His own people were arrested by the Japanese government, Cui Minggu naturally refused to give up, and sent people to the government to fight a lawsuit with the local people of the Japanese state, and on the other hand, he went to the Japanese nobleman, hoping that the other party could dredge up the relationship and release his own people. The nobleman of the Wa Kingdom pretended to accept Cui Minggu's request, but on the other hand, he secretly instigated the local people to make trouble around Cui Minggu's residence, so as to disturb Cui Minggu's heart. As a result, Cui Minggu really hit the plan, seeing that there were more and more people gathered outside his residence, and he was worried that his safety would be threatened, so he ignored the persuasion of the big shopkeeper around him, and ordered the sailors and main guards who were originally used to guard the cargo ships to be transferred to protect his own safety, thus giving the nobles of the Japanese country an opportunity to take advantage of the opportunity to send a large number of samurai to subdue the few remaining Cui family guards, and successfully controlled all the cargo ships of the Cui family.

As soon as they took control of the Cui family's cargo ship, the nobles of the Japanese Kingdom immediately changed their faces, and sent troops and samurai to surround Cui Minggu's residence on the grounds that Cui Minggu connived at his subordinates to act recklessly and injured the local people. At this time, Cui Minggu still did not recognize the other party's true face and sinister intentions, but wanted to reason with the other party. And once again, he did not listen to the bitter persuasion of the big shopkeeper around him, and walked out of the well-fortified residence with only two or three guards to conduct so-called negotiations with the nobles of the Japanese state. As a result, it is conceivable that as soon as he left the residence, he was caught by the other party, and his subordinates had to give up resistance and be captured because their master was controlled by the other party. ”

Fortunately, I don't know if it was to squeeze more benefits from the Cui family, or because he had no fear because of the victory, or considering that it was impossible for such a big move not to be transmitted back to the Central Plains through various channels and known by the people of the Cui family, in short, the nobleman of the Japanese Kingdom did his best to solve the resistance of the Cui family's caravan and successfully controlled all the members of the caravan and all the cargo ships, but did not immediately put the members of the Cui family's caravan, including Cui Minggu, to death, in order to cover up his ugly behavior of wanting to get rich and taking the Cui family's goods for himself. Instead, one of the shopkeepers, several sailors, and men were released back to the Central Plains, and they were asked to report to the Cui family, asking the Cui family to prepare a large amount of money to redeem these imprisoned caravan members.

Facts have proved that no matter whether this nobleman of the Japanese Kingdom is arrogant or greedy, anyway, his act of letting people back to the Central Plains to report the news did bring him a more lucrative income - in order to save his son and nearly 200 subordinates, Cui Yongnian had to accept the other party's conditions, and on the premise of giving up all the goods transported to the Japanese country this time and making an apology to the local people of the Japanese country, he sent people to rush to the Japanese country with a large amount of money and goods, and then ransomed the people.

However, it was precisely because of the heavy responsibility of going to the Japanese country to negotiate this time, so after careful consideration, Cui Yongnian finally locked the main candidate for the negotiation on Jia Run'an, who was capable and loyal to him, and communicated and talked with Jia Run'an earnestly for this purpose - even though Jia Run'an had previously revealed to Cui Yongnian his plan to go north to Youyun as soon as the agreed period arrived. And it is precisely because the matter involves Cui Yongnian's second son, as well as nearly 200 men, guards and sailors, especially among the people who were overheated, there is also a big treasurer Cui Taiyuan who has a very good relationship with Jia Run'an - Cui Taiyuan is not a member of the Cui clan, but belongs to the surname of the slave master. Therefore, after weighing and thinking twice, Jia Run'an still accepted Cui Yongnian's dispatch, carried a lot of money as a plenipotentiary negotiator, and went to sea by boat accompanied by a large number of escorts and sailors on board, and went to the Japanese country to ransom people. …,

Fortunately, the ultimate goal of that Japanese nobleman was to ask for money rather than fight to the death with the Cui family, so in the face of Jia Run'an, who came across the sea with a heavy amount of money and under the protection of hundreds of guards and sailors, this Japanese nobleman did not dare to do anything bad, but bargained with Jia Run'an with the chips in his hand, and after getting a ransom of 50,000 yuan, he agreed to return the members of the Cui family caravan who were overheated. However, what made Jia Run'an sad was that due to the distance between the two places, it took more than half a year from the detention of the Cui family caravan to the completion of negotiations between the two sides, and the members of the Cui family caravan did not receive adequate food and housing during the period of deprivation, and the injured members did not receive necessary or even minimum medical treatment. Therefore, when they were released, only one hundred and sixty-one members of the Cui family caravan, including Cui Minggu, who were almost inhuman, escaped from the prison of the Japanese people alive, and the other thirty-four members remained in this foreign land forever. Some of the victims did not even have their bones found, and in the coffins they brought back to China, only a small number of relics kept for them by their companions were inside, including Cui Taiyuan, who died of hatred due to his untreated injuries.

The tragic situation of the rescued companions, the bones of the murdered friends and the lack of a place to bury them, and the arrogance and treachery shown by the Japanese nobles in the negotiation process made Jia Run'an, who had no good feelings about the other party's nationality, even more disgusted the Japanese people, and was full of gnashing hatred. If it weren't for the fact that his side was in a foreign land and came alone, Jia Run'an would have led his guards and sailors to fight against the Japanese nobles.

It was precisely because of this trip to the Wa Kingdom that Jia Run'an had to put his northward trip to Jihua on hold for the time being, and wait until he returned from the Wa Kingdom to consider it. When he returned to Shandong at the end of the previous year, the Battle of Youyun was already imminent, for the sake of safety, and Cui Yongnian repeatedly retained him in order to thank him for rescuing his son and more than 100 of his men from the Wa Kingdom, Jia Run had to let the trip to the north be postponed again and again, and he did not have a chance to make the trip until the end of the Battle of Youyun.

Listening to Jia Run'an's account of the evil deeds of the Japanese people, looking at the sad and indignant expression on his face, the people present were all filled with righteous indignation, scolding the Japanese people for being despicable, shameless, cunning and greedy, and several brothers from the military department even suggested that the committee should consider sending troops to crusade against the Japanese people, pacify the Japanese state, and avenge the death of the compatriots.

Despite the outrage of the brothers present, several members of the committee were not carried away by emotion, and while strongly condemning the despicable acts of the Japanese people, they also comforted the excitement of the brothers as necessary. After all, with the current strength of the crossing team, not to mention whether it has the ability to support a war of annihilation, just crossing the choppy East China Sea is currently an obstacle that is difficult for the crossing team to solve in a short period of time.

Of course, appeasement is appeasement, but words of encouragement are indispensable. Therefore, after the brothers calmed down a little, Zhang Weixin began to cheer everyone up again: "Maybe we don't have the ability to sweep the Japanese country and eradicate the Japanese people now, but this does not mean that we will never be able to avenge those compatriots who died. Because we are always developing and growing, it is by no means an unattainable thing to set sail one day and bring down that insidious, cunning, despicable and shameless nation. As the saying goes, 'a gentleman takes revenge, ten years is not too late', as long as we keep this blood feud in mind, one day we will settle the new hatred and old hatred with this despicable nation. ”

"Yes, the new accounts and the old accounts are counted together." Wang Kunjun supported on the side, "Brother Run'an, brother, I am here to solemnly promise you on behalf of the committee that as long as our crossing team has the strength and ability to crusade against the Japanese State in the future, we will definitely send troops to the Japanese State to uproot this despicable nation and make it disappear completely." ”…,

Jia Run'an was very moved when he heard this, he stood up, bowed deeply to Wang Kunjun and the other people present, and said solemnly: "Run'an has thanked the fifth brother and all the brothers on behalf of those compatriots who died. ”

That night, the brothers held a banquet in Jiedu Mansion to pick up the wind and wash the dust for Jia Run'an, celebrating that there was a new member of the crossing team. At the lively banquet, Fan Wucheng, who hurried from the "Liangyuan" to Beiping City in order to welcome Jia Run'an, who was already assigned to his competent department, proposed to Wang Kunjun and several other committee members that in order to let Jia Run'an get familiar with the industries and trading shops of the crossing team in various places of the Beiping Army as soon as possible, and at the same time, to let the business partners in various places know that the "Datong Commercial Bank" has an additional person at the level of supervisor, he plans to personally accompany Jia Run'an to inspect the states and counties of the 16 states of the Beiping Army. It was to be hoped that the Committee would be able to approve it.

Since the timing of Fan Wucheng's request was very good, it was logical for Jia Run'an, who had just arrived to be familiar with the operation and organizational structure of the trade department of the crossing team, and to let business partners from all over the world know about his new members. Therefore, Fan Wucheng's application to inspect the 16 prefectures of the Beiping Army was not hindered in any way, and was quickly approved by the committee. However, in consideration of the fact that the time should not be delayed too long, the committee changed the inspection of the 16 prefectures and counties of the Beiping Army to the inspection of the main prefectures and counties of the eight prefectures in front of the mountain and the three prefectures and cities in the eight prefectures behind the mountain.

On the eighteenth day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar in the sixth year of Xiande, Fan Wucheng and Jia Run'an, accompanied by more than ten entourages and personal guards, left Beiping City and began to carry out what Fan Wucheng called the "Beiping Military Trade Parade".