At the beginning of July of the 19th year of Astronomy (1550), Hizen Province, Kyushu, the Ariake Sea Pier on the periphery of Gakufu Castle Castle Shimo-cho.

After nearly a year of development, it became the town of Gakufu Castle, where the residence of the Luo family was located. At this time, the population was already nearly 30,000, and the town had expanded several times, and even extended to the shore of the Ariake Sea in the southern direction.

In the entire Luo family's territory, it has become a central link from west to east and from south to north, and almost every traveler who passes by in the vicinity will choose to visit here, which has led to thousands of floating people in the town in normal times. At this time, the castle town of Gakufu Castle had a completely new look, and it became the most attractive place in the Luo family's territory, except for Notaka Mountain in Matsuura County, Hizen Province.

On this day, the sun shines obliquely, and the sea is sparkling. In the breakwater of the pier in the Ariake Sea, large and small ships are docked. Since the Luo family lifted the ban on the waters around the Ariake Sea and Shimabara Bay, it has become the largest fishing ground of the Luo family and the main maritime trade route within the Luo family.

Many of the people on the boat, wearing white cloth straps and short shoulders, have lit fires on the boats, and the smoke of the cooking stoves is rising, ready to start the day. In the boat house on the side, many early risers were dressing up on the waterfront. From time to time, there are sailors on the boat who go out to sail out to bid farewell to the benefactors of the night, and the scene of the two is deeply in love.

As the dock gradually became lively, a closed boat ploughed the waves and sailed into the pier. When the small fishing boats on the side saw such a big boat entering the port, they immediately rowed away. I'm afraid of being hit by this huge thing.

On the bow of this closed ship. And two people stood at the head. They all looked at the thriving dock with expressionless faces.

One of them was in his thirties, and the other was in his twenties and thirties, both of whom were dark-faced, physically acquainted, and apparently accustomed to running at sea.

On the surface, they looked no different from the average sailors around them, but the accents in which the two talked to each other. But it is not the Chinese language, but the Ming Chinese.

Yes, among the two, the one in his thirties was none other than Wang Hai, Zhengliang's business partner of the Ming Kingdom, and the other slightly younger one was Wang Zhi's envoy who set foot on the Luo family's territory for the first time.

"Ha Luha, Brother Wang Hai, it seems that this small port in the Japanese country is also quite meteorological." The young man stood on the bow of the boat, looked at the bustling scene on the dock, and said with a smile. Truly. Compared with the big city of the Ming Kingdom, which has a population of hundreds of thousands, it is indeed a bit small here. can make people from the Ming Kingdom who have seen the big scene sigh. It's also very good.

Wang Hai smiled faintly after hearing this, and said: "This is natural, this is the most prosperous place in Kyushu, and it is completely different from the Shimazu family that Brother Mao visited before. ”

"Although this country is small and the land is barren, it is a place rich in gold and silver, and according to my father's wishes, this is only a place for my family to trade and replenish supplies, and my family has no intention of entering this place. And being able to reach an agreement with the most powerful lord here this time is a great benefit to both my father's affairs and my family's business. The young man surnamed Mao looked at the tall city in the distance and said.

Wang Hai smiled after hearing this, and then said: "Brother Mao, Brother Wang's meaning has been conveyed to the lord here on his behalf, since you are so sincere, the lord here is also very welcome." ”

"Ha Lu Ha, that's very good. This time, I also have the help of Brother Wang. It is rumored that Brother Wang also worked with his father back then? I wonder if it's true? ”

"Hey! Not bad. Wang Hai also nodded when he heard this, and said after a long sigh, "At the beginning, my brother was also cornered by local corrupt officials, and he happened to meet your father, and then he embarked on this road." Then your father left halfway through, and my brother and I stayed. You can see the situation now. ”

"Hmm!" The young man surnamed Mao nodded, "No wonder my father is so familiar with Brother Wang." There is such a past. It is rumored that my father also had a relationship with the lord of this place back then? ”

"Ha Lu Ha, exactly." Wang Hai immediately smiled and said, "At that time, it was the one who was in charge of contacting the owner of this territory. That's why Brother Wang found it this time. Brother Mao still doesn't know what to do, right? There are also many Ming people living here! ”

"Oh? How could such a thing happen? ”

"Let me tell you another secret, the Ming people here are all recruited from the Ming Kingdom, and they are all desperate and hard-working people."

"In this way, this place still has a lot to do with us. How did the lords of this place treat those Ming immigrants? The young man surnamed Mao asked with interest.

"It's the same as the local people. There are still many Ming people in this territory who are officials? ”

"How can such a thing happen?" It is understandable to say that the local lords recruited Ming immigrants in order to increase the population of the territory. But letting the Ming people serve as territorial officials surprised the young man surnamed Mao.

Wang Hai nodded solemnly and introduced: "Exactly, when I first heard it, I reacted like you, but this matter is absolutely true, and Brother Mao's father, Brother Wang, also reacted. Ha Lu Ha! At the beginning, the lord here was still under the leadership of Xia to go to the Ming Kingdom. ”

After listening to the resume of Zhengliang, the man surnamed Mao was amazed and said, "The experience of the lord of this place is really amazing. It can be seen from this that it still welcomes the people of the Ming Kingdom. ”

Wang Hai nodded and said: "That's right, but to be precise, the lord of this place welcomes all friends who are willing to cooperate with them, in addition to the merchants of the Ming Kingdom, the lord of this place also has a lot of cooperation with the Nanban, and even got the help of the Nanban warship." Recently, I even got a large fortune ship from the Ming Kingdom. Wang Hai's words implied a little warning. Remind the young man surnamed Mao not to be arrogant in the meeting because the strength of his own naval army is also good, and he should not underestimate the strength of this territory.

The young man surnamed Mao is also a smart person, so he naturally could hear Wang Hai's words, so he immediately smiled and said, "Hehe, Brother Wang, please rest assured." The lord of this place is the most powerful daimyo in the nearby area, with more than 10,000 troops, no less than hundreds of naval vessels, the territory is developed in commerce, the population is large, and it is also the area with the most extensive territory, and the materials contained will not be less. ”

With that, the two of them slowly sailed into the harbor.

At this time, a small morning boat had already arrived, and there were more than a dozen sailors standing on it, and one of them, dressed as an orthodox samurai, asked them in a loud voice, "Are you two guests from the Ryukyus?" ”

Wang Hai immediately responded loudly: "Exactly." ”

The other party then said respectfully: "Chen Tianjie is here, the prince of this family is here, and the lord of this family has already ordered the two of you to wait here, please enter the port with the ship." ”

"It's hard work!" The young man surnamed Mao made his debut before Wang Hai. Fang was still talking about the fact that the Luo family had a Ming person acting as a local official, but they didn't expect that a Ming person would appear in front of them so soon.

Immediately, the ship they were on entered the dockside and docked under the guidance of the ship. In this process, the young man surnamed Mao took the opportunity to talk to Chen Tianjie and asked him why he came to settle here and became an official here. Chen Tianjie told him that he was forced by the coastal dog officials and profiteers to collude with the pirates, so that his family was ruined and he came to settle in the local area. Chen Tianjie's answer suddenly made the young man surnamed Mao dare not ask again, because he himself was a coastal pirate.

After the ship entered the port and disembarked, the two took more than a dozen entourages to follow Chen Tianjie on the main road north and south of Xuefu City. Along the way, looking at the spacious avenue, the neat houses on both sides of the avenue, and the passers-by who seemed to be accustomed to the hustle and bustle of their race, all made the young man surnamed Mao amazed.

In the eyes of the young man surnamed Mao, the castle town where the Luo family lived was really prosperous, and it was not much different from some of the downtown areas of the Ming Kingdom in the past. If he had the opportunity, he really wanted to bring his men here to have a good time, but unfortunately, the daimyo of this territory was the same as the Ming Kingdom, and the surrounding waters were all forbidden by the sea, and non-Luo family ships could not enter, and generally passing ships also had to go through the designated outer sea channels, and only a few places were open to the public. What made them even more depressed was that this daimyo's navy was also very powerful, so that his own navy, which had just experienced a fiasco, did not dare to provoke them, so he personally came to the envoy on behalf of his father today.

After coming back to his senses again, the young man surnamed Mao actually saw a team of teenagers armed with bamboo guns patrolling nearby, and the surrounding leaders also took the initiative to make way for these patrols. The most surprising thing for the young man surnamed Mao was that there were girls in this patrol. Well, it's just a novelty here. The young man surnamed Mao couldn't help but muttered to himself.

"Huh, that's?" Just after watching this strange juvenile patrol, the young man surnamed Mao found a few more southern barbarians.

"Hehe, they are the southern barbarians who are employed by the lords of this place, there are Portuguese (i.e., Portuguese) and Westerners (i.e., Spaniards)." Wang Hai said with a smile.

"There are still these people here? Also hired by a local lord? The young man surnamed Mao was surprised.

"Alright, it's time to enter the city!" Just when the young man surnamed Mao was surprised, they had already come to the edge of a bridge more than ten meters long and four or five meters wide in front of the gate of Xuefu City. At the entrance of the bridge, there was a group of peasant soldiers guarding it.

Looking up, the young man surnamed Mao realized that the city that didn't look very tall in the distance turned out to be so majestic when it was under his feet. So he couldn't help but admire:

"What a tall city!"

(Thanks to the monthly pass of "Datang Swordsman".) (To be continued......)