Then, as if remembering something, he raised his head again, "In that case, the matter on the side of the Han envoy must not be delayed any longer!" Now why don't you just gather them together and send them to Edo...... If all is calm, they are guests of the shogunate, and if there is a case, there is always a use for an extra group of hostages. ”

At this time, some human voices suddenly came from outside the window, and the sound became more and more noisy, and the silence of the originally quiet night sky was also broken.

Naito wanted to ignore it, but as if he felt something, his eyes widened suddenly, and then he suddenly stood up and staggered to the window.

Originally, because he was kneeling, he was not in good health, but after seeing the scene outside the window, he was even more dizzy, staggering and almost didn't stand up.

"What's wrong, sir?" Zeng Guyou felt that something was wrong, and hurriedly ran over.

When he looked at it, even he was not only dumbfounded.

Under the window of the tall building, he could clearly see in the distance, in a corner of Nagasaki Castle, several buildings were on fire. The fire was so strong that it soared into the sky, lighting up the surroundings, and men and women in clogs and underwear could be seen running in a hurry. From afar, the flames that burst out everywhere were tongues that could devour everything, and the place where this tongue swept was scorched black. , the raging flames unscrupulously expand its minions, trying to cover all the places it uses under its rule.

It was already close to summer, so the weather was hot, and the fire grew bigger and bigger, fueled by the wind, and soon swept through some of the surrounding houses, and the mournful shouts became louder and louder, all the way to the tall building where they were.

Fires were common, but such a fire shook the hearts of the two important officials of the shogunate at the scene.

Because, the direction and location of the fire are clearly the location of the embassy of the Han Dynasty.

What does this mean? The two officials thought of the same place.

"Damn it!" Naito scolded, and then shook so hard that he almost fell to the ground, but fortunately he was quickly supported by Soga Koyu's eyes and hands to prevent him from falling.

Naito quickly regained a little of his spirits, then struggled to his feet, and then shouted to Soga Koyu, "Leave me alone, go and take someone to arrest someone!" Catch as much as you can, and don't let them run! ”

"Yes, sir!" Of course, I Guyou also knew the seriousness of this matter, so he immediately responded, and then ran downstairs at a rapid pace, following his entourage to the official office in Nagasaki.

Then, he soon led the officials from the official office to the location of the Dahan Merchant House, but by this time, the once huge building had been reduced to a charred ruin.

The fire was still burning, and the hot wind kept fanning their faces, making him even more upset.

Because he asked others just now, and they all said that no one in the merchant hall ran out after the fire.

Either they're all dead, or they've run away...... Either outcome is a great disaster for him.

With the horror and anger in his heart, he watched the burning merchant house and shouted orders to the people he brought with him to put out the fire immediately.

The water from the wells was quickly brought in, and even the people were mobilized, and everyone was busy fighting the fire, and he also led people around to prevent anyone from escaping.

However, until almost dawn, he still did not find a person from the Han Merchant Mansion. By this time, the fire had been extinguished, and he led people to the ruins of the merchant house to take a closer look.

Still not a single one.

It's just that there are traces of lamp oil and even gunpowder everywhere, obviously this is a long-planned arson, and it was done by the people in the Dahan Merchant House.

"Bastard!" He couldn't help but curse.

After scolding for a long time, he dragged his already very tired body and rushed back to the place where Naito Tadashige lived. It was not a surprise to him, he was soon received, and Naito Tadashige also had a sleepless night.

"How?" As soon as he saw him, Naito Tadashige immediately asked. "Did you catch anyone?"

Zeng I Guyou shook his head miserably. "If they weren't caught, they should have run away beforehand."

The two of them sat down at the same time, unable to speak for a long time.

"It seems that this is a premeditated move, these envoys of the great Han have been plotting against us all along, and this time they heard that we were going to send them to Edo, so they simply ran away." After a long time, Naito Tadashige finally said the judgment that the two of them shared, "Now we must search everywhere and arrest them all!" ”

"I've ordered the guards in Nagasaki to hunt them down," Soga Koyo nodded, "but ...... My lord, there is one more important thing than this. ”

"Yes...... There is one thing that is more important. Naito Tadashige suddenly raised his voice, "Hurry up and pass my order, let those feudal lords quickly gather all the soldiers in the domain, and then gather the soldiers as soon as possible, hurry!" ”

"I have given the order, my lord, and now the messengers have rushed to their respective domains, and they should be informed after dawn." Zeng I Guyou, who had a gloomy face, sighed, "It's just that I'm afraid it might be a little late......"

There was silence again.

Although I could hear some deep complaints in the words of Zeng I Guyou, Naito Tadashige was no longer in the mood to be angry with him.

Obviously, since the envoys of the Han Merchant House will make such a decisive move, then they must have some deeper plans, and Kyushu is likely to encounter the invasion of the Han Dynasty next, as the two main officials of the shogunate in Kyushu, the two of them must be united, and they must not cause new problems.

"In addition to summoning these feudal lords, we must immediately send an envoy to Edo and ask the Shogun to gather all the soldiers and horses to defend the country," Naito Tadashige immediately continued, "By the way, there is also Kyoto...... Kyoto must also be notified, so that Kyoto can prepare early, and don't let the imperial court be bewitched and influenced by the Han! ”

Then, he staggered to the side of the book, then pulled out a few pieces of letterpaper, picked up the brush and dipped it in ink, and began to swing it. His hands were shaking, but he didn't stop for a moment, almost frantically writing on the paper.

"What the adults say is right, I ...... I'll do what the adults say. Zeng Gu You looked at this old man a little pitiful, so he wanted to leave, "I'll arrange defense." ”

"Wait a minute!" Who knows, Naito Tadashige suddenly stopped him.

"Your Excellency?" Zeng Guyou was a little confused.

Naito wrote down the letter to Kyoto and Edo with great speed, then looked up again and looked at Koyu Soga with bloodshot and slightly swollen eyes. "Guyou, I've really wronged you...... When you first come here, you have to face such a disaster in a hurry. ”

"My lord...... "Zeng I Guyou still don't quite understand what he means.

"If everything develops in the worst situation, then Kyushu is probably going to face the most embarrassing situation, I hope you can be mentally prepared, no matter what the situation is, don't be discouraged and don't back down." Naito Tadashige smiled bitterly, and then looked at him with a strange gaze, "Kyushu must at least resist to the end and buy time for Edo." ”

Soga Koyu's eyes widened because he understood Naito's hint.

"Do you think that Kyushu alone can't resist the big man?" He hissed.

Naito did not answer.

I Gu You was slightly stunned.

He had also heard of the Han Dynasty's military might and the reputation of the ships and guns, and if the Han really decided to invade Kyushu, perhaps according to their estimates, they would not be able to send too many troops, but it would be difficult for them to resist on their own side.

The shogunate's troops in Kyushu were too small, and even with the addition of these pro-shogunate feudal lords in Kyushu, the troops he could come up with were not enough, and he didn't dare to guarantee that he would be able to block the Han's troops with these chaotic troops.

"Maybe it's a little tough, if ...... If we do fight, can we take advantage of Kyushu's location to delay time and wait for the Shogun's army to be assembled in Honshu? After a moment, he asked Naito Tadashige with a hint of anticipation, "After all, Dahan is a guest army, as long as we share the same hatred, then ...... Then there may be a turnaround. ”

Naito still smiled bitterly. "Yes, it must be delayed, in short, we must fight to the death, and we must not back down. Maybe the resistance will end up killing and wounding us here, but ...... At least we delayed the shogun and the shogunate for time, so that all of Japan would remember us no matter what. ”

He was not optimistic that in Kyushu, the shogunate's own ability alone would be able to contend with the Han army, because the main army of the shogunate was in the Kanto region, and it would take time to recruit it, not to mention that it would be armed and march to the western country. Although he had already written a letter urging the general to prepare early, it would certainly take a long time.

If the shogunate mobilizes with all its might, it can pull out hundreds of thousands of troops, enough to entangle with the Han on the mainland, and consume them until they are exhausted and have to withdraw their troops, just like Goguryeo did when he dealt with Tang Taizong. But...... The first self may not be able to survive until that time.

And he was not panicking now, and even calmed down, because he had made up his mind in the previous nightmares.

Under Naito's watchful gaze, Soga Koyu put aside the last bit of luck and understood the severity of the situation and the pressure he was facing. "Your Excellency, please rest assured, as the Shogunate's Banner and Nagasaki's Governor, I have shouldered my responsibilities and the trust of the Shogun, and if the war is unfavorable, I will definitely fight my subordinates to the death, and I will never run away and surrender. Even if you die in battle, you can live for a hundred years! ”

"It's good to have that kind of awareness." Naito nodded slowly. "This is the spirit of our samurai."

Then, he suddenly sighed again, "In the past, everyone thought that the Han needed our mineral exports, and they wanted us, so we were in a good position to make the trade between the two countries more biased towards our needs...... Who would have thought that such a thing would happen! I just hope that this is just a false alarm for us, and the big man will not go crazy and let both countries fall into a military disaster. ”

He knew history well enough to know that Daimoto's two attacks on Japan ended in failure, but in these two wars, the Kamakura shogunate also exhausted its financial resources and was unable to reward the soldiers who had made meritorious contributions to the war.

Will this war be the same? The Great Han lost his troops and lost his generals, and his financial resources were exhausted but in vain, and the Tokugawa shogunate was exhausted and finally had to face the chaos of the world?

Until now, he still couldn't believe that the Great Han would make such an unwise choice - to spend countless financial and material resources to cross the sea and expedition to Japan.

"Please continue to bless Japan!" He prayed secretly.

At the same time that a fire broke out at the Daihan Shokan in Nagasaki Castle, a fire broke out in a residential house in Kyoto, not far from Kyushu.

Because the arsonist was also well prepared, the fire was also fierce and soon spread throughout the city.

Most of Kyoto's buildings are made of wood, which is easy to ignite in such a hot and humid weather, and in fact, Kyoto has often suffered from serious fires throughout history, so no one is suspicious of this.

When the fire began to spread, the people in charge of maintaining public order in Kyoto quickly gathered in the residential areas and began to extinguish the fire.

However, just as they had gathered the fire and had no time to look elsewhere, a group of people also took advantage of the twilight to come outside the walls of the imperial palace. The group of people were all dressed in black and wore cloaks on their heads, and they could not see their identities at all, and they could only see a vague black shadow in the night.

Although it is an imperial palace, the architectural layout is very small, and the walls are naturally not too high. Taking advantage of the night, they quickly came to the Yiqiu Gate in the southwest of the Imperial Palace. Because someone acted as an internal response, the door was not locked, but only hidden.

The two leading people casually pushed open the door, and then rushed in with a group of people behind, and then in the middle of this group, someone took out something like a whistle and blew it a few times, and the sharp sound was like the chirping of cicadas and immediately wandered in the imperial palace.

A group of guards immediately crowded around them, and at this time they were finally discovered.

"There are rebels in the palace, let's quell the rebellion, everyone stays where they are and is not allowed to move, otherwise they will be punished as traitors!" The leader shouted loudly, and then rushed inside with the people behind him.

Several guards tried to stop it, and others tried to escape, but they were immediately rushed in by these prepared men, who then drew their weapons and killed them.

The terrible screams soon alarmed the entire Imperial Palace, and soon the maids also screamed in fright, and ran around,

In the midst of the chaos, these people kept walking along the predetermined route, as if they knew the architectural pattern of the imperial palace very well. They first crossed the Zichen Palace, then bypassed the Qingliang Palace, went deep into the Imperial Palace, and finally came to the Permanent Palace where the Emperor lived.

At this time, the chaotic shouts also reached the Chang Palace.

Emperor Koko, who had already fallen asleep, opened her eyes vaguely, and then she found that she was not in front of her, but dim candlelight, and her father, Emperor Masahito, who had been kneeling beside her.

"Father?" She blinked, trying to make her vision clearer, "You...... Haven't you gone back to rest yet? ”

Because he was not satisfied with the progress of his studies, the emperor had been staying in the palace for a period of time, carefully teaching Xingzi calligraphy and literature, and today he has been teaching from afternoon to evening, until Xingzi felt a little tired when the emperor ended teaching, and then Xingzi fell asleep in a daze, she didn't expect that after she slept, her father still didn't leave his room.

The Emperor didn't answer, but just stretched out his hand and stroked Xingzi's head.

Xingzi complied with her father's affectionate gesture and just struggled to look up.

"Outside...... What's going on out there? Why did it suddenly become so noisy? She asked in a whisper.

The Emperor still did not answer, but gently took his daughter into his arms, and then continued to caress her.

Xingzi felt a little difficult to breathe for a while, but after a gentle struggle or two, he stopped again. She felt very sudden, her father was usually a very serious person, and he kept a straight face all day long, and would not make such an intimate move.

And because of the cold war between her father and the shogunate when she was a child, she often had a very bad attitude towards her, and to be honest, she was also a little afraid of her father, and she didn't get close to him, and she didn't like his sudden closeness recently, but of course she never dared to show it in front of others.

At this moment, with a few shouts, the group of people had already rushed into the Tsunegojo Palace, and then walked straight to where the emperor was.

"Who are you, and why are you ramming into the Emperor's residence?" Several of the attendants tried to stop them, but they were quickly pushed away and crouched to the ground screaming. Then, before the others could react, they rushed directly to Xingzi's residence, and then pushed the door open.

In the midst of the noise, Xingzi became even more flustered, and she hugged the emperor tightly, trembling.

The Emperor, however, was silent and unflustered.

Under his gaze, the leader knelt down.

"I've seen two Majesties!"

He is the current right minister Nijo Yasudo. There was some blood on his body, so after he came in, the strong smell of blood spread everywhere, and it was a little pungent to the Emperor.

"No courtesy." The Emperor replied calmly, and then stood up with Emperor Koko. "The three artifacts are all in place now, you guys hurry up and get them, time is pressing, don't worry too much."

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Nijo Kangdao waved his hand, and immediately someone ran to the side.