According to the instructions of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of China and Korea, the port of Busan was soon temporarily closed on the grounds that there was a plague in the port and that it needed to be rebuilt due to the damage caused by the typhoon.

However, soon the port was busy again, and in the past few days, a steady stream of transport ships loaded with soldiers, horses, ammunition, and all kinds of supplies have come to this port and poured their goods into it.

And after spending a few days dealing with complicated political affairs, the prince finally got a little free time and came to the port market with a few retinues.

As he watched, the transports emerged from the fog, slowly emerging in the shadows, and then little by little they approached the harbor, and finally stopped in the harbor.

Then the transport ship in the front row lowered the ladder, and the soldiers inside walked out in a neat queue, and after they stepped off the ship, they readjusted their formation under the orders of the officers on the shore. Then, the transport ship carrying supplies and ordnance docked, and on the orders of the officers, they helped the transport ship unload the cargo and move the supplies off the ship, along with the portmen.

This busy and orderly scene not only illustrates the meticulousness and ability of the Han officials and generals in preparing for battle, but also fully illustrates the prosperity of the Han Dynasty's national strength. I don't know how much effort and preparation they have made in order to prepare for this war, including themselves, if it was in the previous dynasties, they would definitely not have the financial and material resources to put a strong army equipped with the best weapons in the world into such a war.

Looking at this spectacular scene, the prince was once again deeply proud in his heart.

He was holding a letter in his hand, which had been written to him by his father and had only been received yesterday, mentioning what he had done in Goryeo, expressing his full approval, and at the same time expressing encouragement, asking him to make persistent efforts to do better in the follow-up.

Although the tone of the letter was very flat, the prince could read his father's expectations of him from the few faint sentences in it. It was precisely because of the words in the letter that he felt that no matter how hard he worked, it was worth it.

However, under the Prince's gaze, in the gap between the transports, he noticed as if a small boat of a different shape from the transports was passing through it. The ship had white sails and looked a little dazzling in the sunlight.

What's going on? Isn't there already a lockdown order? How can other ships come into the harbor when the transport ship is unloaded? The prince's heart was suddenly full of doubts. Could it be that the person in charge of the closure of Hong Kong is derelict in his duty?

He hurriedly ordered the people next to him to find out what was going on, and then immediately a small warship surrounded the ship and forced it to a stop by the trestle.

Under the watchful eye of the prince, heavily armed sailors boarded the ship and escorted everyone on board one by one.

At his command, the men on board were questioned, and the attendant immediately returned to report to him.

At this time, he learned that the ship was sent by the Han Dynasty in Nagasaki, and in addition to the embassy staff, there was another person on board, who was the envoy sent to Nagasaki by the Japanese court, that is, the person he asked to be sent to Busan first.

"Take them all to my walk." The prince immediately gave the order, and then rode back with his attendants.

Minoru Hashimoto was in a state of panic at this time.

He left Nagasaki yesterday afternoon on board a ship from the Han Merchant House, and the Han envoy from Nagasaki fulfilled his opinion and promised to send him to the capital of the Han Dynasty to meet the Emperor of the Han Dynasty.

As soon as he boarded the ship, he fell into an irrepressible excitement, because he knew that it had now reached a critical time, the fate of the entire court was pressed on him, and he had to use any method that could be used to achieve the wishes of His Majesty the Emperor and the Lord of the Right Mansion, and also to fulfill the long-cherished wish of his ancestors for many generations.

However, while he was still imagining the future, things took a turn for him when he found that his ship had sailed into a harbor after only one night, and that some ships had surrounded it as soon as it had entered the harbor, and that a group of vicious soldiers had approached the ship and had taken them all down roughly.

Although he didn't have much knowledge of geography, Hashimoto Minoru at least knew that he would not be able to reach Dahan in one day from Japan, so his heart was suddenly full of apprehension and fear, suspecting that something was wrong, and the shogunate had already sensed the conspiracy on his side.

He wasn't worried about his life, since he had decided to take on this task, he had already put life and death out of the way, what he was really worried about was that he had broken something big because of himself, and if that was the case, he would be a sinner who would never die.

He was in a hurry, but he didn't know what to do, and when he got off the boat, he looked around and found himself in a strange place. The architecture here is very different from the Japanese architectural style, and there are many large ships that move through the harbor, making it look like a busy trading port, but the people who come down from these large ships do not look like merchants or sailors, but strangely dressed but very neat people, who look sturdy and well-trained, and should be soldiers.

There were also horses that had been brought down from the boats, and they were much taller and more robust than the ones he had seen in Japan. And a few ships are even more strange, the unloaded cargo is a cannon!

Under his gaze, mysterious ships poured soldiers and weapons down to the ground in front of him. However, although he was very engrossed, the people who escorted him behind him were not interested in talking to him, and kept pushing him from behind, asking him to hurry up. They speak Chinese.

Where the hell is this? What the hell is going on? This kind of exotic scene made Hashimoto Minoru completely confused.

However, there was not much time left for him to lament, and under the escort of the guards, Minoru Hashimoto was forced to leave the busy port and take him to the place where the prince lived inland, and the ship he had come on had been taken to anchor in the harbor because it had been identified, and the people on board were resettled.

Although he went a little further inland, he found that the surrounding area looked like a city, but it seemed to be sparsely populated, and there were not many passers-by in sight, only people in strange military uniforms walking around, they were generally tall, and they were strong and strong, and it was obvious that there was always a good supply.

Along the way, he could still hear the incessant noise, in addition to the roar of many people shouting together, and from time to time there was the roar of cannon bombardment, which shook his ears a little.

This bizarre scene made him feel more and more strange, as if he had come to the outside of the territory in a mere one-day boat.

"This ...... This ......" Minoru Hashimoto had the courage to ask about the soldiers who escorted him, but he thought for a long time and didn't know what to call the other party, so he had to vaguely ask, "May I ask where we are now, have we arrived at Dahan?" ”

"If you haven't arrived, where will it be a big man here!" The soldier replied impatiently, then shoved him harder, urging him to hurry up.

Because the Japanese ministers and nobles all use Tang accents to learn Chinese, and there have been many variations over the centuries, his Chinese accent is a little weird, and the soldiers can barely understand it, but they only feel a little disgusted.

"That'...... So where is this place? Which country is it? Why can you speak Chinese? Although he knew that it was dangerous to continue to ask, but the responsibility was on his own, Minoru Hashimoto still had the courage to continue asking, "Please ...... Please let me know! ”

"This is Goryeo, you've come to Goryeo." Perhaps seeing that he was a little pitiful, another soldier interjected and answered his question, "Okay, don't ask more questions next, I won't tell you if I ask, if Your Highness wants you to know, you can know everything!" ”

"This is Goryeo? And His Highness, who is His Highness?? The shocking news made him even more confused, and he asked again and again.

However, he was also a little settled in his heart, at least now he was not betrayed and fell into the hands of the shogunate, but was only sent to Goryeo. However, he still did not understand why the Han mission in Nagasaki risked sending itself out, but only sent itself to Goryeo, and why there were so many Han-speaking soldiers here.

However, his curiosity was destined to be unsatisfied, and the soldiers tacitly agreed not to talk to him again, but only escorted him all the way out of the city.

They came to a small village, very poorly built, with thatched huts everywhere except for a few brick houses, and next to these houses was a huge construction site, where dozens of wooden buildings were rising on the flat ground, and everywhere you could see the craftsmen and laborers of the construction, and there was a lot of noise.

In order to keep all the details secret, and also to show the spirit of sharing weal and woe with the officers and soldiers, the prince politely refused the accommodation offered by the local officials in Busan, and set himself up next to a military camp, although his living conditions were slightly better, and it was the original residence of the wealthy families in the village.

This military camp was originally a small mountain village, but it was forcibly requisitioned because of the needs of the Han army, and the residents were either relocated to the mainland with severance payments, or they were placed in the labor bureau as laborers, and various projects were being built for the Han army in various construction sites.

To be sure, despite all the efforts that have been made, the living conditions that Busan can now provide to the officers and soldiers are not high because of the sudden arrival of the army, so the prince's move of emulating his father and sharing weal and woe with the officers and soldiers has indeed achieved the effect of calming the morale of the army.

Following the Prince's orders, the Japanese court envoy was soon brought to the Prince's residence.

The ministers put elegance first, and they have always been neither productive nor involved in labor, so their bodies are generally weak, and Hashimoto Minoru is naturally no exception, and he was already a little out of breath when he walked along the way, and as a result, he was taken to the hall of this residence by the soldiers without even having a chance to rest after coming here.

As soon as he entered the hall, he found a young man sitting upright on his seat, looking at him calmly. This young man was dressed in Han-style clothes, plainly dressed, but his expression was serious, and he seemed to have some momentum that was not angry and arrogant, which made people not look at him as a young man.

Minoru Hashimoto saw that he should be honorable, so although he was tired, he didn't dare to sit down, just looked at the boy with trepidation.

The prince waved his hand lightly, motioning for the soldiers to step away, and then looked back at Minoru Hashimoto.

"Sit down, you're probably tired from all the way."

"Thank you......" Minoru Hashimoto was relieved and immediately sat down.

Then, an attendant brought tea, and Hashimoto Minoru also put down a cup in front of him, and he hurriedly picked up the teacup as if he had been pardoned, because he was really tired and thirsty, so he didn't care about the dignity of the public family, and raised his neck to drink the tea.

"You are the envoy sent by the Japanese court to the Great Han, right?" After the other party had recovered slightly, the prince asked calmly.

After hearing this question, Minoru Hashimoto, who had been a little relaxed, suddenly became a little nervous, but after hesitating for a moment, he knew that there was no point in denying it, so he nodded honestly.

"It was the envoy of the imperial court who went to Dahan at the behest of the emperor. Please also ...... Please let me go so that I can meet the Son of Heaven? I will be grateful. ”

"What do you want to see the Son of Heaven?" The young man did not reply to Hashimoto's request, but asked again.

“…… The purpose of this trip was to greet the Son of Heaven of China on behalf of the French Emperor, so as to strengthen the intimate relations between the two countries. The real purpose of his line of work is that he must not reveal the slightest rumor to outsiders, so he has found a reason for himself.

"The Japanese court has not had contact with the Central Plains for hundreds of years, so why did it suddenly send envoys to the Han Dynasty? And there was no report in advance, it doesn't look like a correspondence between the two courts, right? The crown prince was unmoved, "Besides, I have heard that the political power in Japan is now concentrated in the hands of the shogunate, and the imperial court is just a puppet, why can the emperor of your country send an envoy?" ”

Such an unceremonious question made Minoru Hashimoto blush.

"Although the shogunate is now chaotic and arrogant, but our court has the righteous name in hand, and it is the party that is most qualified to interact with the outside world." He reluctantly replied.

"I don't know about the righteousness of your country, and I don't want to argue, but you yourself have admitted that your country is the shogunate ****, so I'm afraid your court can't represent the shogunate." The crown prince still did not accept the other party's defense, "I think you should please go back, for the Han, the envoys of the shogunate may be more useful than you, at least they can talk about meaningful topics." Now that we have an envoy from the shogunate in our country, it is really difficult to send you into the country again, so as not to cause a dispute between the two countries. ”

"Dare to ask who Your Excellency is, how can you make judgments on behalf of the Han Imperial Court?" Minoru Hashimoto finally couldn't help it, he stood up and looked at the young man angrily, "Whether to accept me as a messenger or not, there are the Han court and the emperor of the Han Dynasty to make a judgment, so why bother Your Excellency?" ”

Knowing that his life is now in the hands of the other party, but as soon as he heard that the other party actually wanted to interrupt his trip and send him back to Japan, Hashimoto Minoru couldn't worry about his life, "I was specially sent back to Dahan by the Han mission in Nagasaki, and I will definitely not return to China until I complete my mission!" ”

The young man stopped talking, just quietly looked at Hashimoto Minoru, his expression became more and more serious, and just when Hashimoto Minoru thought that he might be killed, the young man suddenly laughed, and laughed a little happily.

"Haha, this person is also a little bold, no wonder he can send him as a messenger. After all, there are still some talents in the Japanese court. He laughed as he said to a few people in the corner next to him who had been silent.

At this time, Hashimoto Minoru found them, and they all walked up to this young man.

"Please forgive me, envoy," a middle-aged man dressed as a scribe bowed to Minoru Hashimoto, "I heard that the envoy was coming, and I didn't know what kind of person the envoy was, so Your Highness had to try the envoy first, please forgive me." ”

The middle-aged scribe spoke in a more literate manner, which was in line with the image that Hashimoto Minoru expected, but he was still a little confused, feeling overwhelmed by the sudden change in events. "Your Highness......

"Let me introduce first, the contemptible person is Zhang Daoyan, an official of the Han court." The middle-aged literati continued, and then turned his attention to the young man, "And this is His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of our Han Dynasty." ”

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of the Han Dynasty ......?" Minoru Hashimoto was stunned and stared blankly at the young man, this result was more out of reality than he had expected beforehand, and he naturally couldn't believe it.

"You're not going to believe it now, but you're going to be here for a while anyway, and you'll figure it out when you need to." The crown prince smiled indifferently, "In your line, did you bring the autographed letter of the Emperor of your country to you?" ”

The prince did this, on the one hand, to test the messenger to see what kind of person he was, so that he might decide whether to send him back to the country, and on the other hand, it was the young man's mind that wanted the messenger to amuse.

As soon as he heard the other party mention the matter of the emperor's personal letter of state, Hashimoto Minoru couldn't help but believe a little more, because he had never mentioned the matter of the letter of state to anyone except for the two officials of the Dahan Merchant Hall, if this young man knew, it could only be through the report of the embassy, although it was not necessarily His Royal Highness the Prince, but he must be extraordinary.