The group had been searching around the side of the mountain, but they were silent to each other, and they did not see much interest in hunting, but were a little cautious, as if they were worried about something.

When I saw a group of people in short clothes, with their hair in buns and dressed as peasants, approaching this side, the silent procession finally started a little commotion.

The samurai and commoners in Japan had a strict class, and although the samurai were not allowed to kill farmers because they were in a bad mood as they were in during the Warring States period, the peasants did not dare to approach the place where the samurai gathered. So...... Everyone had a little realization in their hearts.

Under the cover of the mountain grass, this group of people loomed, but the footsteps became heavier and heavier, accompanied by the sound of the mountain wind blowing the withered grass, which made everyone's hearts become more uneasy.

Finally, under their gaze, the group walked up to them. This group of people, all tall and young, quick and agile, although dressed as farmers, did not look like they had been working in the fields for a long time.

A young man in their lead stepped out of the ranks, and then respectfully bowed to Shimazu Tadashi in the crowd, and then he spoke in the Kyushu dialect with great fluency.

"Zhou Pu, the envoy of the Lower Han Kingdom, meet the lord of the Shimazu domain!"

That's right, he is Zhou Pu, an official of the Foreign Affairs Department who was sent to Japan to undertake the task of communicating with local wealthy families. When he was in the Han Dynasty, he put his key work goal on the Shimazu family of the Satsuma Domain, and after coming to Japan, after a period of observation, he finally made up his mind, and then contacted the Shimazu family in some ways, and then asked the Shimazu Domain, the lord of the Shimazu Domain, Shimazu Tadashi.

Although the shogunate recognized the rule of the Shimazu family over the Satsuma Domain, because the Shimazu family had repeatedly opposed the Tokugawa family before, they had been monitoring important figures of the Shimazu family such as Shimazu Tadashi, so in order to paralyze the shogunate, Shimazu Tadashi went out hunting under the pretense of hunting, and led a group of henchmen out of the main city of the Satsuma Domain, Tsurumaru Castle (Kagoshima Castle), and came to the foot of Koriyama.

One can imagine how nervous they should be.

When he shouted these words, the other people on the other side were even more disdainful, and some of them had disappeared from the original luck mentality, knowing that they were now involved in a terrible conspiracy.

Unlike the nervous retainers next to him, Shimazu was much calmer, and he waved his hand to a young retainer next to him.

"Shigekata, you go over and take a look."

"Yes!" The young retainer immediately received the order, then dismounted and walked over to Zhou Pu and them. He had a knife pinned to his waist, and he was swift and agile with a powerful gait, and seemed to be very proficient with weapons.

His name is Togo Shigekata, a member of the Shimazu retainer Togo family, his father Togo Shigeki was a famous swordsman in the Warring States period, the founder of the showman, and at a young age he took refuge in the Shimazu family and became a retainer of the Shimazu family, after two generations of service, Togo Shigemata has become a retainer who is very trusted by the feudal lord Shimazu Tadashi.

His swordsmanship inherited his father's teachings, and after years of hard practice, he became very good, and he can be said to be one of the best among the Shimazu retainers, so he has always been taken by Shimazu Tadashi as a guard.

The young man walked to the side of this group of uninvited guests with a serious expression, and then began to search his body, Zhou Pu raised his hands, and then motioned to the people around him to let him search his body as well.

After searching his body, Zhou Pu handed a letter in his pocket to Dongxiang Shigekata.

Soon, Togo Shigemata took the letter, walked back to Shimazu Tadatsune, and respectfully presented it to him.

After Shimazu Tadashi got the letter, he didn't read the content of the letter, because for the sake of secrecy, the letter was written casually, and the content didn't matter at all, he looked at the seal of the last payment.

He was relieved when he was sure that the seal was exactly the pattern and lettering he had agreed with someone before.

He waved his hand again, and immediately a retainer led a horse and walked in front of Zhou Pu again.

"Lord Zhou, please take a step and come with us. The lord of the feudal lord wants to find a secluded place to talk to you. The retainer made a gesture to Zhou Pu and spoke to him in very fluent Chinese.

The Shimazu family has always been served by Ming people, so there is no shortage of retainers who are good at Chinese. The more representative is Jiangxia Youxian's family. Jiangxia Youxian, formerly known as Huang Youxian, came to Japan in order to avoid disaster during the Wanli period of the former Ming Dynasty, and became a retainer of the Shimazu family.

When Toyotomi Hideyoshi invaded Goryeo and fought with the Ming Dynasty, he also met Shen Weijing, the Ming envoy to Japan, and was in charge of translation.

After his death, his son Jiangxia continued to serve as a retainer of the Shimazu family, and after years of immersion, he was no different from the Japanese, but he was only proficient in Chinese.

The retainer who was proficient in Chinese brought over by Shimazu Tadashi today was Jiang Xia Mingxian, the son of Jiang Xia Erxian. His clothes and hairstyle were no different from those of other retainers, and there was no trace of Han Chinese in appearance.

Like the Jiangxia family, the world has been very chaotic in the last years of the Ming Dynasty, and even a few years ago, there was a major event of the artifact Yi Ding, so over the years, there have been Ming people who have traveled east to Japan to avoid trouble, not only landlords and businessmen, but even officials and scholars of the former Ming Dynasty.

One of the most famous people is Zhu Zhiyu, he is from a family of eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty, very knowledgeable, after the destruction of the Ming Dynasty, because he swore not to be a subject of the Han Dynasty, so he crossed the sea and came to settle in Nagasaki. Because of his high level of learning, he was also respected by local Japanese scholars, and he often lectured there.

Of course, Zhou Pu didn't know the mystery, so he was slightly surprised, but when he thought of the Shimazu family having been in Kyushu for so many years, although it was now repeatedly suppressed, the inner background should still be not small, and it was not surprising that there were such a retainer who was proficient in Chinese.

He did not object to Shimazu's caution, nor was he afraid. Since the day he came to Kyushu, he has put life and death on the line. This is the fundamental place of the Shimazu family, and if the other party wants to be unfavorable to him, what can he do even if he has those guards around?

"Okay." He answered directly, then simply rolled over his horse, and then he turned back and ordered the people he had brought, "Wait here now, don't run anywhere!" ”

Then he didn't say much, and rode directly to the front of the Shimazu retainers, directly facing Shimazu Tadashi.

Shimazu Tadashi didn't speak, just looked at Zhou Pu quietly, as if he was estimating his ability, and Zhou Pu didn't show weakness anymore, and rode proudly on the horse to look at him. The old man with white hair had a deep and dark gaze, while the tall and handsome young man had a high and exciting gaze, and for a while it was on par.

After a while, Shimazu Tadashi nodded imperceptibly, and then suddenly turned the horse's head and trotted towards the mountain road behind, Zhou Pu, who got the hint, immediately followed with a horse, and the other retainers originally planned to follow as well, but under Shimazu Tadashi's gesture, only Dongxiang Shigefang and Jiang Xia Mingxian followed, and everyone else had to stay in place.

Shimazu Tadashi still didn't speak, just galloped forward, Zhou Pu didn't know what he was thinking, he could only keep riding behind him, and they soon ran into the foothills, the grass and trees became more and more lush, and the road became narrower and narrower.

Finally, in the shade of a large tree, Shimazu Tadashi stopped. Soon Zhou Pu also caught up and reined in the horse's head.

"You're very bold and you've always been calm." Shimazu Tadashi turned his head to look at Zhou Pu. "Your Majesty the Emperor didn't pick the wrong person."

"Thank you for the compliment." Zhou Pu smiled slightly. "I'm just a nobody in the Han court, not someone specially selected by His Majesty, and there are many people in the court who are more powerful than me."

"There are a lot of talents in Dahan, and there are a lot of people in Japan." Shimazu Tadashi was not touched by Zhou Pu's words, "The Han Emperor wants to go on an expedition to Japan, but it is not so easy. ”

When he heard the news that the Great Han was planning to attack Japan, he was almost incredulous. For thousands of years, although the Central Plains people fought with Japan in Goryeo several times, but the Central Plains Emperor never launched a conquest against Japan, only the Mongols tried when they occupied the Central Plains, although he knew that the Han Emperor was ambitious, but he did not expect that he actually hit the idea on the head of Japan.

"It's man-made, now the officers and men of our Han Navy have been fighting in various places for many years, and they have never encountered an opponent, so a division of a hundred battles must be much stronger than the shogunate army." In order to show his confidence, Zhou Pu replied very firmly, "As long as the Han army sets foot in Japan, it will be able to defeat the shogunate army, and then the Shimazu family will no longer have to be suppressed by the shogunate!" ”

"At that time, the Mongols also went on expeditions everywhere, destroyed countless countries, and conquered a territory that was even more extensive than today's Han Dynasty, but they still did not defeat the Japanese shogunate." Although Zhou Pu said impassionedly, the old man was still very calm, "They came twice, but both times they were defeated in Kyushu, and the army was completely annihilated. ”

Zhou Pu knew why this old man had such a cold attitude, because he hadn't decided whether to suppress the treasure or not.

Rebellion is a high-risk business, and now the shogunate is extremely powerful in Japan, and it is not something that the Shimazu family alone can contend with, if he rashly participates, if he fails, not only will his life not be saved, but the territory and life of the Shimazu family will be in jeopardy.

He needed to confirm Dahan's determination and believe that Dahan would definitely be able to win against the shogunate—at least to drive it out of Kyushu—before making a bet.