Zhou Pu treated these businessmen with courtesy, of course, not because he liked them, but because they had something worth taking advantage of. In the shogunate system, the www.biquge.info of the shogunate discriminated against these wealthy merchants politically, and engaged in a hierarchical system, but they were very dependent on these merchants economically, and they also controlled a lot of resources.

If it was able to establish good relations with these wealthy merchants, the shogunate would suffer huge losses, and its own side would be able to use the resources of these wealthy merchants to stabilize the order of the occupied areas as soon as possible, and even greatly help to conquer the region.

Mitsui Takamatsu was soon brought to Zhou Pu by the soldiers.

As soon as he saw Zhou Pu, he immediately knelt on the ground, and then respectfully followed him to salute. "In Shimomitsui Takamatsu, see your lord."

When he came, he had already been told that this time it would be the envoy of the Han Dynasty himself who would receive him, and he was also very happy and even a little flattered in addition to the surprise. In the past, although these wealthy merchants were rich, they were also discriminated against within the shogunate, not to mention the shogun, even the important ministers could not easily be seen, and the Han envoys were now in the western country to call for wind and rain, and he was willing to meet in person, which shows that the Han Dynasty did attach much more importance to merchants than the shogunate.

"Look up." Although Zhou Pu had a gentle attitude, he didn't say polite words, "What are you coming to see me for?" ”

"I'm here on behalf of a group of wealthy merchants from Sakai City and Osaka." Mitsui Takamatsu raised his head, and then took out a few pages from his arms, "We have always admired the elegance of the Han Dynasty and wanted to develop business with the Han, and now it is a great honor for us to have an adult in Japan." My lord, we have prepared some small gifts for adults, this is the gift list......"

As he spoke, he handed the gift slip forward.

Zhou Pu didn't politely or pretend to excuse himself, but directly took the gift list, and then glanced at it cursoryly.

The gifts are rich and relatively valuable, but Zhou Pu is not very tempted, recently he led the army all the way north, and his subordinates don't know how many things they looted and sent them, and his vision has long been different from the past. The key is to look at the wealthy businessmen whose names are written on the gift list, and people send gifts just to save their lives.

"I see." After reading it, Zhou Pu casually threw the gift list on the table next to him. "I am very grateful for your intentions, don't worry, our Han has always been lenient, as long as you are sincere and do not be an enemy of us, then we will definitely not be embarrassed by you."

"Your Excellency...... Those of us who are in business are just busy for small profits, and we have no intention of getting involved in political affairs, and we definitely don't want to be enemies of the big Han......" Mitsui Takamatsu looked more respectful, "It's just that we used to do business, and there were many places where we had to deal with the shogunate, so it was inevitable that there would be a lot of people who would interact with us......"

"It doesn't matter, you were under the shogunate before, and you had to do a lot of things, and it wasn't wrong." Zhou Pu waved his hand generously, "The past is not to blame, this is the purpose I pursue, you look at the daimyo under my command, which one of them did not bow down under the shogunate before?" It is not a sin because of the situation, as long as you abandon the darkness and turn to the light, everything before can be blamed. ”

"Thank you, Lord forgiveness!" Mitsui Takamatsu was overjoyed, and then immediately lowered his head again, "However, I still ask for your understanding, after all, the shogunate still controls the Kinai and regions, so we still have to let them drive for a while......"

"What do you mean?" Zhou Pu didn't quite understand.

"My lord, we have always had business dealings with the shogunate and have taken on a lot of tasks for them to transport merchant goods, but recently, the shogunate has suddenly requisitioned a large number of our vehicles, ships and personnel to transport supplies for them, and now our own business has come to a standstill...... So, my lord, please understand that we have no choice but to do so. ”

Of course, Zhou Pu will not be angry because of this, and now that the shogunate army is gathering to requisition the chariots and ships of these merchants, what can they do? On the contrary, he was more interested in the movements of the shogunate.

"Did they requisition your chariots and ships to transport grain and grass? What is the approximate amount of shipping per day? ”

This is indeed very important information, and if we can figure out the amount of grain transported by the shogunate to the western province and the region through these merchants, we will be able to roughly determine the number of troops that the shogunate has deployed and is preparing to mobilize in the western country, and we can also judge their next movements.

"We don't know much about the people who came from Kanto to transport grain and grass, but there are thousands of stones of grain and grass that pass through our ships every day...... And it has been going on and on. Mitsui Takamatsu immediately returned, "However, there are also many vehicles and ships that have been requisitioned to other places to transport people, food, and supplies to the Kanto, and the number is extremely large. Even many of the goods in our trading house were directly requisitioned by them and sent to the Kanto ......."

After hearing the other party's description, Zhou Pu's heart moved slightly.

In doing so, it was clear that the shogunate was reinforcing the forces of the western country on the one hand, and on the other hand, it was clearing the field between the Kanto and Kansai provinces, and it was already ready to hold on to the Kanto region after the loss of the Kansai.

These people are really bright-minded. He thought to himself.

"You were forced to be helpless by their requisitioning of cars and ships, I can understand this, and I will not blame you for this." He immediately replied, "However, if they still want to requisition your supplies in the future, you must not give them them easily, let alone cooperate with their actions!" ”

"Yes, sir! We will obey your orders! Mitsui Takamatsu immediately agreed.

Ever since the shogunate had made up its mind to clear the wilderness of the western region, they began to move a large number of people and goods around the western province and the region, including craftsmen and goods, and as they carried away large quantities of goods, these merchants in suffered greatly, even the Mitsui family. An important reason why these wealthy businessmen began to contact Dahan so quickly is here.

Even if Zhou Pu didn't say it, these wealthy merchants planned to start being passive about the shogunate's requisition. In addition to the requisition of the shogunate, in addition to directly taking away their assets and materials, the people in charge below also silently extorted their money, and in this short period of time, their families have suffered huge losses, and they can no longer endure the exploitation of the shogunate.

These merchants did not have much of a sense of statehood, and in order to keep their family assets, they preferred to take refuge in the Han as long as the Han could guarantee not to exploit them. From the performance of the Han army, they also judged that they were only targeting the shogunate, and did not intend to be enemies of everyone, and they were so strong that they were about to fight in, so they had the idea of taking refuge in them.

And Zhou Pu's assurance is tantamount to giving them hope.

"In addition to dealing with them passively, you should also be careful to collect their intelligence recently, and find ways to tell us, especially about the troops, deployment, and material transfer, the more detailed the better." Zhou Pu continued to order, "As long as you do this well, we will give you meritorious service, and when we hit, not only will we not interfere with your industry, but we will reward you for meritorious deeds." ”

"Yes, after I go back next time, I will definitely let my family focus on collecting information about the shogunate." Mitsui Takamatsu replied immediately.

"Also, when you go back, find a way to bring us some food, the more the better." Zhou Pu said suddenly.

"My lord? This...... I'm afraid this is a bit ......," Mitsui Takamatsu replied in a nervous manner, "Now that the two armies are at war, and the shogunate is very tight on the vicinity, I'm afraid ...... I'm afraid that even if we want to bring food over, it will not be so easy...... Moreover, most of the food in our hands has been requisitioned by the shogunate, so it is really difficult to meet the needs of your army! ”

"I know it's not easy, but I know even more that it's not a trivial matter like this. You've been in business for so many years, and you've already been intertwined up and down, and you don't know how many eyeliners you've bought inside the shogunate, so it's really not difficult to do this. Zhou Pu interrupted him, "Since you want to surrender, you have to let us see your sincerity, understand?" ”

"My lord......" Mitsui Takamatsu seemed a little hesitant, but still did not agree. Allow us to ...... Let's go back and try it, and if we can do it, we'll do it. ”

Zhou Pu knew the other party's concerns, now that they were under the rule of the shogunate, they were smuggling food and materials to the Han Dynasty, but it was not for fun, once they were discovered, they would cause a big disaster.

"Don't be afraid, we didn't let you send us food through the front lines of the two armies, you can't transport it by land, you can try other methods." Zhou Pu slowed his tone, "Our army has now occupied a lot of seaports nearby, and you can send grain to these seaports. And don't worry, unlike the shogunate, we will not forcibly requisition your supplies, and we will give you the full amount. You can open the price, as long as it is suitable. ”

"Your Excellency, ......?" Mitsui Takamatsu didn't expect Zhou Pu to put forward such generous conditions, and he was a little unbelievable for a while. "Is what the adults said true?"

Zhou Pu did this mainly to win over these wealthy businessmen.

As wealthy businessmen who have been in business for many years, these wealthy businessmen have food in their hands and a lot of resources in their hands, if they can win their support, then Zhou Pu can obtain information about the shogunate through their dense business channels, and the geographical advantage of the shogunate will be wiped out by the anti-customer.

He asked these wealthy merchants to deliver food to him, on the one hand, so that the logistical problems that plagued him could be alleviated, but the more important purpose was to let these wealthy merchants have something to do with him and tie them to his warship.

In order to achieve this, he preferred to pay a high price for the goods transported by these merchants—the money he had to pay was also looted from elsewhere anyway, and it was not painful to spend it at all.

"Of course it's true, when do we big men need to lie to deceive people?" Zhou Pu frowned, "Listen, this time you can bring a batch of deposits back, and then immediately after you go back, you will raise a batch of grain and grass to transport over, no matter what method you use, as long as you do this, we will pay you the bill, and we will also give you credit, and we will give you other rewards at that time." ”

After hearing Zhou Pu's promise, Mitsui Takamatsu was already very excited.

Although the shogunate has always relied on them, it is also very contemptuous, and has been exploiting their assets recently, but the Han values them so much, and decided to buy the grain they shipped over at a high price, no matter what objective reasons there are on both sides, but the Han's approach and the shogunate's approach are superior judgments for them.

Because of the recent turmoil, the Mitsui family's assets and materials have suffered a lot of losses, and even the funds have begun to be stretched, if they can get the capital input from the Dahan's side, then they can get through the difficulties.

"Other rewards...... What are the other rewards? Mitsui Takamatsu asked boldly.

In fact, for them, even the current conditions are tempting enough, but the nature of a businessman is to be long, so when he hears that there are other benefits, then he can't help but want to understand.

"You're really anxious." Zhou Pu laughed, "Okay, then let's make it clear to you now." The shogunate caused such a big trouble, which caused us to fight between our two countries and made the imperial court very angry, so that the trade between the two countries must no longer be dominated by the shogunate. The Imperial Court of our country has decided that in the future, we will only trade with Japanese merchants who have been authorized by us. ”

After a pause, he continued to explain to the other party, "In other words, if you wanted to participate in the trade between the two countries, the shogunate issued you a seal, but now we don't recognize those things, and if you want to participate, you have to ask for a charter issued by our imperial court." Participation is not permitted without a charter. ”

Mitsui Takamatsu quickly understood Zhou Pu's hints.

He undoubtedly made it clear that as long as the Han defeated the shogunate, the control of trade between the two countries would be transferred from the shogunate to the Han court. Among these wealthy merchants in, whoever cooperates with the Han may become their designated merchant and participate in the trade between the two countries.

With such a huge trade between the two countries, coupled with a monopoly position, it is self-evident how much profit the wealthy merchants can make from it.

At this moment, Mitsui Takamatsu only felt that the hot blood in his whole body was surging towards his head, and he was almost unstable on his knees. He was extremely glad that he had the opportunity to get in touch with the Han officials first, and he was glad that he heard the news first.

If he can become a monopoly middleman in the trade between the two countries, the Mitsui family will inevitably rise to a higher level and become the top of the Japanese wealthy businessmen, and his own status in the family will definitely rise.

"My lord is so confident in the next, hurry up and finish in the next!" In the excitement, he suddenly kowtowed to Zhou Pu, and then replied loudly, "My lord, we will raise supplies for you when we go back, and we will never help the shogunate again." Other than that...... For the first batch of materials, we don't want the deposit you give, and we don't even want the payment, so we should let you see our sincerity. ”

"Is that really good?" Zhou Pu asked with a smile.

"We have been repeatedly oppressed by the shogunate, and we are already indignant, and now that the king of the Han Dynasty has come to give us justice, it is too late for us to cheer, how can we dare to ask for it from the Celestial Empire? Please rest assured, we will do our best to bring food and grass to you. After making up his mind, Mitsui Takamatsu no longer hesitated, and directly expressed his determination to the other party, "The adults value us so much, we can't repay our broken bones, even if we risk our lives, we must fulfill the orders of the adults!" ”

In the face of such generous returns and profits, even if you sell the country, there is nothing to worry about. Besides, isn't even the imperial court on the side of the Han Dynasty? In terms of righteousness, at most, it was just a group of rebellious ministers and thieves who betrayed the shogunate.

"It's good that you can have that determination." Zhou Pu smiled slightly, obviously very satisfied with the other party's decision, "As long as you can serve us, we will never treat you badly." ”

"And we will definitely not disappoint the adults." Mitsui Takamatsu pointed out, "If you can say something about it and let us get permission, then we will never forget your kindness in the future!" ”

"I'll talk about it later, so you can go back and prepare quickly." Zhou Pu was noncommittal to his hints, and just waved his hand to signal them to leave here.

After Mitsui Takamatsu left, Zhou Pu looked at his back as he gradually faded away, and the smile on his face gradually faded, but became solemn.

These wealthy businessmen only have their own family business in their hearts, and they only care about selfish interests, how can they have the slightest sense of family and national righteousness? For the sake of the bait they threw out, they did not hesitate to smuggle food to themselves at great risks, and their greed can be seen.

This kind of greed, not to mention the Japanese businessman's family, even the previous Ming Dynasty, didn't there be businessmen who secretly smuggled with Jiannu for profit and helped Jiannu sell stolen goods and sell human beings? Businessmen are oblivious to profit, and this is even more so.

The Han Dynasty has always valued commerce, and heavy commerce can bring the financial abundance of the imperial court and the prosperity of all industries, which is certainly good, but if a group of such unrighteous businessmen really want to dominate the court, it will be a sign of the destruction of the country. The imperial court must take advantage of the fact that the wealthy merchants are not yet big and control these merchants so that they will not endanger the country, otherwise I am afraid that such disasters will return to the side of the Han Dynasty at that time.

With an inexplicable apprehension, he decided to write this suggestion into the recital of the performance and present it to the capital, so that His Majesty could also take some precautions against it. (To be continued.) )