The next day, Zhou Pu was escorted by Shimazu Yoshihiro's guards and set off for Nagasaki Castle.

By the time he returned to the Merchant House, it was already the next morning, and he had carefully returned to the Merchant House through the secret door in the back, bypassing the spy of the shogunate.

"Your Excellency is finally back!" As soon as he came back, Liu Jing immediately found him, "My lord, I've been waiting for the next few days!" ”

"What's wrong?" Zhou Pu hurriedly asked, "Did something happen again?" ”

"It's not that anything major has happened, the merchant hall has been calm these days, and even the surveillance and guards around the merchant hall have been withdrawn a lot, I'm afraid they want to deliberately show favor to us." Liu Jing replied in a low voice, "But...... Just yesterday, the shogunate's senior lieutenant called me over again, saying that he was attending a reception banquet for the new Nagasaki priest......"

"A new Nagasaki pursued? Who? Zhou Pu asked casually.

"It seems to be called Zeng I Koyou, the banner book of the shogun's cronies." Liu Jing hurriedly replied.

Before Takenaka Shigeyoshi, Nagasaki was held by the small lords directly under the shogunate of the Banner family, but Takenaka Shigeyoshi was quite liked by the previous shogun Hidetada, so he became the first person to enter Nagasaki as a daimyo, and after he caused these incidents, the shogun Tokugawa Hidetada also learned from the pain and decided to restore the old system of Ieyasuko, so that Akihara was in charge of Nagasaki's affairs.

The Soga clan used to be a shogunate of the Ashikaga clan of the Muromachi shogunate, and they assisted for generations, but in the era of the Tokugawa shogunate, they turned to Edo and were given 5,000 koku of Ieroku, one of the high-ranking banners of the shogunate, and the sending of Soga Koyu also reflected the shogun's determination to sweep away his father's residual influence and control the whole of Japan in his hands.

But what Liu Jing wanted to say was not just this one thing, "It doesn't matter if this Nagasaki commissioner is in charge, anyway, we don't have to deal with them for a long time, but at the banquet, the new commissioner conveyed a request from the shogunate to me......"

"What requirements?"

"It is said that in order to ease the current relations between the two countries, the shogun wants to summon me to Edo, entertain our envoy of the Han Dynasty, and accompany him to Beijing next year, so as to demonstrate the close friendship between the two countries......," Liu Jing replied with a calm face. They wanted me to get ready right away, and they would send me to Edo in the near future to see Tokugawa Iemitsu. ”

It's no wonder that he is so uncomfortable, the Han is about to raise a large army, if he is sent to Edo, will he not become the target of the Japanese shogunate's anger after the war? At that time, even if the great man wins, I am afraid that he will die without a place to be buried.

"Lord Zhou...... What do you think? After finishing speaking, he looked at Zhou Pu with hope.

He was stunned to find that Zhou Pu did not look anxious, but laughed happily.

"Fortunately, I said that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was moved here, otherwise the adults would be in danger!"

"What do you mean, sir?" Liu Jing was taken aback, "Do you think my lords should follow their people to Edo?" ”

"Of course I didn't mean that, Lord Liu...... I'm glad you don't have to go to Edo. Zhou Pu replied with a smile, "Our dynasty is about to march, now we don't want to be false to the shogunate." ”

Then, he told him all the results of his trip to Goryeo

"Really? That's great! The ease of escaping death made Liu Jing breathe a sigh of relief, "Then how do you plan to deal with the current situation?" The shogunate is expected to send someone to summon me soon. ”

"In that case, let's just run away now." Zhou Pu immediately made a decision, "You take an inventory of the things in our merchant hall as soon as possible, take away everything that must be taken away, and gather all the things that can't be taken away, you can find an excuse in the past two days, delay the time, and then burn the merchant hall and the things that can't be taken away a few days later." ”

"Are they all burned?" Liu Jing was a little surprised.

"Yes, burn them all, you can't leave anything behind. There are too many secrets hidden in the merchant house, and some things are inconvenient for people to seize, otherwise even if we occupy Kyushu next, it will damage our reputation...... It's better to burn it down," Zhou Pu nodded and confirmed, "Lord Liu doesn't have to be sad, what's the point of a mere commercial hall?" After the war, the whole of Nagasaki Castle will be ours, and even if the merchant house is rebuilt, it will only be a small effort, and it will be better than it is now. ”

Liu Jing thought about it for a while, so he finally agreed. "That's good lord, I'll prepare it now, and I won't leave any of the account books and documents that should be sorted out. Wait until after the war, I ...... I'm going to take all the shogunate's offices in Nagasaki and use them as a trading house! ”

"That's a good idea, let's do it when the time comes!" Zhou Pu laughed.

After making up his mind, Liu Jing also came to his senses, and immediately secretly led people to start cleaning up the documents in the merchant hall.

Because he had been in Nagasaki for many years, and had been in charge of trade between the two countries, he had accumulated a lot of documents and account books in the merchant hall, and after a few days of sorting out, Liu Jing carefully selected some important documents, and then carefully collected them into a few baggage.

In the past few days, the shogunate has also sent people over several times to ask Liu Jing to go to Edo as soon as possible, and Liu Jing has shirked the affairs after arranging his departure, relying on this reason, these actions in the merchant hall have not aroused too much suspicion.

However, the increasingly heavy atmosphere between the two countries inevitably sent a chill to the shogunate officials in Nagasaki. Although Naito Tadashige reprimanded the Han officials several times, the trade volume still did not rise, and the Han officials said that the ban was now lifted in the country, but the shogunate officials in Nagasaki still did not see much improvement.

This grim state of affairs certainly worried the newly arrived Nagasaki Governor Koyo Soga, who had been full of ambition since he was given this appointment, and wanted to make a great career here and gain the appreciation of the shoguns and the old lieutenants, but when he arrived, he found that the situation was much more serious than he had imagined.

Under Naito Tadashige's deliberate clean-up, the remnants of Shigeyoshi Takenaka have been almost expelled, and the rest have long been silent, and there will not be many constraints, and the account books and other documents have been sorted out, and they can be slowly accepted now, except for the trade problem, which has not been solved at all, and has been declining at a worrying rate.

And, he discovers that an even more terrifying prospect awaits him. In the evening of that day, he came to the place where the old man lived.

Under the leadership of the attendants, he came to the tall building and met the old and middle-aged adults.

Although Naito had already handed over all the affairs of Nagasaki to him these days, he still came to meet them from time to time, whether out of practical needs or out of consideration to please them.

Today, as usual, Naito Tadashige was reading letters and reports from Edo and other places in the library of the tall building, and I Koyu waited patiently for a while before being called into the room by Naito Tadashige.

"Zeng, I've been dealing with Nagasaki's affairs lately, right?" After he sat down on his knees respectfully, Naito asked casually.

"Yes, my lord, thanks to the blessing of your patience before, I have accepted the affairs of Nagasaki very smoothly, and now I have generally mastered the people in the official office. It's just ......" Zeng Guyou's face was a little worried, "There are some things that can't be worried......"

"Worried about what?" Naito asked directly.

"It's still the problem of the Han Dynasty, and now the trade problems between the two countries are still ongoing, and there is still no sign of recovery, and the merchant ships of the Han Dynasty are not coming these days...... In addition, Dutch merchant ships continued to be harassed and obstructed. "I Guyou was full of solemnity, "A Dutch merchant ship came today, and they said that it had been chased by pirates for a long time, and it almost couldn't come to Nagasaki. ”

“…… It seems that Dahan still doesn't plan to change his ways. Naito Chushige frowned.

He has also been worried about this, and has summoned the envoys of the Great Han several times, but now it seems that the effect is still not enough, and the Great Han has no tendency to change his mind at least for now. Even about his visit to Dahan, there is still no news in Dahan now.

Although he was anxious, he also urged the envoy Liu Jing several times, but there was no progress, and he also knew that it was useless to just urge an envoy, so he had to hold back and continue to wait.

"My lord, it's not okay to go on like this! Nagasaki's revenue was vital to the shogunate, and if the dispute between the two countries continued, we would ...... We cannot afford to do so. What's more, what's even more terrifying is that Dahan may not be satisfied with this...... The Dutch who came today, they said that the number of warships of the Han in our open sea continued unabated, and the number of troops seemed to have increased. There are signs that make people's hearts palpitate, my lord! Zeng I Guyou suddenly sighed, "Now this atmosphere of mountain rain is really uncomfortable, I ...... I'm afraid the worst will happen. ”

"What's the use of panicking, what's the use of panicking!" Naito Chung frowned and scolded Zeng I Guyou, "Don't say this kind of thing verbally now, just understand it in your heart." To shout loudly now is to disturb people's hearts in vain. ”

Although he scolded the other party, he was actually uneasy in his heart, although he was extremely reluctant to let the two countries go to war, but he could not completely deceive himself, ignoring the more and more obvious signs.

He was so nervous that he was worried about it all day, and even had nightmares a few times, but because of this, he was more and more calm in front of others, as if he didn't care at all.

"My lord, it's just the two of us here, and I won't talk nonsense after I go out...... But in front of you, can I still pretend that I don't know anything, and go on in a state of confusion? Zeng I Guyou replied in a low voice, "My lord, if the Great Han really saves a war against our country, the two of us will bear the brunt, and Kyushu will also become a dangerous place, we, as the ministers of the shogunate, must do our best to protect the shogun and the land of Japan, and we must no longer act negligently!" ”

This negligent comment made Naito's face even more ugly, and although it was an unintentional remark, it sounded like he was accusing him.

"It's not like I didn't do anything before." He replied coldly, "Now that the defense of Nagasaki has been reorganized by me, and it has been put on strict guard, there will never be problems easily. ”

"My lord, if the Great Han really raises troops to attack, I'm afraid that the little preparation like this is not enough, and some more measures will have to be strengthened," Zeng Gu You shook his head, "At least we should let the various feudal domains of Kyushu be prepared first, just in case." ”

"This is something that can only be done under the orders of the general, how can we move lightly?" Naito Tadashige asked rhetorically, "Besides, how many of the Kyushu feudal clans would sincerely support the shogunate?" Let them prepare, if the big Han didn't come over, wouldn't our hasty action sow the seeds of turmoil in Kyushu? Even if there is no turmoil in Kyushu...... I'm afraid that the general's accountability will not be able to withstand it. ”

"Your Excellency...... Now that the situation is urgent, there is no need to care so much at this time! "Zeng I Guyou was a little anxious, "When the general sent me over, he had already been given the task of guarding against the Han, even if the major names of Kyushu were mobilized, it was considered an act under the order of the general, and even if he was held accountable afterwards, he would not be punished too much...... But if the Han really goes to war, then if we don't do anything, this will be a catastrophe! ”

Under his persuasion, Naito thought for a moment and finally made a final decision - for him, there were now at least two people to take responsibility.

"Well, you have a point, we should do something to prevent it...... I'll write to the general to tell you the details, and you can do your best. ”

"Thank you, sir!" Zeng I Guyou finally breathed a sigh of relief, "Your Excellency is loyal to the country, and the General will definitely understand your hard work!" ”

"But...... We can't mobilize all the feudal domains in Kyushu," however, Naito Tadashige immediately expressed his opinion, "There are too many dissenting feudal lords in Kyushu, and even if they are allowed to prepare them, they may not help us much, so it is better to let the feudal lords who are close to the shogunate prepare first, and first inform the feudal lords of the Fukuoka Domain, Iwakuhara Domain, Usukiki Domain, and Kurume Domain, and he should be able to help us." ”

Fukuoka Domain is a large domain in Kyushu Island, with a territory of as many as 430,000 stones, the lord of the domain is the Kuroda family, a descendant of the Warring States Daimyo Kuroda Nagamasa, Kuroda Nagamasa has great military achievements, and the team is very shrewd, after the death of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, he took refuge in Tokugawa Ieyasu, and played an important role as a general of the Eastern Army in the Battle of Sekigahara, and made great achievements, so after the war, Tokugawa Ieyasu thanked him and sealed him to Fukuoka in Kyushu, and gave him a great territory, It also made him and his descendants a close confidant of the shogunate in Kyushu and even western Japan.

Kuroda Nagamasa has passed away, and the current reigning lord of the domain is Kuroda Tadashiyuki, who has a bad reputation and is poor in governing the domain, so Naito Tadashige has always disliked him.

The Iwahara Domain is also a large feudal domain in Kyushu Island, the territory is Tsushima, Tashiro, Hamasaki and other places, the stone height is about 300,000 stones, the Iwakuhara Domain is owned by the clan, the clan is a traditional wealthy family in Kyushu, the ancestor Mori Province served as the guardian of Tsushima in the Muromachi Shogunate period, and many years later, it became a major force in the Warring States Period.

After the beginning of the Warring States period, in the midst of the chaos in the world, they wanted to occupy the entire island of Kyushu for many years, and fought fierce battles with the daimyo families such as Mori, Shimazu, and Otomo many times.

After Hideyoshi's death, the clan first opposed the Tokugawa clan and sent troops to join the Western Army in the Battle of Sekigahara, but soon defected to the Tokugawa clan and was reappointed by the Tokugawa clan as the lord of the Itakuhara Domain, ruling the current territory. Because of these historical reasons, they were very close to the Tokugawa shogunate and became a fulcrum of the shogunate's power in Kyushu. Their current feudal lord is Zong Yicheng.

The Usuki Domain was established by the Tokugawa Shogunate when it rewarded meritorious service after the opening, and the feudal lord was the Inaba family, who belonged to the Western Army during the Battle of Sekigahara but immediately defected to the Eastern Army, and they were rewarded after the war, and they were related to the Kasuga Bureau, the nurse of the shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu, so they were also taken care of by the shogunate. The domain is not large, the stone is about 50,000 koku, and the current lord of the domain is called Inaba Sadatsu.

The Kurume Domain was also established by the Tokugawa Shogunate when it rewarded meritorious heroes after the opening, and the lord of the domain was the Arima family, who also followed the Tokugawa family in the past, and made great achievements when Tokugawa Iemitsu attacked Osaka, and was awarded the title here after the war, and the number of Ishitaka was increased to 210,000, and it was also a great feudal domain in Kyushu.

These four feudal domains were the most trusted and favored by the shogunate among the Kyushu feudal domains, and were also regarded as the fulcrum of the shogunate's control over Kyushu.

As for the other domains, such as the Shimazu family of the Satsuma Domain, the Tachibana family of the Yanagi Domain, and the Mori family of the Saeki Domain (this Mori family is not directly related to the Mori family of the Choshu Domain, and the ancestor's surname was Mori, because he made war exploits for the Mori family during the Warring States Period, so he was given the surname Mori by the Mori Terumi Domain. These feudal domains are not trustworthy, and if they really want to fight, it is already a good thing not to cause chaos, so why let them prepare the army and add trouble to themselves.

"Yes, sir!" Of course, I Guyou also understood the instigation, and he immediately bowed his head and responded, "I will immediately send someone to inform the feudal lords of these feudal domains. I also ask you to gather a few feudal lords and ask them to obey the orders of the shogunate. ”

"You are Nagasaki, and of course you will decide these things." Naito waved his hand, "I don't need to intervene in it, just support you in the back, otherwise, you will be hindered." ”