Beat and beat, scolded and scolded, Sato right guard ordered the servants to invite Kobayashi Shoji and others into the Japanese room to serve tea, he himself went to the back house to change into a loose kimono, and walked over with clogs.

To eliminate the bad effects of the "bombardment of Nagasaki" and restore calm in the market, we have to rely on the local forces in front of us, and there is no other way.

"3,000 women from good families, how is this possible?" Kobayashi Shoji screamed in surprise. The others also whispered ugly looks, obviously shocked by the news.

There are more than 60,000 people in the entire urban area of Nagasaki, including nearly 10,000 Chinese merchants from the Qing Dynasty, nearly 1,000 foreigners from all over the world, and the total population is about 250,000 or 60,000 if you add the surrounding villages and other small towns around Nagasaki.

The number of young and unmarried women to be married is probably not enough for three thousand.

"Shut up, idiot, it's not all your fault." Sato's lips trembled with anger, and he pointed in the direction of the dock and said; "You have all seen the scene of that day with your own eyes, just a powerful Qinglong battleship buried the future of the Fusang Navy, now that the soldiers are pressing, and the giant ships are gathered, how can they compete with it?"

Your Excellency the Commander has made it clear;

He's doing his best to restrain his men from looting, and you know that Nagasaki is full of old wooden houses, and if a fire breaks out, the whole city will be destroyed, is that what you want to see?

Don't forget, Nagasaki is the base camp of your local vassals, and at this critical moment, are you still reluctant to give up some women? ”

These words really hit the weakness of Kobayashi Shoji and the others, and they all lay on the ground and pleaded; "Lord Sato, please be sure to help, I am grateful."

"I have done my best, and I have repeatedly pleaded in front of the commander, and the original request was 5,000 people, but in the end I relented and settled on 3,000 women from good families, but among them, there must be 100 beauties, which are dedicated to the commander, and I have to make it up no matter what." Sato Right Guard was not at ease when he said this, and his eyes swept over everyone and admonished; "I can warn you, don't rub sand in your eyes, Commander, don't try to get some indiscriminate stuff into it, and when the time comes, it will not be beautiful to cause the wrath of thunder, so keep it in mind!"

"100 beauties?"

Kobayashi Shoji and the others looked at each other, and the women from good families said that they really couldn't spend money to buy some from the surrounding poor fishing villages, or coax them in the name of part-time jobs, how could they make up enough numbers.

But these 100 beauties are difficult, beauties are not cabbage, and they are also rare on the impoverished island of Fuso.

Raising beauties is conditional, good mountains and rivers are naturally indispensable, and beauties are also required to be dignified and beautiful, have a good posture, and have white and tender skin that can pinch out water, and there are a lot of various requirements.

For example, a woman who meets the requirements in all aspects, but a mouth full of buckteeth, and this one alone is brushed, and she can never be called a beauty.

For example, another woman meets the requirements in all aspects, has a dignified appearance and a good posture, but because she works in the fields or fishes on the beach all the year round, her skin is dark and shiny, and she cannot be called a beauty in the current aesthetics.

Influenced by Chinese Confucianism, the beauties considered by the Fusang people are also dignified and beautiful, fair-skinned, weak and boneless, and the Qianqian jade fingers are not touched by spring water.

"How could it not be? You, you, you...... And you Kobayashi Shoji, are there still few school-age ladies or beautiful maids in the family, why can't you make up 100 beauties? Sato's right guard roared loudly, pointed at the people in front of him one by one with his fingers, and then accused Kobayashi Shoji with a loud voice;

"It's time to burn your eyebrows, and you dare to hide your secrets?

I remember that your daughter is fifteen years old, and she is still in the boudoir, and she is outstanding, enchanting and lovely, so even if she is alone, the Xiaolin family has a large population, and she has to make up 10 beauties anyway.

And your Yasuda family, you have to make up 5 beauties to come out.

The Sasaki family, the Kimura family, and the Shimazu family each have to produce 4 beauties, and the rest of you go to the high-ranking officials and wealthy merchants in Nagasaki Prefecture to apportion, rob, and coax, I don't care what means you use, in short, you have to get together 100 beauties to come out on a business anyway, otherwise I can't bear the anger of the commander, and the whole of Nagasaki will be buried for it.

Now get out of here for me, and get the people together for me in three days.

I will personally look at these 100 beauties, and if I dare to deal with errands, I will show the commander, and punish them severely as the main messenger behind the scenes, and all the family wealth will be confiscated and all the houses will be beheaded.

I don't want to say that a second time, now get out of here, a bunch of idiots who can't see the situation clearly. ”

Kobayashi Shoji and the others were driven out in embarrassment, and the courtyard door behind them "clanged" shut, leaving them looking at each other, like lost dogs.

Everyone's face here is not good-looking, Yasuda Eleven's face wrinkled into bitter melon, and he sighed; "It's over, my Yasuda family can't get 5 beauties out anyway, how can this be good?"

"Yasuda-kun, I remember that the daughter-in-law of your Yasuda family married last year was very beautiful, why don't you sacrifice it to solve your urgent needs?"

"You...... Shameless. ”

"It's better to be shameless than to be full of people, those Australians are not easy to talk to, they shout and kill at every turn, and even dare to send warships to bomb Tokyo, they don't take His Majesty the Emperor in their eyes, so what else can't be done? Anyway, my Shimazu family is going to make up 4 beauties anyway, as long as I can survive this catastrophe, there will be anything in the future. ”

"This is reasonable, then make up for it!"

"Alas, sacrificing for the sake of the family is a woman's fate."

"Kobayashi-kun, your daughter ......"

Kobayashi Shoji's face at this time seemed to be constipated, and he roared with black lines; "What can I do? For the survival of the family, Michiko can only be sacrificed, and Lord Sato can't bear the anger of the commander, do you think you can do it? ”

After saying that, he angrily brushed his sleeves away.

The others touched their noses, and in the blink of an eye, they scattered in all directions, and each went back to think about it.

Either way, the beauties have to come together.

Karato Town, Hirado Ward, Nagasaki

Consulate of the Qing Dynasty

A grand diplomatic event was taking place here to welcome the arrival of Rear Admiral Thomas Gresham, commander of the British Far East Fleet, who arrived at the port of Nagasaki with a small fleet of light-duty cruisers and a coal-carrying supply ship led by the second-class ironclad battleship Fury, and took command of the Combined Fleet.

With the arrogance of the Royal Navy of the British Empire, it was impossible to tolerate warships being commanded by outsiders, even if they were colonies of the British Empire.

The consulate was full of guests.

Several high-ranking officials from the Queensland side gathered alone in the flower hall to chat, and politicians headed by Representative Tian Shan, military figures such as Brigadier General Geng Guigui, Brigadier General He Fang, and Colonel Zhao Jiaxiong, were not without ridicule of Major General Thomas Gresham, who had just arrived.

"As soon as this nasty guy arrived in Nagasaki, he couldn't wait to take over the command of the Combined Fleet, and the most ridiculous thing is that he still wants to command my heavy cruiser Aolong, which is really wishful thinking."

He Fang shook his head angrily and amusedly, and played with a delicate jade ornament carved by a famous craftsman of Fuso, which was carved with the family imprint of the Tokugawa shogunate, and was an antiquity that originated in the Warring States period.

"Lord Ho, how did you deal with it?" Tayama asked.

"It's a pity that my ship, the Blue Dragon, was slightly injured in the just-concluded shelling of Nagasaki and needs to be repaired in the factory, so it can't perform its mission for the time being." He Fang spread his hands and showed a helpless look on his face, which attracted a chuckle from everyone.

"Where's the White Tiger?"

"According to the Red Fort's telegram order, the White Tiger is under the jurisdiction of the Far East Fleet, stationed in the port of Okinawa, and now it has nothing to do with the Combined Fleet, after all, we are a fleet belonging to Queensland, and everything is under the orders of the Red Fort, but we are not obliged to fight for the British."

"In this way, Rear Admiral Thomas Gresham can only command a few British warships under his command, but what about the Xuanwu brought by Commander Geng this time?" Tian Shan couldn't hide the smile on his face, and then asked.

"Now it seems that this is indeed the case, and there is no way to do it, as for the latter question, it needs to be answered by Commander Geng, and I can't trespass it." A hint of self-satisfaction appeared at the corner of He Fang's mouth, and it quickly disappeared again.

Geng Guigui replied solemnly; "The reinforcement fleet I led has another mission and has not entered the combined fleet sequence, so it is no longer under consideration."

Everyone looked at each other, and the wishful thinking of Major General Thomas Gresham was definitely going to fail.

The situation is now relatively clear, and after the threat of bombardment of Tokyo, the attitude of the emperor and the cabinet has softened, and the important officials of the Fuso Imperial Court have collectively silenced them, and it is estimated that the formal signing of the armistice agreement is just around the corner.

The weak have no say in the matter, and can only accept the Nagasaki Seventeen Articles in their entirety.

At this time, the British Far East Fleet in Hong Kong sent a small fleet to Nagasaki, on the one hand, to show off its strength, and on the other hand, to go down the mountain to pick peaches, after all, half of the war reparations had to be divided, and it was too ugly to eat badly, and it was necessary to make some efforts.

At present, this is probably the case, the Nagasaki incident occurred and evolved to the point where it is now a pure accident, and Fuso is not a key area for the future development of the Red Fort.

As long as the two parties sign a peace agreement, all the preferential conditions that can be obtained have been obtained, why do you come if you don't go to the love stack?

Is it possible to change the long-term development strategy and change the focus of development to the Far East?

Not to mention that the contradictions here are extremely acute and complex, the international environment is harsh, and it is a key area of concern for the colonial powers such as Britain, France, Russia, and Germany, and the Korean issue alone involves the Qing Dynasty, Britain, Russia, Fuso, the United States, France, and other extraterritorial countries, and the positions of each country are far apart, and it is by no means a major international issue that can be solved by one or two wars.

It's a good idea to get out as soon as possible.

Although the navy has been destroyed, the army is still strong, coupled with the country's large population and complex domestic contradictions, it is an out-and-out big quagmire, and it is difficult to get out once you fall into it.

The longer Tayama stays here, the more deeply he feels about it.

Looking at the bombardment of Nagasaki, dozens of wandering samurai committed suicide by disembowelment on the street in despair, this ghost place is really difficult to make, and it is too special and evil.

And Fusang is really poor, eating a rice dumpling can be called happiness, sending hundreds of thousands of women to Nanyang to make money, how much oil and water can be scraped?

The interests of the British as the world hegemon were extremely wide, from Kamchatka to Korea, from Fuso to Manchu, from Australia to Malacca.

Queensland has no interest in following in the footsteps of the British, and it will not end well if it is led astray.

Juwen Island, which was close to Fuso, was occupied by the British in order to prevent the influence of Tsarist Russia from moving south, and the commander of the British Far East Fleet, Rear Admiral Thomas Gresham, took control of the Combined Fleet.

It's not a game with Tsarist Russia, and the small body of Queensland can't hold it.

With Queensland's current strength, at most, bully the Holland, Portugal's down-and-out soft persimmons, bully the African black uncle, bully the indigenous kingdom, and the more difficult maps are easy to wipe out once they enter.

Vainly trying to confront Tsarist Russia, which has a population of hundreds of millions, I really don't know how to write the word "death".

Even if there are British people in front, Queensland does not want to wade into this troubled water, do not underestimate the ability of the British to make wind and rain, it is definitely a super-first-class level.

"Uh...... That being the case, will the fleet return in the near future? ”

"Not for the time being, everything will have to wait until the formal peace treaty is signed, and for the time being, we must maintain a strong military deterrent for Fuso and promote the softening of its position."

"That'...... How to fool the British side? ”

"That's no problem, presumably Rear Admiral Thomas Gresham should be able to see the situation clearly, although our main warships are gathered in Nagasaki, they belong to three different fleets, and they have no subordinate relationship with each other, and they are directly under the orders of the Red Fort, and the British cannot command them."

"Before I came, the British Minister Sir Henry complained about this!" Tayama felt that it was tricky.

He Fang said; Taking the Shangri-La Garrison Division of the General Reserve of the Army as an example, after successive transfers, reorganization, and discharge, the number of combatants has dropped sharply from the peak of 14,000 to less than 4,000 today.

Colonel Zhao Jiaxiong, who was carrying three silver stars on his shoulders, was the commander of the Second Regiment of the Shangri-La Division, and when he saw everyone's eyes, he stood up and saluted and replied; "Commander He, I am here to explain to all my lords.

At present, the establishment of our Shangri-La Division has shrunk sharply, and it can only be said to be a framework division, and the number of soldiers recruited in the new year will not exceed 2,000, and the number of retired soldiers will reach more than 900 in the same year, which can barely maintain the combat effectiveness of a dissatisfied regiment.

I brought 1,700 soldiers with me this time, and almost all the combatants in the division were transferred, leaving only some artillery regiments, baggage regiments, division headquarters guard battalions, and key officers and non-commissioned officers.

Comparatively

The situation of the 1st and 2nd Divisions in Kalimantan is slightly better, the number of troops is roughly between 4000~5000, and there is a shortage of 1~2 infantry regiments, and the total number of our three infantry divisions together does not exceed 12500 people, which is only slightly more than the African Expeditionary Force.

According to the new annual conscription and recruitment plan issued by the Red Fort, in 1886, it was planned to recruit 8,500 new soldiers, more than half of whom belonged to the African Expeditionary Force.

Therefore, the army units are used to the extreme and are unable to support continued expansion. ”

Everyone in the audience looked at each other, but they were silent.

This matter is related to the military and political strategy of the Earl, and the identity of everyone present is sensitive, so it is not appropriate to comment more.