He held the letter in one hand and muttered, "To Ye Shangshu: I have brought people into contact with several gun merchants...... They are now traveling in the East China Sea, not far from here, and will arrive in about tomorrow. At the lower self-esteem, please go ashore to talk about things, and don't miss the deadline......"

"Master, but what's the matter?" The servant asked.

"Extremely important," Ye Yongjia folded the letter and said, "It seems that I still have to go out, and I shouldn't be able to come back tonight." Please go to the Ministry of War to inform Cai Shilang and let him perform official duties on my behalf. With that, he crumpled the letter into a ball, tucked it into his cuffs, and hurried away.

"Know......" Before the servant's words could be spoken, his figure could not be found.

In the port of Beitang, there was a lot of waves on the sea surface, which had been calm, and the sudden water crashed against the stone road on the shore, completely soaking the ground.

The fishermen who were sitting around stretched out their necks to look, only to see a large ship with flags coming down the waves, slowly approaching the wharf, and from the inside a gangplank was released, and out of it came several red-bearded Western merchants, followed by a team of guards armed with firearms.

Although the fishermen were accustomed to seeing merchants from other places, they had never seen such a formation, and they all picked up their belongings in horror and scattered in the distance.

"It's Wu Sijing of the church!"

A certain fisherman shouted in a low voice, and everyone suddenly stopped, only to see Wu Sijing wearing Confucian clothes, striding forward, and rushing from opposite them.

"Everyone's hard work!" With a smiling face, Wu Sijing went up and shook the hands of the leaders.

A few bold fishermen hid behind and peeked out, seeing that the group of merchants were eagerly responding, and seemed to have chatted with Wu Sijing for a while, but they couldn't understand what they were saying.

"Lord Ye Yongjia of the household department is sitting in the church, waiting for you for a long time. His attitude is very positive, if you have any questions, please feel free to ask. Wu Sijing said.

"Is that Ye Yongjia easy to talk to?" The merchants looked at each other.

"Well, don't worry. He was a friend of Jian Wensheng and had a lot of respect for me. As long as I persuade a few words, I will be able to move. Please. Then he straightened his clothes, and walked in the forefront, leading the way for the merchants; And the group of firecrackers happened to find the fishermen, and with a single glance at the muzzle of their guns, they were so frightened that they ran away.

Hearing the sound of the wooden door, Ye Yongjia hurriedly stood up and saw that Wu Sijing had already entered the house with four or five people.

He made a 'please' gesture after passing in turn, and all the merchants understood, and each sat down on the circle chair beside him.

"Ye has met with so many guests today, and Bishop Lao Wu has acted as an interpreter." Ye Yongjia turned his head to Wu Sijing and said.

Wu Sijing poured tea and said with a smile: "You are wrong! These merchants have traveled to many places, all of them are proficient in Chinese, where is there a place for me to speak? Just say it. ”

Ye Yongjia looked at the four merchants in astonishment, and someone bowed and replied, "Yes." ”

He took a sip of tea and immediately smiled: "Then it's convenient for everyone." I would like to say here that after returning to Beijing the next time, the news was conveyed to the Zhongshu Province, but I have not yet received a reply from the imperial court. Therefore, this meeting is just to hear your opinions and prepare for future contacts. ”

Wu Sijing's face changed suddenly, and his left hand holding the purple clay pot hung in the air for a long time, before he smiled: "Ye Shangshu, although there is no response from the imperial court, in order to deal with the imminent war, sooner or later you have to agree." If you do this for the imperial court, you will be praised for your foresight when the time comes. Otherwise, it seems that if it is delayed again and again, the border will be in danger. ”

A slightly fat businessman also advised: "Ye Shangshu is a member of the imperial court, the new policy is already entrusted to you, you want to make meritorious contributions to the world, who dares to stop you?" ”

Ye Yongjia punished the former's mistakes, so he was determined to no longer be bewitched by Wu Sijing, and replied firmly: "I don't have an edict, I don't dare to be arbitrary!" The results of the negotiation will be presented to the imperial court, and it will not prevent you from discussing things! ”

A bearded businessman was annoyed, his face flushed, and he cursed through gritted teeth in Western.

Wu Sijing was afraid that he would stir up a cold situation, so he hurriedly laughed and said: "Lord Ye is careful, he is careful. However, the guests did not know about this before, and their hearts were not prepared after all; You go to the back room to rest for a while, stay and talk to them for a while, and reconsider. ”

"Okay," Ye Yongjia also saw that they were emotional, "You guys will discuss it yourself." So saying, two little servants came, and helped him to the back room of the side room.

The bearded man immediately complained: "I did not hesitate to travel far and wide to come here, and you, the bishop, not only do not do your job, but even the merchants want to deceive us!" If that Han man doesn't agree, we won't go back! ”

"Ladies and gentlemen, I was negligent," Wu Sijing was scolded and sweaty, and he lost several times in a row, "But how could I have thought that this Ye Yongjia would change so quickly!" ”

"We don't care, you have to give an explanation!" The beard was still unrelenting, slapping the table and roaring.

"But ......" Wu Sijing wiped the beads of sweat from the bridge of his nose and kept circling around the room, "Let me think, let me think about it......"

"That's it!" He stomped his foot, and his eyes began to flicker, "Since you don't want to show mercy, how about making a ruthless move?" ”

"Speak quickly!" Pointing to his face, he said.

"This Ye Yongjia is now in our hands, he is a civil official, he has not gone through any turbulent waves, but he can make him afraid! Let's do ...... same way" Wu Sijing couldn't help lowering his voice, and said the plan in his chest one by one, and everyone was satisfied, and their faces were shiny.

He hurriedly called a little servant, whispered a few words in his ear, and sent him out.

"Lord Ye!" After everything was dealt with, Wu Sijing clapped his hands and shouted, "The result of our discussion is very good, you can come out." ”

Ye Yongjia walked out of the inner room, and when he saw that everyone was putting on a kind appearance again, he was very happy in his heart, and hugged his fists and said: "Shicai's words are offended, I hope you don't take it to heart." ”

"It's because we're too arrogant," Bearded took the initiative to shake his hand, "I haven't been able to learn anything from Lord Ye." ”

"What a few guests mean, is to invite Lord Ye to the ship to discuss, people come and go here, after all, it is not a place to discuss. Sorry for your help. Wu Sijing stretched out his hand and gently pushed him, smiling all over his face, and the guests tried their best to persuade him.

Ye Yongjia frowned slightly, realizing the murderous intent in this laughter, but he pondered for a moment, and then thought: "Such people peep into the benefits of the Heavenly Empire, and they dare not harm people's hearts." Changed to this face, probably to welcome me. He no longer hesitated, and replied categorically: "I'll go with you!" ”