Edo Castle is the starting point of Edo's development, and it was originally built by Ota Michikan. In the 18th year of Tensho (1590 AD), Tokugawa Ieyasu was transferred to Kanto by Toyotomi Hideyoshi and became a daimyo with a territory of 2.5 million stones. At that time, Edo Castle was very dilapidated, with almost no different mansions and farmhouses, and only a few small fishing villages nearby. Tokugawa Ieyasu began work on the construction of Edo. After Tokugawa Ieyasu became shogun in 1603, the shogunate announced to the whole country a grand plan to donate money to build Edo, and the daimyo of various parties also "took the initiative" and "enthusiastically" participated in the great construction of Edo. After the death of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the second shogun, Tokugawa Hidetada, began an urban development plan with a right-hand vortex expansion centered on Edo Castle. The castle area of Edo expands to the southeast of the castle. The feudal lords' residences were built near Edo Castle, and the area separated by a distance was a residential area for industrial and commercial workers.

In other words, Edo's densely populated, industrially and commercially developed areas are relatively close to the sea!

And the cannon that Yu Zhong used to test fire was the side gun of his flagship, or a salvo!

As a result, when Naoko Ii and Yoshiho Yanagisawa rushed out of the main cabin to look into the castle of Edo, they saw only that the southeastern part of Edo was bursting with fire, and the smoke was already rising into the sky, and they also saw that the barrels of dozens of guns were being withdrawn into the ship.

"Your Excellency, how can you do this? ......" Makino Narizhen saw the fire coming out of Edo Castle, and he was immediately furious, and couldn't help but grab back into the cabin and shout at Yu Zhong.

"No way! ......" Yu Zhongchao Makino Chengzhen shrugged his shoulders and sighed: "Time waits for no one!" ”

"Your Excellency, let's start negotiating!" Jing Yi looked at Yu Zhong directly and said in a deep voice. He was one of the main battle factions, and like Sakai Tadashi, he was the kind of person who claimed to be a true samurai. However, he could be sure that he had seen at least fifty pieces of artillery just now, and these cannons could crack mountains and rocks from miles away! Think about it, this is just a warship, or just one side of this flagship, and a single blow can already destroy a street, plus the ensuing fire...... If the nearly fifty warships of the Qing Navy Division all had corresponding artillery, does that mean that Edo will face the bombardment of thousands of guns? …… At this moment, he felt as if his samurai heart, which was supported by a sword, had begun to shatter...... Is the Qing Kingdom so powerful?

Yoshiho Yanagisawa also looked at Yu Zhong. He is a side servant, but he is not a samurai, he is a person who knows how to schem, so he does not have as strong feelings as Ii Naoxing. However, he understood that although the shogunate had sent troops to gather the soldiers and horses of the Imperial Three Clans, even if those people could fly now. Because it has been proven that Yuchu does not need to go ashore to turn Edo into a sea of fire. When the "Edo flower" is in full bloom, the strength of the shogunate will be greatly damaged. At that time, how could the feudal domains be suppressed? In particular, the power of the artillery in Yuchu is far superior to that of the iron cannon (the Japanese name for the musket) is by no means something that can be resisted by martial arts alone, not to mention that the enemy is still at sea, unless Edo is abandoned, otherwise, the army of the shogunate can only be beaten but not able to fight at all, but Edo has been the main city of the shogunate since the time of the "Kami-kun" (Tokugawa Ieyasu), how can you say that you will give up? In that case, where would the millions of nobles, samurai, commoners, merchants, and the most disobedient ronin go? The total population of the shogunate was less than 7 million, and if nearly 20% of the people suddenly rioted, would the shogunate be able to support it? Will those vassal states still stay there honestly? (Fires often broke out in Edo, and people at the time called them "Edo flowers")

"Waiting for your generals to consult with the Emperor anymore?" Yu Zhong asked with a smile to Naoking I.

"Time waits for no one, Your Excellency!" Jing Yi Naoxing closed his eyes and bowed his waist slightly towards Yu Zhong.

"Haha, well said!" Yu Zhong laughed.

"We can agree to your first condition. Hokkaido, the large island that the shogunate called Ezo, is your country's domain from now on, and the shogunate has no doubt about it. The negotiations began on a rectangular table, and Ii Naokei, sitting across from Yu Zhong, spoke first. Now Sakai Tadashi is still trapped in Hokkaido, and the follow-up hundreds of thousands of shogunate troops are also looking at the Tsugaru Strait and sighing, he just doesn't want to agree to this now.

"Good, this one passes! And what about the second one? Yu Zhong gave Jing Yi Naoking another smile and asked.

"Your Excellency, Japan has been paying tribute to your country for a long time, no matter which dynasty is in power, so we think that there is no question of whether the two countries are vassal states at all, so there is no need to talk about this article?" Yoshiho Yanagisawa asked.

"Hehe, that's a nice thing to say, but do you admit that Japan is our vassal state?" Yu Zhong asked rhetorically.

"This ......"

"I can relax some conditions, and I can no longer ask your shogun to send a son to Beijing as a hostage! (The Japanese are too good at learning) It's always okay, right? ......," Yu Zhong said again.

"Your Excellency, Japan is so far away from your country, and the name of this vassal state is a bit out of place, so why do you want to force it?" Makino said.

"There are many vassal states in our country. Korea, the Ryukyus, Annam (Vietnam), Burma, Nam Chang (Laos), and Siam (Thailand), as well as Bhutan, Je Manghung (Sikkim), Nipor, Ladakh (the area centered on Leh in the eastern part of present-day Kashmir), some of which are much farther away than Japan, are still our vassals! ......" Yu Zhong said with a smile.

"Can Japan ......"

"Well, I know you're afraid that we'll swallow you. You can rest assured of this. Isn't North Korea closer to our country than you? The Ryukyus are in a similar situation, but have we annexed them? No! In fact, as a vassal state of our country, although on the surface it is to be called a minister and a tribute, don't you know what kind of article it is? The Ryukyus are an example of this. You all know how much it pays tribute every year, and the gifts it gives back from our court make its neighbors Satsuma clan blush, right? Yu Zhong said again.

"Your Excellency is right. However, we in Japan have never ......."

"Never? Don't you know anything about me? When the Edo shogunate was first established, you asked the Ming Dynasty for a 'kanhe' to rebuild the relationship between the clans and the vassals. I will say in the end, as a vassal state of our country, we pay tribute twice a year, and you must agree to this condition, and you must agree to this condition, and you must agree if you do not agree! …… If you don't agree, the negotiations can be terminated now, and I'll talk to other Japanese daimyos! When the time comes, you will no longer need the seal given by our court, and you will also have this shogunate...... Hum! Yu Zhong stood up. (It is true that there is no information on Japan's tribute to the Qing Dynasty)

"Your Excellency, please do not be angry. …… Please let us discuss and we will definitely give you a satisfactory answer! Yoshiho Yanagisawa pleaded.

“…… A quarter of an hour for you! Yu Zhong put aside such a dry sentence, turned around and walked out of the main cabin with the interpreter, leaving only three shogunate envoys inside...... The three of them were not allowed to get on the boat, and they were still waiting on the beach.

……

"Your Excellency, after we go back, we will ask the general to send an envoy to pay tribute to your country and ask for a seal!" The so-called discussion is just an excuse to save face, and when Yu Zhong came in again, he got such an expected answer.

"Excellent! Now let's talk about the third one! …… Reparations! Yu Zhong softly spat out the last two words.

"Your Excellency, three million taels of gold is to take the last thread of our shogunate to the pawnshop and pawn it, and you can't make it up!" Naokei said next.

"And how much can you give?" Yu Zhong asked.

"Your Excellency, we can only ......" Yoshiho Yanagisawa held out three fingers.

"Three hundred thousand taels?" Yu Zhong asked.

"No, Your Excellency, it's 30,000 taels of gold!" Makino replied with a bow.

"Thirty thousand taels? Are you here to beg for food? Yu Zhong asked gloomily.

“…… Your Excellency, this time you have no loss at all, but you ...... 'attack' all the way from north to south in the western part of our country, so even if we promise these 30,000 taels of gold, we are already risking being condemned by everyone in the future! Naokei said.

"This is your vexatiousness. It was Sakai Tadashi who attacked me first, and I didn't provoke him! …… He has an army of 50,000, and if I hadn't been more vigilant, I might have died at his hands. When the time comes, I will not be the only one who will come to settle accounts with you. To tell you the truth, there are six major naval divisions in our country, and my Manchurian naval division is only the one with the smallest number of troops! …… You'd better figure it out. Yu Zhongyin said ruthlessly.

"Your Excellency, are you really not provoking us? If it weren't for the ambush in advance, would Sakai Tadashi be easily blocked by your army in Ezo? It's all your design! Makino said.

"Design? Wrong! I'm just defending in advance. You have also acknowledged that Hokkaido belongs to our country, not you. Therefore, Sakai Tadashi's actions are a deliberate invasion of our country! And he is the old man of the shogunate, so you shogunate must be responsible for what he did, and for what the 50,000 army he led did! Yu Zhong said.

"Your Excellency, no matter what you say, our shogunate can't afford three million taels of gold. If you have to do that, we have no choice but to say goodbye! Naokei said.

"Yes, Your Excellency, please consider how much we can accept. Three million taels of gold is enough for our shogunate to build another Edo Castle! Yoshiho Yanagisawa then bowed and said.

“…… Okay, three million taels can make you build another Edo Castle, then I want half, one and a half million taels will be completed, right? Yu Zhong "considered" for a moment and said.

"The price is still too high!" Naoki said.

"Still tall? I've lost half of it! …… Forget it, I don't care about you, how much can you give? Yu Zhong asked impatiently.

"We're out the most...... Two hundred thousand taels of gold! Yanagisawa Yoshiho said.

"One million three thousand taels!"

"Your Excellency, this is not your reserve price! …… Instead of arguing like this, why don't you tell us your reserve price, maybe we can barely accept it! Yanagisawa Yoshiho said.

"You can talk! …… Well, I am also a courtier, and I know the difficulties of being a courtier. …… One million taels of gold! Couldn't be less! Yu Zhong stretched out his index finger and shook it.

"A million taels?" Yanagisawa Yoshiho was stunned for a moment, but still shook his head, "Your Excellency, our shogunate has been in some difficulties over the years. One million taels of gold is indeed unaffordable! …… We can pay 500,000 taels at most! ”

"Five hundred thousand taels? …… Okay, I don't bother to fight with you anymore, plus two million taels of silver, I'll agree! ”

"Two million taels of silver? That's 400,000 taels of gold! Your Excellency, you are playing tricks on us! Makino exclaimed.

"Oh? Is it the price? Yu Zhong feigned surprise.

"Your Excellency, we don't understand what you mean. However, we still can't afford 900,000 taels of gold. Jing Yi Naoxing was already panting slightly. Although he knew that Yu Zhong could destroy Edo "easily", he also made up his mind to be wronged, but Yu Zhong's request still made him want to be angry. In fact, although the shogunate had a large inventory of 6 million taels of gold at the time of the death of the third shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu, after decades of profligacy and trade with foreign countries, by the time the current Tokugawa Tsunayoshi succeeded him, there were only more than 1 million taels of gold left in the shogunate's treasury. Tsunayoshi is not a Ming Jun, although after many ways to collect money, through the minting of bad coins and earn more than a million taels, but the expenditure is also large, the current shogunate's inventory can only be maintained at about seven or eight hundred thousand taels of gold, plus silver, I am afraid it is only just enough for this requirement. However, if it was all lost to Yu Zhong, what should the shogunate do? (In 1680, when Tokugawa Tsunayoshi succeeded him as shogun, the shogunate's treasury was less than 1 million taels, and in 1694, the shogunate's treasury had bottomed out, and in order to accumulate wealth, Tsunayoshi began to mint bad coins.) ）

"Looks like you're having a hard time! …… Why don't you do it like this? How about I give you four hundred taels of silver, and you give me back one hundred and thirty thousand taels of gold? This should be okay, right? Yu Zhong said suddenly.

"......" Naoki Ii and Yoshiho Yanagisawa were stunned for a moment, not knowing how to answer for a while.

"Say yes or no? This is my last condition, if you don't agree, then you can go back! Yu Zhong waved his hand and shouted.

“…… Well, we promise! However, it will take some time for silver to be converted into gold! Yanagisawa Yoshiho said.

"I don't care about this, I'm just giving you one day. …… And then, it's time for the fourth......"

……

Negotiations continue, not slowly!

In just half a day, the Edo Treaty was agreed upon by both sides.

In addition to demanding that the shogunate promise that Hokkaido belonged to China, that Japan was a vassal of China, that the shogunate must pay tribute to the Qing court twice a year, and that China be compensated with 500,000 taels of gold, Yu Zhong also demanded that Japan open the whole territory and all commodity trade to Chinese merchants and ships. In addition, Japan must supply Chinese ships with fresh water, food, protect drifting crews, allow Chinese to go ashore for excursions, and Chinese ships have the right to sail freely and dock in Japan's coastal and inland seas, and Japan must also reduce tariffs. In addition, Yu Zhong also demanded that the shogunate must vigorously promote the Chinese script, and encouraged the Japanese to learn the Chinese Chinese dialect and practice Chinese etiquette, and as a result, this article became the fastest one that the three members of the shogunate agreed to except for the ownership of Hokkaido. Originally, Yu Zhong also proposed to cede Tsushima Island to North Korea, Tanegashima, Yakushima, and Amami Islands to the Ryukyus, but as a result, the three of them were resolutely opposed, and later said that Tsushima Island was resolutely not ceded, and as for the Amami Islands, Tanegashima and Yakushima, it was a matter of the Satsuma Domain, and as a result, Yu Zhong told the three that he would go to the Satsuma Domain to negotiate, and the three of them did not say anything.

The negotiations have been relatively smooth, and Yu Zhong proposed to Yanagisawa Yoshiho and the others that he had been planning for a long time, that is, "the Chinese army has the right to crusade against the Japanese daimyo who are rude to China, and the shogunate must send troops to help in the war." As a result, the three of them refused to give in in this regard, and stubbornly polished this article into "China can crusade against the Japanese daimyo who are rude to China or offend China, but whether to send troops or not must obtain the consent of the shogunate!" ”

In the end, the four people who agreed on the treaty signed the treaty and stamped it with the seal of the shogun and the admiral of Yuzhong! …… A treaty between the general and the admiral! That is, it was a treaty that the emperors of the two countries could deny. However, it was clear that the shogunate was the loser. And this treaty is also a little different is that Yu Zhong did not call his side "Qing State", but called "China", his explanation of the three shogunate and his generals is: "China has been called the 'Central Empire' since ancient times, if you can't be the Central Empire, you can't become the suzerainty of so many countries, and you can't become the Heavenly Empire. ”

In this way, after the negotiation was over, Yu Zhong waited in Edo Bay for another day, and after the shogunate carried the exchanged 1.2 million taels of gold onto the ship as quickly as possible, he left leisurely with his people.

However, before Yu Zhong left, Ii Naoko had asked him to return to the shogunate army in Hokkaido, but Yu Zhong refused on the grounds that he had to consult the imperial court. And everyone seems to have forgotten about that Sakai Tadashi, and no one has ever mentioned him at all.