Under the secret arrangement of the prefect Jiang Ping, Hosokawa Takeshu successfully escaped from Yangzhou City with twenty samurai under his command, and was rushing to Dongtai County by boat along the canal at this moment.

It is said that at the beginning of last year, the "tribute dispute" that occurred in Ningbo, Zhejiang, was caused by a fight between the tributary missions of the Hosokawa clan and the Ouchi clan. This incident directly led to the imperial court issuing an order to abolish the two foreign cities of Ningbo and Fuzhou, and to interrupt the tributary trade with the Japanese people.

You must know that the Wa Kingdom is currently in the Warring States Period, the domestic warlords are standing, the wars are continuous, the men are fighting, there is no production at all, and the island country is not rich in products, so it is even more scarce, even the most basic pots, bowls, scoops, and plates have to be imported from the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, the Ming Dynasty ordered a ban on the sea and interrupted trade with each other, which cost the lives of the Japanese people.

Therefore, the entire Wa Kingdom, from the royal family, bureaucrats, warlords, to the common people, tried every means to obtain supplies from the Ming Dynasty, and the normal way of buying and selling did not work, so they used violence to loot. Many powerful warlords formed fleets and went to the Daming coast in droves to do "business".

The Hosokawa clan is one of the largest warlords in the Wa Kingdom, and the demand for supplies is very large, and it is obvious that it cannot be satisfied by looting only by chickens and dogs, and it also has to bear a lot of risks. Therefore, Hosokawa Takeshu led the team to Daming this time in order to seek a long-term and stable partner and obtain a steady supply of materials.

Hosokawa Takeshu took a fancy to Lee at first, so he agreed to help him win the first place in the Oiran Contest and win a large share of Shioin. However, Hosokawa Takeshu followed Li Guangtou to Yangzhou City, but everything did not go well, and he continued to lose his troops and generals. It is said that Yoshimura Haruyo and Yoshimura Tomiyo are the only two hermits under Hosokawa Takeshu, and it is not easy to cultivate, even if the entire Hosokawa family is only ten hermits, they broke two at once, which naturally made Hosokawa Takeshu very painful.

However, this time when he came to Yangzhou City, Hosokawa Wushu was not without gains, he took the line of Shi Haoran, the salt transport envoy, this is much stronger than Li Guangtou, with the protection of this person, it will not be easy to do smuggling business in the future.

Because of this, Hosokawa Takeshu readily agreed to Shi Haoran's request and took his subordinates to Dongtai County to save people. In this way, not only can you sell Shi Haoran's favor, but it is also equivalent to grasping a handle of the other party, and you can cooperate more confidently in the future. Of course, the hundreds of thousands of taels of silver in the warehouse of Dongtai County also made Hosokawa Takeshu feel excited.

can not only make good friends with Shi Haoran, but also get a lot of goods, a good thing that kills two birds with one stone, why not do it?

As for the fact that there are only twenty samurai under his command, Hosokawa Takeshu is not worried at all, he himself is a top master, and all the samurai under his command are experienced in a hundred battles, and it is a piece of cake to be able to deal with local officials and inspectors with one elite of ten.

As long as he can infiltrate the county seat of Dongtai, Hosokawa Takeshu even has the confidence to slaughter the city with twenty of his men. Even if a sheep is in a flock, it is still a sheep after all, so what is the use of having more of them? In the end, it can only be used as food for wolves. Last year, wasn't that damn Da Nei sect set up just a few hundred people who crisscrossed hundreds of miles across the land of the Ming Dynasty, attacked the city and plundered the wall, and finally returned with a full load?

Thinking of this, Hosokawa Takeshu spat a mouthful of thick phlegm on the surface of the river with disdain, and said in a Japanese language: "The army of the Ming Kingdom is just a waste, and its combat power is not worth it. ”

As soon as Hosokawa Takeshu finished speaking, a cold voice came from behind him: "Is that so?" ”

Hosokawa Takeshu turned to look, and at this moment on the deck behind him stood a gray-robed monk, about twenty years old, with thick and short eyebrows and temples slightly bulging.

Hosokawa Takeshu said in surprise: "Little Master Pujing knows Dongying language? ”

The young monk in front of him was sent by Shi Haoran, the salt transport envoy, as a guide, and Hosokawa Takeshu only knew that his Dharma name was Pujing, and he could see that he also had a good martial arts and was a master of the inner family.

"You just said that the army of the Ming Dynasty is all rubbish?" Monk Pujing did not answer Hosokawa Takeshu, but asked coldly.

Hosokawa Wushu frowned, and arched his hand: "I don't mean to offend, the combat strength of your Ming army is really not good." ”

Monk Pujing said lightly: "Just a few days ago, a group of Dongying people in Dongtai County encountered five hundred battalions under the command of Qin Cha as soon as they landed, and finally left nearly a hundred corpses and a bow boat and fled. ”

Hosokawa Takeshu's eyes flashed with coldness, and he blurted out: "Yaga, it turned out to be him." ”

In last year's "tribute incident", it was the Ouchi sect that killed Hosokawa Ruizo, the tribute envoy of the Hosokawa clan, and since then, the Hosokawa clan and the Ouchi clan have formed a mortal enemy. After Ouchi Sosei fled back to Japan, the Hosokawa clan began to hunt him down, but this guy was very clever and escaped to the sea as a pirate, and the Hosokawa clan never looked for him.

Monk Pujing ignored Hosokawa Takeshu and continued: "In the process of pursuing the Ouchi sect, the five hundred battalions under the command of the Qin Cha easily destroyed Dongsha Island, and then destroyed a group of five hundred Dongying caravanserais, killing more than four hundred people, and the leader of this caravan is called Ori Shin Miko. ”

Hosokawa Takeshu's pupils shrank suddenly: "Miss Miko! ”

Monk Pujing said playfully: "Do you know her?" ”

Hosokawa Takeshu nodded with a complicated expression, the Orinobu clan is also a local daimyo with relatively strong strength in the country, and even competed with the Hosokawa clan for territory, however, Hosokawa Takeshu is one of Orinobu Miko's suitors.

Monk Pujing said lightly: "After Weaving Shin Meizi was captured, she is now imprisoned in Dongtai County, and Qin Cha asked the Weaver family to take out one million taels of silver to ransom people. ”

Hosokawa Takeshu's eyes burst out with dazzling brilliance, and he subconsciously clenched the sword in his hand and sneered: "One million taels of silver? This Chin Cha has a really big appetite. However, he won't get a penny at the next meeting, and he will take hundreds of thousands of taels, haha! ”

Thinking of the six or seven hundred thousand taels of goods in the Yazhong of Dongtai County, and the fact that he could save the beauty as a hero, Hosokawa Takeshu was hot in his heart, and he couldn't wait to fly to Dongtai County immediately, but unfortunately it took a day and a half to take the boat.

At this time, the Pujing monk poured cold water on his head and said: "Qin Cha left fifty soldiers under his command in Dongtai County. ”

Hosokawa Takeshu's face changed slightly, although he despised the army of the Ming Dynasty, but he did not dare to look down on the five hundred battalions under Xu Jin, yesterday on the streets of Yangzhou, he saw with his own eyes that Ji Fu Fudai was shot into a hornet's nest, in the face of such a sharp firearm, even a master like him had a numb scalp.

"How many of your armies are equipped with that kind of firearms?" Hosokawa asked in a deep voice.

The news of this Pujing monk seemed to be very well-informed, and he replied: "It is said that this kind of firearm that can be activated directly without ignition is called a flintlock pistol, which was invented by Xu Jin himself, and was successfully manufactured last year, and the first batch of Tonggong only made 500 rods, because the cost is too high, it has not been popularized in the army, and for now, only 500 battalions are equipped with this sharp firearm. ”

Hosokawa Takeshu secretly breathed a sigh of relief, fortunately, if the local guards were equipped with this kind of firearms, then how could the compatriots who came to the Daming coastal robbery still have a way to live.

"No, we must find a way to get this flintlock pistol and bring it back to China for imitation, otherwise it will be too much of a loss!" Hosokawa Wushu secretly made up his mind, arched his hand at Monk Pujing and said, "Thank you for the reminder, if there are fifty Ming soldiers in Dongtai County who are equipped with flintlock pistols, I am afraid that they will not be able to take it just by relying on this little manpower." ”

Monk Pujing seemed to be waiting for Hosokawa Takeshu's words, and said lightly: "It's okay, I found you a helper." ”

Hosokawa Takeshu felt a little uncomfortable in his heart, after all, if one more group of forces participated, then half of the benefits would be shared, and it would be fun to have an exclusive one.

Pu Jingshang obviously saw Hosokawa Wushu's thoughts, and said lightly: "Your Excellency Hosokawa, with your subordinates, even if you defeat Dongtai County, how many things can you take away?" ”

Hosokawa Takeshu pondered for a moment, and finally could only nod his head in agreement, mainly because he felt that he could not deal with the fifty Ming troops armed with flintlock pistols with just twenty men. As for carrying this kind of thing, you don't have to do it yourself at all, just force those Ming people to work, the knife is on the neck, and those lamb-like guys dare to be disobedient?

"What helper did the little master find for you?" Hosokawa Takeshu asked quietly, he was a little uneasy, worried that the other party would cross the river and tear down the bridge afterwards.

Monk Pujing said lightly: "When you get to the ground, you will know, and then the little monk will arrange for you to meet and discuss before acting." ”

Hosokawa Takeshu's eyes flashed, and he nodded and said, "Okay, how to arrange the ships that go to sea?" ”

"The ship monk will also be ready, so Your Excellency Hosokawa doesn't have to worry." Monk Pujing threw down a sentence and turned away.

……

On the afternoon of March 13, Xu Jin ordered the city ban to be lifted, and the city gates were reopened, allowing the people to enter and leave freely. After all, in such a prosperous city, the city ban has affected the lives of too many people.

In the following days, the work of clearing the land was in full swing under the auspices of the deputy envoy Xia Yan. Xia Yan learned from Xu Jin's experience in inspecting granaries in Shandong, and he specially recruited young scholars as supervisors in major academies and went to various prefectures and counties to supervise the land of local officials.

This trick is undoubtedly extremely effective, those scholars are all from the bottom of the cold students, after being encouraged by Xu Jin and Xia Yan in person, they immediately became excited one by one, full of passion and enthusiasm, and went to various places to work as supervisors......

Yangzhou Mansion was a breakthrough, Xu Jin and Xia Yan had discussed it before, first opening up the situation in Yangzhou Mansion, and then gradually advancing the Qingzhang land work to the entire Nanzhili and Zhejiang Province. The whole process is estimated to take a year, perhaps longer, after all, after leaving aside the external resistance, the land itself is a tedious task, and it must take time to grind slowly, and it is really unhurried.