Although Yi Xun said that he was the general of the Qin Ming Expedition and was nominally the supreme commander of the Japanese army, he was very clear about his situation and put his position very right, and when he heard the news that Xiao Mingliang had returned to the camp, he hurriedly rushed to the Yuanqi camp to meet him.

As soon as Xiao Mingliang entered the big tent of the Chinese army, he heard the news that Yi Xun asked to see him, and he couldn't help but be quite surprised, Guo Zhongmu said with a smile: "Our general Yi is quite self-aware, and he puts his figure very low. ”

"Go and greet you." Xiao Mingliang said and strode out, Guo Zhongmu, who was waiting outside the tent, accompanied a soldier in his early forties to strode out, although he didn't know him, he also knew that the other party must be Xiao Mingliang, the commander of the war, and hurriedly stepped forward and stretched out his hand and smiled: "It can be regarded as the commander of Xiao." ”

"The crusade against Hagi Castle has been delayed for some time, and the tiring general has been waiting for a long time." Xiao Mingliang shook hands with the other party and said apologetically: "Please ——。 inside." ”

After entering the tent and sitting down, Yi Xun said with concern: "I heard that the war against Changzhou is quite smooth? ”

"The land of the Japanese kingdom is only a county in our Qing Dynasty." Xiao Mingliang smiled and said: "The Changzhou Domain, known as the strong domain of the Japanese State, is nothing more than a large county with slightly stronger military strength, and the number of troops is only more than 10,000 rabble, which is completely crushed, and the war is unreasonable." ”

As he spoke, he changed his words, "The imperial court sent to Kyoto to canonize the Qincha, I don't know when he will leave for Kyoto?" ”

"The plan is to go to Tosa ..... with the army." Yi Xun said tentatively: "But what's wrong? ”

"The reason why the Choshu army is more than 10,000 is because it has formed a strange army composed of samurai and civilians outside the domain, so in the process of conquest, the killing is quite heavy." Xiao Mingliang said lightly: "For more than half a month, the news of the collapse of the Choshu Domain has spread, which is bound to cause panic in the Wa Kingdom, and we need to stabilize the Shogunate in Edo, the Wa King in Kyoto, and the local feudal domains as soon as possible."

I would like to use the opportunity of the Kyoto canonization to spread the news of the Imperial Court's public crusade against the four southwestern feudal clans in order to stabilize the political situation of the Wa Kingdom and appease the local feudal domains, so I hope that the Chincha-sama will leave for Kyoto as soon as possible. ”

Yi Xun glanced at Guo Zhongmu and said, "At present, the Wa Kingdom is a little chaotic, and Qin needs to be armed to escort ...... to Kyoto. ”

"The safety of the Chin Cha must be considered." Xiao Mingliang said: "We can let the Beiyang Navy Division send warships to escort us, and in addition, we will inform Kyoto and Edo, and ask them to do their best to protect Lord Qincha." ”

After a slight hesitation, Yi Xun said: "The Beiyang Naval Division is only afraid that he is not familiar with the shipping lanes of the Japanese ...... ”

Xiao Mingliang said without thinking: "We can send some officers and soldiers who are familiar with the currents and routes of the Japanese Kingdom to accompany and assist. After a pause, he added, "The imperial court is on a mission, and we have a lot of inconvenience in escorting, and in terms of etiquette, we are a little lacking. ”

Yi Xun didn't think much about it, and immediately said, "Okay, I'll go back and make arrangements, and make the trip as soon as possible." ”

After a day of fierce fighting, Luo Xuan led his troops to capture Kagoshima Castle, the main city of the Satsuma domain, and annihilated more than 3,200 enemies.

After reading the telegram, Guo Zhongmu smiled and said, "This Luo outline can't be intentional to connive at Shimazu Shigehisa to abandon the city and flee, right?" ”

"Probably not." Xiao Mingliang said: "If you deliberately connive, the number of enemies destroyed will not be only more than 3,000. After a pause, he ordered: "Send a telegram to Nagasaki and order Luo Xuan not to spread the flames of war to other feudal domains for the time being." ”

Report ——。 A staff officer hurriedly came in and reported: "Shogunate official, Katsu Kaishu is asking to see you outside the camp. ”

"I thought they wouldn't send someone, but I finally couldn't hold my breath." Guo Zhongmu said with a smile.

"Bring him in." Xiao Mingliang instructed, he has an impression of Sheng Haizhou, and he has dealt with him twice, this person is proficient in Sinology, Lan Studies, good at military science, and is also one of the figures who strongly advocated the formation of a navy in the Wa State, and is quite respected by General Jiamao.

Soon, Sheng Haizhou entered the big tent under the leadership of the staff officer, Xiao Mingliang got up and greeted him with a few steps and said with a smile: "I expected that the shogunate would send someone, but I didn't expect that it would be Rintaro, and General Jiamao's condition has improved?" ”

Sheng Haizhou hurriedly bowed and said, "Thanks to the Western medicine recommended by General Xiao, the General's condition has stabilized and is getting better day by day." ”

"That's good." Xiao Mingliang said and stretched out his hand and said, "Please sit down——。 ”

Since last year, the East China Sea Fleet has assisted the shogunate in the conquest of Choshu and Satsuma, but it has been delayed again and again due to the illness of General Ieshige, so he specially invited several famous Western doctors for Ieshige from Shanghai.

He was also lazy to talk nonsense, so he took out a few newspapers and a newspaper from his desk and handed them over, "Your army is unable to conquer the four feudal domains in the southwest, so we can only send troops to do it for us." ”

After reading a few newspapers and newspapers, Sheng Haizhou secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and then bowed, "Your country has helped in time, and I would like to express my sincere thanks on behalf of the general." ”

"Rintaro doesn't need to be polite." Xiao Mingliang smiled and said, "Maintaining the rule of the shogunate is also safeguarding the interests of Yuan Qi. ”

Glancing up at him, Sheng Haizhou said: "After the beginning of the year, Yuan Qi seems to have cut off business and trade with my country?" ”

"Our army used troops in Southeast Asia, recruited a large number of sea vessels, and another large-scale economic crisis broke out in Europe, which had a very big impact on our country's economy, so that prices generally fell, forming a large-scale wave of price reductions, resulting in unprofitable trade with your country."

Xiao Mingliang said slowly: "The main commodity of trade with your country is grain, but the grain harvest in Europe has been poor year after year, grain prices have continued to rise, grain merchants in the United States have turned to sell grain to Europe, and Southeast Asia has also been greatly reduced due to the impact of the war, and China's grain prices have also risen sharply due to this impact. ”

Hearing this, Sheng Haizhou was really a little anxious, he knew very well that China needed to import a huge amount of grain from Yuanqi every year, and once Yuanqi cut off the grain trade, it would be tantamount to a disaster for them! After bowing deeply, he said: "Please also tell His Royal Highness the King of Zhennan that the price of grain is high, and we can bear it, and if the grain trade is cut off, it will be a huge disaster for our country." ”

"We will tell you the shogunate's request." Xiao Mingliang said: "I think Your Highness will definitely consider it, and when the peak season of maritime trade comes, it will inevitably organize a fleet to resume trade." ”

Hearing this, Katsu Haizhou couldn't help but put his mind at ease, and asked instead, "Has the cable telegraph in Nagasaki been restored?" ”

Xiao Mingliang also hoped that he could report the news in time, and immediately said: "It has been restored, and Fukuoka has now opened a cable telegraph." ”

Due to the severance of trade and trade, coupled with the strict blockade of cable telegraphs and the sea, the people of the Wa Kingdom did not know that the Qing State had planted the death of the Xiaoming Wa King on the heads of the four southwestern feudal domains, and issued an edict to conquer the four southwestern feudatories and send envoys to canonize them.

The Qing army suddenly mobilized heavy troops to attack Choshu, Hizen, and Satsuma in three ways, and destroyed Choshu in one fell swoop in just over half a month, Satsuma, and forced Hizen to surrender, especially the Choshu Domain, the feudal lord was killed in battle, all the armed forces were annihilated, almost all the large and small cities were burned, and the soldiers and civilians suffered heavy casualties, which can be said to be uprooted.

When the news spread, the owners of the large and small feudal domains of the Wa Kingdom were in danger and panicked, for fear that they would become the next Choshu Domain, especially the southwestern feudal domains, and they were even more frightened every day, and they were panicked all day long, and they sent envoys to report the emergency.

As the news spread, the entire Wa Kingdom was shaken, and for a time the Qing army invaded on a large scale, and rumors spread that they wanted to destroy the Wa Kingdom, and many feudal lords met privately to form alliances, and people in Kyoto and Edo were also panicked.

In Edo, in the shogun's palace, the twenty-one-year-old shogun Tokugawa Ieshige was lying on the couch looking at the telegram sent by Katsukaishu, a shallow smile appeared on his pale and childish face, and after a long time, he said in a weak voice: "Publicize the news, and order the feudal domains to hunt down the fish that have slipped through the net of Choshu and Satsuma." ”

After a pause, he continued: "Katsu Haizhou accompanied the envoys to Kyoto, and the protection of the feudal lords along the way was thorough. There are also ..... to spread the news that a large number of grain ships will arrive in ...... next month. ”

Shanghai, Zhennan Wangfu, Changle Book House.

Cao Gensheng walked into the room quickly, glanced at Zhao Liewen inadvertently, and then said, "Big shopkeeper, Edo secret electricity." ”

As soon as he heard that it was a secret telegram, Zhao Liewen got up very consciously, and waved his hand without wanting to be content, and said, "It's okay, read it——。 ”

"The general is seriously ill and cannot return, and it is expected that there will be two or three months left. The price of rice in the country soared, and riots broke out in many places to destroy rice shops. ”

Yi Zhizu took the telegram and looked at it, and after signing it, he wrote down another telegram order, ordering Xiao Mingliang to control the war within the four feudal domains in the southwest.

Zhao Liewen didn't come back to his senses for a long time, and when Cao Gensheng retreated, he thought and said with some uncertainty: "Isn't General Wu Guomao only in his early twenties?" ”

"The disease of wealth, or the disease of wealth and nobility peculiar to the nobility of the Japanese kingdom." Yi Zhizhi said: "Beriberi, have you heard of it?" ”

Zhao Liewen was stunned when he listened, "Is beriberi worried about his life?" ”

"Athlete's foot, have you ever heard of it?" "This beriberi is not athlete's foot, but a deficiency of vitamin B1. After smiling, he said, "You don't understand what I said, I'll say it, you can listen to it." ”

After a pause, he said, "Remember the scurvy, right?" Scurvy is caused by a lack of vitamin C, while beriberi is caused by a lack of vitamin B1.

It can be said that all the meat of four-legged beasts is not eaten, especially the nobles of the Japanese kingdom, they only eat fish and no other meat, and only the poor eat those "lowly" meats, and besides, the rice they eat is polished rice, not brown rice.

It is because of their eating habits that many wealthy people in Edo suffer from 'beriberi', which is why I call it wealth disease. ”

And this strange disease? Zhao Liewen pondered for a while before he said, "General Jiamao is only twenty-one years old, and he suffers from this strange disease? The Tokugawa shogunate also lasted for more than ten generations, and there were any generals who suffered from this strange disease before? ”

"Who knows?" Yi Zhizhi said disapprerovingly: "That is, Jiamao was sick and invited a Western doctor, even if there was a general suffering from 'beriberi' before, no one knew about ......." ”

Zhao Liewen said: "That's not necessarily, the symptoms should always be the same." ”

This is not unreasonable, Yi Zhishu frowned, took out the cigarette case and lit a cigarette, and then he said: "Huifu suspects that someone is poisoning?" ”

"If King Xiaoming died in an assassination, there is a very high possibility that General Jiamao was poisoned." Zhao Liewen said: "Even if it is said that it is difficult to return, the students boldly guess that General Jiamao's illness should be last year?" ”

Yi Zhifu nodded slightly, "Are they trying to serve the king and the general in one pot?" What a big appetite! ”

Zhao Liewen said in a deep voice: "If this is the case, I am afraid that Lord Qincha, who went to Kyoto to be canonized, is in danger. ”

"You shall not live." Yi Zhicontent said in a deep voice.

Zhao Liewen was silent in his heart, he knew that even if he realized that Shao Hengyu would be in danger, the other party would not remind him, after all, he needed an excuse to launch a full-scale war against the Japanese, and the Japanese State took the initiative to send this excuse to Yuan Qi, which was exactly what he couldn't ask for, so how could he remind him? Of course, he only dared to think about this in his heart, and would not say it.

There was silence for a while before he said, "The big shopkeeper plans to cut off the grain trade of the Japanese country?" ”

Yi Zhishu glanced at him and said, "Got an idea?" ”

"It is better to create famine than to slaughter it outright." Zhao Liewen said in a low voice, hesitated for a moment, and then continued: "Students secretly think that such a large population can be used to build a large project ....... ”

"Soft-hearted?" Yi Zhizu knocked the cigarette ash, looked at him directly, and said, "In this matter, you must harden your heart." ”

Seeing that the other party was iron-hearted, he didn't give the slightest room to turn around, Zhao Liewen didn't dare to say anything more, the atmosphere was a little dull for a while, just at this moment, Yan Shiwan walked in with a young man of about twenty, and as soon as he entered the room, he smiled and said, "Look who's coming?" ”

The young man was dressed in a suit and wore a pair of black-rimmed eyes, looking bookish, but Yi Zhi's eyes were tight, and he only bowed and shouted until the other party, "Uncle——。 He reacted and said in surprise: "Xiao Kai? When did you return to China? ”

The young man's name is Yan Wenkai, he is Yan Shikuan's eldest son, he has been studying in Europe, and he called out his nickname when he saw Yi Zhicontent, and couldn't help but smile, "I only came back this morning, and my father took me over to meet my uncle ......." ”

"Good, good! They've all become big and small. Yi Zhizhi smiled and said: "Your sister-in-law must be happy to see you, go to meet your sister-in-law first, and eat here at night." ”

Yan Shikuan smiled and patted him on the shoulder, "Go to the backyard to see your sister-in-law by yourself." ”

"I'll see you later." Yan Wenkai said and bowed to Yi Zhicontent, and then turned to bow slightly to Zhao Liewen, and then left briskly, looking at his back, Yi Zhizhi said with emotion: "When I saw them, I felt that I was really old!" ”

"Not really." Yan Shikuan smiled: "Many of us at this age have become grandfathers. ”

"Just thinking about holding your grandson for the elderly?" Yi Zhizhi glanced at him, "Then hurry up and find a daughter-in-law for Xiao Kai." ”

Yan Shikuan hurriedly waved his hand and said with a smile: "They are in love freely now, we can't that idleness." ”