On the sea surface of Kagoshima Port, on the deck of the flagship 'Zhenjiang', Yi Zhizhi stood with his hands in his hands, quietly looking at the long line of torches swimming like a fire dragon on the opposite mountain, which was the soldiers carrying the gold and silver belongings in Tsurumaru Castle overnight, due to the huge amount of gold, in order to avoid a long night's dreams, and also for secrecy, he ordered the gold to be transferred to the battleship overnight. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

The wealth of the Satsuma clan was really beyond his imagination, and he had to re-examine the wealth of the Wa Kingdom, which had been closed to the country for more than 200 years, in a corner of peace, without foreign invasion, and there was very little turmoil in the country, and the Wa Kingdom, which was rich in gold and silver, had accumulated over the centuries.

It seems that extorting three million taels of gold from the Tokugawa shogunate should be too little, and it is no wonder that Tokugawa Iekei agreed so remarkably, but, having said that, he also counted on the shogunate to continue to maintain its rule over the Wakoku and squeeze the shogunate dry, which is not a good thing.

As an international hard currency, silver is in a state of continuous depreciation, only gold can maintain its value, Yuanqi must gradually replace silver with gold, Yuanqi issued banknotes must also be gradually linked to gold, although the gold reserves of the country are not small, but it is still far from enough, and continue to plunder gold.

Then he thought about it, how much gold should be paid to the imperial court this time? How much should I pay? This was a headache for him but had to think about it carefully, he felt a little upset, he slowly lit a cigar, only to take a puff, the guard stepped forward to remind, "Military gate, smoking on the deck at night is easy to expose." ”

Yi Zhizhi didn't say a word, obediently handed the cigar to the other party, accepted the cigar, and the guard continued: "Please also ask the military gate to change positions." ”

These things are still taught by him, Yi Zhishu was a little speechless, but he paced to the bow of the ship according to his words, the Nanyang Navy is the economic division of the imperial court, and the Eastern Expedition is also the decree of Daoguang, from this aspect, the gold paid by the Japanese State should be handed over in full, and one million taels of gold should be handed over obediently, he is obviously unwilling! Even if it was all converted into silver and handed in, he was not reconciled!

The Nanyang Navy is basically the foundation of Yuan Qi, it can be said that he basically built it single-handedly, the imperial court did not invest any silver in the preparation of the Nanyang Navy at all, and all the war spoils were handed over, and whoever was exchanged would not be reconciled, especially Yuan Qi and he personally invested a lot of silver for this!

But if you don't turn it in, it will definitely not work, and you can't hand it in less! He had to let the imperial court taste the sweetness of foreign expansion and aggression, and only in this way would the imperial court actively support the development of the navy and condone the external expansion of the navy.

But it is not good to hand over too much, you can't get used to the problem and let the court form a routine, the navy will go on frequent expeditions in the future, there must be an appropriate proportion, and besides, the court has more gold and silver, and the confidence is enough, which is not a good thing for Yuan Qi.

A brisk footstep came from behind, and Feng Renxuan walked up to him and saluted, "Junmen, Shimazu Qixing has repeatedly begged to see you." ”

Shimazu Qixing wanted to see him, but he couldn't want to know how he would be disposed of, and he groaned slightly, and Yi Zhizhi said: "Bring him over, and in addition, bring the old family and Guangxiang with it." To be honest, he wondered how the Satsuma clan had amassed such a huge fortune.

Shimazu Qixing and Hirogo and a group of Satsuma samurai who surrendered were all detained in Kagoshima Castle, and soon, the two were taken to the 'Zhenjiang' official hall, and the two of them bowed down to salute, and Yi Zhizhi said softly: "Sit." ”

As soon as he sat down, Shimazu Qixing said straightforwardly: "Lord Kincha, we are willing to return the five northern islands of the Ryukyus that we have invaded and occupied free of charge, but we also hope that the black sugar trade in the Amami Islands will be handed over to the Satsuma Domain. ”

Hearing this, Yi Zhixiang secretly laughed, does this guy think that he will easily let go of the Satsuma Domain? He was still thinking about the trade of black sugar, and after a slight groan, he said, "The trade of black sugar is very important to the Satsuma Domain?" ”

"Brown sugar is a large and valuable commodity in the country, and it is also one of the main economic sources of Satsuma, which is extremely important for the Satsuma clan." Hirogo said slowly, "Brown sugar is used to make various local sweets and traditional sake brews from Honshu to Kyushu, and the Amami Islands are the largest producer of brown sugar. ”

"The wealth of the Satsuma clan was not accumulated by black sugar, was it?" Yi Zhishu looked at him and said, "I heard that the reason why the Satsuma Domain is so rich is entirely because of the reforms you advocated?" ”

"Makes the adults laugh." The investigation office Guangxiang slightly owed a humble way.

Yi Zhishu said curiously: "Tell me, how did you forgive the debts of wealthy merchants in Edo, Osaka and other places?" ”

Seeing that he asked about this, the old face of Guangxiang of the investigation office was rare to redden, he was completely a hooligan in those things back then, Shimazu Qixing was naturally very clear about the second matter, and he also knew that it was difficult to talk about this matter in Guangxiang, so he immediately said: "It's not a glorious thing, and I was forced to ......be helpless back then." As he spoke, he told him what had happened.

Shimazu Saiko's grandfather, Shigehiro Shimazu, implemented a series of cultural and educational reforms when he was the governor of the family, such as establishing schools and compiling books, and Shigehiro lived a luxurious life, loved collecting, and had a ridiculous competition for wealth with the lord of the Saga domain, Nabeshima Sainao, and the shogun Tokugawa Ieqi for the sake of face, so that the debts were piled up, and the Satsuma Domain's finances hit a staggering deficit of 10,000 yuan.

As a result, the Satsuma Domain was completely bankrupt due to the huge debts owed to wealthy merchants in Edo, Osaka and other places, and the credit of the Satsuma Domain was completely lost, and both usury and loans between the domains were rejected, and the huge debts caused the Satsuma Domain's finances to be declared bankrupt.

In order to solve the debt problem, Hirogo sent letters to creditors in various places through Osaka merchants, saying that the Satsuma clan was ready to pay off the debts, so the creditors were asked to bring their documents (IOUs) in case they were to reissue new IOUs.

After gathering the creditors in one room, the investigation office Guangxiang first deceived the creditors' IOUs under the pretext of convenient statistics, and then piled them up, and then, in front of all the creditors, they lit a fire and burned the IOUs on the spot.

Subsequently, Guangxiang made public his debt repayment plan, which was about 20,000 taels within three years, and the rest of the debts were all repaid within 250 years, and the plan was premised on the abolition of all interest. For this reason, the lawsuit was fought in front of the shogun for a time, but in the end the matter was still settled.

After listening to Shimazu Qixing's narration, Yi Zhixin couldn't help but be shocked, he couldn't see that this old guy was such a scoundrel, he would pay it off in two hundred and fifty years, and it was still an interest-free loan! What's the difference between this and defaulting on debts?

Slowly lit a cigar, and Yi Zhizhi said, "What measures have been taken for the reform?" ”

"It is nothing more than opening up sources and reducing expenditure, and measures to reduce expenditures -- privately minting bad money, dismissing officials, and practicing strict frugality." Shimazu Qixing did not dare to conceal anything, and the other party was a Qing state minister, so there was no need to conceal it, "open source measures -- the implementation of military control over the black sugar of the Amami Islands, the forced purchase of black sugar at a low price, the prohibition of private storage of black sugar, the implementation of a rationing system for the islanders' daily needs, the formulation of strict laws to ensure the production of black sugar, and at the same time strengthen the monopoly system to protect the profits of black sugar." ”

In addition, there was an expansion of smuggling, the development of new fields, the cultivation of tobacco, rapeseed, sesame, shiitake mushrooms, tulips and other cash crops, and the implementation of monopoly ...... for sulfur and camphor, which were the original specialties of the Satsuma Domain. ”

Smuggle? That's the main way to build wealth quickly, right? Yi Zhizu stretched out his hand to interrupt him and said, "Tell me about the smuggling situation in detail." ”

"It is said to be smuggling, but in fact it is legitimate maritime trade." Guangxiang said: "Mainly some dried seafood such as sea cucumbers, shark fins and abalone and high-quality kelp, these things have a great demand in your country, we mobilize them through channels, sell them to your country's maritime merchants through Ryukyu, and exchange them for your country's special products such as traditional Chinese medicine and dyes and ship them back to China for sale." ”

After a slight groan, Yi Zhizhi said: "Over the years, you should have established a huge smuggling channel, right?" ”

"My lord." "From the Ezo area, which is rich in high-quality kelp and dried goods, to Toyama, Kanazawa, Satsuma, Bozu, and Ryukyu, we have been operating this line for decades. ”

Yi Zhizhi smoked his cigar and remained silent, the Satsuma Domain had smuggled through the Ryukyus and the Qing Kingdom for decades or even longer, and had a huge smuggling channel in the Wa Kingdom, if it could be used by Yuanqi, it might bring unexpected benefits, which was more beneficial than simply destroying the Satsuma Domain.

Shimazu Qixing and Hiroko glanced at each other, both of them were a little apprehensive in their hearts, they didn't know what the other party was thinking, and now their lives were in each other's hands, and life and death were in each other's thoughts, and it was false to say that they were not afraid.

After a long time, Yi Zhizhi looked at Shimazu Qixing and said, "What is your attitude towards the emperor?" ”

Emperor? Shimazu Qixing was in a hurry, secretly wondering if the other party was not clear about the situation in Japan, and immediately hesitated: "Your Excellency is asking about the shogunate, right?" Over the past two hundred years, the shogunate has done its best to suppress Satsuma and repeatedly squeezed it. ”

Yi Zhizhi said in a deep voice: "I'm asking about the emperor, are you filial to the emperor?" ”

"The emperor is nothing but a puppet." Hiroshi reacted quickly, and hurriedly replied: "It's just that he is respected because he is a descendant of Amaterasu, just like the descendants of the Confucian family in your country, the Satsuma people only worship the strong!" ”

Shimazu Qixing was also dissatisfied, and nodded again and again: "What I said is that the Satsuma people only worship the strong and advocate force!" My Shimazu clan is a descendant of the Qin people of China, and their ancestors are the ...... of the Qin people who crossed east with Xu Fu. ”

Comparing the emperor with the descendants of Confucius, this is a bit interesting, however, he is quite satisfied with this answer, as for the Shimazu family is a descendant of the Qin people, he is too lazy to ask, this matter does not understand at all, the other party said this, it is nothing more than to get closer to the relationship, it is enough to have this attitude, a slight groan, he looked at Shimazu Qixing, and said: "Are you willing to invest in Yuanqi?" ”

Investing in Yuanqi? What to take a stake? All your belongings have been looted by you, and now you are asking if you are willing to invest in Yuanqi? However, Shimazu Qixing reacted as soon as he thought about it, and nodded again and again: "Yes, of course I am willing, it is a great honor for the Shimazu family to be able to invest in Yuanqi." ”

"Let's go down first." Yi Zhizhi said lightly, whether to use the Satsuma Domain, he still needs to weigh it carefully, so he is just testing the other party's attitude.

"Bang" A dull gunshot broke the silence of the night, Yi Zhizu walked out of the official hall quickly to see what was going on, but was stopped by two guards, and Shimazu Qixing and Hiroko, who had just exited the official hall, stopped in disbelief.

Soon, a firework exploded over the inner bay of Kagoshima, instantly illuminating the entire inner bay as if it were daylight, and then a dense burst of gunfire rang out again, but soon it fell silent again, and not long after, an officer came to the official office to report that some merchants on a merchant ship anchored in the inner bay were about to flee by night, and were found and killed by the soldiers on patrol.

After listening to the report, Yi Zhixiang groaned slightly, and said: "Shimazu Governor, I bother you to appease them, run away without permission, and kill without mercy, I don't want them to give up their lives in vain." ”

Hearing him call himself the Shimazu family governor, Shimazu Qixing was greatly pleased, and hurriedly said: "Don't worry, Lord Qincha, I'll go now, and I promise that there will be no similar situation again." ”

The sky is gradually brightening, the bay is quiet, a large number of merchant ships gathered in the inner bay are quiet, this night many people are worried and can't sleep, no one knows what fate awaits them today, although there was the appeasement of the Shimazu family governor last night, but the Shimazu family governor himself is a prisoner, who dares to believe his words?

Shimazu Qixing also didn't sleep all night, not worried, the snoring in the wide countryside of the investigation shook the sky, stirring him up and couldn't sleep at all, thinking about what happened yesterday, he felt like a nightmare, only half a day, not even half a day, he worked hard for more than ten years to accumulate the belongings was looted, and became a prisoner, which was something that he couldn't dream of before.

"Wake up! It's dawn! He angrily pushed the transfer to Guangxiang, the old guy still slept so deeply, but the other party's snoring also made him feel a lot more at ease.

Guangxiang sat up, saw that the other party's eyes were bloodshot, and said worriedly: "The lord didn't sleep last night?" ”

"I'm not sure." Shimazu Qixing said in a sullen voice: "Is the other party interested in our smuggling channel?" But Qingguo doesn't need smuggling ...... at all. ”

"The other party must want to take advantage of the Satsuma Domain, otherwise he would not ask the lord if he is loyal to the emperor." Hiroshi said slowly: "If you can see each other for a while, no matter what conditions the other party proposes, you will agree first, the Satsuma Domain has been exploiting the Ryukyus a lot over the years, and the Ryukyus hate us to the ......core." ”

Shimazu Qixing interrupted him and said, "I pondered all night, even if the other party wants to use us, how can we make the other party feel at ease to use us?" I saw that the other party's attitude was a little hesitant..... If I am the other party, I must find ways to control us, if I can't control it, how can I use it? ”

Guangxiang glanced at him and said: "The lord has forgotten the other identity of the other party, the other party is still the treasurer of Yuanqi, and now the Satsuma Domain is poor, and the other party can easily control the lord through commerce!" (To be continued.) )