Mizuno Tadashi looked at Yi Zhibang in surprise, he really didn't expect that the other party would actually put himself in the shoes of the shogunate, indeed, once the shogunate and the Qing State signed a treaty, called the Qing State a tribute, the founding of the country, and allowed the garrison, it will inevitably be a crowd of people, and the strong feudal clans around the country will inevitably take the opportunity to set off a wave of downfall, and the emperor will inevitably be moved out by a group of powerful daimyo to blackmail the Son of Heaven to order the princes, from this aspect, let the emperor go to the Qing Kingdom as a hostage, it is indeed for the sake of the general. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

Seeing that Mizuno Zhongbang was silent for a long time, Yi Zhizhi continued: "If the general is in the way of fame and inconvenience, we can do it for us." ”

Hearing this, Mizuno Tadashi was really a little tempted, if the Qing people did it and took the emperor away, it would be the best result! However, this matter was too big, he didn't dare to make any statement, and he groaned a little before he said, "Why does Lord Qincha put himself in the general's shoes so much? ”

"We need a stable vassal state." Yi Zhizhi said cheerfully: "Guarding the middle and governing the border, guarding the border strategy of Siyi, have you heard of it?" Now the rise of Western countries, thousands of miles of sea frontier, originally a barrier, now a channel, my Qing Empire needs a strong and stable vassal state as the East China Sea barrier, has been using Ryukyu to defend the southeast, but Ryukyu is too weak, not enough for the domain. ”

Mizuno Tadashi listened to the letter and was suspicious, could it be that this was the purpose of the Qing State's Eastern Crusade? After a slight hesitation, he said, "Since Lord Qincha needs a strong and stable maritime domain, why do you want to ask for a huge amount of gold? In recent years, our country has experienced frequent natural disasters, poor harvests, famine everywhere, local turmoil, and financial insurrection. ”

These situations in the Wa Kingdom were reported by Ren Anyu, who was easy to listen to, and I also heard the Ryukyuan people mention that the Tenpo reform was presided over by the Mizuno Tadashi in front of him, but it ended in failure. However, he will not give up his claim for war reparations because of the difficulties of the Japanese state, even if he contradicts himself.

"Every family has a scripture that is difficult to read, and in recent years, the Qing Empire has also been plagued by natural and man-made disasters." Yi Zhizhi considered it and said: "The amount can be less, considering your actual situation, you can pay in installments." ”

The installment payment did not satisfy Mizuno Tadashi, he said with a bitter face: "China's gold mines have basically been mined clean, these years, there is no gold to be mined, and the Dutch have frequently exchanged gold, so that a large amount of gold has been lost, and it is difficult to see gold circulation in the market now." ”

Yi Zhizhi is lazy to believe his nonsense, there are still three catties of nails in the rotten ship, the once famous country of gold, now it is said that there is no gold? "Three million taels of gold, that's the minimum, it can't be less, no gold? Even if Ben Qincha believes this, His Majesty the Emperor of the Qing Dynasty will not believe it, the first installment will be paid one million taels, and the rest will be paid year by year, and it will be paid off in ten years. ”

Mizuno Tadashi was speechless for a while, and only after a while did he say, "Can you pay with silver?" ”

Slowly lit the cigar, Yi Zhizhi said: "I have no shortage of silver in the Qing Dynasty." As he spoke, he stretched out three fingers and gestured, and said, "Including today, I will give you three days, if I can't see your sincerity within three days, I will attack the city!" ”

Hearing that the other party's tone had the meaning of chasing away guests, Mizuno Tadashi hurriedly said: "Lord Qincha, there is also the matter of opening the port and garrison ....... ”

Mizuno Zhongbang was very patient, talked in detail one by one, talked for nearly an hour before leaving, and waited for the other party to leave, accompanied Yan Yang, who had been silent, and said suspiciously: "Yesterday, the military gate opened its mouth to ask for five million taels of gold, and his subordinates thought it was a sky-high asking price, this small Japanese country, can it really come up with three million taels of gold?" ”

"The Wa Kingdom used to be known as the land of gold." Yi Zhizhi leaned back, and said in a relaxed tone: "Although there has been a lot of gold loss over the years, three or five million taels can still be taken out." ”

Feng Renxuan said: "What this Mizuno Zhongbang said is that there are frequent natural disasters in the Japanese country, with poor harvests year after year, famine everywhere, and local turmoil, is it true? ”

"That's true." Yi Zhi said with a full jaw: "The history of the Wa Kingdom is called the famine of Tianbao, and the reform of Tianbao was implemented because of this, but it failed last year. ”

Feng Renxuan hesitated and said, "In this way, the military gate is in a hurry to go east, is it for this reason?" ”

Yi Zhishu nodded and said: "The Wa Kingdom has been in retreat for a long time, and it is not easy to collect information, but it is not difficult to speculate from the price of rice in the Wa Kingdom that there is a great famine in the Wa Kingdom, and from the 'Tianbao Gold and Silver' and 'Tianbao Tongbao' issued by the Shogunate - with a big amount of money, also known as Tianbao Baiwen Qian and Tianbao Dangbai Yuan, it can be inferred that the Shogunate has a serious financial crisis. ”

Yan Yangtian said: "Since the shogunate has a serious financial crisis, how can it come up with so much gold?" ”

"Gold is a reserve, a reserve of credit for the issuance of coins." Yi Zhizhi said: "The Tokugawa shogunate has ruled for more than 200 years, and three or five million taels of gold can still be scraped together." ”

After a slight groan, Feng Renxuan pondered and said, "We are persecuting too hard, what if the shogunate starts a war with us?" ”

"Tokugawa Iekei knows better than us that once a war starts, it will mean the end of the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate." Yi Zhishu said slowly: "They don't dare to go to war because they can't afford this consequence!" Then again, if they are a tendon and start a war recklessly, why should we be afraid?

If Edo is defeated, the entire Wa Kingdom will fall into civil strife, and this situation is even more undesirable for us, and it is conducive to our individual defeats, and with the combat power of the Nanyang Navy, there is no enemy on the coast of Asia. ”

Edo Castle, Shogun's Palace, Black Study.

"Following the precedents, canonize the shogun as the king of Japan?" Tokugawa Iekei lost his voice.

"That's exactly what the Qing Qin Cha said." Mizuno Tadashi bowed slightly and said: "He said that the Qing State needs a strong and stable maritime domain, and the emperor enters the Qing Kingdom as a hostage, and canonizes the general as the king, which is conducive to domestic stability, and also said that for the sake of the general's reputation, they are willing to take the emperor captive, and the garrison in our country can also assist the general to quell the rebellion." ”

Hearing this, Tokugawa Iekei couldn't help but be moved, saying that it was false to say that he was not moved, he originally thought that the shogunate had fallen into an unprecedented crisis this time, and he didn't want the other party to be willing to vigorously support the shogunate!

As a shogun, he was naturally clear about the former Ming Dynasty's canonization of the shogunate as the king of Japan, and during the Ming Dynasty, the Yongle Emperor sent Zheng He to Japan to canonize Ashikaga Yoshimitsu as the king of Japan.

Slightly lacking, it was the Muromachi Shogunate, not the Tokugawa Shogunate, and if he accepted the canonization of the Chinese Emperor, he was afraid that he would have to bear a lot of pressure, but he was soon relieved that it was nothing compared to the survival of the Shogunate, and after a slight groan, he asked, "What about the gold, have you talked about it?" ”

"Three million taels." Mizuno Tadashi said: "The down payment is one million taels, and the rest is paid in ten years, which is the bottom line of the other party." ”

A down payment of one million taels! Tokugawa Iekei was silent for a moment before saying, "What is the situation with the garrison?" ”

"The other side proposed to choose a suitable harbor garrison in Edo Bay so that it could provide timely support." Mizuno Tadakuni said slowly: "When the situation is completely stable, I will move to Izu or Anfang, mainly to deal with the harassment of Western countries, the other party promises that unless the general has a clear need, there will be no large-scale garrison, and the garrison will not interfere in our country's internal affairs without the permission of the general, and we do not need to bear any expenses, of course, the expenses incurred in sending troops to assist in quelling the chaos are not included." ”

If this is the case, it is not unacceptable, and besides, what can it be if it is not acceptable? After pondering for a long time, Tokugawa Keicai said: "With the emperor as a hostage, it is impossible, Kyoto is not close to the sea, even if the other party sends troops to plunder, we will not be able to escape the blame, and we will become the target of everyone." Your Majesty's status is honorable, please surrender to the ...... Let's come forward. ”

"My lord......" Mizuno Tadashi said in a deep voice: "If Your Majesty does not leave, the world will be uneasy. ”

Tokugawa Iekei glanced at him and said, "Isn't Qingguo going to garrison?" Let's see what happens. ”

The next day, Mizuno Tadashi arrived at the Nanyang Navy camp again, this time not empty-handed, but with a large number of pigs, cattle, sheep, chickens, ducks, geese, fish, vegetables and fruits.

Looking at the long convoy of transport ships, Yi Zeng said with a smile: "The Japanese people are not planning to poison, right?" ”

"Too cautious, aren't you?" Su Shun said angrily: "Didn't you see that they are all living creatures? Vegetables and fruits, etc., will always be tried first, and if the Japanese people dare to poison, they are not afraid of being slaughtered? ”

Yi Zeng muttered: "Nothing to do, there must be no good thing!" ”

"It's nothing more than hoping that the military will make some concessions during the negotiations." Su Shun said and raised his chin to the side, "Didn't you see that chief old middle school is here again?" ”

In the big tent of the Chinese army, after listening to Mizuno Tadakuni's reply to the shogun's reply, Yi Zhizhi was content for a long time and did not say a word, he clearly knew that after the founding of the Japanese state, the emperor of the Japanese kingdom returned to real power, and then moved the capital to Edo to implement the Meiji Restoration.

Although the Emperor of the Wa Kingdom is a puppet, he can be a puppet for hundreds of years, which also shows that the status of the Emperor of the Wa Kingdom in the Wa State is not as simple as a puppet, and the reason for this is not very clear, but it should have a great relationship with the political system of the Wa State - the feudal mining system.

After a slight hesitation, he said: "Your Excellency should know very well what kind of vassal state our Qing Empire needs, and if there is a civil strife because of this, we will intervene by force to maintain the stability of the situation." ”

Mizuno Tadashi bowed slightly and said, "If there is really a big civil strife, the general will definitely ask for help from the country." ”

"Good!" Yi Zhizhi bowed his head and said, "In this case, we respect the choice of His Excellency the General. ”

Seeing that the other party did not insist on this issue, Mizuno Tadashi couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, and immediately bowed down and said, "Tomorrow, I will come to visit with the sincerity of the general." ”

After Mizuno Zhongbang retreated, Yi Zhixiang glanced at Feng Renxuan and said, "You go to inspect it, you can't relax in the slightest on both land and sea, the Japanese people have always been cunning, just in case." ”

"Subordinates obey." Feng Renxuan hurriedly got up and said.

Feng Renxuan, who was waiting, left quickly, and Yan Yang said tentatively: "How many garrisons should we leave in the Wa Kingdom?" ”

This problem is more tricky, it is easy to know that it has been thinking about it for a few days, and now the Nanyang Navy itself does not have many troops, and the remaining troops must be from the Yuan Qiyi lineage, that is, from his descendant brigade, and now the first brigade itself is limited and scattered, and it is naturally not possible to stay too much in the Wa country.

However, it is not possible to have fewer troops to be stationed, and it cannot play a deterrent role, and the troops stationed in the Japanese state should not only deter the Japanese country but also deter the Western countries, after a few days of understanding, he learned that in recent years, there are really a lot of ideas to fight the Japanese state, and in the past ten years, England, the United States, and Tsarist Russia have frequently visited, but each time it is only one or two warships, for this reason, the Japanese shogunate also specially promulgated the "Expulsion Decree of Foreign Ships".

However, now that the Qing Dynasty has opened its door, England, the United States, Tsarist Russia, and even France will attach importance to the Japanese state, and if he does not leave enough troops, he is afraid that he will not be able to blockade the Japanese state at all.

"One regiment in the Marine Corps, seven warships in the Navy." Yi Zhizu said in a deep voice: "Starting next year, we will gradually recruit new recruits and send them for training, and the scale of the garrison here will strive to reach a brigade, and the navy will strive to form a small fleet of more than a dozen warships." ”

"Leave a regiment?" Yan Yangtian was a little surprised, now the first brigade can't draw a regiment of troops at all.

"There's no urgency." Yi Zhizu said in a relaxed tone: "I took one million taels of gold from the shogunate, no matter what, I should do something practical, the powerful feudal lords in the southwest of the Wa Kingdom pose the greatest threat to the shogunate, and I will fight a dozen on the way back, and I finally come here, and I should also stand up for it, otherwise the Wa State will inevitably be in chaos." ”

Yan Yangtian smiled when he heard this, "It's the Satsuma Domain that the military gate is going to fight?" ”

"Not bad." Yi Zhizu said: "Ryukyu is a vassal country of the Qing Dynasty, as the saying goes, it depends on the owner to beat the dog, the Satsuma Domain dares to send troops to Ryukyu and forcibly occupy several islands in the north of the Ryukyus, so we naturally want to take the Satsuma Domain!" Extinguish it! It is not only to support the Ryukyus, but also to remove a strong enemy for the shogunate. ”

"I'm afraid that the shogunate may not appreciate it." Yan Yangtian said: "I heard the Ryukyuan people say that Kagoshima Port is a natural harbor. ”

"It doesn't matter if the shogunate appreciates it or not." Yi Zhixiang said with a smile, "You want to forcibly occupy the port of Kagoshima?" ”

Yan Yangtian said puzzledly: "Since you have destroyed the Satsuma Domain, why don't you occupy it?" ”

"The destruction of the Satsuma Domain is to establish authority, but to forcibly occupy the territory of the Satsuma Domain, I am afraid that the country will be shaken." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "This is not conducive to our long-term plans in the Wa Kingdom, even if it is fat on the side of the mouth, we must endure it when we should endure it." (To be continued.) )