Regarding the brawl incident that occurred in the Tianjin Haiphong Battalion, Zhu Youzhen did not take it to heart. Although Tokugawa Tadanaga had the will to rebel against his brother, in fact he did not have that strength at all.

As a third-generation shogun directly designated by Tokugawa Ieyasu, Tokugawa Iemitsu gathered the most outstanding talents of the Tokugawa family. Tokugawa Tadadenaga, who had competed with his brother for the position of shogun, was naturally closely monitored by these people.

Tokugawa Tadanaga was also well aware that he and his retainers were being watched by his brother's men. Therefore, among the personnel sent for training, there were only 2 or 30 of his direct retainers, and more than 100 ronin samurai were recruited from various places.

Among the remaining 1,000 people, there are more than 400 mountain people who have a rough personality and like to huddle, followed by criminals, homeless people, landless peasants and small traders. These people were either recruited or forcibly brought onto the ship.

It was precisely because of the complicated flow of personnel sent by Tokugawa Tadanaga that the retainers he appointed to lead the team could not control the situation at all. In particular, the ronin samurai who were recruited did not accept the recruitment because they wanted to be loyal to Tokugawa Tadanaga.

Originally, these ronin samurai were a samurai class with fiefdoms, but due to the continuous change of daimyo by the Tokugawa shogunate, these people lost their fiefs and names. It was because they wanted to overthrow the current shogun that they had to accept Tokugawa Tadadenaga's solicitation.

Among the rest of the personnel, except for the mountain people, who accepted the relationship of money and employment, most of the others were forcibly put onto ships and sent to sea. Some people didn't know where they were going until the ship arrived in Tianjin.

The more than 1,000 people who were forcibly put together would be called a miracle if there was any discipline and unity. In Japan, the difference between Shinong and industry is so great and unsurmountable that it far exceeds that of the Ming Dynasty.

In Japan, if a farmer or merchant stands in the way of a samurai and does not kneel down to apologize, the samurai should not hesitate to draw his sword and kill the untouchables who stand in his way. If the samurai did not do so, he would be seen as weak and incompetent by the other samurai.

But after they arrived in the Ming Dynasty, they suddenly found that these noble warriors had to be trained together with untouchables who did not even have surnames, and according to the instructors sent by the Ming Dynasty, the first condition for holding the position of captain or above was to learn to write Chinese characters and speak Chinese, not to see their status as warriors in China.

To make them even more angry, they also need to shave the hair that represents their samurai status and prohibit the wearing of swords that symbolize samurai status. If it weren't for the fact that there was an ocean between the Ming and Japan, and they had already spent all the commissions given by Tokugawa Tadacho, they would not have obeyed the orders of these Ming instructors.

However, as the training officially began, these samurai found that the food provided by the Ming army was too rich, and even high-ranking samurai who had served as a close minister of a certain daimyo had never enjoyed such food every day. And for those civilians, being able to eat rice every day is already their biggest dream.

The fact that they were now able to enjoy the same food as the samurai had completely forgotten the resentment they had had against Tokugawa Tadashi when they were forced aboard. Compared to the gratitude of those samurai to Tokugawa Tadadenaga, these civilians were more grateful to the Ming instructors in the camp who trained them.

They didn't think that Tokugawa Tadanaga would provide such a good meal for these cannon fodder. A few days after the training began, Tokugawa Tadanaga's representatives proposed to the instructors sent by the Ming Dynasty that the food standards be lowered and that the money be spent on training and weapons.

However, this proposal was quickly rejected by the Akito instructors, and as the logistics of the training camp were regularized, a distinction was made between the food of the soldiers and the officers.

Previously, allowing these civilians to eat the same food as themselves had already made some samurai quite unhappy. Now that the food standards of soldiers and officers have been distinguished, it is not all former samurai who serve as officers, but some civilians who have performed well have occupied many positions.

When these grievances accumulated, some of the samurai, who had not been appointed as officers, provoked the brawl. But after three months of training, the civilians, who were considered cowardly and incompetent by the samurai, apparently did not want to be bullied by these samurai masters anymore, and they unexpectedly fought back.

As a result, the scene of the samurai unilaterally teaching civilians in the past has evolved into a brawl between the same part of the common people of the samurai. Losing the bonus of *, the samurai with fewer numbers suffered in the brawl, and then the brawl was suppressed by a company of the coastal defense battalion called by Li Chenfang.

Chongzhen, who heard the news, in addition to sending an additional team of Jinyi guards to the coastal defense battalion in order to better support Li Chenfang, agreed with Li Chenfang's decision to execute the main responsible. However, he slightly changed the method of execution, allowing the personnel to apologize.

For Zhu Youzhen, he trained this Japanese unit not to rebel for Tokugawa Tadadenaga, he hoped that this army could become an assistant to the Ming Dynasty. Even if this army returned to Japan, the Ming should be able to exert enough influence on this army.

Therefore, he would not allow the samurai sent by Tokugawa Tadashi to consolidate the entire army and thus truly gain command of this army. Of course, for now, the British brought by Andre are much more important than this Japanese trained army.

After arriving at the Zizhulin Wharf in Tianjin, Methwold and André stayed at the inn on the shore for three days, and then received permission to allow them to enter the capital with no more than five retinues.

In the past, there were only two ways to travel from Tianjin to Beijing: boats and horse-drawn carriages. The boat ride is slower and takes about 6 days. The speed of the carriage is faster, and it only takes about 2 or 3 days.

However, since the opening of the Beijing-Tianjin railway line at the end of June, the journey from Tianjin to Beijing has been shortened to one day and night.

Methwold and his entourage, who were riding on a railroad coach for the first time, quickly realized the benefits of this horse-drawn carriage running on the tracks. First, it is smooth and not bumpy; The second is that you can rush at night.

What surprised them the most was that a train carrying no less people and goods than a sailboat on the canal, but it could be several times faster.

It was only after Methwold himself took the train that he understood why, these days, André would be in his ear to speak highly about the benefits of building a railroad.

After getting off the train at the station outside the Chaoyang Gate in the capital, Methwald stepped on the cement platform in front of the station, and then said to Andre with determination: "Regarding your plan to build a railway in China, I will write to those respected friends and ask them to say something for you in front of the king."

If the king could agree to build a railway, I would personally be willing to contribute £300 to the project. ”

After stepping on the cement platform under his feet, Andre said with a firm face: "Mr. Methwald, I vouch for your wisdom in my personal reputation, and you will be rewarded several times, or even ten times, for your wisdom. ”

Methwold nodded reservedly at Andre and said, "I hope so." However, I hope that this trip to China will have a successful conclusion..."

As general manager of the British East India Company, Methwold was essentially the representative of the East India Company's shareholders in Asia, and he had almost all the power of the British East India Company in Asia.

But alas, he did not have the authority to sign the agreement on behalf of the King of England. Therefore, although Methwold was summoned and entertained by Chongzhen, there was no progress on the agreement between the two sides.

Methwold came to Beijing this time, hoping to gain more rights and interests on the basis of the agreement signed by Andre.

For example, the East India Company's ships were subject to a tax package system, and the company paid 3,000 pounds of tax to Daming every year, and then the ships of the East India Company docked at Chinese ports within the year, and no additional excise tax was paid.

He also requested the purchase of a plot of land near the Zizhulin Wharf in Tianjin, so that the company could build a warehouse and a separate wharf to facilitate the transportation of goods between the company's ships in Tianjin.

These rude requests were naturally rejected by Chongzhen. After meeting Methwold, he did not bother to summon him again, and after sending a little eunuch to deal with the Englishmen, he put on hold any further negotiation of an agreement.

Methwold ran into the wall a few times before he retracted the lions' big mouths and returned to the agreement that André had already negotiated.

Methwold originally wanted the East India Company to monopolize trade and diplomatic relations with the Ming Dynasty and become an intermediary between China and Britain.

But the Chinese officials he spoke to seemed well aware of the difference between the East India Company and the British court, and several of them could speak simple English, and it was clear that they were not indigenous Asians who knew nothing about Europe.

So Methwold, finding that he could not deceive these Chinese officials, finally honestly focused only on the company's commercial interests. As for the diplomatic ties between China and Great Britain, he was willing to extend his full assistance on behalf of the East India Company.

It was only when Methwold recognized his position with the East India Company that the negotiations on commercial trade were officially on the right track.

Unlike Andrew, who could not commit to anything, Methwold wielded no small amount of power. For example, in the previous agreement, the two countries had the right to shelter and stay, repair, and trade in each other's ports.

Although Methwold could not decide whether the British ports could give such powers, he could state on behalf of the East India Company that British ports on the route from Africa to Asia would be open to Ming ships.

The East India Company also obtained the right to have the same treatment as Chinese merchant ships in the open ports of the Ming Dynasty and overseas ports.

What excites Methwold the most is that although the Chinese are reluctant to sell a piece of land to the East India Company, they agree to lease a piece of land to the company to build a warehouse and a trading house.

However, Methwold also promised not to build military installations on the land, and not to exercise any judicial power on the land. In case of violation, China has the right to repossess the land and its outbuildings.

During the long negotiations, Methwold felt that he was not dealing with an Asian kingdom, but with European countries. Because, no matter how much he flattered the Chinese emperor, he didn't get any additional benefits.

In addition to the strengthened trade deal, Methwald also agreed to the Chinese's request to send ships to accompany Chinese merchant ships to Europe when the northeast monsoon rises.

Methwold also decided to move the East India Company's headquarters in Banten to Tianjin, and he himself would set up an office in Beijing to strengthen communication with the Chinese emperor.