After the banquet in the Diaoyutai was over, Guang Haijun and Mao Wenlong walked out one after another. Mao Wenlong didn't seem to be willing to be in parallel with Guang Haijun, he deliberately slowed down and fell a few steps behind.

After walking out of the Diaoyutai, the blind Guanghaijun was given preferential treatment on a small sedan chair, and then was quickly carried away by four sedan chair drivers.

Mao Wenlong wanted to speed up his pace at this time, but the attendant who was carrying a lantern in front of him to lead the way walked to the side of the path, Mao Wenlong suddenly stopped, and said vigilantly: "This father-in-law, it's not the way out of the palace over there, right?" ”

The chamberlain carried the lantern, bowed down and said with a smile on his face: "This is what Your Majesty meant, let the handsome go to see someone before leaving the palace." ”

Mao Wenlong suspiciously followed the waiter to the path, and at the end of the path was a small courtyard, and there were two guards guarding the entrance of the courtyard.

Mao Wenlong hesitated for a while, and then walked in on full alert. There were also two guards guarding the small courtyard, and the waiter who guided him talked to the two guards for a few words, and then turned to him and said, "Your Excellency, you have half an hour. ”

After the waiter finished speaking, he walked out of the small courtyard with two guards. Mao Wenlong didn't know what was going on.

"Father?" A voice rang out in the east wing. , Mao Wenlong subconsciously turned around and replied: "Chenglu? ”

Mao Chenglu suddenly happily pushed open the door and walked out, Mao Wenlong suddenly lost all his alcohol, and said in surprise: "Why are you here?" ”

Mao Chenglu immediately explained his situation to him, and the emperor gave him not any poisonous wine, but **.

The emperor didn't want to kill him, but he didn't want this matter to reach the ears of the civil officials, so he decided to give Gwanghaejun an explanation.

Mao Wenlong just thought for a moment before he understood, he looked at Yizi and said tentatively: "So Mao Chenglu died, and you survived?" ”

Mao Chenglu grinned and said, "Father-in-law, you are really smart, just now the father-in-law explained for a long time, and I only understood a little." And I just said a few words, and you will understand, father-in-law. ”

"And what about her?" Mao Wenlong tilted his head behind him, staring at the woman leaning on the lintel and asked.

Mao Chenglu glanced back, then turned his head and said a little dejectedly: "Someone will send her back to Guanghaijun in a while, and the future is not clear, but this child will be Guanghaijun's child." ”

Mao Wenlong's face suddenly fell, and he reprimanded in a dark voice in a low voice: "It's already good if you can pick up a life." What more children do you want? As long as you can survive, are you afraid of not having children?

Far away from that woman, Gwanghae-kun can be regarded as a vassal king no matter how he says it. If you get the word out about him, you won't have enough heads to cut off. ”

Mao Chenglu was silent for a moment, although he didn't dare to talk back to Mao Wenlong, but it could be seen from his appearance that he did not agree with Mao Wenlong's statement.

Mao Wenlong sighed, and then asked, "So what will you do in the future?" Has Your Majesty given an explanation? ”

Mao Chenglu suddenly said with some excitement: "Your Majesty asked me to change my name and then enter the Army Military Academy to study." Let's ask the father-in-law to change the child's name. ”

Mao Wenlong pondered for a while and then said: "Your original surname was Zhao, but this time you will change back to your original surname, and you are from Dongjiang Town, so your name is Zhao Chengdong." ”

Mao Chenglu immediately bowed respectfully to Mao Wenlong and said, "Thank you father-in-law for giving me the name." ”

Mao Wenlong paused and continued to speak: "In the future, you don't have to call me my father-in-law anymore, since Mao Chenglu is dead, the father-son relationship between you and me will be over." ”

"Father-in-law?"

"Since Your Majesty has already said that Mao Chenglu is dead, then Mao Chenglu is dead. Do you think Your Majesty is joking with us? Mao Wenlong said coldly.

Mao Chenglu was stunned for a moment, he had just escaped from death, and he really hadn't thought about this problem. Half an hour later, Mao Wenlong knocked on the door of the courtyard, and the attendant guarding the door left with him, this time really leaving the palace.

The next day, Lu Jiude took Sasuke Hamada and other Japanese businessmen to the shooting range in the northern suburbs to watch the live firing of Fran cannons and muskets.

A merchant named Yoshibei next to Sasuke Hamada was amazed by these muskets and furlong machine guns, and he said to Lu Jiude: "More than 10 years ago, during the summer battle in Osaka, these two iron cannons could at least be sold in Japan. And this Western cylinder is even more priceless, at least 3,000 per door, what a pity..."

Lu Jiude's heart sank, and he couldn't help but ask with a smile: "Why, in Japan now, can't these firearms be sold for a price?" ”

Yoshibei bent over Lu Jiude before he said, "Since the Battle of Osaka, Japan has not heard of war for a long time. The daimyo were less interested in muskets and cartridges than in decorated deerskin armor or brightly colored silk brocades. ”

Chongzhen originally expected to sell the arquebus and the Fran cannon, but in the end no one cared about it. However, Sasuke Hamada asked Lu Jiude to make a few beautifully decorated arquebuses, which he would give as gifts to the daimyo he knew.

Lu Jiude took them back to the city unhappily, and in the afternoon when he took these Japanese merchants to see silk, cotton cloth, towels, glass, ironware and other goods, these merchants began to purchase on a large scale.

It soon became apparent to the Japanese merchants that they were carrying more gold and silver than they could fully pay for the goods they wanted to buy.

Lu Jiude then introduced them to the newly established Daming Central Bank, and Wang Fengyuan, the new president of the bank, personally came forward to receive these Japanese businessmen.

It is not uncommon for Japanese merchants to lend money to foreign businessmen, for example, Macau merchants often borrow money from wealthy Japanese businessmen because of lack of funds, and then agree to return it the following year. The interest rate for borrowing funds is generally 28%-40%.

Wang Fengyuan finally decided to lend these Japanese businessmen 500,000 yuan at an interest rate of 25 percent, and the two sides agreed that each yuan was equivalent to one tael of Qingchang Ding Yin, which would be returned by May of the following year, and the interest would increase by 3 percent every month exceeded.

After negotiating the loan, Wang Fengyuan also made a suggestion to Hamada and other three business leaders, "If the three are willing to help the bank set up a branch in Japan, then the bank is willing to lower the interest rate of this loan to 15 percent." ”

Yoshibei asked with some curiosity, "What do you need our help with to set up a branch?" ”

Wang Fengyuan said sincerely: "We plan to set up a branch in Japan to provide financial guarantee or support for Ming merchants who purchase large copper mines and seafood, and to carry out exchange business between China and Japan."

However, we are not familiar with the Japanese business model, so we need someone to introduce some powerful Japanese businessmen and provide temporary cash flow when the bank is short of funds.

I wonder if you would like to cooperate with us? ”

Sasuke Hamada didn't care much about it at first, but when he heard about the exchange business, he couldn't help but ask: "This exchange business, but do you save money in Japan and then withdraw money in Ming Kingdom?" ”

Wang Fengyuan nodded and said: "That's right, for example, if you repay this loan to the bank's branch in Japan, you only need a 5% remittance of principal interest." ”

Sasuke Hamada asked tentatively: "So if I deposit a sum of money in Japan and then withdraw it in Beijing, is it enough to subtract a 5% sink from the principal?" ”

Seeing Wang Fengyuan nodding yes, these Japanese businessmen suddenly spoke out one after another, expressing their willingness to assist the Daming Central Bank in establishing a branch in Japan.

After coming out of the central bank compound in front of the Ten Princes' Mansion, Sasuke Hamada deliberately ran to Lu Jiude's side, saying that he wanted to talk to him alone.

Lu Jiude took him unappetly and came to his own courtyard. After instructing the servant not to come into the study to disturb the two of them, Lu Jiude asked Sasuke Hamada, "What do you want to talk about with the miscellaneous family?" ”

Since the interpreters were all sent away, Sasuke Hamada could only stutter in Chinese and pen talking, and talked with Lu Jiude laboriously.

"Dear sir, if, I mean, if I want to buy a large barrel, iron cannon, and * that my lord took me to see in the morning, would you like to send it to Japan on a ship from the Ming Kingdom?"

Lu Jiude was overjoyed, but he still suppressed his emotions and pretended to be curious and asked, "Why do you want to use the ships of the Ming Kingdom?" You know, we are completely unfamiliar with Japan's geography and coastal environment, don't you think this will add a lot of trouble? ”

Sasuke Hamada waved his hand and quickly explained: "That's not the case, there is a problem with the ships of the Ming Kingdom, you can use the excuse that this is a misunderstanding caused by a language barrier, and it is not a sale of firearms to Japan."

If we were to use our own ships for transportation, we would have been implicated by the shogunate's spies. ”

Lu Jiude was reserved for a moment, then nodded in agreement: "For your sake, the miscellaneous family can give you a little accommodation, but how many furlong cannons and arquebuses do you plan to buy?" ”

Sasuke Hamada thought for a moment and asked cautiously, "Then may I ask your lord, how much do you need for the two large barrels and the two iron cannons that you saw this morning, as well as *, cannonballs, and bullets?" ”

Lu Jiude immediately took out a folded white paper from his arms and looked at it, and after he read it at a glance, he raised his head and said with a smile: "There are two kinds of Fulong machine guns, weighing 1,000 catties and worth 3,000 yuan; weighs 500 catties and is worth 1,500 yuan.

There are also two kinds of arquebuses, the heavy Chongzhen one, 200 yuan each; Light Chongzhen two-style 170 yuan per door.

* 25 yuan per 100 catties, 1 yuan per 500-gram spherical solid shell, 08 yuan per 380-gram spherical solid shell, and 1 yuan per 250 grams of lead bullet. ”

Sasuke Hamada only did a little math, and knew that this price was already much cheaper than the price that those southern barbarians sold to the shogunate. Japan's consistency is not just one tael of silver, but three taels up and down.

Although the price of the Ming people's firearms was only one-third of that of the Nanban, the price was still very amazing.

Equipping 3,000 iron cannons, plus 20 large barrels, will cost nearly 600,000 yuan, plus ammunition will cost at least nearly 800,000 yuan.

If you want to do anything with the shogunate by force, you need to equip at least three of these armies, plus the training and the salaries of the soldiers, which is 3 million yuan.

The Hamada family alone could not afford to pay such a huge sum, and this obviously required the approval of the Great Administrator. What's more, it is still unknown whether Da Nayan is willing to use force against his brother.

When Sasuke Hamada thought of this, he immediately said humbly to Lu Jiude: "*How many large barrels and iron cannons, this requires me to go back and report to the head of the family, I'm afraid I can't make a promise to you for the time being..."