Masahiro Abe felt that he could not accept such harsh conditions, and he replied with righteous words: "Your Excellency, the shogunate is not aware of the incident of the Satsuma Domain's attack on your department, but in order to maintain the friendship between the country and the Ming Kingdom, we can compensate 100,000 taels of silver as medical expenses and bereavement for the casualties, and we cannot agree to the rest of the requests." Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info"

In fact, the first request to hand over the murderer is also reasonable, but Abe Masahiro did not dare to respond positively, so he could only vaguely pass by. Although the Shimazu family was in the Western Army during the Battle of Sekigahara and should have been on the side of liquidation after the war, Tokugawa Ieyasu was afraid of the strong combat power of the Shimazu Army under the command of Shimazu Yoshihiro on the one hand, and respected such a relatively powerful opponent on the other hand, so he basically maintained the original status of the Shimazu territory, which also made the Shimazu family a powerful feudal clan worthy of Date and Maeda in addition to the Tokugawa family.

Such a person, the shogunate is unwilling to provoke easily, not to mention that the murderer is the eldest daughter of the Shimazu family, it is said that she was trained as a samurai since childhood, and is expected to become a candidate for the governor of the family in the future - although men are inferior to women, but history is not without precedents for women to serve as the governor, for example, the famous general Tachibana Michiyuki in the Warring States period passed the position of the governor to his daughter - if it was an ordinary samurai, under the pressure of the shogunate, perhaps the Shimazu family would hand it over, but when it came to Shimazu Chiyo, it was absolutely impossible.

Xia Nan didn't seem surprised by Masahiro Abe's attitude, and he didn't plan to get the other party to agree with just a few words.

"Abe Laozhong, come on, come on, show you something."

Puzzled, Masahiro Abe followed Natsuminami to the side of the shore, which was directly opposite a small hill next to the village of Koshiba, with a dense forest on the hillside, about two miles from the shore. Puzzled, he asked, "Your Excellency, what do you want me to see?" ”

Xia Nan smiled slyly: "Let Lao Zhong see how our warships fight." William, let's get started. ”

William said to Captain Van Bommel: "The plan begins. ”

Van Bommel gave the order to the herald in his capacity as captain. The order was transmitted to the gun deck, and the gun commander, who had been waiting for a long time, gave the order to all the gun crews on the shore side: "One round of long-barreled cannon salvo, ready!" ”

All long-barreled cannons, including bombarders and 24-pounder guns, began methodical preparations for firing, with gunners moving shells, loading them into their muzzles, piercing the caption through the firing door, inserting the fuse, and waiting for the firing.

"Fire!"

The gunners lit the fuse one after another, and the gun deck resounded one after another "zizi" sounds, like the sound of a group of rattlesnakes crawling by.

Masahiro Abe was dazed on the deck, and was about to ask again, when the hull of the ship shook violently, as if an earthquake had occurred, and at the same time there was a deafening sound, "Boom, boom, boom". Masahiro Abe was not mentally prepared and fell directly on the deck, wahwa shouted, "Is Tiangong angry? Is it an earthquake or a bolt from the blue? ”

Natsu Nan "kindly" helped him up - such a wonderful show, specially prepared for this shogunate envoy, and he could not be missed - pointed to the opposite side and explained: "This is not an earthquake, it is not thunder, it is our warship that is firing cannons!" ”

Masahiro Abe looked in the direction of Natsu Minami's guidance, and was dumbfounded. The shells fired from the lower part of the ship's side flattened a large area of the trees on the hillside, and the trees were crooked and in a mess, which shows the great destructive power. Before he could react, the bomb's time-lapse fuse detonated the bomb, and with two muffled sounds, two flames flickered, and the huge shock wave knocked down the surrounding trees, blasting a large crater visible to the naked eye on the ground, followed by two mushroom-shaped smoke rising into the air.

Masahiro Abe's mouth opened wide and he couldn't speak. Such a cannon is as powerful as a landslide and the ground cracks, and any one of them can kill the "national collapse" on the castle tower in seconds, and it is the first time in my life that I have seen it.

But before the shock was over, William issued a new order, and the herald conveyed the order to the rest of the fleet, and the center of the original one-line fleet was concave outward, and the two sides were closer to the middle, forming a fan. The center point of this fan-shaped arc is exactly perpendicular to the hillside and woods. The gun windows on all ships were opened in unison, revealing the muzzles of the guns.

"Boom, boom, boom", the whole fleet was full of firepower, all the cannons were pouring shells at the target, 12-pound, 24-pound, 59-pound solid shells or hollow explosive shells flew towards the target, and it was like a meteorite rain on the hill.

After the violent impact and explosion, when the smoke cleared, Masahiro Abe was surprised to find that not only had the woods been wiped out, but the hillside had been almost flattened by a dense barrage of shells. With such firepower, which city in Japan can resist it? I couldn't help but be shocked in my heart, this is simply close to the power of God, which is beyond the reach of human beings.

Xia Nanbei asked meaningfully: "How is the artillery of our battleship?" I heard that Edo was very prosperous, so I was interested in going and seeing it. ”

Masahiro Abe was not stupid, and immediately knew the other party's intentions. He turned to Xia Nan and knelt on the ground, and said respectfully, "If Your Excellency is willing to maintain peace with the shogunate, the contemptible person is willing to convey all your conditions to the Tokugawa Shogun." ”

Xia Nan asked leisurely: "Didn't you say that these conditions can't be agreed?" ”

Masahiro Abe wiped his sweat and said with a smile: "It's all negotiable, it's negotiable......"

Xia Nan nodded with satisfaction: "Then give you seven days, I must get a positive answer." Otherwise, my fleet will appear outside Edo Castle, and I will visit the Tokugawa shogun in my own way. ”

When Masahiro Abe heard that sweat was raining down, he defended: "How is seven days enough? Your Excellency's suggestion that your subordinates are not subject to Japanese law and that warships call at ports at will requires His Majesty's approval before they can be implemented. From Edo to Kyoto, more than 700 miles, it will take a few months to speed up the horse, and please come back in the spring of next year, and we will give you a satisfactory answer at that time. ”

Xia Nan smiled: "You treat me as an ignorant chick?" The whole of Japan knows that the emperor has no real power, he is just a puppet, and the actual ruler of Japan is your general, and no matter what conditions I prescribe, he does not need the approval of your emperor, and he has no right to make any decisions. Put away your perfunctory layman's tricks. Remember, seven days, you have to give me a satisfactory answer. ”

Unexpectedly, a Ming man knew the political pattern of Japan well, and Abe Masahiro's plan to delay the army failed, so he had to obey and then lead his entourage to hurriedly disembark and go ashore.

Masahiro Abe had just stepped on land, and the voice of Xia Nan came from the boat: "Abe Laozhong walked slowly, and in order to show his heart, he fired a cannon to show farewell." ”

Immediately after several thunderous cannon sounds, Masahiro Abe had been riding a horse, but was frightened by the sound of cannons, fell to the ground, and hurriedly helped him up left and right. Everyone looked back tremblingly, and it turned out that these cannons were only loaded with gunpowder, not shells, and were empty cannons. The group did not dare to express any dissatisfaction, so they could only leave in embarrassment.