Great time travel

Chapter 15, 27 moments in the four years of Chongzhen ([-])
No.15 Moments: The Ambition of Sulao in Changzhou
In 1631 AD, the fourth year of Chongzhen in Ming Dynasty, December in the seventh year of Kanei in Japan, Changzhou Fan, Maguan, Chunfan Building

The Chunfan Building in Maguan is a private villa built by the Japanese hero and "Changzhou old man" Shou Sui Xinji, who has become famous in recent years, near the Maguan Strait. The mountains face the sea, with the blue sea in front and the mountains and forests in the back, the scenery is quite beautiful.

At the end of this spring, when the famous general of the Ming Dynasty, Huang Shi, came to Changzhou to discuss the matter of the coalition attack on Satsuma, he stayed here.It seems to commemorate his sailing to this place in spring.The owner of the building, Shou Sui Xinji, naturally accepted Huang Dashuai's calligraphy with joy, and entrusted craftsmen to make a pair of gold plaques, which were hung in front of the building, and the name of the building was officially changed from then on.

On this day, Lord Shou Sui Su occasionally had nothing to do, and was entertaining several guests and colleagues to drink and enjoy the snow on the Chunfan Tower.

Although it is the twelfth lunar month of winter when the north wind is howling and the snow is flying heavily outside, the inside of Chunfan Building is as warm as spring by the blazing brazier.As far as the eye can see, all kinds of resplendent furnishings are full of exotic styles that are different from the Japanese style-exquisite crystal glass chandeliers hang from the ceiling; instead of tatami mats, Persian carpets are laid on the ground, colorfully woven with various patterns; On the carpet stand two red sandalwood antique shelves filled with various enamel curios and glassware, and a colorful screen with gold-painted landscape paintings; in front of the screen are not Japanese-style cushions and low tables, but Chinese-style carved wood. The chairs and the Eight Immortals table, because it is winter, have thick cushions made of felt on the seats and backs, which are very comfortable.Even the brazier for heating in the corner is very elegant, adding exotic spices to the high-quality hard charcoal, making the whole room fragrant and full of spring.

The most eye-catching part of the interior is a specially built closed balcony facing the courtyard and the sea. Three walls are covered with floor-to-ceiling glass windows, and even the ceiling is inlaid with glass panels. If people stand in it, It's really like being in the Crystal Palace of the Dragon Lord!
Several foreign warriors who visited Chunfan Building for the first time were shocked when they saw the floor-to-ceiling glass windows and transparent roof that were almost like the greenhouses of later generations.I couldn’t help but move to the side of the large clear glass plate, staring blankly at the leaden gray sky in the middle of winter, the winter plum blooming resolutely in the midst of killing everything, and the snowflakes falling with the wind through the window, I fell into a trance for a while, and even stretched out my hand involuntarily to touch the snow falling outside the window, until my fingertips were blocked by the glass, and I woke up in shock.

——Standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling glass windows, they have never experienced the novel feeling of being outdoors without being exposed to wind and snow.

Seeing the trance-like appearance of those foreign warriors, all the Changzhou vassals present laughed, completely forgetting that when they first came to Chunfan Tower, they seemed to be in a general gaffe... However, the owner of this place , only 26 years old, tall and burly (by Japanese standards) Nobukichi Shousui, just smiled calmly and invited everyone to come and take a seat, which made the guests admire the demeanor of a famous minister.

Because the food and drink were not ready yet, everyone just sat in a circle around the table, drinking fragrant Lingnan oolong tea and tasting some "wagami" pastries with delicate, small, crystal clear glass tea sets, while chatting about some topics to relieve boredom.

At first, they just talked about unimportant romances, but as they chatted, they involuntarily brought the topic to current affairs.

"... This year's statistics show that there are 150 million stones in the territory. Although the rice harvest has not been bumper in the past two years, the output is not bad. As for the new crops introduced from the Ming Dynasty, the output of those sweet potatoes and potatoes is even higher. Amazing. Even though it cost a lot to send troops to Satsuma this year, the rations stored in the domain can still be used for a year after the autumn rations are stored in the warehouse. If the former master (Terumoto Mori) knew about it, he must be very pleased. !"

An old man with white beard and hair, while sipping tea, chattered, looking radiant.It's a pity that his age is really too old, not only his speech is leaky, his speech speed is slow, and his enunciation is also slurred, which makes everyone want to fall asleep, but because he is the master of the feudal lord, he has to force Patience—until he seemingly inadvertently dropped the last sentence:

"...Now that the New Year's banquet is about to be organized, my lord, Shou Sui, my lord has been hesitating for a while. When I accept the toast from the ministers at the end of this year, should I continue to follow the old rules? Or should I say something different from previous years? Woolen cloth?"

Hearing this, those foreign warriors were still dazed, but the eyes of the Changzhou feudal men who were keen to respond suddenly lit up.

——All warriors of the Maori family know what kind of incredible meaning is contained in the seemingly ordinary words above:

Fall!

Speaking of which, long before the outbreak of the last "Long March War", the relationship between the Changzhou Domain and the Edo Shogunate was already almost "enemies every day, hatred between three rivers and four seas", and it is no wonder that in another In the history of the world, the Changzhou Fan will eventually become the vanguard of the falling curtain movement.

Of course, in the history of this world, Changzhou Fan is still the vanguard and pillar of the Falling Curtain Movement.

——The ancestor of the Mori family of the Changzhou Domain was Mori Motojo, known as "the first wise general in the Warring States Period".When the Maori family was at its strongest in the Warring States Period, it once occupied 80.00% of the land in the west of Honshu Island.After Mao Liyuan died, his heir was his grandson, named Mao Liyuan.The performance of this person in history can be summed up in one sentence, his heart is higher than the sky, and his hands are softer than tofu.Because his eyes are high and his hands are low, he has all kinds of bad luck from time to time.

Therefore, in the fifth year of Qingchang (1600), the largest battle in history broke out in Japan - the Battle of Sekigahara. Tokugawa Ieyasu faced Ishida Mitsunari. Among them, the Western Army led by Ishida Mitsunari, In fact, it represented the Toyotomi family, the highest ruling family in Japan at that time.However, although Ishida Mitsunari is a representative of the Toyotomi family, he is actually the commander-in-chief of the battlefield, and the general of the Western Army is Mori Terumoto.

At that time, Ishida Mitsunari asked the powerful Mori Terumoto to be the general of the Western Army. At first, he put on airs and refused to come. In the end, Ishida Mitsunari promised that once Tokugawa Ieyasu was defeated, the Mori family would become the second largest in Japan. The big family, second only to Toyotomi's family, this uncle agreed to join the war.

By the time of the decisive battle between the East and West armies in Sekigahara, the total number of the Western Army on the battlefield reached about 10. Among them, there were 4 or 4 troops from the Mori family and the Mori family branches, the Kobayakawa family and the Yoshikawa family. However, the [-] or [-] people were unable to unite at all due to the perennial incompetence of the boss of Mao Lihui and the conflicts among the three families. They were either onlookers or turned against each other on the battlefield. has been bought by Ieyasu), in exchange for the Tokugawa family's preservation of the Maori family's territory after the war, they adopted a policy of passively avoiding war with the Eastern Army.As for the Kobayakawa family, they simply betrayed and fell to the Tokugawa family, which directly led to the defeat of the Western Army on the Guanyuan battlefield.

But the failure of the Sekigahara battlefield does not mean the failure of the entire war. You must know that at that time, Mori Terumoto himself brought ten thousand people to stay in Osaka Castle, and Osaka Castle was known as the "No. [-] in Japan" at that time. The city of golden soup, if you lead the crowd to defend the city, you may not be able to survive the Tokugawa army.

Therefore, Tachibana Tachibana, the daimyo of the Western Kingdom who was also in the city at that time, and even Mori Terumoto's adopted son Mori Hidemoto and others thought that they should defend the castle and fight to the death. Strength, so as not to be underestimated by that old turtle.But at this most critical moment, Mori Terumoto shrank his head again—he decided to believe in Tokugawa Ieyasu's promise to preserve the Mori family's territory, and surrendered without a fight.

Unexpectedly, after the war, Ieyasu Tokugawa immediately changed his face. Facing Terumoto Mori who came to beg for mercy, Ieyasu Tokugawa overturned his previous promise and cut the fiefdom of the Changzhou Domain from 120 million koku to 30 koku. poor.In this regard, Mao Li Huiyuan was dumb and couldn't tell the pain of eating Coptis chinensis, so he had to swallow the bitter wine he brewed, and then retired to become a monk to repent.From then on, the Changzhou clan hated the shogunate deeply, to the point where they hated it to the bone.

Now that the wheel of history has just rolled to the seventh year of Kanei, and only 30 years have passed since the Sekigahara War, there are still many old people in the Changzhou Domain who have experienced the war that year. And the past events of being cut off and reduced, everyone gritted their teeth with hatred.Although the catastrophe back then was mainly caused by Mori Terumoto being too stupid, hatred is hatred. Since the opening of the Edo Shogunate, the anger of revenge has been burning in the hearts of every Changzhou feudal samurai.So much so that at the annual Chinese New Year gathering, the Maori vassals of Changzhou would say "My lord, is it possible to (fall down)?" continue to wait", etc.

However, even Mori Terumoto himself may not have imagined that this sad wish, which made him regret to death, might be realized when the Mori family was just passed on to the next generation—in Kyushu this summer The conquest was a complete victory, the Shimadzu family of the Satsuma domain surrendered, and the Kyushu domains were terrified. They flattered the Maori family and the reinforcements of the Ming Dynasty to beg for mercy. The letter of surrender sent by the grandson of Takanbei Tadanobu Kuroda (Lord of the Fukuoka Domain) and other descendants of celebrities in the Warring States Period. The current Lord of Choshu Domain, Mori Hideo, once said to the left and right attendants with emotion: From this point of view, in this year’s At the Chinese New Year gathering, I might be able to answer something different.

——Based on the veiled "belly art" rhetoric of Japanese politicians, this is already a very straightforward statement that he wants to start his army next year.

Obviously, with the step-by-step expansion of strength, the seed called ambition in Mao Lixiu's chest also began to thrive rapidly.

Of course, having such an idea in my heart does not mean that I will definitely put it into practice - as a famous family that has been passed down for generations, Mo Lixiu is not a fiery hero like Oda Nobunaga, he wants to make a decisive decision For any major event, it is necessary to consult the opinions of the vassals in advance to unify the internal thinking, otherwise it will lead to disastrous consequences: the reason why Mori Terumoto was at a loss before and after the Sekigahara War, vacillating left and right, and indecisive , and finally became the laughing stock of the world, to a large extent, it was also related to the division and sharp confrontation within the Maori retainer group at that time.

As for the new generation of head of the family Mori Hidejo, the first opinion he needs to refer to is the opinion of the "old man" Nobukichi.

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After listening to the words sent by the feudal lord, facing the bright eyes of the guests, Shou Sui Xinji just drank another cup of tea in a leisurely manner, and then replied slowly, "... what does the lord mean?" , I already know it. It’s just that some of it is really puzzling! If it’s an enemy of the shogunate, isn’t the feudal clan already planning it? And if it’s going to go to Beijing and Shangluo, it’s probably too early Bar!"

"...Master Shou Sui, with our current military power and prestige, can't we still send troops to Shangluo?" A young warrior from a noble family asked, "...the new clan of our clan was built with the method of Marshal Huangshi of the Ming Dynasty. The army has grown to [-] at present, and there are many stocks of food, fodder and ammunition. The Shimadzu family, the strongest in Kyushu, has surrendered, and the rest of the feudal clans in the Western Kingdom are all in fear. Even if there are still two or three secret agents, such as Tosa The family of Fanshan, the family of Dangjin, the family of Jizawa, the family of Shimabara, and the family of Matsukura of Shimabara are also very far away from our Changzhou domain, and the number of soldiers is small, so they are powerless to stop our army from sending troops. From this point of view, our army's Even if the Eastern Expedition to Shangluo cannot be said to be a universal response, at least it can make the feudal clans not help each other, so why can't they send troops?"

——The samurai shogunate in the middle ages of Japan is such an unreliable system. The shogunate must maintain an overwhelming advantage over the vassal state at all times, so as to maintain the safety and security of the entire shogunate system.If the shogunate shows signs of weakening, then there will be a sad prospect of betrayal and the collapse of the wall; or at least this kind of situation where the rebellion breaks out and no one cares about the safety of the shogunate.

"...How can things be so simple? Do you know how many heroes successfully went to Luoyang around the Warring States period? The Ouchi family, the Hosokawa family, the Miyoshi family...but apart from the last Lord Nobunaga, which family is there?" To win the world? Isn’t it because the middle way collapsed, turned from prosperity to decline, and the hegemony became empty from then on?”

Shou Sui Xinji shook his head repeatedly at this, "...Even for Nobunaga, it took more than ten years from the success of Shangluo to the domination of the world! So, for my Mori family's journey, Shangluo to Beijing is just a The beginning is not the end! Compared with four years ago, General Tokugawa's family is indeed much weaker, but it is not so weak that it can be wiped out in one battle. You have to prepare for the battlefield for several years or even more than ten years preparation.

There is a proverb in the Ming Dynasty: "Sharpening a knife does not make a mistake in chopping firewood".Since the fall of the curtain cannot be accomplished overnight, in order to fight for a long time, the rear must be cleaned up!I remember that after Toyotomi Taiko sent 20 troops to win the battle of Odawara Castle and wiped out the Hojo family, the overlord of the Kanto, it was clear that the situation in the world was settled, but it still took another year to wipe out the Mutsu and Dewa princes in the northeast. Only then did he calmly mobilize the soldiers and horses of various feudal vassals to go to North Korea--if it hadn't been done in advance to sweep the holes and cut off future troubles, I'm afraid that after Toyotomi Taige's crossing the sea and attacking the dynasty suffered a little setback, chaos would immediately break out in the remote areas of Ouyu !

In the same way, although our clan broke the shogunate first, and then flattened Satsuma, the military power deterred the domestic.But the current situation in Kyushu can only be said to be roughly determined at best. Most of the vassal states have only secretly sent letters to surrender, and have not yet publicly surrendered, so it is not reliable.There are also the Hirado, Karatsu, and Shimabara Shufans, who are even more die-hard Saba factions. They continue to use the Shogunate and the Shikoku Tosa clan as foreign aid and insist on being enemies of our army.Even Nagasaki, which was placed by the shogunate in Kyushu, has not been wiped out so far. In the past few months, it has continued to contact Western merchants through Nagasaki Port to help the shogunate import saltpeter and ordnance from overseas..."

While talking to the crowd like this, he dipped his finger in the tea and drew a rough map of Kansai, Japan on the desktop, "...for my domain, next year is indeed the time to start erecting the banner of the downfall, But you must not only think about going to Luoyang to enter the Pingan capital, but forget the safety of the road behind. Instead, you need to proceed step by step. In any case, you must first pull out the nail of Nagasaki, and at the same time force all the feudal clans of the Western Kingdom to stand in line and send troops together... "

It's just that just now, several maids have already brought up the wine and dishes.Shou Sui Xinji stopped talking, led all the guests to hold their fists together, and prayed before the meal with a pious expression - as batch after batch of Changzhou new troops completed their training in Liaodong and Fujian, they returned to Japan one after another , Jesuit missionary and gunnery instructor Duncan's "Loyal to the King and Patriotic Catholicism" also entered the Changzhou Fan: all the Changzhou new troops were baptized collectively during the training period and converted to the "Loyal to the King and Patriotic Catholicism" "The Japanese variant of "Emperor Zhong loves Changzhou Catholicism"...

And the invincibility of the Changzhou New Army and Daming Funing Army (in order to get technical assistance from the Jesuits, Huangshi’s army was baptized very early) proved in a sense that The supernatural powers and effectiveness of Catholicism——Since ancient times, the Japanese nation has had the habit of imitating and following the strong. Therefore, after the victory of the last "War of Conqueror", the feudal lord Maori Hideo took the lead, together with many important officials of the Maori family. After converting to religion, he officially became "Cheejitan Daimyo" (the nickname given to Christians in medieval Japan), and the merchants and commoners of the Changzhou Domain followed suit one after another when they saw this... Then, those princes who surrendered to the Changzhou Domain The daimyo, in order to please the Maori family, were also baptized and converted one after another.

——So, no matter how pious, at least in just a few years, the Jesuits have added nearly one million "Lambs of the Lord" in Japan...

After the prayers are over, a few plates of cold dishes are served first, mainly pickled pickles and small dried fish that are more common on Japanese dining tables.Because it is an ordinary food that they usually eat, everyone in the room didn't move their chopsticks very much. They just listened to Shou Sui Sui and continued the topic just now. Shou Sui Su turned around and pulled a young beautiful boy with red lips and white teeth and delicate features, and presented it to everyone. Introduction... Until then, all the guests suddenly realized that this beautiful boy who was only ten years old was not a "little surname" or male favorite, but an envoy sent by the Catholic Church in Kyushu Island. The name is Amakusa Shiro Tokisada, and his father was originally a retainer of the famous "Kirishidan" daimyo Konishi Yukyochang in the Toyotomi era.

After the Battle of Sekigahara, the defeated Governor Konishi was beheaded by the Tokugawa family, the territory was changed, and the retainers scattered and became ronin.Amakusa Shiro Tokisada's family also came to Nagasaki Port, continued to believe in Catholicism devoutly, and organized a secret church underground to resist the "ban on religion" promulgated by the Tokugawa shogunate.And since he was a child, he was smart, proficient in teachings and Western medical skills, known as a "child prodigy" Amakusa Shiro Tokisada, and was even praised as a "Holy Son" by Christians in Kyushu, and he can be called an idol-level star figure—regardless of his age Little, as long as he waved casually, fans would come and work hard for him!

——At the end of the Muromachi Shogunate, as the Portuguese and the Spaniards arrived in Japan successively, Catholicism spread rapidly in Japan.By the 80s, there were more than [-] churches in Japan, and the total number of Japanese Christians who were baptized and converted reached hundreds of thousands.

However, since the ultra-conservative Ieyasu Tokugawa founded the Edo Shogunate, he has always been hostile to Catholicism. He has issued "bans on churches" many times, ordered the killing of missionaries, destroyed churches, and carried out various cruel and violent acts against Catholics across the country. The bloody suppression, including Kyushu Island, which has the most Christians, is the hardest hit area for the above-mentioned persecution, forcing the Catholic Church in Kyushu to turn to underground activities... After more than ten years of such dark and miserable days, the people on Kyushu Island Christians and missionaries were suddenly pleasantly surprised to find that a crusade came to Japan with the sound of a cannon in Changzhou! ! !

As early as four years ago during the "Long March War", the Changzhou New Army and the Daming Funing Army were attacking the coastlines of the Kyushu feudal clans one by one, and repeatedly used shells and swords to "persuade" the Kyushu feudal clans to withdraw from the illegal activities against the people of Changzhou. During the just war, they were also ordered not to continue embarrassing the "Chezhidan" in their own territory... When they attacked Satsuma this year, the Changzhou New Army and the Daming Funing Army beat the Kyushu feudal clans again along the way, focusing on beating them hard After a few times, their attitudes were not correct, and they still hooked up with the shogunate, and they did not completely abandon the name of the "prohibition order", and warned them that it would not be an example.

Discovering that the "Chezhidan" in the territory actually had such an incredible backing, the princes on Kyushu Island had no choice but to push their boats one after another. Christian!Even the shogunate in Nagasaki Port, after being attacked several times by fanatic Christians with bombs tied to them, was too frightened to seriously implement the "prohibition of Christianity".

Although the shogunate has repeatedly promulgated various orders to lock the country and ban religion in recent years, but with the big rebel Changzhou Fan taking the lead in singing the opposite tune, the orders of the shogunate are basically a piece of waste paper west of Kyoto.On the entire island of Kyushu, only a few vassal states most loyal to the shogunate, such as Hirado, Karatsu, and Shimabara, still insisted on the shogunate's "ban on religion" and refused to waver, but this also aroused the great anger of Japanese Christians... …

In short, the hundreds of thousands of Japanese Christians on Kyushu Island are the best "fifth column" for the Kyushu Raiders of the "Crusaders" of the Changzhou Domain.And in the plan to end the curtain that was discussed with Marshal Huang of Huangshi and the Lingao Senate before Shoufu Nobuyoshi, these Japanese Christians on Kyushu Island will play a more important role-in any case, the truce with the shogunate four years ago At that time, Changzhou Fan signed the peace treaty in black and white.So if the Changzhou Domain wants to tear up the peace treaty and bring down the curtain, it is best to concoct a name that can be justified.

Therefore, after Shousui Nobukichi summoned Amakusa Shiro Tokisada and his godfather, and inquired about the church power situation in Shimabara, Nagasaki and other places, he planned to speak to the feudal lord Mori Hideo in a few days, and advised the feudal clan to try to fund the These Kyushu Christians have a batch of ordnance, ammunition and salaries, so that they will raise their flags in the spring of next year and launch attacks on Hirado, Karatsu, Shimabara and Nagasaki, etc., which still insist on standing on the side of the shogunate...

Of course, the local armed forces that the Catholic Church can pull up, even if there are some ronin warriors as the core, are still a bunch of mobs.Passing on some information, setting fire to sabotage, and so on is okay, but directly confronting the regular army of the vassal state is a bit difficult.

However, the Changzhou Clan did not expect this mob to achieve any great things. As long as they build up their momentum, the Changzhou New Army, which is sharpening their knives, can enter Kyushu on a large scale under the banner of "protecting the faithful" , Thoroughly wiped out the remnants of the shogunate here.

Then, according to Shouzui Nobuyoshi's thinking, Mori Hideyoshi could imitate Toyotomi Hideyoshi Taiko's Kanto conquest and summoned the world's princes to besiege the Odawara Castle of the Hojo family. At the same time, he summoned the princes of Kyushu to lead troops to the alliance.If someone is willing to bring troops over, they can just let them participate in the battle of Nagasaki against the shogunate army.If someone shirks and perfunctorily refuses to participate, it means that the vassal state's thinking and position are very problematic, and it needs the Changzhou New Army to move there and "educate" with shells.

In this way, after Nagasaki is conquered and all the feudal vassals of Sami are wiped out, the lord of the feudal lord can accept the pilgrimage of the daimyos of the Western Kingdom in Nagasaki, and call himself Saiguo Tanti (the official name of the old samurai in the Kamakura shogunate), thus gathering the Kansai three Soldiers from more than ten countries sent troops to Shangluo to compete with the Tokugawa family for supremacy...

A military and political strategy like this should have been stuffed in my heart.Unfortunately, the Japanese do not have such a strong sense of secrecy at the moment, and this matter is close to a conspiracy. Even if it is leaked out, the remnants of the Kyushu shogunate will have nothing to do... So Shusui Nobukichi said indifferently at the wine table out.And after hearing this seemingly perfect plan to end the curtain, everyone in the room was full of admiration, and all kinds of flattery words poured in as if they didn't need money, and everyone chanted "God bless", "Jihad must win", stretched out his hand and made the sign of the cross without mentioning it.

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After a while, all kinds of hearty hot dishes were brought up by the maids one after another: fragrant salted fish stew; "Oden" made with fried eggs, dried tofu and potatoes; and chicken The meatballs made with pork have also been deep-fried. They are yellow and crispy in appearance. They are matched with mushrooms and bamboo shoots in the mountains, braised tofu in oil with yellow and white inside, almost transparent shrimp dumplings, and selected high-quality vermicelli. Wait, just looking at it makes people very appetizing; even the few vegetables are fried in a wok, which looks shiny and oily.The accompaniment drink is also a high-end foreign style wine.

Although there was a tradition of abstaining from eating meat in ancient Japan, it was strictly observed by the public officials and some devout Buddhists.And everyone here is a samurai, relatively speaking, they don't abuse their stomachs so much: even Toyotomi Hideyoshi had wild boar hot pot in his early years!What's more, with Changzhou Fan's "conversion to God" and "Western learning eastward" in recent years, and a large number of new troops returning from training in the Ming Dynasty, many insightful people in the fan think that the "meat ban" needs to be abolished. The bad habit... In short, all the guests are eating Nanban wine, their faces are full of oil, and they are very happy.

Then, there was another more extravagant dish - several strong servants took turns to serve many small iron charcoal stoves, and placed a hearth burning with high-quality white charcoal in front of each guest. , the beating flames happily roasted the net woven with copper wire.Another maid used long bamboo chopsticks inlaid with silver tips to pick up a piece of fat and thin pork belly and put it on the copper net.The copper grill grilled by the charcoal fire has excellent heat transfer performance, and there is a stinging sound immediately, and the room is filled with a tempting smell of meat—these meats are marinated with good spices and then grilled, and they are much fatter The juice is excellent.In addition to barbecue, there are also grilled fish, grilled squid, grilled scallops, grilled corn and other dishes to choose from. It is even more delicious when dipped in sweet and sour tomato sauce or spicy sauce mixed with pepper. The taste whetted everyone's appetites and made them sweat profusely.As the host, Shou Sui Xinji saw this, and thoughtfully ordered someone to bring a refreshing orange-flavored "Australian soda" to quench his thirst.

Although soda is not a rare thing in the traveler's base camp on Hainan Island, it is still extremely rare in Japan, because with the rather crude sealing conditions of this era, soda is easy to go out after a long time-go It's just fruit-flavored sweet water when it's inflated.Therefore, the packaging must be made of special thick glass bottles, with corks on top, and then tied tightly with wire.Twelve bottles are packed in wooden boxes with checkered boxes, and the journey is so long, so the price is naturally very expensive. It is almost regarded as a fairy dew by the Japanese, so they immediately praised the generosity of Shou Suisu.

At the same time, many singers and geisha dressed in brightly colored kimonos and thickly painted, also bursting into the banquet room like butterflies, bursting into smiles under the clapping gesture of a middle-aged housekeeper.Or sit down and fiddle with musical instruments, sing and perform, or stick next to the guests, pouring wine to flatter... Before long, all the people at the banquet were drinking to the fullest, and they all drank with their prostitutes and had a good time. look!

On the other side, looking at the sumptuous food and wine, smelling the fragrance of powder around him, and the heirs of famous families respecting him during the banquet, he thought of the heroic, 26-year-old "long-term master" who pointed out the country and reprimanded the army just now. "Old Zhou Sui" Shou Sui Xinji, couldn't help feeling a lot of emotions for a moment, suddenly like a dream - who could have imagined that just nine short years ago, he was just a poor wanderer begging with a knife on the streets of Osaka?
——Shousuijia, originally from the Kai Takeda family in Japan, and the Kai Takeda family from Genji. The ancestor of Shusui Nobukichi was also a son of a certain family governor of the Takeda family. He has been known for his quick-witted mind and ability to steer the rudder at the wind.After Katsuyori, the last governor of the Takeda family, was defeated and killed in the army, he became the guard of a ronin and fled Kai with his family. He traveled all the way to the Kansai region of Japan, wandering among the feudal clans, but he never found a way to become an official.It was not until the generation of Shusui Nobukichi that he was lucky enough to be hired by the Changzhou Clan eight years ago, and then he was promoted to the head of the Ashigaru group, with a salary of fifty shimi per year.

Given the closedness of traditional Japanese society, if there is no special encounter, the future of Nobukichi Shousui is estimated to have stopped here. Compared with the hundreds of thousands of ronin who are still begging with knives in Japan, at least they have become officials. He was quite lucky to be successful.

However, in the second year after Shou Sui Xinji became an official of the Maori family in Changzhou, the Changzhou Fan had a trade dispute with a group of "sea bandits". fake money.After their counterfeit money shop was seized by the feudal clan, this group of strongmen went on and on, occupying the Xiaguan port of the Changzhou feudal clan, and openly blackmailing the Changzhou feudal clan.So angry that Changzhou mobilized [-] troops to crusade.

Shou Sui Xinji was also in the camp of the Changzhou Army at the time. He thought that he would surely capture hundreds of pirates who landed ashore, but the result of the battle was shocking—these so-called "sea bandits" were all armored soldiers , There are also many powerful artillery to aid in the battle. Every time a cannon is fired, the earth shakes and the mountains shake.

After retreating in a chaotic retreat, that night, the chief of the Changzhou Fan Army found out that Shoufu Xinji could speak Chinese and his brain was very active, so he promoted him to be a servant general and went to negotiate with the "sea bandits" on the opposite side.Then after hearing that the boss behind the fake money shop of the "Sea Bandit" was actually Daming's Crown Prince Shaobao (the official title of Marshal Huang at the time), all the Changzhou warriors turned green with fright.They estimated that someone must blame themselves this time—in the end, this infinitely glorious task once again fell on Shou Sui Xinji, who had just returned from the enemy camp. The elder of the Changzhou feudal family was sent to Daming to apologize to the crown prince Shaobao.

——In this way, Shusui Nobukichi turned from the head of the Ashigaru group to the head of the family in just one day, and the speed of promotion can be called a miracle!
At that time, the two deputy envoys of the Changzhou Domain who accompanied Shou Sui Xinji to Daming kept instilling in him the principle of "the master's family is the greatest" along the way, and kept hinting that Shou Sui Xinji had to be at the "critical moment". Step up and bravely "take responsibility".Shou Sui Xinji was naturally impassioned, but he was cursing in his heart--I have only enjoyed the treatment of a family elder for a few days, and I haven't even asked for a wife, who would be so stupid to do seppuku.

In short, even though Shou Sui Xin Ji’s salary has risen to [-] shi (actually, it’s just an empty name, and he didn’t even get a grain of rice or a penny at that time), but this ungrateful thing still doesn’t seem to have the slightest bit. The consciousness of devoting himself to sacrifice for Changzhou - after he landed on Changsheng Island, he fell to the ground as soon as he saw Marshal Huangshi, took all the responsibility for Changzhou Fan, and fully accepted the other party's proposal during the negotiation All requirements: Since Huangshi's request is not too much, the two parties quickly reached an agreement that Huangshi can continue to trade his copper coins in Japan, but all copper coins must be sold to the Changzhou Fan, and the Changzhou Fan uses their own The sales channels are sold, and the profits are divided between the two companies in half.

In this way, with the conclusion of the agreement, the elder Shou Sui Xinji was finally able to go back alive-for the above-mentioned agreement, the Changzhou Fan was basically satisfied, at least he did not kill Shou Sui Xinji to vent his hatred, because this not only realized In order to achieve a win-win situation, we can also form a strategic partnership with Daming.

Then, the sale of counterfeit currency is really lucrative. With the continuous influx of copper coins from the Ming Dynasty into the Japanese market, in just half a year, Marshal Huang and the Changzhou Fan respectively obtained a net profit of 100 million taels of silver from this transaction—" There are no permanent enemies, only permanent interests." This famous saying once again showed its correctness, and a large amount of income made the originally half-hearted Maori family become desperate.In addition, in order to cultivate "our own people" in Japan, Marshal Huang also signed a secret treaty with the Changzhou Fan, which stipulated that any personnel changes related to Huangshi in the Changzhou Fan should seek Huangshi's consent in advance. In this way, it is guaranteed that Shou Sui Xinji can always occupy the top level of Changzhou Fan.

Since then, as the agent of the "Ming Kingdom" in Japan, Nobukichi Shusui, who was only the head of the Ashgaru group a year ago, has been a well-known old man of the Changzhou feudal clan since then, and he has also used fake money trade to control the Maori family. Fully 3000% of the fiscal revenue, and fully responsible for the trade work with the Ming Dynasty, soon became more and more popular... Next, in order to create momentum for Mr. Shou Sui Xin Ji Su, when training the Changzhou new army, Marshal Huangshi He spared no expense in making several sets of full-body wax figures for Shou Sui Sui, and pasted the portraits of Shou Sui Sui all over the dormitories of Japanese officers and soldiers, so that they could see Shou Sui Xin Ji's solemn posture and profound expression no matter they were eating or practicing. and taught them repeatedly: "...From the Onin Rebellion to the present, Japan is undergoing major changes unseen in [-] years. For the sake of the emperor and the Choshu Domain, every ambitious Japanese should learn from Mr. Su. Eyes and mind!"

In addition, Huang Shi also bet on his reputation, and gave a very high evaluation of Shu Sui Nobukichi, a young Japanese talent: "...Shou Sui is the greatest statesman, military strategist and diplomat in Japan since 3000 years." He is a living national hero of the Yamato nation in Japan! It is a great honor for me, Huangshi, to work with the foresighted and great personality Shou Sui.”

Under such influence, most of the officers and soldiers of the Changzhou New Army have become fanatical admirers of Xinji after returning to the country. Once they talk to others about their past experiences in the Ming Dynasty, they will often sigh with emotion. : "...Although the Han people are proud and arrogant, they all admire Master Shou Sui from the bottom of their hearts. Every time they talk about him, they will call him 'Su Boss' or 'Shou Sui Su Lao' with full respect!"

In the spring of the third year of Kanyong, the Changzhou Fan defeated the shogunate army, killed the Tokugawa family naked, and fled. He has become a star idol in Japan, and is known as the top legendary wise man who surpassed Hanbei Takenaka and Kanbei Kuroda, the "famous military advisers of the Warring States Period" in the past. Even the shogun sighed why he couldn't get such a virtuous minister!

Although a few months later, with the death of Emperor Apocalypse of the Ming Dynasty, Huangshi once lost power in Fujian, and the support it provided to its Japanese allies was not as strong as before.But at this time, Shousui Xinkichi was already full-fledged in the Changzhou Fan, and his reputation was so high that no one dared to suppress it casually. In addition, he had always been cautious, so Shousui Xinkichi only gave up part of the authority in the Fan, We got through that difficult time smoothly.

Next, with the rise of the power of the Senate of Lingao traversers on Hainan Island, Shousui Xinji's power was once again consolidated-as a smart person, Shousui Xinkichi has always been soberly aware of the source of his power, He has always adhered to the position of being tough on the shogunate and the alliance of the "Ming Kingdom" (in fact, against the Marshal Huangshi and the "Australian" traverser group in Hainan Island), and vigorously promoted the comprehensive and friendly cooperation between the Changzhou Fan and General Huangshi. The Japanese dumping of industrial products, the export of red copper and silver, and the joint conquest of Satsuma, etc., have always cooperated well. By the way, they have also perfectly hidden the shady scenes of "Japanese traitors" that they have not seen in the light of helping the Maori family's Eastern Expedition. Under the grand blueprint of the Tokugawa clan to fight for the world...

sex

In short, according to Nobuyoshi Shusui's calculations, there are rumors of troubled times now, and the grand war between the Mori family and the Tokugawa family for Japan's hegemony may take one to two generations to finish, and it may take some time during the period. Other heroes will emerge, and the Maori family will need to deal with them carefully... Therefore, in my life, the Changzhou Fan must not be able to do without the support of foreign aid from the Ming Dynasty, and my position as "Su Lao" can be safe and secure.

On the other hand, Shousui Xinji didn't have any more extravagant thoughts after securing his old position in his family. First of all, no matter how famous his reputation was, Shousui Xinji was an "outsider" who was airborne in Changzhou. "Although the Changzhou vassals admired and respected him very much, they treated him as a guest. It would be another matter if he wanted to be the lord; If the score is lower than the upper limit, it will be ruined.In the end, as an "intellectual" who is proficient in literature and history, he also knows what happened to Wang Mang after he usurped the Han.Therefore, Nobukichi Shousui thought that after the Mori family won the world, if he could obtain the former leadership position of the Hosokawa family, he should be satisfied.

However, just as Shusui Xinji was sipping the fine wine in his glass and thinking about his brilliant life in the future, he was interrupted by a sudden shout——looking back with some displeasure, he saw a seemingly The half-awake and half-drunk samurai leaned against the glass window facing the sea at some point, pointed at the Seto Inland Sea outside, and shouted loudly inarticulately, "...ship! Ship! Come and see! The boat is coming!"

When everyone in the room heard the words, they were taken aback for a moment, and then burst into laughter, "...Hahahaha! On this Seto Inland Sea, which day is there no boats coming and going? What is there to make a fuss about? Are you from Shinano or The mountain monkey in Kai has never seen a boat in his life.”

But the samurai who shouted was still incoherently defending, "...No, this ship is so big! Really! It's very big..."

"...a big ship? Could it be that the Dutch merchant ship came to do business? Or is it that General Huangshi's fleet is here again?"

A Changzhou vassal curled his lips disapprovingly, got rid of the entanglement of a few geisha, and followed him to take a look, and was immediately stunned, "...Eh? There is indeed something wrong with these ships...Master Shou Sui ! Is there such a ship on General Huangshi's side?"

But at this time, Shinji, the follower, did not return, because he had also noticed the strange shape of the hazy shadows of the boat on the sea level, and regardless of the cold wind outside, he stood up suddenly and pushed open the glass window, and then took out the boat from his arms. A telescope, against the falling snowflakes, leaned forward and looked out.

The situation shown in the eyepiece immediately made him gasp—in the dark and turbid waves of the Seto Inland Sea, three blue-gray giant ships as towering as mountains were plowing through the waves like fierce horses. Its size makes the Japanese merchant ships along the way look like sampans compared with it.Moreover, although these three huge ships have no sails or row of oars, they can still gallop towards the west at a high speed, which is faster than the dragon boat races of the Ming Dynasty... It seems that they want to pass through the Maguan Strait (closed) The old name of the strait), leaving the narrow Seto Inland Sea, sailing into the vast ocean outside the strait.

Shou Sui Xinji squinted his eyes and scanned these strange giant ships repeatedly, but he still couldn't find any clear traces that could prove their identities. He only saw a golden painting on the top of the mast of one of the giant ships flying. Red flag with sickle and hammer pattern!
"... What country's flag is this? Portugal? Spain? The Netherlands? None of their flags seem to be like this! It's obviously not the military flag of Marshal Huangshi, or the morning star flag of the Senate... It's more likely that it's not Japan. The family crest of the samurai family..."

Looking at this extremely unfamiliar flag, Shou Sui Xinji felt his mind was full of question marks, "...Damn it, where did these big ships come from?"

At the same time, more and more Japanese people on the shore began to notice the strange situation at sea, and then rushed to each other, shouted, danced and passed the news, and even lit a beacon, which eventually caused the entire town of Shimonoseki to panic. It was all chaos—whether they were citizens, fishermen, farmers, merchants, or warriors, they were all shocked to the point where they were almost insane.Some people rushed to the pier, some climbed up the big trees, some jumped onto the roof, and some people were riding small boats by the sea, all staring dumbfounded at the huge team that appeared in the Maguan Strait. strange ship...

And those big ships seemed to have sensed the commotion on the shore, so when they passed the narrowest part of the strait, they made a sharp and loud noise together:
"...beep—"

Surprised by the sudden sound of the siren, the telescope in Shou Sui Xinji's hand dropped out of his hand and fell into the snow downstairs.

Looking up again, I found that those giant ships had passed through the Shimonoseki Strait and were gradually moving away. Shusui Nobukichi had no choice but to shake his head, and first ordered the housekeeper, whose face was pale with shock, to go downstairs and pick up his binoculars. When I came back, I randomly found a chair and sat down. For a while, I only felt that my mind was in a mess. All kinds of messy thoughts seemed to be coming in one after another, which made Shou Sui Xinji feel a deep headache.

Taking a deep breath of the cold air pouring in from the window, and watching Shinkichi rubbing his veins throbbing at his temples, for some reason, he had a vague premonition—that his own life, which had been basically defined, seemed to be Once again, a layer of uncertain fog...

However, just when the Japanese archipelago was shocked and inexplicably surprised by the "big iron ship" and "demon army" from Vladivostok.The "Australian" traverser base located in Lingao County, Hainan Island, is still ignorant of the arrogant behavior of these "citizens" in Japan for the time being.