Baoke Zhengzhi was sitting upright, talking with the King of Yue about the past and present. ??
Unknowingly, an hour passed without the two of them noticing.
Bao Kezhengzhi looked at the upright and delicate appearance of the King of Yue and said with a smile: "Your Highness is very knowledgeable, and I am no match for you."
"This is nothing." The King of Yue shook his head and said with a wry smile: "I started enlightenment at the age of five, went to school at the age of seven, watched politics in six departments last year, and only had three days off in January. How pitiful."
"Such knowledge is all forced."
Talking about the hardships of going to school, the King of Yue couldn't explain it in words, and finally sighed: "Even after getting married, the prince has to study knowledge. It is difficult for the prince of the Ming Dynasty."
Hoshina Masayuki said with emotion: "It is precisely because of his outstanding performance that His Highness was able to leave the feudal clan and join the country!"
Having said this, the King of Yue unconsciously sat upright, his face gradually becoming serious: "This is exactly why I came to Edo."??
"Although Ezo Land is close to Honshu, it is an unowned land. Your country will not stand in the way, right?"
Hoshina Masayuki also said seriously: "The Ezo land is a place of barbarians. His Highness is willing to vassal our country but he has no objection. However, this land is barren, with only a few hundred people and a stone height of no more than two thousand -"
"I understand." The King of Yue breathed a sigh of relief: "After the establishment of the Yue Kingdom, I am willing to have friendship with your country and maintain friendship from generation to generation."
"In addition, I am also willing to marry the eldest daughter of your country."
"Main wife?"
"To be honest, I am already engaged, but I am an equal wife, not a concubine."
Hoshina Masayuki left the house and came to the Shogun's West Hall, where Nakaou is located. ??
The famous Daao is the harem of the general.
At this time, the young general Tokugawa Ietsuna was wearing a black toga and no black hat on his head. Years of pampering and pampering made his face full of nobility that made others shun him.
Sakai Tadakatsu, the elder of the shogunate, was drinking wine and watching the singing and dancing. He was sitting beside him with great interest.
"Shogun--" After Masayuki Hoshina saluted, he found a place to sit down.
The young Tokugawa Ietsuna was the fourth-generation shogun of the Edo shogunate. He was also a shogun who governed the country with culture and brought the entire shogunate into a prosperous age.
At this time, he was only twenty-three years old. He had a short beard on his mouth and looked very mature, but his face had a strong bookish air.
Hoshina Masayuki has always been proud of this, because he was the one who taught the generals from an early age that force cannot last forever, and civil rule is the foundation for the longevity of the shogunate. ??
"Uncle, what about the King of Yue?"
Tokugawa Ietsuna suppressed his curiosity and asked after the song and dance was over.
"The King of Yue from the Ming Dynasty came to Edo mainly for two things."
Hoshina Masayuki said in a deep voice: "Firstly, the Yue Kingdom will be established in the Ezo land, so it will have relations with our country. Secondly, it will ask for the clan daughter to be a concubine."
Sakai Tadakatsu frowned when he heard this: "Ezo is even more barren than Kyushu. How could the Ming Dynasty think of establishing a vassal state there?"
"It's probably the inner area." Tokugawa Ietsuna said enviously: "I heard that the Ming Emperor had more than twenty sons. Except for the prince who can ascend the throne, the others will naturally go outside."
After being married for several years, he still doesn’t have a son. How could he not be envious? ??
"I'm afraid that Ming people have plans for our country."
Sakai Tadakatsu said seriously.
"The Ming Dynasty was greedy for fame and fortune. Now we pay tribute to their country, become the king of Japan, and open Nagasaki trade, what else can we do?"
Tokugawa Ietsuna looked angry.
Obviously, for him, paying tribute to the Ming Dynasty and being canonized as the king of Japan was a great shame and humiliation.
There were constant voices of opposition at home and abroad, which made him feel uncomfortable.
"Shogun, the Ming Dynasty is powerful." At this time, Tadakatsu Sakai advised: "In Ryukyu alone, Ming people's navy can reach Edo..."??
I hesitated to say this.
As long as there is no war, the authority of the shogunate remains.
Once they fight against the Ming army, victory will be enough; defeat will shake the authority of the shogunate, shake the world, and even threaten the shogunate's overthrow.
Bureaucrats know this.
Tokugawa Ietsuna waved his hand to express his understanding.
Losing some prestige and changing from a Japanese monarch to a Japanese king is nothing. He is already a mature monarch.
"I want to marry my eldest daughter." Tokugawa Ietsuna looked thoughtful: "Unfortunately, I don't have a daughter, and my sisters have already been married."??
"I heard that Princess Heji's daughter, Songji, is lovely in appearance, smart and sensible. General Zangke will adopt her as his adopted daughter and marry the King of Yue as his concubine."
Sakai Tadakatsu said suddenly.
"Yes."
Baoke Zhengzhi has no objection.
He also has no daughter.
Tokugawa Ietsuna thought about this and agreed.
Princess Wahhime is the aunt of Tokugawa Ietsuna, and Matsuhime is her cousin. It seems unreasonable to adopt her cousin as her daughter, but it is indeed the norm in Japan. ??
Some warriors even had no sons. In order to cultivate their younger brothers as quickly as possible and establish an heir, they would adopt their younger brothers as adopted sons to avoid having no heirs.
The King of Yue couldn't care about his cousin or adopted daughter. As long as he could marry the princess, complete the marriage mission, and make good friends with Japan, he could marry anything.
After the task is completed, all that's left is waiting.
At this time, he became friends with Te Deyi and Bao Kezhengzhi. This Confucian master was knowledgeable and spoke pure Chinese.
The two of them took a boat and wandered around the entire Edo Castle, leisurely and poetically.
While chatting, a group of sloppy men suddenly appeared in front of them, clearing the way. The shabby samurai uniforms told their predicament and also explained their identities.
The person being escorted by them was a wealthy businessman sitting on a chair. He was very chubby and weighed heavily. ??
"Isn't the warrior of your country the leader of the four peoples?"
The king of Yue said in confusion.
"When Tosho Ogongen (Tokugawa Ieyasu) unified Japan, he had 80,000 bannermen under his command and fought in the north and south. But now they can only reproduce for three or four generations, and the number of samurai has increased sharply."
"The stipends from the shogunate are limited, and the knowledge and conduct bestowed upon them are immutable. Therefore, many samurai are impoverished and can only work as bodyguards with merchants."
"But even so, the long swords on their waists cannot be pawned. It is the symbol of their warriors."
"There are many such warriors?" King Yue said softly, with a hint of joy in his tone.
"There should be a lot of people in Edo." Masanochi Hoshina said: "Daimyo from all over the world came to Edo to pay their respects. Many samurai settled here, and there were many who were in poverty."??
The King of Yue curled his lips and said, "Rather than leaving these people to disrupt order, why not let me recruit them to go to Yue Kingdom? Kill two birds with one stone, right?"
Masayuki Hoshina shook his head and said with a smile: "It's okay for them to leave Edo Castle, but the price is a bit high!"
"Land, I only have land." The King of Yue turned his head and said seriously: "Become a wandering samurai in Japan, or go to Yue to become a wealthy landowner. I think there is no need to choose!"
After handing this task to Hoshina Masaru, King Goe left the prosperous Edo Castle and went to his Ezo land.
When he arrived in Ezochi, there were already residents here, and there was a small city - Fukuyama Castle.
It turns out that this is the Matsumae clan from the Mutsu region. As early as sixty or seventy years ago, they crossed the sea to Ezo, reclaimed wasteland, and built Fukuyama Castle.
The shogun had no idea. ??
After all, it is a vassal system, and even the headquarters under your command may not be able to control it, let alone the wealthy families below.
"Hahaha, I am indeed blessed by God. I gained a city as soon as I came here."
Several hundred guards, plus ten large ships, were enough to scare the entire Matsumae clan.
The head of the family, Matsumae Yukinari, had no choice but to come to see him.
The King of Yue declared without hesitation: "From now on, the entire Ezo Territory belongs to the Yue Kingdom, and you are also citizens of the Yue Kingdom."
When Matsumae Yukinari knew that the person in front of him was the Queen of Ming Dynasty Yue, he prostrated and surrendered.
But when he returned home, a group of generals and retainers were still dissatisfied and raised three hundred troops to attack at night. ??
Naturally, he was killed and defeated.
Afterwards, the Matsumae clan completely surrendered.
After some statistics, my dear, the entire Fushan City only has more than 3,000 acres of land, and is divided into seven villages, with more than 800 residents and 43 warriors.
This is the result of decades of hard work.
Although Fushan City is called a city, it is nothing more than a wooden village. It was built at the mouth of a river, which is a dangerous location.
"The city was renamed Gusu."
The king of Yue said seriously. ??
"Your Majesty, it should be Kuaiji."
Zuo Changshi on the side corrected.
"Kuiji is a mansion." The King of Yue shook his head: "A city is a city. These are two different things. They cannot be confused."
…
Heilongjiang General Mansion, Heilongjiang City.
As early as February, the sea surface began to melt, but the land was still covered with heavy snow. It was not until mid-March that merchants began to appear at the dock.
Heilongjiang City is four feet high and twenty miles in circumference, enough to accommodate 100,000 people. ??
Outside the city, there are two satellite cities.
One is a dock port and the other is a granary.
One big and two small, acting as horns to each other, not only have a diversion effect, but can also completely control this bay.
Over the years, 200,000 acres of farmland have been reclaimed near Heilongjiang City, where corn and rye are grown.
Now it is self-sufficient.
Heilongjiang City was built only three to five years ago, but it has already become the center of Heilongjiang, with a settled population of more than 30,000.
"Oh haha——"??
At the pier, a thousand-stone fishing boat towed a huge black creature and slowly sailed into the port. It caused a lot of waves along the way, and there were countless sharks following it.
A huge harpoon held it tightly, with a rope attached to the end, pulled straight by the ship.
Seeing this, more than ten small fishing boats in the port quickly gave up their positions and watched with envy as it entered the port.
"Whale, such a big whale——"
"You're going to make a fortune, Datou Zhao——"
Captain Zhao Datou stood proudly at the bow of the ship, with his hands on his hips, feeling very proud: "I can't help it. I just went to sea for three days and found this thing. This is Mazu's blessing."
"I deserve it, Datou Zhao, to get rich——"??
The sailors on the ship were also very happy, and they were all arming themselves, thinking about how to spend the money they earned.
Catching whales is very hard, and in return, the captain must spit out part of his money to reward the sailors.
Of course, you can also directly reward a fixed amount, but the capture success rate is not necessarily high.
Naturally, captains will habitually adopt the method of dividing profits. After all, once they don't capture it, they don't have to pay anymore, right?
The arrival of a whale made the whole port noisy.
Dozens of businessmen waited impatiently on the pier, and then stepped directly onto the boat to measure the size of the whale up close.
Zhao Datou, just like his nickname, has a larger head than ordinary people, and is extremely conspicuous on the deck. ??
Facing the eager observation of the businessmen, he took a bag under his eye and sat with great interest, saying as he smoked: "You have to take a good look, I won't do anything without it."
The merchants echoed casually, but their eyes were fixed on the whale, and they chanted without letting up for a moment.
"Light the incense——" Zhao Datou lit a stick of incense and waited happily while smoking.
The sailors were also accustomed to it. While wiping the deck, they packed the fish in the cabin and sold it to the small traders.
They were all familiar merchants, so the prices were transparent. They were weighed out and sold out in less than half an hour.
Only the businessmen who were watching the whales were still making plans.
This is a special way of buying and selling in Heilongjiang - Douyu. ??
As the name suggests, the whole whale is bought directly instead of
Pick it up and buy it in pieces.
At this time, a group of businessmen relied on naked eye observation to calculate the profits, and then bid, so that the highest bidder would win.
If the whale is larger than estimated, it will be a big profit; if it is smaller than estimated, it will be a loss.
Fishermen are also happy to sell whole fish because of the convenience.
The whale is very large, and it is very troublesome to cut it up. It takes several days, plus the labor of hiring a butcher, which is time-consuming and expensive.
Rather than doing this, it would be more convenient to get cash directly.
Of course, the prerequisite for this kind of transaction must be that the whale is intact. ??
Once something goes wrong, you will be ostracized by the entire chamber of commerce, and no matter how many fish you catch, you will not be able to sell them.
Therefore, both buyers and sellers are very honest.
"The incense is almost finished-" Zhao Datou suddenly put away his pipe and shouted: "Shopkeepers, please make an offer quickly!"
A loud shout brought the businessmen back to their senses, and the abacus in their hands stopped.
"I'll pay you fifteen hundred yuan——"
"One thousand six!!"
"One Thousand Seven——"??
Prices fluctuate one after another, and the competition among merchants seems fierce, but they already have a tacit understanding with each other and will never make a loss-making transaction.
So, half a quarter of an hour later, the price stopped at one thousand eight hundred and seventy yuan.
Zhao Datou nodded and expressed satisfaction: "That's one thousand eight hundred and seventy yuan."
At this time, the merchant who made the bid came out with a sad face and an abacus: "Hey, the bid is too high. It seems that this one will lose money."
Zhao Datou squinted his eyes and didn't believe a word.
The rest of the merchants are not discouraged, because there are plenty of whales and there will be cheap ones.
In the blink of an eye, several guys came to the deck carrying a box of silver coins, paying with one hand and delivering the goods with the other. ??
Zhao Datou divided the money on the spot, dividing half of the silver coins according to the credit.
The businessman, with dozens of people, pulled the whale to his own slaughterhouse and began to cut it up.
Fish fat can be used as candles, fish skin can be used as armor, and even leather boots...
Whales are full of treasures. In the eyes of businessmen with many connections, buying whales can only make more money.
The soap official had arrived early, looked at him with a smile, and received a hundred silver dollars in taxes while sitting there.
Everyone profited from it and smiled happily.
??
