That afternoon, Zhao Xin met Shibata Kakuzo in his office. After he heard about the assassination of Date Shigemura, he knew that the time had come for him to seize the Hisikari (pronounced the same as Yi) gold mine.
As early as more than 40 years ago, gold deposits were discovered in the Hisikari area in the northern part of Kitakyushu Isa County. The Satsuma Domain has conducted intermittently exploration and small-scale mining over the years, but only in the upper mines with low grade above an altitude of 230m; But the real riches are at the bottom.
Although this gold mine was known as a "world-class gold mine" in another time and space, based on the drilling conditions from the 18th to 19th centuries, if Zhao Xin did not dig, basically no one would be able to find it; because of the rich mineral veins here The minimum depth required a straight excavation of 300 meters under the rock. Later, Sumitomo Mining analyzed it for ten years and drilled 18 boreholes to determine the location of the vein.
Some people say it’s wrong. How did Sado Jinshan be dug?
In fact, the excavation of the Sado Gold Mine is quite difficult. Due to technical limitations, the deepest excavation can only go down to a few hundred meters. The ancients did not have drilling exploration technology, so they usually opened a small hole in the mountain that could only accommodate one person, which was called a "raccoon hole", and then checked to see if there were any mineral veins inside. If there is one, dig a large area; if not, give up and look for it again.
The 400-meter-long mine dug by the Tokugawa shogunate could only reach a depth of 10 centimeters per day; a ventilation tunnel had to be excavated next to it at the same time. With the level of illumination provided by oil lamps in this era, trying to find gold and silver ore in tunnels where one cannot see anything would blind the eyes of many people.
At this time, Shibata Kakuzo said again: "Igumori and Watarisori-sama sincerely request Zhao Wangdian to send troops to Qingye City first to calm people's hearts." After he finished speaking, he saw Zhao Xin's expressionless face, so he continued: "To show sincerity, I will Each feudal clan will recruit another five hundred... no, eight hundred people will be handed over to you."
Zhao Xin suddenly asked: "How much foreign debt does Sendai Domain still have?"
Shibata Kakuzo hesitated for a moment and replied with some embarrassment: "As far as I know personally, the debt within and outside the domain is now as high as three million taels of gold."
Okay, it’s basically a big bottomless hole!
Since the early 18th century, the Sendai Domain has basically been unable to make ends meet due to depletion of gold mines, floods, famine at dawn, as well as the lack of attendance and money to pay for officials. Zhao Xin and Katsuyama Denzo's North Sea trading company allowed the samurai to take shares, which only alleviated the samurai's personal debts and did not help the Sendai Domain's finances.
And starting from the freeze disaster in the third year of Tenmei, the stupidest thing the Sendai Domain's financial officer did was to transport all the rice in the territory to Edo and sell it, making a lot of money. As a result, the harvest failed in the second year, and the Sendai clan had no food left, so it could only buy high-priced food. Just the few batches of rice sold by Zhao Xin almost emptied the Sendai clan's treasury.
According to the literati's notes of this period, the business in Sendai Domain was in decline, and the towns and cities were sparsely populated. It did not look like a territory of 620,000 koku daimyo at all, which shows how poor it was.
Zhao Xin thought for a moment and said, "Have you ever thought about what to do after defeating the Satsuma Domain?"
Shibata Kakuzo said: "Master Igumori wants to force the shogunate to release the young master by teaching the Shimadzu family a lesson."
Zhao Xin shook his head and said: "Either you don't do this, or if you want to do it, you must be determined to fall out with the shogunate. Otherwise, the shogunate will at most pinch its nose and admit defeat, but if Shikisaburo and his mother are not allowed to go back, you still can't do anything. "
Shibata Kakuzo was stunned when he heard this, and fell out with the Tokugawa family? How can this damn thing move?
Not to mention anything else, there were tens of thousands of Tokugawa family members including Hatamoto and Imperial family members, and they could queue up from Nihonbashi to the gate of Aoba Castle several times. And from an economic point of view, the Sendai Domain was carrying a foreign debt of 3 million taels of gold. In addition to rice, the only special products in the territory were tatoos, and at most some handicrafts.
After listening to the difficulties described by Shibata Kakuzo, Zhao Xin smiled: "Beihai Town can provide Sendai Clan with an interest-free loan. Three million taels, ten years."
Kakuzo Shibata: "!!!"
Early the next morning, Shibata Kakuzo took a truck back to Beihai Town, and then took a boat back. The matter that Zhao Xin mentioned to him yesterday was so big that he couldn't make the decision at all. He had to go back and report it to Ishikawa Village as soon as possible.
Pingtai did not go back with him. He had another important thing to report to Zhao Xin. So Zhao Xin dedicated an afternoon to discussing the situation of "one series for all generations" with Tai Ping.
"That one is just sixteen years old this year and has been on the throne for seven years. His biological father, Xianyuan Palace, is still alive and well. That one is the sixth in line. Besides him, he has nine sons and two daughters."
As a native of the island nation, Pingtai was actually very wary. After all, that person was not a human being at all. In the minds of the people of the island country, he is the representative of "god" in the world. Therefore, when Pingtai reported to Zhao Xin, he never dared to call him by his first name.
"Oh no! It's really possible to give birth." Zhao Xin heard that besides that one, he also had nine sons, which made him verbose. But he thought about it. After all, they are all a bunch of guys waiting to die. It is their job to keep marrying wives and having children. It is not their turn to do something as trivial as running the country.
Heita continued: "There is also the Fushimi Palace family. His family now has three sons and five daughters. In addition, forty-four years ago in the tenth year of Kanho (1743), the fourth son of Kanin Palace was named From Chun Palace, he was adopted to the Yingsi family and named Yingsi Fuping, who was just granted the title of Guanbai this year."
Zhao Xindao: "How many children does this Ying Si Fuping have?"
Pingtai said: "There is one legitimate son and one daughter each, and three children each of the concubines."
Zhao Xin counted that person's relatives on his fingers...Forget it, it's better to stop counting. Ten fingers are not enough. He thought for a while and said to Heita: "Then let's start with Takaji's house."
This matter is too important, so so far, Zhao Xin has not told anyone except Pingtai. But now that he was about to take action, Zhao Xin decided to find two people to be Pingtai's helpers, who would also monitor each other.
At this time, he saw Heita looking uneasy, and said: "Heita, you have been following me for four years. We walked from Iwaki Mountain to Aomori, and then crossed the sea from Aomori; in my heart, the seven of you including Shino And A Miao, we are already like relatives. Now that you have been naturalized and changed your Chinese surname, everything you do must stand from the perspective of China. You have been with me all these years, and I am not a dead rabbit. People who are like dogs. Work with confidence, and you will have a bright future in the future."
"Yes! I am willing to die for you!"
Zhao Xin laughed and said to Pingtai: "Marry a wife as soon as possible and spread your branches. Only in this way can you be worthy of your lost family."
A few days later, Shibata Kakuzo returned to Aoba Castle, and he first went to Ishikawa Murafumi.
"Greetings, Lord Igumori!"
Ishikawa Murafumi asked eagerly: "How? Does Zhao Dian agree to send troops?"
"Zhao Dian has agreed!"
"Great!" Ishikawa Murafumi was overjoyed when he heard this, and quickly asked: "When will Zhao Dian arrive?"
"Lord Igumori, I have something else to report to you."
"Oh?" Ishikawa Murafumi frowned and looked at Shibata Kakuzo, and said in a deep voice: "What's the matter? Tell me."
Shibata Kakuzo said: "Zhao Dian wants to lend a sum of money to this domain to solve the financial difficulties of this domain."
Pie in the sky? Ishikawa Murafumi smiled and said: "How much will Zhao Dian lend us?"
"Three million taels of gold, ten years, no interest."
"What?!" Ishikawa Murafumi stood up immediately. The folding fan in his hand closed and opened, opened and closed. After a long time, he couldn't help but sigh.
Being able to take charge of the Tsunoda Ishikawa family's 21,000 koku territory since he was thirteen years old, and becoming the patriarch of the 620,000 koku daimyo, Ishikawa Murafumi is not stupid. He quickly understood Zhao Xin's intention, which was to force the Sendai clan to compete with the shogunate with their swords and guns!
Shibata Kakuzo looked at the gloomy Ishikawa Murafumi and said in a deep voice: "What Zhao Dian means is that if this domain does not do this, even if the Satsuma domain teaches a lesson and avenges the late lord, Edo will not be able to do so." We may not necessarily admit defeat. Instead of doing this, it is better to show force and ask the shogunate to release the people."
"What evil did I commit in my last life? How could I meet someone like Zhao Dian!" Ishikawa Murafumi lamented: "Do you know that if this domain relies on Zhao Dian and goes against Edo, the world will never be peaceful again? day!"
Complaints are complaints, but Ishikawa Murafumi knew in his heart that just because of the six hundred feudal samurai gifted to Zhao Xin, if he did not seek help from Beihai Town, it was not certain whether he would survive the New Year!
Shibata Kakuzo leaned over and said: "Igumomo, no matter what Zhao Dian's purpose is, he has no ambitions for our country. Otherwise, with the strength of Beihai Town at the time, there would be no problem in occupying Ishinomaki or attacking Qingye City. Besides, Zhao After the bombardment of Edo last year, he only asked the shogunate to open ports in Yokohama and Juqigahama in the main domain; with the troops and horses he brought at that time, even taking Edo Castle would be easy."
After he finished speaking, he leaned forward twice, approached Ishikawamura Wen and said: "Sir, from my humble opinion, the Date family should also have the right to say where the world should go in the future..."
Ishikawa Murafumi suddenly turned his head and stared at Kakuzo Shibata like a knife. He saw that there was no false color in the other person's eyes. Then he waved his hand and said calmly: "You have been running around for days, so go down and find a quiet room to rest first." . Mamoru Watari, Mamoru Kurihara and Mamoru Kurokawa will come over in the evening, so you will have to work hard then."
"Haha!" Shibata Kakuzo leaned over to salute, and then exited the secret room.
The attendant was about to close the door of the secret room when Ishikawa Murafumi said no. He stared at Shibata Kakuzo's back until he disappeared behind the pillars, then stood up slowly while holding on to the wall. He walked out of the secret room and looked at the camellia trees in the garden, with a subtle smile on his lips.
Ten days later, Shibata Kakuzo came to Beihai Town by boat again.
At this time, Zhao Xin had returned from Fuldan City. On the road leading to Fuldan City, two regiments of the Northern Navy were moving south rapidly.
After some greetings, Shibata Kakuzo took out a letter from his arms and handed it to Zhao Xin respectfully. "Zhao Dian, this is a personal letter from Lord Igumori to you. Please read it."
This letter was written by Ishikawa Murafumi to Zhao Xin on behalf of the 16 families of Sendai Domain. In the first half of the letter, apart from words of thanks, the core content was how to carve up the Satsuma domain after the Shimadzu family was defeated; Ishikawa Murafumi proposed that the two families should equally divide the territory of 770,000 koku.
As for the second half of the letter, Ishikawa Murafumi requested that after Shikisaburo succeeds as the head of the family, he will bow to Zhao Xin. In contrast, Zhao Xin needs to help Sendai Domain withstand the military and economic pressure of the shogunate. Finally, there are the collective signatures of the sixteen family heads.
After reading the letter, Zhao Xin thought about it for a long time without saying a word, then picked up the letter and read it again. This time, he watched for half an hour.
When Shibata Kakuzo saw that Zhao Xin had not expressed his opinion for a long time, he thought he was not satisfied with the conditions mentioned in the letter, so he couldn't help but said: "If there is anything inappropriate, please let Zhao Dian make it clear."
Little did he know that Zhao Xin was not hesitating about how to carve up the Satsuma Domain at all, but that his Japanese reading skills were too low and he was too embarrassed to ask, so he thought about it for a long time before he understood the meaning of the letter.
"Izuku County, Takagi County and Isa County belong to me. You can participate in Ryukyu's trade, but don't follow the Shimazu family's idea of conquering Ryukyu."
Shibata Kakuzo finally breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this. He didn't expect that Zhao Xin only had such a small amount of territory. Although it is a pity to give up Ryukyu, that place has never been ours, and it is already very good to be able to conduct sea trade through it.
"Just do what Zhao Dian wants." After saying that, Shibata Kakuzo leaned over and saluted: "When will we send out troops?"
"Seven days! We will set off by boat in seven days!"
The Northern Navy is going to send troops to attack the Satsuma Domain! The news spread quickly among the islanders. Not long after the news came out, an island soldier did not go to Chai Zhong, but directly applied for an interview with Wang Yuanfang.
"Sergeant Quanshan, salute the chief!"
Quan Shan is the farmer Quan San who was rescued by Zhao Xin in the offshore after leaving Yokohama. Now he has become a naturalized citizen and directly adopted the surname "Quan". Among the hundreds of surnames, there is a real surname. It is said that it is derived from the surnames Zi and Mi.
Wang Yuanfang had some impression of this Quan Shan, otherwise he would have agreed to see him. This person worked very hard during recruit training and also ranked among the best in the assessment.
"Take a break. What do you want from me?"
"Chief, Tingsuo is going to fight Shamo Fan?" Quan Shan's Mandarin was not very fluent and he was stumbling.
"Yes. Say what you have to say!"
"I, I request to participate in this rebuke operation."
Wang Yuanfang heard about what happened to Quan Shan. He chuckled and said, "What? You want to go back for revenge? But I heard that your home is in Baihe Domain, and we won't stop the boat there."
Quan Shan grinned and said: "It doesn't matter, yes, as long as you can fight back. Let those samurai masters also have a taste of the troubles of my mud-legged paper."
"Okay. Count you in, I will help you. Is there anything else?"
"No, no more. See you at the chief's village!" After saying that, Quan Shan saluted, turned around and left.
On the first day of September, the Thunderbolt completed a wave of transshipment work to clear out the refugees, and after resting for two days, it slowly left the port with two regiments of the Northern Navy and an Aoba Battalion.
On the deck, Zhao Xin and others waved frequently to the crowd seeing them off on the pier. At this time, Lin Ziping and Sato Shinbuchi looked at the island residents who were cheering to see them off, and felt in their hearts that these people could no longer be considered islanders. No matter how they tried to guide them, they would not listen to them at all.
Although he has been naturalized, he still considers himself an islander because of his pride as a scholar. Facing Beihai Town with all kinds of novel technologies and all kinds of magical equipment emerging one after another, although he admired and envied them, he still wanted to spread them back to make the shogunate more powerful.
At this moment, Lin Ziping looked at the Thunderbolt slowly receding, thinking of the dangerous Satsuma Domain ahead, and not knowing when he would be able to return home, he couldn't help but feel worried. Under the agitation of his mind, Lin Ziping seemed to be talking to himself, and seemed to be warning Sato Shinbuchi next to him: "When they leave, there will be no peace in the world!"
