Back to Ming Dynasty with Industrial Revolution System

Chapter 487 Three Conditions
On the second day after Zheng Zhilong and Zheng Zhihu arrived at the foot of Edo Castle, the envoy sent by the shogunate was not only Tadaki Abe alone, but had hundreds of people.These people couldn't wait to know what conditions they had to buy 50 new muskets and [-] cannons from the Kyushu Army other than [-] taels of silver.

"I'm really flattered by so many people." Zheng Zhilong saw a group of Tokugawa retainers coming to visit in formal attire, with the corners of his mouth slightly raised.You don't need to guess to know their intentions.

"Second brother, come quickly, this is Tadakatsu Sakai, whom I often tell you about. Without the help of this good brother, it would be difficult for us to obtain the excellent port of Yokohama Port." Zheng Zhilong said to Zheng Zhihu.

"Ahem..." Tadakatsu Sakai couldn't help blushing.Of course he heard Zheng Zhilong's sarcasm, let alone mocking him in front of his colleagues, Sakai Tadakatsu almost found a crack in the ground.

"Since we have dealt with each other before, I will cut to the chase this time. I heard that your Kyushu Army is willing to sell us 50 muskets and [-] cannons at a price of [-] taels of silver, and you will also provide them to us for use by the shogunate." Use the ammunition of war to train our new army." Said Tadakatsu Sakai.

"That's right. But you should also know that 4000 muskets and 4000 cannons are enough to create an invincible new army. It's not worse than our 50 men. Our [-] men can easily defeat [-] soldiers The coalition army, if you have [-] new troops, you can defeat [-] fallen coalition troops head-on. With [-] new troops as the main force and tens of thousands of old-style troops, how can you sweep the Western Army?" Zheng Zhilong said, " Can a new army capable of defeating [-] fallen coalition forces be built with [-] taels of silver? We know that these firearms are very valuable, and we have additional conditions."

"That's exactly what we want to ask. I don't know what the additional conditions of your army are?" Tadakatsu Sakai, Tadaaki Abe and a group of important officials of the shogunate asked curiously.

The reason why they came to hundreds of high-ranking retainers at once was to inquire about the conditions hidden behind the Kyushu Army!50 muskets, [-] cannons, [-] taels is already the price of cabbage, but people with a little brain will think that the additional conditions of the Kyushu Army are placed behind the key, and it must be a very expensive price. .Otherwise, the Kyushu Army has no reason to send charcoal in the fire at this time.

"There are additional conditions...Kanagawa...that is, those places in Musashi Kingdom..." Zheng Zhilong said.

"I knew that the Kyushu Army had bad intentions and wanted us to cede the Musashi Kingdom? Do you know that the Musashi Kingdom has a population of one million and is the most prosperous place in Japan? Even Edo City is within the territory of the Musashi Kingdom! What do you mean? Is the Edo Castle of our shogunate also ceded to you?"

"This is not a condition, this is a naked provocation to our shogunate!"

One by one, the shogunate retainers jumped out and said.

The Musashi Kingdom is the core of the shogunate, and many of the shogunate retainers' fiefs are still nearby. The proposal to cede the Musashi Kingdom has seriously touched their interests!

"It's good for you to listen to me. The prosperous place of Musashi Kingdom belongs to your shogunate, and our Kyushu army has no interest. At the same time, we will not ask you to cede other places as concessions, which will not be good for your shogunate's reputation. Good. I'm afraid your people will overthrow your high-ranking names if this continues." Zheng Zhilong said as if he was considerate to them.

This made Sakai Tadakatsu and others flattered.

"Then what is the price of the Kyushu Army?" Abe Tadaaki asked, "Please believe in our sincerity and don't sell us any more. As long as the conditions are not excessive, I think the Shogun will be happy to agree to your conditions." of."

"The conditions are very simple, there are only three. First, the shogunate grants us the privilege of building and operating railways. That is to say, other than our Kyushu Army, other people, including the shogunate, are not allowed to build and operate privileges without the approval of our Kyushu Army." Zheng Zhilong State the first condition.

Tadakatsu Sakai and others were in an uproar.It's not that they feel that this condition is too much, so they are in an uproar, but that they don't understand what a railway is at all?What is it that makes it so important, and it can make the Kyushu Army rank its privileges as the first of the three conditions!
"A railway is a road paved with iron bars, just like paving a dirt road with stones, it becomes a stone road. We use iron bars to pave the stones, and it becomes a railway." Zheng Zhihu couldn't understand these famous names , so he explained on the sidelines.

After being told by Zheng Zhihu, these big names are even more unbelievable.

"Iron bars are laid on the road, how do I walk? Wouldn't it be a horse dragging a carriage to roll over the iron bars? Could it be possible to travel faster this way?" The daimyo speculated on the magical function of the railway.

"You don't have to worry about this for the time being. You just need to know that we will help you build roads in Dongying Kingdom, but this road must be used by us." Zheng Zhilong said.

Abe Tadaaki and the others were still confused.The dirt roads in this era are all public. It seems that the Kyushu Army wants to make the roads private.

"Please rest assured that the new road we built will not conflict with the original road. In the future, you can pay us some fees and use the railway we built."

"The second condition is to open the coastal ports and conduct comprehensive free trade with us, instead of just opening the two cities of Nagasaki Port and Hirado Castle to trade with us." Zheng Zhilong continued.

"No!" Tadakatsu Sakai was the first to stand up and object.

If it was difficult for the Kyushu Army to build a railway for the Dongying Kingdom in the past, it was difficult for them to judge the gains and losses, then they immediately realized the seriousness of the Kyushu Army's demand for free trade.With the strong competitiveness of Kyushu military products, this is not free trade, it is simply dumping products in an all-round way!Use a steady stream of goods to plunder the raw materials and silver here!

"This matter is of great importance. Comprehensive free trade will harm our interests, and craftsmen will lose their jobs, resulting in a large number of refugees. If there are too many refugees, there will be troubles and they will become the next batch of rebels." Abe Tadaaki said.

"You should know why Satsuma, Kyushu, and Tosa have sprung up in a few years? Mostly because of the trade with our Kyushu Army, they saw the strength of our China and continued to grow in trade with us. Only by yourself can you hang up the shogunate. If you want to completely defeat them, you have to cooperate with us." Zheng Zhilong bewitched.

(End of this chapter)