golden scales

The third year of Longjing in the Ming Dynasty, the second year of the Japanese commitment, [-] in the Christian calendar.

Guisi New Year's Day.

In the cold wind, there is a mountain city standing on the territory near the sea.

The flying three-star flag shows that the owner of this mountain city is none other than the foreign daimyo Mori who once occupied the Ten Kingdoms.

After the failure of the Sekigahara War, the Maori family, which was an important town for the Western Army, received a reduced seal, and now only the territories of Zhoufang and Nagato with 36 koku are retained.It is no longer the grand occasion of owning ten countries and as high as 120 million stones.However, the Maori family was not depressed because of this, let alone surrendered to the Tokugawa clan.

In the secret room of this mountain city known as Zhiyue City, the contemporary feudal lord Maori Tsuna sat on the couch, and in front of him was an old and important minister sitting in a state of turmoil.

"My lords, can the curtain be reversed this year?" Mao Li Tsunahiro put his hands on his lap, and he had already guessed the reply of the retainers.

Because year after year, every New Year's Day pilgrimage, the head of the Maori family will ask his retainers this question, and the retainers always answer "My lord, the time has not yet come"!

According to the script of another time and space, this dialogue will continue until the Falling War 200 years later.The Choshu Domain under the command of the Maori family eventually became a powerful vassal, forcing the Tokugawa Shogunate to return power to the Emperor, and he himself became the mainstay of the new government.

"The time has not yet come, my lord." The elder Yitian Yuanyao responded.

Mori Tsunahiro breathed a sigh of relief, not knowing whether it was disappointment or laxity.

It is conceivable that this will be another year of mediocrity.

"But my lord," Yitian Yuanyao said suddenly, "Recently, the Ming Kingdom has taken some strange actions."

With the issuance of the Tokugawa shogunate's national lock-up order, non-chartered ships were not allowed to go to sea, and only China, the Netherlands, and North Korea were allowed to trade in designated ports.Even Japanese nationals abroad are not allowed to return home.So the Japanese don't know much about what's going on in the world.

Masuda Yuanyao, as the elder of the Changzhou feudal family, of course could not go to sea in violation of the lock-up order, but as the eldest grandson and successor of Masuda Yuanxiang, he presided over the internal affairs, finance and taxation of the feudal clan, and obtained a smuggling channel by chance. It was some North Koreans who rode the night.The goods of Ming Dynasty were transported to Xiangdao by small boat, and then flowed into the four islands of Japan from Xiangdao.

Through these smuggled Ming products, the Maori family's finances have improved to a certain extent. At least they don't have to exchange their territories for gold and silver in order to repay their debts like when the seal was reduced just now.

"Oh? Has the civil strife been pacified in the Ming Dynasty?" Maori Tsunahiro's impression of Daming still stays in the early years of Chongzhen.At that time, the civil strife in Ming Dynasty had just started and had not yet formed a scale. No one believed that Ming Dynasty would be overthrown by a group of refugees, so the news that reached Japan said that Ming Dynasty would soon quell the civil strife.

"Yes, my lord." Yitian Yuanyao said: "The Ming Dynasty not only quelled the civil strife. I heard that their crown prince also sent troops to occupy North Korea. Now the entire North Korea is almost managed by Ming officials."

The Japanese don't care much about foreign affairs, so the Koreans know that the new emperor of the Ming Dynasty ascended the throne and was changed to the Yuan Dynasty, but the Japanese heard about it a few years ago.

"What does this have to do with my Maori family?" Maori Tsunahiro asked.

"My lord, if we can bypass the shogunate and directly trade with North Korea and even the Ming Dynasty, it will be a great opportunity to strengthen our family's strength." Masuda Yuanyao suggested.

"But if the shogunate finds out..." Mori Tsunahiro hesitated.

"It's the businessmen who violated the country's lock-up order. We just need to arrest them and convict them." Yitian Yuanyao didn't take it seriously.

This kind of thing happened endlessly in the Warring States Period of Japan.The shogunate also did not have the ability to investigate in depth.

Maori Gangguang said: "It would be great if this is the case, and I will assign you to take charge of this matter."

"I will not disgrace my orders!" Masuda Yuanyao prostrated himself on the ground, his forehead lightly touching the tatami.

……

It takes only one day's sea journey from Hagi Castle to reach a small island called Xiangdao.Smugglers from North Korea piled up goods here to guard against the shogunate.Originally, this barren and desolate island was uninhabited, but now it has formed a densely populated market.

Masuda grabbed the hem of his clothes.With the skill of a mediocre samurai, he jumped onto the simple pier.He had long heard from his subordinates that the place was prosperous and that there were even geisha, but he was still taken aback by what he saw with his own eyes.

This market is all low Japanese-style wooden houses, and there are Chinese signboards hanging on the door of the store.It is said that North Koreans are smuggling here, but the store’s Tsushima accent reveals their identities—these people should also be considered Japanese.

"Is the clan of the Tsushima Clan running this place?" Masuda Jiuxuan asked the samurai around him in a low voice.

The main family of the Tsushima Domain is the tumbler of the Warring States Period in Japan.The two-faced sword between North Korea and Japan is doing its best to deceive and deceive.The stone height in the country is [-] shi. In fact, considering the barren land of Tsushima Island, even if the enclave is included, it is only impossible to exceed [-] shi.The reason why it is so high is precisely because Tsushima Island is located in the middle of the waters between Japan and North Korea, and it has gained a lot of income from trade with North Korea.

Moreover, Tsushima Island also surrendered to the Lee family of North Korea at the same time. It is a monster that is as much a bird as a bat.

"Is this Mr. Masuda Jonobu from the Mori family?" A tall man with a Shimadzu accent stood in front of Masuda, taller than the elders of the family.

——The Shimadzu family is here too?It seems that we are really too careless.

Masuda announced that he had inherited his great-grandfather's diplomatic skills, bowed his head and said, "I don't know which talented person from the Shimadzu family is here."

"I'm not from the Shimadzu family," the tall man bowed slightly, "I would like to ask you to come over and explain."

"Your Majesty?" Masuda asked in confusion.

"This way, please." The tall man obviously didn't intend to introduce, but just made a gesture of please.

Yitian Jiuxuan's guards were about to scold him for being rude, but suddenly found that the surrounding seemed a little too quiet.Some people in fishermen's and sailor's costumes gathered around, but all of them were tall and strong, and the muscles under the clothes could be vaguely seen.

Yi Tianxuan thought to himself: This is his territory!But since he invited me over, there should be no malice.

"Please lead the way ahead." Masuda declared that he could not confirm the identity of this person, so he used honorifics.

The tall man's face was as sinking as water, and he led Yitian to Xuanchao Island's mountains and forests.The surrounding fishermen and sailors slowly formed a circle, following Masuda and his party.

Deep in the mountains and forests of Xiangdao, there is almost no trace of people, but there is a two-story Ming-style building standing abruptly.Yi Tianxuan looked at the materials of this small building, and was horrified: what has such courage to build such a majestic pavilion in such a place, could it be that he met a fairy in the sea?

If Yitian knew that the owner of this small building was holding information about the fourth generation of his family, he would be even more frightened.

……

"He is Yasuhiro Masuda. He is forty-three this year. His father Masuda Motoyao is the elder of Maori Tsunahiro, the posthumous son of Masuda Hiroken. The great-grandfather is Masuda Motosho, who married the daughter of the Yoshikawa family, and also obtained the Eternal Elder for the Masuda family. A capable person of status." Wei Yun held up the charcoal sketch in his hand, and compared it with Masuda who was standing in the courtyard waiting to be summoned, and it was indeed very similar.

"The Military Intelligence Department is still a bit capable. Three generations of ancestors can check it so clearly!" Chen De also looked down from the glass on the second floor, and it happened that Masuda Xuan looked up, and the two looked at each other.

Of course, this is just Chen De's feeling.

As far as Masuda was concerned, the bright glass reflected the sunlight, and he didn't see the people inside at all.

"Ask him to come in." Wei Yun said: "He is very important for us to fight for the Maori family."

Chen De nodded.

Yitian Xuanxuan was thinking about why the owner here knew him, when he saw the man who led him here appeared before him again.

"Mr. Masuda, please come in. Your Majesty is waiting for you on the second floor, and your followers can serve tea downstairs."

Yi Tianxuan bowed deeply and said: "Then bother you." He confidently and boldly walked upstairs alone, quite calm and demeanor, but his attendants looked like they were facing a big enemy, and they all put their hands on each other. On the handle of the knife, he didn't dare to make the slightest movement towards the refreshments on the table.

There was a knock on the door of the room Chen De was facing right away.

"General, Yitian, the retainer of the Maori family, has asked to see you." The tall man at the door gave a military salute.

"Let him in." Chen De nodded.

Yi Tianxuan could not understand Chinese, but seeing the neat and strange etiquette, he also knew that this group of people were not idle people, and of course they would not be gods in the sea.

"That..." Yi Tianxuan quickly saw Chen De, and was taken aback by Chen De's mountain armor.He knew this kind of armor, it was the armor of a Ming general.

"You can speak Japanese." Wei Yun sat under Chen De's hand, and said to Masuda in Japanese in an equal tone: "This is General Chen, the admiral of the Ming Dynasty and the commander-in-chief of the Korean army." Wei Yun said, in order to prevent misunderstandings in translation , and handed over the rice paper with Chen De's official title and general title written on it.

Yitian declared that although he could not understand Chinese, he could understand Chinese characters, not to mention that life and death were in the hands of human beings at this moment, so he immediately prostrated himself on the ground and saluted.

"You don't need to be too polite. Your envoy, please sit down." Wei Yun said for Chen De.

Yi Tianxuan just sat on the official hat chair very unaccustomed, his legs were hanging down, and he couldn't step on the floor, feeling quite unsteady.At the same time, he was also thinking about whether this so-called Great Ming General was real or not, and why he came here, whether it would be a blessing or a curse for the Maori family...

"My dynasty is very opposed to your country's sequestration order, but the Tokugawa family is arrogant and doesn't take our country's credentials seriously." Wei Yun only learned Japanese for a year, and he learned it from a Korean. But he is very confident in using it. Whenever Masuda Xuan showed a puzzled look and said that he did not understand, Wei Yun would reply with a disdainful feeling of "Your Japanese is really bad".

"So, we need an ally." Wei Yundao: "Is the Maori family willing to be friendly with Daming?"

Yitian announced that he was considering an excuse, only to hear the Ming officer say again: "If the Maori family intends to form an alliance, I can sell the big tube to your vassal."

Masuda heard his heart beating faster, and asked in a trembling voice, "Is it the kind that can destroy miles with one shot!" (To be continued...)

ps: Ask for a monthly ticket, ask for a recommendation ticket~!Today, I paid off the debt from the power outage the day before yesterday!The original update on Thursday will still be returned on Sunday, and next week only the two updates on Friday will be returned, oh yeah~!