"My dear, Mitsui Gaosui, are you a businessman from the Qing Dynasty?" He used unfamiliar Chinese. During this period, businessmen were always willing to learn some Chinese. On the one hand, they would improve their status and on the other hand, it would be easier to communicate with Chinese people. Commercial port exchanges, until China lost everything in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1894, the Japanese began to turn to the West and choose a new target to imitate.
Huang Xuan did not nod or shake his head, maintaining a haughty attitude.
This is a compulsory course for every child of aristocratic families.
However, nowadays, the Japanese have little fear and admiration for China. If not, this group of samurai would not have rushed up. However, this guy named Mitsui Takasui did not speak anymore, but just like this Looking at Huang Xuan, Xiao Huang felt a little uncomfortable.
Compared with these businessmen, he is a little weaker.
A short and fat businessman next to him stood up, raised his voice, and said in Kanto dialect: "For the sake of you being a foreign businessman, you can leave after kneeling down and saluting."
He has a typical Japanese upturned nose, and his mouth is turned up. His facial bones are thin, so the flesh on both sides of his cheeks hangs down, forcing him to have a round face. When he shouts like this, the whole face becomes... The flesh is shaking.
Huang Xuan snorted disdainfully, but just in time to free himself from the glare with Mitsui Takasui, he kicked away the two people at his feet and climbed onto the high platform.
This is a stand specially prepared for people with status. It is higher than the stage where actors perform. You have to look down to see people, but you don't know if you can really see clearly.
Several warriors who came to stop him were pushed away by Dian Wei. Huang Xuan stood face to face in front of a group of wealthy businessmen and said to the fat man: "You can apologize to me now."
The other party started to curse naturally. Lorraine didn't translate, and Huang Xuan didn't want to know. He gave him a finger, thought about it, and then said, "I'll give you 10,000 yuan."
The man staggered and was about to fall. Huang Xuan held him up, then let go, and watched him kneel down tremblingly. He seemed to be unconscious. Everyone present looked at Huang in fear. Xuan's hand, even Mitsui Takasui didn't know what to say for a moment.
Speaking of Japanese businessmen, there is a special reason for their rise - during the shogunate period, whether samurai or daimyo, their property and salary were food, and land could not be bought, sold or changed hands at will. According to academic circles, this is The so-called feudal lords' land ownership system.
Therefore, the samurai class can only receive a certain amount of rice as a salary. Whether it is 50 shi or 1 million shi, these grains cannot be used to eat all. According to regulations, samurai cannot sell these commodities.
As a result, everyone came to exchange things with merchants, not just ordinary samurai, but even daimyo.
Not only that, daimyo and samurai were often short of money. Regardless of where they spent it, if they wanted to borrow money, they had to go to merchants. Therefore, modern people say that the late Japanese shogunate was very similar to the West. Since the daimyo who held political power were short of money, they had to compromise with the businessmen who held economic power, thus allowing the businessmen's status and influence to gradually expand.
To give a simple metaphor, Daimyo A wanted to attack Daimyo B, but he had no money, so he borrowed a sum from local businessman A, signed a contract, promised to pay back the money later, and gave businessman A the status of a samurai. After the war, Daimyo A won. At this time, he had two choices, either to find a way to swallow up Businessman A, so that the money would naturally not have to be paid back, or to pay back the money truthfully.
In the beginning, many famous people will choose the first method, but it won't take long for these famous people to find that no businessmen will lend them money anymore.
As a result, the daimyo, who received financial support from businessmen, won the final victory.
However, if you choose the second method and repay the money directly, it will be difficult for many daimyo, because all their money has been spent on the war, and the benefits, mainly land rent, have not yet been received.
Therefore, they either had to attack other daimyo according to the merchants' requirements, or they had to give them preferential treatment in terms of policies and then repay the loans in kind.
Later, merchants made huge profits by distributing the daimyo's physical goods, collecting and collecting currency, and gradually accumulated a large amount of wealth in society. To put it simply, it means that they control the entire country's commodity channels and financial capital, and develop without restrictions. How can such businessmen not be rich
Therefore, during the Kansei period (1790), some people said: "Fifteen-sixteenths of Japan's national wealth was taken over by merchants, and one-sixteenth was taken over by the samurai family."
When the duel between the overthrown shogunate faction and the shogunate faction began, the merchants became the decisive force.
The reason why the Imperial Army was able to defeat the 15,000 Shogunate Army with 5,000 soldiers was the main factor on the battlefield: the application of new weapons. The reason why the British were willing to provide new weapons to the Shogunate Army instead of the Shogunate Army was because of the defeat of the Shogunate Army. You can pay as much as you can, but the shogunate army does not have so much military expenditure.
The result was yet another regime change.
It is precisely because during the Meiji Restoration that Mitsui, Mitsubishi and others made a large amount of political investment, they finally obtained huge benefits from it and became the first of the six major financial groups in Japan. And now standing in front of Huang Xuan is the Mitsui Exchange The owner of the store, Mitsui Takasui.
Huang Xuan looked around and said, "Are all the most famous businessmen in Osaka here?"
"That's right." A middle-aged man on the side smiled. He wore his hair in a samurai bun, but still wore the blue cloth of an ordinary businessman.
Huang Xuan noticed that not only was he sitting next to Mitsui Gaosui, but he was also dressed much more casually than the others.
It's like watching news broadcasts showing leaders going out. Secretaries, bodyguards, and low-level officials always wear smart clothes, while the Prime Minister and Chairman must wear casual clothes. Huang Xuan smiled lightly and said, "What do you call this gentleman?"
The gentleman said it originally came from Japan, but it was after the Meiji Restoration. I don’t know if Lorraine translated it as "your Majesty" or "Your Excellency", but seeing the smile on his face, I knew it was a good word.
The guy smiled and said, "I'm Yataro Iwasaki."
Huang Xuan was in awe.
Not mentioning the issue of nationality, just discussing the matter, Yataro Iwasaki is also familiar to him, because he is the founder of Japan's largest conglomerate, the Mitsubishi Foundation.
In the next year, he will become the leader of the 99 chambers of commerce in the Tosa Domain Kurayashiki (an organization responsible for storing and selling goods from various local daimyo), and will start the path of the Mitsubishi Zaibatsu.
Zhang Xinyi mentioned this name more than once, Huang Xuan couldn't help shrinking his hands and said: "Why are you in Osaka?"
Yataro Iwasaki did not answer, but asked instead: "Do you know me?" Mitsui Takasui is much more famous than him now.
Huang Xuan did not pay any more compliments, but looked around and said with a smile, "Everyone seems to be very happy about the victory of the Overthrow Army." What he really thought about was that this place was occupied by the Overthrow Army again.
Rough calculation shows that the time has been advanced by more than half a month.
Mitsui Takasui looked at Huang Xuan with squinted eyes. He was a little confused about his path. With his high-profile appearance and his miraculous ability to knock down a group of samurai, he should not be a minor figure, but his purpose was somewhat disappointing. It’s hard for people to guess.
This is a sensitive period. The overthrow of the shogunate relies on the strength of the British, and the shogunate army has actually surrendered to the French. Therefore, just like in the distribution of power in Europe, the British are still stronger.
However, judging from his current position, the shogunate army is not bound to lose.
As long as the shogun can come up with a plan that satisfies foreigners, these guys who have breasts are mothers, may prefer a somewhat chaotic scene.
Especially during a time when arms dealers were on the loose.
Iwasaki Yataro had a pair of small eyes, the size of mung beans, embedded in slightly bulging eye sockets. The image was not very good-looking, but it gave people a very real feeling. Seeing that Mitsui Takasui did not reply, he said: " The emperor is supposed to be the supreme ruler of Japan, and the shogunate is unpopular.”
If you are a samurai, you will definitely shout some slogans, let alone say something about "should be the supreme rule." Only those who have accepted Western ideas will think about the problem in this way.
Huang Xuan didn't notice this. Before he could speak again, another slightly fat young man next to him said: "There can't be only two envoys from the Qing Dynasty."
Mitsui Takasui immediately glared at him.
Huang Xuan suddenly realized. He had been wondering why the eyes of these Japanese people were so strange, and now he finally understood the reason.
They actually suspected that they were envoys of the Qing Dynasty.
This is no wonder the Japanese.
Throughout the Meiji Restoration, some Japanese were always thinking about whether the Qing Dynasty would intervene. Just as the Qing Dynasty did not understand Japan, Japan actually did not understand the Qing Dynasty very well, especially these rebel factions who had just come to power. I haven't had any contact with the senior officials of the Qing Dynasty, so I have always been worried about this problem: the Dutch, British, and French are all fighting on the land of Japan, how could the Qing Dynasty not come
However, the Qing Dynasty people did not come.
In 1868, the Manchu masters had just solved the problem of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. At this time, there was no time to pay attention to the fact that this was not a vassal state.
Huang Xuan just wanted to kiss this fat boy. He was actually very smart. Maybe in two days, he would be able to think of this tiger skin from the Qing Dynasty, but by then, I'm afraid it would be too late.
With almost a lewd smile, Huang Xuan stretched out his hand to pull Dian Wei and said loudly: "I am the second envoy of Li Hongzhang, Minister of Xuanwei of the Qing Dynasty. I came here this time to serve as a front line for Mr. Li. Unfortunately, I encountered a shipwreck." Li Hongzhang was still serving as the governor of Liangjiang at this moment, and the number of people who had heard of him was far less than that of later generations. Huang Xuan's words were full of emotion, and his words were not tragic, but had the flavor of a court family.
He is still too young. If he said that he was a minister, it would be a joke. Even so, Mitsui and others would not believe it. But suspicion was suspicion. Everyone present was a businessman. Mitsui Takasui wanted not to offend foreign countries. With his thoughts in mind, he bowed and said: "You are..."
"Huang Xuan." Xiao Huang smiled triumphantly and bowed around him. Mitsui Takasui was the business boss of Osaka. As long as he could do this bow, it would be enough for him. (To be continued. If you want to know what happened, please log in to .qidian. There are more chapters. Support the author and genuine reading!) (To be continued)