Zhang Yin said: "But we have to build a fortress with water access on Mr. Gao Qi's territory to store goods and protect the safety of the company. As long as Mr. Gao Qi guarantees this, we will agree to two conditions: First, we will deliver 1,000 kilograms of medicinal materials and porcelain to Mr. Gao Qi every month in the future, and we can delay the payment. Second, the price of all goods will be based on the market price in Tokyo. Here is the list, please review it, Mr. Gao Qi."
Gao Qi stared, brushed his gray hair with his hands, took the list with both hands solemnly, read it carefully and said: If Mr. Zhang sells it to me at this price, plus shipping, he will lose money.
What he said made sense. There is no such thing as a free lunch in this world, and the two parties are not related. If Gao Qi didn't know what Zhang Yin was after, he would be worried. Only fools would think of taking advantage of others without worrying about traps.
What's more, some things cannot be kept secret, and speaking out actively shows sincerity. Zhang Yin pondered for a moment and said: Shijian State has a silver mine.
Takaki was stunned.
Zhang Yin said calmly: Mr. Gao Qi can also recommend a few village officials to do this together. You can use the ore as payment for the goods. We can refine the silver ore and make back all the losses.
Gao Qi suddenly realized what was going on and looked hesitant. It was no small matter to rashly allow foreigners to build a city.
Zhang Yinyong said softly: Mr. Gao Qi, wealth and honor must be sought through risk.
Takasaki's eyebrows showed two vertical lines: How big a fortress do you want to build
Zhang Yin raised his hand and said: It’s about the same size as Takasaki-kun’s yard.
When Gao Qi heard this, the expression on his face immediately relaxed. His yard was really not big and could not be called a fortress at all. He immediately said: I hope Mr. Zhang can send the first batch of 1,000 kilograms of goods as soon as possible, and I can take care of the nobles in Heian-kyo.
Zhang Yin burst into laughter after hearing this.
Gao Qi clapped his hands three times, and a maid came in with more dishes. He raised his glass and said, "Please
The three of them ate and drank happily. The two men had a good tolerance for alcohol, and Gao Qi drank with them. When they got drunk, they staggered out of the table and asked the maid to serve them well.
Reeking of alcohol, he came to the backyard and first went to take a bath in a hot spring room leaning against the mountain. A young and beautiful concubine followed him, undressing and accompanying him in the water with a smile.
Gao Qi burped in the water, and suddenly felt his throat moving. He leaned over the edge of the pool and vomited. He could smell a foul odor. He gasped for breath, opened his eyes, and saw the concubine's face showing disgust, and then a sweet smile.
Takaki sighed and looked down at the ugly flabby flesh on his abdomen: Miko must not want to stay with me.
The concubine hurriedly said: "It is my great honor to be favored by the lord. Who wouldn't like that?" "Does the lord think that I am not serving him well enough?" After she said that, she leaned towards him obediently.
Gao Qi reached out his hand and stroked her young and smooth shoulders. The concubine moaned with devotion, licked her lips with her tongue, and smiled at Gao Qi teasingly.
No need. Takasaki said immediately, for someone my age, it’s enough for Miko to accompany me.
The concubine said softly: Meizi is willing to stay with the master forever.
Gao Qi smiled bitterly and said: If I don't have wealth and can't give you fine clothes and delicious food and attractive rewards, I'm afraid Meiko won't want to stay with an old and ugly person for even a moment. In that case, it would be really lonely.
The concubine looked aggrieved: My Lord
Gao Qi looked at her and smiled: Money and power are good things. Without them, how could I enjoy so much? Money is my life.
After a while, when Zhang Yin wrote a memorial to report the progress of Dongdao to Beijing, the weather was already very hot.
It was afternoon, the time for working, but Guo Shao was in the bathroom in the back hall of Jinxiang Palace. It was too hot, so he ran here to take a shower and cool down.
There was a large pool of water, the edge of which was inlaid with solid wood. Many palace maids stood on both sides, holding clean white linings and towels in their hands. Guo Shao stripped naked without any pressure. He felt embarrassed before, but now that so much time has passed, he has already let go. The palace maids on both sides blushed and lowered their heads. One or two who had just been on duty here looked even more shocked.
Li Shanggong, who was in her early thirties, entered the palace next. Regardless of the clothes she was wearing, she went straight into the pool and took the towel from the palace maid.
Li Shanggong rubbed his back with the right amount of pressure, not painful but not too soft, and Guo Shao could feel the touch of her fingers just right, feeling comfortable. She would say a few words to Guo Shao from time to time, all of which were nice. She said: "It's hot, Your Majesty, take a rest, your health is important."
Guo Shao originally wanted to come here to cool off and then go back, but now he felt reluctant to leave. He immediately said: "Call Cao Tai in and read Zhang Yin's memorial to me. It's cool here."
After a while, Cao Tai bowed and went into the bathroom. Anyway, the emperor did whatever he wanted, not to mention that he listened to the memorials in the bathhouse, even if he wanted to listen to it in the toilet, no one dared to say anything.
Because Guo Shao had been particularly interested in Japan's gold and silver recently, he listened with great interest to Zhang Yin's insightful memorial.
Unexpectedly, Zhang Yin was a talented person. He was just a minor official. Guo Shao said twice in a row that he would send someone to commend Zhang Yin for his good work.
Guo Shao was very happy. After the failure of the tributary relationship with Japan, Zhang Yin seemed to have found another way to solve the problem.
At this time, the time is not ripe to start a large-scale war with Japan. If there is a low-cost way to obtain a large amount of currency first, it would be a wiser approach. Three million strings of cash is still too little for a large-scale expedition; and the transportation capacity for deploying troops is also limited for cross-sea operations.
In addition, Guo Shao also disagreed with the strategy of directly attacking the Japanese capital. First, it was limited by the scale of the war, and second, according to the intelligence reported by Japan, even if Heian-kyo was captured, it was doubtful whether Japan could be controlled.
If Heian-kyō suddenly fell and Japan entered a period of total separatism, Xu Jun would be unable to deal with this distant situation one by one. By then, bandits would rise up everywhere and guerrilla attacks would harass Xu Jun, and no one would be able to find the person responsible. Guo Shao always believed that when a place loses order, it would be bad for everyone.
The goods promised to Takasaki were shipped eastward in a timely manner and were indeed funded by merchants, but they were a maritime trade bank with a complicated background, and most of the shares were held by the royal family.
The construction of the Jiaolong Army's large Mulan boats was slow. The world had just been through a war, and they couldn't find a suitable dock for a while, so it has not been completed yet. The Jiaolong Army only had a few light boats that were converted from the Dashi ships. Each ship could carry at most a few dozen people, and they were also used to transport military equipment and supplies. The Haimao Bank had a hard time finding some sturdy sea vessels to make do.
Guo Shao ordered the commander of the Jiaolong Army, Han Tong, to recruit 300 volunteers from the imperial guards and the guards, and required people from the southern region who could sail to form the first group of people to cross the river to the east. They were named the East China Sea Command, and Zhang Jiankui, the commander of the imperial guards and founding marquis, was appointed as the commander. Zhang Yin was promoted to the position of military supervisor of the Qianying Military Office.
These regular army officers and officials were dressed in plain clothes, disguised as merchants and sailors, and gradually transported to Iwami Province on the west coast of Japan. The sophisticated armor, weapons and gunpowder were hidden on the ships.
While Zhang Yin was discussing business in Dongdao, the imperial court in Dongjing had already formulated a national policy. First, establish a base in Iwami Province, then win over the local tyrants and nobles in the capital of Japan to share the benefits, assist them in developing silver mines, and establish a silver mine transportation line from Iwami Province to Lianyungang, Haizhou.
The purpose of sending troops was to use force to ensure the establishment of this transportation line. This was not an ordinary business, it involved the establishment of a sea trade bank with a business value of tens of millions of guan, and the emperor was personally in charge of the overall plan. How could he allow mistakes to be made and give up easily
Not long after, Lu Duosun, the Minister of Works of the Imperial Court, also crossed the sea with officials from the Ministry of Works, and with the help of the Japanese manor owner Gao Qi, they chose a place to build a warehouse. Everyone had understood the military law, and when they arrived at Dongdao, they were not officials, and they traveled as merchants.
But in fact, all the important officials of the Great Xu Kingdom were inside, and the officials of the Ministry of Works had participated in the design and construction of the unbreakable fortress Wudingbao. Everyone told Gao Qi to build a low fortress, but in fact they were investigating in detail. They wanted to build a fortress.
The location was quickly determined, on the north bank of the Sanping River estuary. This place was not really good, but there was no good natural shelter along the coast of Iwami Province, so this was the only place that could make do. There was little room for choice, so there was no need to choose.
There was silt deposited at the river mouth, and the river was very shallow, so the pointed-bottomed boats could not enter the river. However, the officials from the Ministry of Works who came here had done many water conservancy projects, even repaired the Yellow River, so they were no problem doing this project. First, they funded the estate owners such as Gao Qi to recruit able-bodied men, and together with the soldiers and sailors of the Xu army, they dug a ditch to divert the Sanping River mouth; when the water at the river mouth receded, they built a dam to cut off the water, and then deepened the river bed at the river mouth to allow seagoing ships to enter.
This place is not like the Xu State's army, which often had tens of thousands of soldiers and tens of thousands of civilians. Due to limited conditions, the project could only dig a very narrow river channel and a sluice gate leading to the river bank. Even so, for only more than 300 people and conscripted Japanese laborers, it was a huge project that took a long time.
The sand on the coast here is soft and not suitable for building a fortress. The fortress was built on a small hill with a solid foundation on the north bank of the Sanping River. There are mountains in the distance to the northeast.
Lime and other materials were needed to build the city wall. Fortunately, the owner of Gaoqi Manor helped. He not only allowed them to do so, but also provided manpower, animal power and materials. Otherwise, Xu Jun had just arrived in this place and was unfamiliar with the place and had nothing. It would have been difficult for him to gain a foothold, let alone build a stronghold.
Takaki seemed to realize that the men looked like soldiers. Zhang Yin explained that they were hired servants to guard the house. He also said that the company still needed his connections in Heian-kyo. The cooperation would be long-term and everyone would make money together. At this point, the cooperation had already begun, and Takaki had also received many benefits, so it was really difficult to stop.
Within two months, another 200 people and a large amount of equipment and supplies will be transported east in batches.