When Saigo Takainaga wrote to Shimazu Saibin, he thought about how to reach an agreement with Naohide.

For military affairs, personal friendship is just a stepping stone. Saixing felt that Naohide was not that stupid and would give away the iron-making technology at no cost.

The only thing Xixiang can rely on is Bai Zhu, who is ready to be reborn. In terms of people, money and material, there is always one thing Naohide needs, and he has confidence in the new head of the family - Qi Bin is "intelligent, brave, and very decisive", and has "people, money and material" in Edo.

"No one can match the three hundred princes", and as soon as Qi Bin returned to Kagoshima, he publicly declared that "rice, salt, cotton, and iron are indispensable necessities, and we should increase their production." Satsuma Domain has money.

Given the temperament of the head of the family, maybe he can be convinced by paying for the straight show.

But when Xixiang arrived at Bai Zhu, he found that things seemed to be different from what he imagined. There were rumors in the market that the practice had obtained thousands of precious furs. If it was true, Naoxiu might not be willing to take this risk.

He asked Okubo privately, and Okubo confirmed this statement, and Okubo was not very satisfied with Saigo - Naohide had been very kind to both families, so it would be fine if you didn't change his position, and he also prevented other members of the Seizhong group from coming to Hakuzu.

It's basically a quarrel. You came to Baizhu today and you still want to get the big secret of iron-making. It's a bit too much.

Saigo received a cold reception at Okubo, but he did not lose heart. Saigo was a disciple of Yomei and always believed that "sincerity leads to gold and stone", so he continued to patiently look for opportunities.

He was overjoyed when he found the breech-loaded rifle, because although Naohide showed it to him, he asked to keep it secret. Saixiang felt that there must be a story in it. He didn't want to use this to make fun of Naohide. There was no grudge. Naohide treated him and

He is as enthusiastic as before, and besides, it will not be good for Satsuma and himself to report Naohide - you have traveled all the way from the south to the north just to scratch your friend's sore feet. The shogunate cannot ponder the story behind this.

Why are you so angry? Not to mention ruined reputation, Satsuma's motives are also very suspicious.

Of course, if Xixiang secretly spreads rumors with the intention of harming others and not benefiting himself, it can also cause trouble for Naohide, but Xixiang really doesn't have that much time - he had a chance to benefit, so he did this immoral thing just for a quick moment.

A wise man does not do this.

Therefore, Xixiang thought about it and finally found a breakthrough from his past interactions.

Naohide once told him that people in Fuso only had a view of the world and no real world view. All considerations of problems based on Fuso as the center and the current situation were often biased.

What is Fuso's view of the world? Naohide didn't say it clearly, but the implication is that it is not suitable for Fuso to use his own knowledge to trap others. Naohide said at the time that "people are different, and countries are different." What do others like to do?

It's their own business, we just need to take care of ourselves, there's no need to pretend to be big.

Moreover, Naohide scorned Fuso Guoxue, believing that the "emotion" of ancient studies was right, and the "Fuso heart" and the like began to go astray. The Guoxue school, which originated from ancient studies, was seeking fish from a tree, being arrogant, and spreading out the world map.

, Fusang is just a few small islands, and it makes people laugh out loud as they talk about eight islands and one universe.

To be honest, Saigo was a little disgusted with this. He felt that Naohide was too frivolous, but Naohide, Saigo and Okubo had been dating for some time at that time. Naohide was usually a very decent person, studied hard, worked seriously, and treated others equally.

He is very polite to his servants and never hangs out in flower streets. Although he spends money lavishly, he is not extravagant and his clothes are simple, but the food is delicious.

Therefore, Saigo believes that Naohide may be a young man who inevitably shows off his ambitions, or he may have the idea of ​​an admirer - Fuso's admirers are people who have different opinions from the world. Their clothes, behavior, and speech are all very different from others, so as to express their views on reality. dissatisfaction.

Saigo has always been known for his generosity and tolerance of other people's opinions, and some of Naohide's opinions at that time were also insightful. Therefore, Saigo just laughed at Naohide's strange remarks.

But now, Naohide is already the White Lord acting official of the shogunate, so his words and deeds cannot be

He treated it as a joke. So, when Saigo thought about what Naohide wanted to do in Bai Zhu, he remembered all the past things.

When he invited Saigo and Okubo to Kagoshima last year, Naohide only said that he would work hard to establish a career in Shirozu, and the focus was to resist the southward invasion of the Lucians. But what Saigo saw in Shirozu was more than just this:

First of all, it was okay for Shiro's women to work like men, but Shiro blatantly appointed female servants. Naohide was serving Saigo in the dining hall of the execution office. At that time, Saigo saw a woman scolding a woman. Ming Ashigaru wasted food. At that time, Ashigaru's face turned red, but he still obeyed the instructions. Saigo saw that Naohide and others were used to it, so he felt something was wrong at that time.

Fuso is used to men being superior to women, and the woman who does things herself is definitely not a noble girl from any family. If she dared to scold Ashigaru, she would have been killed long ago in Kagoshima.

In addition, Saigo discovered that the White Lord did not respect the superiority of the people. The most obvious thing was that the natives all over the street were walking swaggering, and occasionally bumped into Kazuto and just said it. Saigo knew from Okubo that all the White Lords were soldiers. It seems obvious that the natives are not arrogant and rude, but that they usually get along with each other like this.

At the same time, when Naohide was traveling as an acting official, no one knelt down. The most they would do was give way. If not, Naohide would usually wait. At that time, Saigo's eyes almost popped out. The essence of Corporal Rehyon was to let people know that this was the case. Exceptional treatment, why is this so common?

In fact, this was the result of Naohide's intention to control the scope of Saigo's actions. If Saigo had entered Xiangxue, he would have discovered that although Xiangxue did not completely abolish Confucianism, it basically stopped teaching it, and now Lanxue was completely in power.

In short, combined with Naohide's previous words and deeds, Xixiang felt that Naohide's plan this time was very big. As for whether he had any counterintentions, Xixiang did not doubt that a place with a total of hundreds of people could turn the sky upside down?

Since Naohide doesn't have much of a role in White Lord, the transfer of iron-making technology is not out of the question, it's just a condition.

In this regard, Saigo analyzed the pros and cons to Naohide and Okubo, and also promised the benefits.

First of all, Satsuma and Shiro are friends rather than enemies.

Since the White Lord made all the people into soldiers and was determined to make progress, he must have a tough attitude towards the Lucians.

Shiro is in the far north and Satsuma is in the south. They are in the same boat and are on the front line against the Westerners, so mutual support is also being sorted out - Saigo is sowing discord, and his unspoken intention is to hint at the shogunate. I don’t fully support Lord Bai. They are all raised by their stepmother. Let’s all stick together.

Secondly, the Satsuma clan is either secretly pondering some bad ideas, or it’s just that Westerners keep coming to harass them and they just want to protect themselves.

The breech-loading rifle of the White Lord cannot be produced by itself, right? Whether the shogunate started to imitate it is not a question. But even if the shogunate succeeded in imitating it, it would be less for the White Lord? I am afraid that when the Lucians invade in large numbers, the White Lord You can’t get it either?

Saigo really hit the mark. Last year, Naohide withheld all the new firearms and left none for the shogunate, and the manufacturing process was not dedicated to the shogunate - because the rice ship merchants were hard to say, how should I say?

Admire the Fuso culture and specially offer new firearms? The rice people offer heavy treasures for no reason. Or ordinary goods can be offered for trade or something. Offering new firearms is okay. It is considered to be what they like, but offering new firearms

The detailed manufacturing method is too outrageous, and the editor did not compile it like this.

Saigo didn't know that the shogunate didn't get the manufacturing method, but what he meant was that the shogunate was unreliable. Why don't you give me the manufacturing method today and I'll replenish the weapons for you tomorrow? Isn't that good?

As for re-opening trade in the North, Xixiang really has no hope. How many mounted objects can be collected in a bigger place and how many Tang Dynasty specialties can be sold? If he wants to cooperate, he has to go to the Snakesong Qianjia, a local in the North, but Qi Bin has just taken over.

, the previous head of the family retired because of secret trade, and no matter what, he would not dare to repeat the same mistake immediately. Cooperating with the white master is more for the white master.

Transporting supplies is purely about giving benefits - the owner of Baidu will definitely hesitate to give away benefits. It is better to do it in the name of trade, which sounds good and gets things done.

In fact, even if Saigo's tongue-bending skills were not very good, Naohide would still give Satsuma the iron-making process and the manufacturing method of breech-loaded rifles. Naohide wished that Fuso was now engaged in industrial development, so why would he be stingy and refuse to give it to Satsuma?

Naohide doesn't want to engage in personal competition for hegemony. He basically holds an attitude of alleviating poverty. As long as he can do it, he can do it. He is welcome! But there are really not many reliable people in Fuso now. On the side of the shogunate, except for the shogunate, there are not many famous names.

What kind of strength, besides, giving it to the shogunate is equivalent to giving it all. The shogunate will spread it by itself, which is much better than Naohide secretly doing it; as for appearance, there are only a few with strength, Naohide can't just throw the drawings to others.

In the courtyard, no, inside the city wall? It was definitely not possible to give it away for free, so Naoxiu had no choice but to find an opportunity to give it away, which was very tiring to say.

Fakely, Naohide also asked for some conditions, and Okubo also helped. Finally, Saigo agreed to exchange the iron-making technology and the manufacturing method of breech rifles for three thousand taels of gold. At the same time, in addition to cash, Satsuma Domain

In three years, the Northland can only trade with the White Master family, and the goods of no less than three thousand-stone ships every year. As for this year, there is no time, and one ship of goods is ready.

But unlike Saga, Naohide disagreed with Saigo taking the drawings back first, even if Saigo wrote an oath. Okubo kept Saigo's oath first, and then turned his back and refused to admit the debt, saying that there was no small amount of money awarded.

We had to talk, so Saigo had no choice but to hurriedly set off back to Kagoshima in despair. Let the head of the family decide whether it was okay or not.

But neither Saga nor Satsuma returned empty-handed. Okubo provided guarantee in the name of the administrative office, and Zeniya gave some furs, dried fish and salted roe on credit. As for Kinokuniya, it still didn’t want such a dangerous transaction.

Involved.

In addition, Zhi Xiu took the initiative and gave each family a hundred seal skins on credit, promising to buy several thousand seal skins next time he came here to show off his muscles - Bai Zhu's practice is still rich, and you need to have the right skills to do business with me.

confidence.

After Yuosuke Sugitani returned to Saga, he received complaints from the head of the family, Saimasa. Saimasa was not dissatisfied. He was happy as long as he could make money. The more he earned, the happier he was. It was just that Naohide was too wicked. How to make a breech-loading rifle

It's true, but many places are very crude. At that time, Naohide drove away Sugitani in the name of opening up trade as soon as possible. When he was on the ship, Sugitani found that the drawings were a bit unclear in key points, but after all, the Saga Domain did not have a penny.

After all, the seven people were just staying as guests to help, so he knew that Saga was really going to lose some money this time.

After complaining, Qi Zheng comforted Sugitani, "It's hard to take advantage of it." He hurriedly collected the goods and made another trip. This time, a few more people came to figure out the manufacturing process before coming back. It's possible that Naohide and the others didn't understand either.

.

"But what if Naohideo really understands?"

"Then let's ask him what conditions he wants?" Qi Zheng was extremely disappointed with his group of samurai. His work was okay, but his worldliness was too far behind. It's a pity that the white master was too far away, otherwise he would have had an abacus to fight Naohide.

A fight between dragons and tigers will definitely be exciting.

Unlike Sugitani, Shimazu Saibin was full of praise for Saigo. Saigo was ashamed of this and said that it was only a verbal agreement, but in fact nothing was accomplished.

"Originally, we need to be cautious in this kind of secretive business. If Hidema Horinao gave us the blueprints, I wouldn't dare to use them. Who knows if they are true or false." Qi Bin is very generous, saying that the three thousand taels of gold are compared to iron smelting and breech-loading guns.

It's nothing, "Hurry up and call the craftsmen. Saigo, please work harder. If you make another trip, the prosperity of the Shimadzu family will depend on you."

Not long after the Saga and Satsuma groups left, the rice ship finally entered the Shirozu Port. The leader was still John, but this time there were more ships, two steam-sail hybrid ships and a majestic whaler.

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Chapter completed!