The "Trial Decree" promulgated by the shogunate stripped most of the affairs in the hands of Mr. Tanan and Oguri Tadjun. Oguri was very dissatisfied with this. Mr. Tanan admonished him in a secret conversation and took the opportunity to ask Okubo to send a message to Naohide.

"A gentleman hides his weapons in his body and waits for the time to move, so what's the disadvantage?" This is Mr. Tan'an's original words. He borrowed the famous line from "Book of Changes" to ask Zhixiu to be patient. In addition, Mr. Tan'an also promised that he would replace Lord Bai.

Live up to your good words.

A total of three people participated in this conversation. In order of rank, they were Ekawa, who served as acting official of Niruyama, Ginmi Service, and Coast Guard Third Service; Oguri Tadjun, the imperial commissioner; and Okubo Roshichi, the Shirozu-machi minister. But what is interesting is that in the future,

The positions of the three highest-ranking officials were completely reversed. It was really unpredictable.

But at this time, Okubo was still an insignificant figure in the shogunate. He didn't even have the official status of a shogunate. He was just a private minister of the Hide clan. Therefore, he was a little excited to participate in such a secret conversation. I couldn't say he was flattered, but it was almost the same.

Therefore, Okubo racked his brains to help the two important ministers. As the head of Shirozhu's civil servants, he knew Naohide's plan for the Northland well, so he quickly came up with a way:

"Jiushan Iron Smelting can focus on steelmaking in the future."

According to Okubo's opinion, he didn't know the inside story about the adjustments to the top management of the shogunate, so it was best not to talk nonsense. However, he was relatively confident about internal affairs. Naohide specifically mentioned the difference between steel and iron in order to build an iron smelting station in the north.

, he thinks this is a good idea.

It can be tempered into steel, and Fuso has always called a certain excellent material for forging swords as jade steel, so Mr. Tanan became interested when he heard it and asked Okubo to explain it in detail.

The carbon content standards of steel and iron have not yet been established at this time, and the reverberatory furnace technology at this time is still very primitive. There are no high combustion value fuels such as gas and natural gas, and the technology is relatively simple. Therefore, it is difficult to directly rely on reverberatory furnaces.

Steel can be made by practicing it, but in order to boost morale, Naohide didn't want soldiers to be marshals to be good soldiers, so at that time he said that he should make iron first and then steel, and he blew a bubble for everyone.

Mr. Shiro has no serious orchid science industry so far, so Okubo doesn't have a clear concept of industry. He actually believed Naohide's words and even solemnly told Mr. Tan'an and Oguri Tadjun.

The gas company first appeared in England in 1812, and then spread rapidly to Western countries. Mr. Tan'an also knew something about it. But he had never thought about using gas to make steel - Fuso's current Lanxue is

The world keeps pace with the trend, and many places are afraid of omissions and dare not even dare to innovate.

So after listening to Okubo's explanation, Mr. Tanan was doubtful. The truth is this, but I have never heard of a Westerner doing it, and Naohide has never mentioned it. Is this possible?

Naohide didn't mention it at the time because he felt that he shouldn't take too big a step to avoid getting involved. Mr. Tan'an was a man of words and actions, and he was sometimes quite aggressive. Naohide was afraid that Mr. Tan'an would rush too hard and break his head, so he deliberately

Didn't say.

However, Naohide told Okubo before he set off that he couldn't talk about this and that, so he focused on the war with Lucia and the secret trade with rice ships. In the end, he forgot about it.

There were too many secrets, so he made a mistake this time - Okubo told Mr. Tanan about the steelmaking.

Fortunately, Naohsiu has been in the Northland for the past two years. Mr. Tan'an felt that Naohsiu could not really come up with any method of making steel when he was fishing and fishing. It was just an idea at most, so he didn't really believe it, but he was worried about this matter.

Keep it in your heart.

In addition, there is another reason why Mr. Tan'an did not have the courage to try it, and that is what is the purpose of steelmaking?

Today's large barrels are all made of bronze or cast iron. How about using the steel to make knives? But the iron cannons are hitting farther and farther. What is the future of making knives? Can they be sold to Westerners? - Mr. Tan'an didn't after all.

Deeply involved in the trade between Fuso and Lan Kingdom, he only knew that Fuso knives could be sold overseas, but he had no idea how big the share would be. Later, Master Bai actually sold it.

Quite a few Fuso knives went overseas and made a small fortune.

Although Okubo's proposal was unreliable, it was still true to his heart. Mr. Tanan was very pleased, so he specifically asked Okubo to attend more celebrities' gatherings in Edo. In addition to learning about the latest trends, he also accumulated some connections for Naohide and himself.

, so as to make some preparations for the future.

At this time, Mr. Tanan had already considered transferring Naohide back to Edo, but the shogunate had a rule that in order to allow the acting officials to better understand the territory and develop the economy, ordinary acting officials must serve in one place for ten years before they are allowed to be transferred, so Naohide

It is quite difficult to transfer away from the White Master, so Mr. Tan'an did not explain it clearly.

Okubo was very grateful after hearing this. This was because Mr. Tanan also said that he would be allowed to participate in the gathering as a disciple of Egawa, which invisibly overstated his own status - the water of Edo dragons and snakes was too deep, and he was a retainer of ordinary Hatamoto.

, many people wouldn’t even touch him with their eyelids, let alone invite him to any party.

Seeing that Mr. Tanan and Oguri seemed to have some secrets to discuss, Okubo hurriedly resigned - he had gained a good harvest today and was content with what he had, and now he was qualified to go one step further, so he waited for the New Year without saying goodbye.

It just so happened that a few days later, someone actually came to visit Okubo and invited him to a celebrity gathering. Moreover, this person was an old acquaintance of Naohide.

This man is a talented military strategist from the Maori family in Changzhou. His Miao name is Yoshida and his given name is Jifang.

Yoshida Yukata is an old acquaintance of Naohide. They met during Naohide's first study tour in the 14th year of Tenpo (1843). They have not seen each other since then, but Naohide has been sending various orchid books to Yoshida before going to sea.

, and Yoshida also expressed his gratitude by leaving a letter to Shoichiro Shiraishi, a wealthy businessman in Shimonoseki. He can be considered a friend of Naohide who is not far away.

Yoshida was four years younger than Naohide, so he did not start studying abroad until he was 21 years old in the third year of Kayei (1850). At that time, he first traveled to Kyushu. Although Naohide was also in Kyushu in preparation for going to Shirozu, their itineraries were different.

In the end we never met.

Although Okubo and Yoshida have never met, they know each other through Naohide, so Yoshida's visit is not too abrupt - according to Fuso tradition, if you don't know each other, you need an intermediary who is familiar with both parties to introduce you.

After the two met, Yoshida first asked about the physical conditions of Naohide and Okubo's family, and then the topic changed and he invited Yoshida to a celebrity gathering.

Yoshida, like Okubo, is not well-known, so Okubo is very curious about what kind of celebrity gathering he can participate in, let alone some crooked party or Yoshiwara adventure, so it is better to find out.

According to Yoshida himself, he was also supported by his teacher Sakuma Shoyama, so he was able to participate in this gathering. As for inviting Okubo to participate, it was also arranged by his teacher.

Sakuma Shoyama was born in the Matsushiro Domain and opened the Orchid Academy "Shoyama Academy" in Edo. He was deeply appreciated by the old feudal lord Yukinuki Sanada, and was commissioned to study when Yukinuki was a senior middle school student in the shogunate (1841-1844).

Regarding coastal defense, in the 13th year of Tianbao's reign (1842), the famous "Eight Strategies for Coastal Defense" was proposed, which included the view that "the key to coastal defense lies in guns and ships, with guns ranking first."

Sakuma once studied iron cannon and other orchid sciences from Tanan students, and also appeared as a guest minister during the establishment of the Nirayama Iron Works, so he was not an outsider.

Mr. Tan'an once praised Okubo in front of others as "a newbie in orchid studies and extremely intelligent." Therefore, Okubo is not considered an unknown person in the circle of orchid scholars. Originally, Mr. Ekawa was going to introduce Okubo to orchid scholars in person, but there was a turmoil at the storybook review meeting.

He couldn't care less about it all the time. Now that the "Trial Law" has come out, it's too late for Mr. Tan'an to avoid suspicion, so he handed over the task of "bringing Okubo into the circle of celebrities" to Sakuma.

Since he was not an outsider, Okubo naturally agreed to the invitation to the party and said he would attend the meeting on time.

On the 15th day of the lunar month of the fifth year of Kayei, Okubo followed Sakuma Shoyama to attend a gathering among Edo celebrities. This was Okubo's first

Once he got involved in the circle of celebrities, he was a little uneasy, not knowing who he would meet and what topics he would talk about.

The party was held in a private residence, and the host was Yasui Shikken, a famous Confucian scholar and professor of the official school Changheihuang.

It was the first time for Okubo to attend such a gathering. He carefully imitated Sakuma's every move for fear of being looked down upon by others.

But it turned out that Okubo was too cautious. The host Yasui Shikaku was very hospitable and the guests were very easy-going. There were no maids or musicians at the scene. There were only some coffee tables and seats with wine, tea, fruits and snacks. Everyone was in twos and threes.

Sitting around, with the breeze blowing, everyone chatted and played chess, leisurely and contentedly, which was very comfortable.

Along with Sakuma Shoyama, in addition to Okubo Ritsuchi and Yoshida Yukata, there are also Katsuyoshikuni and Miyabe Daizo - Miyabe and Yoshida are good friends, and they studied together in Edo.

Katsuyoshikuni seems to be a regular visitor here. He introduced several other guests to Okubo, while Sakuma had already taken a glass of wine and chatted with the host.

There are quite a few celebrities present today, including Fujimori Hironan, Shiotani Iwanin, Yoshino Jinrei and others - these three are all well-known Confucian scholars.

After a while, Katsui Kuni also went to chat with someone. Only Okubo, Yoshida and Miyabe were left in the corner, staring at each other. These three people were photographed by the names of celebrities, so they had to talk about their hometown in a low voice.

In fact, they were all absent-minded about the scenery. They pricked up their ears to eavesdrop on what the celebrities were saying.

Obviously he didn't want to attract other people's attention, but he was afraid of it. Soon a young man named Ginjiro invited the three of them to the middle of the house, saying that the master wanted to introduce the three of them to everyone. Yasui Shikken has been famous for a long time.

It would be a great thing for a great scholar to personally introduce him to all the famous people, so the three of them got up quickly.

Yasui praised the three of them in front of everyone, saying that Okubo was a rising star in Ranology, Yoshida was the direct descendant of Yamaga-ryu art of war, and Miyabe was also a talented person from Kyushu who was familiar with Chinese studies. It was hard for Mr. Yasui to touch the three people's feet when they first met.

’s clear.

There was a host to warm up the show, and the newcomers became more humble. Seeing that they had successfully passed the test this time, they did not expect that something unexpected happened. Someone next to them suddenly said, "Since you are a talented person, let me give it a try in Donghu."

Okubo and Yoshida are the same age, both twenty-three, and Miyabe is older, thirty-two, but the room is full of older celebrities. The person speaking seems to be almost old enough to know destiny, and he sits

Next to the master, he was very dignified and obviously had a high status, so he did better in the test. If he answered well, he would become famous in a day, but if he answered poorly, his reputation would be ruined. Therefore, the three of them looked solemn.

"In this troubled autumn, I admire Duke Danan's loyalty and try to write a poem to commemorate it."

Okubo was confused when he heard the title. He had never heard of Okubo, so he spied on the two friends around him, and the result was very disturbing.

First, Yoshida spoke out proudly:

"The big fish in the East China Sea stirs up its tail and kicks up black waves, staining its clothes..."

Go north and pray to the sky and the sun again, and this thief will be destroyed in the human world in seven lifetimes.

The blue blood stains are five hundred years old, and the wheat is growing in the vast spring.

If you don’t see it: The king and his ministers are in a relationship, and their flesh and blood are swallowed up. How can the nine leaves and thirteen generations exist?

It is like a collection of loyal ministers and filial sons. A piece of stone will be buried under a thousand generations, leaving the tears of countless heroes."

Then Miyabe also chanted a song:

"Haidian is dark and windy, the grass and trees are smelly, and the historian's special pen name is Xin.

There is still a lot of blood left, and I share it with my son, Cao, in the thief court."

After the two people finished reciting poems, Okubo was stunned! He was not amazed at the talents of his two friends - both of them were masterpieces by the poet Lai Sanyo, and Yoshida and Miyabe only had good memories and no talent at best.
Chapter completed!