Oguri Toshiken had no choice but to ask Oguri Tadatsun. The heel of the Xianhei foreign trade company had become a worry for the important ministers of the shogunate. If he didn't ask, he wouldn't even be able to explain himself.

It turned out that as time went by, the Xianheng foreign trade company became more and more helpful to the shogunate. Originally, in order to maintain understanding of the outside world, the shogunate retained Lan Guo as a trade object among the Western countries, but Lan Guo Commercial House and Fuso

The purpose of the exchanges was to keep trading rather than support, and the Hamhyung Company was used by Naohide and his group to support the shogunate. Therefore, after the arrival of the Kurofune, the shogunate was shocked to find that the Hamhyang Company had become an indispensable role, but at the same time, it also

It caused a lot of doubts and worries.

At the request of the senior middlemen, the Mofushi Office re-traced its past dealings with Xianheng Foreign Company:

In August of the second year of Kayei (1849), Hatamoto Hori Naohide returned from overseas. In addition to a Western wooden ship he purchased, there was also a Miren sailboat accompanying him. This was the first time that Xianheng Foreign Company officially appeared in Fuso.

In name, he was delivering goods for Naohide Hori, but he had no direct connection with the shogunate.

However, in the third year of Kayei (1850), the ships of Xianheng Foreign Company appeared in Nagasaki again. Under the operation of the new Nagasaki governor Oguri Tadjun, they played a barbarian treasure offering again. This was considered the beginning of dealing with the shogunate - but at that time it was still

There was no deal at all. The shogunate only accepted the gift at that time, and the return to the Xianheng Company was only coal, fresh water and some other supplies.

The so-called "another barbarian offering treasure" means that it happened once before.

In the first year of Kayei (1848), a rice ship once came to Nagasaki. It is said that it was the ship of Vanderbilt, the richest rice man. At that time, Morgan on the ship's bow and Oguri Tadjun, who was Nagasaki's head assistant at the time, "hit it off".

Moreover, after Morgan came into contact with Fuso culture, he found it to be "broad and profound", so he presented a large number of Nanman objects.

Of course, the shogunate did not just accept gifts from Westerners casually - "Those that cost nothing are the most expensive." Everyone knows the truth, but the Mi people ran away after unloading the goods, so they didn't accept them.

What's more, they didn't mention trade or other conditions at all, so the matter was settled. In fact, it was the policy of Nagasaki at the time. Nagasaki was greedy for money, and they looked down upon small money, but at that time it was worth tens of thousands of taels of gold.

Nanman items are cost-free and can be bought or sold when sold.

The reason why the shogunate let this matter go lightly was that the Mi people not only donated goods, but also some steam tanks, machine tools, and books. These are some good things that can be used to understand the outside world, and the Mi people are gone.

Why make such a fuss - next time Mi Ren comes again, he will naturally know what kind of medicine is sold in the gourd, and if there is any problem, he will naturally look to the person who handled it.

But the Vanderbilt family's ship never appeared again, and the shogunate breathed a sigh of relief at this - they were afraid that there was poisonous bait in it, but it was a bit regretful - after all, there were examples of the Tang Dynasty's trade in the past, using the name of private trade

It’s not impossible to open another channel to understand the outside world under the guise of.

Of course, that's what I said. When the rice merchants actually proposed private trade, I guess there would be another fight within the shogunate!

Real changes accumulate slowly - a little bit of change, and you won't be surprised by the time you discover it.

Since there was a precedent for barbarians offering treasures in the first year of Jiayong (1848), it became logical for Xianheng Foreign Company to offer treasures in the third year of Jiayong (1850), and the attitude of the shogunate was much more positive this time.

The blame must be placed on Naohide.

When Naohide came back the year before, he presented goods worth one hundred thousand taels of fine. In addition to a large number of dazzling foreign gadgets, there were also a large number of books and ordnance. These greatly broadened the shogunate's vision and also accumulated a sense of crisis.

——It turns out that the Southern Barbarians are so fierce now. No wonder the Tang people were defeated by the English eight years ago!

Having tasted the sweetness, many people suggested that besides the Lan people and the Tang people, there could be another source of feng storybooks.

More importantly, Zhixiu Zaifeng's storybook has refreshed the concept for the old Chinese people, that is, businessmen are businessmen, and the country is a country. Not every businessman cares about governance. As long as there is a lot of money to be made, there are still many people who dare to take risks.

When the old Chinese thought about it, it was indeed the truth. Fuso had secret trade, and the Tang Dynasty had private traders going to and from Nagasaki. People in the world are unanimous, so it really cannot be generalized. Therefore, the rice merchants may have offered treasures just to participate in the trade - I, Fuso

The land is vast and rich, and there are naturally many Nanman merchants who covet it.

Therefore, with the foundation laid, in the third year of Jiayong (1850), the Xianheng foreign company's treasure offering was carried out smoothly.

At that time, Oli suggested that "let Xianheng Foreign Company do business under the banner of the Tang Dynasty". The senior middlemen were quite calm about this and gathered together to discuss, "Is this reliable? If there are no problems, let's try it out for a year or two?"——

Oguri Tadatsun dared to write the letter because he had a right idea and felt that as long as it was beneficial to the shogunate, it would not be a big deal. At best, he could go home and eat old rice.

But most of the Lao Zhong thought it was nothing, but one person was worried. This anxious person was the Chief Lao Zhong, Attendant Abe!

Why is Lao Zhong Abe anxious? Why else could he be out of control?

He single-handedly promoted Oguri Tadjun. In the third year of Hongka (1846), he directed his subordinates to promote Oguri to the post of Nagasaki Metsuke. In the third year of Kayei (1850), he single-handedly pushed Oguri to the post of Nagasaki Metsuke.

job, but he never expected that things would develop to this day.

When he promoted Oguri Tadjun to Nagasaki, he was actually tacitly approving Oguri to help Hori Naohide go overseas - there was a precedent for this. It is said that his previous chief, Tadakuni Mizuno, sent people overseas, although he did not get any real results.

But some secret information within the shogunate hints that this is true, so why can't Mizuno do what Abe can do?

Moreover, Oguri and Naohide Hori both did a good job in the past.

Beginning in the fourth year of Hongka (1847), Oguri has been continuously providing overseas legends and various books to the shogunate. Although Oguri is serving as a sergeant in Nagasaki, he was born in Datanahata, so he has more credit.

You can still leave some for yourself.

It doesn't matter whether the barbarians offered treasures next, whether it was because Oguri ran into him or there was something else inside. Anyway, the shogunate got benefits and there was no risk to him.

Then there is Naohide's generosity, the donation of 100,000 taels of gold from the Southern Barbarians, the meticulous and rigorous legends, a large number of books, Yomiuri (newspapers), and a large number of ordnance, all of which illustrate the casual chess moves he made back then.

Outstanding.

Of course, he also rewarded the two of them. Naohide was exonerated and promoted to the acting official of 200 koku, and Oguri was promoted to Nagasaki Metsuke.

If things had been perfect so far, but Oguri Tadashi also offered barbarian treasures, and also proposed "letting Xianheng Foreign Company do business under the banner of the Tang Dynasty", this kind of opening is getting wider and wider, isn't it?

Isn’t it considered fun if it doesn’t cause trouble?

Now the seniors all think that Oguri is their confidant, but in fact, this Oguri is a reckless person. He himself let people suggest that he would clean up his previous affairs when he was in charge of Nagasaki Mefu and call it a day. But he

Fortunately, the barbarians offered treasures again, and they were still preparing for long-term trade. Is this a bad brain? - From this time on, Lao Zhong Abe began to gradually separate from Oguri.

However, the old Chinese people all said, "Oli proposed to 'let Xianheng foreign companies bear the banner of the Tang Dynasty'"

"It's a good thing to start a new path, and the two Nagasaki leaders agree, so let's let this be settled." What can I say as Oguri's "backer"?

There has to be a reason to say no, right? Besides, turning too sharply can easily hurt your waist. Since other senior middlemen’s suggestions were feasible, senior middle class Abe had no choice but to go along with the flow and agree.

The development of things confirmed that the veterans were indeed right:

In the fourth year of Jiayong (1851), Xianheng Company provided six rifled cannons, three hundred breech-loaded Sharps 1848 rifles, sixty Colt-Patterson revolvers and ordnance, and this was not a requirement of the shogunate.

——It is strange that the shogunate and Languo Merchant House have been trading for many years, and it is actually mainly ordinary barter trade.

During this period, the Languo Merchant House also sold Western ordnance many times, but the shogunate was not very enthusiastic and only purchased a small amount for research. The reason was that it was "a waste of money" - the shogunate unified Fuso, and the armaments only needed to be better than those of the princes.

There is no use for the latest Western ordnance. This reason made everyone in the Languo Merchant House so angry that they spewed blood.

To be honest, the shogunate actually rejected this batch of ordnance, and was very worried that Xianheng Yangxing had ulterior motives - even if Xianheng Yangxing explained that you can use it, Western countries including the United States will soon appear in Fuso, but everyone in the shogunate thought that

"So many years have passed peacefully, please don't bully others."

Therefore, the shogunate only paid for six three-inch rifled cannons - this was the order ordered by Tarozaemon Egawa, the commander of the Ginmi Service and coastal defense officer. It involved the Odaiba plan, and protecting Edo was absolutely correct in politics.

It’s impossible if we don’t get this money! But for other ordnance, the shogunate is determined not to pay for it.

Fortunately, Xianheng Matheson also came forward and said that these are gifts, free of charge, just take them and play with them.

After the rifled cannon, which could be used as a sample, was rushed to Edo, the veterans were shocked!

After test firing, the three-inch rifled gun was actually able to shoot as close as one fuso mile (one fuso mile is approximately 3,900 meters), while our own large barrel only has a range of 30% at most. This foreign firearm has become so sharp after so many years of changes.

!

The former arrogant and the later Gong were referring to the group of people in the shogunate. The senior middlemen quickly sent a clipper ship to Nagasaki and said to the people of the Xianheng Company, "Bring me 40 more rifled guns. What new electrolyte triggers anchor mines?"

Come with a hundred, I have money, so don’t let the other weapons be free, just give me the money, let’s make a price.”

When things came to a close, the shogunate began to worry that Xianheng Foreign Company would raise prices or be unable to produce so many goods - this was not without precedent, as the Languo Merchant and the Tang Dynasty sometimes liked to do.

As a result, the leader of Xianheng Foreign Company smiled evilly and said, "How can we do that? We are serious businessmen. Not only the price will not change, but also it is free of charge."

As a result, the shogunate felt even more uneasy. Afraid of something going wrong, Nagasaki temporarily organized a batch of raw silk and sold it to the other party at a low price.

In the fifth year of Jiayong (1852), Xianheng Foreign Company entered the port of Nagasaki as agreed, with forty rifled guns, a hundred new electrolyte trigger mines, and enough ammunition. Nagasaki's policy was true this time.

Convinced - not convinced. Not only did they deliver the goods as promised, but they also gave me the manufacturing process last year. After studying for a long time, the shogunate could only admit that they couldn't make it. Although the store was bullying customers, this customer was big.

You can also cheat the store.

Moreover, the tales submitted by Xianheng Yangxing Company are much better than those of Languo Commercial Office. This year, Languo Commercial Office only told the shogunate that Mi Ren was coming, but Xianheng Yangxian Company actually provided the resume of Admiral Miren, possible routes, and ship parameters.

, the details of the ordnance are clearly described.
Chapter completed!