Under the secret arrangement of the prefect Ehei, Takesho Hosokawa successfully escaped from Yangzhou City with his twenty samurai. At this moment, he was rushing along the canal along the canal to Dongtai Prefecture.

Speaking of the "tributive competition" that occurred in Ningbo, Zhejiang at the beginning of last year was caused by the tribute missions of the Hosokawa clan and the Ouchi clan. This incident directly led to the imperial court's issuance of the imperial edict to abolish the two maritime tutors, Ningbo and Fuzhou, and interrupted the tribute trade with the Japanese.

You should know that Japan is currently in the Warring States Period. The domestic warlords were about to establish, and wars were constantly in chaos. Men went to war and did not do anything about production. In addition, the island countries were not rich in resources, so there was even a shortage of supplies. Even the most basic pots, bowls, scoops, and plates had to be imported from the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, the Ming Dynasty ordered a ban on the sea and interrupted their trade, which killed the Japanese.

In the supreme state, from the royal family, bureaucrats, warlords, and civilians, they tried every means to obtain supplies from the Ming Dynasty. Normal trading methods did not work, so they used violence to loot. Many powerful warlords formed fleets and went to the coast of the Ming Dynasty to do "buying and trading".

The Hosokawa family is one of the top warlords in Japan. The demand for materials is very high. It is obviously impossible to meet the needs of just plundering, and they have to bear a considerable risk. Therefore, the Hosokawa Takeshu led his team to the Ming Dynasty this time to seek a long-term and stable partner to obtain a steady supply of materials.

When Hosokawa Takeshu first fell in love with Li Baltimore, he agreed to help him win the first place in the courtesan competition and get a big share of Yanyan. However, Hosokawa Takeshu followed Li Baltimore to Yangzhou City, but everything went wrong and he suffered consecutive losses. It was said that Haruyoshi Yoshimura and Tomoyoshi Yoshimura were the only two hermits under Hosokawa Takeshu, so it was not easy to cultivate them. Even in the entire Hosokawa family, there were only ten hermits, and they broke two at once, which naturally made Hosokawa Takeshu very painful.

However, this time when he came to Yangzhou City, Hosokawa Takeshu was not without gains. He took the line from the salt transport envoy Shi Haoran. This person is much stronger than Li Bald Head. With this person's protection, it will not be easy to do smuggling business in the future.

Because of this, Takeshu Hosokawa readily agreed to Shi Haoran's request and took his men to Dongtai Prefecture to save people. In this way, he could not only sell Shi Haoran's favor, but also seize a handle from the other party, so he could cooperate more with confidence. Of course, the hundreds of thousands of taels of silver in the warehouse of Dongtai Prefecture also made Takeshu Hosokawa feel excited.

It is possible to make good use of the salt transport envoy Shi Haoran and get a lot of money. Why not do good things that kill two birds with one stone?

As for the only twenty samurai under his command, Takesho Yoshikawa was not worried at all. He was a top master himself, and all the samurai under his command were experienced and could be one of ten elites. It was a piece of cake to deal with local yamen runners and patrolmen.

As long as he could sneak into Dongtai Prefecture, Hosokawa Takeshu was even confident that he would slaughter the city with twenty of his subordinates. Even if sheep were in groups, they would still be sheep after all. What's the use of no matter how many sheep were? In the end, it could only become food for wolves. Last year, the damn Da'ui Sect only brought hundreds of people to the land of the Ming Dynasty for hundreds of miles, siege cities and villages, and finally returned with a full load?

Thinking of this, Takesho Hosokawa spits thick phlegm on the river surface with disdain and says in Japanese: "The Ming army is nothing but waste, and its combat power is not worth a laugh."

As soon as Takeshu Hosokawa finished speaking, a cold voice came from behind him: "Is that true?"

Takeshu Hosokawa suddenly turned around and looked at him. At this moment, a gray-robed monk was standing on the deck behind him. He was about twenty years old, with thick and short eyebrows and slightly bulging temples.

Takeshi Hosokawa said in surprise: "Master Pujing knows Japanese language?"

The young monk in front of him was sent by Shi Haoran, the salt commissar, to be the guide. Hosokawa Takeshu only knew that his magic name was Pujing, and he could tell that he had good martial arts skills and was an internal master.

"You just said that the Ming army was all waste?" Monk Pujing did not answer Hosokawa Takeshu, but asked coldly.

Takeshu Hosokawa frowned and bowed, "I have no intention of offending you, the combat power of your Ming army is indeed not very good."

Monk Pujing said lightly: "Just a few days ago, a group of Japanese people in Dongtai County had just landed in and encountered the Five Hundred Battalions under the imperial envoy. Finally, they left behind nearly a hundred bodies and a boat and fled. Their leader was called Da Nei Zongshe."

A cold light flashed in Takeshu Hosokawa's eyes and blurted out: "Baga, it turns out it's him."

Last year's "tributive competition" was when Ouchi Samata killed Hosukawa Resa, the tribute envoy of Hosukawa clan. Since then, Hosukawa clan and Ouchi clan have become deadly enemies. After Ouchi Samata fled back to Japan, Hosukawa clan began to chase him, but this guy was very clever and escaped from the sea to become a pirate. The Hosukawa clan's people have never looked for him.

Monk Pujing ignored Hosokawa Takeshu and continued: "In the process of pursuing the establishment of the Oui Sect, the five hundred battalions under the imperial envoy destroyed Dongsha Island. Later, a group of five hundred Japanese caravans were destroyed and more than four hundred people were killed. The leader of this caravan was named Orishimiko."

Takeshu Hosokawa's pupils suddenly shrank: "Miss Miko!"

Monk Pujing said with a playful look: "Do you know her?"

Hosokawa Takeshu nodded with a complicated expression. Orishinoshi is also a local daimyo with strong strength in Japan. He even competed for territory with Hosokawa. However, Hosokawa Takeshu is one of Orishinomiko's suitors.

Monk Pujing said indifferently: "After Miko Orishinomiko was captured, she is now detained in Dongtai County. The imperial envoy asked the Irishinomi family to take out one million taels of silver to redeem the people."

A dazzling glory burst out in the eyes of Takesho Hosokawa subconsciously held the Japanese sword in his hand and sneered: "One million taels of silver? This imperial envoy has a big appetite. However, this time he will not get a penny, and he will even pay hundreds of thousands of taels, haha!"

When he thought of the wealth of 600,000 taels of money in the Dongtai Prefecture government office, he could save Mei by heroes, Hosokawa Takeshu was so excited that he wanted to fly to Dongtai Prefecture immediately, but unfortunately he had to take a day and a half to take a boat.

At this time, Monk Pujing poured cold water on his head and said, "The imperial envoy left fifty soldiers under his command in Dongtai County."

Takeshu Hosokawa's expression changed slightly. Although he despised the Ming army, he did not dare to look down on the Five Hundred Battalions under Xu Jin. Yesterday, he saw Yoshifu Fu Dai being shot into a hornet's nest. Faced with such a sharp firearm, even a master like him had a numb scalp.

"How many troops in the Ming Dynasty have equipped that kind of firearm?" Hosokawa Takeshu asked in a deep voice.

The news of Pujing monk seemed very well-versed, and he replied: "It is said that this kind of firearm that can be directly activated without ignition is called the flintlock rifle. It was invented by the imperial envoy Xu Jin himself. It was only successfully manufactured last year. The first batch of people only built 500 rods. Because the cost is too high, it has not been popularized in the army. At present, only 500 battalions are equipped with such sharp firearms."

Takeshu Hosokawa breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, if the local garrisons were equipped with such firearms, then the compatriots who came to the coast of Ming Dynasty would have no way to survive.

"No, I must find a way to bring this kind of flintlock rifle back to China to imitate, otherwise it would be a disadvantage!" Hosokawa Takeshu made up his mind and bowed to Monk Pujing and said, "Thank you for reminding me that if there are fifty Ming troops equipped with flintlock rifles in Dongtai Prefecture, you may not be able to take this little hand alone."

What Mr. Pujing seemed to be waiting for was Hosokawa Takeshu's words, and said indifferently: "It's okay, I've found a helper for you."

Takesho Sogawa felt a little uncomfortable. After all, if a group of forces were involved, half of the benefits would have to be divided, which would be a great pleasure.

Pu Jingshang obviously saw Hosokawa Takeshu's thoughts and said indifferently: "Hisan Hosokawa, just your men, how many things can you take away even if you conquer Dongtai Prefecture?"

Takeshu Hosokawa pondered for a moment, and finally nodded to agree. The main reason was that he felt that relying on his twenty subordinates alone could not deal with the 50 Ming troops equipped with flintlock rifles. As for transporting, he didn't have to do it himself. He forced the Ming people to work. He put a knife on his neck, and those guys like lamb dared to disobey?

"What help did the little master find?" Takeshi Hosokawa asked calmly. He was a little worried, worried that the other party would destroy the bridge afterwards.

Monk Pujing said calmly: "You will know when you arrive. The little monk will arrange for you to meet and discuss before taking action."

Takesho Sorakawa's eyes flashed and he nodded and said, "Okay, how to arrange the ships going to sea?"

"The boat monk will also be ready, so Hosokawa doesn't have to worry." Monk Pujing threw down his words and turned around and drove away.

...

The Japanese pirates were not found in Yangzhou City. On the afternoon of March 13th [Biquge www.xbqg5200.xyz], Xu Jin ordered the lifting of the city ban, and the city gates were opened again, allowing the people to enter and exit freely. After all, such a prosperous city, the city ban affected the lives of too many people.

In the following days, the work of clearing the land was in full swing under the leadership of Deputy Envoy Xia Yan. Xia Yan learned from Xu Jin's experience in checking granaries in Shandong. He specially went to major academies to recruit young scholars as supervisors and went to various prefectures and counties to supervise the land of local clerks.

This trick is undoubtedly very effective. Those scholars are Han Sheng, who are from the bottom of the class. After being encouraged by Xu Jin and Xia Yan in person, they were immediately excited and fed with chicken blood. They were full of passion and enthusiasm, and rushed to various places to work as supervisors...
Chapter completed!