After hearing what King Chu said, Shimazu Yoshiguro hurriedly explained: "Your Highness, even if the head of the family is gone, the position of the head of the family will be passed on to his younger brother or son. Distant relatives and retainers like me are not qualified to inherit, and I dare not have it.
This thought."
"So, you are neither the current head of the family nor the next head of the family?" Lao Liu asked again.
"Yes, neither." Shimazu Yoshiguro shook his head.
His Royal Highness the King of Chu looked unhappy.
"Then what are you doing here? Your Highness is meeting the head of the family. Who let you in?" Hu Quan, who was standing by, immediately pulled his face and shouted in a deep voice: "Get out, you have no right to be here."
"This..." Shimazu Yoshiguro's eyes darkened, and he looked towards the two family heads for help.
"Your Highness, please calm down," Young Master Laicheng hurriedly explained with a smile: "When the Shimazu family leader was seriously injured and bedridden, the Bitou family elder acted as the head of the family."
"Yes, we are extremely honored to pay a visit to His Highness today. Considering that the Shimazu family is a wealthy family in Kyushu, it would be rude to be absent, so the elder of the Bitou family came to salute His Highness on behalf of the head of the family." Otomo also hurriedly agreed.
.
"Okay." Lao Liu's expression brightened slightly at this moment, and he nodded and said, "Okay, since he has already saluted, let him step aside. I want to have some personal words with the head of the family, so it will be inconvenient for others to wait.
Be present.”
After listening to the translation, Shimazu Yoshi said with a dark heart: Why am I just waiting around?
But this time, Young Master Raicheng and Otomo Akashi could not help him, so they called him out with a wink. Shimazu Yoshiguro had no choice but to leave and wait outside the tent.
~~
Seeing the Shimazu family being kicked out, the second son, Laicheng, and Otomo were all very upset, thinking that the prince of the Ming Dynasty was really moody and difficult to understand.
The next moment, Lao Liu said amiably again: "Don't be too restrained, you two. I see your performance. I didn't follow Huai Liang to the end. This time your king surrendered, and you two also worked hard."
"
"Your Highness, thank you." The two men's expressions perked up, and they said in their hearts that the time had come to reward them based on their merits, but their faces became more and more respectful as they said, "I'm just following the destiny and obeying your Highness's decree."
"Hey, without your efforts, our soldiers of the Ming Army would have made more sacrifices, so you have merit." Zhu Zhen waved his hands and said: "But merit is merit, and fault is fault. There is an issue that must be explained clearly."
"Your Highness, please speak." The two of them were shocked, damn they didn't follow the routine.
"I was ordered to go out this time with two main goals. One is to capture the murderer of my father's assassination, and the other is to uncover the boss behind the Japanese pirates. Now that Huai Liang has been captured, the first goal has been achieved, but what about the second?
There must be an explanation!" Zhu Zhen said in a deep voice.
"This..." One of them had a sallow complexion, and the other was sweating profusely. The Kyushu navy was the main force of the Japanese pirates, and the three of them were the Japanese pirates' backstage. If we really wanted to pursue the case, neither of the two families would be able to escape.
At this time, if you say that our family has no navy, or that our navy is mainly in the east and never goes to the Ming Dynasty, not only will it fail to win the trust of His Highness the King of Chu, but it will also arouse resentment, so it is better not to say it.
"It's not that I want to embarrass you, but it's my duty. If you don't understand this issue clearly, you won't be able to start the story." Lao Liu sighed and said:
"I also know that your relationship is intricately linked. If we really want to investigate, no one can escape. But if you have made meritorious deeds, I will definitely give you a chance to atone for your crimes - as long as you hand over the culprit, I can
Promise, the past affairs between your two families will be wiped out and we will start from scratch."
"Thank you, Your Highness, for your kindness." The two of them were extremely grateful. At the same time, they finally understood why His Highness wanted to drive the Shimazu family away as soon as he came up, making it clear that he wanted them to throw the blame on his family.
But the three of them have been in the same spirit and have shared weal and woe for nearly two hundred years. The Kanto court has tried countless times to divide them, but has failed. Now Lao Liu has asked them to push the Shimazu family to a dead end.
Naturally, it was difficult for the two of them to accept it.
The second son, Laicheng, pretended to be confused and said: "The Japanese pirates that harass the Celestial Dynasty are all desperadoes who can't stand on the stage. They are mainly islanders and naval forces on the western coast. As for the sponsors behind them, it's like the Uku clan of Goto.
The Matsuura clan of Hepingdo has always been at odds with the Japanese pirates."
"Yes." Dayou personally agreed: "The ones who harassed the Ming Dynasty were mainly these two families. As for those who invaded Goryeo, they were mainly the navy of the Northern Dynasty, which has nothing to do with us in the Southern Dynasty."
"Huh! Here we go again..." Lao Liu was very dissatisfied with their answers and said with a donkey face: "I am kindly saving you, but you still don't tell the truth!"
They both hurriedly apologized and even said they didn't dare.
"Don't do this, you are too brave to lie to my face." Lao Liu said coldly: "I have really worked hard to understand you Kyushu rich people! The Ujiushi and Matsuura clans are just people who can't stand on the stage.
Small characters are, at best, your bag-carrying boys. If you push them out to carry bags and just want to get away with it, are you treating me as a fool?!"
The younger brother, Lai Cheng, and his dear friend hurriedly kowtowed, admitting their mistake with tears streaming down their faces, and said again:
"On the surface, it is indeed the navy from these two companies. As for their background, we only hear about it but there is no evidence, so we dare not speak nonsense."
"There's no wind but a three-foot wave, tell me!" Lao Liu said coldly.
"Yes." The two of them had no choice but to follow his instructions and said with difficulty, "It is said to be the Shimazu family."
"Well, this is barely reasonable." Lao Liu said with a slightly brighter expression: "Don't blame me for forcing you. I can't deal with my father, so you can't deal with me."
"I will be merciful to you, but I have to explain everything to you. With just those two little shrimps, people can tell at a glance that I am protecting you, and that will harm you, do you understand?"
"Yes." The two of them said with tears in their eyes, "His Highness has been extremely kind and righteous to us. If we have selfish motives, we would be very sorry for His Highness."
"This is like a human saying." Lao Liu started to give out sweets at this moment: "Actually, my original intention was for you to replace Huai Liang and continue to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty."
As he said this, he glanced at the second son, Lai Cheng, and asked, "Is your brother telling you the wrong thing?"
"No, no." Young Master Laicheng quickly shook his head and said, "Your Highness's love is so great that we can't repay it. It's just that Huai Liang pretended to be the king and committed the crime of deceiving the king. We can't imitate him."
"Yes, Huai Liang pretended to be the king of Japan and was ridiculed in both the Northern and Southern Dynasties. It was really not worth the loss." Otomo also agreed.
In fact, it's because they weighed the pros and cons and felt that the gains outweighed the losses. Without diamonds, they couldn't do the porcelain job.
"Forget it then," Lao Liu nodded and said, "Then the King of Japan will be responsible for the tribute. You can manage Kyushu for the Ming Dynasty."
"Yes!" the two of them agreed happily, and then competed to show their loyalty.
