Chapter 140: Mission to Japan (V)

Shikoku Island has passed, and the Ming fleet sailed into the Seto Sea in Japan. On March 22, 2009, the fleet finally arrived at Japan's No. 1 port, which is the final destination of this trip, Osaka Port, Osaka, which was later Osaka. It is currently under the control of the Southern Dynasties of Japan. A few days ago, the Ming fleet rested on Shikoku Island for three days and had sent a thousand-house Yang Fan and his aide Zhou Ming to negotiate the cargo ship with the Southern Dynasties. The Southern Dynasties was in a period of rapid expansion after defeating the Northern Dynasties and were extremely eager for the Ming weapons and armor. Prince Ryosuke almost agreed to the Ming Dynasty's offer without hesitation, and bought fifty ships of military supplies for the total price of 300,000 taels of silver. In addition, he also agreed to the additional conditions proposed by Li Weizheng: the empty ship on the return journey was filled with rice as a supply for the Ming warship escort.

When more than one hundred Ming ships slowly entered Osaka Port, the Osaka Port was boiling. The cheers of tens of thousands of people who were watching the fun resounded throughout the harbor, but then the cheers suddenly disappeared, and replaced by a sensation of unison. A huge warship appeared in front of the Japanese at the port, slowly approaching the dock like a hill. The Southern Dynasties officials who came to greet the fleet showed fear in their eyes. They looked at each other and could not believe that there was such a huge warship in the world.

The treasure ship stopped steadily, and a ladder slowly dropped from the ship. The Ming commander Li Weizheng and more than 100 officers and soldiers walked off the treasure ship. More than a dozen Southern Dynasties officials who came to greet him and Yang Fan who arrived in advance, Zhou Ming walked up together. The chief officer who came to greet him was Kazuo Hosokawa, the Minister of the Southern Dynasties. He was the important minister under Prince Ryoseki, who was second only to Takeo Kikuchi. This time, the weapons transaction with the Ming Dynasty was fully responsible.

Hosokawa Kazuno was about 60 years old and had gray hair. He was born in a famous family in Nara. He had a high level of Confucianism and his most persistent belief. When the sword of the general Ashikaga Yoshiman, the Northern Dynasties general, swept across the Japanese archipelago and the Southern Dynasties' Elderly Court, swept the Japanese archipelago and surrendered to the emperor, Hosokawa Kazuno always insisted that the Southern Dynasties was the authentic emperor. He followed Prince Ryonas and supported Emperor Kazuyama to hide in Yoshinoyama, and sacrificed all his property in the subsequent recruitment. Finally, he defeated Ashikaga Yoshiman with a surprise weapon in the Battle of Nara, and the Southern Dynasties had a chance to survive.

He quickly walked forward and bowed to Li Weizheng, saying his most sincere gratitude to Li Weizheng in Japanese. Zhou Ming next to him introduced to Li Weizheng: "He is the chief officer of Prince Ryoseki who specially sent to welcome the Ming fleet. The Minister of Inner Hosokawa Kazuo is the third-ranked minister of the Southern Dynasties. On behalf of His Majesty Kazuyama, he sincerely thanked the Ming Dynasty for its support for the Southern Dynasties."

Li Weizheng also smiled and replied: "My Ming Emperor has always kept his promises. Although he encountered several twists and turns, he still brought the supplies needed by the Southern Dynasties, hoping that the Southern Dynasties can also keep their promises."

After hearing Zhou Ming's translation, Hosokawa Kazuo immediately said solemnly: "Mr. Commander, please rest assured. The Southern Dynasties promised a lot. We should do our best to pay the Ming Dynasty's goods and silver. We can still afford the 300,000 taels of silver. The silver will be shipped to the harbor within ten days to exchange military goods with the Ming Dynasty. However, please allow our people to board the ship to inspect the goods first."

Li Weizheng smiled and said, "Of course, I have to look at the goods first and then pay."

At this time, an elderly monk stepped forward and clasped his hands and said, "I am the master of the Ishiyama Honan Temple, Mingru, who greets the commander."

Li Weizheng was surprised to hear that he could speak fluent Chinese. He quickly clasped his hands and replied, "I have heard of the name of Honen Temple for a long time. It is a privilege of Li Weizheng to meet the Master of Dharma today."

Honan Temple is the leader of the Zen Buddhism in Japan. It has a strong influence in Japan and has a wide range of believers. The reason why the Southern Dynasties could compete with the Northern Dynasties was also inseparable from the support of Honan Temple. It was not until Oda Nobunaga burned the Honan Temple later that it finally severely attacked the power of Japanese monks...

The third person seems to be a folk person. This is a man in his fifties, with a rough face, a hooked nose, triangular eyes, cheeks and lips, just like a work carved by a clumsy stonemason.

He bowed slightly, looked at Li Wei with a smile in his eyes and said, "Below is Kenji Kondo, a businessman from Shikoku Island. The boat that General Li encountered in the Kyushu Goshima Island was sent by me."

Zhou Ming whispered a few words in Li Weizheng's ear. Li Weizheng nodded slowly. He glanced at Kenji Kondo and smiled: "The Kondo family should have good results in Nagasaki!"

Zhou Ming translated very well. Kenji Kondo narrowed his triangular eyes. He then smiled and changed his face to the sincerity of a merchant: "Actually, my original intention was not to let the Ming cargo ship suffer any more. I hope you can avoid those coyotes, but I didn't expect you to kill them. Although I also suffered a little loss, this is nothing compared to the gains in Nagasaki. Commander, please come to the house tonight. I really want to invite the adults to have a drink as a thank you."

Li Wei looked at Hosokawa Kazuno and nodded happily and said, "Yes, I'll visit Kondo's house tonight."

Kenji Kondo was overjoyed. He restrained the joyful expression on his face and slowly retreated. Then Hosokawa Kazuo introduced other officials to Li Weizheng, the Minzuo who was responsible for household registration and taxes, the Minzuo who was responsible for diplomatic affairs, and other important officials. Li Weizheng all greeted each other. Finally, Hosokawa Kazuo respectfully invited him: "His Highness Prince Ryoseki is waiting for the Lord in Nara, and hopes that the Lord can go to Nara with me."

Li Weijing bowed and smiled, "The guest is with you, there is no problem for me to go to Nara, but I just arrived in Osaka today, and there are many things. I will go with you tomorrow morning."

"Okay! I'll welcome the commander tomorrow morning."

After a simple welcoming ceremony was held at the dock, Hosokawa and Ou left the dock. Tens of thousands of people who came to see the fun gradually dispersed, but the dock was not deserted. More than 100 merchants used special carriages to the dock to sell with the goods from the store. They shouted and shouted and shouted. Although the language was not clear, the currency was the same. Li Weizheng did not stop him from trading with silver. He allowed soldiers and crew to take turns to take ashore for a walk and shopping, but was not allowed to leave the harbor.

It was getting darker, and Li Wei was teaching Yao Ji to write Chinese characters in the cabin. Suddenly, the personal soldiers reported from outside the cabin, "Sir, a carriage came up on the dock, saying that the Kondo family invited him to the banquet."

Yao Ji was startled and she quickly said to Li Weizheng: "This Kondo family is a famous Japanese maritime merchant. It is said to have a close relationship with the pirates of the Four Kingdoms. Black and white are both common. Weizhengjun goes to his house, so be careful."

Li Wei was holding up her chin and kissing her red lips, saying, "Don't worry! Now the Southern Dynasty has asked me for it, and he dare not do anything to me."

He pointed to a stack of words on the table again and smiled ambiguously: "This is homework, I will finish it before I come back, otherwise I will punish you heavily tonight."

Yao Ji was so embarrassed that her face turned red, she lowered her head and wrote slowly, and her beautiful eyes but charmingly gave her a look. Li Weizheng felt aroused in her heart, and the thought of pressing her to the floor on the ground to correct the Dharma. But he still had something to do, so he had to stand up and smile and said, "Okay, I'll go first, you can eat dinner alone, wait for me to come back obediently."

"yes!"

Yao Ji stood up to serve him to change his clothes. Li Weizheng then got off the boat with his own soldiers. Zhou Ming, who was with Li Weizheng, was already waiting on the dock. Although it was almost dark, the shops on the dock were lit with lanterns, as bright as day, filled with the shouts and noises of vendors. It was extremely lively. Li Weizheng got off the boat, but saw several charming middle-aged women saying something around the thousand-hukou Lai Yongguo, with frivolous voices and ambiguous smiles. Zhou Ming was translating to them with a red face.

"What's the matter?" Li Wei asked.

Lai Yongguo quickly reported: "Sir, this is the madam from several brothels in Osaka Castle. They brought a lot of prostitutes and wanted to get on the boat to do business."

"How many women did they bring?"

"A few brothels seem to bring in more than 200 people in total."

Seeing that Li Wei seemed to be the leader, several madams rushed over, with a few snow-white faces with flattering smiles and talking. Li Wei was looking into the distance and saw dozens of carriages parked in the darkness, and the carriages were faintly filled with people.

Li Weizheng nodded and said to Lai Yongguo Road: "You can take them on the boat to reward the brothers. The silver you need will be out of the ship's fare, and you will also concentrate them on a boat. No one will die. And you must leave all before dawn. I will leave this matter to you."

"As for your order!" Lai Yongguo bowed and took several madams down.

At this time, the butler sent by the Kondo family stepped forward and bowed: "Who is the commander? My master has already set up a banquet and asks him to go to the banquet."

Li Wei said righteously: "I am!"

The butler waved his hand and a carriage galloped over and stopped in front of Li Wei. The butler stepped forward and opened the car door and asked respectfully: "Sir, please get on the carriage."

"No need, you just lead the way." Li Wei was turning over and following the butler towards Osaka Castle, surrounded by more than 300 soldiers.

Although the Kondo family lived in Shikoku, the center of gravity of the Kondo family has gradually moved to Osaka Castle in recent years. A magnificent castle was built beside the Toi River outside Osaka Castle. The castle was ten feet high and its base was made of huge stones. A black heavy building rose from the ground on the base of the huge stone as high as three feet high. It was named "Ieho Tower". This is the name of Kondo Ieho, the first generation of the Kondo family. It is surrounded by dense woods and the river water is diverted to form a moat. A wall surrounded the Ieho Tower. There are also some auxiliary houses around the high-rise building, mainly guarding the samurai camp. The Kondo family has nearly 3,000 samurai, most of which are in Awa, Shikoku Island. There are only 500 samurai in Osaka, one of which is in the port, and the other part is in the military camp in the wall.

Kenji Kondo obviously spent a lot of money to entertain Li Weizheng. At night, the lights in the Ixiong Building were brightly lit, and various lanterns with whale oil candles set off the city tower dazzlingly.

The banquet was held in the lobby on the third floor. More than 20 people from the Kondo family were accompanied by more than 20 people. Kenji Kondo and Li Wei were sitting in the main seat, and Zhou Ming was sitting next to it. Both sides of the hall were filled with the Kondo family's guests. The room was a typical Japanese-style residence. It was actually a transparent hall, and it was divided into several rooms by movable screens. The banquet was held in the largest room. Tatami straw mats were laid on the ground. There was a low table in front of everyone. The table was filled with delicacies, but Li Wei Zheng was a little uncomfortable. However, Kenji Kondo thought about it carefully and specially used soft cushions and asked two young and beautiful girls to serve him. Although he was a little tired of sitting, he was also more relaxed in drinking.

In the open space in the middle of the hall, ten beautiful women in kimonos were holding round fans in their hands, dancing gracefully against the sound of silk and bamboo, performing traditional Japanese dances, and the atmosphere seemed friendly and warm.

Through Zhou Ming's translation, Li Weizheng and Kenji Kondo had a good chat. Kenji Kondo personally poured a glass of wine for Li Weizheng, then picked up the wine glass and smiled: "The Kondo family is a sea merchant and eats by the sea. In the future, please take care of the commander and instructor."

In fact, this is the reason why Kenji Kondo was invited to the house. More than a hundred years ago, the Kondo family made their fortunes mainly by maritime trade with the Southern Song Dynasty at that time. Later, the Yuan Dynasty had a bad relationship with Japan. After that, the sea ban of the Ming Dynasty was interrupted. The Kondo family could only continue to make money by smuggling. In recent years, the smuggling trade between the King of Qin and Japan was to trade with the Kondo family.

Li Wei is the commander of the Weihai Guard, holding the power of maritime ban in the northern part of the Shandong Peninsula. If Li Wei is a little relaxed, it will be of great benefit to the smuggling of the Kondo family. It is rare that Li Wei is coming to Japan, and Kenji Kondo seized this opportunity in an instant.

Li Weizheng smiled but did not answer, and only touched the wine glass with Kenji Kondo and drank it all, which made Kenji Kondo heart itchy. I wonder if Li Weizheng agreed or not. At this time, Li Weizheng whispered a few words to Zhou Ming, and Zhou Ming said to Kenji Kondo: "My commander-in-chief wants to ask Mr. Kondo, what do you think of the situation in Kyushu?"

When the topic was about Kyushu, Kenji Kondo couldn't mention any more attention. After all, this kind of thing could not be explained. He smiled and said, "You may not know yet! The third brother of the Ouchi family, Da Naochi Kazuhira, died in the Nagasaki Naochi Naochi. Now Yoshihiro Ouchi has occupied the country of Himemae, and Yoshihiro Ouchi has a great influence in Kyushu. I heard that even the Northern Dynasties have begun to be wary of him."

Li Weizheng smiled slightly. The moment he was interested in was not the Northern Dynasties. He then asked: "What about the Southern Dynasties? Does the Southern Dynasties have strategies for Jiuzhou?"

At this moment, a delicate voice from a woman suddenly came from behind the screen on the left: "I didn't expect that Li Qianhu was very concerned about the situation in Japan."

The woman speaks very fluent Chinese. Kenji Kondo smiled and said, "This is my goddaughter. She has been able to speak Chinese since she was a child. She just arrived and heard that she is an old person who commanded the adults."
Chapter completed!