Ah?
Is that you?
Zhu Mo immediately helped him up and asked, "So, he is Oda?"
Wang Ruxian nodded heavily and sighed, "We arrived long ago, but the coast was blocked by pirates, and the government troops were also strictly investigating. We landed from Jiangsu and then went south from Anhui..."
Upon hearing this, the three knew that these two had gone through considerable trouble. They sighed while admiring the persistence of this Japanese man.
Zhu Mo examined this person carefully, finding him similar to the portraits he had seen. He had heard the man was a cross-dresser, but he couldn't tell at the moment. He could only smile and bow, saying:
"Lord Nobunaga, thank you for your hard work."
Oda Nobunaga, in his early twenties, bowed deeply to Zhu Mo and said a string of unintelligible words. Wang Ruxian translated, "He says he is extremely fortunate to meet Scholar Zhu this time. What he has seen along the way, the Ming Dynasty's Jiangnan is similar to Japan's Kyushu, and indeed faces the same crisis. He requests Scholar Zhu to help him reorganize the realm."
Mhm,
This fellow is quite straightforward.
Zhu Mo admired this and smiled, "Tell him that the rōnin in Kyushu are the root of this crisis. Without them acting as henchmen, no country would have fallen into crisis... I can promise him firearms, but what can he offer in return?"
Wang Ruxian translated back and forth.
Oda listened, nodded, sometimes asked questions, sometimes pondered, and after a while, he spoke at length to Zhu Mo again.
Wang Ruxian said, "He says he is currently just an insignificant minor lord, and he is very grateful that Scholar Zhu thinks highly of him. He also says he has nothing to promise at the moment, and he treats Scholar Zhu as a friend, so he's being direct and doesn't want to deceive..."
Lü Kun and Li Zhi also nodded involuntarily, and examined this person again. Both knew that Zhu Mo had written a letter to Oda. At first, they were not entirely convinced, but today they saw the man's persistence and his willingness to brave dangers for the sake of his nation, and they couldn't help but feel some admiration.
Zhu Mo, however, thought to himself: You know how to speak, but how can there be no promise? My firearms are not given away for free!
So he said:
"Tell him I'm being direct too. I only want two things. First, I want him to help me defeat Otomo Sorin. On the day Kyushu is occupied, all shipowners will be explicitly forbidden to hire rōnin. Second, I want grain. This is not a gift; I will pay for it, 5 billion catties annually."
Oda looked confused after hearing the translation, "Our country does indeed have this amount, but it is scattered among various domains, making it difficult to acquire."
Zhu Mo said, "Tell him he can open grain markets in Nagasaki and Osaka, and I will purchase at a price higher than the market price..."
He made this request because the system had provided data last time. After textiles, tea, porcelain, and salt industries were established, within 3-5 years, the total grain output of the Great Ming would temporarily decrease by 30 billion catties from 150 billion catties. Although this gap was not large, problems could arise if it was not supplied in time.
His planned solution was to import from Japan, Korea, Bianluo, Champa, and Ryukyu, and the import volume should exceed 30 billion catties, preferably around 50 billion catties, which would also help suppress grain prices somewhat.
After hearing the translation, Oda suddenly laughed heartily and said, "That's a good idea! I can agree! First, if you give me enough firearms, I can deliver Sorin's head to Hangzhou within three months. Second, before autumn, I can give you 1 billion catties at a price 10% higher than the market price, and another 1 billion catties by the end of the year."
Good!
Clap clap clap!
Zhu Mo clapped his hands incessantly and laughed, "Decisive! Then ask him, how many guns does he want?"
Wang Ruxian finished translating, and Oda suddenly sat up straight, then bowed again, chattering with a brief tone and very few words.
Wang Ruxian said, "He says 300. If possible, 400."
Li Zhi and Lü Kun said in unison, "Zixuan, that's too much! We only have 1000..."
Zhu Mo waved his hand, thinking: You don't understand military affairs. With 1000 guns, if I directly confront the pirates, unless the plan is very clever, it won't have much of a miraculous effect. However, if I give them to him, and he attacks from the rear, the effect will be completely different. Not to mention 300, even 100, Otomo Sorin would surely be defeated.
He stood up with a whoosh. He paced a few steps, then stared coldly at Oda and said word for word, "Tell him, I can give him 500, but I want to see Sorin's head in two months."
Wang Ruxian understood at this point and exclaimed excitedly, "Scholar Zhu, you want him to sneak attack Sorin from the rear. That's a brilliant strategy to relieve the siege!"
He translated back and forth.
Oda listened without changing his expression. He knelt and bowed deeply, touching his head to the ground. Then he straightened up and said decisively, "I will certainly accomplish it."
Wang Ruxian looked at the three and said, "He says he can do it."
Zhu Mo believed he had the ability, but the Japanese were always cunning, so he had to give him a scare. He slowly smiled and said, "Tell him I also know a friend in the eastern part of Japan, named Tokugawa Ieyasu. That's all you need to say; he will understand."
Wang Ruxian had also heard of this person and thought: This move is even better. Oda will definitely fight with all his might.
As expected,
After hearing this, Oda's expression suddenly changed. A look of malice flashed across his face, which quickly vanished. He then laughed heartily and said, "Lord Zhu Mo, Ieyasu is not as good as me."
After Wang Ruxian translated, the three were suddenly startled: this man is indeed a hero, possessing great spirit.
After the discussion, Zhu Mo
escorted Lü Kun and Li Zhi out and said, "To resolve the pirate crisis, this is the best way. Shujian, you go and explain clearly to Zheng Qin, ask him to take out five hundred guns, and then ask a hundred men to escort these two. Well, they should board the ship from the Liujia Port area. Shujian, take this imperial envoy's bronze seal with you; it must be foolproof, and no one must know."
Lü Kun had initially disagreed, but during this time, he had seen that the root of this great chaos was actually the pirates at sea. Without the military might of the pirates, Yan Song and the others could not have stirred up any trouble. Now his mind was clear, and he nodded, "Zixuan, don't worry, I will certainly accomplish it."
Hahaha,
The three laughed together.
That night,
Lü Kun, with a hundred-man firearm squad, escorted three carts of firearms and three carts of ammunition and headed north.
Zhu Mo and Li Zhi gazed at the end of the official road.
Li Zhi suddenly said, "Zixuan, we only have five hundred guns. In the current situation, how can we quell it?"
Zhu Mo, having experienced many storms, had long understood one principle:
Good steel must be used on the blade; this is definitely correct!
Some things must be decided decisively.
So he smiled and said, "Zhuowu, the boat will reach the bridge when it comes. I believe Zhao Shizhen will also live up to his mission."
And just as he spoke,
Zheng Qin hurried to the camp and said to the two:
"Young Master Zhu, Zhao Shizhen has sent more firearms. However, seeing the great chaos in Hangzhou city, he asks what the young master intends to do?"
Ah,
Zhu Mo's heart was suddenly filled with joy. He patted Li Zhi's shoulder and said, "Don't you see? As long as every step is taken correctly, one can indeed summon the wind and call the rain!"
Dear friends:
There were some errors in the previous content regarding the pirates in this book, which have now been corrected. Please comment more to provide feedback and help with revisions. Thank you very much...