New Shun 1730

The three-year lease is not long, so there is just enough time for a buffer.

The matter of Ezo is not something that the Matsumae clan can decide alone, and there are so many people and so many mouths that it is impossible to keep it secret.

Matsumae Suehiro decided to talk about the situation here a little bit when he went to Edo to make an account.

It is okay to talk, but as for how to talk, there are some skills.

Just say that a ship of Dashun was shipwrecked, and don't go into details about the specific situation.

If the shogunate strictly orders that it must be dealt with, come back to deal with it.

If the shogunate hears his ambiguous words and doesn't take it seriously, then follow the established idea, make friends with merchants, and trade quietly.

Soon, the retainer in charge of the negotiations went to the place where Dashun built a city and rested again, and the two sides signed a very "equal" treaty.

A range was drawn for them to rest here temporarily.

But they could not go out of the circle, and it was strictly forbidden to trade directly with the local Ezo people.

All goods must be sold to merchants from the Matsumae clan, and they must leave as soon as the ship is built.

However, these refugees from Dashun were allowed to fish and cut wood here.

As soon as the treaty was signed, merchants drove small boats to this side and transported away the goods.

The merchants of the Ryohama Group were not eligible to participate in the trade in Nagasaki. They did not have enough capital and did not have strong connections. It was a rare opportunity to buy Chinese goods, so they were naturally excited.

Most of the silk can be used as Ezo brocade. Now the monks in Edo and Kyoto are willing to use this Ezo brocade to make robes, and the shogunate has also tacitly approved the existence of this brocade.

Most of the goods were delivered with silver and gold, and the rest were exchanged for some dried fish.

There were not many goods. After paying Matsumae Domain 1,000 taels of silver for land rent, they still made a little profit after deducting the dried fish.

The designated area was not large, but these people did not need too much space.

First build the city, then cultivate the land, and everyone from top to bottom was restrained not to contact the Ezo people, at least not for three years.

Before the winter freeze, another ship came.

Three cannons, thirty recruited stragglers from Vladivostok hunters, and a large amount of food were unloaded.

Many of the first batch of immigrants had experience in reclaiming wasteland in Vladivostok, and they could survive the first winter here without the help of local natives.

The officers had already felt something was wrong, and some with a keen sense of smell had already smelled the smell of gunpowder for war.

Before the winter came, the basic defense had been completed and the gun positions had been repaired. The winter here was not too cold, but the snow was a bit heavy. Taking advantage of this winter, the officers who felt that war might start trained these immigrants well.

The officers were all military cadets from military academies, and it was easy to practice flintlock rifles. Moreover, they were not regular troops, so they only needed to be taught to hide in the city and shoot.

In the coldest weather, officers and officials sat around the fireplace, stewing a pot of hot venison until it was well-cooked, and paired with a bowl of strong liquor from Vladivostok, it was really delicious.

"You say, if the Matsumae family drives us away in three years, will we have to go to war?"

The lieutenant laughed and said, "Forget it, we have enough food, gunpowder, and artillery. With the few people in the Matsumae domain, we can only surround, not attack. If we want to surround, we need 5,000 people. 5,000 people... He is just a daimyo with 10,000 stones, where can he get 5,000 people? Can he afford the money to feed, drink, and defecate 5,000 people?"

"If we tell the shogunate, even if we send troops, we can't be driven away in three years. We will send people to fight. If we can't fight, we will tell the shogunate again. The shogunate will send troops and transport artillery again, and it will probably take another year and a half. It's not that easy to attack an army of 4,000 or 5,000 people."

"Next year, Ying Suo Bo will send people here. If they want to attack, I'm afraid they will have to mobilize the whole country like we did when we fought the Junggar tribe."

The little lieutenant is very confident.

Knowing that relying on the bastion system, with Japan's current tactical level, it will take a long time to prepare if they want to attack.

The first step to capture a castle near the sea is to cut off the supply from the sea.

Let alone the food reserves, can the Japanese navy really stop the fleet of Weihai?

Only those who are isolated overseas can deeply feel the importance of the navy, and can truly feel the peace of mind of a huge country behind them that will not abandon them.

The man who raised the question before said happily: "In this case, it will be a big war. If we can hold on here, it will be a great achievement. I just don't know what Ying Suo Bo thinks? Is he going to occupy this Ezo land? Or does he have other ideas?"

The lieutenant who had attended the military academy and enhanced his vision asked back: "Is there anything special about this Ezo land? Such a land is thousands of miles north from Vladivostok. If it is just for this Ezo land, I don't think it is worth it. Wait, there will be excitement in a few years. We still have to train these people well and reclaim the land. When the time comes, I will refuse to leave. What can he, Matsumae Sukehiro, do to me?"

…………

It will take several years before the preparations for the war against Japan are completed.

Shipbuilding and cannon making were boring and routine, and they were already on track, so Liu Yu didn't need to watch them.

Liu Yu was not in Weihai at this time, but took a ship to Dagukou. The emperor allowed him to return to the capital to celebrate the emperor's birthday.

In fact, it was also to discuss with him the visit of the French envoys.

After the ship loaded with glass and silver docked near Dagukou, someone organized to send these goods to the capital, and Liu Yu went to see the artillery fort at Dagukou.

This is a fort built during the Yongle reign of the previous dynasty. Since the Japanese invasion was quelled, it has gradually been abandoned.

But today, there are many conscripted civilians here, tamping the earth, obviously preparing to overhaul the fort.

The person in charge of building the fort saluted Liu Yu when he saw him. As a student who was born in a small station and studied artillery and fortress engineering, he respected Liu Yu very much.

In order to show his closeness, the young man did not call Liu Yu "sir" or "lord", but called him a very special title.

"Sir, the fort here was originally made of stone, which is not appropriate. Just like the books we learned on Liugong Island, the fort is best made of rammed earth, and there should be thick slopes and earth mounds outside. When the stone is hit by the shell, the stone chips will fly and easily hurt people. And it cannot relieve the force, not as good as the earth slope."

"Your Majesty wants to build a fort here, and also build two bastions. I am not the chief officer, just the supervisor."

The young man enthusiastically led Liu Yu around for a few times, hoping to get a word or two of praise from Liu Yu. The emperor didn't know whether the fort was well built or not. If he could get a few words of praise from Liu Yu, it would be very comfortable.

After two turns, Liu Yu praised the young man a few words, but he understood why the emperor did it.

He thought that with the money for building the fort, it would be better to invest it in the navy and build more large ships.

The safety of Bohai lies in the ports and fleets of Weihai and Lushun, not in Dagukou.

This fort is obviously a face-saving project, which should be built for the upcoming French delegation.

The East India Company has submitted the news of the delegation's arrival. According to the monsoon season, it should arrive in July and August this year.

The emperor does not want them to go inland, especially the canal, so they should be allowed to enter Beijing from Dagukou.

But this is quite a bit of a fart.

When drawing the national map before, it relied on a group of French missionaries. I'm afraid that the map of China's inland in France is no worse than that in the Chinese court.

Historically, it was the British who did not understand China. If it were France, which had just signed the Franco-Vietnamese Versailles Treaty with Vietnam and had sent missionaries to help draw maps, it might have thought of cutting the canal and breaking the north and south.

However, although this is a face-saving project, it seems worth it and can be regarded as a bargaining chip with France.

This is also a good thing. It can be seen that the emperor is willing to spend money to build the fort, which shows the importance of the visit of the French delegation.

After checking the fort, Liu Yu found that there were no cannons on the several forts that had been repaired.

"Cannons, are they cast in the capital? Or are they cast here? I'm in Weihai, why haven't I heard about this?"

The young man in charge of building the fort whispered: "There are no cannons for the time being. Just use some wood to decorate it so that people think there are cannons here. Maybe they will cast cannons later."

This somewhat unexpected answer made Liu Yu stunned for about half a minute, and then laughed.

It seems that there are still many talents in the court. They are not all stupid people who stick to the old ways. They also know how to spend the least money to achieve the desired effect when money is limited.

"Okay, anyway, the fort is an important place, and no one is allowed to enter. However, the artillery can be delayed. Since the fort has been built, it must be repaired. Don't waste money."

"Don't worry, sir, I know this. It costs a lot of money, and I don't care about the wages, but if something goes wrong in the future, they will chop off my head. So I will keep a close eye on it. Another thing is that the officials don't like me very much. I guess they are afraid that I will not recognize my relatives, but they didn't talk about sharing money with me."

This method of checks and balances and differentiation is still effective. The imperial power is in the middle to mediate, deliberately causing people from the two systems to distrust each other. Now the emperor feels that he can control it, but there are too few people studying practical knowledge. If there are more in the future, he will always have to make a choice.

"When will this place be completed?"

"Your Majesty has ordered that it must be completed before July. I calculated that it should be about the same. The barracks and other things will be built."

Completion before July further confirmed Liu Yu's judgment.

Many things cannot be done by one's own strength. But judging from the construction of the Dagukou Fort, someone in the court should be really concerned about the visit of France.

This is a good thing. Since we are going to negotiate, we still have to pretend. If the French see the Dagukou Fort that has been in disrepair for a long time, they may look down on it in their hearts.

If the French come directly to Weihai from the headquarters of the Guangdong Merchants' House and go to Dagukou, what they see is the defense of Weihai and Dagukou.

If they don't go directly to Weihai, then as long as they don't go inland, they will stay in Guangdong, Zhangzhou, Songjiang and other places, and they will see a thriving scene, and they will definitely not see the real poverty belt.

Liu Yu thought to himself that this is not bad. All that glitters is gold and jade, but the inside is rotten cotton. If you don't peel off the skin, do you know whether I am gold and jade or rotten cotton?