Chapter 2730
The members of the mission gathered in Hangzhou this summer, and it has been several months since then. During this period, they have spent time together day and night, and the friendship they have forged by working hand in hand made everyone feel a little sad when they said goodbye.
However, the education they received since childhood is different from ordinary people. They know that the mission they shoulder is to make the country strong, and everyone is just a small part in the national machine. If he were assigned the task of opening up territory on the other side of the ocean, he would also have to put aside his personal emotions and make completing the task his primary goal.
Among the people present, only Ma Boran was probably the calmest, because the North American advance team had to pass through Edo, an important supply station, when traveling to and from both sides of the ocean, and it was normal for him to receive and deliver them.
However, as Haihan's colony on the west coast of North America gradually develops and takes shape, this trans-oceanic route passing through Edo may gradually become more popular in the future. This is for Ma Boran, who has been living overseas all year round and has few opportunities to communicate with his compatriots. , is indeed an excellent development trend.
It is worth mentioning that Wang Anguo took away more than 20 ships at once, and the size of the entire combined fleet was immediately reduced by half. Such a big move naturally attracted the attention of the Edo authorities, who even sent people to inquire about the reason and whereabouts of this fleet leaving the anchorage.
Such changes may have eased the shogunate's resistance to the mission. The day after Wang Anguo left, the shogunate notified the mission that they would be arranged to meet the general in Edo Castle.
After receiving official permission, the mission headed to Edo Castle one day in advance. After all, the anchorage arranged by the shogunate was quite far from Edo Castle. If we set out on the day of the meeting, we would probably not arrive on time.
On the way to Edo Castle, Ma Boran also took the time to briefly introduce the general situation of the city to everyone.
From a certain perspective, Edo Castle has many similarities with Sanya. They are both new harbor cities built from scratch in this century, and they are both political and economic centers of a country. The construction speed of Edo City is much slower than that of Sanya, but thanks to the geographical environment, the urban area here is larger than that of Sanya.
The core area of Edo Castle is about eight miles wide from north to south and eleven miles long from east to west. It has two inner and outer city walls, both with complete moats. The perimeter of the outer wall is more than 30 miles long, with city walls, watchtowers and gates. Waiting for a complete set of city fortifications. The inner wall is the private residence of the shogun, and the outer wall is mainly the residences of various government offices, officials and nobles, as well as the offices of daimyo from all over the country in Edo. Beyond the outer moat is the urban area where ordinary civilians live, extending southward to the coast of Edo Bay.
Whether it is palaces or fortifications, the architectural scale of Edo Castle cannot be compared with the traditional ancient cities of China. However, it is already the largest city in Japan. It is not even the largest construction achievement of this country in this century. Pass.
The delegation arrived at the harbor dock outside Edo Castle by boat, and then transferred to a horse-drawn carriage to enter the city. Although there was an armed checkpoint guarding the city gate, after Ma Boran came forward, the soldiers guarding the city did not inspect the carriage the mission was riding in and directly let them enter the city.
The Haihan Embassy is located in the southern part of the city. It was a house bought from a down-and-out nobleman in the early years. It covers an area of about ten acres. The house was only ten years old when it was purchased. In this The era can be regarded as a quasi-new house. After buying it, only simple decoration and internal modifications were made, and then it was put into daily use. It still basically maintains the original appearance of the Japanese-style building. However, a set of special facilities in the inner courtyard caught the attention of the mission. This is a metal pillar standing on the ground. The exposed part is about seven feet high and seven inches thick. There is a tripod deployed outside to stabilize it. Hold firmly. There is a device similar to a hand crank outside the column, and wires are led out from the base of the column and extend into the house not far away.
"Is this a radio antenna?" Tao Hongfang was also well-informed and immediately recognized the true identity of this thing.
Ma Boran nodded and said: "This is a telescopic antenna pole produced in Sanya. When used, an antenna is installed on the top. After being extended with a crank handle, the height can reach six feet. However, because this thing is too eye-catching, it is generally It will only be used at night. At present, I am the only one who can use the radio to send and receive telegrams, so I have always been responsible for the communication corps.”
Given the location of Edo, if messages were to be sent via physical letters, there was basically no timeliness at all, and it would definitely not be able to meet the needs of intelligence work, so we still tried our best to install a set of radio equipment at the Edo embassy. If calculated in actual value, this set of equipment should be worth several times more than the embassy property.
In addition to Ma Boran, the embassy also has four civilian staff, four military personnel responsible for security and intelligence work, one personal servant of Ma Boran, two handymen and a cook. Due to the special nature of the embassy's work, Ma Boran did not hire locals. All the people in the embassy were Hainanese.
Although Japan was forced to open Edo's trade rights to Haihan under pressure, the social atmosphere here was obviously not as open as that of Nagasaki, and all classes rarely took the initiative to contact foreigners. Except for the occasional Haihan merchants who come here to do business, few people usually come to visit. The arrival of the mission added a lot of vitality to the embassy. Ma Boran said with a smile that it had never been so lively even during the Chinese New Year.
"I only get thirty or forty visitors a year here. The last time there were so many people in the embassy, it was probably when they moved in. But don't worry, I have already vacated the room and prepared the accommodation in advance. If you have any other needs, please let me know.”
It was rare for Ma Boran to receive visitors from home here, not to mention that these young officials were all his old acquaintances. He also wanted to take this opportunity to show everyone the results of his work in Edo.
Among the officials of the mission and their entourage, there were nearly twenty people staying in the embassy. This was not a big test for the embassy, which usually did not receive many visitors. However, the mission is not too picky about the accommodation conditions. After all, they have lived on the ship for half of the time since the mission. The conditions here are much better than the conditions on the ship.
The next day, Ma Boran and everyone in the embassy went to the shogun's residence in Naikou to visit the current shogun Tokugawa Ietsuna.
The delegation entered the inner city through the gate called Sakurada Gate, and the city defense inspection here was much stricter than that of the outer city. Although it did not go as far as a body search, the soldiers guarding the card not only checked the identity of the mission personnel one by one. Identity, I also carefully checked the inside and outside of the carriage, and even leaned over to check under the car to confirm that no one would take the opportunity to sneak in.
(End of chapter)