Seeing Zong Yizhen's grimace, Shi Diwen roughly guessed what he was thinking.
For a vassal state like Tsushima, whose status was neither high nor low, Daimyo Sogishin definitely had ambitions, but his own strength was limited and not enough to realize his ambitions, which led him to hesitate and make repeated calculations, not daring to Risk your life and fortune at critical moments.
If Shi Diwen had not personally come to put pressure on Zong Yizhen, he would probably try to evade the civil war plan proposed by Haihan and wait and see how the situation changes before making a decision.
Shi Diwen said: "Lord Zong, I know you think that the investment in starting the war is too great, and you are worried that participating in the war will affect the normal operation of Tsuima Fan, but have you ever thought that after the war is won, Tsuima Fan's population and territory will expand tenfold? Times or even more, by then not only will the military expenditures invested today be recovered, but there will also be considerable long-term benefits!”
Zong Yizhen responded: "What Mr. Shi said is that my financial resources for Ma Fan are limited, and I don't know if I can survive until the end of the war."
Shi Diwen said: "Don't worry, if there is a shortage of military expenditures during the war, our country can also provide low-interest loans to Tsushima without you needing to provide any collateral."
Is there such a thing as pie in the sky? Zong Yizhen realized that Kaihan used all kinds of methods to get Tsushima to participate in the war. Not only was he willing to lend him money for military expenses, he didn't even need collateral.
Zong Yizhen couldn't help but secretly wonder if it would be feasible if he borrowed more money from Haihan in the name of military expenses and used it for development in other fields.
Shi Diwen can naturally think of all the twists and turns he can think of, but he is not worried about what tricks Zong Yi can really play with him.
Haihan really does not need to provide any collateral to Ma Fan in exchange for the loan, because this kind of war loan will have corresponding additional conditions, that is, accepting Haihan's regulatory measures, and at the same time, the bulk of the relevant military expenditures must be used to purchase Haihan's weapons and equipment. .
In other words, these loan lending processes are just a matter of paper, and most of them will return to Haihan's pocket in the form of military purchase orders.
As for whether Tsushima can repay these war loans, there is no need to worry.
If the war between the Kyushu feudal clans and the shogunate is decided, and the Tsushima clan becomes the victor, then the huge benefits that will be gained will be enough to cover the early military expenditures. If the Kyushu vassals were defeated and the Tsushima vassal was under the protection of Kaihan, the possibility of being eliminated by the shogunate was extremely small. The worst possible outcome would be to maintain the status quo and pay back the money slowly.
Of course, what Shi Diwen hopes for the most is that this civil war can continue for a long time. It is best to fight it from generation to generation, so that this island country will maintain internal friction all year round and have no time to think about external expansion.
If such a goal can be achieved, then lending some war funds to the Kyushu vassals in the early stage will be nothing at all.
That night, Zong Yizhen continued to hold a banquet to entertain Shi Diwen and his party.
The main projects to be negotiated by both parties have basically been discussed. The remaining work is to sign an agreement and then push the plan into the implementation stage.
Under constant coercion and inducement, Zong Yizhen couldn't resist the huge temptation to become the "King of Tsushima" and decided to join Haihan's plan.
The next morning, Shi Diwen signed a written agreement with Zong Yizhen in Jinshi City, confirming that Tsushima will start preparations for the war in accordance with Haihan's arrangements. Haihan will also comply with the agreement and provide Tsushima with the necessary arms and other supplies, as well as training courses for military personnel. At the same time, Shi Diwen also promised on behalf of Haihan that if a civil war broke out in Japan, Haihan would continue to provide asylum to Tsushima and ensure that the status of the ruler of the Zong family would not be shaken. For Zong Yizhen, this is probably a more important condition than weapons and equipment and war loans.
Before leaving Asu Bay, Shi Diwen specially invited Zong Yizhen to board the Zhoushan to experience Haihan's most advanced military technology and shipbuilding technology.
When Zong Yizhen heard Shi Diwen's introduction that the Zhoushan's huge naval gun had a range of several miles, he couldn't help but secretly sigh that his hunch was right.
When he greeted the arrival of the Haihan fleet at the dock the day before yesterday, he was wondering whether the cannons on this giant ship could directly attack Jinshi City from the sea, and Shi Diwen's introduction just confirmed his guess.
Fortunately, Tsushima is Kaihan's partner, and Kinishi City will not be the target of Kaihan's naval guns. Soyoshi doesn't have to worry about waking up one morning and a shell will roar towards him. It hit the tatami where he was lying directly.
After completing the trip to visit Tsushima, Shi Diwen's next visit was Fukuoka, which is across the sea from Tsushima.
Fukuoka Domain is located in the Chikuzen Province region in northern Kyushu, and Chizen Province was one of the ancient imperial kingdoms in Japan. However, in the past 100 years, the Chikuzen region has changed hands many times.
After the Sekigahara War in 1600, Chikuzen Province ushered in a new ruler, Kuroda Nagamasa. To this day, the Fukuoka Domain, Akizuki Domain, and Torenji Domain under the jurisdiction of Chikuzen Province are all the territories of the Kuroda family. The overall strength is much stronger than that of Tsuima.
Among them, the status of Fukuoka Domain was the most prominent, and the daimyo could build the castle on his own. As tributaries of Fukuoka Domain, the other two clans could only build "jinya" without walls as the ruler's residence.
Kuroda Nagamasa was able to become the first daimyo of the Fukuoka Domain because of his outstanding military exploits while serving Toyotomi Hideyoshi. After Toyotomi Hideyoshi's death, Kuroda Nagamasa's allegiance changed to Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate, and he also married Tokugawa Ieyasu's adopted daughter, which also made the Kuroda family deeply trusted by the shogunate.
Therefore, among the Kyushu vassals, the Kuroda family is more inclined to the shogunate. The current Daimyo of Fukuoka Domain is Mitsuyuki Kuroda, the third-generation feudal lord of the Kuroda family and the eldest grandson of Kuroda Nagamasa.
Mitsuyuki Kuroda only took over the position of lord of the domain from his father who died of illness three years ago. However, he was already twenty-six years old when he took over and was already relatively skilled in handling government affairs. Therefore, the situation of Fukuoka Domain was not turbulent due to the transfer of power.
But by this period, the shogunate's influence in the Kyushu region had weakened compared to before. Even the Kuroda family, a loyal dog who came from the Tokugawa family, began to tend to establish its own family.
Before Shi Diwen's visit, Fukuoka Domain and Haihan basically only maintained trade exchanges, and did not establish a formal cooperative relationship like Tsushima Domain.
The Kaihan Military Intelligence Bureau believes that based on the inherent position of the Fukuoka Domain, there is a high probability that it will not participate in the war against the shogunate. Moreover, the Fukuoka Domain did not ask for much from Kaihan, and it was unlikely that he would change his mind under pressure from Kaihan.
However, Shi Diwen still insisted on making Fukuoka Domain an important stop in this visit. He believed that only through face-to-face contact and communication can the attitude of the Kuroda family be truly confirmed.