"The young daimyo of the Kumamoto clan got out of trouble? And he killed the officials sent by the shogunate?"
When Shi Diwen saw the document submitted by the Kumamoto clan envoy, he was a little surprised. The result was far beyond his expectation.
In his opinion, Hosokawa Tsunato has disappeared for such a long time, and there is no movement in the Kumamoto clan. This person is probably in danger. Even if he is still alive, he is likely to have been secretly transported out of the Kumamoto Domain and imprisoned in an isolated prison somewhere.
The shogunate has probably found a successor to the Kumamoto clan's daimyo in advance, and may be already on his way to Kyushu to take office.
Under such circumstances, it no longer makes much sense for Kaihan to intervene in the internal affairs of the Kumamoto clan, or even try to rescue Tsunato Hosokawa. Shi Diwen has even adjusted his original plan to exclude the Kumamoto clan from cooperation partners in the Kyushu region.
But this young daimyo was obviously not an easy target to kill. Even in a difficult situation, he still found an opportunity to make a comeback.
As long as the matter of Kumamoto clan is proven to be the shogunate's instigation, Hosokawa Tsunato, who originally had other thoughts, will definitely no longer have any illusions about the shogunate. This will save Shi Diwen a lot of trouble. Consider how to persuade the other party to cooperate and participate in the Kyushu Allied Forces' campaign against the shogunate.
At the end of the document, there was a special request from Hosokawa Tsunato, hoping to visit the Sasebo base in the near future and meet with Shi Diwen.
This was probably after Hosokawa Tsunato got out of trouble and learned that Shi Diwen had visited several powerful feudal clans in Kyushu, but missed the Kumamoto clan that had originally arranged a visit. The failed meeting arrangement also caused the Kumamoto clan to lose the opportunity to participate in the carving up of Kyushu.
Hosokawa Tsunato knew that even if he invited Shi Diwen to visit Kumamoto Domain again, it was not the right time now, so he took a more proactive approach, hoping to get him to visit the Sasebo base.
With the other party's attitude being so positive, Shi Diwen naturally would not refuse. He even asked the envoy to take the letter back, asking Tsunato Hosokawa to meet at the Sasebo base as soon as possible.
If the delay continues, the Kumamoto clan may not be able to catch up with the formation of the Kyushu Allied Forces at the beginning of the year.
However, it was not Tsunato Hosokawa who arrived at the Sasebo base first, but Yuta Kozaki, who arrived with more than ten boxes of gold and silver.
The purpose of Yuta Ozaki's visit is very clear, that is, he hopes that Shi Diwen can immediately fulfill the earlier agreement, complete the arms transaction with the shogunate, and immediately deliver relevant weapons and equipment.
But there is a small problem, that is, the value of the property brought by Yuta Kozaki is not enough to buy the quantity of arms previously agreed upon by the two parties.
"Lord Ozaki, the amount of money you prepared is not just a little bit different, but a lot different!"
Shi Diwen bluntly pointed out the problem of Yuta Kozaki and said that Haihan would not give the shogunate any price discount in this transaction.
"If the shogunate has not prepared enough funds, please ask Mr. Kosaki to go back first, and we will complete the transaction when the funds are in place."
In other words, not a dime is worth it and will not accept any counter-offer from Yuta Kozaki.
Yuta Kozaki quickly explained: "Master Shi, the shogunate is very sincere in completing this transaction with your country, but time is short and we cannot come up with such a large amount... These gold and silver have already emptied Nagasaki's silver. In the warehouse, a lot of goods were processed cheaply, and even the private property below was fully filled in. "We don't intend to ask your country to make concessions, but can Mr. Shi trust the credibility of the shogunate and split this transaction into two or three times to complete it? I will pay part of the money first, and only use this part of the money to complete it?" The purchased equipment will prevent your country from suffering any losses. What do you think, Master Shi?”
Even if the shogunate mobilized all the resources at hand, it would be difficult to collect the astronomical amount of military purchase funds in such a short period of time. It could only ask Yuta Kozaki to raise funds nearby in Nagasaki to fill the gap.
But even if Kosaki Yutai ignores his actions, the gold and silver raised so far is only about one-third of the price quoted by Haihan, which means it is impossible to buy all the equipment on the list.
Therefore, Yuta Kozaki could only do the next best thing and asked Shi Diwen to split the transaction into several times to complete it in order to buy more time for the shogunate to raise funds.
Of course, if the civil war breaks out soon, the entire Kyushu will immediately be separated from the shogunate. At that time, it will be very difficult for the shogunate to come to Sasebo Bay again. No one can guarantee whether the subsequent transaction can be completed. .
Shi Diwen responded slowly: "When I met with Mr. Ozaki a few days ago, I made it very clear that these arms can only be sold in packages, so I will give your country a preferential price. If you want to take them apart, Come and sell it, it’s not this price.”
"If your country's finances cannot be turned around for the time being, I think you might as well put it aside for now. When the financial situation is better, it will not be too late to come back to buy."
"But don't delay too long. After all, the shogunate is not the only one who wants to buy these arms."
Shi Diwen had no peace of mind about completing this deal from the beginning, and of course he would not easily agree to Yuta Kozaki's request. At the same time, he does not forget to use words to manipulate the other party to make him fall into greater passivity.
When Kozaki Yutai heard this, he was really anxious: "Master Shi, these arms must not be sold to the local daimyo in Kyushu. What they are doing now is already causing trouble. Your country can't add more fuel to the fire!"
Shi Diwen said: "Our country has no interest in intervening in your country's internal affairs, but business is business. We will sell to whoever can afford the price. I arranged for the shogunate to give priority to the transaction. This is already special care."
Yuta Ozaki said: "Your country can sell these arms to other countries! There are so many countries in the South China Sea, I believe there will be interested buyers."
Shi Diwen sneered and said: "Are you teaching me how to do things? Where does our country sell its homemade arms? Do we need to follow the instructions of your shogunate?"
Yuta Kozaki realized that he had made a mistake and quickly apologized to Shi Diwen. He was well aware of the importance of this batch of arms to the shogunate. Even if the shogunate could not eat all of this batch of arms, it could not let it flow into the hands of various vassals in Kyushu.
And all Yuta Ozaki can do now is to dissuade Shi Diwen from selling arms to various vassals in Kyushu. It's just that his empty talk is not as convincing as real money.
No matter how Yuta Kozaki tried to persuade him, Shi Diwen still refused to let go.
The first meeting between the two parties did not reach any agreement, which made Yu Tai anxious. He knew that spending one more day here would make his situation even more passive. If Shi Diwen insists on such an attitude, then he has no choice but to take a gamble with the tricks that are at the bottom of the box.