Kameda and Inoue chatted very freely, as if they had received rewards from the Emperor after obtaining the blueprints of Ming Dynasty firearms.

However, as they chatted, the two suddenly fell silent.

"According to the news from the family, Emperor Go-Kameyama has handed over the three sacred treasures to Emperor Go-Komatsu."

After the two of them took a few sips of wine, the silent atmosphere was broken and Kameda spoke.

The rule of the Japanese royal family is known as "an eternal dynasty."

In other words, since the emergence of the Japanese royal family, the same royal family has been in power from ancient times to the present.

The Emperor is the nominal supreme ruler of the entire Japanese nation.

This is a phenomenon caused by Japan's unique system of figurehead monarch. When Japanese heroes fought for the world, they were all competing for the position of shogun, not for overthrowing the Japanese royal family.

Until the recent Nanbokucho period in Japan, the royal family was split into two emperors, the Southern and Northern Emperors. During this period, the two sides had their own succession to the throne and their own courts, standing side by side and confronting each other, and both considered themselves to be orthodox.

It was not until last year that the third shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu forced the Southern Dynasty to surrender and the Northern Dynasty royal family unified Japan.

The unification of Japan should be good news for most Japanese people. The 56-year-long chaos was broken, and at least the people could recuperate.

Speaking of it, the division of the Northern and Southern Dynasties caused by Japan was ultimately caused by the Mongols.

The two Mongol invasions forced Japan to mobilize the entire country's strength to counter the Mongol invasion, and the entire country mobilized troops on a large scale.

Under such circumstances, the power of the shogunate continued to rise, while the status of the Japanese royal family continued to decline in comparison.

Logically speaking, with two victories, the Kamakura shogunate's prestige should have increased greatly.

However, the victory in the battle did not bring much actual income, and a large number of anti-Yuan warriors did not receive the rewards they deserved after making military achievements.

To put it simply, the Kamakura shogunate was on the brink of bankruptcy because of its fight against the Mongols.

The imperial family and court nobles in Kyoto felt that their opportunity had come, and they contacted people everywhere in an attempt to overthrow the shogunate. The core figure among them was Emperor Go-Daigo.

The Kamakura shogunate discovered Emperor Go-Daigo's intention to overthrow the shogunate and ordered Rokuhara Tandai to punish people around the emperor, including Hino Suketomo. This is known in history as the Wakoku Shochu Incident.

However, the Kamakura shogunate did not know how to deal with Emperor Go-Daigo. After all, throughout the history of Japan, the emperor had always been unchanging, and no one dared to take such a risk.

This also made Emperor Go-Daigo more determined to rebel against the shogunate.

However, in the face of powerful military strength, the second anti-shogunate movement was also a complete failure.

This time, the Kamakura shogunate deposed Emperor Go-Daigo, who had planned the overthrow of the shogunate, and supported Prince Yoshihito of the Jimyōin line to ascend the throne, who became Emperor Go-Saga. Emperor Go-Daigo was exiled to Oki Island.

However, it was not just the emperor who was dissatisfied with the shogunate, but also various samurai forces and peasants.

Therefore, the Kamakura shogunate of the Hojo clan eventually went to ruin.

"I've been waiting here for nearly twenty years," Inoue answered the question irrelevantly.

Kameda was silent for a moment: "Eighteen years and July."

Hearing this specific number, Inoue paused for a moment and sighed.

"Even if it's completed, can we really live like that if we go back now?"

"Although the family didn't say much, I feel that things are not that simple. I saw the family's special mark in the letter, which means that it is still unclear whether my direct lineage still exists."

"I once thought that if we could really get the firearms blueprints and return to Japan, what would be waiting for us might be..."

Inoue didn't finish his words, but Kameda already knew what he meant.

Eighteen years ago, after His Majesty the Emperor killed the Ming envoy, he was afraid that the Ming might send a large army to attack, so he sent capable warriors to lurk in the Ming.

It is difficult to distinguish between Japan and the Ming Dynasty in terms of appearance. No one can tell the difference unless they speak.

The Ming dialect, also known as the Central Plains dialect, is also widely spread among the upper class in Japan. Many nobles, even the royal family, are proud of being able to speak fluent Chinese.

Although this Chinese may just be a dialect of a certain region in the Central Plains.

When they were in their teens, Inoue and Kameda followed the Japanese pirates and infiltrated the Ming Dynasty, where they have lived ever since.

In terms of speech, customs, and diet, there is no difference between them and the people in the Ming Dynasty.

Their main source of income came from the transmission from the Japanese pirates.

That is to say, every time the Japanese pirates invaded the coast of Ming Dynasty, people like Inoue Kameda would contact them, and then robbed some of the property, and leave a lot of supplies for the Japanese spies lurking in Ming Dynasty.

If the Japanese pirates divided the money equally, it would not be much, but if they only gave it to the spies, it would be a significant amount.

It was enough for them to hire a teacher to teach them, or even pass the imperial examinations.

Now that the two of them were able to come to the capital, they were not here as commoners, but had the honors of being students in the true sense.

In the current Ming Dynasty, the only people who can travel around and study without hindrance are merchants and scholars.

Compared to traveling merchants, scholars are very free.

The two came here in the name of studying, and there was no obstruction along the way.

The key thing that worries the two now is their family situation.

Whether it is Inoue, Kameda, or other spies.

In Japan, not just the small families, all families can contact His Majesty the Emperor.

However, the object of their family's loyalty was the Emperor of the Southern Dynasty, and now it is the Emperor of the Northern Dynasty who has won the victory and unified the country.

"Don't think too much about it now. The family is in a bad situation, so our contributions are even more important. No matter which emperor it is, he still values ​​us wanderers in Ming Dynasty."

"Even though so many people were killed by the King of Yan of the Ming Dynasty this time, he still tried his best to send a lot of money and property here, which shows that he is still very important to us."

Kameda spoke up.

Inoue nodded, but when he heard the name of the Ming Dynasty's King of Yan, hatred flashed in his eyes.

Because many of his good friends died at the hands of King Yan this time.

For all the Japanese warriors lurking in the Ming Dynasty, Prince Yan's actions were definitely a huge disaster.

Although there was not complete connection between them, it is estimated that at least 60 to 70 percent of the Japanese spies were killed as a result.

In their view, this was a completely unprovoked disaster.

His identity was not exposed, but he died inexplicably.

However, while the two were chatting, they did not notice that there was a small cylinder under the table.

At this moment, in a private room.

A plainclothes Jinyiwei was squatting next to the wall, holding a wooden cylinder to his ear.

His right hand did not stop either, holding the pen on the paper and constantly taking notes.

Next to him, there were seven or eight Jinyiwei waiting.

"Sixth Brother, these Japanese spies have revealed something."

"Damn it, we are finally going to make a contribution. With such a big fish, we brothers can all share a lot of credit."

A rough man saw Lao Liu put down his pen and knew that the monitoring of this section was almost done, so he opened his mouth and asked.

As he said this, the Jinyiwei guards nearby looked at Lao Liu with expectation.

Lao Liu slowly put down his pen and said, "I didn't say that, why do you feel so thirsty?"

A clever Jinyiwei quickly brought tea and said with a smile, "Sixth brother, the best Biluochun."

Lao Liu took the tea, took a sip, and then said with surprise: "Brothers, big fish, big fish."

"These two Japanese spies have families with high status in Japan, and they are also scholars. If we can capture them and bring them back to the government, it will definitely be a great achievement."

"Your Majesty is currently sending troops to attack Japan, and the expedition will begin soon. Good luck, the weather and terrain are all right. Brothers, this wave is going to fly."

Hearing this, the rough man immediately said: "What are you waiting for? These bastards think that they can get away with staring at our Ming Dynasty scholar's identity."

"You really underestimate our Jinyiwei."

Lao Liu said, "Don't worry, I'll listen again to see if there is any more information. These guys are very stubborn. Even if we catch them in the dungeon, we may not be able to get much information out of them."

"The more news we have, the greater our contribution will be."

Everyone nodded. The Jinyiwei had arrested Japanese spies before, but few of these guys would speak even under torture.

As soon as he got the slightest chance, he committed suicide.

Lao Liu picked up the receiver again and prepared to monitor again.

However, at this moment, there was a sudden noise.

"What are you doing? We are scholars. How dare you be so presumptuous?"

"This is the Emperor's territory, how dare you break the law knowingly?"

"Well, old man, I know you. You are the owner of the Qun Ying Chamber of Commerce. Do you dare to be so arrogant just because you are favored by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince?"

After hearing this, the Jinyiwei people didn't feel anything.

I vaguely heard that the Heroes Chamber of Commerce was doing something, but I had no intention of joining in.

Everyone knows about the Qun Ying Chamber of Commerce. It is now at its peak in the capital. Although this group of businessmen has no status and does not hold any official position, they are still treated with courtesy by meritorious military generals and important officials in the court.

What's more, they are just the low-level Jinyiwei.

Ran Lao Liu stood up all of a sudden and shouted, "Oh no! Someone is trying to steal our money!"

After these words were spoken, everyone didn't ask any more questions and ran straight out to the Japanese spies.

Over in the private room of the Japanese spies, seven or eight people were holding the two Japanese spies who kept shouting.

The two leaders were very familiar to the Jinyiwei. They were Zhang Bo, the person in charge of the Qun Ying Chamber of Commerce in the capital.

There is also Zhang San, a former colleague of the Imperial Guards.

Zhang Bo turned around in surprise. Of course, everyone was familiar with the costumes of the Jinyiwei.

"Why are you here?"

Hearing Zhang Bo's question, the rough man became so anxious that his face turned red and his neck became thick. He wanted to explain but didn't know where to start.

It was still Lao Liu who took the lead in bowing and saying, "Greetings, Uncle Zhang. I wonder why Uncle Zhang suddenly arrested these two people."

"Uncle Zhang, you may not know that these two are spies sent by Japan to infiltrate our Ming Dynasty. We have been tracking them for more than ten days and are gathering intelligence."

"I suddenly heard that two people were captured here, so I hurried over to check it out."

As he spoke, Lao Liu walked to the corner of the wall in the private room, picked up a wooden barrel and showed it to Zhang Bo and Zhang San.

There is a string connected to one end of the wooden tube.

Seeing this, Zhang San said to Zhang Bo, "I know this thing. It is used by the Jinyiwei Yamen for eavesdropping."

“Just connect the ends with a wire, and you can clearly hear the movements and sounds at the other end.”

After hearing Zhang San's explanation, Zhang Bo also understood the reason.

Then he smiled and said, "These two little brats happened to be discovered by our Chamber of Commerce. After some investigation, we found out that they were Japanese."

"The Japanese came to the capital under the guise of a Ming scholar. There must be something going on."

"So I asked someone to arrest these two people first, and then send them to the officials for a thorough investigation."

Having said that, Zhang Bo saw the expectant look in the Jinyiwei's eyes and naturally understood what they were thinking.

He continued, "Since you have been investigating for many days, you must know more about it than I do. We are sending it to the authorities, so we can save you from making an extra trip."

After saying that, he gave a look to several experts from the Chamber of Commerce.

The prisoners then sent the two Japanese spies to the Jinyiwei.

After hearing this, the Jinyiwei felt a mixture of ups and downs. They thought that their great achievement would be wasted, after all, the Qun Ying Chamber of Commerce was about to send someone to the Jinyiwei yamen.

So with such a huge contribution, maybe there will be some left, but most of it will not matter much.

The internal competition within the Jinyiwei is far more intense than most people imagine.

Regardless of whether it is a meritorious service or a case, there is a set of strict review procedures, and there are also rules for attributing the credit.

The biggest thing is that whoever catches it will naturally own it.

Even if it has auxiliary functions, it can only be considered a small part.

It would be fine if it was just one of them, but if there were several of them, after dividing it equally, they would only get a little bit of sweetness, but it would be impossible for them to soar to the sky with this.

"Thank you, Uncle Zhang, and thank you, Brother Zhang San."

Lao Liu quickly bowed and saluted, and the other Jinyiwei also saluted.

This is a great achievement.

Seeing the two men being handed over, everyone was delighted. This cooked duck could not be allowed to fly away.

"Uncle Zhang, Brother Zhang San, we are in a hurry to escort the two spies back to the government office, so I won't bother you any more."

"We will hold a banquet tomorrow and invite you two again."

Lao Liu was a smart man and bowed immediately.

Zhang San nodded and did not refuse: "Okay, you guys go ahead and do your work first."

The Jinyiwei were overjoyed. They held the two men down and prepared to leave and return to the yamen to report.

“Wait…”

A voice suddenly came, causing the Jinyiwei to stop.

Because of this voice, they felt very familiar.

I saw a figure slowly walking up the corner of the stairs.

There was more than one person, there was another following behind.

Lao Liu's eyes narrowed, and he bowed and said, "I am Lu Liu, a flag officer of the Imperial Guard. I greet the Prince of Yan and Duke Cao!"