On the other hand, when Omura Chunzhong returned to the shore, he first appointed Xiaofang Fengxing as the military envoy to entertain the Ming Dynasty fleet. Then he led the team back to his own city of Sancheng overnight.

The next day, he summoned all his retainers to hold a meeting in his residence to discuss whether he should fulfill what he had promised to the Ming Dynasty.

The retainers were so ashamed and angry at their lord's shameless surrender to the Ming people that someone immediately suggested that he should become a monk to express his apology.

Upon hearing this, Omura Juntada rolled his eyes. He had already been baptized as a Christian, so how could he become a monk?

"Besides, the Nanman were just careless and will come back in the future." Omura Juntada sat cross-legged on the tatami and analyzed to his retainers: "Father Torres has been captured, and the Christian Church will not sit idly by. It is still uncertain how the situation will develop. If I am in a hurry to become a monk, what will happen if the Nanman turns the tables in the future?"

The retainers thought, why not replace the Buddhist beads with a cross? Of course, this was just a thought.

"So according to my lord, should we delay the Ming people first?" asked a retainer named Asanaga Junki.

"No." Omura Juntada shook his head decisively and said, "I learned from the missionaries that the Nanman were subject to many restrictions by the Ming government in Macau, so the size of their warships was very limited. This time, two Atlantic ships were captured, and I'm afraid they won't be able to retaliate in a short time."

"I guess the Ming Dynasty people saw this and caught them off guard!" He paused and said, "But what the Ming Dynasty people didn't know was that in Malacca, the westernmost part of the South Seas, there was the main fleet of the Nanman. It is said that in order to deal with the Indians and the Japanese coalition forces, the Nanman deployed dozens of large sailing ships there!"

"So many?" The retainers gasped. They couldn't imagine how overwhelming it would be if dozens of large sailing ships like the Duke of Goa appeared at the same time.

"Those missionaries make a living by talking. They won't deliberately brag to deceive the lord, right?" a retainer reminded.

"Even if they are exaggerating, a dozen ships are not something the Ming Dynasty fleet can handle." Omura Junzhong said in a deep voice: "Everyone who went to Futianpu with me has seen that although the Ming Dynasty ships are also very large, they are only tiny compared to Western ships. When the Indian vice king of the Nanman gives an order and the large sailing fleet attacks, what can the Ming Dynasty do to resist?"

After saying this, his expression darkened and he sighed, "Unfortunately, the Nanman fleet will not arrive until next year. If we don't accept the blackmail, the Ming people will definitely make it difficult for us to celebrate the New Year."

He was reluctant to mention Goto Takaaki in front of Omura's retainers, but everyone knew that the head of the family was really worried about the former young master of the Omura family.

"That's two hundred thousand taels of silver, my lord!" The retainers all felt sorry for him.

"No need to say more, 'losing money but still being alive' is better than 'losing life but still having money'." Omura Juntada supported his knees with both hands and gritted his teeth and said, "Prepare another generous gift. I'm going to go to Mount Gaoliang."

"Takarayama?" The retainers were shocked and asked, "Lord, are we going to join the Otomo clan's punitive army?"

Otomo Sorin, who was in a stalemate with the Mori clan, had his main frontline on Mt. Kora in Chikuzen. Going to Mt. Kora to join the battle now would certainly win the favor of the Otomo clan, but it would be more likely that he would become cannon fodder in the battle against the Mori clan.

"I'm not participating in the war, I'm serving as a messenger for the Ming Dynasty." Omura Junzhong said in a deep voice what Zhao Hao had ordered:

"They are going to help the Otomo family defeat the Mori family. This is finally good news for Master Sorin, right?"

"Yes." Upon hearing this, the retainers felt that the conditions offered by the Ming Dynasty people were not excessive - after all, it was King Jinghai who originally monopolized the trade, and then the Portuguese monopolized it, so it wouldn't make a difference if it was replaced by the Ming Dynasty people.

"But my lord, I'm afraid you will be disappointed if you go to Mt. Kora." Asanaga Junki's elder brother Asanaga Nagaki said, "I heard that Master Sorin has returned to Bungo."

"Oh?" Omura Juntada was a little surprised, "There's still a war going on at the front line, what is he going to do back there?"

"I don't know, maybe something happened in my country and we have to deal with it?" Chao Changji shook his head. He was able to find out that Otomo Sorin was not in the army because the Arima family joined the Otomo family's coalition. But the elder brother of the lord was blocked... Oh no, Arima Yoshisada was not Otomo Sorin's confidant, and the details were unknown.

"Hmm..." Omura Junzhong thought for a long time before making up his mind: "Let's go, no matter what happens."

After saying that, his expression changed and he said, "It's bad. There are still four days left and I can't even reach Usuki Castle!"

He originally thought that Otomo Sorin was in Takarayama, and that he could probably get there in a hurry, but Otomo's main castle, Usuki Castle, was more than 200 miles west of Takarayama. It would definitely be impossible to reply to the Ming Dynasty in five days.

In desperation, Omura Juntada had to ask people to quickly take out 40,000 taels of gold from the treasury and send it to Fukudaura as soon as possible. He had been hanging out with missionaries for a long time and knew that silver was cheap and gold was expensive in Ming Dynasty, so the value of 40,000 taels of gold must be far more than 200,000 taels of silver.

Of course, for Omura Juntada, there was no difference between the two. He just wanted to use this to get the Ming people to agree to give him some time.

~~

The next day, the 2nd Squadron left Fukudaura and began to fight northward.

By dark, the sails and basic rigging of the two Western ships were finally repaired, and the hole in the Duke of Goa was also repaired overnight.

On the morning of the third day, Omura Ieyun brought in 40,000 taels of gold... Japan was rich in gold, and the exchange rate to silver was one to five. In order to facilitate transportation, Omura Juntada paid the entire reward of 200,000 taels of silver with gold.

Zhao Hao naturally wanted it very much, because in the Ming Dynasty the exchange rate of gold to silver was about 1 to 8. If 40,000 taels of gold were transported back, they could be turned into 320,000 taels of silver!

Of course, in Europe the gold-silver price ratio is as high as more than ten to one, and the Portuguese can make a fortune just from arbitrage!

Otherwise, why is it necessary to monopolize trade with Japan?

Mr. Zhao readily agreed, gave Omura Juntada more time, and changed the contact point to Yokozeura.

He thought the name Yokozeura was too ugly, so he changed it to Dingyuan Port.

Master Zhao explained to Wang Rulong and others that the name came from Ban Chao, who recovered the Western Regions, and he also improvised a few lines:

"Have you not seen Han Zhongjun, a young man, tying up the enemy and asking for a long rope; have you not seen Ban Dingyuan, riding a light horse to a remote area, urging the enemy to fight! A man should be brave in danger, so how can he let the scholar's cap ruin his life?"

Everyone thought that it seemed that the young master was still thinking about the police song.

But I can't help but think of the name "Zhenyuan Island" that Mr. Zhao had named before. Whose name did he use? Zhou Dewei? Wasn't Mr. Zhao comparing himself to Li Keyong? I dare not think about it...

If Zhao Hao knew that these guys had full imagination skills, he would probably still call them Yokozeura obediently.

Since there would be no reply from Otomo Sorin in a short period of time, there was no need for the First Fleet to wait any longer and it weighed anchor and headed south that day.

At the same time, the Third Squadron also left Futianpu in a mighty manner, carrying two captured Western ships and a large sailing ship, escorting more than 700 prisoners, and carrying 120,000 taels of silver and 48,000 taels of gold.

Oh, by the way, Colonel Pinto and Father Torres both stayed on the 101st ship. The journey was long, and Mr. Zhao always needed someone to chat with and relieve his boredom.

~~

Kyushu Island has many mountains, bays and hills, and arable land is very limited, mainly concentrated in the northern Kyushu area, so northern Kyushu has always been the focus of competition among overlords.

Western Kyushu is mostly mountainous, with the exceptions of the coastal areas of Buzen and Oita in Bungo. Oita, in particular, faces the Seto Inland Sea, has a mild climate and few natural disasters. The coast of the Bungo Channel in the south is warm and humid due to the influence of the Kuroshio Current, which is very suitable for paddy field farming. It is a rare land of fish and rice in the whole of Kyushu, and it is also a natural harbor.

Therefore, after Otomo Sorin, who was still called Otomo Yoshitsugu at the time, secured his position as the head of the family, he had the idea of ​​building a castle here. Finally, six years ago, Usuki Castle was built and the main castle was moved here from Nishiyama Castle in the prefecture.

Although everyone said that he did this to avoid the ghosts of his stepmother and younger brother, it must be admitted that this move brought unprecedented prosperity to the Ouchi family. After becoming the lord of Usuki Castle, Otomo Sorin issued a 19-point policy program, including protecting the property of merchants, allowing the southern barbarians to preach and build churches, and taking in Tang people who had nowhere to stay.

Six years have passed, and Usuki Castle has completely changed.

On an afternoon in late September, the autumn wind blew over the snow-like Ibuki Spiraea on Mount Usuki. The white walls and green tiles of Usuki Castle looked particularly majestic under the shade of the red leaves on the mountain.

At the foot of the mountain, in the samurai residence guarding the castle, the Otomo family's artillery team was training.

After the matchlock was lit, the sound of gunfire was deafening. However, the merchants and residents in the castle town had long been accustomed to it. Only the pigeons on the Western church with red eaves and tall bell tower by the sea were startled and flew over this prosperous city rarely seen in the Warring States Period.

There are Nanban-cho, Tojin-cho and Merchant-cho here. It was these merchants from Portugal, Ming Dynasty and Sakai City in Honshu who brought Japan's earliest Western-style hospital and church school to Usuki Castle. The earliest printing houses and ceramic workshops brought iron cannons, gunpowder, saltpeter, silk, tea... making Usuki Castle one of the most prosperous cities in Kyushu Island, comparable to Tachibana Castle in Hakata, the traditional center of Kyushu.

It also allowed the Otomo family to obtain endless wealth and powerful military force, and they were able to fight the Mori family for many years and be on equal terms with them.

Therefore, people in Bungo Province often say that although the head of the family is a pervert who killed his mother and brother and forced his father to death, he is a good daimyo...

Especially since this daimyo became a monk and it was no longer convenient for him to hook up with his subordinates' wives, everyone supported him even more.

In this regard, we can only say that they are too naive. Who says that after becoming a monk, one cannot continue to have his or her own hobbies?

At this time, in the city lord's residence, Master Zonglin, who was wearing a black monk's robe and had a shaved head, was dancing with a beautiful woman to the accompaniment of violin music. And they were dancing the southern barbarian court dance, the kind where they hugged the woman's waist and spun around...