Shimai Soshiro was very satisfied with the effect he had created, and continued to explain the motives of the Sakai merchants with a respectful look on his face.

Simply put, it was because the Murakami navy controlled the Seto Inland Sea, damaging the interests of Sakai merchants.

The Seto Inland Sea is located in the center of the three islands of Japan. It is the inland sea of ​​the entire country and was a prosperous trade area in ancient Japan. Sakai City is the commercial center of this sea area and has accumulated a lot of wealth relying on the Seto Inland Sea.

However, in such a place with frequent ship traffic and concentrated wealth, a large number of pirates would naturally emerge during the chaotic times of the Warring States period. In addition, the Seto Inland Sea is densely populated with islands, and although it may seem calm, the routes are actually very complicated, which created excellent conditions for pirates to control the routes and become bigger and stronger.

Of course, Sakai City was rich and powerful, so it would naturally recruit and bribe people to build a strong navy to protect its own waterways. But in Japan, merchants were of low status, and even if they had money, they could not recruit outstanding generals and samurai to work for them. Therefore, they had no problem dealing with ordinary pirates, but they were not strong enough to fight against those daimyo who went to sea.

For example, Murakami Navy.

The Murakami Navy was also called the Mishima Navy because it occupied three key strongholds in the Seto Inland Sea - Noshima, Inoshima and Kurishima. It was different from the Mishima pirates who robbed daimyo, and their strength was completely incomparable.

The Mishima navy came from the same Murakami clan. Although they had been separated for 150 years, they had always maintained close contact, developing independently and supporting each other. Eventually, they gradually became the overlord of the West Seto Sea. They set up checkpoints on the islands and collected "Hanbetsu money" from passing ships, which was one-tenth of the price of the goods loaded on the ships. However, when they were short of money, they would find an excuse to confiscate the ships and the goods.

Therefore, it is completely understandable that the merchants in Sakai City hated the Murakami navy, and it is also very reasonable that they were willing to pay two million taels to hire the Ming fleet to destroy them.

Moreover, the reason for offering such a high price was naturally to make friends with the Ming Dynasty fleet and occupy an advantageous position in the future tomorrow's trade which would explode in growth. Sakai City's trade network covered the three islands of Japan. Even if they were only importers in Japan, they would be able to earn back the two million taels quickly.

Wang Rulong and Ma Yinglong both believed it, but Zhao Hao sneered.

"Sir, why are you laughing, young master?" The Daojing clan member felt uneasy when he saw Young Master Zhao laughing.

"Hahaha, I think you are very beautiful. Not only are you beautiful, but you also have beautiful thoughts." Young Master Zhao laughed twice, leaned over and looked at Shimai Zongshi who was kneeling on the ground and said, "This young master is willing to make friends with people who are generous. Two million taels, I will help you kill the Mishima navy!"

He raised four thumbs and said, "How about this, if you add another two million taels, I'll help you wipe out the Manabe navy as well!"

The Manabe Navy was another overlord of the Seto Inland Sea. They and the Murakami Navy occupied the two ends of the sea and were both major concerns for Sakai City.

"This..." Shimai Zongshi showed an embarrassment, and said hesitantly: "Thank you for your kindness, sir. I will discuss this matter with everyone when I return to Sakai City. But this time, it is definitely too late..."

"Haha, okay." Zhao Hao nodded with a smile and agreed readily.

After a false alarm, Shimai clan hurriedly signed a contract on the spot. After both parties signed and sealed, Master Zhao brushed the contract written in black and white, and suddenly smiled faintly and said: "In fact, Mr. Shimai, there is no need to hide it. You are sent by Oda Nobunaga, what does it have to do with me? As long as the money is enough, who can't do business?"

Zhao Hao's tone was very gentle, just like chatting with family, but Shimai Soshiro was struck by lightning when he heard it. He never expected that Zhao Hao knew the situation in Japan like reading the lines on the palm of his hand. He even knew that the merchants in Sakai City had recently surrendered to the Oda family.

He knew that if he continued to hide the truth, he would only completely cut himself off from the other party. His knees softened and he leaned to the ground, crying bitterly, "I dare not lie to you, sir. It is true that I was sent to Kyushu by Lord Nobunaga, but it was not Lord Nobunaga's intention to contact you. It was just a self-help for a merchant from Sakai City."

Wang Rulong and Ma Yinglong were completely confused. They thought that the relationships among the county heads and village heads in Japan were too complicated. They didn't know how the young master knew so much about it.

There is no other reason. Just play "Nobunaga" and "Taikoku" more often, and you will know everything.

Zhao Hao still maintained a mysterious expression on his face and listened quietly to Shimai Soshiro's explanation.

In fact, it is very simple. Sakai City is located in Osaka, which is very close to Kyoto, so it has always had a close relationship with the shogun. Later, the Miyoshi Three killed the swordsman general Ashikaga Yoshiteru, and Sakai City had to rely on the Miyoshi family. Who knew that in the blink of an eye, Oda Nobunaga repelled the Miyoshi Three, successfully went to Kyoto, and forced Sakai City to provide military funds and obey the Oda family.

Shimai Soshiro was a big merchant active in Sakai and Hakata. Why did he support the relatively weak Otomo Sorin in the offensive and defensive battle between the Mori clan and the Otomo clan? In fact, it was because Oda Nobunaga wanted to contain the overlord of the western country, Mori Motonari, so he ordered the merchants in Sakai to support the Otomo clan.

But Nobunaga's position was not stable, especially since he issued a series of decrees this year to restrict the power of the shogun, Ashikaga Yoshiaki, and had already fallen out with the shogun. In addition, the Miyoshi Three, Ishiyama Honganji, the Takeda family, the Mori family and other powerful forces were also hostile to the Oda family. This made the merchants in Sakai City very worried that they would be dragged into the war by the Oda family and destroy everything they had worked hard for.

With this in mind, Shimai Soshige hurried to Usuki Castle and came into contact with the Ming fleet in order to please Oda Nobunaga and gain a supporter for Sakai City.

His wishful thinking was that as long as he could establish a relationship with the Ming Dynasty and become their most important distributor in Japan, the Ming Dynasty would definitely not sit idly by and watch Sakai City get involved in the war, lest it affect normal trade. With the powerful Ming Dynasty fleet as an endorsement, no matter whether Lord Nobunaga wins or loses, no matter who is in charge of Kyoto, Sakai City can continue to remain neutral.

Even if they could not form an alliance with the Ming Dynasty, they could still wipe out the Murakami Navy and bring peace to the Seto Inland Sea. This was because the other hegemon of this sea area, the Manabe Navy, had already surrendered to the Oda family after Nobunaga went to Kyoto.

So when Zhao Hao offered to add a little more money and help him destroy the Manabe family, Shimai Souji hesitated and refused, because they were now considered a family.

It was from this test that Zhao Hao understood Shimai's position.

This is why you can’t do that. It’s the same as playing against someone who has opened the entire map. You can’t hide anything from him!

In the end, Mr. Zhao clearly told Shimai that it was no problem to get his protection, the key was what sincerity he could show. For example, Otomo Sorin offered the exclusive right to Kyushu's foreign trade and a military budget of one million taels a year. What price was Sakai willing to pay?

This is obviously not a question Shimai can answer. He has to go back and report to the Sakai Society, and then make a democratic decision to come up with a charter.

Of course, the agreement of two million taels to destroy the Mishima navy still stands.

At this time, Master Zhao served tea to the guests, and Shimai hurriedly bowed in awe and left. Otomo Sorin also left, but heard Master Zhao say quietly: "Since someone is willing to pay the most, this time I'll give you a discount, half price, 500,000 taels, you won't cry poor anymore, right?"

"Oh, no." Five hundred thousand taels of arrow money also cost Otomo Sorin's life. Even though he was in great pain, he still had to express his gratitude profusely.

How can I please someone's wife when I'm so tight from now on?

~~

After sending away the Japanese, seeing that it was getting late, Zhao Hao, accompanied by Wang Rulong and Ma Yinglong, prepared to go to the conference room to attend the final combat meeting.

When I came out of the cabin, I saw two missionaries peeking around there.

"Young Master, Young Master Zhao, can we talk?" Father Coelho said loudly as he saw him.

"The young master has to attend a meeting, so you should go to another day." Secretary Ma said in a businesslike manner.

"Mr. Zhao, let's just talk for a few words!" But Coelho did not give up.

"Let him come over." Zhao Hao stopped and asked the guards to let the two men go forward and said, "I'll give you ten minutes."

"Sir, I'll make it short." Coelho gritted his teeth and said, "After discussing with Father Luis, I think in principle we can suggest that Macau accept the conditions for future trade with Ryukyu." He glanced at Zhao Hao and said hopefully, "If you can become the protector of the Christian Church in the East, we can convince the Portuguese Empire to stop in Ryukyu and not go north."

"Does this mean that you want me to be baptized?" Zhao Hao looked at the priest who wanted to see Tao Zi and asked, "I'm sorry, but my faith does not allow me to convert. I believe that the priest would not want to accept someone who is so careless about his faith to join the Christian Church, right?"

Father Coelho thought, No, I am willing. As long as you can help us preach, I don’t care whether you really believe in God or in Allah.

"A patron does not have to be baptized. For example, Lord Otomo Sorin is the patron of our church in Kyushu, and he still holds on to his faith." Father Coelho had no choice but to settle for the next best thing: "Of course, it would be even better if you are willing to follow God. In that case, we can even help your fleet open up trade routes with Europe and America."

"Is that so?" Young Master Zhao showed an eager expression, as if he was very tempted by the conditions offered by the priest.

After pretending to think for a moment, he stretched out his hand to Father Coelho and said solemnly, "Okay, I'm willing to be your patron."

"Thank God!" The two priests were so happy that Coelho immediately held Mr. Zhao's hand tightly, shook it a few times, and kissed the back of his hand. "Don't worry, Mr. Zhao, I will write a letter to Governor Domingo of Macau as soon as I get off the boat to ensure that the matter will not be reported to Malacca, so that both sides can be friendly and one family!"

"That's great. I'm looking forward to it." Zhao Hao suppressed his nausea and said with a smile: "Please rest assured, Father. We will treat Colonel Pinto and his party well and give them the best treatment."

"Praise the Lord, and believe in me, young master." Father Coelho then bowed happily and left with his men.