Ship 101, in the commander’s dining room in the stern.

At the end of the banquet, Qiaoqiao brought out Jinling-style desserts. The white sugar sprinkled on top caught the eyes of the two businessmen with a keen sense of smell. After finding out that this was unique to the Jiangnan Group, the two of them hurriedly asked whether they could entrust the Tamra Chamber of Commerce to purchase the goods.

Young Master Zhao readily agreed. In fact, even without them telling him, Zhao Hao would also sell sugar to Japan and even the world. It has been his unremitting pursuit for many years to make warriors and knights suffer from diabetes.

I hope that insulin can be developed by then, so that I can make another fortune.

"There is one last thing, which is to secretly support the shogunate." Young Master Zhao gave his final instructions: "Also, I have a special feeling for monks. If Lord Nobunaga attacks Ishiyama Honganji in the future, you must do your best to help Xianru while protecting yourselves."

Starting from next year, the first Nobunaga encirclement will be launched because of the public conflict between Ashikaga Yoshiaki and Oda Nobunaga. Mr. Zhao still has to support Ishiyama Honganji, the command tower against the devil, so as not to affect the effect of the encirclement due to his attack on the Mori family.

"Hi." The two of them responded hurriedly. Sakai City already had deep ties with the shogunate and the Ikko clan, and they had no choice but to commit to Oda Nobunaga. They didn't dare to openly support the two, but they could not avoid doing some small actions secretly. Now that they saw that Mr. Zhao was on the same side as them, they could finally do something more outrageous...

~~

Mr. Zhao was leaving Japan soon, and people who wanted to see him came one after another. After the two said goodbye and left, the guard reported that Father Louis had been waiting for a long time.

Zhao Hao took a deep breath tiredly, and seeing the warm afternoon sun outside, he asked the guards to set up tables and chairs on the deck and invited the priest to have tea.

After a brief greeting, the priest informed Zhao Hao that they had sent a messenger to Macau, but it would take at least a month to go back and forth. And it was estimated that Governor Domingo would not make a decision quickly, and the earliest he could receive a reply would be by the end of the year.

"No problem. To save time, my representative will go to Guangzhou to talk to him in person." Zhao Hao said calmly, "I believe that there, he will be more aware of my good intentions."

"That's good, that's good. We in the Jesuit Order will also do our best to help you make this happen." Father Louis took a sip of the black tea from the teacup, and felt that it was not strong enough, so he added a large spoonful of sugar. He heard that this thing was very expensive, and he felt like he had made a profit.

"Also, I came here this time to ask you, sir, whether we can send missionaries to the Ming Dynasty to preach after the beginning of next spring?"

"I have to report this to the Honglu Temple, the Ministry of Rites, the Cabinet, and the Emperor after I return home." Young Master Zhao held a teacup and practiced Tai Chi skillfully, saying, "Alas, the bureaucracy of my Ming Dynasty is killing me."

"Is that so..." Father Louis did not doubt it. The Jesuits had been rejected countless times outside the Ming Dynasty, so they naturally knew that Ming Dynasty officials were wary of foreign missionaries. It was rare to have a Ming Dynasty governor like Mr. Zhao who did not reject Christian Christianity... In the eyes of the missionaries, Mr. Zhao's official position should be similar to that of the Portuguese overseas governor... Of course, they had to hold on to him tightly.

"How long will that take?"

"It's hard to say." Zhao Hao frowned and sighed, "Low efficiency is a common problem in the civil service system. There is a doggerel in my dynasty that says this: 'Memorials are passed back and forth, officials review them, and the government offices transfer them around, but in the end the problem is still where it came from'... Don't understand? Forget it, anyway, you know that it's not surprising that any link is stuck for half a year."

As he said this, he comforted the priest, "Anyway, I'll try to hurry you up, and you should be patient. You've waited for so many years, and now you can't wait any longer?"

"Isn't this a sign of hope?" Father Luis said with a wry smile. The entry of the Chichén sect into the Far Eastern Celestial Empire of Ming would greatly reduce the difficulty of their missionary work in Southeast Asia. If they could get the endorsement of Ming officials, they could completely make up for the serious lack of Portuguese troops and limited deterrence in Southeast Asia.

"Then you must be even more patient." Zhao Hao said with a half-smile, "You have been unable to enter the Ming Dynasty for decades, so you should know that there are many obstacles. I must also plan carefully, give sufficient foreplay and lubrication, and slowly test and strive for success. Otherwise, if we fail this time, we will have to wait a few more years before trying again."

"Understood, understood. We will not rush you any more. You can manage your own time." Father Louis then made a second choice and said, "I heard that Jeju... oh no, Jeju Island, is completely up to you?"

"You can't say that. That place is a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, and it is under the jurisdiction of the local civil and military officials of the Li Dynasty." Zhao Hao smiled at Father Louis. He knew that they would not miss any opportunity to preach like flies chasing after stench. "Father, you are from Europe. You should know that the people of the vassal state are not my people, right?"

“I understand.” Father Louis’ heart sank, thinking to himself, could it be that even Jeju Island is not allowed?

"Where does the priest want to preach?" Young Master Zhao asked proactively.

"Yes." Father Louis nodded and said, "The Li Dynasty is following the Ming Dynasty closely. The Ming Dynasty is not open to us, and they have always kept us out. We can only count on you, the protector."

"Okay." Zhao Hao seemed to have made up his mind: "Then I'll talk to the people of Li Dynasty and ask them to send someone over after the New Year."

"Oh, praise the Lord! Thank you, young master!" Father Louis was immediately overjoyed, and hurriedly stood up and bowed while making the sign of the cross. The Joseon Dynasty was also a populous country in the Far East. If he could use Jeju Island as a wedge to take over the Korean Peninsula, his achievements would be enough to be canonized.

Father St. Louis, wow! Just thinking about it makes me feel like I’m being dripped with wax…

"But I have a condition." Mr. Zhao said with a smile.

"Please speak, sir." The priest quickly wiped his saliva and listened attentively.

"You must swear to God that you will never let artillery, artillery technology, and artillery craftsmen flow into Japan." Zhao Hao said coldly: "I also swear here that as long as a cannon appears in Japan, not only will our previous agreement be invalidated, I will also drive the Christians out of Japan. You know I can do it!"

"Oh my God..." The priest was immediately covered in sweat. This Master Zhao was too amazing. He had just agreed to help Master Zonglin hire a cannon maker before he came. How come Master Zhao was the one who started hammering?

How could Zhao Hao know about the ** deal between him and Lao Wang? It was just to prevent the emergence of the first person to fire artillery in Japan.

"Okay, I swear to God." Father Louis took only a few seconds to weigh the pros and cons and threw the promise he made to Lao Wang out of his mind.

"Believe me, Father. This is the wisest choice in the long run." Zhao Hao raised his teacup and gestured to him, "Without the advantage of cannons, the Ming Dynasty is still the Ming Dynasty, but can you still gain a foothold in Asia?"

"Yes, that's right, sir." Father Louis wiped the sweat off his forehead, and the slight guilt he felt towards Lao Wang soon disappeared.

~~

Three days later, the Mori clan and the Otomo clan also reached an agreement. The Mori clan promised never to invade Kyushu, never to collude with Kyushu daimyo, recognized the Otomo clan's right to rule Kyushu, and handed over Tachibanayama Castle and Moji Castle, and compensated the Otomo clan with 100,000 copper coins in exchange for a truce with the Otomo clan.

This is where Mori Motonari was very shrewd. After he signed the treaty with the Ming people, the Ming people were eager to go home and celebrate the New Year. This forced the old king to sign the armistice agreement quickly. Otherwise, once the Ming fleet left, the Injima navy could immediately return to the Kanmon Strait... It is true that the Mori family gave up the navy, but the Injima navy was only an ally of the Mori family and was not bound by the Treaty of Shimonoseki.

The 50,000-strong army of the Mori family is still stationed on the other side of the river. When they charge back to northern Kyushu, it is still unclear who will win or lose!

Besides, the Otomo family still benefits from this agreement. Without the Mori family making trouble behind the scenes, he can finally deal with the Hizen bear.

Now Lao Wang was only thinking about beating the little bear, so he signed the agreement happily.

After the agreement was reached, the Otomo clan immediately lifted the siege on the two castles. Yoshikawa and Kobayakawa led the 3,000 defenders and 50,000 civilians in Moji Castle and returned to the Mori territory via the newly built floating bridge.

On the same day, Tachibanayama Castle also opened its gates and surrendered, and the 1,000-man Mori army and the 5,000-man army under Akizuki Fumitane also retreated to Suo.

At the end of the same month, Takahashi Kantanekane, who had completely lost his fighting spirit due to the retreat of the Mori army, surrendered and was later confiscated by Sorin and moved to Kokura, Buzen. Thus, the rebellion in Kitakyushu caused by the invasion of the Mori army was completely quelled!

As the duel between the two heroes ended with the complete victory of the Otomo family, Sorin built the largest territory of the Otomo family - Buzen, Bungo, Chikuzen, Chikugo, Hizen, Higo and half of Iyo, ushering in the most prosperous era!

This made Zong Lin feel very proud and happy. He suddenly felt that he was a wise man who would not suffer a loss in front of him. He bowed to Master Zhao and signed the Treaty of Oita.

However, there was another voice in his heart shouting that even if Master Zhao had not intervened, I should have been the winner of this battle!

So in Moji Port, after seeing off the Ming Dynasty fleet with the warmest ceremony, his biggest feeling was relief, rather than reluctance to leave.

Watching Master Zhao and his fleet slowly disappearing on the sea level, Lao Wang turned around and said to Dao Xue with a smile, "Let's go back and see our lovely Chiyoko! After the New Year, we will deal with the Ryuzoji family!"

"Hi." Dao Xue responded and took out the white jade Guanyin given by Master Zhao from his sleeve. His longing for his daughter was overwhelming.

~~

The warship slowly sailed away from the Kanmon Strait.

Amid the cheerful triumphant songs of the soldiers, Master Zhao and his eldest nephew stood on the stern deck with relaxed expressions, looking at the island country getting farther and farther away.

"The biggest regret this time is that I didn't get to see Oda City..." Zhao Shizhen was obsessed with the most beautiful woman in Japan that his uncle had promised him.

"Next time for sure." Young Master Zhao looked at his persistent nephew and thought that the next time he came, it would be almost the time when Asai Nagamasa was forced to commit suicide and Aichi returned to her parents' home with her three daughters.

My nephew is going to play the widow series? It's really exciting to think about it.

ps. The outline is not sorted out yet, so I will just update twice first.