I started with the Shinsengumi in Bakumatsu

Chapter 153 If you don’t have money, use resources in exchange

The Yagyu cabinet organized a fleet of thirty merchant ships for the purpose of grain trade. Yataro Iwasaki was originally in charge, but he is now participating in the mission to Europe.

This national transportation company was temporarily handed over to Nobuyuki Nakajima of Kameyama Society to take over management.

These thirty merchant ships are all steam, three-sail, iron-hulled ships with a total transportation volume of nearly [-] tons. They have been traveling between Nanyang and Japan since the beginning of the year.

The fleet has established a route, departing from Nagasaki and arriving at the Ryukyu Kingdom, which was occupied by the Satsuma Domain in the early seventeenth century and is still under the control of Satsuma.

Among them, Japan occupied the Ryukyu Islands and the Amami Islands, and the Qing Dynasty occupied the Sakishima Islands and other islands.

Today's Ryukyu Kingdom was downgraded to the Ryukyu Principality and became part of Japan. As for the Ryukyu King Shoutai who was canonized by the Qing Dynasty, he became the first Grand Duke.

According to legal principles, the Qing Dynasty was still the suzerainty of the Ryukyu Kingdom. In 1866, Shoutai was canonized as the King of Ryukyu by the Qing Dynasty.

But the Ryukyu Kingdom actually had to make an offering to Satsuma.

As the Prime Minister of Japan, Yagyu naturally cannot give Ryukyu away. Moreover, Japan needs an advance base to move south, and Ryukyu is the most suitable. Otherwise, the radicals will definitely encourage an attack on Taiwan.

The ambassador to the Qing Dynasty, Shu Hengjuro, spent some money and some exchanges of interests to get Prince Gong to relent and give up his suzerainty over the Ryukyu Kingdom.

Therefore, in 1868, the Ryukyu Kingdom was converted into a principality and became part of Japan.

Supply bases were built on the Ryukyu Islands, which became a springboard for Japan to move south. After supplying the Ryukyus, the fleet sailed to Hainan. After supplying at Haikou, it followed the Qing Dynasty coast to northern Vietnam to trade with the Nguyen Dynasty.

The grain trade between the shipping company and the Nguyen Dynasty has lasted for more than half a year, with a total of 30 tons of grain imported, which serves as the government's grain reserve and contributes to stabilizing prices.

This time Yagyu sent someone to Nagasaki with an Enfield rifle and a Napoleon cannon, along with a letter.

After reading the letter, Nobuyuki Nakajima understood his next important task. This was not just an arms trade, but also a political game!

"Have you finally fought back against the Western countries? Yo West, this is really exciting!"

Nakajima Nobuyuki was very excited and immediately called other people in the Kameyama Society to urge the ship to rest. After preparing supplies, he immediately set sail and left Nagasaki.

After nearly half a month of sailing, the fleet arrived at the port of Haiphong, which was originally just a small fishing village. The first time the shipping company traded with the Nguyen Dynasty was in Da Nang.

However, Da Nang was actually being watched by France, so Yataro Iwasaki, who was leading the team at the time, suggested that the Nguyen Dynasty build a new port in the north.

The coastal defense, originally built in 1870, was built more than two years ahead of schedule.

The water depth of Haiphong Port is three to 15 meters, and it can berth large ships of [-] tons. It only needs a little construction to become a good port. Now the port is still being expanded.

This was not the first time that Nobuyuki Nakajima came to Vietnam. After Yataro Iwasaki opened this route, Nobuyuki Nakajima followed him several times, and then he basically led the team to trade.

As soon as he landed at the port, Ruan Changzuo, the chief officer in charge, happened to be patrolling the port and met Nobuyuki Nakajima. Nakashima Nobuyuki was delighted and hurriedly stepped forward to say hello.

"Master Ruan, long time no see."

When Ruan Changzuo saw Nobuyuki Nakajima, he responded with a smile: "Mr. Nakajima, you are fine. Are you here to buy food again?"

Both of them communicated in Chinese and there was no discomfort.

"Yes, and no." Nobuyuki Nakajima made a riddle.

But Ruan Changzuo is not an ordinary person. As soon as he saw Nobuyuki Nakajima playing riddles, he guessed that something must be wrong this time.

He looked at Nobuyuki Nakajima's expression and thought to himself: It looks like it should be a profitable thing.

"Mr. Nakajima, why do you still like to play riddles? You are not honest enough."

Nobuyuki Nakajima did not defend himself, but instead asked with a smile: "I heard that Mr. Ruan wanted to reform, but because there was no source of the machine, the plan was aborted?"

Ruan Changzuo looked at Nobuyuki Nakajima with an eyebrow, and said with a straight face: "Mr. Nakajima, are you really careful in inquiring?"

He just expressed his stance like this on purpose. In fact, he was a little excited inside. Since Nobuyuki Nakajima told him this, he must have come prepared.

But he couldn't show too much excitement, otherwise, once Nakajima Nobuyuki opened his mouth based on his reaction, it would be the interests of the court and the emperor that would be harmed.

As a loyal minister who is loyal to the country, he naturally wants to safeguard the interests of the country as much as possible.

However, what he didn't expect was that Nobuyuki Nakajima learned about the situation of the Ruan Dynasty from Yagyu's letters.

Nakajima Nobuyuki was not frightened. He chuckled and said, "Why should Mr. Ruan be excited? I came with good intentions."

"How to prove it?" Ruan Changzuo's face was a little ugly. He vaguely felt that the other party was really prepared and he was already passive.

Nobuyuki Nakajima waved, and two sailors brought a wooden box. He pointed at the wooden box and said: "Inside is the Enfield rifle used by the British, which is no worse than the French rifle."

"Foreign gun?"

Ruan Changzuo's eyes narrowed slightly, his breathing became slightly rapid, and his expression also changed.

The two sailors opened the box without showing it.

"I think we can find a place to talk in detail."

Nobuyuki Nakajima suggested.

Ruan Changzuo closed the lid, nodded and said, "Let's go to the Yamen to talk."

When the group arrived at the Yamen, Nobuyuki Nakajima asked the sailor to display the Enfield rifle, hit the target 200 meters away with one shot, then quickly loaded the gun in more than 20 seconds and fired again.

Nobuyuki Nakajima introduced: "This is the standard rifle of the British Empire. Its longest range can reach 800 meters, its accurate range is 300 meters, and its rate of fire is very fast. A skilled soldier can fire four to five bullets per minute. Mr. Ruan, I wonder if you are interested in buying it?"

Several other officials in the Yamen were already breathing heavily. Wasn't the reason why they were bullied by France because of their incompetence in weapons?Buy, must buy!
Ruan Changzuo was also very moved. With this kind of weapon, they would no longer be helpless to fight back.

"A gun like this isn't cheap, is it?"

Nobuyuki Nakajima nodded and said: "Yes, but we can give a discount. Such a rifle only costs two hundred yen a piece." Two hundred yen is equivalent to fifty US dollars in proportion, while the American one is ten US dollars. Wholesale sales.

The shipping company used silver for trade with the Nguyen Dynasty and used silver coins issued in the second year of Meiji.

According to the proportion, two hundred yen is more than 130 taels of silver, and more than 300 yen is a silver coin.

"It's so expensive!"

This is the consensus of all.

But they don't have such channels and can't buy good guns. Their muskets are still old-fashioned and they are no match for France.

Ruan Changzuo frowned and said, "It's a bit expensive. Can it be cheaper?"

Nobuyuki Nakajima was a little embarrassed: "This is already a preferential price. No matter how cheap it is, we will have no profit."

Ruan Changzuo groaned and said: "110 two pieces each, let's buy three thousand first, how about that?"

He dared to bid directly because he was sure that the court would agree to purchase the new gun. France in the south was eyeing him, and there were ruthless bandits in the north. The court was in urgent need of strong soldiers, and no one could refuse this weapon.

Nakajima Nobuyuki pretended to hesitate, and after a while he said: "110 taels is not impossible, but Mr. Ruan has to buy some other things."

"what?"

"The artillery of the French."

"What, where is it!"

Nakajima Nobuyuki's answer shocked him. He had seen French field artillery. One round of shelling almost destroyed the morale of the officers and soldiers.

Nobuyuki Nakajima immediately sent someone to the port to pull over the tightly packed French field artillery.

This is a Napoleonic six-pounder field artillery, which is sufficient for use in the terrain of Vietnam.

When Ruan Changzuo and others saw this artillery, their eyes instantly lit up. This was France's weapon for conquering cities and territories on their land, and now they could also have it.

"How much!"

Ruan Changzuo was no longer reserved, he had to buy it.

Nobuyuki Nakajima smiled confidently: "This door only costs 3000 taels of silver."

"it is good!"

Ruan Changzuo agreed without hesitation. 3000 taels was a great value for money. He immediately asked again.

"How many do you have? Is there any bigger one? When can it be traded?"

Nobuyuki Nakajima replied: "It depends on how much Mr. Ruan buys. As for larger calibers, we also have Napoleon twelve-pound field artillery, 6000 taels per gun."

Ruan Changzuo nodded repeatedly and said: "Okay, I will go to the capital to report. Mr. Nakajima will stay here for a few more days."

A few days later, Ruan Changzuo rushed back to Haiphong after a long journey. He had no time to rest, so he went directly to Nobuyuki Nakajima and said: "The court has agreed, five thousand Enfield rifles and ten Napoleon six-pound field artillery.

However, the imperial court cannot afford 58 taels of silver at the moment. Mr. Nakajima, do you think we pay a deposit first? "

Naturally, Nobuyuki Nakajima did not dare to take this initiative, and Yagyu had already explained how to deal with it in his letter.

He shook his head and said: "Master Ruan, talking about business is not acceptable."

Ruan Changzuo asked anxiously: "What do you think, Mr. Nakajima? How about the imperial court exempting you from customs duties in our country?"

Nobuyuki Nakajima still shook his head, but he said directly: "It doesn't matter if you don't have enough silver. Coal and iron ore can also be converted according to market prices. How about that?"

Um?Can it still be like this?

Ruan Changzuo was a little confused and asked: "What is the market price?"

"Of course it's the local market price."

Nobuyuki Nakajima looked sincere.

Ruan Changzuo did not expect Nobuyuki Nakajima to be so fair. Since he could use resources to make up for it, there would be no problem with the 58 taels.

The current Nguyen Dynasty has no shortage of coal and iron ore. The iron ore in northern Vietnam has at least [-] million tons, which is much richer than Japan.

Therefore, Ruan Changzuo agreed without worrying about any objection from the court.

Now the most important thing for the court is this batch of arms.

Nobuyuki Nakajima warned: "Master Ruan, this matter must be kept secret and let the French know about it. This mad dog in Spain will bite us."

When Ruan Changzuo heard the name of Spain, he gritted his teeth with hatred. When France and Spain invaded southern Vietnam, the Ruan Dynasty lost its territory and ceded territory to pay compensation. Naturally, he will not forget this kind of hatred.

Now France is already eyeing Vietnam's territory, so it will naturally not allow the Vietnamese Nguyen Dynasty to receive assistance. Once discovered, it will definitely take action to stop it.

By then, Spain may act as a vanguard to attack Japan's fleet.

This is also an issue that Yagyu considers, so Nakajima Nobuyuki must remind Ruan Changzuo.

Ruan Changzuo nodded and said: "Don't worry, Mr. Nakajima, only Your Majesty and several war ministers know about this matter, and it will be kept strictly confidential."

　The Ryukyu issue has been arranged in this way. This is already an ideal state and the softest method.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)