"Qi Bin, is there any news from the shogunate recently?" Dong Shuheng asked suddenly.
Qi Bin panicked when he heard these words.
Could it be that the master knew that he was still in contact with people in Japan, and he felt unhappy.
Qi Bin thought in his heart.
"My lord, Qi Bin does have some friends in Japan. They are all his companions when he studied Orchid Studies in the past. They will tell Qi Bin some things that happened in the shogunate. There seems to be no change in the shogunate recently." Qi Bin said it was true.
said.
These friends of Qi Bin all took the initiative to find Qi Bin. When they saw that Qi Bin was being reused in the country, they were all envious and wanted to find a way out through Qi Bin's path to the Celestial Empire.
Just like the envoys sent to the Tang Dynasty during the Tang Dynasty, many of them stayed in the Tang Dynasty as officials.
The rule of the shogunate in Japan is now very stable. The conservative daimyo has firmly controlled the power of the shogunate.
Even Tokugawa Iedada's poor health did not affect the rule of the shogunate.
Through monopoly trade with the Renaissance Army, the shogunate built a well-equipped army.
The shogunate's maritime territory is basically under the protection of the Beihai Navy, and they no longer have to worry about black ships suddenly appearing.
The Renaissance Army's naval base firmly controls the entrance to Edo Bay and has complete fort facilities. Any fleet that wants to force its way in will have to pay a huge price.
Nagasaki became the only window for Westerners to trade with Japan.
However, due to the large amount of cheap goods imported by the Renaissance Army, Nagasaki was gradually declining.
Today's Edo area has become the commodity distribution center for the entire shogunate and the largest consumer center.
"Qi Bin, I heard that the three powerful vassals recently purchased a large amount of weapons from Britain, France and the United States. Do you think they are trying to challenge the shogunate?" Dong Shuheng tested Qi Bin a little and saw that the other party was more magnanimous than he thought.
Just ask your questions directly.
Recently, the Intelligence Ministry sent back news from Japan that the three powerful feudal lords, Choshu Domain, Hizen Domain, and Tosa Domain, were in secret contact and collusion, and had purchased a large amount of weapons from Britain, France, and the United States.
And the French helped them train a new army at a secret base in the Hizen Domain.
"My lord, if necessary, Qi Bin is willing to lead the army to help the Lord decide the three vassals." Qi Bin quickly bowed and asked for his orders.
"To be honest, my lord, I learned through letters that the orchidism in Japan is now divided into two factions. The people of one faction should closely follow the footsteps of our Renaissance Army, because everyone has seen that the people's lives in Japan have indeed changed in recent years.
Improvement. Many samurai and civilians can find a way out. The other group believes that Japan can also become stronger through the same reforms as us. They believe that it should gain protection from Western countries by confronting us. Then through the assistance of Western countries, through
Learn from them and develop. They feel that blindly following us will make Japan continue to sink."
Qi Bin revealed a deeper secret that no one in the Intelligence Department had ever grasped.
After saying this, Dong Shuheng understood that logically speaking, this matter could not have been done spontaneously by San Francisco. There must have been a force that coordinated it.
"My lord, the faction that opposes Japan's integration into the Renaissance Army is led by my student Gui Xiaogoro. It is estimated that San Francisco's actions are also related to him. Qi Bin is at fault in this matter, so please punish him." Qi
Bin knelt on the ground and lowered his head.
"Gui Xiaogoro?" Dong Shuheng muttered to himself.
"Get up. This matter is not your fault, and it is not a big deal. Since we know it in advance, they can't make trouble." Dong Shuheng didn't care, he just wanted to follow
Qi Bin asked for advice on how to deal with San Francisco.
Even if the three feudal lords in Japan get together, it can only be regarded as a small fight.
When the time comes, the Renaissance Army will naturally press the formation from behind and let the shogunate fight them to the death first.
Then the Renaissance Army finally came forward to clean up the mess.
Dong Shuheng just felt that if he helped the shogunate destroy the three feudal lords in this way, then the shogunate would no longer have any restraints in the country.
It is difficult to guarantee what kind of dissent the shogunate will have in the future. This is not in the interest of the Renaissance Army.
What Qi Bin said about the two factions just now piqued Dong Shuheng's interest.
In this case, it can be used.
"Qi Bin, do you think that if San Francisco is destroyed, how will we arrange this place in the future?"
Qi Bin knew that Dong Shuheng was testing himself in school. Only then did he understand why his lord asked him that question just now.
"President, the San Francisco or Kyushu region is somewhat like our southern chieftain. It has always been relatively independent. If San Francisco is destroyed, we can also support a force to take charge of this place."
"I believe the shogunate doesn't have any big objections. After all, the shogunate has never been able to control this place." Qi Bin said.
What Dong Shuheng was most worried about was that if the Renaissance Army helped the shogunate to destroy the three feudal lords, the shogunate would then ask to take back this place.
If the Renaissance Army forcibly separates this place from the shogunate, it will cause the shogunate and the Renaissance Army to fall out.
It is said that the shogunate is now in charge of Japan, which is the best choice for the Renaissance Army.
Through trade penetration, the power of the shogunate and the various daimyo was gradually strengthened.
Dong Shuheng needed a shogunate to rule a Japan composed of many great names.
It is like a loose confederation composed of many small countries.
Such Japan is completely able to provide cannon fodder and cheap labor for the Renaissance Army under the control of the Renaissance Army.
"Well, is there a specific charter?" Dong Shuheng asked.
"President, after you take back that place, you can appoint several daimyo to manage the place in the name of the suzerain. The daimyo are only nominal managers. The daimyo officials who serve as actual managers can be dispatched by us, so that we can manage them as needed.
Transform the local area," Qi Bin said.
Qi Bin's current philosophy is to integrate Japan into the Renaissance Army as much as possible and ride on the express train of the Renaissance Army's development. Therefore, Qi Bin hopes that the Renaissance Army can strengthen its penetration into Japan.
If the Kyushu region can be directly placed under the actual jurisdiction of the Renaissance Army, then it may not be a good thing for Qi Bin.
After all, Qi Bin's hometown is Satsuma, and he hopes that his hometown can develop better.
As for Japan, most Japanese people now recognize the place where they live.
For example, Qi Bin originally thought that he was a Samoan.
"Well, I know. Some of your friends can invite them over. Our Renaissance Army has always welcomed talents." Dong Shuheng said.
"Then Qi Bin will thank the lord on behalf of all my friends." Qi Bin has always regarded himself as Dong Shuheng's retainer. In most cases, he calls Dong Shuheng his lord.
Next, Dong Shuheng took a walk around the mine.
This is the Great Gobi Desert, so there is no need to damage the environment.
Now that the ground has been broken, there is so much sand and dust everywhere that it is hard to tell whether it is caused by the construction at the construction site or generated by the Gobi Desert itself.
Working here is also very hard.
Therefore, the project team offered higher wages than those in mainland China.
Most of the workers come from Shanxi and Hebei areas, and there are also some herders from the grasslands.
In order to provide supplies to the workers here, the project team built a simple road.
The most difficult thing to replenish is fresh water. The nearest fresh water replenishment point is dozens of kilometers away, and it needs to be continuously transported by oxcarts.
The mine doesn't even have access to underground water.
Besides, if copper is smelted here in the future, the groundwater will not be able to be used.
The ancient method of copper smelting involves mining copper ore, washing and beneficiating it, and then smelting it at high temperatures. This is relatively inefficient and the precision of the copper smelted is not very high.
But now that electricity is available, hydrosmelting can be used. This involves continuously washing the copper ore with sulfuric acid solution to obtain a copper sulfate solution. These solutions are then collected and placed in a special electrolytic tank.
Then a thin metal plate is placed in the pool. After electricity is applied, the copper ions will be reduced to copper atoms and adsorbed on the metal plate.
The copper obtained by this smelting method is more pure and suitable for making various wires and electrical components.
In the future, with the development of electricity, copper will be used in more and more places.
If Dong Shuheng wants to take the lead in realizing the second industrial revolution, he must master more copper.
It can be said that copper is the foundation of electric power development.
As a metal element, copper has once again become a metal element related to human development after mankind entered the Bronze Age.
The Gobi Desert is rich in coal resources, as well as wind energy resources.
Wind power plants and thermal power plants will soon be built here to ensure the operation of this large mine.
After leaving here, Dong Shuheng went to Saiyinsanda to meet the two ladies.
Then we headed to Cullen, the next stop of our trip.
Kulun is equivalent to the current holy city of the Mobei grassland people.
At this time, a huge alliance will be held here.
When he came here, Dong Shuheng had two things to do. One was to pay homage to the Buddha, although it was only in a symbolic sense.
There is also an alliance with various tribes to determine the affiliation and accept the allegiance of each tribe.
This is also a tradition of the Central Plains Dynasty.
It has to be said that the Manchu Qing Dynasty did the best among all the dynasties in controlling the grassland tribes.
This huge grassland was tamed by the Central Plains dynasty for the first time in the Qing Dynasty.
Historically, the grasslands were briefly controlled during the Han and Tang dynasties.
But there is no real control here.
Once the army leaves, a new grassland tribe will rise.
But the herdsmen on the grasslands today are still the same herdsmen, but their thoughts have been completely civilized by the Manchus.
The Zasak system, which was similar to the Han Dynasty's grace order, combined with religion. The Manchu Qing Dynasty not only controlled the population of the grasslands, but also made them lose their desire to enter.
With such a good system, Dong Shuheng naturally wanted to learn from it.