On October 20, 1643, heavy snow fell from the sky at Hei Shui Port. According to the Koreans who stayed here last year, the snow fell relatively late this year, and the first snow fell as early as early October last year.

With the sudden drop in temperature, the black soldiers who had been hunting often gave up their hobbies and hid in the house one by one and started wintering. If they had not been assigned to duty, they would never go out, hugging the North Korean women who were given to them one by one, hiding on the warm earthen kang as warm as spring, doing what they loved to do. They were really afraid of the cold climate here.

The wheel kiln located on the banks of the Heishui River was completely completed a few days ago. The workers piled up a large number of dead branches and leaves, and then ignited the fire and baked it for several days. Some technicians who came from the local area the day before yesterday accepted it, and the result was qualified and the kiln could be produced. However, considering the cold weather now, there is probably not much chance of using this wheel kiln this year. The workers are currently taking advantage of the last few days to remove a considerable portion of clay from the surrounding area of ​​the Heishui River and strive to fire a batch of bricks before freezing.

The small earth kilns in the city have been running tenaciously these days, and the supply of 60,000 to 70,000 special bricks for the city wall or 200,000 to 300,000 standard bricks per month has never been interrupted. Most of the bricks were shipped to Yantai Port in the south, and then built fortresses there. Due to the shortage of building materials and the lack of sufficient manpower and materials to pick up stones, there are only a few bricks and tiles in the urban area of ​​Heishui Port, namely the government hall, the arsenal and the dock warehouse - of course, there are also an underground ice cellar. Among them, given the huge scale of the planned dock warehouse, only a small part has been built to store all kinds of goods, grain, tools and other materials transported from local sources.

The government hall is not large in size. Currently, there are only seven or eight rooms on the upper and lower floors, and there is also a small attic on it. The wall is covered with lime, which looks pale and pale. The large spire building resembles the usual styles of the Russians. Especially the arc wall design in the center of the government hall is very different from the horizontal and vertical architectural style of the East Coast people, and it looks a bit exotic.

Each room has a fireplace, which makes the room warm and comfortable. In the cold winter days, all kinds of senior technicians who have come from the local area have the honor to live with Mo Ming in this "most luxurious" building so far. Due to the limited number of rooms, they usually need a few people to squeeze in a house, except Lola. For some unknown little thoughts, this outstanding ship designer was arranged separately for a relatively spacious and well-decorated room, right next to someone.

Although it had already snowed outside at this time, the temperature was not low enough to work. Therefore, most of these technicians were still busy in the construction sites or factories where they were responsible, so the entire hall seemed empty. Especially in the hall downstairs, there was no extra person except a orderly man who was adding charcoal to the fireplace. Mo Ming even wanted to pour wine for the guests who came from afar.

"Imamura, why did it come too late?" Mo Ming smiled and poured a cup of kalean glutinoushiosuke Imamura sitting in front of him, and then said, "After we parted in Dabo, we all thought you were not interested in doing business with us, and Li Yi regretted it for a long time. But I didn't expect that we would meet again today. So, Imamura must have good news when he came here this time?"

Kojiro, who was sitting aside, faithfully took on the translation work.

"I was busy with war a while ago and had no time to take care of it. Moreover, many family members in this vassal also had objections to the trade between us, so it took a long time to persuade them." Imamura Yoshinosuke bowed slightly and said a little apologetically: "After careful consideration the day before yesterday, the vassal lord decided to agree to trade with you, but it must still be carried out in the name of Shantan trade. In addition, the transaction location is also located in Dabo Port to avoid unnecessary trouble. Can you have any doubts?"

"What kind of trade form is not important to us. We only care about whether the trade can proceed normally." Mo Ming smiled, "It doesn't matter if the transaction location is located in Dabo. We will open a shopping mall in Dabo. You can come to trade at any time. But what kind of payment method are you going to use?"

"We will pay the payment in gold, please rest assured about this." Imamura Yoshinosuke looked at Mo Ming's eyes and said without hesitation: "Of course, if you need to change it, or use things with things, we can also consider it at your discretion. There is no problem with this."

"I think it's better to change all or part of the payment to physical goods. For example, if we need to purchase some sulfur, grain and other materials from you, will you find it difficult? Also, if you can recruit some samurai with difficulty in living in the vassal or domestic for us, we will also give you a considerable introduction fee, which can be deducted from the payment." Mo Ming continued to ask.

In fact, this is the focus of his attention. It is naturally good to trade with the Japanese and recover a bunch of gold and silver. However, if a considerable part of the gold and silver can be replaced with materials such as sulfur and grain that are urgently needed in black water areas, or if some Japanese samurai who acts as cannon fodder can be recruited, it would be quite cost-effective. Among these things, sulfur is probably not a big problem, and the price will be relatively cheap. However, there are some problems with food, because it is obvious that the food in Japan is not very abundant, especially in the Matsue family, which is located in a bitter and cold place. Your own food may have to be purchased from other families. How can there be excess food to sell to outsiders?

As for recruiting some Japanese samurai, this should not be difficult, but the number will definitely not be too large. Japan has been peaceful for a few years. Those unemployed samurai will either go abroad to make a living, such as for the Dutch, Portuguese, and British as mercenaries in the East India region; or they have already been engaged in other industries and completely abandoned their old business. Therefore, letting Matsumae-fan help recruit some wild samurai to act as cannon fodder, you can't have too much hope, it can only be used as some supplements.

Sure enough, after thinking for a while, Yoshinosuke Imamura spoke. He obviously considered these issues in advance, and had more or less authorized by some vassal lords, so he quickly answered: "There is no problem with sulfur, we can sell it in large quantities. But the food is difficult, and we are very nervous. I am really sorry. But we will try our best to help you think of ways to raise some in other daimyos, but the price may be a bit high, please forgive me. Regarding your proposal

I can only tell the truth that a large number of samurai from my country need to be recruited. First, the number will not be too many, and second, many people are actually no longer samurai, or descendants of samurai. They may have some skills, but they are not noble samurai after all. Regarding this, I don’t want to deceive you, because it will damage the credibility of this vassal. But I can guarantee that if they have a little training, they will still be qualified sergeants. After all, most of them have undergone strict training when they were young."

"Imamura is really a straightforward person. I like to be friends with straightforward people." Mo Ming said with a smile, "Please worry about food issues. We will give Imamura and the Takashi family a reasonable price. Please be sure to rest assured. We will recruit these samurai or descendants of samurai. We will also recruit the samurai and the samurai. It is okay to bring your family to bring your family. The treatment is generous. After serving for three years, we will divide the houses and land in the local area, each with a house, a cow, and thirty acres of land. In addition, there is a generous retirement bonus. If you die in battle, your family will also receive a generous pension, and your children will be raised by the state, and you will be given priority to recruiting the troops, the government or factories so that everyone can have no worries and can kill the enemy with peace of mind."

"Oh, such generous conditions?" Imamura Yoshinosuke was also moved. If the East Coast people could really fulfill these conditions, many poor and down-and-out genuine samurai might have to join their families. These people are not afraid of death for their families to live better. All they lack is a bid that is worthy of their life.

Mo Ming nodded and said, "There are also some Japanese samurai soldiers in our army. Imamura Junda can inquire about it. We people from the East Coast never speak silly, and we will always be convinced. We also ask Imamura Jun to inform them after we go back."

"I will consider it." Imamura Yoshinosuke Kazuki said, "Then, let's discuss some of the types, prices and quantities of goods you can provide..."

The two sides then had a long negotiation, and it was not until the afternoon that everyone finally reached a preliminary agreement. The content of the agreement was roughly: Matsumae-fan asked the East Coast people to sell them a series of combat equipment, ranging from artillery, plate armor, flintlock rifles, to cowhide ammunition packages, mechanical sabers, leather armor, hand-thrown bombs, and even cotton coats, military boots, spirits, barbed wire mesh, etc. at a preferential price. The price and quantity of the two sides agreed on each year in Dabo, and the transaction location was also located in the East Coast people's Dabo store.

At the same time, the Matsumae family will sell a large amount of sulfur, some grain, seafood, herbs, Ainu slaves and other materials to the East Coast people; in addition, they will do their best to help the East Coast people recruit some samurai in the Matsumae family and even in Japan, and the East Coast people will give a certain introduction fee for this. The above shortcomings will be paid for by the Matsumae family with gold.

After the negotiations, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Matsumaki was naturally full of confidence and was ready to launch a larger-scale offensive against the Ainu people in the Hokkien land; and the East Coast people also received some strategic materials that they urgently needed, such as sulfur, grain, and herbs, which were very happy.
Chapter completed!