Among the many small boats, three five-masted sailboats berthed at the pier. The tall masts, slender hulls and white sails make these three sailboats look like cranes standing among chickens, particularly conspicuous.

The white rose flag flying on the ship shows the identity of the ship: the ship belonging to the Zhou State Maritime Bureau, whoever dares to make a decision will be in trouble.

As an important seaport of Japan, Nambazin is not far from the capital, so foreign ships are generally not allowed to enter the domestic sea of ​​Japan at will and berth at Nambazin, but these Zhou ships are exceptional.

On the busy dock, Zhang Yu walked forward and whispered to several men. These people were the shopkeepers of the Beiyang Trading Company, stationed in Nambazu, and handled various affairs in order to coordinate the smoother bilateral trade.

Zhang Yu would come to the capital of Japan from time to time, so every time he went to Nambazu, he would explain some things to the shopkeepers.

When he arrived at the edge of a five-masted sailboat, he stopped and talked to the shopkeepers for about half an hour before boarding the ship.

Standing on the deck, looking back at the busy scene on the dock, then walked into the cabin.

The north wind blew, and the sailors on the boat were busy, untied the cables, laid the sails, and some small boats leaned on them, paddling, pushing or pulling with manpower, causing three five-masted sailboats to slowly leave the dock in turn.

In the cabin, Zhang Yu looked at the charts, then looked at the scenery outside the window, and fell into deep thought.

A few days ago, facing the inquiry from the powerful Japanese minister Su Wo Mazi, Zhang Yu directly gave a specious answer based on the emperor's intention: "Su Wo is the only friend of the Great Zhou Dynasty in Japan."

Su I-Mazi asked if once Baekje and Silla started a war, Silla asked Zhou for help, what was Zhou's real attitude? Zhang Yu's answer seemed completely irrelevant to the question, but in fact it hit the nail on the head.

The subtext is that no matter what happens in Japan, the Zhou Kingdom will strongly support the Suwo family (Suwo Mazi). This "support" has a wide meaning, which is enough to ensure that the Suwo family is invincible.

This answer corresponds to the deeper meaning of the question asked by Su I and Ma Zi.

As a powerful minister, Suwo Mazi now firmly controls the government of Japan, but it has not yet reached the point of covering the sky with one hand. Because of the special national conditions of Japan, Suwo Mazi cannot be called king of Zen and become king of Japan, so it is possible that the gutter will capsize.

This incident is not impossible. Zhang Yu heard of a past event in Japan. It was decades ago. Japan's foothold "Renna" at the southern end of the peninsula was occupied by Silla. The news spread to Japan, causing a major political change.

At that time, Daban Jincun, a powerful minister in the Japanese state, was attacked by his political enemy Su Mudaome and Yubushi, using this as a reason, and lost his power. The prominent Daban family withdrew from the center of power.

The Dapao clan declined, and the Suwo clan and the Wubu clan replaced it, and Suwo Daomu was the father of Suwo Mazi, so Suwo Mazi did not want to repeat the mistakes of Dapao Jincun.

The strength of Zhou State is like a tiger, while Goguryeo, the strongest country in Haidong, is barely considered a wolf, let alone other countries. If Zhou State wants to take action, he can destroy whoever he wants, and even Japan will not be spared.

Therefore, no matter how Zhou State deals with Goguryeo, Baekje, Silla, Japan can only accept the result silently. Even if Su and Mazi know in advance what policies the Zhou State adopts, it will be useless.

The reason why the other party asked a question emphasized that "to avoid being taken advantage of by political enemies, overthrow the clan, and that it is irreversible..." The subtext is that if something happens, the emperor of Zhou will "protect" the Suwo clan.

So Zhang Yu knew that this was the thing Su and Ma Zi was most concerned about, and it was based on realistic considerations, because where Baekje went, it was implicated in the domestic situation in Japan.

Japan and Baekje have maintained friendly relations for a long time, and it is not an exaggeration to say that they have not signed an alliance. Japan and Silla are incompatible, so once Baekje and Silla go to war, Japan will inevitably stand on Baekje's side.

Once Baekje and Silla have another war, Goguryeo, whose strength has been greatly damaged, is likely to stand on Baekje. Because the royal families of both countries are descendants of the Buyu royal family and the same ancestor, Silla's prospects in the war with Baekje are worrying.

However, from the Zhou Dynasty's position, it is necessary to maintain the situation of Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla's three kingdoms. Once Silla faces the danger of destruction of its country, it is impossible to stand by and watch.

If Zhou State participates in this dispute, Baekje's hostility towards Zhou State will inevitably increase greatly, and even Japan will do so.

In this way, Su and Ma Zi, who have always presided over friendly exchanges with Zhou, will inevitably be attacked by the political enemies in the court. If Baekje loses his country, he will be fully responsible for this.

At this time, if the Zhou Kingdom clearly states that whoever moves Suwo is seeking death, then the sword aimed at Suwo will disappear instantly.

The answer that Su I-Mazi wanted to know was already given by Zhang Yu, that is, Su I-Meng was the "only friend" of Zhou in Japan. This is the emperor's meaning, without any deviation. As for whether the other party believes it or not, Zhang Yu doesn't know.

He only knew that the emperor valued the trade with Japan very much and did not want to break it easily.

Since the first year of Mingde, the imperial court has built a large-scale construction to dig two Grand Canals, developed the Nanzhong and Han Mian areas, and used troops to the Turks, Goguryeo, and Liaodong. It has been constantly being developed.

In order to sympathize with the people's strength, the court often used slave labor. Slave labor was bought from slave capturing teams, so it would cost a lot of money. Where did this money come from?

It is definitely not possible to rely on the relatively pitiful rent and mediocre adjustments, so you can only rely on sea trade.

Maritime trade is huge profits, and its essence is to do business. Since it is to do business, there are both business and business. The output of Zhongyuan does not have to worry about sales overseas. The problem is that most of the "payment ability" of Zhufanbang is not good.

For bilateral trade, the ideal state is that both parties have their own needs: Party A’s goods are in large quantities for Party B, and Party B’s goods are in large quantities for Party A.

Such bilateral trade has good development prospects, so for Zhou (Party A), Japan is a high-quality Party B and a big customer.

Bilateral trade, not to mention the luxury goods such as incense and medicine (high-priced products), just like Zhou's daily necessities, such as paper, porcelain, cloth, soap, and iron products, have always been popular in Japan. A large number of workshops and workshops in Zhou's country make money steadily through trade with Japan.

Workshops and workshops have good benefits, so they hire more workers and create a large number of "working jobs", allowing countless farmers who work because of "scarce grains hurt farmers" to find a job to support their families.

At the same time, the sulfur produced by Japan was extremely high, and it was a material that Zhou State needed extremely.

Sulfur can be used to make gunpowder, can be used as raw materials to make bleaching agents, bleach cloth and paper, etc., and can also be used to prepare very important "sulfuric acid".

Therefore, the demand for sulfur in Zhou State has increased explosively. Even if there is sulfur production in China, it still needs to be imported from Japan in large quantities.

It is because of this that once the trade between the two sides is interrupted, it will be a bit uncomfortable for Zhou State.

Although the profits of the Japanese market are not small, and there will be no sulfur from now on, this kind of thing can be avoided, so try not to turn against you if you can.

However, for the sake of the interests of maritime trade, the situation in Haidong was allowed to get out of control. This was not the result that the emperor wanted, so he thought of a way to "the best of both worlds", that is, to express his opinion to the powerful Japanese minister Su and Mazi, and support him when necessary.

Zhang Yu heard from the emperor that the idea of ​​destroying Japan and including it under his rule will not be cost-effective in the near future, because the imperial court will have to invest manpower and material resources for a long time when developing Nanzhong, Hetao, and Liaodong. If there is a former land of Japan, the national strength will not be able to withstand it.

Even if the battle is over, the prince will not be able to be conquered, because the garrison will inevitably fall into endless quelling chaos. In the short term, there will only be investment and no profit, and it will only overdraw the strength of Zhou State.

Therefore, when weighing the pros and cons, you must make a choice. It is best to support a powerful minister close to Zhou to control Japan. This is the most cost-effective.
Chapter completed!