Chapter 437: A Country Within a Country

"I'm sorry for offending you just now. Please forgive me."

Liu Shoushan, with the help of two female servants, put on his shoes and got off the couch.

After getting off the couch, Liu Shoushan stood up and apologized to Pinkerton, and then took out four gold pounds and handed them to Pinkerton.

Pinkerton didn't say much, accepted the gold pounds handed over by Liu Shoushan, and took Liu Shoushan to sit in the carriage specially prepared for Liu Shoushan at the door of Mianyun Pavilion.

Liu Shoushan, who was overjoyed, didn't think much, and got on the carriage happily.

After the carriage drove for a while, Liu Shoushan's mind finally came to his senses slowly.

He gradually realized that something was wrong.

He remembered that when he just got on the carriage, the carriage had been heading south, and the Governor's Mansion in Hong Kong was in the west.

These people seemed to be ill-intentioned, not to take him to the Governor's Mansion.

Thinking of this, Liu Shoushan regretted it and said in his heart: Smoking will delay things!

Liu Shoushan shouted to the driver outside: "Stop! Stop! I need to relieve myself!"

"General Manager Liu, I'm afraid I have to inconvenience you for a while." Pinkerton sneered.

The carriage continued to move, with no intention of stopping.

"You are Liang Yao's people, right? I was careless and thought I could rest easy in Hong Kong." Liu Shoushan's face was ashen and he regretted.

"Don't even mention Hong Kong. Even if you run to London, our CIA will bring you to justice." Pinkerton said to Liu Shoushan expressionlessly.

"You need to pay the price for what you did in Borneo."

As soon as Pinkerton finished speaking, an indescribable stench filled the entire carriage.

Liu Shoushan, who had just stood up, collapsed and sat down. His crotch was already soaked with feces and urine.

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The concession in Nagasaki, Japan, is like a country in a country.

The towering brick wall separates the concession from the outside world, leaving only a few entrances and exits.

All these intersections are guarded by armed American soldiers stationed in Japan, and a pass is required to enter the concession.

The concession within the brick wall is a prosperous world that many Japanese people yearn for.

It is rumored that the dogs raised by Americans in the concession eat better food than many servants of public and military families.

Therefore, there is a saying in Nagasaki and nearby feudal domains: I would rather be a dog in the house of an American than a slave of a public and military family.

Whenever Americans in the concession, in fact, mainly Californians, recruit servants, there are often hundreds of Japanese people scrambling for a servant job.

Californians are very generous. As long as you become their servant, you can live a rich and even superior life.

Not only can you enter and exit the concession within the specified time with a pass, even when facing the samurai who used to show off their power, as long as the other party is not crazy, you only need to say that I am working for the Americans, and the other party will bow in front of you and make way for you.

After receiving Liang Yao's invitation letter, Naomasa Nabeshima, the lord of Hizen Saga Domain, did not dare to neglect it.

In order to meet Liang Yao, Naomasa Nabeshima specially changed into a suit and went to the concession in Nagasaki.

The Kurokawa voyage incident had a great impact on Japan.

The all-round gap between the East and the West made the Japanese feel inferior, and many Japanese gradually admired and yearned for Western civilization. They began to try the Western way of life.

The academic community in Japan was also very lively, and many different theories emerged after the founding of the country.

There are theories that advocate abandoning everything in Japan's past and learning from Western countries in an all-round way.

The theories that hold this view are called radicals.

Of course, there are also some voices that oppose abandoning all traditions.

These theories believe that the consequences of abandoning all Japanese traditions are unbearable for Japan, and Japan's traditional culture should be retained as appropriate to maintain the stability of Japanese society. By learning Western artifacts and taking Japanese studies as the body, Japan can achieve self-reliance in a relatively stable way.

The theories that hold this view are called moderate reformists.

Liang Yao was reading these Japanese theories in the residence of the commander of the US military in Japan, which was also Deng Yan's residence.

However, this did not prevent Liang Yao from reading these academic works.

As long as you can understand the Chinese characters in the article, you can still roughly understand the views that the article wants to express.

What surprised Liang Yao was that only four years after the founding of Japan, there were already many Japanese who could write articles and express their views in fluent English.

The activeness of the Japanese academic and cultural circles and the high tolerance of the Japanese upper class to different theories are eye-opening.

This is unimaginable in the Qing Dynasty, where people would be punished for writing or speaking and their entire clans would be executed.

"Meet the general!"

The uneasy Naomasa Kojima bowed deeply to Liang Yao and then knelt in front of Liang Yao.

After reading some Japanese academic works, Liang Yao was not surprised to see Naomasa Kojima in a suit in front of him.

"Someone, bring a chair over here."

Liang Yao saw Naomasa Kojima kneeling on the ground in a tight suit, and ordered someone to bring a chair over, saying.

"Since you want to learn, learn to the end."

Naomasa Kojima sat on the chair and said to Liang Yao: "Thank you, sir, I feel much more comfortable."

"I came to you today because of the indemnity in the Nagasaki Treaty." Liang Yao got straight to the point.

"Japan is a poor country, and Saga Domain is also a poor domain, far less wealthy than the superior country. It is not easy to raise compensation. I hope the superior country can understand." Naomasa Kojima felt like sitting on pins and needles when he heard this, and beads of sweat as big as beans oozed out of his forehead.

"But please rest assured, we will definitely pay off the debt owed to the superior country. Even if we can't get the silver, we will find a way to raise compensation in kind."

"Have you ever thought that the matter of compensation can be negotiated?" Liang Yao picked up the teacup and took a sip of tea and said.

"What do you mean?" Naomasa Kojima's eyes lit up, and he was full of expectations for the next negotiations.

Saga Domain is relatively wealthy among all the domains.

But the compensation for the "US-Japan Amity Treaty" and the "Nagasaki Treaty" is like two heavy mountains, which made Naomasa Kojima breathless.

Naomasa Kojima has calculated that it will take Saga Domain a full ten years to pay off all the compensation with interest.

And now, they have only paid back for three years, and it is getting harder every year.

"Saga Domain will pay back the indemnity, but starting this year, Saga Domain's repayment will be used as military expenses to purchase arms from California and hire instructors from the Western Brigade to help you train a modern army." Liang Yao put down the teacup in his hand.

Naomasa Kobe pinched his thigh hard, and the pain told him that he was not dreaming.

Naomasa Kobe said excitedly: "If so, I will be grateful to you!"

However, in addition to being excited, Naomasa Kobe also had his doubts. He said: "It's just that we signed a treaty with the American government? Do we only need you to make the decision on this matter?"