Of course, Li Zhaoming would not specifically ask the emperor or King Yu for such a thing, because he is still in the stage of "happy and happy" growth and does not need to worry about such things at all.

However, there is a saying that the tree wants to be quiet but the wind does not stop. Although Li Zhaoming does not want to cause trouble, his every move is easily involved in the whirlpool of right and wrong.

On the second day of the banquet, major newspapers of the Empire published relevant reports, and many of them took photos of Prince Li Zhaoming helping the Japanese princess with grace as the front page headlines. If several state-owned or large private newspapers maintain a certain respect for the royal family, then some other categories of newspapers added some unreasonable speculations.

This instantly triggered a storm. Whether within the empire or within Japan, there was a rumor that was the two childhood sweethearts in the photo, a prince and a princess, who were made up of heaven and earth, and may lead to a marriage relationship between the empire and Japan.

Edo Castle, Japan.

A carriage was swaying on the road in Edo Castle. Bai Le, the Imperial Ambassador to Japan, sat in the carriage, his mind was already flying wherever he was as the carriage shaking. He fell into extreme regret. Whenever he thought of it, he shook his head powerlessly, sighed a few times, and muttered to himself a few times.

The gossip news of Prince Li Zhaoming caused him a lot of trouble. When the incident happened, he was in Kyoto because it was the location of the embassy of the Empire in Japan. The day before, he saw the newspaper and did not take this news seriously at all, because Bai Le was also a royal relative, and his sister was the imperial concubine of the King Ying of the Empire.

Bai Le, a royal relative, is very familiar with the imperial royal family. The imperial royal family does not even marry the internal and external nobles of the country. How could he let the prince marry a Japanese princess?

But this inappropriate thing made him very unlucky. The next day, when he went to the Imperial Palace in Kyoto, he was interviewed by a Japanese newspaper. The reporter used a trick and said directly that there was a clear news that the emperor of the Empire had already determined to engage his prince Li Zhaoming and his beloved son Princess of Japan, and asked Bai Le what he thought.

Of course, Bai Le didn't take it seriously, but he couldn't deny it, because he did not contact the country about this matter, so he could only reply a casual sentence on diplomatic occasions, that is, this matter is very important and difficult to tell.

This is a common saying by imperial diplomats, but it was distorted by Japanese newspapers as the secret marriage between the imperial royal family and the Japanese royal family.

Obviously, this is a rumor that is extremely in line with the Japanese market. From the shogun to the ordinary Japanese people, they always believe that the emperor is secretly preparing for major events.

Because of this mistake, Bai Le was scolded in China. Shogun Tokugawa Yoshizo sent a telegram to Shin Kyo and asked someone to ask. Bai Le had to come to Edo under the pressure of Shin Kyo and explained to the general himself.

Tokugawa Yoshizo was the eighth-generation general of the Tokugawa Shogunate. He was not the head of the Tokugawa family, but with the death of two generations of generals early, the main clan was broken, and Tokugawa Yoshizo was appointed as the general. He was only twenty-four years old, which was a good age for being young and strong.

Arriving at Edo Castle, Bai Le got out of the car, calmed down, and walked towards the main entrance. The majestic building in front of him made him very familiar with him, because after performing his duties as the empire to Japan, he had come here several times. Although he didn't perform his duties for a long time, he had already experienced the sixth, seventh and eighth third generation generals. If one is better to deal with, it is the seventh generation general, because that is a child, but he died prematurely.

Under the leadership of the Rei Officer, Bai Le entered Honmaru. In the vast hall, Japanese general Tokugawa Yoshizo and two important ministers, Okubo Takasuke and Goto Nobusuke were both there.

After the Japanese civil war, under the leadership of the sixth-generation general Tokugawa Ienori, the shogunate completed a reform, which basically became a centralized rule. The land under the rule, whether it belongs to the Tokugawa family, the Imperial family or other daimyos, was all taken over to the central government, turning the major names into acting officials, and the official positions monopolized by some families were also relaxed, giving Okubo Takasuke and Goto Nobusuo a good opportunity to rise to power without Tokugawa bloodlines.

The original bureaucratic system was abolished, and all the officials of the highest level of the central government were pursued, and according to work, they were classified into categories to divide responsibilities. Okubo Takasuke was the executive of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, mainly responsible for emerging fields such as industry and trade. It was equivalent to the Minister of Industry in charge of economy in the Imperial Cabinet, while Goto Nobutsu was executive of the foreign affairs, which was actually equivalent to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Imperial Court.

In fact, both of them are old men left by the sixth generation generals. The eighth generation generals have just succeeded to the throne and their power has not yet been solid, so they have fully accepted the old bureaucratic system.

However, after just a few months of contact, Tokugawa Yoshisen already felt that the two were loyal and reliable, and were very capable, and were ready to be retained.

After the two sides met, Bai Le sat down. At the warning of Goto Nobuzuna, Tokugawa Yoshizo ordered all the servants around him to retreat, giving the four people room to discuss separately. This made the meeting a little casually and saved a lot of red tape.

When Goto Nobuzuki was young, he was still a classmate of Bai Le. With him, he would always be much more convenient to speak.

"General, I know that you called me here for the sake of the prince of our country and the princess of your country. Please believe that my mistake was just a conspiracy made by some villains. There was no secret marriage at all. The imperial royal family would not marry the royal nobles of any country. This is the rule left by His Majesty Emperor Taizu of our country." Bai Le said sincerely to Tokugawa Yoshizo.

Tokugawa Yoshizo nodded slightly and said, "Mr. Bai, I believe your words. In fact, we have received the same answer from your country's central court."

"Is that true? If so, that would be great. I would also relax my nervous heart a little." Bai Le said with a smile, but he muttered in his heart, since you had known it before, why would you ask me to do it?

Although he thought so in his heart, he felt a lot more relaxed. He was worried all the way. Although this matter was easy to clarify, it was like this in diplomatic occasions. Often, a slight mistake would be taken over and used to exchange interests.

"Mr. Bai, don't think too much. Nobunaga Jun has explained to me, and he has also made a guarantee for you." Tokugawa Yoshizo said.

Bai Le nodded slightly to Goto Nobuzumi, but he looked down upon it. Goto Nobuzumi was definitely not afraid to provoke him because he had too many handles in the hands of the empire.

Okubo Takatsuki was born as a samurai warrior and a loyal subordinate of Tokugawa General. He was promoted to this position by his ability. But Goto Nobuzuki was not. He did not belong to the Tokugawa shogunate system at all. From a factional perspective, Goto Nobuzuki belonged to the power of the Imperial Three-Book Gun. However, over the years, several generations of people have married the Imperial Three-Book Gun. In fact, Goto Nobuzuki has been the person in charge of the relatively independent political force, the Imperial Three-Book Gun.

Nobusuto Goto has an unknown identity, which was mastered by the Imperial Security Bureau for a long time, that is, Nobusuto Goto is a member of the Reform Movement Club and an important member. However, Nobusuto Goto was converted into a secret member very early, and only some of the old people who founded the Reform Movement Club knew his identity.

In Japan, the most opposed relationship with the Restoration Service is the Tokugawa Shogunate. Obviously, Goto Nobuzuo was disguised as a good person and was already in a high position.

"Since the general has waived the faults of foreign ministers, why is the general asking me to come this time?" Bai Le asked.

"Cooperation, Lord Bai, we need to cooperate." Tokugawa Yoshizo said.

He has been a general for more than four months. Although he is young, he has received full support from the Tokugawa family and has considerable skills. In addition, he has broad mind and large-scale retaining important officials of the previous dynasty and promoting young heroes. His internal power has basically been stable.

Bai Le had long known this new general. He was an enterprising person and would never be a mediocre general.

Bai Le nodded slightly and asked, "What kind of cooperation are you planning?"

"Comprehensive cooperation, from economy, military, customs, industry, I need to carry out comprehensive cooperation with you." Tokugawa Yoshizo said.

"This..." Bai Le was surprised. He was a little lost. Although he was the empire's plenipotentiary ambassador to Japan, he was just dealing with some daily affairs. Similar to what Tokugawa Yoshizo said, comprehensive cooperation was not something he could take. Not to mention anything else, he didn't even have the qualification to agree to many things.

Bai Le said: "General, I think it seems that you are a little earlier than you say this. After the Mid-Autumn Festival, important VIPs will come to visit our country and are members of the royal family. At that time, it seems more appropriate for you to propose it."

From the words of Tokugawa Yoshizo just now, Bai Le felt that it was better to say that Tokugawa Yoshizo was seeking cooperation than to say that Tokugawa Yoshizozo was seeking cooperation, Tokugawa Yoshizozozo wanted to represent half of Japan and turn to the empire in an all-round way, which was definitely a fundamental change in policy.

The Tokugawa Shogunate has always played the role of the enemy of the empire in the past seventy years of interactions between the two countries.

In the pre-Imperial era, Japan was an important trade point for the community. At that time, Lee Myung-hoon kept sending people to persuade Japan to open up more markets, but they were rejected by the Tokugawa shogunate who controlled the entire Japan at that time. As the empire accelerated its development of the Hokkaido province (Hokkaido Island), Japan gradually deteriorated with the empire.

The two sides held several negotiations but failed. In order to realize their ambitions, the Tokugawa shogunate chose to cooperate with the Dutch East India Company and joined the Anti-China Alliance.

Before the empire launched a total war against the Qing Dynasty, Li Mingxun formulated a grand strategy of first Japan and then the ocean, then the Qing Dynasty, sent Li Hai to attack Japan, directly united with Daming in the West, and launched the first Japanese civil war, also known as the Overlord War.

In the first civil war in Japan, the shogunate was defeated and half of its land was lost. The empire made a comprehensive ruling on Japan and Japan also opened up the empire in full. After that, the empire was officially established, and the Tokugawa shogunate gradually restored its strength. The empire gradually achieved a balance between the western Daming and the Japanese shogunate.

But at that time, the Tokugawa shogunate continued to tighten its opening-up policy to the empire, but the western daimyo gradually integrated into the empire's economic system. After the Northern Expedition, the empire expelled the remnants of the Qing Dynasty. In order to deal with the Shangtun that the empire was reclaimed on the border, the current emperor Li Junhua decisively provoked Japan's second civil war, creating a war-torn market like Japan, and digested the large amount of food generated by the handling of Shangtun.

The second Japanese civil war lasted for more than ten years. Except for the early large-scale battles, low-intensity conflicts were held for the rest of the time. However, the second Japanese civil war completely changed Japan's political landscape, that is, the Tokugawa shogunate achieved political reforms in this civil war, gained an advantage in the confrontation with the Western Daming, and at the same time expelled the imperial forces within its territory. The Tokugawa shogunate became independent and independent.

However, the Tokugawa shogunate was essentially a feudal regime that was closed to the country. Even the so-called revival could not achieve a rich country and strong army.

For a long time after that, the Western Daming formed a political alliance and an economic customs alliance. After being completely integrated into the imperial economic system, the Western Daming Alliance gradually became prosperous and strong, which was in sharp contrast to the backwardness of the Tokugawa Shogunate.

This is also a good opportunity for the rise of the Restoration Press. In recent years, the Restoration Press and Kyoto have merged, and have also challenged the Tokugawa shogunate in politics. The shogunate two consecutive generations of generals died prematurely or incompetent, which made the backwardness of the shogunate even worse.

The empire's policy toward Japan was to do everything to maintain Japan's division. On this basis, the Western Daming Alliance and the Tokugawa Shogunate and the Three-Ben Guns were three-legged. The Three-Ben Guns were basically indifferent to the world and lived their own lives. The Empire would support the weaker side between the Tokugawa Shogunate and the Western Daming Alliance. In the past, the Daming Alliance was weak and the Empire supported the Western Daming Alliance, but now the Tokugawa Shogunate is weak, the Empire will inevitably support the Tokugawa Shogunate.

Bai Le knew this very well, and Tokugawa Yoshizo also knew it very well. Therefore, he proposed this comprehensive cooperation, which is to carry out a new round of reforms on the land under the Tokugawa shogunate.

After hearing Bai Le's words, Tokugawa Yoshizo knew that he was very sincere. He did not take on the big deal and compete for credit. Instead, he bluntly stated that his status was not enough to support such a hierarchy of cooperation between the two countries. Tokugawa Yoshizozo praised: "As Nobunaga said, you are a noble diplomat and an honest friend."

Bai Le smiled: "General, my honesty is because cooperation is good for both of us."
Chapter completed!