Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 25 Sheng Haizhou was scolded

Matsushima Town late at night, by the fishing port.

During the Edo period, traveling at night was a hassle.There were no street lights on the streets at that time, so people had to rely on lanterns to travel at night.In particular, the shogunate prohibited going out at night without mentioning lanterns.

Katsu Kaishu was carrying a lantern, followed by Heita and Kuzang.They avoided the night watchman and came all the way to the sea.

The little girl A Miao had already slept in the inn, and Sheng Haizhou had no plans to let the child follow.

In the calm port, several docked boats remained silent.

The three waited for a long time, and when Sheng Haizhou felt that it was almost time, he heard a sound behind him.

Zhao Xin is here.

Sheng Haizhou turned around and held the lantern to see who was behind him, when he heard the figure on the opposite side whisper, "It's me."

"Master." Sheng Haizhou confirmed that it was Zhao Xin, so he whispered excitedly.

"Sir, you've come." Ping Tai and Kuzang were also very excited.

"Tell me. What's going on these days?" Zhao Xin asked Sheng Haizhou in a quiet low voice.

"My lord, let's go to the thatched hut over there and say, we have seen it in the past few days, and there is no one living in that thatched hut." Sheng Haizhou gestured towards the other side of the port with a lantern.

This is a very dilapidated thatched hut, the thatch on the roof is sparse, and the cold sea breeze passes through the house, making a whining sound.

Zhao Xin calmly opened the holster buckle tied to his thigh, in case he could quickly draw a gun and shoot.

The four of them came to the thatched hut, and Sheng Haizhou first took a lantern into the house to take a look, and then signaled to Zhao Xin under the light that there was no problem.

"Tell me. Sheng Haizhou, you talk first."

"Yes. I waited for the three of them to stay in the town for five days, and found that there are many refugees in the town, some from Mutsu and some from Ueno.

The Sendai Domain’s attitude towards these refugees was to leave them alone without questioning them.

On the second day we arrived here, our subordinates got acquainted with the officials of the local practice.This person is called Katayama Kanbei, and he serves as a concentric in the practice center.This person is not bad, even if he is not rich, he will give money to the poor.

The day before yesterday, his subordinates were invited to his house as a guest. During the dinner, they talked about whether there would be any trouble if they bought some refugees to take away. "

Zhao Xin asked, "He didn't ask what you want to buy refugees for?"

"My subordinates told him the truth, and they want to bring the refugees to the northern islands to farm to survive."

In the darkness, Zhao Xin narrowed his eyes.

"Privately condoning the nationals to flee, if it is discovered, this is a serious crime of beheading."

Zhao Xin's voice was still calm, no one knew what he was thinking, but Sheng Haizhou felt a little shudder in his heart.So he swallowed and continued: "My lord, Katayama Kanbei is willing to bring his family to the island with us."

"??" Zhao Xin blinked in the darkness, his first reaction was that Katayama Kanbei was a spy of the shogunate, and his second reaction was that this man was a spy of Sendai Domain.

"Abandoned his family to become a ronin and went into exile with us, is he crazy?" Zhao Xin asked indifferently.

Zhao Xin's suspicions are very reasonable in this day and age.

In these years, even low-level samurai like Katayama Kanbeisaku lived in poverty and embarrassment. Sometimes they had no money and even sold their ancestral property and borrowed from merchants. In the end, they could not repay the money and had to be collected by merchants.But that is also a genuine Fenggong person with "Miao character with a knife"!
From the seventeenth century onwards, the daimyo of each domain had been in financial difficulties due to the shogunate's constant tossing, so in the name of so-called "borrowing knowledge" (that is, the daimyo borrowed money from merchants), the salaries of their retainers were reduced and the life of the samurai was more difficult.Some daimyo were not able to pay usury, so they were given the status of merchants' retainers.

The Tokugawa shogunate was also very big, and in order to relieve the samurai, it also issued a decree in disguise to legalize the samurai's debt.In the end, due to the collective protests of the businessmen, it came to nothing.

But what is this year's ronin?Don't look at the ronin in the swords and halberd films of later generations. If a samurai does not have the opportunity to serve the public, and at the same time can't put his face to work in business, the only way is to starve to death.

So even if the low-level warriors are poor, there is no way for an outsider to suffer this hardship.

Sheng Haizhou hesitated for a while, thinking about how to say it.Only then did he explain: "My subordinates talked to him several times. He was very resentful that the shogunate and the clan did not provide relief to the refugees, and he wept bitterly at the tragic experience of the refugees. The subordinates have met his family, and there is one in his family. The two women, from the furnishings and clothes at home, can also see that they are very poor. But Katayama Kanbei has a very good reputation among the townspeople, and this is also what I inquired about in the town and the merchants."

"No." Zhao Xin in the dark shook his head, and regardless of whether the three around him saw it or not, he continued: "Since you have become friends, then there will be friendship between friends. I allow you to finance this Katayama with money. , but, Sheng Haizhou, you have to remember one thing."

Sheng Haizhou was shocked to hear this. Since he joined Zhao Xin's command, he has never heard Zhao Xin's tone so severe.So he hurriedly bowed and said, "My subordinates ask the lord to make it clear."

"Aside from the fleeing peasants, those merchants and samurai whom we do not know in depth, we must be careful when dealing with them. And I know that the relationship between Sendai Domain and Edo has always been at odds with each other. How can you be sure of this? Isn't the person a spy planted by the Tokugawa family in the Sendai domain?

Since you have already told him about going to sea, I will not pursue it.This time, let him help with the selection of refugees.Our boat can't hold too many people, let him help you select refugees.Just tell Katayama that we will come again next year, so that he can rest assured.If you want to work with us, there is a chance. "

The icy sea breeze blew through the thatched hut, but Katsu Kaishu's forehead was sweating.

He knew that what the lord told him was not wrong, but when he was chatting with Katayama Kanbei, he ignored the seriousness of telling the truth.

"I'm still too rash!" Sheng Haizhou, who just turned 20 years old, blamed himself from the bottom of his heart.He handed the lantern in his hand to Jiuzang beside him, and knelt down on the ground of the dirty thatched hut with a "plop".

"My subordinates, please punish me!"

Satisfied, Zhao Xin stretched out his hand to help Sheng Haizhou up, and then helped him brush off the stains on his clothes, and then slowly said: "If you suffer a loss, you will have a long memory. Forget it this time, you can't do it again next time."

Hearing this, Kuzang Heita, who was on the side, suddenly knelt on the ground together.Ping Tai lowered his head and said, "Sir, we still have something to do."

Zhao Xin's heart flickered, and he asked, "What?"

"We took in a refugee girl who escaped from the Asama Mountains in Ueno. She was only nine years old and her family was dead."

"What are you doing to take in a child?"

"We want to find a personal maid for you, my lord."

"Pfft" Zhao Xin spurted out a mouthful of old blood. I wiped it, and I have grown more capable, and my subordinates know how to honor themselves.

"I don't need a maid yet. Since I accept it, I will take it with me and go back to work with Zhi Nai." Zhao Xin said coldly.

These three people have caused so many troubles only a few days after they were sent out alone.

"Katsumi, I'll give you two days, and let that Katayama help you choose a sturdy refugee. Remember, don't have a wife and children!"

Zhao Xin didn't intend to take those single refugees. Who knows how these people survived when they were in the countryside. If they bring back such people, they might be called scumbags in the camp.

"Yes. Then I will select twenty to thirty households of refugees."

"Yes." Zhao Xin nodded. "The day after tomorrow is still at this time, and Master Liu and I will come to pick you up. It will freeze over later."

"I still have a question for my lord. How much silver taels do we support for Katayama Kanbei?"

"How much of the money I gave you before?"

"There are more than 80 taels."

"Well, subsidize him 20 taels. Tell him that we will come again after the spring of next year, and we will bring more people away."

After Zhao Xin finished speaking, the three people kneeling in front of him felt like a gust of wind was blowing in front of him, and then raised their heads to look at the lantern, and there was no one in front of him.

The three looked at each other in amazement.

At noon the next day, in the single room of the Takasakiya Tavern.

"This little thought, please accept it, Your Excellency Katayama."

Sheng Haizhou very respectfully pushed the 20 pieces of small penal gold wrapped in mulberry paper to Katayama Kanbingwei.

"You, what do you mean?" Katayama Kanbei was stunned.

"Last night, I saw the lord below. After the lord heard about you, he valued you very much. However, the lord hopes that you can stay here to help us transport the refugees to the sea. In addition, the lord asked me to tell you that tomorrow In the spring, we will come back to transfer the refugees, and hope to get your help then."

Katayama Kanbei looked at Katsu Kaishu in front of him seriously, and after a while, a helpless smile appeared on his face.

"It seems that I have not gained the trust of that adult."

"No no, Your Excellency, you misunderstood..." Sheng Haizhou quickly explained.

Katayama raised his hand to interrupt the other party's words: "I didn't misunderstand. After all, I didn't do anything, just relying on the small talk between you and me, how can I make that adult trust me. I understand everything, please rest assured, I I will do my best to help with this.”

"Then, please accept this, Your Excellency. This is also our lord's intention."

"!!!" This year, people are poor and short, and horses are thin and hairy.Katayama remembered his wife and daughter at home and the rice that cost one price a day, and reluctantly touched the top of his shaved shiny head and smiled awkwardly.

"Okay. Then I'll be disrespectful." After saying that, Katayama picked up the mulberry paper bag and put it into his sleeve.

Seeing that the other party took the money, Sheng Haizhou was relieved.

On the other hand, Zhao Xin returned to the hotel accommodation angrily.Liu Sheng had already returned to China to find someone at this time. The two of them agreed that Liu Sheng would come back the day after tomorrow, which is why he told Sheng Haizhou to act in two days.

When Zhao Xin was lying on the bed after taking a shower, he felt that his judgment might be arbitrary. After all, he couldn't look at the ancients with the eyes of modern people.

Thinking back and forth over and over again, Zhao Xin also fell asleep.

Two days later, Liu Sheng knocked on Zhao Xin's door at noon, and he brought good news.

"I was in the same class as me, called Zhao Liang. After he was discharged from the army, he used the discharge fee to open a metal processing plant in partnership with others. As a result, it was identified as a backward production capacity by the local area. The factory was closed, and the discharge fee was also included."

"Continue." Zhao Xin was noncommittal, he wanted to know more.

"Pour me some water first, I'll get off the plane and then switch to the Shinkansen all the way back, without breathing." Uncle Liu Sheng said as if leaning on the sofa.

Zhao Xin smiled, got up and handed Liu Sheng the green tea he had just made.

This guy was really thirsty, and while he was blowing carefully, he gudugududu came a few times, and then he said: "I didn't reveal the secret, just told him that there is an urgent need for a place, even if it is out of production capacity, but leave home. It's a bit far. Zhao Liang was tempted when he heard it. He didn't do the same thing. He has been working since he was discharged from the army, and he is not familiar with other industries. I guess I will ask him if he sells the equipment. Be a bodyguard."

"What was he responsible for in the army before?" Zhao Xin didn't quite understand this.

"Fire support."

"Then let's talk to him." Zhao Xin's heart was very urgent.Since the construction of the camp began, he felt a little powerless, and he didn't understand many things about the construction.

"I have basically contacted my comrades in arms that I knew before. I would say hello if I went well, and chat more if I didn't." Liu Sheng paused and said with a smile: "We made an appointment, on New Year's Day, we These people decided to get together once."

"Cow!" Zhao Xin gave Liu Sheng a thumbs up.

(End of this chapter)