Great Song Super Scholar

Chapter 293 News from Nagasaki

After entering February, most of the ice and snow in Kunzhou began to melt. Except for some snow on the top of the mountain, the breath of early spring has filled every corner of Kunzhou.

Trees sprouted, young grass emerged from the land, herds of elk drank by the stream, large flocks of birds flew over the forest, and thousands of horses began to migrate north to pasture again.

In February, the good news kept coming. In one autumn and winter, more than 100 stallions showed their majesty, and [-] mares were pregnant.

Another piece of good news is that the iron-shell fire thunder has been continuously optimized on the basis of the previous success, and a more powerful and more stable iron fire thunder has been created. One winter, there were constant explosions outside the city, and no one knew what happened It was only later that the news that the Song army was testing new firearms came out.

This morning, a hundred large ships arrived in Tang County with the first batch of [-] Japanese laborers. These laborers came from Japan's Tokaido.

Including Izu, Anfang, Sagami, Ise and other Tokaido areas, including [-] young girls, Song Jun signed a contract with each of them, and the construction period was three years, with one tael of silver per month for men, half for women, and free food. Overnight, make sure to eat enough rice.

This condition is simply a gift from heaven for the poor and cruelly exploited Japanese people.

Although many people suspected that these conditions were not true and they were just fooled, there were still countless people who could not stand the temptation. They would rather take risks than live a life of hunger and cold, and people came from all over to sign up.

Especially Song Jun paid a year's wages in advance, 12 taels of silver in vain, which can buy 500 taels of rice, which made the people who came to sign up crazy, but it's a pity that the first batch of Song Jun only recruited [-] people, and countless people They had no choice but to return home with hatred, all eagerly looking forward to the arrival of the second recruitment.

The pier suddenly became lively. The soldiers organized [-] laborers into [-] battalions and appointed battalion heads. Their task was to cut trees and build roads. First, build a main road connecting the east and west banks.

There is also a bay in the northwest of the Kunzhou Peninsula. The northern part of the bay is where the future Sapporo is located. The geographical location is very superior, so Fan Ning considered setting up Han County there.

Moreover, it is about 100 miles away from Tang County. There is no need to cross mountains, the terrain is relatively flat, and it is relatively easy to build roads. In the future, Han County and Tang County can be reached by riding a horse in one day.

There is a ready-made big camp for the laborers, about [-] miles away from Tang County, where the laborers will rest for two days before starting to cut logs and ram the road.

Five hundred young girls were taken to the city. They were divided into two groups, responsible for growing vegetables and making clothes, shoes and socks. They also had their own camp located in the city. The conditions were slightly better than those of the labor camps, and they had to gather at night to learn Chinese. After all, many of them will marry soldiers who are willing to stay in Kunzhou to guard the border.

Fan Ning was riding on a horse, looking at groups of excited laborers. At this moment, the soldiers brought thirty battalion heads in front of Fan Ning. Yu Xiaonian spoke to them loudly, and the thirty battalion heads knelt down and kowtowed one after another.

"I am the supreme officer of Kunzhou. From now on, I will be responsible for your life and work in Kunzhou. I will visit your camp in a few days. I will give you a few words today."

Fan Ning stopped after saying a few words, and Yu Xiaonian translated it for him.

Fan Ning continued: "You come to Kunzhou to work and make money. After three years, you can bring a sum of money home. This should be everyone's wish. Of course, there is no problem if you want to make money, but the premise is that you have to work hard. Obey the military management, let me put it bluntly, anyone who is lazy, slippery, or picking quarrels will be fired immediately, sent home after a year of hard work, and will not have another chance."

After listening to the translation with trepidation, everyone was silent. After a long while, one person asked cautiously, "Master, what do we need to do?"

"In the early stage, it was mainly logging and building roads, and then the city was built. Three years passed in a flash, and then you can pay the bill and go home. If you perform well, you will be rewarded. Go back and tell all the workers what I said today, so that everyone Everyone work with peace of mind, as long as you work hard, Song Jun will not treat them badly!"

The soldiers left with thirty excited battalion heads. Three thousand laborers lined up in three rows. Escorted to the labor camp.

In fact, their life is similar to that of prisoners, except that they work and sleep, have no freedom, no holidays, and only have a monthly salary.

But even so, everyone feels extremely lucky. They can eat enough to eat, earn money to support their families, and they can stand up straight in front of their wives, children, and parents.

. . . . . .
After the laborers disembarked, the fleet left the pier to anchor elsewhere. At this time, three caravans returning from Nagasaki began to unload their cargo. They happened to meet a ship recruiting laborers in the Tungkaido, and they returned to Kunzhou together.

Fan Ning was about to return to the city when Yu Xiaonian hurried over, bowed and said, "I have important information to the imperial censor!"

Seeing that there was someone behind him, Fan Ning asked, "Where is the news?"

Yu Xiaonian pulled the person behind him up, "You tell Fan Yushi yourself."

Behind him was a young man, probably in his early 20s, with a very handsome appearance. He knelt down and bowed to Fan Ning, "The villain is the son of Cheng Dexing, a businessman from Nagasaki. The villain's name is Cheng Qing."

Fan Ning heard from Yu Xiaonian that Cheng Dexing was the leader of Nagasaki Songshang, and he was very powerful in Nagasaki. Even Kichi Hirano wanted to give him some face.

Fanning nodded, "You stand up and talk!"

"Xie Fan Yushi!"

Cheng Qing stood up and said, "My father got an urgent message that Hirano Kichi is gathering an army and is preparing to set off at the end of the month to attack Kunzhou!"

Fan Ning was taken aback, and quickly asked, "Is the news reliable?"

"It's absolutely reliable. It was leaked to my father by the third person under Yoshihiro Hirano when he got drunk."

Fan Ning immediately said, "Follow me to the barracks for a detailed discussion!"

He said to Yu Xiaonian again: "You also come together!"

Fan Ning brought the two of them to the military camp, just in time to meet Di Qing who was about to go out to the labor camp, Fan Ning quickly stopped him, "Di Shuai, wait a moment, there are important military discussions!"

Di Qing nodded, got off his horse and smiled at Fan Ning: "But Japan is playing tricks on us?"

Fanning also smiled slightly, "It seems so!"

"I'm so looking forward to it!"

Di Qing chuckled, "Let's talk in detail in the big tent."

When everyone came to the big tent of the Chinese army, Cheng Qing repeated the situation to Di Qing. Di Qing frowned slightly, but didn't say anything, and asked again: "How is the situation of Hiranoji's army?"

"Report to Di Shuai, there are more than [-] warriors under Yoshihiro Hirano. They are also pirates, very ferocious and brave. There are more than [-] ships of all sizes, and they have no problem navigating in the coastal waters of Japan."

Fan Ning asked again: "How many sons does Hirano Kichi have?"

"Reporting to the censor, he had nine sons, the eldest son died very early, and his biological son was only the second son Hideo Hirano, and the other seven were his adopted sons. Seven pirate chiefs."

"Then after Hideo Hirano died on Tamra Island, he will never be seen again?" Fan Ning asked again.

"Exactly, he now has only two granddaughters and no grandsons. After the news of Hideo Hirano's death on Tamna Island came, I heard that he locked himself in his room for three days and three nights. White banners were hung all over Nagasaki. There are rumors that Yoshi Hirano is going to drive away all the Song merchants."

Fan Ning didn't ask any more questions, and sent someone to send Cheng Qing to rest.

After Cheng Qing left, Fan Ning asked with a smile: "Di Shuai seems to be a little confused?"

Di Qing nodded, "Under normal circumstances, if it is not a deliberate attempt, the possibility of leaking such important military information is generally very small, and he is the third person under Yoshihiro Hirano, so I think it is a bit strange."

Fan Ning smiled slightly: "What if he leaked it on purpose?"

Di Qing was taken aback, "How is this possible?"

Fan Ning turned to Yu Xiaonian who was at the side and asked, "Do you think it's possible?"

Yu Xiaonian didn't expect his boss to ask himself, he pondered for a moment, and suddenly realized, "Fan Yushi means that Hirano Kichi's attack on us has something to do with the Abe family's rebellion?"

Fan Ning nodded, "I think it has something to do with it. It's not a secret that we support the Abe family's rebellion, and we haven't deliberately concealed it. It is easy for the Japanese court to know. They will definitely find a way to stop our support for the Abe family."

Di Qing also came to his senses, "So Hirano Yoshi is a sword sent by the Emperor of Japan?"

"It's just killing people with a knife!"

Fan Ning said indifferently: "Kichi Hirano is a local lord, and has little relationship with the imperial court. If he comes forward, the Japanese imperial court will easily separate the relationship. If I guessed correctly, the Japanese imperial court has been jealous of Nagasaki's huge trade profits for a long time. Using Hirano Yoshi to deal with us this time, why not use our hands to kill Hirano Yoshi?"

Di Qing also felt that Fan Ning had a thorough understanding, so he pondered for a while and said: "According to your thinking, in fact, people inside Hirano Yoshihide leaked information to Cheng Dexing on purpose in order to let Cheng Dexing inform us secretly, so it makes sense. "

As the saying goes, "Three cobblers are better than one Zhuge Liang", this puzzle gradually became clear under the reasoning of the three.

Fan Ning nodded with a smile, "The Japanese imperial court may not have good intentions in leaking the news. They actually hope that the Song army and Ping Yeji will lose both. It's in their interest."

"Why can't Yoshi Hirano see through?" asked Yu Xiaonian next to him.

"He was blindfolded by hatred and interests. In fact, Yoshihiro Hirano wanted to avenge the loss of his son. He could use pirates to deal with our fleet, but he did not hesitate to go on an expedition. The Japanese court must have given him an undeniable offer." The conditions are enough to make him willing to take this risk."

Speaking of this, Fan Ning sneered, "No matter what promise he got from the Japanese court, he will eventually lose all his wealth and life for it!"

(End of this chapter)