Late Ming sea owl

Chapter 90 Stupid Otto Beans
Nobukiyo came out of Tangin Town where Li's residence was located, and did not go to Mount Katsuo where the Matsuura clan's feudal office was located. Instead, he went all the way east to Mount Kameoka on the south coast of Hirado Bay.

It was Shenshi at this time, and the autumn sun hung slanting in the sky. The sunlight shone on the lush mountain tops, and the ruins of the ruins hidden by the green trees could be vaguely seen.It was a castle built by the Matsuura clan more than 20 years ago. It was originally intended to be the new domain hall of the Hirado clan, but it was later burned down by Nobukiyo's grandfather, Matsuura Town Nobu.

Xinqing still remembers the fire. He was just a child at the time and didn't understand why his new home, which had not yet been repaired, was burned down like this.

He went to ask his brother. Takanobu Matsuura, who was 16 years old at the time, touched his brother's head and said: "Nobukiyo, you have to remember that the Matsuura family is just a small daimyo in a remote place. In order to protect ourselves, we often can only Falling like grass in the wind."

At that time, Nobukiyo didn't understand the meaning of these words, but now he understood that all this was because the Matsuura clan chose to sit on the fence during the Sekigahara battle.

In the battle that decided the ownership of Japan, Nobukiyo's grandfather, Matsuura Town Nobu, sent his eldest son, Hisanobu, to join the Western Army. At the same time, he convened a meeting with surrounding daimyo such as Goto, Arima, and Omura to express their intention to side with the Eastern Army.As a result, the outcome of the war was decided within one day, and Tokugawa Ieyasu, the leader of the Eastern Army, became the actual ruler of Japan.

The Matsuura family's arrogant operation finally saved the territory, but the behavior of hedging their bets also became the dark history of the Hirado clan.In order to dispel the dissatisfaction of the old turtle Ieyasu, Matsuura Zhenxin became a monk and soon set fire to the Hirado Castle under construction.

Not long after Zhenxin's death, the shogunate issued the One Country, One City Order.The Matsuura clan is the lord of the castle and originally had the qualifications to build the city. However, due to the dark history of the Sekigahara War, the descendants of Zhenxin did not dare to build the city, so the Matsuura family still lives in the old house of Katsuo Mountain. inside.

Nobukiyo went all the way to the top of Mount Kameoka, which was only a few dozen meters high. The ruins of Hirado Castle still clearly showed signs of fire.He was trembling as he stroked the blackened stone, and tears welled up in his eyes unknowingly.

The Matsuura family comes from the Saga Gen clan and is a descendant of Empress Saga. Since Matsuura was named Miao, it has been entrenched in Hizen country for more than 500 years.If he was changed because he deliberately grabbed Nagasaki's trade share, then he would be the biggest sinner in the 500-year history of the Matsuura family.

Nobukiyo wept under the ruins of Hirado Castle for a long time, then staggered to Kameoka Shrine not far away.With a plop, he knelt down in front of the red torii gate and cried loudly: "Shichiro's power is now here to protect the Matsuura family from this disaster..."

Kameoka Shrine is the family temple of the Matsuura family, and the chief deity is Shichiro Gongen.This god was called Zhaobao Qilang in the Ming Dynasty, and his dojo was located at Zhaobao Mountain to the north of the Yongjiang estuary. Later, it was spread to Hirado by Ningbo sailors, and it is regarded as the patron saint of sea travelers in both China and Japan.

In fact, Gongen is originally a Buddhist term, and its original meaning is that the Bodhisattva appears and incarnates to save all living beings. However, in the Japanese country where gods and Buddhas are accustomed to coexistence, it is not unusual for shrines to worship Gongen.For example, Tokugawa Ieyasu was buried in Nikko Toshogu Shrine after his death.

After kneeling in front of Kameoka Shrine for a long time, Nobukiyo finally calmed down and got up and headed for Mount Katsuo, where the Matsuura clan's feudal hall is located.The two mountains face each other across the narrow Hirado Bay. The straight-line distance is only more than one mile. It only takes a cup of tea to walk around the bay.

Nobukiyo soon arrived at the foot of Katsuo Mountain and saw his brother Matsuura Takanobu coming out of the Otemon Gate of the feudal hall from a distance, followed by Cornelis van Nienrode, the curator of the Dutch Hirado Merchant House.

Seeing the foreign devil and his brother together, Nobukiyo instinctively wanted to hide, but he didn't want to be discovered by Matsuura Takanobu.

"Xinqing." Long Xin called to his younger brother.

Xinqing had no choice but to step forward and bow to Takaxin: "Brother."

Long Xin ignored his second brother, turned to Cornelis and smiled: "My stupid brother is here just in time, let him apologize to you face to face."

Cornelis has been the director of the Hirado Commercial Center for two years. He is well aware of the Japanese people's face-saving nature. After listening to the translation of the generals around him, he waved his hand and declined.Long Xin smiled when he saw this and did not insist. He just sent the foreign devil away politely.Xinqing was granted amnesty. In the Japanese country where shame culture prevailed, bowing down to the foreign devil and admitting his mistake in public was simply a kind of torture.

Matsuura Takanobu watched Cornelis and his entourage leave, waved his hand and retreated to the retainers who were following him, and said to Nobukiyo in a teasing tone: "You guy, just now I asked you to admit your mistake in public, are you cursing in your heart? I?"

"Hai... no, Xinqing doesn't dare to be disrespectful to my brother at all." Xinqing didn't expect his brother's tone to be so kind, and was a little surprised for a moment.

"Baga..." Takanobu suddenly laughed, "Do you really think the Matsuura family is in disaster?"

"Nani?" Xinqing thought he heard wrongly.

"Do you think I was just hanging around in Edo? In fact, I worked much harder than you." Takanobu looked at his younger brother and said, "For the trouble you caused, I already found the red man next to the general before leaving for Edo. It’s completely settled.”

"Really? Brother." Xinqing was surprised and happy when he heard this, "Then why didn't brother tell me earlier?"

"I want you to learn a lesson. If I hadn't worked hard to make friends with powerful people in Edo, the Matsuura family might have been ruined in your hands this time! Do you know why I suddenly returned to Hirado? It wasn't to deal with Hasegawa Gonroku , I came back specially to teach you how to do things."

"Hirado is just a small, remote domain. Whether it can continue can only be determined by the general's thoughts. In order to reassure the shogunate and to manage contacts, I can only live in Edo forever." Takanobu said, patting his brother's hand. Shoulder, "After all, you still have to take care of the family affairs."

"Yes, brother! I will definitely remember the lesson learned this time!" Xinqing bowed his head in shame.

"Never forget the fire 18 years ago. Before making any decision, you must carefully consider whether it will violate the authority and interests of the shogunate."

"Hai!" Xinqing nodded in agreement.

Takanobu nodded with satisfaction: "I haven't been back to Hirado for six years. I'm free today. Come with me to the beach for a walk."

The two brothers walked down the stone steps in front of Otome. As soon as they reached the flat ground at the foot of the mountain, Takanobu stopped. What caught his eye was a hexagonal well not far away.

"I really miss that era." Longxin stroked the hexagonal well. "When I saw this well, I remembered the origin of the name Longxin."

Matsuura Takanobu has the same name as his great-grandfather, and this well was left in his great-grandfather's time.The man who dug the well was a Ming Dynasty businessman named Wang Zhi, who called himself Captain Wufeng.

(End of this chapter)