If I fail to overcome the tribulation, I can only return to the Ming Dynasty and become a prince.

Facing the siege of the Ming army, the city of Kyoto was in panic at this time.

The commotion about Zhu Zhanquan's dragon slaying was so loud that almost everyone saw his feat of slaying the dragon in the river east of Kyoto.

Even if he didn't witness it with his own eyes, he still couldn't bear the thought of someone publicizing and spreading it in the city, and eventually it got to the point where everyone knew about it.

As a ronin a few months ago, Kobei didn't care much about these things, but he still heard several ashigaru under him discussing this matter.

"I heard that those who killed the dragon were onmyojis invited by the Ming Dynasty. What they killed was the patron saint of Kyoto left by Abe Seimei 500 years ago!"

"I also heard that the fire dragon was a shikigami that protected Kyoto from disaster. Now it has been killed. Kyoto City will be finished this time!"

"It's not just that! Before the Ming army laid siege to the city, I heard from salesmen from other places that the Ming army was destroying shrines everywhere, and all the statues of gods, big and small, were destroyed by them! It is said that they killed Takamagahara in Izumo. Slaughter all 800 million gods!"

"I've heard about it too! It is said that even Izanami of the Oni Kingdom is preparing to come out of Hirazan! He will lead the army of the Oni Kingdom to destroy the world!"

"That's enough! Stop talking." Hearing them talking more and more outrageous, they even started to talk about the gate of the Underworld Ghost Kingdom opening and the resurrection of the dead. Xiaobei had to speak to stop them from continuing: "Stand still. In your post, these things are not for you guys to worry about!"

Under the scolding of the samurai Kobei, these Ashigaru naturally stopped talking, but there is no doubt that these messages have already penetrated into their hearts. Even if they don't say anything, they can't stop what they are thinking in their hearts.

In fact, even Kobei himself was muttering in his heart. He stopped the Ashigaru people from continuing just because he was now a "samurai".

As mentioned before, a few months ago Kobei was just a "ronin" without a job, also known as a wandering samurai. He had no home and no job, so he could only wander around and wander around in the hope that someone would hire him to work.

Of course, it would be best to become a famous official and become a true samurai.

After all, most of those who can become ronin have been real samurai in the past, or some of their ancestors have been real samurai, but now their family has fallen into decline, so they have no choice but to become wandering samurai.

However, daimyo rarely choose to hire such wild dog-like people. On the one hand, daimyo has his own direct lineage and retainers. Even if they need talents, they can be promoted internally and there is no need to recruit outsiders.

Even if you occasionally need to recruit some ronin to fight in a war, you can still use the hiring method and pay once for each battle.

On the other hand, the problem is that ronin actually does not have a good reputation. Most ronin find it difficult to adapt to a life of poverty after falling behind in their family life. Naturally, there are many people who take risks.

Although the daimyo himself doesn't care too much about this, even if he is doing business without capital, he can still be hired as long as he has decent strength, but this will still have a big impact on the reputation of ronin.

Therefore, unless there are special circumstances, no one would be willing to hire ronin to fight.

Their daily job is to act as bodyguards for businessmen or take on other trivial tasks.

But once the war breaks out, they, the ronin, will have an opportunity.

Because usually speaking, daimyo would hire some ronin during the war. Whether they asked them to help explore the road, or sent them as cannon fodder, ronin would always be used.

This is the opportunity for people like Kobei. As long as they can make meritorious deeds on the battlefield, with luck, they will be appreciated by the daimyo and become a true samurai.It's just that such opportunities are rare. Generally speaking, only by obtaining the head of an enemy general on the battlefield, or by achieving first victory or other achievements, can one be appreciated by a daimyo and become a samurai.

However, in recent years, the Ming army and the shogunate army have been fighting fiercely, and there have been more and more such opportunities.

After all, although the Ming army can rely on domestic supplements, it still needs to hire ronin like them as guides, auxiliary troops, or as cannon fodder on the battlefield...

In short, it means taking on some tasks that the regular army is unwilling to do, but someone must do it.

Therefore, in this war, there were many ronin under the command of the Ming Army, but the Ming Army only paid them salaries and did not give them official status.

It is much harder to get a serious official position than to fight for a daimyo and become a samurai.

This is the case for the Ming army, especially for the shogunate army, which has a tradition. Moreover, because they can obtain the status of samurai, most ronin will still choose to join the shogunate army in the hope that they can become a true warrior. The samurai master.

But unfortunately, there is a huge gap in combat power between the Ming army and the shogunate army.

Although relying on the protection and intervention of the Japanese gods, the shogunate army was able to resist the Ming army's attack, they still lost the cities they controlled one after another, and their sphere of influence continued to shrink.

A small territory means a small population, and a small population means a declining military strength.

Therefore, the shogunate army did not care about picking and choosing at this time, gathered a group of ronin and peasant soldiers, and after getting well armed, they sent them all to the battlefield.

It was for this reason that Kobei became an ordinary shogunate soldier before. Later, he had some achievements when fighting the Ming army on the battlefield. These allowed him to successfully realize his dream and become an official samurai. .

But it is obvious that the deteriorating situation of the shogunate has really made Xiaobei completely lose hope in the Japanese court.

Therefore, his job of guarding the city gate does not have much loyalty and seriousness to speak of.

Originally, Xiaobei was already prepared to surrender as soon as the Ming army came over. For this reason, he went to learn the so-called "Ming etiquette".

However, this time the Ming army came to encircle but did not attack, making Xiaobingwei feel very embarrassed and anxious.

If you don't fight me, how can I surrender?It's impossible to run over and tell the Ming army "I want to surrender", right?

So these days, Xiaobei is trying to find a way to escape from Kyoto City.

After all, anyone with a discerning eye can see that the collapse of the shogunate is only a matter of time. If you miss this time and surrender, the effect will not be as good as it is now.

It's just that the Ming army has not attacked for a long time, which makes Xiaobingwei very dissatisfied.

Even when someone came to him and asked him to cause some trouble in the city, Xiaobei did not delve into the other party's details and just regarded it as a hire. (End of chapter)