I formed the strongest swordsman group

This trip to Osaka can be regarded as an incognito trip.

Therefore, in order to facilitate the action and to conceal his identity, Qing Deng reduced the number of his entourage to the limit.

He only brought two followers with him - Mr. Kiryu and Mai Kinoshita.

One of them is the elder of Huluya, and the other is the young master of Huluya.

With their company, it will surely save a lot of trouble and effort when contacting Huluya.

Of course, there is another reason why Qing Deng brought Mai Kinoshita with him - Osaka is her hometown, and taking her to Osaka is also a disguised way of taking care of her, giving her a chance to go home to visit her relatives.

Qing Deng's style of doing things has always been vigorous and resolute.

He just announced to the generals at the meeting today that he would start his trip to Osaka. By tomorrow morning, they had quietly set off.

This time, he did not ride on Radish.

"Niwang"'s mount is a big black bull - this matter has long been known to passers-by.

There is no difference between riding a carrot and having a big note with the words "I am Tachibana Aoto" on your face.

Led by the boss Kiryu, they rode fast horses and headed south quickly, heading straight for Osaka.

Kyoto and Osaka are neighbors separated by a strip of water.

The Kyoto-Saka area is the birthplace of the Yamato people. After thousands of years of development, the transportation conditions between the two places can be said to be quite complete.

However, in two days, the sound of the waves in Osaka Bay gradually became clear in Aoto's ears.

…

…

Hua——! Hua——! Hua——! Hua——!

The white waves hit the rocks, making a surging and rhythmic sound.

Aoto reined in his horse on the beach, and the magnificent scenery of Osaka Bay was in his sight.

Looking ahead, just in the distance adjacent to the horizon, several ships leaving the port were vaguely visible.

Some of these ships were ordinary sailboats, and some were steamships spewing black smoke.

Kiryu boss and Kinoshita Mai were waiting on the left and right of Qing Deng, accompanying Qing Deng to enjoy the sea view.

Just now, when passing by this place, Qing Deng suddenly had a whim and wanted to get closer to see the famous Osaka Bay.

After watching quietly for about 3 minutes, he nodded slightly and praised softly:

"The name of 'Namika' is well deserved."

Namika - the ancient name of Osaka and its surrounding areas, "Namika Castle" is "Osaka Castle".

Osaka's ancient names also include Naniwa and Naniwa.

According to legend, Emperor Jimmu took a boat from Kyushu to the east to inspect, and when he arrived near Osaka, the water was turbulent and the waves were rolling, so this place was called "Namika".

"Naniwa" and "Namiwa" have similar meanings to "Namika".

Because the nearby area is mountainous, the slope area in the Uemachidai area is large and the slope is gentle, so "saka" is interpreted as "slope" in Japanese, so it was called "Osaka".

Qing Deng did not just come to enjoy the scenery.

He wanted to see with his own eyes the future development focus of Qinjin Fan.

Japan is just an island country with a narrow territory and scarce resources.

Doing business in a corner of Japan alone will not make much money.

If you want to make a lot of money, developing ocean trade is essential.

Qing Deng stared at the ships on the horizon and thought:

-First of all, we have to build a professional fleet.

How can we talk about ocean trade without even a ship?

Moreover, it cannot be an ordinary ship.

In business, time is money.

Therefore, it is definitely not feasible to get that kind of slow old sailing ship, at least a steamship must be obtained.

It is not enough to have a ship, and enough professional crew members are needed.

This series will cost a lot of money...

Thinking of this, Qing Deng couldn't help but look bitter.

If this "Osaka trip" fails and he fails to reach a cooperation with Huluya, then he will be really stuck in the future...

Qing Deng turned his head and asked Mr. Kiryu beside him:

"Mr. Kiryu, how far are we from Osaka?"

Mr. Kiryu answered without hesitation:

"Almost. Another 20 cho, and we will enter the castle town of Osaka."

[Note: 1 cho = 109 meters, 20 cho totals 2.18 kilometers]

Qing Deng nodded.

"20 cho...it looks like we can reach Osaka before dark."

As he said that, he turned his horse's head and returned to the main road.

Kinoshita Mai hurriedly followed.

Mr. Kiryu moved to the front to lead the way for them.

With the strong power of the horse, the distance of just over 2 kilometers was reached in the blink of an eye.

The grass and trees on the roadside gradually became sparse.

Instead, the number of houses and people gradually increased.

Before entering the core area of ​​Osaka, Qing Deng had already tasted a bustling atmosphere of prosperity——

"Come and see! Fresh saury! Freshly caught saury! Look, these fish are still alive and kicking!"

"White sugar! Crystal clear white sugar! Just lick it and you will be relieved of fatigue and gain strength! If someone at home is sick, buy him some white sugar!"

"Miso dengaku! Fragrant miso dengaku! Anyone want to eat miso dengaku?"

[Note: Miso dengaku: Eggplant, tofu, konjac, taro and other ingredients are cut into long strips, coated with various sauces, and grilled on bamboo sticks. ]

……

Qing Deng lowered his hat to prevent others from recognizing him, while watching the surrounding street scenes with interest.

It seems that this place is a food market.

The streets are lined with food shops.

From street corners to alleys, you can see vendors selling snacks and snacks everywhere.

Because small things make big things happen - just an ordinary food market can have such a prosperous scene. It is not difficult to see: Osaka's abundant products are difficult for even Edo and Kyoto, both of which are one of the "Three Cities", to see. Compare it to that.

As the saying goes, “seeing is worth hearing a hundred times.”

It was only at this moment that Qingdeng felt what "the kitchen of the world" was.

Osaka is not only located in the center of Japan, but also adjacent to a natural harbor (Osaka Port). Such a unique geographical location makes it a "circulation base" for collecting and distributing materials from across the country.

It plays the role of a transit hub between East Japan and West Japan.

In this way, in Osaka’s market, you can find ingredients and supplies from all over the world.

Bear paws from Ezo, Nagasaki cake from Nagasaki...even ginseng and tiger meat from North Korea can appear on the shelves of Osaka merchants.

Even luxury white sugar, which ordinary people cannot afford, can be found everywhere on the streets of Osaka.

Over time, Osaka gained the reputation of “the kitchen of the world”.

Just when Qingdeng was lingering on the street scene, a spiritual and loud shout suddenly sounded in front of him:

"%\u0026*￥@#*!"

Qingden was startled, subconsciously tightened the reins, and followed the sound - a middle-aged man wearing a Jinbei with a smile on his face, looking at him earnestly.

[Note: Jinbei: Very simple civilian clothing, suitable for home wear in summer]

"You\u0026*%￥# taste%￥#@\u0026delicious*\u0026%￥#!"

The other party said a lot of difficult words in a gibberish voice.

Not only did he speak very fast, but he also spoke Osaka dialect, which is very different from Mandarin (Kandong dialect). The accent was so thick that Qingto could not understand him at all.

"Uh... I'm sorry, I can't understand Osaka dialect. Can you speak Mandarin?"

The other party was stunned for a moment, and then asked seriously:

"\u0026%￥#@*\u0026%￥*?"

Just when Qingteng was confused, Kinoshita Mai quietly poked her head over:

"He said: 'Isn't Osaka dialect just Mandarin?'"

"..."

Just when Ayoto was speechless, Kinoshita Mai continued:

"He just said: I hope you can go and sit in his tea house. He bought a new batch of good tea today, and it tastes delicious."

"Ah Wu, please tell him: thank you for your kindness, but we are on our way, so we won't go to drink tea."

After saying that, Qingdeng lightly knocked on the horse's belly and continued to move forward.

However, not far away, another person stopped him.

"This man!"

The person who appeared this time spoke Mandarin, but his accent still had a strong Osaka flavor.

"Would you like to play the string lottery? The highest prize is a full 10 taels of gold! 10 taels of gold!"

He said this in an exaggerated tone while holding out 10 fingers.

String lottery - also known as "Baoyin". Pick out a rope from a pile and pull it. If you pull the special rope, you win a prize and you can receive the prize. It was originally a children's game, but later the prizes gradually became luxurious and adults became enthusiastic, so it was banned for a time during the lenient reform (1787-1793).

"No, thank you."

"My dear! Think about it again! Such a generous prize is rare!"

"Thank you, that's really not necessary."

After pulling back and forth like this for a while, Qingdeng finally got rid of this person's entanglement.

Before he could take a breath, a new figure appeared in front of his horse.

"This man! Look at your appearance. Are you travelers from other places?"

The guy who appeared this time was a young man wearing funny clothes.

It looks like he is a street performer.

Before Qingdeng could respond, he continued on his own:

"Since I'm a foreigner, you can't come to Osaka without watching my proud performance, Ujiro!"

After that, he lifted up the hem of his clothes, stuck out his butt, and raised his eyes to the sky.

When Qingdeng saw this, he couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth.

Such a gesture...he had already recognized the talent that the other party was going to perform.

Obviously, this is Japan's traditional performing arts - Qufu.

To put it simply, it is a fart acrobatics accompanied by shamisen and ditty. It is very vulgar, but it is very popular with the public.

In the blink of an eye... really in the blink of an eye, a large number of spectators suddenly appeared around Qingdeng.

They surrounded him in three circles, waiting excitedly for the street performer who called himself Ujiro to fart.

After finishing his preparations, Ujiro slowly took out a simple flute from his arms.

Then, he farted hard while playing the flute.

In order to hold back the fart, he tried so hard that his blood surged up and his face turned red.

puff! puff! puff! puff! puff! puff!

The fart sound is melodious...

Miraculously, the sound of his farts matched the sound of the flute...

The onlookers at the scene laughed and looked very happy.

Aoto, who did not appreciate this kind of performance at all, looked at Ujiro who was trying hard to fart and the surrounding Osaka citizens with a confused expression.

After about 1 minute, the performance ended.

"Thank you! Thank you for your support!"

Ujiro stood up, got dressed, thanked the onlookers, and then bowed to Aoto in a very elegant manner.

Then, he left without asking for any reward from Qingdeng.

As for the spectators, they dispersed naturally.

Qingdeng stared blankly at the fart artist's back - he seemed to simply want to express his desire to perform in front of travelers...

As soon as the artist left, a new "unexpected situation" caught up with Qingdeng.

Five aunts carrying vegetable baskets came up to him out of nowhere and spoke to him very familiarly:

"Oh, my dear! You are so tall!"

"Look! This horse's hair is shiny! It's so well-kept!"

"Ouch! Is this your wife?"

"What a beautiful daughter-in-law! Her skin is so tender that you can squeeze water out of it!"

"Ho ho ho ho, it would be great if my daughter-in-law could be so cool!"

"Huh? This old man with glasses here is also very handsome!"

…

There was a loud chirping sound.

With only five people, they managed to create the momentum of "500 ducks quacking in unison".

Qingdeng and others did not respond a word, but they had already said dozens of words to themselves.

Because they were talking together, no one was paying attention to the other, and their voices were loud, Qingdeng didn't hear what they were saying, and all he heard was a bunch of noise.

Qingdeng dared to use his soul as a guarantee - he absolutely did not know these five aunts, and had never even met them.

Although they were strangers, the other party came over to chat easily, and the conversation was very lively, without any feeling of awkwardness at all.

Qingdeng and others obviously ignored them, but they could still continue the chat without any hindrance...

If someone who didn't know about it met them, they might think that Qingdeng and them were acquaintances.

Compared to Aoto's confusion, Boss Kiryu and Mai Kinoshita were very calm at this time.

It seemed that they were no longer surprised by the situation where "Aunt Osaka, whom they didn't know at all, suddenly came over to talk".

Boss Kiryu smiled reservedly and put on a skilled Osaka accent:

"Thank you for the compliment. I didn't expect that at my age, I could be complimented as 'handsome' by a beauty like you. I'm really lucky."

"Yeah! Uncle, you are really good at talking! Do you want to eat grilled squid? I just bought two grilled squids for my husband, come on! Share one with you! Eat it quickly, it's hot!"

…

Boss Kiryu dismissed the group of aunts with a few words.

Although the aunts left, Qingdeng was still immersed in shock and couldn't extricate himself for a long time.

——Are these people from Osaka...?

——The way Osaka people close the distance is so strange...!

At this moment, Qingdeng once again realized: sometimes, "regional blackness" is really the original version of big data!

From the time he entered the city of Osaka to now, it had only taken half an hour.

In this extremely short period of time, he has already felt an extremely strong cultural shock!

Looking around Japan, Osaka is one of the areas most susceptible to "regional blackout".

A long time ago, Qingteng had heard about the stereotypes of Osaka people from various channels.

For example, Osaka people have a very strong sense of pride in their dialect, and believe that Osaka dialect is the well-deserved Japanese Mandarin.

Even if they can speak Kanto, they will stubbornly use Osaka dialect - of course, it may be because the "infectiousness" of Osaka dialect is too strong, so they can't correct it.

Similar stereotypes include "Osaka people are extremely enthusiastic, so enthusiastic that you don't know what to do", "Osaka people like to perform jokes", "aunts especially like to chat"... and so on.

Qingto's eyes were opened today - it turns out that all the stereotypes the public has about Osaka people are true!

As a member of the "Confucian cultural circle", under the influence of Confucian culture, the Japanese in the Edo period highly valued an implicit and elegant way of communication.

Aoto, who had only lived in Edo and Kyoto before, had long been accustomed to this implicit and tactful way of getting along with people.

Therefore, he naturally felt extremely uncomfortable with the Osaka people's particularly "enthusiastic" communication attitude and their weird way of shortening the distance.

Just when Qingdeng was still confused, a sudden shout sucked away his attention——

"Look! It's the remnants of the 'Big Salt Party'! Let's go, let's go!"

Asking for a monthly ticket! Please vote for recommendation! (Leopard head crying.jpg)

After the "Osaka Chapter" is over, there is the "Marriage Chapter". After the "Marriage Chapter" ends, the timeline of this book can be advanced to 1864.