After leaving Xie's house, Li Songmei walked along Binhe Road toward home. Along the way, she occasionally cast her eyes to the Xin Qinhuai River aside. She has been in Ming Dynasty for six years and has always liked it since she started working.
Walking along the Xin Qinhuai River was not only because of the beautiful scenery and fresh air, but more importantly, the carefully planned plants and trees here reminded her that this was the Ming Dynasty and the best place.
Li Songmei is a Japanese immigrant. Six years ago, her father sent her on a ship to South China, not as a maid, but to escape Japan.
"Go to Ming Dynasty. At least there, you are not the daughter of a loser."
A loser, his father was a loyal samurai of the shogunate. The shogunate failed. As a loser, his father lost everything and even had to sell the family house in order to make ends meet.
At the beginning, she didn't know why her father sent her to Nanhua. Now she understands that from the moment his father put down the knife, his heart died. It was his father who sent her to Nanhua to do his best.
Responsibility.
In the past six years, she passed the high school proficiency test, graduated from the normal school, entered school and became a teacher. No one even knew that she was Japanese. Thanks to the Nanjing dialect taught to her by her father when she was young, she even
When she got on the ship, no one except her father's friends knew she was Japanese.
Now, in Yingtian, everyone thinks that her ancestral home is Nanjing, and here she can start over. She can even live a life that she could not even imagine in the past. In Japan, she would never be able to become a subject like she is now.
A respectable female gentleman.
"Father, actually, you should come here too."
Li Songmei couldn't help but miss her father silently. Where is he now?
When thinking about her father, she also thought about the handsome naval officer she met here a year ago. They only got along for a few months before he went to East Asia with the fleet.
He...should be in Japan now.
Thinking about the news she read in the newspaper, Li Songmei thought to herself.
Will he meet his father? If his father is still alive.
More importantly, is he... okay?
"Zhao Jun, you must protect yourself! I will pray for you every day!"
…
"January 31st, Xiaoxue, nothing happened!"
When he got up in the morning, Zhao Haitao took a look at yesterday's record in his diary. Writing a diary was a habit he kept in the military preparation school. Every student who graduated from the military preparation school had this habit.
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After closing the diary casually, he took a look at the photo inside the diary, which was a photo of him and Song Mei.
Looking at the petite and pretty girl in the photo, he raised the corners of his mouth and said to himself.
"It's such a pity that I can't celebrate the New Year with you."
In fact, they had just met, only for more than a month, but he knew that girl was the girl he wanted to marry.
"When I return to China, I will propose to you."
While talking, he reluctantly put the photo back in the diary and put it in the drawer.
When he walked out of the officer's cabin, he saw that the corridor had the breath of the New Year.
Although the Ming Dynasty used the Western calendar, they still maintained the tradition of celebrating the lunar year. From the Dragon Boat Festival to the New Year, the Western calendar is the Western calendar, and the tradition of the lunar calendar must continue to be adhered to.
According to the lunar calendar, today is the 30th of the New Year, and the "Nanhua" seems very lively, everyone is busy there, and the word "spring" written on red paper is posted on the door of all cabins.
The New Year has a special meaning even for sailors who are far away from home. In the kitchen, the sailors are making dumplings and preparing meals for the New Year's Eve dinner.
The New Year's dishes are extremely sumptuous, with pork, beef and fish all available. On the way to the upper deck, Zhao Haitao nodded to the sailors from time to time. Today on this special day, everyone does not need to do what they used to do in the past.
There is an obvious class distinction. When an officer passes by, the sailors do not need to stand by the aisle to salute. They only need to smile and say "Happy New Year".
Arriving on the deck and at the gangway, Zhao Haitao changed posts with the duty officer. When taking over the duty, he took over a travel book. Only people whose names were listed in the book could leave the ship and go ashore.
Although Hiroshima is now under the control of the rebels, it has no impact at all on the officers and soldiers of the Ming Fleet.
In fact, when the rebellion first broke out, the fleet had already made corresponding arrangements.
For example, on the day of the rebellion, Shen Yaozu directly sent troops to take over the coastal defense fort in Hiroshima under the pretext of security. When the rebels tried to seize the fort, their actions were of course repelled.
What next?
The two sides negotiated. Faced with the Japanese's request that the Ming Navy return the fort, Fleet Commander Shen Yaozu resolutely refused.
"Without being able to determine whether we are the enemy or not, it is absolutely impossible for us to hand over to anyone a fort that may affect the safety of the fleet!"
In this regard, Kawamura Junyi was even more determined than Shen Yaozu - the fort must not be handed over to the rebels.
There are not only cannons in the fort, but also thousands of rifles. Wouldn't handing over the fort to the rebels strengthen the rebels' power? Tokyo certainly agrees with this, and even in the eyes of some desperate senior officials of the reform government,
If the rebels can clash with the Ming army, it will be a blessing from God.
Unfortunately, although most of the rebels were samurai, it did not mean that they were fools. The day after the rebels took control of Hiroshima, they took the initiative to say that the city had returned to calm and everything was back to normal. Of course, Ming sailors could also continue to go ashore.
Relax. Relax.
As the saying goes, those who are skilled in art are bold. The same is true for the daimyo sailors. The sailors resumed traveling the same day the market calmed down. As for safety issues, they were not worried at all.
It's not that they are not worried, but the fleet at the port gave them the courage to be confident. After all, when anyone faces them, they are not just facing a few sailors, but the entire fleet.
Why do people in the Qing Dynasty habitually kneel down when they see foreigners? What they fear and worry about is never a foreigner, but the country behind the foreigner.
Just like now. What the Japanese are in awe of is definitely not the sailors who came ashore, but the Ming Dynasty behind these sailors. Of course, more importantly, the fleet behind them.
He had just completed the handover and began to check the personnel who were about to disembark, check their travel certificates, and check their names. Every sailor who was about to disembark seemed a little impatient. After all, the sailors on the "Nanhua" every five
Geniuses have one chance to go ashore, and the number of personnel on the ship must maintain a certain standard, and 80% is the basic number required to maintain combat readiness.
"Happy New Year, Lieutenant Zhao."
Dongbalang smiled and handed over his travel permit.
Looking at the several captain officers behind Dongbalang, Zhao Haitao asked curiously.
"Happy New Year, Captain Dong, you are..."
"Isn't it the Chinese New Year? Let's take a few officers to go shopping and buy some local specialties to take home."
After returning the travel passes to them, Zhao Haitao said.
"You must be back before eight o'clock in the evening."