While the two were pushing cups and changing cups, Katsu Kaishu asked how the Sendai Domain would settle these refugees.
Kanbei Katayama was silent for a moment, and said with a wry smile: "There are no arrangements, and the feudal clan will not take care of it." After saying this, he slapped himself hard on the knee.
"What do you mean by this?"
"The order from the domain is to wait for the refugees to leave on their own."
"If they leave, where can they go? To be honest, I have been to Hirosaki Domain before."
"Oh? How is the situation?" Katayama Kanbei was very surprised. He had only heard rumors about the disasters in various places from refugees and passers-by, but he didn't know the actual situation. Moreover, the situation here in Sendai Domain was much better than in other places.
"The farmland has failed to harvest, nine out of ten households are empty, and the hungry people eat each other." Sheng Haizhou said with a heavy face.
"!!!" Katayama Kanbei was shocked. He didn't expect the disaster in the Northeast to be so serious.
The Sendai clan, where Katayama Kanbei is employed, has very good economic conditions among the island feudal clans. The fiefdom itself is in a unique location, and it is close to the sea. The Date family's public salary is 620,000 koku, but the actual koku
The height is more than 2 million koku. In addition to reclaiming large areas of wetland to grow rice, the Sendai domain also has iron ore, and smelting and animal husbandry are also very developed.
Different from other feudal clans, the Date family implemented a monopoly measure called the "rice purchase system." The rice collected in the territory was shipped from Ishinomaki Port to Edo for sale, making huge profits, and once occupied the
Half of the rice circulating in the Edo market. At the same time, the Sendai Domain also sold part of the rice and seafood to Osaka to strengthen ties with the Kyoto government.
The long-famous "Yoshipin abalone" and shark fins and other figurines from the island country actually come from the Sendai Domain. However, they are processed into dried abalone and then labeled as "Nagasaki Fisheries" before being sold to the neighboring Obisei.
The most violent thing that "One-Eyed Dragon Masamune" did in foreign trade was to send envoys to the Holy See in the 18th year of Keicho, hoping to conduct direct trade. However, because Tokugawa Ieyasu implemented a closed country, he severely restricted Catholicism.
Policies and negotiations have failed.
Although the Sendai Domain was very wealthy, agriculture still played a very important pillar role in the Sendai Domain's economy. Once a famine occurred, the Date family would not be able to withstand it.
However, at this time, the famine in the Tohoku region had not completely affected this area. Therefore, in addition to the increase in the number of homeless people in the cities and towns, the Sendai Domain was still prosperous on the surface.
Sheng Haizhou carefully told what he saw and heard along the way in the Northeast. He did not mention Zhao Xin. After so long, he had long understood that Zhao Xin was not from the island nation; but he was not from the Qing Dynasty either, because Zhao Xin
There was no braid, including the later Liu Sheng.
For such an outsider of unknown origin, once the government knows his whereabouts, he will be killed.
Kanbei Katayama just listened to Katsu Kaishu's story, sometimes getting angry and sometimes scolding him. He didn't even move his chopsticks to his favorite dish of kabayaki-roasted eel rice in front of him.
"Then according to your opinion, how can we help the victims?"
Katsu Kaishu hesitated for a moment. He had just met the Katayama Kanbei in front of him, and if he talked too much, it would be a superficial conversation. So he sighed helplessly: "I have been thinking hard for many days, but I can't come up with any good ideas.
"
Kanbei Katayama looked at Katsu Kaishu with a smile. He knew that the young man opposite him did not say everything. From the beginning of their acquaintance, he felt that something was wrong with this young ronin.
How ostentatious is this? An ordinary young samurai travels far away with two followers? And the two followers are well-dressed.
Secondly, Kanbei Katayama noticed that Katsu Kaishu’s accent was completely different from that of the two followers. The accents of those two people were Northeastern accents. This ronin samurai from Omi Kingdom found two Mutsu people as followers.
?This is unreasonable.
So Kanbei Katayama stopped asking any more questions, and the two of them didn't say anything else. They just asked the landlady to heat up the cold food and finished it hastily.
After waiting out the door of the tavern, Kanbei Katayama thanked Katsu Kaishu for his hospitality. He said that he was a local, but in the end, Katsu Kaishu spent money. He then pointed to a residential area to the west of the tavern and asked Katsu Kaishu
He said that his home was over there, and if Sheng Haizhou didn't leave these days, he hoped to invite him to his home for a casual meal the day after tomorrow.
Sheng Haizhou thought about it and thought it was an opportunity to inquire about information, so he readily agreed.
After Katayama Kanbei left, Kuzo and Heita, who were waiting on the side, walked up behind Katsu Kaishu. Heita asked: "What does this person do?"
"The unity of the town's administrative office."
"Will that...?" Pingtai didn't say anything further, he was worried that there would be some trouble coming.
"Don't worry. He also invited me to be a guest at his home the day after tomorrow. This guy is quite interesting." Katsu Kaishu looked at the direction Katayama Kanbei was leaving and smiled.
"Sir Katsu." Jiuzang suddenly called Katsu Kaishu.
"Huh?" Katsu Kaishu turned around and saw Jiuzang hesitantly pulling out a little girl from behind.
"This child is..." Sheng Haizhou knew that he was a refugee as soon as he saw the child's appearance. It was already October, and the weather was getting colder. The girl's clothes were in torn strips, and she was still barefoot and hugging her arms.
On the chest, trembling slightly.
"Where did it come from?"
"Both of us don't know. We just noticed this child following us when we were eating. Jiuzang thought she was pitiful, so he bought her two rice balls. After eating, he asked her where she was from and where her family was.
I didn’t say anything. Later I took her to ask the refugees over there, but they all said they didn’t know her." Pingtai explained while scratching his head.
"Oh, even if we knew each other, we wouldn't say anything." Sheng Haizhou sighed.
"I think she really doesn't know her, otherwise she would definitely react when she saw her family. When Pingtai asked those refugees, I kept paying attention to her." Jiuzang touched the girl's head, raised his head and explained to Katsu Kaishu.
Katsu Kaishu squatted down in front of the girl and found that the girl's long disheveled hair hid a pair of big, shining eyes. When the girl saw Katsu Kaishu facing her, she hid back a little in fear.
"Don't be afraid, tell me, how old are you?" Sheng Haizhou asked the girl pleasantly.
The girl hesitated for a moment, seemingly moved by the gentle smile and voice of the young man opposite her, and said hesitantly: "...Nine years old."
"Where is your family?"
The girl raised her head and looked at Heita and Jiuzang who were surrounding her, then looked at Katsu Kaishu, lowered her head and said nothing.
Katsu Kaishu saw that someone among the people walking on the street was already looking towards him, and then he said to Heita and Jiuzang: "Take her back to the inn."
The four of them returned to the inn, and Katsu Kaishu asked the other three to follow him to Shangsu's house.
After several people sat down, Sheng Haizhou asked Pingtai to pour a cup of hot water for the girl, then put the quilt he covered on the girl, and then asked her: "What's your name?"
"A Miao."
"where is your house?"
"Nagano Haramachi."
The three of them were confused after hearing this and couldn't figure out where this place was.
"Azuma County." A Miao quickly added after seeing the three people looking at her blankly.
"Oh. It turns out it belongs to the Takasaki Matsudaira clan." As soon as Katsu Kaishu heard about Azuma County, he immediately knew where it was. But then he was surprised, good guy, Azuma County is on the edge of Asama Mountain.
Immediately, he took a deep breath to calm down his emotions and continued to ask A Miao softly.
"Where is your family?"
"My mother and brother were buried by the flash flood..." A Miao lowered her head and started to tremble all over.
"Then, where are the others?" Pingtai asked from the side.
"Grandma, grandma hanged herself." A Miao's tears began to fall on the rush mat. Sheng Haizhou and Jiuzang comforted her for a while, and then they asked what happened to A Miao.
The little girl's home is located at the northern foot of Mount Asama. When Mount Asama volcano erupted in July, the village where Amiao's family was located was destroyed by lava and mudslides, and all the houses in the village were buried.
A Miao's mother and brother were buried under the mudslide because they had no time to escape. A Miao and her grandmother were digging wild vegetables outside the village at the time, and they escaped. But with the food shortage that accompanied the natural disaster,
It made people despair. The old lady didn't want to be a burden to her granddaughter, so she hanged herself.
As for A Miao's father, he was originally a ronin warrior. When A Miao was five years old, he didn't know where he went, and there has been no news about him.
After her grandmother died, Miao, led by the surviving villagers, followed Shimono, Iwaki, Sendai Domain, and finally Matsushima Town.
When Sheng Haishu was giving alms to the refugees on the street, A Miao, who was huddled on a street corner to avoid the cold, saw Heita and Jiuzang who were following behind Sheng Haishu. She felt that the man who was giving away money was a good man, and he also brought two
A follower went out, and it might be okay to take in one more of her. So she kept following behind until Katsu Kaishu and Katayama Kanbei entered the tavern, and then followed Kuzo and Heita.
what to do?
After listening to A Miaolu's story one after another, Sheng Haizhou felt a little embarrassed. In his opinion, most of the more than 100 people on Bear Island are old people, young women, and children, and they cannot do heavy physical work at all. Zhao Xin also followed
I have said that the main purpose of coming to Sendai Domain this time is to see if I can find and recruit some strong laborers to prepare for land reclamation in the coming year.
The ship couldn't hold many people, but now that we haven't found any strong laborers, another little girl has arrived...
A Miao looked at Sheng Haizhou in deep contemplation and felt a little panicked. She felt that the old samurai in front of her was quite nice. He could bring her to the inn and even put his own quilt on her.
The little girl mustered up all her courage and knelt down in front of Sheng Haizhou: "Master, I don't eat much. I can also cook, wash clothes, and take care of children. Please take pity on me and keep me here."
After listening to A Miao's words, Sheng Haizhou and the others didn't even have the courage to refute.
"You will stay here for the next few days. As for whether I can accept you, I will report to the lord."
"Ah? Your lord?" A Miao raised her head inexplicably. There was also a lord?
…
"The oysters from Sendai are really good, better than those in China. The grilled eel is also good...Hey, why don't you eat it?"
In the hot spring hotel, Liu Sheng was devouring palm-sized oyster sashimi while praising it profusely.
"I can't eat anymore. You are too good at eating these! Eat less oysters. If you eat too much of these oysters, you will get angry."
Zhao Xin, who had eaten a full lunch, was persuading while searching for the beauties in the restaurant with his eyes.
"This life is so decadent." Liu Sheng swallowed the last oyster on the plate and sat down on the chair with his head raised in satisfaction.
"Be content. You have also seen those refugees. Compared with them, we are in a honeypot."
"Hey, I really didn't expect that the ancient farmers of the island country were so miserable."
"It's all the same. The farmers over there in the Qing Dynasty are not much better. You will know when you have the opportunity to see it with your own eyes."
"All reactionaries must be defeated!" Liu Sheng straightened up and said fiercely.
"It's not as easy as you said. We have just begun the long journey." Zhao Xin retracted his wandering eyes, stretched out his left hand, and gestured with the tip of his little finger.
At this time, Zhao Xin's heart suddenly moved, and a vague idea gradually emerged. He then said to Liu Sheng: "You should seize the time to contact your comrades and see what they are doing after they retire. We can be more targeted.
Let’s talk. By the way, we only have time these days. When the ice melts next spring, we have to take more people to Bear Island.”
Liu Sheng asked doubtfully: "Are you really planning to pick up a group of little devils?"
Zhao Xin corrected him: "They are all poor peasants. We can't even call them Japs right now. Besides, there will be a big disaster in the Qing Dynasty in two years."
"where?"
"Henan."
"Why are there disasters on both sides?"
"In meteorology, it seems to be called the 'Second Warm Period', which is simply called the El Niño phenomenon. I also checked the information and found out that the climate has been warming since the 18th century. So, you have to hurry up and find the crew. Just rely on this
What can a yacht be used for? We need to get a big boat."
"So you're all pointing at me?" Liu Sheng's eyes widened and he asked, pointing to his nose.
"Hey~~ I said, you said you had thought about it and decided to join. I can only blame you on this matter. I have already thought about it. I have to buy a big ship of seven or eight thousand tons, and I will do it later.
"
"I'll go! A sea freighter needs at least 15 crew members. I said, what are you doing?"
"I have to be responsible for making money. Besides, spring has come on Bear Island and I need to open up wasteland for sowing. I have to take care of the seeds, tools, drinking water, personal hygiene, and a lot of other things. How about we switch? I'm still depressed.
.”
"Okay, stop it. You ask me to train soldiers, and you ask me to direct farming...forget it."
"This is over. It will be fine once we get through this winter." Zhao Xin said with confidence.
Liu Sheng poured himself a cup of tea, drank it in one gulp, and then said: "Let me tell you, what do you think about the Qing Dynasty? What are we going to do?"
"We've been doing things here and there," Zhao Xin said jokingly. "Now there are just two of us, with a group of old, weak, women and children. We are not even as good as Commander Hu, and there are more than a dozen people with seven or eight guns."
"But I read on the Internet that they say 'Wear clean clothes and rebel, otherwise the chrysanthemum will not be protected'?"
"It's about defeating the enemy instead of rebelling, and putting an electric drill in a chrysanthemum." Zhao Xin turned around and said unhurriedly. "Now let's stand firm in the north and talk about other things. The economic foundation determines the force. Without strong industrial strength, it won't be possible.
"
In fact, Zhao Xin did not say a word, belief determines success or failure. Without a correct belief, even if the Qing army is defeated, it cannot be defended.