In the afternoon after the two met, Katayama used two of his men to select dozens of families of refugees from the town and brought these people to the shabby thatched cottage on the beach to stay temporarily.
Katsu Kaishu didn't go, he asked Pingtai and Jiuzang to come forward and talk to the refugees.
What Pingtai and Jiuzang said to these refugees was that a businessman wanted to recruit refugees to farm on the outer islands. They would be treated favorably and have enough food to eat. If they wanted to go, they would have to take their wives and children with them.
In order to prove that what they said was not a lie, Heita and Kuzo revealed to these refugees that they were also refugees who escaped from Mutsu.
Even so, several families of refugees are still unwilling to go. They still want to go to Sendai Castle or Edo to look for opportunities. In these days, except for offshore fishermen, it is a capital offense to go to sea without returning. As long as they leave, they will never return.
He could not come back. This decree of the shogunate was not revised until the end of the Edo period.
Heita didn't force them. Since he said he didn't want to go, he let Katayama's men take them away. In this way, there were thirty-four families with a total of 136 people left who were willing to follow.
Pingtai asked these people what else they could do besides farming. It turned out that among these people, some had been carpenters, some had made charcoal, and some had made pottery, and these skills were just side jobs outside of farming.
It was only then that Katsu Kaishu came forward to meet these refugees. He did not talk about the affairs of the outer islands. First, he asked Pingtai to go to the merchants in the town and buy some rice, radishes and firewood. When the refugees saw the food, they all
I was so excited that I immediately started cooking radish rice on the beach with my own broken pots and pots.
After having a full meal, many people feel more at ease.
These people left behind also have no way out. Many of them are farm laborers in the countryside. The food harvest has failed and the farmland has been abandoned. However, the annual tribute has not been reduced, making these people even more desperate. Even if they sell their sons and daughters, they will not be able to survive.
They can only survive; if no one helps them, most of them will not survive this winter.
Now some people want to recruit themselves to work on the land. Although they are going to the islands outside the sea, as long as they can survive, they don't care about anything more.
At night, these refugees lit several bonfires near the thatched huts and slept around them. Although it was cold, it was much better than sleeping under the cold eaves in the town.
A day and a night passed like this. During this period, some idle people from the town and workers from the harbor came to see what was strange. In these days, there are still people who take the initiative to help the refugees? I didn’t have enough to eat. But these onlookers watched for a long time, and the food arranged in Katayama
The two men slowly dispersed amid the sounds of driving away.
At night, Katayama Kanbei's men were all sent home by him, and he himself was waiting in the thatched hut with Katsu Kaishu. He wanted to see who the lord Katsu Kaishu mentioned was.
At midnight, Kanbei Katayama was so sleepy that he began to doze off, while Katsu Kaishu sat quietly in the thatched hut waiting for Zhao Xin's arrival.
Katsu Kaishu was thinking in his mind that when it was almost time, the dim light outside the house flashed, and Heita appeared at the door holding a lantern.
"My lord has arrived."
Katsu Kaishu was shocked when he heard this, and Katayama Kanbei, who was dozing off, was also awakened. The two hurriedly got up and left the thatched hut.
In the thick darkness, Kanbei Katayama could vaguely see two tall figures standing twenty steps away by the flickering light of the dim lantern.
The two hurriedly walked closer.
"Lord, everyone has arrived. According to your previous instructions, there are thirty-four households with a total of one hundred and thirty-seven people." Sheng Haizhou bowed to Zhao Xin and reported immediately.
One hundred and thirty-six refugees, plus the orphan A Miao.
"Very good." Zhao Xin nodded in the darkness.
Katsu Kaishu then introduced to Zhao Xin: "This is His Excellency Katayama Kanbei whom I mentioned to you before."
Then under the dim light, Katayama Kanbei looked at the two "weirdos" in front of him. He saw that the clothes on these two people had never been seen before, and the upper body and both sides of the thighs were bulging, as if they contained many items.
"Thank you very much Katayama-kun for your help. I have caused you trouble." Zhao Xin bowed slightly and greeted Katayama Kanbei.
"Don't dare. Being able to help these people is what I should do as a samurai." Katayama Kanbei also bowed slightly and said immediately.
At this time, Liu Sheng, who was behind Zhao Xin, said: "Hurry up. It's so dark and the boat can't move fast. The sea conditions in Songdao are too complicated."
The reason why Matsushima is called one of the "Three Scenic Spots of Japan" is because it is an island group. There are as many as 260 small islands of various sizes scattered inside and outside Matsushima Bay. So even if you get on the boat,
Without satellite navigation, Liu Sheng did not dare to drive now. He could only wait until dawn before leaving.
After hearing what Liu Sheng said, Zhao Xin stopped talking and directly ordered Sheng Haizhou: "In groups of five, bring ten people over first and let's get started."
Katsu Kaishu and the three of them were already very familiar with all the procedures, so they signaled Heita and Jiuzang on the side to start arranging people to get on the boat.
But at this moment, Katayama Kanbei's heart stirred up. When he heard Liu Sheng speak, he immediately reacted.
"These are people from the Qing Dynasty!" Katayama thought in his heart.
But when he looked carefully at Zhao and Xin, he couldn't see any braids on their heads. Both of them had one-inch short hair.
"Who are they? It's so strange. I have lived in Honmachi for many years, and even from the merchants and sailors on the ship, I have never heard of such hair accessories and clothing."
At this time, Zhao Xin was also looking at Kanbei Katayama in front of him. He didn't care whether the person in front of him was a spy. Liu Sheng behind him had already taken out the gun from the holster on the right side of his thigh and held it in his hand, safe.
It was also opened. As long as Katayama dared to act abnormally, he would be killed with one shot.
"We will come here again next spring. I hope we can have the opportunity to sit down and talk."
Katayama bowed slightly: "Then I await the arrival of Your Excellency and Katsu Kaishu."
At this time, only the sound of footsteps was heard. It was Heita and Jiuzang who were leading five refugees.
The ten refugees were trembling with fear at this time and were about to kowtow and kneel down when they saw Zhao Xin. Pingtai quickly stopped them and took them to the assault boat docked on the beach. He grabbed a few life jackets from the boat with both hands.
"Put this on right away." Pingtai whispered.
Several refugees took the life jacket from Pingtai, but they were dumbfounded and didn't know how to put it on. Pingtai had no choice but to take the life jacket from a refugee, put it on for him, and then tightened the rope buckle.
After finishing all five people in this way, Pingtai pointed at the assault boat: "Get aboard."
"Sir, is this boat so small?" a more courageous refugee asked, pointing to the assault boat.
"This is the ferry boat. The big boat is parked in the sea in front of you. Get on the boat quickly!" Heita shouted in a low voice, and Katsu Kaishu on the side pulled out half of his knife.
The five people looked at each other and had no choice but to get on the boat.
On the other side, Jiuzang also helped the other five people put on their life jackets and boarded another assault boat.
Zhao Xin said to Kanbei Katayama who was watching blankly: "Okay. Let's leave it for now." After saying that, he cupped his hands and turned around to get on an assault boat with Liu Sheng. Zhao Xin fired a
The refugee sitting at the stern of the boat is sitting at the stern motor.
Heita and Jiuzang stepped forward, and they worked together to push the assault boat into the sea against waist-deep water.
Zhao Xin started the motor, turned the boat's bow, and drove slowly toward the sea.
Katayama Kanbei watched in astonishment as the boat in front of him roared, waves rolled up from the stern, and moved away into the sea.
In the following time, Zhao Xin and Liu Sheng drove the assault boat back and forth dozens of times to pick up the refugees. Katayama also took off his stockings (long johns) and footbags (socks), and stepped on the cold sea water to help push forward the assault.
The boat enters the water.
After all this busy work, it was not until the white fish belly appeared in the east that all these people were sent to the ship.
When the last assault boat came back, there was no Zhao Xin, only Liu Sheng drove the boat ashore alone.
The three of them who had been waiting for Katsu Kaishu to face Katayama Kanbei bowed deeply.
"Katayama-kun, see you next year."
"Shengjun, see you later."
After the three people got on the boat, Liu Sheng turned the bow of the boat and roared away.
At this time, the sky was dimming, and Katayama Kanbei saw the boat Katsukaishu and the others were riding in. After passing a small island in the sea, it turned north and disappeared.
Three days later, Bear Island.
Zhao Xin and Liu Sheng parked the yacht into the bay amid cheers from the shore.
"We're almost out of gas."
"Well, I'll buy it when I get back. I have to write down the supplies I need to buy in a notebook. There are so many things I need that I can't even remember them."
"I told you before, a good memory is worse than a bad writing."
After this trip, Zhao Xin and the other five people were really exhausted. Especially on the way back, a group of refugees vomited and had diarrhea, making the yacht a mess, and the smell in the cabin could kill people; even Pingtai and Jiuzang drank
He scolded the refugees and helped them clean up, but these people were very weak and couldn't do much. Zhao Xin had no choice but to make do, planning to pack up the cabin after driving back to Bear Island.
But the little girl Pingtai mentioned, A Miao, did not get seasick; and because she had eaten enough in the previous few days, she had been helping with the cleaning.
But Zhao Xin couldn't bear to see this skinny nine-year-old girl busy up and down in the cabin, and asked A Miao to stop doing it several times.
As for A Miao, since she boarded the ship, she has been very scared looking at the mighty and tall Zhao Xin and Liu Sheng. She was afraid that the new owner would not want her because she was too young, so she worked hard. Even Zhao Xin
After being stopped several times, A Miao was still busy helping to take care of the refugees.
"A Miao, let's go." Zhao Xin sat in the assault boat and shouted to A Miao who was still cleaning up the yacht.
"Master, wait a moment." A Miao's voice came from inside the yacht.
"Stop it, hurry up." Zhao Xin was helpless, why was he so desperate? So he tried his best and shouted to the boat again. "If you don't come out, I will leave."
"Master, okay, okay, everything is wiped clean."
Zhao Xin was helpless and very curious. Have they all been wiped clean? So he got up and jumped to the stern of the yacht and walked inside to take a look.
Come on, it's so clean. Even if Duofu licks it, it's not that clean.
What a blessing... "Let me out and I'll lick you."