At dawn, a fast horse ran out of the Otemon gate of Aoba Castle (Sendai Castle) and rushed along the road outside the gate in the direction of Tokaido.
In the meeting hall of the survey office in Ninomaru in the city, a group of retainers of the Sendai clan, after receiving the fast horse message from Matsushima Town last night, went into the city collectively to hold a meeting, and discussed overnight how to deal with the sudden appearance of Matsushima Town off the coast. Yizhou.
As the messenger continued to add information, everyone now knew the word "Thunder God" painted on the outside of the big ship. This made everyone more suspicious and did not dare to act rashly.
You have to ask Edo first. It's best if the shogunate also sends people over, so that the Date family won't be caught in pigtails by the shogun.
It is said that when the one-eyed dragon Masamune was building Aoba Castle, he considered that a war might break out with the Tokugawa family one day, so he chose the highlands of Mount Aoba as the site for building the city. This fierce man also specially left a legacy for future generations. Combat deduction diagram ("Sendai Imperial Formation's Imperial Examination").
However, although there is a castle tower in Sendai Castle, no castle tower was built. The main reason was that the Date family did not want to give the shogunate an excuse to repair itself.
After years of caution, trouble still comes.
At this time, Ishikawa Murafumi, the head of the Ichikawa family, frowned, and kept slapping his knees with the fan in his hand. At this moment, Ishikawa Murafumi felt regretful in his heart. Why don't I follow the family owner to Edo? I don't have to worry about this bad thing. .
The reputation of this thirty-four-year-old Yi Da family was not good. In addition to making money, he only wanted to enjoy comfort and enjoyment all day long. If he was expected to make any decisions, the Date family would have been in ruins long ago.
In the meeting hall, Date Murasaki, the head of the Mizusawa Date family, was still a twelve-year-old child, so his questions were in vain; Date Murasune, the head of the Wakudani Date family, also pretended to be dumbfounded and meditated. shape.
At this time, only one person was heard saying slowly: "Delaying like this is not an option. If the ship belongs to the General, it is just a misunderstanding; but if it really is a barbarian ship, we have to guard against it."
When everyone heard the sound and looked around, it turned out to be old man Endo Morinobu. This man was over sixty years old, and he was usually very lively. Ishikawa Murafumi often consulted his opinion when dealing with the affairs of the domain on a daily basis.
"What do you mean?" Ishikawa Murafumi leaned forward and asked.
Endo Morinobu thought for a while and said: "If you want to send more manpower and equipment to Matsushima Town, send it from this city. Then arrange small morning boats from Matsushima and Ishinomaki Ports to prevent the big ships from docking. Send people there to negotiate first, and ask Let’s find out what’s going on and wait for the shogunate’s opinion.”
"What should we do if people on the big ship ask to go ashore?" A retainer asked the question.
Yes, if someone comes to your door, who will take the blame?
"If they want to trade, we must not agree to it and let them go to Nagasaki." Endo Morinobu said with a slight smile.
Ishikawa Murafumi looked at the members of the Date family around him and saw that no one had objections. Then he slapped his thigh with a folding fan and said, "In this case, let's follow the old master's method."
In Matsushima Town, Katayama Kanbei's house.
After having breakfast, Kanbei Katayama looked at the three Katsu Kaishu in front of him, shook his head and sighed: "Your formation is too big, even Aoba City has been alarmed, it will be difficult to handle now."
Sheng Haizhou said: "My lord came here this time to pick up and transport a large number of refugees. If the boat is small, wouldn't it be a waste of time?"
Katayama Kanbei said: "Fortunately, you wrote the word 'Thunder God' on the bow of the ship, so this town does not dare to act rashly. What I want to know is, why did Mr. Zhao give the ship such a name?"
Hearing this, Katsu Kaishu looked back at the two Rikichi behind him, smiled slightly, and then said: "My lord asked me to inform Katayama-kun specifically. The iron boat is equipped with two artillery pieces that far exceed those of the national collapse. It can be installed in a few breaths."
When the gun fires, one cannon can hit for dozens of miles, and it is as powerful as thunder from the sky, invincible. Hence the name 'Thunder God'."
Katayama Kanbei's eyes widened in disbelief: "Iron boat? You said that big boat is made of iron?"
"From top to bottom, from the inside to the outside, it is made of steel. And it can travel thousands of miles a day on the sea." Sheng Haizhou said with a smile.
This is simply unheard of! Katayama Kanbei couldn't believe it at all. It is said that the Anzhai Marujo built by the Tokugawa family only used elongated copper plates to stabilize the hull internally; but even this was difficult to start.
But Sheng Haizhou said that the big ship was made of steel from top to bottom. What a joke! Can you use it to make swords and guns and iron cannons? This is too wasteful.
At this thought, Katayama couldn't help frowning and asked word by word: "What are you doing?!"
Katsu Kaishu took a sip of tea, put it down and then said slowly: "Since Shanbei the year before last, famines have continued all over the world. A large number of farmers have no land to cultivate, have left their homes and become pariahs. The shogunate and the vassals did not think about relief, but instead
Countless victims were allowed to lie dead in the wilderness; the feudal lords imposed exorbitant taxes and rampant corruption. Katayama-kun, you have said it yourself. The various rice shops in the town colluded with the clan elders to increase prices wantonly, and complaints spread everywhere."
Kanbei Katayama looked at the young man in front of him in surprise. He found that his temperament had changed a lot from last year. From his tone to his eyes, he was sometimes as sharp as a knife.
At this time, after Sheng Haizhou and other islanders experienced the Battle of Bear Island and personally tested the cannon, their vision and confidence were completely different from the past.
With his protagonist's endless variety of new firearms and tyrannical methods, he fully believed that Zhao Xin could lead them to explore the world and retrieve things.
Even the Tokugawa shogunate was affected by Zhao Xin's numerous contemptuous tone, let alone the 620,000-kilogram-high Date family.
"Katayama-kun, I know you are an upright samurai. So, do you want to be loyal to the justice of the world, or do you want to be loyal to one family and let countless victims die in pain?"
"I" Katayama Kanbei was speechless, lost in thought.
After a long time, Katayama Kanbei asked: "May I ask where Mr. Zhao wants to take the refugees?"
Sheng Haizhou pointed to the north and replied: "Thousands of miles to the north, my lord has a seaport, the city is called 'Beihai'. The fertile fields on the mainland stretch for thousands of miles, the products are abundant, the animals in the forest are plump, and there is no shortage of fish and shrimp in the river. When the refugees arrive there,
You can cultivate, farm, fish and hunt as much as you can. But if you stay in the island country, you can only wait for death!"
"Since no one is snatching such a good place from you?" Katayama is not an idiot, and Katsu Kaishu cannot completely reassure him with a few words. This is not as simple as taking away more than a hundred people last year. Katsu Kaishu said it from the beginning
, at least five thousand people must be taken away.
"To be honest, after the first day of the lunar month, my lord led eleven of us to annihilate more than a hundred elite soldiers of the Qing Dynasty, without losing a single person on our side." Sheng Haizhou said with confidence.
When Li Ji behind him heard this, he unconsciously reached out and touched his butt. Hu Ji on the side saw Li Ji's appearance, lowered his head to hold back his laughter, and pretended to cough.
"His!" Kanbei Katayama couldn't help but gasped after hearing this.
In this era, although the people of the island country thought that the rulers of the Qing Dynasty were all barbarians, they also recognized that the other side was powerful in force. Back then, even North Korea was beaten so hard by the Qing army that they wiped the floor with their faces. The shogunate was so nervous that they were afraid that the Qing Dynasty would send troops to fight.
.
In the following years, various news about the Qing Dynasty came from Nagasaki. Not to mention the distance, in the past few decades, Qianlong attacked Xiaojinchuan in the southwest and Huojizhan in the northwest. The troops mobilized, the consumption and
The scale of the war amazed everyone in the island nation, which had been at peace for nearly two hundred years.
(The Qing government pacified Jinchuan and Jinchuan twice, which lasted seven years. More than 30,000 soldiers were killed and more than 20,000 rebel Miao soldiers were killed. A total of nearly 600,000 people were invested and 70 million taels of silver were spent. To pacify Yun,
Gui, the war in Guangdong lasted for twelve years and cost more than 70 million taels of money; the pacification of the northwest took five years, cost more than 30 million taels of money and opened up more than 10,000 kilometers of land.)
After hesitating for a long time, Kanbei Katayama, who was dedicated to saving people, said: "How do you want me to help?"
Before Katsu Kaishu arrived, Zhao Xin had carefully explained to him that this time he did not need to care about the population in the town, but only targeted the refugees outside the town.
"Katayama-kun, we will not get off the ship and enter Matsushima Town to rob people. My lord is interested in the victims outside the town. You only need to find a way to drive these people to the beach in the south. Don't worry about the rest.
, we know how to cook.”
"Do you know how many people are outside the town? Nearly ten thousand people! Are you sure that Mr. Zhao will take all these people away?" Kanbei Katayama asked in disbelief.
"If we don't take them away, do you think the adults in the domain will save them? The Thor is the only giant ship in the world. It can't hold 10,000 people."
"So, I have something to ask for."
"That's how it should be. Please don't be polite, Katayama-kun." Katsu Kaishu heard this and leaned towards Katayama Kanbei to salute.
"If something happens to me, please help Katsu-kun to help my family. Please." Katayama Kanbei also bowed deeply to Katsukai Fushi.
"Please rest assured, Mr. Katayama, Katsu Kaishu will live up to his trust!"
After talking about the matter, Katsu Kaishu said "I'm sorry" to Katayama, and took out a black palm-sized box from his arms. There was a cylindrical thing as thick as his little finger at one end of the box.
Kanbei Katayama saw Katsukaishu turning a few knobs on the black box, and a rustling sound began to come from the black box.
"Sir, I am Katsu Kaishu. Over."
After a while, Zhao Xin's voice came from the black box: "How is the situation? It's over."
Under Katayama Kanbei's surprised gaze, Katsu Kaishu reported the situation to Zhao Xin on the ship and relayed Katayama's request. The noise of the current attracted Katayama's wife Tahe and two daughters outside the house.
, the three of them knelt and sat outside the barrier door, listening to what was going on in the room.
Through the door, Duohe only heard a man in the room say to his husband: "Katayama-kun, don't worry, I will protect your family. At worst, I can send them all to the ship."
"Ah?! What happened? Where are you taking yourself and your daughter?" Duohe was frightened. Ever since his husband came in in the morning, he, Katsu Kaishu and the other three had been staying in the house talking about things. What were they talking about?
!
With a "swish" sound, the barrier door was opened. Katayama looked at his wife and two children and said softly: "You all come in. I just have something to tell you."
In the afternoon, several of Katayama's men received a strange order. Katayama Kanbei asked them to go outside the town and select family men among the refugees waiting to die. No matter how many there were, all of them would be picked.
They were driven to the beach two miles away to the south. After the deed was completed, each person was rewarded with one tael. If the number reached 5,000, another one tael would be rewarded.
What? The sun has come out from the west? Several people gathered together and talked incredulously. When did Katayama-sama become so rich?
Could it be that he has figured it out and is planning to engage in rice smuggling? But there are not so many people needed to move rice.
It doesn’t matter, as long as you can get money these days. A few eyes and a dozen or so losers, holding their noses and busy all afternoon, more than 3,000 selected refugees were like walking corpses, being held hostage by these people with ten hands and
Officers with sticks drove them to the beach.
Not long after these officials left, a patrol boat and two assault boats rolled up white waves and came quickly towards the beach.