Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 22
As the two exchanged cups, Katsumi asked how Sendai Domain would accommodate these refugees.

Katayama Kanbei was silent for a while, then smiled bitterly: "There is no arrangement, and the domain will not take care of it." After speaking, he slapped his knee heavily.

"What do you mean by that?"

"The order in the domain is to wait for the refugees to leave on their own."

"Leave, where can they go? To be honest, I have been to Hirosaki Domain before."

"Oh? What's the situation?" Katayama Kanbei was very surprised. He had only heard rumors of disasters from refugees and passers-by, but he didn't know the actual situation.And the situation here in Sendai Domain is much better than other places.

"The farmland has never been harvested, ten households are nine 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 region to be so serious.

To say that the Sendai domain, where Katayama Kanbei was employed, was considered to be very good in terms of economic conditions among the island kingdoms.The location of the fief itself is unique, and it is also close to the sea.The official salary of the Date family is 62 shi, but the actual stone height is more than 200 million shi.In addition to the large-scale reclamation of wetlands to grow rice, there are iron ore mines, smelting and animal husbandry in the Sendai domain.

Different from other feudal vassals, the Date family implemented a monopoly measure called "buying the rice system".The rice seized in the territory was shipped from Ishinomaki Port to Edo for sale, and the profits were huge. It once occupied half of the rice in circulation in the Edo market.At the same time, the Sendai Domain also sold part of its rice and aquatic products to Osaka, in order to strengthen the connection with the Kyoto government.

The famous island country "Jipin Abalone" and shark fins and other items actually came from Sendai Domain.However, after being processed into dried abalone, it is sold under the name of "Nagasaki Fisheries" and sold to Obiqing next door.

One of the most violent things "Cyclops Masamune" did in foreign trade was to send envoys to the Holy See in the 18th year of Qingchang, hoping to conduct direct trade.However, because Tokugawa Ieyasu implemented a policy of closing the country and severely restricting Catholicism, the negotiations failed.

Although Sendai Domain was very wealthy, agriculture played a very important role in the economy of Sendai Domain, and in the event of a famine, the Date family would not be able to bear it.

But at this time, the famine in the Northeast has not fully affected here.Therefore, in addition to the increase in the number of refugees in the cities and towns, the Sendai Domain is still singing and dancing on the surface.

Katsu Kaishu carefully described what he saw and heard along the way in the Northeast region.He didn't mention Zhao Xin. After so long, he had long understood that Zhao Xin was not from the island country; but he was not from the Qing country either, because Zhao Xin had no braids, including that later Liu Sheng.

For such an outsider of unknown origin, once the official finds out his deeds, he will be killed.

Katayama Kanbei listened to Katsu Kaishu's narration like this, sometimes getting angry, sometimes scolding, and even the grilled eel rice, which was his favorite food in front of him, didn't even move a chopstick.

"Then according to your opinion, how can we help the victims?"

Katsu Kaishu hesitated for a moment, the Katayama Kanbei just met him, and the more he talked, the more he spoke.So he sighed helplessly: "I've been thinking about it for many days, but I can't think of any good ideas."

Katayama Kanbei smiled and looked at Katsu Kaishu, he knew that the young man on the opposite side didn't say everything.From the beginning of knowing each other, he felt that something was wrong with this young ronin.

How flamboyant is this, an ordinary young samurai traveling with two followers?And those two followers were wearing pretty well.

Secondly, Katayama Kanbei noticed that Katsumi's accent was completely different from those of the two followers.The accents of the two were Northeastern accents.This ronin samurai from Omi is looking for two people from Mutsu to be his followers?This is not reasonable.

So Katayama Kanbei didn't ask any further questions, and the two didn't say anything more, just asked the proprietress to warm up the cold food and finish it hastily.

After leaving the door of the tavern, Katayama Kanbei thanked Katsu Kaishu for his hospitality.Said that he was a local, but it turned out that Sheng Haizhou had to spend money.He then pointed to a residential area west of the tavern, and told Sheng Haizhou that his home was there. If Sheng Haizhou didn't leave these days, he hoped to invite him to his house for a light meal the day after tomorrow.

Sheng Haizhou thought about it for a while, and felt that it was an opportunity to inquire about the news, so he readily agreed.

After Katayama Kanbei was gone, Kuzang Heita, who was waiting by the side, walked behind Katsu Kaishu.Ping Tai asked, "What is this person doing?"

"The unity of the Honmachi Institute."

"Will it be...?" Ping Tai didn't say more, he was worried that some trouble would come to the door.

"Don't worry. He also invited me to be a guest at his house the day after tomorrow. This person is a bit interesting." Katsu Kaishu looked at Katayama Kanbei and smiled slightly.

"Master Sheng." Jiuzang suddenly called Sheng Haizhou.

"Huh?" Sheng Haizhou turned around, only to see Jiuzang hesitantly pulling out a little girl from behind.

"This child is..." Sheng Haizhou knew that the child was a homeless person by looking at his appearance.It was now October, the weather was getting colder, the girl's clothes were all torn into strips, and she was still barefoot, with her arms around her chest, trembling slightly.

"Where did it come from?"

"We don't know either. We only noticed the child was following me when we were eating just now. Jiuzang saw that she was pitiful, so he bought her two rice balls. After eating, he asked her where she was from and where her family was. Don't say anything. Later, I took her to ask the refugees over there, and they all said they didn't know her." Ping Tai explained while scratching his head.

"Oh, even if you know him, you won't tell." Sheng Haizhou sighed.

"I think she really doesn't know her, otherwise she will definitely react when she sees her family. When Ping Tai asked about the refugees, I kept paying attention to her." Jiuzang touched the girl's head, raised his head and explained to Sheng Haizhou.

Sheng Haizhou squatted down in front of the girl, and found that in the girl's long unkempt hair, there were a pair of big shiny eyes.And the girl saw Sheng Haizhou facing her, and she ducked back a little scared.

"Don't be afraid, tell me, how old are you?" Sheng Haizhou asked the girl kindly.

The girl hesitated for a while, and seemed moved by the gentle smile and voice of the young man opposite, and said hesitantly, "...Nine years old."

"What about your family?"

The girl raised her head to look at Heita and Kuzang who were surrounded by her, then looked at Sheng Haizhou, and lowered her head without saying a word.

Sheng Haizhou saw that some people were already looking at him in the flow of people on the street, and then he said to Heita and Kuzang: "Take her back to the inn and talk about it."

The four returned to the inn, and Sheng Haizhou asked the other three to follow him to Shangju's house.

After a few people sat down, Sheng Haizhou first asked Pingtai to pour a cup of hot water for the girl, and then put the quilt he covered over the girl, and then asked her, "What's your name?"

"Amy."

"where is your house?"

"Naganoharamachi."

The three of them were confused and couldn't figure out where this place was.

"My wife county." A Miao quickly added after seeing the three of them staring blankly at herself.

"Oh. It turned out to be from the Takasaki Matsudaira domain." As soon as Katsu Kaishu heard about Azuma-gun, he immediately knew where it was.But he was startled immediately, good guy, Azuma-gun is on the edge of Mount Asama.

Immediately, he let out a long breath, calmed his emotions, and continued to ask A Miao softly.

"What about your family?"

"Mom and brother were buried by torrents..." A Miao lowered her head and began to tremble.

"Then, what about the others?" Ping Tai asked from the side.

"Grandma, grandma hanged herself." A Miao's tears began to fall on the rush mat.Sheng Haizhou and Kuzang comforted for a while, and then they asked about A Miao's situation.

The little girl's home is located at the northern foot of Mount Asama. When Mount Asama erupted in July, the village where A Miao's family lived 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 were too late to escape.At that time, A Miao and her grandmother were digging wild vegetables outside the village, so they escaped.But the lack of food that accompanied the natural disaster made people even more desperate.The old lady did not 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 the waves went, and there was no news.

After the death of her grandmother, A Miao, led by the surviving villagers, followed Shimono and Iwaki all the way to Sendai Domain, and finally came to Matsushima Town.

When Sheng Haizhou gave copper coins to refugees on the street, A Miao, who was huddled in a street corner to avoid the cold, saw Heita and Kuzang who followed behind Sheng Haizhou.She felt that the old man who was giving away money was a good man, and he also went out with two entourages, maybe it would be okay to take in one more of himself.So she kept following until Katsu Kaishu and Katayama Kanbei entered the tavern, and then followed Kuzang Heita.

How to do?
After listening to A Miao's continuous narration, Sheng Haizhou was a little embarrassed.In his opinion, more than half of the more than 100 people on Bear Island are old, young, women and children, and they cannot do heavy physical work at all.Zhao Xin also told himself that the main purpose of coming to Sendai Fan this time is to see if he can find and take away some strong laborers, so as to prepare for land reclamation and farming in the coming year.

A boat can't hold many people in the first place, and now the strong labor has not been found, another little girl has come...

A Miao looked at Sheng Haizhou in deep thought, and felt a little flustered in her heart.She felt that the samurai man in front of her was very good, and she could bring herself to the inn and put the quilt she made on her.

The little girl gathered up all her courage and knelt down in front of Sheng Haizhou: "Master, I don't eat much, but I can cook, do laundry, and take care of children. You have pity on me and leave me behind."

After hearing A Miao's words, Sheng Haizhou and the three did not have the courage to refute them.

"You stay here for the past few days. As for whether I can accept you, I have to report to the lord."

"Ah? Your lord?" A Miao raised her body for no apparent reason. There was another lord?

……

"Sendai's oysters are really good, better than domestic ones. This grilled eel is also good... Hey, why don't you eat them?"

In the hot spring hotel, Liu Sheng was full of praise while eating a palm-sized oyster sashimi.

"I can't eat it anymore, you are too good to eat! Eat less oysters, this stuff is too hot."

Zhao Xin, who had finished eating lunch, persuaded 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 satisfaction.

"Be content. You have also seen those refugees. Compared with them, we are in a honeypot."

"Hey, I really didn't expect the ancient farmers of the island country to be so miserable."

"It's all the same, and the peasants in Daqing aren't much better. You'll know when you have a chance to see it with your own eyes."

"All reactionaries must be overthrown!" Liu Sheng straightened up and said viciously.

"It's as easy as you said. It's a long journey, and we've just begun." Zhao Xin retracted his wandering eyes, stretched out his left hand, and compared the tip of his little finger.

At this time, Zhao Xin suddenly moved in his heart, and a vague idea gradually emerged.He immediately said to Liu Sheng: "Hurry up to contact your comrades in arms and see what they are doing after they retire. Let's talk about it in a targeted manner. In other words, we only have time in these few days. , we have to take more people to Bear Island."

Liu Sheng asked suspiciously, "Are you really planning to pick up a group of little devils?"

Zhao Xin corrected: "They're all poor peasants, so there's no such thing as a devil at the moment. Besides, there will be a catastrophe in the Qing Dynasty in two years."

"where?"

"Henan."

"Why are there troubles on both sides?"

"Meteorology seems to be called the 'second warm period', which is El Niño phenomenon. I also checked the data and found that the climate was warming in the 18th century. So, you have to hurry up to find crew members, rely on this alone What can a yacht do, we have to build a big boat."

"So you're all pointing at me?" Liu Sheng asked with wide eyes, pointing at his nose.

"Hey~~ I said, it was you who decided to join after thinking about it, I can only point to you. I have thought about it, I have to buy a large ship of seven or eight thousand tons, and then I will do it later. "

"I'm going! A sea freighter needs at least 15 crew members. I said, what are you doing?"

"I have to be responsible for earning money. In addition, when the spring begins on Bear Island, we need to open up wasteland and plant seeds? I have to deal with this kind of seeds, tools, drinking water, personal hygiene, and a lot of mess. Shall we change? I'm still depressed. ."

"Okay, stop. You asked me to train soldiers, and tell me to direct the farming... Forget it."

"It's not over. It'll be good to get through this winter." Zhao Xin said confidently.

Liu Sheng poured himself a cup of tea and drank it in one gulp. Then he said, "I said. What do you think about the Qing Dynasty? What are we going to do?"

"It's all over the place," Zhao Xin said jokingly. "We are just two of us now, with a group of old and weak women and children, not even Commander Hu. There are more than a dozen people with seven or eight guns."

"But what I read online said 'Changing the Qing rebellion, otherwise the chrysanthemum will not be guaranteed'?"

"It's to wear clear and not to rebel, chrysanthemum set electric drill." Zhao Xin turned around and said calmly. "Let's stand in the north now and talk about other things. The economic foundation determines the force. Without a strong industrial strength, it can't be done."

In fact, Zhao Xin did not say a word, faith determines success or failure.Without a correct belief, even if the Qing army was defeated, it would not be able to hold.

(End of this chapter)