Lin Zhenyu knelt down and saluted Emperor Guangde, his expression as calm as the sea in May:
"If there is nothing else, I will go back to the military camp to prepare. I will leave tomorrow morning and go to the Fourth Corps station to take up my post."
"Hahaha," Liu Kan's hearty laughter sounded in the hall.
"Don't be in a hurry. Let's rest in the capital for a few days to see the beauty of the southeast and appreciate the prosperity of the south of the Yangtze River. When your mother returns to Nanjing, it won't be too late to go to Huguang. The Ryukyu soldiers who came with you are currently stationed on the outskirts of the city. It’s not important, let Eunuch Li take you to Xuanwu Lake to see the new home I built for you, mother and son.”
The descendant of the giant once again thanked the emperor for his kindness and retreated from Fengtian Hall.
Led by the general manager Li Juying, the group of people took a bus to Xuanwu Lake.
Xuanwu Lake is located on the east side of Dagongfang. Dagongfang is a residential area where nobles from the Qi Kingdom live. Those who live here are all famous for their food, which is an existence that is beyond the reach of ordinary people.
Before Lin Zhenyu returned to Beijing from Ryukyu with the army, Liu Kan ordered the Ministry of Industry to spend huge sums of money to build a mansion on the bank of Xuanwu Lake to welcome this hero.
Hayashifu imitates the Osaka Machiya style and is a traditional Gassho-zukuri style. The so-called Gassho-zukuri is a large wooden house with a thatched roof. The triangular roof looks like two palms joining together, so it is called "Gasho" style. Osaka has a lot of snow and earthquakes. The steep roof is good for clearing snow. If the house is buried, the high windows can also become the door. If a strong earthquake occurs, the roof can move to offset the force of the earthquake.
The cherry trees planted by the lake are said to have been brought back from Kyushu Island, and the maids in the house are military girls captured from the Japanese country.
The so-called Wu family girls are the daughters of Japanese samurai families.
Girls from the Wu family have been studying since childhood. Not only do they have high literary attainments, many of them also learn how to do abacus in the temple room. Their temperament is better than that of farm girls and business girls, and they are much more decent in dealing with others.
After the Supreme Emperor wiped out the Japanese kingdom, tens of thousands of warrior girls from each vassal became prisoners and fled to the country.
These women are not only suitable as maids, but are also popular goods in brothels all over the country. They even caused a surge in the market for brothels in Qinhuai, Yangzhou and other places, and triggered verbal criticism from colleagues in Daqi.
~~~~·
Lin Zhenyu's carriage slowly drove into the streets of Dakongfang. The buildings on both sides were magnificent, and the regulations of many houses clearly exceeded the legal restrictions.
"General Lin, please look at this. This is the residence of Mr. Kang, the chief minister of the cabinet. It was originally the residence of Shen Wanshan, the richest man in Jiangnan..."
Eunuch Li pointed to a huge vermilion door on the street and introduced it to Lin Zhenyu with great interest.
"That's the residence of Mr. Sun, the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue. There are more than 3,000 houses. It was the property of Zuo Liangyu, the rebellious former Ming Dynasty, in Nanjing..."
Lin Zhenyu's father, Lin Yu, made great military exploits for Da Qi. He once entered and exited the Wendeng execution ground seven times and rescued the eldest princess Liu Yufei...
In Lin Zhenyu's impression, the family lived in a small house with only two entrances and only a place to stand.
As for Mr. Kang and Mr. Sun, the houses are connected into a patchwork, and you can't even see the end of them at a glance.
Emperor Guangde gave such generous rewards to his confidants. I wonder if these confidants would betray the emperor when there is another "Qing Jun" in the future?
"General Lin? General Lin?"
Li Juying shouted twice, and Lin Zhenyu returned to reality from his chaotic thoughts.
"General Lin, please look. At the foot of Shogunate Mountain ahead is Xuanwu Lake, and the general's residence is on the shore of the lake."
At the foot of Mufu Mountain, there was a faint afterglow of sunset. At the end of the afterglow, a noble, beautiful and elegant house appeared in Lin Zhenyu's field of vision.
"This is a huge investment by the inner treasury, which cost two hundred thousand taels of silver. Long live the Lord."
"oh."
The outline of the mansion seen through the carriage window gradually receded into the distance. Although it did not disappear, it was already eclipsed. Although the carriage continued to move forward, in Lin Zhenyu's view, the cherry blossoms and rockeries that were rapidly retreating on both sides seemed insignificant.
This luxurious mansion built by Emperor Guangde did not attract Lin Zhenyu's attention, but made him feel vaguely uneasy.
There was a huge torrent in his heart.
The carriage stopped at a
In front of the gorgeous cherry blossoms, facing the gate of Lin Mansion, Li Juying and Lin Zhenyu stepped out of the carriage.
The two Wu family girls were waiting in front of the door early, looking timidly at the large group of raincoat guards behind Eunuch Li.
"General Hayashi, this house was built strictly in accordance with the Osaka samurai machiya style. Although Osaka was burned to ashes, the whole world is still the royal land. My emperor can destroy everything and restore everything to the way it was before."
Lin Zhenyu nodded to Li Juying. They walked through a lush garden and passed through the path under the teahouse. The calamus leaves beside the pool were long and tender green, tall and colorful. Water lily leaves also float on the water. There are cherry trees planted around the pond.
Go around the pond and step onto a dim tree-lined path. The fragrance of young leaves and wet earth fills your nostrils. The tree-lined path is short. A bright garden appeared in front of him, and the pool here was larger than the pool before. The red weeping cherry blossoms beside the pool are reflected in the water, which is extremely beautiful.
Lin Zhenyu was not interested in any of this, but it was still shocking that the emperor spent a lot of money to build a house for Chiyoko Fujiwara.
Along the way, Eunuch Li kept talking about Emperor Guangde's great achievements like a fly.
"This Liaodong rebellion made the ministers panic and uneasy. Kang Guangxu even clamored to move the capital. The emperor easily eradicated all the thieves. He Longzhou's head was sent to Nanjing. His Majesty looked at the head and said goodbye. You're fine."
"Last year, the tax and grain revenue of the provinces in Daqi far exceeded previous years, and the grain stored in the state and county grain depots was overflowing... This is a prosperous time that I have never had in Daqi. Although the Long Live Lord prohibits auspiciousness, as far as our family knows, Last year, there was a lot of auspiciousness in various places, and the number far exceeded that during the Emperor's time."
Lin Zhenyu found a reason to send Eunuch Li away, sat under a pavilion, and asked the Wu family girl who had been following him in Japanese:
"Where are you from? Osaka? Kyushu?"
The samurai girl wears a narrow-sleeved kimono with a navy blue ground and white floral patterns, with armbands tied diagonally across her shoulders. of straps. ]; Wearing culottes and an apron on the lower body; there is also a scarf on the head. The apron goes all the way to the back and is slit on the sides.
Only her sleeves and the thin belt exposed from her culottes were reddish.
Lin Zhenyu judged from her accent and walking posture that she was obviously not a woman from Kyoto. She might have some education, and she might be from a Kanto samurai family.
Perhaps she was the daughter of a declining samurai family who wandered here after falling into prostitution.
Lin Zhenyu continued to ask: "Is your father a samurai?"
The daughter of the Wu family was surprised that this Tatar man could speak Japanese, and said anxiously:
"Back to my lord, I am a slave Ohara girl [a singer who performs in Osaka City]. My father is the banner of Osaka Castle. Due to the war, the family fell into ruin. ***, no, it was the king's eastward expedition. I was captured by Daqi and accepted the king's rule in Fujian. After one year of indoctrination, I came to the capital the year before last. Because I was familiar with Osaka customs, I was selected to go to the Lin Mansion. I heard that Mrs. Lin is also from Osaka..."
"She is not," Lin Zhenyu said coldly, "She is of Portuguese-Japanese descent and has nothing to do with Osaka."
Long before the Qi Army's Eastern Expedition, the wages of the lower-level warriors of the Japanese Kingdom were often not paid, and warriors were not allowed to do business. This made a large number of lower-level warrior families unable to find jobs at all. In order to make ends meet, many warrior families either had their men leave the feudal clan and go out to work for subsidies. Household income (forcibly leaving their place of origin and going to Edo and other big cities to work as casual workers to earn commissions), or women going out to sell themselves to support the family.
~~~~
With a smile on his face, Eunuch Li returned to the palace with a group of guards in raincoat clothes. The carriage was loaded with "luminous snails" presented to him by General Lin.
Luminous snails are a delicacy at banquets, and the shells emit fluorescence at night, hence the name "luminous snails". The production is very small and the value is high.
The lanterns of the Forbidden City have just come on, and there is still a faint glow on the horizon.
Lin Zhenyu leaned on the railing of the garden pond, looking up at Mufu Mountain, his eyes slightly closed, as if he had forgotten the Wu family girl who accompanied him.
The weather in Nanjing in May is hot and the ponds are filled with the chirping of insects.
Lin Zhenyu walked to the side of the Wu family girl.
"May I have your name?"
"Hoshikawa Maiko." The Wu family girl said cautiously.
"Your father was killed by Qi Jun, and you support the whole family by yourself?"
"Well, yes, there are two younger brothers, so tall." Maiko gestured with her hands, and her eyes looking at the young *** master in front of her became much softer.
"They are mining in Fujian, and every month I send money to the mine so that they can work less."
"Oh," Lin Zhenyu looked silently at the brightly lit palace.
"So, we are all pawns, living for others."
Maiko was puzzled. What did the phrase "chess piece" really mean?
Maiko, do you think you are a chess piece? Your samurai father is dead, and you have to support your two younger brothers, even though they were buried under the mine...
Thinking of the scene of his father's tragic death, he looked straight at the profile of the Wu girl, and Maiko's face was vaguely stained with glow.
Early summer brings a touch of sadness to people.
"I will go to a county in the west of the empire, which is the front line against the chieftains. My subordinates will not obey me. They hate the New Deal and the court. I am the emperor's pawn. To be precise, I am a nail planted by the emperor in the west. , my future is like duckweed in this pond..."
"So, the emperor rewarded you with the house at the cost of your life..."
Maiko said, looking at the brightly lit palace in the distance.
"You are a very smart girl from the Wu family, but before I die, I will take you to Yunyang together."
Lin Zhenyu thought of his elderly mother and his father's teachings about being a loyal minister.
An indescribable sadness surged into the giant's heart.
"Are you afraid?" He asked the Wu family girl threateningly.
Maiko's eyes were watery and she asked her master.
"Are you afraid of it?"
"I'm not afraid, I, I just suddenly moved from Ryukyu to another battlefield, so I feel a little uncomfortable."
"Are you absolutely obedient to the emperor?"
"Yes, absolutely obey."
"Even if you know you're going to die, you still obey absolutely?"
"Yeah." Lin Zhenyu replied without hesitation.
"Don't you have your own... own wishes?" Maiko asked.
"Yes, but not much. My father is a legend in the empire. I have been comparing myself to him consciously or unconsciously since I was a child. The first thing is loyalty..."
"If you have hope of life, why should you kill it?"
"No, I don't want to erase it. I just want my mother and I to be safe."
If Emperor Guangde's will was violated, his mixed-race mother would most likely die inexplicably in Ryukyu or Nanjing.
"Hope is the most important thing. Just like I know that my brother has died of exhaustion in the mine, I still try to save money and send it to them. This is hope." Maiko smiled slightly, but her voice was a little trembling. She put her upper body He stepped out of the corrugated railing and wanted to take a peek at Lin Zhenyu's face.
"I really want to see the face of this mysterious chess piece like you!"
"It's already dark, it's time for you to go to bed."
Lin Zhenyu looked back at Maiko for the first time. The Wu girl's eyes sparkled.
"Yes, I hope you have a good dream, General..."
Maiko cast her sights on the roof of Lin's mansion. She seemed to feel that the gassho roof made of thick cypress bark was approaching with a heavy and dark momentum, which was a bit scary.
