The bonfire was shaking all night, and the prisoners lay awake. Early the next morning, before it got light, the camp became busy again. It is winter in December, and the day length on the Kamchatka Peninsula has shortened to less than eight hours. And even when it gets bright, the thick clouds are always dim, indicating the coming heavy snowstorm.
"God bless you! We have to go south as soon as possible, and we have to leave today!..."
The exploration captain Zuvalo looked at the northern sky for a while, and after talking with the mountain hunter Mutu for a while, he realized that time was running out. Afterwards, he first ordered the samurai to pack up the wine, iron tools and food in the camp, and then found Watanabe Masumi, a monk soldier with dark circles under his eyes, and appointed him as the leader of the captive team and also as an interpreter. "Witness the Lord God! Divide the captives into two groups, one group is skilled and the other is unskilled! Those who are skilled will receive preferential treatment from the kingdom! There will be great preferential treatment!..."
The warriors of the kingdom stood around with axes in their hands. Zuvalo looked serious and summoned nineteen captives from the big ship. Masumi Watanabe explained the requirements for grouping according to craftsmanship in Japanese and Korean respectively. Then, the horse breeder Sukeichiro looked confused, wearing the golden amulet of the main god around his neck, holding it tightly with his hands, and walked to the other side.
"Sukeichiro, you know how to raise horses! Go over there..."
The prisoners' eyes widened and they all looked at Suichiro eagerly. Soon, two kingdom warriors removed the rope from Sukeichiro, gave him a warm leather robe, and gave him a water bag filled with deer blood. Then, he was assigned to manage three large horses and was responsible for equipping the horses with sleighs for towing heavy loads.
Seeing this kind of treatment, the expressions of the prisoners changed instantly, revealing genuine envy. It was obvious that Sukeichiro had gained a foothold in the barbarian tribe in front of him by virtue of his ability to raise horses. From now on, Sukeichiro no longer has to worry about being beheaded, nor does he have to drink vegetable soup with them!
".Is that a golden talisman around Sukeichiro's neck? Ah! Didn't those barbarians take away his golden talisman?..."
Low murmurs resounded among the prisoners. Those with sharp eyes have also seen the golden amulets between the necks of the monk soldier Watanabe Masumi and the boat monk Murakami Kidomichi! …
"Buddha! Lord Watanabe and Lord Murakami both surrendered to the barbarians, and were given golden talismans to avoid death by the barbarians!..."
Listening to these discussions and speculations, shipwright Jin Shanshu pursed his lips, lowered his head, and thought flashed in his mind. It's so cold in this snowy field, even if the Yi people don't kill them, they may not be able to survive without warm clothes and enough food! And if you want to survive, you can only be valued by the leader of the barbarians...
After a moment, Jin Shanshu stood out from the crowd with his waist bent. Then, he glanced at Monk Bing Watanabe, the leader of the temple who had a complicated look on his face, and with a "pop" sound, he kowtowed to Zuwaro, the leader of the Yi people.
"Bodhisattva bless you! Sir, little Jin Shanshu kowtows to you! I have been a carpenter since I was a child. I can build ships, do carpentry, and can also make sleds for you!..."
"The Lord God witnesses! Who are you?..."
Zuvaro's eyes flashed as he looked at Jin Shanshu, who was kneeling in front of him with an expectant look on his face, then looked at the somewhat envious expressions of the people around him, and finally looked at the monk soldier Masumi Watanabe, whose expression changed.
"Huh? What does he know?"
"."
The monk soldier Masumi Watanabe was silent for a moment. Under Zuwaro's sharp eyes, he slowly squatted on the snow and wrote a line of words.
"He is a shipwright, good at woodworking, and can build sea-going ships..."
"Ah! The Lord God bless you, a shipbuilder who can build sea-going ships!... Haha! A sea-going ship-builder in the West Sea! This is the master craftsman that your Majesty has named, and he must be needed!..."
Seeing this answer, exploration captain Zuvalo looked startled, and then looked ecstatic. He strode forward and took a good look at Jin Shanshu's cowering expression for a while. Then, he lowered his body and actually helped Jin Shanshu up from the snow!
"Ayigu! Oh my God!...Sir! The little one...get up by yourself, the little one doesn't dare to trouble you...Sir..."
"The Lord God witnesses! This is for you!..."
With a generous look on his face, Zuvalo took off the golden amulet from his neck and put it on Jin Shanshu himself. Then, he held Jin Shanshu's hair and asked the warriors to bring a warm fur and wrap it in the thin and shriveled shipwright. Finally, he ordered around and pointed to the deer-drawn sleigh tent in the distance.
"Praise the Lord God! He is the person Your Majesty asked for! Take him to the tent and have a good rest. Give him three meals a day, and the food is according to Shi Jian and I's standards. Then, when we go south, he lives in the warm deer Pull up the tent!”
"Yes! Praise the Lord God!"
The two kingdom warriors nodded respectfully and looked at the shipwright Jin Shanshu, and they suddenly became much friendly. Jin Shanshu looked confused and was led by two samurai to a tent that was warm and sheltered from the wind. Then someone brought a piece of roasted venison, a few pancakes made of unknown materials, and even a bag of boiled snow water.
"Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva who saves suffering! What on earth is going on?!...Am I dreaming?...Ah! It hurts! It's not a dream..."
Jin Shanshu sat on the soft leather blanket, slapped himself hard twice, and screamed in pain. But he has never received such treatment in his life. Although it is not a dream now, it is not much different from a dream. He swallowed and looked at the fragrant venison in front of the meeting. He hesitated for a long time and did not dare to eat it. He just ate the soft cornmeal pancakes and carefully looked outside the tent.
"God bless you! Who else? Who else has skills? Stand up! There will be rewards and preferential treatment!..."
"Ah! The Yi leader is looking for craftsmen! As long as you are a craftsman, you can live!..."
Seeing the treatment of Sukeichiro and Jin Shanshu, the prisoners looked at each other, the expressions on their faces changing. After a few breaths, another North Korean sailor stood up and knelt down in front of Zuvalo twice.
"Sir! Your Majesty! The younger one's name is Pu Shunfan. He is the sailmaker on the ship and an old sailor on the ship! The younger one's family has been sailmakers for generations. He can make sails with only bamboo and grass blades. His craftsmanship is so good... Sir, please Please accept the little one!..."
"Um?"
Zuvalo blinked and looked at Monk Soldier Watanabe. Watanabe looked bitter and was speechless for a while, then wrote the word "Sailmaker" on the snow.
The Korean sailors and craftsmen on these ships were plundered and had no sense of belonging to the temples in Kyoto. And if these people all join the leader of the Jiao people, then even if the other party returns the ocean-covering ship to them, they will not have enough manpower to sail away...
"The Lord God witnesses! What is a sailmaker?..."
"The sailmaker...can make sails, mend sails, and adjust sails to facilitate sailing and borrow wind..."
"Ah? There are so many ways to use the sails on the ship? Quick, tell me in detail!..."
Watanabe Masumi, the monk soldier, touched his bald head and turned around helplessly. He and Pu Shunfan talked and gestured for a long time before writing a few lines of text on the snow again.
"Different sail shapes borrow different winds. The ship sails in all directions, the square shape borrows the downwind, the skip shape (trapezoid) borrows the crosswind, and the triangular shape borrows the headwind. The turban top sail can lift the hull and make the boat brisk... As for the ocean-shading boat, Most of them are skip-shaped gaff sails. The left and right sides are balanced, horizontal bars can be added, and the sails can be raised and lowered freely. The sails can be made of bamboo strips and grass blades, no cotton or linen is needed, and the cost is low..."
"Lord God! What? Your sails can borrow winds from all directions, even headwinds? What about skip sails, jib sails, turban top sails, and gaff sails? I have been sailing for three years, and there are none. I’ve heard of it!… Hey! Your sails are not made of cotton or linen? Are they made of bamboo sticks and grass blades?… Phew! It’s exactly what your Majesty said. The shipbuilding and navigation skills of the tribes in the West Sea are far superior. Kingdom!…”
Exploration captain Zuvalo opened his eyes wide, looking at the descriptions on the snow that were difficult to understand for a while, and then looked at Pu Shunfan, who was kneeling and kowtowing with a respectful look on his face. He pondered for a moment, then lifted the other person up with his own hands again, took out a shining golden golden talisman of the main god, and put it on this important sailmaker!
"The Lord God bless the kingdom! Go! Send him to the tent and live with the shipwright. He will be given three meals a day and treated as a warrior! ... Remember, arrange two warriors and keep an eye on them at all times. Oh, don’t make any mistakes!…”
"Yes! Captain!..."
"Ah! Ayigu!...Thank you, sir, for the reward! Thank you, sir, for the reward!..."
Sailmaker Pu Shunfan clutched the golden talisman in his hand and was ecstatic. He knelt down and kowtowed three more times before following the samurai who led the way and left. Seeing that he had also been given a golden talisman, the remaining seven Korean sailors all stood up and knelt down in unison.
"My lord! My lord! We are willing to take refuge!..."
"Haha! The Lord God bless the kingdom! Attacking the tribe on this big ship is really the most decisive decision I have ever made!"
Zuvalo looked happy and asked the remaining Korean sailors one by one. It's a pity that the next few people's answers were either about sailing or farming, or about braiding straw ropes or making pickles... Zuvalo asked around, then waved his hand and told them to stand on the other side. But there is no reward of gold talisman.
"Anything else? You, um, warriors from the tribe! Do you have any special skills?..."
"."
The samurai of the Oyizaki family remained silent, looking at each other with strange expressions. From time to time, they glanced at the ship leader Murakami Kidomi, who was wearing a golden talisman, and at the monk soldier Watanabe Masumi who served as a translator for the barbarians. Among the people, there seemed to be an undercurrent surging under the water, and they seemed to be waiting for something.
This strange atmosphere lasted for a while before a Japanese warrior in his early thirties took the lead to stand out from the crowd. He suffered several injuries on his legs and was simply bandaged, but there was no blood on his face. He had obviously lost too much blood and his speech was a little weak.
"Oh! Otani stood up! He is indeed capable..."
"Ah! He...he wants to take refuge with the barbarians? Aren't you afraid of punishment from the head of the family?..."
"There's no way... If he doesn't stand up, he won't be able to get through it..."
"Yes! Didn't Murakami Moshiyuki also defect to the barbarians? And the Watanabe group leader from Kyoto..."
"Shhh!..."
After hearing what everyone said and seeing the injured warrior who stood up, the captain of the ship, Murakami Yimichi, looked a little ugly. He did not seek refuge with the Yi people, he was just forced by the Yi people to stand aside wearing a golden talisman and was not allowed to speak. At this moment, he looked at the two kingdom warriors guarding him on his left and right, mustered up his courage, and shouted in a low voice.
"Otani Kengo! The master of the house is treating you...uh!...ah!..."
As soon as Murakami Kidou made a sound, he was beaten to the snow by the kingdom warriors on both sides. Seeing this scene, the injured warrior Otani Kengang sighed and shook his head slightly.
"Murakami Murakami! I'm sorry!... If I don't have enough food and clothing, I'm afraid I won't be able to survive this winter... I'm really sorry for the head of the family!... My Buddha is merciful! May the Buddha forgive me and accept my repentance …”
"Huh? God bless you! This guy looks very special! ... What kind of craftsman is he, and what does he know?"
Zuvalo's eyes flashed and he looked at Masumi Watanabe next to him. Watanabe Masumi was silent for a while, then bowed and wrote two words.
"blacksmith…"
(End of chapter)
