"I said, how many days has it been since you left?"
"Oh, you are so annoying. Why do you ask this question every day? You don't know how to do it yourself?"
In the tent, after daily martial arts training, Wan Zao sat on the mat with a sore back and legs, and next to him was Li Ji, who was also very tired.
Liji called his wife Shino outside the tent, and Shino ran in in small steps.
"How many days has it been since the master left?"
Shino thought for a moment, twirled his fingers a few times: "Seventeen days." After saying that, he turned around and left.
"What will we do if you don't come back?" Wan Zao whispered to Li Ji.
"What nonsense are you talking about! The master promised everyone before he left that he would definitely come back. And he left this time to find a ship, and weren't you there when he said this?"
"Well, I'm worried that the master will come back too late. If this happens again like last time..."
"Last time? Can it be compared with last time? Now we have this." Li Ji said, holding the katana in front of him. "Let's see who dares to do it!"
While the two were talking, they heard shouts of surprise from people outside the tent.
"Master! Master Zhao! Master is back!"
When Li Ji and Wan Zao heard this, they quickly got up and ran outside the tent regardless of their tired bodies. Following everyone's gaze, they saw Zhao Xin walking from the depths of the dense forest together with the strong man they saw last time.
Everyone in the camp rushed forward. The fastest runner was Manzo's big-nosed son, followed by Katsusaburo, Jiuzang, Mosuke and others.
Li Ji ignored Wan Zao beside him, quickened his pace, and quickly rushed to Zhao Xin.
Everyone knelt on the ground and greeted him in unison.
"Master, master, you are back!" Li Ji knelt at Zhao Xin's feet and saluted respectfully.
Zhao Xin took out a tissue, moved Wan Zao's son with a big snot from his lap, wiped the little guy's nose first, and then said to everyone with a smile: "Get up, get up."
Everyone stood up. Zhao Xin was still very excited when he looked at these familiar faces in front of him.
"Yeah, I'm finally back. How have you been these days?"
At this time, Katsusaburo and other people at the front noticed that Zhao Xin and the strong man he brought were wearing strange gray-green clothes and pants, and the shoes on their feet were also different from those worn by Zhao Xin before.
The two men also wore bulging vests over their tops. There are small pockets arranged on the vest. Three of the pockets on the chest have boxes inserted into them. There are also several pockets on the left and right, all of which contain unknown items. There was a strange iron tool inserted on the left side of their chests, and both of them were carrying an iron tool that was slightly shorter than a katana, with a long tube and handle, and a very strange shape.
After all, Katsuzaburo was a samurai and came from Omi, which during the Warring States Period was a famous "Kuniyou Iron Cannon" production area. He had seen iron cannons since he was a child and had practiced iron cannon shooting. He instinctively felt that the two iron weapons he had never seen before were also a kind of iron cannon, but he didn't know how powerful they were.
"Master, please go to the tent and rest." Li Ji approached him and said respectfully.
Zhao Xin nodded, turned around, patted Liu Sheng on the shoulder, and said to everyone: "After careful consideration after Mr. Liu went back last time, he decided to help everyone together."
After hearing this, everyone bowed and said, "Thank you, Mr. Liu."
Liu Sheng didn't understand what everyone was saying to him, but bowing to him must be a sign of respect, which made him very embarrassed. So he raised his hand and said, "You're welcome, you're welcome."
Everyone supported Zhao Xin and Liu Sheng as they walked toward the tent. Wan Zao's snot-nosed son pulled Zhao Xin's pants tightly. This made Zhao Xin feel very awkward when walking, so he bent down and picked up the boy and hugged him.
After entering the tent, except for Katsuzaburo and the others, everyone else was still gathered outside. Zhao Xin had no choice but to tell Zhinao to let everyone go about their business, and then everyone outside the tent dispersed.
Zhao Xin put the child in his arms on the ground, and then he and Liu Sheng took off the assault rifles they were carrying, pulled out the magazine, checked the chambers, and placed them next to each other.
No one in the tent dared to interrupt and watched the two men's operations. Just waiting for Zhao Xin to finish his work and sit on the mat, they all sat down.
At this time, Shino came back with two cups of hot water on a tray made of wooden boards.
Zhao Xin then said to Liu Sheng: "Ah, I forgot to buy tea."
Liu Sheng took a glass of water from the tray and said casually: "It's just a matter of course. This is good."
Zhao Xin took a few sips of water and first said to Shengsaburo and others: "This is the helper I invited, and he is also a good friend of mine for many years. Your Excellency Liu Sheng."
When Saburo Katsu and everyone else heard this, they quickly bowed to greet Liu Sheng.
Liu Sheng knew that Zhao Xin was introducing himself, and when he saw everyone saluting him, he also bent down and nodded.
"Tell me what happened while I was away." Zhao Xin said unhurriedly.
"Haha!" Katsusaburo was just like the samurai in the TV series, sitting cross-legged with his legs pierced in armor, his hands on his sides, bowing his head and saluting.
Liu Sheng was startled by Shengsaburo's voice. He had never seen this before. In Liu Sheng's impression, the island warriors were little Japanese soldiers during the Anti-Japanese War.
At this time, Zhao Xin pointed at Liji and introduced to Liu Sheng: "Let me introduce you formally. This is Liji, and they were the couple I met at the beginning."
Liu Sheng then nodded slightly to Li Ji with an expressionless face, and Li Ji bowed and saluted.
"This is Katsuzaburo, the only true samurai among us."
Katsusaburo felt that Liu Sheng looked at him as if he wanted to eat him, and he couldn't help but feel strange: "I have only met this Mr. Liu twice? Why does he look at me like an enemy?"
"This is Wan Zai."
"This is Jiuzou."
"This is Mosuke."
"This is Huji."
"This is Heita."
After everyone present was introduced, Zhao Xin said to Shengsaburo: "Okay, Shengsaburo, let's talk first."
"Haha!" Shengsaburo leaned over and saluted, then took out a stack of paper full of words from his arms, opened it and said: "My lord, since you left last time, there have been a total of seventeen days. During this period, your subordinates and Li Ji is in charge of all affairs in the camp. The situation is explained as follows..."
When Zhao Xin saw that Katsusaburo was using rice paper and the writing on it was in ink, he interrupted and asked, "Where did you get this paper and pen?"
Katsuzaburo said: "My subordinate went to the fishing village and exchanged it for a pound of rice from the head of the village (the village chief)."
"Oh. Then keep talking."
Good guy, Katsusaburo's report lasted for a full hour. Zhao Xin was so focused that he started to yawn in the end; while Liu Sheng, who had just arrived, was too embarrassed to leave the meeting and felt sleepy after listening to it.
As for the six people including Toshiyoshi, Manzo, Kuzo, and Mosuke, they were attentive throughout the whole process, sitting with their upper bodies upright and their eyes shining. In their view, it was an honor to participate in the review convened by the Lord for the first time.
The content of Katsuzaburo’s report is generally as follows:
There are currently 171 people, men, women, and children in the camp, of which 120 are women; 41 are adult men, and 10 are children and infants. Among these one hundred and seventy-one people, excluding the original one hundred and twenty-eight, there were forty-three new people.
The second is the consumption of materials in the camp. Basically, it was what Zhao Xin ordered before leaving, which is one pound of rice per day for adults. Children's allowance of half a kilogram of rice per day, how many kilograms of rice are left as of this morning, even meat and pickles, and even how much salt, soy sauce, and yellow sauce are left.
The third is the use and balance figures of clothes, shoes, hats, tents, and the use and damage of various tools. What troubled Zhao Xin the most was that Katsusaburo even knew how many nails he had used and the remaining numbers.
Zhao Xin didn't know how many nails he had, so he couldn't think about it.
But what he didn't know was that the nails he purchased were all modern steel nails. In this era, who would be willing to use steel to make nails? They were all iron nails! Katsusaburo cherished these steel nails very much and did not dare to use them easily. He also paid special attention to them every time he had to use them, for fear of breaking them.
Finally, Katsuzaburo reported on the training content of Rikichi and the other six people during this period and the progress of each person's training.
While listening, Zhao Xin looked very approving, expressing his recognition of the work of Katsusaburo and everyone else.
At this time, Liu Sheng was bored in every possible way because he could not understand. He looked at the "Seven Samurai" in front of him, including Katsuzaburo, looking at this, then at that, trying hard to keep his face expressionless, but he was laughing in his heart.
"Look, look, look, Master Zhao's seven dwarfs."
"This guy has a bad smile on his face, what are you thinking about?" Zhao Xin turned his head and glanced at Liu Sheng as if he was feeling something, and muttered in his heart.
After Shengsaburo finished his report, Zhao Xin nodded with satisfaction and praised the other six people. It was immediately announced that the meeting would continue half an hour later.
"Fuck, wait for me."
Zhao Xin walked quickly in front, and Liu Sheng quickly followed behind. After the two of them walked dozens of meters away from the camp, they turned to a tree.
"It's so suffocating me. I don't even dare to yawn if I don't understand a word. I said, if I keep holding meetings like this in the future, I will have to hold in my cystitis." amidst the sound of running water. , Liu Sheng was full of complaints.
After watering the tree, Zhao Xin also smiled bitterly and said: "Who says it's not the case? I'm suffocated too. Let's make new rules after we get to Bear Island. Don't suffocate yourself to death before the enemy is eliminated."
Liu Sheng, who also finished pouring water, took out a cigarette and handed it to Zhao Xin. He lit it and took a deep breath. The air was so fresh.
After Zhao Xin took two puffs, he suddenly asked curiously: "What were you smiling at when Katsusaburo reported just now?"
"Pfft~" After Liu Sheng heard this, he puffed out the cigarette without holding it back, and couldn't help but laugh evilly.
"What's so funny? Tell it and laugh together." Zhao Xin teased, looking at the evil smile on Liu Sheng's face.
"Seven dwarfs. Hahahaha~" Liu Sheng finally couldn't hold it in anymore and pointed at Zhao Xin and laughed.
"Go to hell!" Zhao Xin reacted immediately, dumbfounded, and kicked Liu Sheng in the butt.
Someone's "Seven Samurai" project, which he thought he was very proud of, was ridiculed like this. It was so disappointing.
After returning to the tent to continue the meeting, Zhao Xin asked: "How is the situation over there in the fishing village?"
The fishing village Zhao Xin mentioned here was the Aomori Fishing Port in later generations. In the late 19th century, the island country implemented the policy of "abolition of feudal lords and establishment of prefectures". Five counties near Aomori were merged into Hirosaki Prefecture. The county government was established in Aomori, which was later renamed Aomori Prefecture.
Katsuzaburo said: "People have been arranged to check the fishing village, and I also went there myself. Oh, it was the time I mentioned before to change paper and pen. There are more than a dozen fishermen living in the fishing village, and the Tsugaru family There is no management there except to collect fishing taxes every spring and autumn.
In addition, when the Tsugaru family paid tribute to Edo every year, the tribute ship they sent would also depart from the fishing village and go south. Since the famine, dozens of families have fled to live in the fishing village. These people live in shacks built in the nearby forest and make a living by picking up various seaweed and shellfish at the beach every day. That's what I learned. "
Zhao Xin said nothing after hearing this. After a while, he asked: "Where are the tribute ships of the Tsugaru family docked at this time?"
Heita, who was listening on the side, suddenly said: "These ships will sail to Sendai before winter every year. Mainly because the sea on the Mutsu side will have strong winds in winter and the waves will be too big."
Zhao Xin asked curiously: "Where did you learn about these things?"
Heitasho bowed and imitated Katsuzaburo, and then said: "I used to be a shop assistant in Hirosaki Castle Town. I heard all this from the conversations between shop owners and customers."
Zhao Xin nodded with satisfaction. Pingtai immediately felt very proud and grinned.
"We only have one boat." Zhao Xin looked at the crowd and said.
"One? I wonder how big it is?"
"No matter how old you are, you have to leave." Zhao Xin said decisively. "With a squeeze, you can pull a whole boat away."
A ship that can carry more than a hundred people must be a big ship.
"Excuse me, sir, where is the boat docked now?" Katsusaburo asked.
"Hmm~" Zhao Xin glanced at Liu Sheng, and then said: "You can see it the day we go to sea."
"Then when should I go to sea?"
"Three days later!"
