Katayama Kanbei did not disappoint Katsu Kaishu.
In the afternoon after the two met, Katayama used two of his men to select dozens of families of refugees from the town and brought these people to the shabby thatched cottage on the beach to stay temporarily.
Katsu Kaishu didn't go, he asked Pingtai and Jiuzang to come forward and talk to the refugees.
What Pingtai and Jiuzang said to these refugees was that there was a businessman who wanted to recruit refugees to farm on the outer islands. They would be treated favorably and have enough food to eat. If they wanted to go, they would have to take their wives and children with them.
In order to prove that they were not lying, Heita and Jiuzang told these refugees that they were also refugees who escaped from Mutsu.
Even so, several families of refugees were still unwilling to go. They were still thinking of going to Sendai Castle or Edo to look for opportunities. In these days, except for offshore fishermen, it is a capital offense to go to sea and not return. Once you leave, you can never come back. This decree of the shogunate was not revised until the end of the Edo period.
Heita didn't force them. Since he said he didn't want to go, he let Katayama's men take them away. In this way, there were a total of thirty-four families with a total of one hundred and thirty-six people left behind who were willing to follow.
Heita asked what these people did besides farming. As a result, some of these people had been carpenters, charcoal makers, and pottery makers, and these skills were just side jobs outside of farming.
It was only then that Sheng Haizhou came forward to meet these refugees. He didn't talk about the affairs of the outer islands. First, he asked Pingtai to go to the merchants in the town and buy some rice, radishes and firewood. When these refugees saw the food, they were all excited. I immediately started cooking radish rice on the beach with my own broken pot and pot.
After having a full meal, many people feel more at ease.
These people who stayed behind also had no way out. Many of them were farm laborers in the countryside. The food harvests had failed, the farmland was abandoned, and the annual tribute had not been reduced, making these people even more desperate. Even if they sell their children and daughters, they can only survive; if there is no relief, most of them will not survive this winter.
Now some people want to recruit themselves to work on the land. Although they are going to the islands outside the sea, as long as they can survive, they don't care about anything more.
At night, the refugees lit several bonfires near the thatched huts and slept around them. Although it was cold, it was much better than sleeping under a cold roof in the town.
A day and a night passed like this. During this period, idlers from the town and workers from the harbor came to see what was strange. Is there anyone taking the initiative to help refugees in these days? I don’t have enough to eat. But these onlookers watched for a long time, and slowly dispersed amidst the driving sounds of the two men arranged by Katayama.
At night, Katayama Kanbei's men were all sent home by him, and he himself was waiting in the thatched hut with Katsu Kaishu. He wanted to see who the lord mentioned by Katsu Kaishu was.
At midnight, Katayama Kanbei was so sleepy that he began to doze off, while Katsu Kaishu sat quietly in the thatched hut waiting for Zhao Xin's arrival.
Katsu Kaishu was thinking that when it was almost time, the dim light outside the house flashed, and Heita appeared at the door holding a lantern.
"My lord has arrived."
Katsu Kaishu was shocked when he heard this, and Katayama Kanbei, who was dozing off, was also awakened. The two hurriedly got up and left the thatched house.
In the thick darkness, Katayama Kanbei could vaguely see two tall figures standing twenty steps away by the flickering light of the dim lantern.
The two hurriedly walked closer.
"Lord, everyone has arrived. According to your previous instructions, there are a total of thirty-four households with a total of one hundred and thirty-seven people." Sheng Haizhou bowed to Zhao Xin and reported immediately.
One hundred and thirty-six refugees, plus the orphan A Miao.
"Very good." Zhao Xin nodded in the darkness.
Katsu Kaishu then introduced to Zhao Xin: "This is His Excellency Katayama Kanbei whom I mentioned to you before."
Then under the dim light, Katayama Kanbei looked at the two "weirdos" in front of him. I saw that the clothes on these two people had never been seen before, and their upper bodies and sides of their thighs were bulging, as if they contained many items.
"Thank you very much Katayama-kun for your help. I have caused you trouble." Zhao Xin bowed slightly and greeted Katayama Kanbei.
"Don't dare. Being able to help these people is what I should do as a samurai." Katayama Kanbei also bowed slightly and said immediately.
At this time, Liu Sheng, who was behind Zhao Xin, said: "Hurry up. It's so dark, and the boat can't move fast. The sea conditions in Songdao are too complicated."
The reason why Matsushima is called one of the "Three Scenic Spots of Japan" is because it is an island group. There are as many as 260 small islands of various sizes scattered inside and outside Songdao Bay. So even if he gets on the boat, Liu Sheng doesn't dare to drive it now without satellite navigation. We can only wait until dawn before leaving.
After hearing what Liu Sheng said, Zhao Xin stopped talking and directly ordered Sheng Haizhou: "In groups of five, bring ten people over first and let's get started."
Katsu Kaishu and the three of them were already very familiar with all the procedures, so they signaled Pingtai and Jiuzang on the side to start arranging people to get on the boat.
But at this moment, Katayama Kanbei's heart stirred up waves. When he heard Liu Sheng speak, he immediately reacted.
"They are from the Qing Dynasty!" Katayama said in his heart.
But when he looked carefully at Zhao and Xin, he couldn't see any braids on their heads. Both of them had one-inch short hair.
"Who are they? It's so strange. I have lived in Honmachi for many years, and even from the merchants and sailors on the ship, I have never heard of such hair accessories and clothing."
At this time, Zhao Xin was also looking at Katayama Kanbei in front of him. He didn't care whether the person in front of him was a spy. Liu Sheng, who was behind him, had already taken out the gun from the holster on the right side of his thigh and held it in his hand, with the safety on. As long as Katayama dares to act abnormally, he will kill him with one shot.
"We will come here again next spring, and I hope we can have the opportunity to sit down and talk about it."
Katayama bowed slightly: "Then I await the arrival of Your Excellency and Katsu Kaishu."
At this time, only the sound of footsteps was heard. It was Heita and Jiuzang who were leading five refugees.
The ten refugees were trembling with fear and would kowtow and kneel when they saw Zhao Xin. Pingtai quickly stopped them and took them to the assault boat docked on the beach. He grabbed a few life jackets from the boat with both hands.
"Put this on right away." Heita whispered.
Several refugees took the life jackets from Pingtai, but they were dumbfounded and didn't know how to put them on. Ping Tai had no choice but to grab the life jacket from a homeless man, put it on for him, and then tightened the rope buckle.
After finishing all five people in this way, Pingtai pointed at the assault boat: "Get aboard."
"Sir, is this boat so small?" A more courageous refugee asked, pointing to the assault boat.
"This is the ferry boat. The big boat is parked in the sea in front of you. Get on the boat quickly!" Heita shouted in a low voice, and Katsu Kaishu on the side pulled out half of his knife.
The five people looked at each other and had no choice but to get on the boat.
On the other side, Jiuzang also helped the other five people put on life jackets and boarded another assault boat.
Zhao Xin said to Kanbei Katayama, who was watching blankly, "Okay. Let's say goodbye for now." After saying that, he cupped his hands, then turned around and boarded an assault boat with Liu Sheng. Zhao Xin blasted away a refugee sitting at the stern of the boat, sitting at the stern motor.
Heita and Jiuzang stepped forward, and they worked together to push the assault boat into the sea against waist-deep water.
Zhao Xin started the motor, turned the boat's bow, and drove slowly toward the sea.
Katayama Kanbei watched in astonishment as the boat in front of him roared, waves rolled up from the stern, and moved away into the sea.
In the following time, Zhao Xin and Liu Sheng drove dozens of times in assault boats to pick up and drop off refugees. Katayama also took off his stockings and socks, and stepped on the cold water to help push the assault boat into the water.
After all this busy work, it was not until the white fish belly appeared in the east that all these people were sent to the ship.
When the last assault boat came back, there was no Zhao Xin, only Liu Sheng drove the boat ashore alone.
The three of them, who had been waiting for Katsu Kaishu to face Katayama Kanbei, bowed deeply.
"Katayama-kun, see you next year."
"Goodbye, Shengjun."
After the three people got on the boat, Liu Sheng turned the bow of the boat and roared away.
At this time, the sky was dimming, and Katayama Kanbei saw the boat Katsukaishu and the others were riding in. After passing a small island in the sea, it turned north and disappeared.
Three days later, Bear Island.
Zhao Xin and Liu Sheng parked the yacht into the bay amid cheers from the shore.
"Almost out of gas."
"Well, I'll buy it when I get back. I have to write down the supplies I need to buy in a notebook. There are so many things I need that I can't even remember them."
"I told you before, a good memory is worse than a bad writing."
After this trip, Zhao Xin and the other five people were really exhausted. Especially on the way back, a group of refugees vomited and had diarrhea, leaving the yacht in a mess, and the smell in the cabin could kill people. Even though Pingtai and Jiuzang scolded the refugees and cleaned up together, these people were very weak and dry. Not too much. Zhao Xin had no choice but to make do, planning to pack up the cabin after driving back to Bear Island.
But the little girl Pingtai mentioned, A Miao, did not get seasick; and because she had eaten enough in the previous few days, she had been helping with the cleaning.
But Zhao Xin couldn't bear to see this skinny nine-year-old girl busy up and down in the cabin, and asked A Miao to stop doing it several times.
As for A Miao, since she boarded the ship, she has been very scared looking at the mighty and tall Zhao Xin and Liu Sheng. She was afraid that the new owner would disown her because she was too young, so she worked hard. Even though Zhao Xin stopped him several times later, A Miao was still busy helping to take care of the refugees.
"A Miao. Let's go." Zhao Xin sat in the assault boat and shouted to A Miao who was still cleaning the yacht.
"Master, wait a moment." A Miao's voice came from inside the yacht.
"Stop it, hurry up." Zhao Xin was helpless, why are you so desperate. So he tried his best and shouted to the boat again. "I'll leave if you don't come out."
"Master, okay, okay, everything is wiped clean."
Zhao Xin was helpless but also very curious. All wiped clean? So he got up and jumped to the stern of the yacht and walked inside to take a look.
I'll go, it's so clean. Even if Duofu licked it, it wouldn't be so clean.
What a blessing... "Let me out and I'll lick you."
