Aoba Mountain, Miyagi County, Mutsu Province.
At dawn, a fast horse ran out of the Otemon gate of Aoba Castle (Sendai Castle) and rushed along the road outside the gate in the direction of Tokaido.
In the meeting hall of the survey office in Ninomaru in the city, a group of retainers of the Sendai Domain, after receiving the fast horse message from Matsushima Town last night, went into the city collectively to hold a meeting, and discussed overnight how to deal with the sudden appearance of the enemy outside Matsushima Town. Yichuan.
As the messenger continued to add information, everyone now knew the word "Thor" painted on the outside of the big ship. This made everyone more suspicious and afraid to act rashly.
You have to ask the Edo side first. It's best if the shogunate also sends someone here, so that the Date family won't let the shogun grab the pigtails.
It is said that when the one-eyed dragon Masamune was building Aoba Castle, he considered that a war might break out with the Tokugawa family one day, so he chose the highlands of Mount Aoba as the location to build the city. This fierce man also specially left a combat deduction chart ("Sendai Imperial Formation's Imperial Touch に Fu Imperial Examination") to his descendants.
However, although there is a castle tower in Sendai Castle, no castle tower was built. The main reason was that the Date family was worried that the Tokugawa shogunate would think that their family had evil intentions and would launch an army to attack them.
Unexpectedly, after years of caution, trouble still comes.
At this time, Ishikawa Murafumi, a writer, frowned, and kept slapping his knees with the fan in his hand. At this moment, Ishikawa Murafumi was filled with regret. Why don’t I follow the family owner to Edo? I don't have to worry about this shit.
The reputation of this thirty-four-year-old Yi Da family was not good. In addition to making money, he was just looking for comfort and enjoyment all day long. If he had been expected to make any decisions, the Date family would have been in trouble.
In the meeting hall, the head of the Mizusawa Date family, Date Murasaki, was still a twelve-year-old child, so his questions were in vain; the head of the Wakudani Date family, Date Murasune, also pretended to be dumbfounded and meditated. shape.
At this time, only one person said slowly: "Delaying like this is not an option. If the ship belongs to the General, it is just a misunderstanding; but if it is really a barbaric ship, we have to guard against it."
When everyone heard the sound and looked around, it turned out to be old man Endo Morinobu. This guy is over 60 years old, and he is usually very lively. Ishikawa Murafumi often consulted him for his opinions when dealing with daily affairs within the domain.
"What do you mean?" Ishikawa Murafumi leaned forward and asked.
Endo Morinobu thought for a while and said: "If we need to send more manpower and weapons to Matsushima Town, we can send them from this city. Then we will arrange small morning boats from Matsushima and Ishinomaki Ports to prevent the big ships from docking. As long as the big ships don't dock, we will There is no need to send people on board to check, we will wait until the shogunate sends people to come."
"What should we do if people on the big ship ask us for water, rice and supplies?" A retainer asked the question.
Yes, if someone comes to your door, who will take the blame?
"Just ask a lower-level official to handle this matter with the merchants. Don't come forward from the enforcement office." Endo Morinobu said with a slight smile.
Well, now that someone is taking the blame, everyone feels relaxed.
Ishikawa Murafumi looked at the members of the Date family around him and saw that no one had objections. Then he slapped his thigh with a folding fan and said, "In this case, let's follow the old master's method."
In Matsushima Town, Katayama Kanbei's house.
After having breakfast, Kanbei Katayama looked at the three Katsu Kaishu in front of him, shook his head and sighed: "Your formation is so big that even Aoba City has been alarmed. I guess Edo will send people over. I won't do it now." It’s easy to handle.”
Sheng Haizhou said: "My lord came here this time to pick up and transport a large number of refugees. If the boat is small, wouldn't it be a waste of time?"
Katayama Kanbei said: "Fortunately, you wrote the word 'Thunder God' on the bow of the ship. This is why I don't dare to act rashly. What I want to know is, why did Mr. Zhao give the ship such a name?"
Hearing this, Katsu Kaishu looked back at the two Rikichi behind him, smiled slightly, and then said: "My lord asked me to inform Katayama-kun specifically. The iron boat is equipped with two artillery pieces that far exceed those of the national collapse. It can be installed in a few breaths." When the gun fires, one cannon can hit for dozens of miles. It is as powerful as thunder from the sky and is indestructible. Hence the name 'Thunder God'."
Katayama Kanbei's eyes widened in disbelief: "Iron boat? You said that big boat is made of iron?"
"From top to bottom, inside and out, it is all made of steel. And it can travel thousands of miles a day on the sea." Sheng Haizhou said with a smile.
This is simply unprecedented! Katayama Kanbei couldn't believe it at all. Speaking of the Ataka Marukami built by the Tokugawa family, they only used elongated copper plates to stabilize the hull internally; but even this was difficult to move.
But Sheng Haizhou said that the big ship was made of steel from top to bottom. What a joke! Can you use it to make swords, guns, and iron cannons? This is too wasteful.
At this thought, Katayama couldn't help frowning and asked word by word: "What are you doing?!"
Katsu Kaishu took a sip of tea, put it down, and then slowly said: "Since Shanbei the year before last, famines have continued all over the world. A large number of farmers have no land to cultivate, have left their homes, and have become untouchables. The shogunate and the vassals did not think about relief, but instead Countless victims were allowed to lie dead in the wilderness; the feudal lords imposed exorbitant taxes and rampant corruption. Katayama-san, you have said it yourself. The various rice shops in the town colluded with the clan elders to increase prices wantonly, and complaints spread everywhere..."
Katayama Kanbei looked at the young man in front of him in surprise. He found that the other person's temperament had changed a lot from last year. From his tone to his eyes, sometimes he is as sharp as a knife.
At this time, after experiencing the Battle of Bear Island and personally testing the artillery, Sheng Haizhou and other people on the island had completely different vision and confidence than before.
With his protagonist's endless variety of new firearms and tyrannical methods, he fully believed that Zhao Xin could lead them to explore the world and retrieve things.
Even the Tokugawa shogunate was affected by Zhao Xin's countless contemptuous tone, let alone the 620,000-kilogram-high Date family.
"Katayama-kun, I know you are an upright samurai. So, do you want to be loyal to the justice of the world, or do you want to be loyal to one family and let countless victims die in pain?"
"I..." Kanbei Katayama was speechless, lost in thought.
After a long time, Katayama Kanbei asked: "May I ask where Mr. Zhao wants to take the refugees?"
Sheng Haizhou pointed to the north and replied: "Thousands of miles to the north, my lord has a seaport, and the city is called 'Beihai'. The fertile fields on the mainland stretch for thousands of miles, and the products are abundant. The animals in the forest are plump, and there is no shortage of fish and shrimp in the river. When the refugees arrive there, You can cultivate, farm, fish and hunt as much as you can. But if you stay in the island country, you can only wait for death!"
"Since there is such a good place, no one is snatching it from you?" Katayama is not an idiot, and Katsu Kaishu's few words cannot completely reassure him. This is not as simple as taking away more than a hundred people last year. Sheng Haizhou said from the beginning that at least five thousand people will be taken away this time.
"To be honest, after the first day of the lunar month, my master led eleven of us to annihilate more than a hundred of the Qing's elite armored soldiers, without losing a single person on our side." Sheng Haizhou said with confidence.
When Li Ji heard this, he unconsciously reached out and touched his butt. Hu Ji, who was on the side, saw Li Ji's appearance, lowered his head to suppress a smile, and pretended to cough.
"His!" Kanbei Katayama couldn't help but gasped after hearing this.
In this era, although the people of the island country believed that the rulers of the Qing Dynasty were barbarians, they also recognized that the other party was powerful in force. At that time, even North Korea was beaten by the Qing army and wiped the ground with its face. The shogunate was extremely nervous, fearing that the Qing army would send troops to attack.
In the following years, various news about the Qing Dynasty came from Nagasaki. Not to mention the distance, in the past few decades, Qianlong attacked Xiaojinchuan in the southwest and Huojizhan in the northwest. The amount of troops recruited, consumption and The scale of the war amazed everyone in the island country, which had been at peace for nearly two hundred years.
(The Qing Dynasty pacified the Jinchuan and Jinchuan twice, which lasted seven years. More than 30,000 soldiers were killed, and more than 20,000 Miao rebels were killed. A total of nearly 600,000 people were invested and 70 million taels of silver were spent; to pacify Yun, The war between Guizhou and Guangdong lasted for twelve years and cost more than 70 million taels. To pacify the northwest, it took five years and cost more than 30 million taels and opened up more than 10,000 kilometers of land.)
After hesitating for a long time, Kanbei Katayama, who was dedicated to saving people, said: "How do you want me to help?"
Before Katsu Kaishu arrived, Zhao Xin had carefully explained to him that this time he did not need to care about the population in the town, but only targeted the refugees outside the town.
"Katayama-kun, we will not disembark and enter Matsushima Town to rob people. My lord is interested in the victims outside the town. You only need to find a way to drive these people to the beach in the south. Don't worry about the rest. , we can cook it ourselves.”
"Do you know how many people are outside the town? Nearly ten thousand people! Are you sure that Mr. Zhao will take all these people away?" Katayama Kanbei asked in disbelief.
"If we don't take them away, do you think the adults in the domain will save them? The Thunder God is the only giant ship in the world. It can't hold 10,000 people."
"So, I have something to ask for."
"That's how it should be. Please don't be polite, Katayama-kun." Hearing this, Katsukaishu leaned over and saluted Katayama Kanbei.
"If something happens to me, please ask Katsu-kun to help my family. Please." Katayama Kanbei also bowed to Katsukai Fushi.
"Please rest assured Katayama-kun, Katsu Kaishu will live up to his trust!"
After talking about the matter, Katsu Kaishu said "offended" to Katayama, and took out a black palm-sized box from his arms. There was a cylindrical thing as thick as a little finger at one end of the box.
Kanbei Katayama saw Katsu Kaishu turning a few knobs on the black box, and a rustling sound began to come from the black box.
"Sir, I am Katsu Kaishu. Over."
After a while, Zhao Xin's voice came from the black box: "How is the situation? It's over."
Under Katayama Kanbei's surprised gaze, Katsu Kaishu reported the situation to Zhao Xin on the ship and relayed Katayama's request. The noise of the electric current attracted Katayama's wife Dohe and two daughters outside the house. The three of them knelt down outside the barrier door and listened to what was going on in the house.
Through the door, Duohe only heard a man in the room say to his husband: "Katayama-kun, don't worry, I will protect your family. At worst, I can send them all to the ship."
"Ah?! What happened? Where are you taking yourself and your daughter?" Duohe was frightened. Ever since the husband came in in the morning, he, Sheng Haizhou and the other three had been staying in the house talking about things. What are all these talking about? !
With a "swish" sound, the barrier door was opened. Katayama looked at his wife and two children and said softly: "You all come in. I happen to have something to tell you."
...
In the afternoon, several of Katayama's men received a strange order. Katayama Kanbei asked them to go outside the town and select family men among the refugees who were waiting to die. No matter how many there were, they would be driven to the beach two miles south. The reward is one tael, and if the number of people reaches 5,000, another one tael will be rewarded.
What? The sun rises from the west? Several eyes came together and discussed in disbelief. When did Katayama-sama become so rich?
Could it be that he has figured it out and is planning to engage in rice smuggling? But it doesn’t take so many people to move rice.
No matter what, as long as you can get the money these days. A few Ming Ming and a dozen or so losers, holding their noses and busy all afternoon, more than 3,000 selected refugees were driven to the beach like zombies by these official officers holding ten hands and sticks.
Not long after these officials left, a patrol boat and two assault boats rolled up white waves and came quickly towards the beach.
