Late Ming Dynasty: Conquering the world starting from riding and cutting

Under the bright sunshine of Kyushu, several samurai from the Saga family were staggering drunkenly on the road between several villages, staggering towards a destination that they didn't even know where they were.

Looking at the poor peasants working hard in the fields, the warriors didn't know what they thought of. They joked with each other a few words, burst into bursts of wild laughter, and then moved forward again.

The farmers who were busy planting rice seedlings in the fields dared to raise their heads when they saw the drunkards walking away. They breathed a sigh of relief, wiped the sweat from their heads and faces under their bamboo hats, and looked at the staggering backs of the group. He spat into the muddy water of the paddy field with disdain.

"A bunch of Yeku brats, Malu! Who knows if the drinking money was sent back from Keelung by my daughter!"

Ever since the Saga family began to engage in marriage introduction and labor export, the lives of the samurai in the Saga domain seemed to be much easier than before.

In the past, I didn't dare to eat roast chicken or drink sake, but now I'm starting to make a fuss about it.

Let the izakaya business in the domain flourish!

The reason why this is possible is that firstly, the lord's salary can be paid out in full and on time, and secondly, those who have daughters as wives and concubines in Keelung can send back some Keelung Tongbao and cloth to support their families.

But those samurai masters who only had Taro, Jiro, and Dairo at home were envious of their colleagues who had daughters at home.

"Alas! It's a pity that the gentlemen of Keelung only want the daughters of samurai lords. No matter how beautiful the daughters of us are, they won't be able to fit on the big sailing ship bound for Keelung!"

A farmer bent down and inserted the seedlings in his hands into the muddy water.

In an era dominated by agriculture, Japan was an absolutely barren country.

Even in the 20th century, when Japan claimed to be a great power in East Asia, it could not completely take care of its own food and needed to import a large amount of food from abroad.

What makes Japan so barren is the terrain.

If Fujian has three mountains, six rivers and one farmland, then Japan has six mountains, three rivers and one farmland, with many mountains, hills and small plains.

There are few plains, so there is less area for farming and less food production. This is why Japanese daimyo like to use stone heights to reflect their military power.

The more food there is, the more ashigaru can be fed. When there are more people, they will naturally become overlords. This is why Honshu Island is the best at producing overlords.

Kyushu is the most barren island in Japan.

As a typical geographical environment with many mountains and little land, paddy fields are all located in the mountains, scattered here and there, and their utilization efficiency is low. Moreover, at this time, Japanese farmers did not have the habit of building terraces in the hills.

Under the scorching heat of the Pacific summer sun near the equator, the farmers of the Saga family worked diligently in the paddy fields till noon, sweat dripping from the weeds.

However, according to the distribution standard of public, four, and six, farmers must give 40% of their land harvest to the samurai masters, and three of the remaining six floors must pay their share of land rent.

Apart from these two expenses, the remaining three floors are your own income.

In this era when there are no cold-resistant rice seeds or double-cropping rice, one year's harvest really cannot feed a family, and farmers can only struggle to survive. There is really no idle land in the world, and farmers are starving to death.

Fortunately, not long ago, the general of Kobe suddenly issued a benevolent order to the daimyo and feudal lords in his territory, allowing farmers to use various special products as payment for 40% of the harvest they submitted. Such an order has gained unprecedented popularity in the Saga Domain. With the promotion, farmers seemed to take a breath, and there were a few more rice grains in the multigrain rice.

Although it can't be compared with the samurai men who can open a pork porcelain head from Keelung for ten or eight days, invite a few friends to drink Keelung's fruit wine, and get drunk.

However, such a life is enough to satisfy the farmers.

"Da Lang! Stop being lazy! Take the time to plant rice! You are not someone you can offend, the samurai!"

Da Lang, who had just despised the drunken samurai, heard his father yelling behind him, so he had to bend down and continue to work hard to plant rice. The moment he bent down, he clearly saw a few ripples from his sweat beads on the water. .

Such a life with an end in sight is not what he wants to live. Although he despises it, Dalang also wants to be like those samurai, eating big chunks of meat and drinking from big bowls.

A strange feeling sprouted in his heart.

"Excuse me, is this Xiachuan Village?"

Suddenly, a voice came from the road beside the paddy field asking questions. Judging from the accent, it should be someone from other towns of the Saga family. It was not like the voices of people from the three villages in their town.

"Yes, this is Xiachuan Village."

Dalang took the opportunity to answer other people's questions and raised his head again to get a chance for himself to straighten his waist and rest for a while.

"Excuse me, where in the village is the Jiro family at the entrance of the village?"

"There are several Jiro at the entrance of Xiachuan Village. Which one are you talking about? Kojiro or Ojiro?"

Dalang looked at the visitor with great interest. What was different from others was that there was a flag behind the visitor, which was somewhat similar to the appearance of the samurai men when they went to war.

There were several words painted on the flag, which was blowing in and out of shape in the wind, but it was hard to see clearly. There was a large package on its back, which looked quite heavy.

"It should be Jiro who lives by the well in the village. There is only one mother in the family."

"Oh! I mean Si Nei!"

"This is Jiro Iguchi, he is a good friend of mine. Do you have anything to do with him?"

Half a year ago, Jiro Iguchi and Dairo Inada secretly said that life in Shimokawa Village was not easy and he could no longer support his wife. He planned to find a job in the town, but he soon disappeared from the village, and his wife was still there. I cried several times and now my eyes can’t work.

Now someone is looking for him, I don't know if it's a blessing or a curse.

"Yes! I am Okamoto from Santong Post Office! Please take care of me!"

While Okamoto bowed to greet Dalang, he pointed out the words "Three Links Post Office" printed on the clothes behind him to Dalang, asking him to verify his identity.

"Post office? What do you want from Jiro?"

"It's like this. Jiro from the Iguchi family in Xiachuan Village is now working in Keelung. He sent his wages back through our post office and asked to meet his mother in person."

"Oh, that's it, then I'll take you there!"

Although he didn't know what the post office did, he definitely wasn't a bad person if he came to deliver money. Dalang was even a little bit happy because he borrowed a sum of money from Jiro Iguchi when he went out to make a living.

In front of Jiro's low thatched house, people in the village sat around the fence of Jiro's house, chattering.

"This man is here to give away money. How is it possible that he would not keep it for himself once he has the money, and come all the way to give away money?"

"Who cares about him, just give me the money. Jiro Iguchi borrowed a lot from me, so I should pay him back now."

"What, he also asked you to borrow money?"

"Huh? You borrowed it too!"

Dalang learned the news from a young man in the same village, but before running away, Jiro Iguchi told him that he was the only one who lent money.

Only when the villagers gathered together did they find out that Jiro Iguchi had borrowed a sum of money from everyone and asked them to take care of their old mother.

This trick of the White Wolf with empty gloves is really amazing!

road!

"Our Santong Post Office is an organization affiliated to Qinhan merchants in Keelung. It is responsible for letter and express delivery services. The Santong Post Office in Jiuzhou was just opened half a month ago and is responsible for business from Keelung to Jiuzhou! I have also just returned from training in Keelung. , this is my first day at work, please take care of me!”

Okamoto scratched his head and bowed deeply to the whole village!

He also felt very happy in his heart. This job was something his family had to find with great difficulty. It allowed him to go to Keelung and see the world.

Okamoto still remembers that on the first day he went to the post office to report, he met Mr. Saga Chaoichi personally visiting the post office.

"Your post office has brought a lot of benefits to the people and warriors of Kyushu, and it has also soothed the hearts of many mothers. Therefore, I told all places before that that your post office stores and your merchants and messengers should be treated equally. Be strictly protected!

No one, including me, may infringe upon the property of the courier or the post office!

Once someone dares to attack the post office or courier, they are the enemies of my Saga family! I swear to punish him to death and will never tolerate him! "

With Saga Chaoichi's words, the Saga clan naturally took the lead and followed, and the ronin more or less knew that these people wearing green cloth were the objects of attention of the Saga family and did not dare to intrude.

Jiro's mother heard that her long-lost son suddenly had news and that she also sent someone to deliver something. She was so happy that she didn't know what to say. However, Dalang had some ideas. He looked at Okamoto and asked He said, "Okamoto-kun, you said Jiro has something, so what are they? Where are the things?"

"Jiro Jun from Xiachuan Village works in Keelung. He bought some cloth with his income and entrusted our post office to deliver it to his mother. In addition to the cloth, there is also some food and money."

As Okamoto spoke, he put down the package behind him and started rummaging through it.

"With the letter, I give you ten guan of Keelung Tongbao money as my salary, as well as a piece of cotton cloth and three porcelain heads made of meat."

Okamoto handed two pieces of cloth to Jiro's mother and asked her to check whether there were any defects in the cloth.

How could Jiro's mother have ever seen such fine cotton?

Weigh it with your hands. Is it possible that a piece of cloth weighs ten kilograms?

I opened my eyes and took a closer look. This cotton cloth made of fine cotton threads was countless times better than what the women of the local master's family wore.

Then she hugged her tightly, fearing that others would snatch her away.

From the big package on his back, Okamoto took out the Shiguan Keelung Tongbao and three meat porcelain heads mentioned in Jiro's letter, which immediately made the whole village exclaim again.

They are so poor, haha, how have they ever seen so much money? Everyone is drooling when they see it!

One Keelung Tongbao weighs one coin, which is five grams, and one thousand Keelung Tongbao weighs five kilograms!

Putting ten pieces of money in front of people is no less than a small mountain of money suddenly appearing in front of them.

Seeing the money in front of her, Jiro's mother almost fainted with happiness. She grabbed her son's friend Dalang, "Dalang, please! Please pinch me!"

"It's true! Jiro brought it back to you!"

The huge commotion in the village naturally couldn't escape the ears of the local master, who also hurried over to inquire about the news.

Dead country one!

That old boy Jiro Iguchi seems to have a future!

Naturally, the landowner knew more than these poor peasants. When he went up to the town to have a drink with his master, he heard that there was a big commotion up there.

It seemed that the master's master's master had changed. He couldn't figure out how many masters it was. Anyway, it was the master of Keelung, and he said that life would be better in the future.

At first he didn't believe it, but now it seems that it is really possible!

Dalang's father quietly walked up to the landowner and asked in a low voice whether he should stay with the post office owner for lunch so that Jiro's mother could learn more about her son's situation outside.

"Well, let's do it!"

So, a bag of rice was generously brought out by the local man, and he ordered people to steam the rice. Xiachuan Village wanted to treat the post office man to dinner today!

Pure white rice without adulteration of radish, pickles, etc. was put on the table, which greatly moved Okamoto of Santong Post Office. He stood up and bowed to express his gratitude to Jiro's mother and the landowner.

The local man generously ordered his daughter to bring a bottle of Keelung sake from the cupboard at home, and he wanted to get drunk with Okamoto.

After drinking a few glasses of wine by exchanging wine glasses the size of copper coins, the local man, as the person who stamped the return receipt to the post office, took advantage of the wine excitement and began to ask Okamoto about Iguchi Jiro's situation in Keelung.

"He is a smart boy and speaks Chinese well. Now he is working as a foreman in a coal mine in Keelung. He usually shouts and drinks, and he is very impressive."

"You're really promising!" The landowner couldn't help but feel a little bit jealous in his heart. If he hadn't been older now, he would have gone out to do something.

After having enough wine and food, Okamoto said goodbye to the local master and went to Iguchi's house.

"Jiro asked me to tell you! You must keep the copper coins you get from Keelung Tongbao! If you take them to the town and exchange them for silver with the townspeople, remember that the usual money can be exchanged for one, two, eight, and two silvers. If you don't want it for less than this amount, Instead, don’t let those black-hearted townspeople deceive you!”

"What about this fine cloth?" Jiro's mother asked as she held out the fine cloth.

"Fine cloth?! This is a good thing that makes the townspeople's eyes bleed! On the way here, two or three groups of peddlers caught up with me and asked, if it weren't for my identity, I would have been eaten up long ago. If If you sell it, you’ll get a small gold medal for about one or two pieces, but don’t sell it if it’s less.”

"And the Keelung meat porcelain heads! The warrior gentlemen bought them from Keelung and sold ten of them for one tael of silver. At the price here, about ten of them are enough for a year's harvest! Gold is expensive, so save some food."

In the twilight, Dalang sent Okamoto out of the village. Along the way, he kept asking about the way to work in Keelung. Okamoto knew everything and told Qin and Han merchants about setting up shops in Kyushu and recruiting laborers. The rice field Dalang.

"We are recruiting people there now, and the conditions are three meals a day, enough rice, one egg every three days, and one meal of fish and pork a week. As for wages, they are paid every two months, and every quarter. There are clothes and shoes.”

"Anyway, there are a lot of benefits. If you plan to go, go to Mr. Saga's main city as soon as possible. Our post office has a store there, and you can sign up for the test there."

With such a salary and benefits, and Jiro's living example in front of him, Inada Dalang couldn't help but be tempted. If he comes back from working in Keelung for a few years, can he marry the daughter of the local family as his wife?

However, at this time, the local master was also thinking of a similar idea.

He wants to sell his daughter.

Oh, no, I want to find a son-in-law in Keelung.

"Master Judge, I would like to ask for your help to find a way for my daughter to find an in-law's family in Keelung."

Outside the main city of the Saga family, in an izakaya, Ji Tou spoke condescendingly to the judge who was six hundred koku in the city.

The judge glanced at a piece of cotton cloth placed on the table at the end of the field. He bought it from Jiro's mother without being fooled, and it cost him two small gold coins!

"The affairs of the bride going to Keelung are all handled by that despicable guy Yuichi Saga, and I have no control over it." The judge accepted the gift from the field with a smile, "But don't be discouraged, I have a job here. If you do well, you may be promoted to an official and make a fortune. If you are promoted, you will be given a daughter. "

"Lord Judge, look!" Tutou took out a small gold coin and put it into the judge's sleeve with a flattering look on his face.

"Okay, since you are so proactive, I will order someone to send you an appointment letter when I get back."

"Thank you, sir!" He bowed down and asked cautiously, "What's the errand?"

"conscription!"

The two words that came out of the judge's mouth made him stunned and made his hair stand on end.

Recalling the previous conscription, several adults with official positions of three hundred dan were beaten to death by angry people with sticks. The ground trembled all over. He stood up slightly and suppressed his fear and asked, "My lord, are you kidding me?" Bar."

"Be prepared early, there is going to be a war in the territory." After leaving a sentence, the judge left the izakaya without looking back.

Tutou sat slumped on the wooden board, as if he had lost his soul, and kept muttering, "Red deer, red deer"

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