I was a swordsman in ancient Japan

Page 848

"Tachibana." Matsudaira Sadanobu took off his high hat, "Is there any tea?"

"Yes!" Tachibana nodded vigorously, and then quickly brought a cup of hot tea to Matsudaira Sadanobu.

Matsudaira Sadanobu sat cross-legged on the ground in a more casual posture, and took small sips of tea.

Tachibana, who was kneeling beside him, quietly looked at Matsudaira Sadanobu's obviously tired face, and then couldn't help complaining softly:

"Whether it's His Majesty the Emperor or the ministers of the court, they don't understand your hard work, my lord..."

"His Majesty the Emperor must want to take revenge for the Zunhao incident two years ago!"

Songping Dingxin smiled at what his surname said, and then said slowly: "Just bear with their noise."

Although the emperor has no real power, he is the nominal head of state after all.

From a legal point of view, the Edo shogunate only borrowed the power to manage the whole country from the emperor.

Logically speaking, everything belonging to the Edo Shogunate and the vassal states, be it money or the army, belonged to the Emperor. The Emperor could take back the power of the country from the Edo Shogunate at any time. Of course, it was only logically speaking.

Therefore, facing the emperor, some necessary face must be given to him.

For example, this time, the Edo Shogunate suffered a major defeat that had never been seen since its establishment. Although it was not hurt, it was completely embarrassing.

He was actually defeated by an Ogata Yishi.

The emperor personally questioned the shogunate about this humiliating defeat.

In order to save face for the emperor, Matsudaira Sadanobu had to go to Kyoto in person to explain to the emperor the whole story and the reasons for the fiasco.

Matsudaira Sadanobu knew that a considerable part of the reason why the emperor would personally question this matter must be to retaliate against him.

The previous emperor: Emperor Hou Taoyuan died young, had no children, and the immediate royal family became extinct, so Prince Kanenhito took over as the current emperor.

Two years ago, Emperor Kanenhito wanted to grant his father the title of "Emperor Taishang", but Matsudaira Sadanobu tried his best to block it on the grounds of "violating ethics".

Because he could not reach the power of Matsudaira Sadanobu, the emperor had no choice but to give up in the end.

This incident is now known as the "Zunhao incident". Since this incident, the relationship between Matsudaira Sadanobu and the emperor has been extremely poor.

Now that he has finally come across something that can disgust Matsudaira Sadanobu, how could the Emperor just let it go?

He couldn't do anything about Matsudaira Sadanobu, but Matsudaira Sadanobu was disgusting, and he could still do it.

Even though he knew that the emperor's questioning this time must have bad intentions, Matsudaira Sadanobu could only bite the bullet and rush to Kyoto.

Today's meeting with the emperor, which lasted for half a day, was nothing more than the emperor's constant censure of Matsudaira, while Matsudaira kept bowing his head, saying that he would take full responsibility.

When there was only half of the tea in the cup, Matsudaira Sadanobu drank the remaining tea in one breath, and then handed back the empty teacup to Tachibana.

"His Majesty the Emperor and the ministers of the court don't need to pay too much attention."

Matsudaira Sadanobu said slowly.

"They can only open their mouths and say some noisy words."

"What they say, just go in one ear and out the other."

"Compared to them, the guys who are really troublesome are all in Edo."

Having said that, Matsudaira Sadanobu's expression became serious.

"After knowing the failure of the war in the north, those who hate me must be like cats smelling fish now..."

"These people who are waiting for the opportunity and ready to pull me off the horse at any time are the big threat and the big trouble."

"Tachibana, go and make arrangements tonight. By tomorrow morning, I will see that our team is ready to return to Edo at any time."

"Are you going back to Edo tomorrow?" Tachibana asked in surprise.

Matsudaira Sadanobu nodded: "His Majesty has already seen it, and there is no reason to stay in Kyoto anymore. Since there is no reason to stay here, then go back as soon as possible."

"Yes." Tachibana nodded vigorously, "I understand, I will make arrangements immediately!"

Matsudaira Sadanobu, who nodded slightly, was about to wave his hand to signal Tachibana to leave first, when a loud announcement suddenly sounded outside the door:

"My lord! Here is an urgent message from Dasaka Castle!"

The owner of this voice is one of Matsudaira Sadanobu's personal attendants.

"Osaka Joyo?" Matsudaira Sadanobu frowned slightly.

One of the prominent official positions of Osaka Castle and Kyoto Soji.

Responsible for monitoring the shogunate daimyos who are weaker than the shogunate.

"Bring it up."

"Yes!"

The attendant opened the door, then quickly rushed to Matsudaira Takanobu holding a sealed envelope, and presented the letter with both hands.

Matsudaira Sadanobu took the letter, and after confirming that the seal was correct, he handsomely opened the envelope with one hand and pulled out the letter paper.

The urgent letter sent by Osaka Castle to the old middle school is definitely not a greeting letter to the old middle school to greet the old middle school and flatter the old middle school.

Tachibana wanted to see what was written in this letter.

But without the permission of the old man, he is just a mere surname, so it is naturally impossible for him to be qualified to read the content of the letter.

So Tachibana could only suppress her curiosity and wait quietly.

Matsudaira Sadanobu's reading speed was very fast, and he put down the letter in his hand after a while.

"... Tachibana, the formation of tomorrow will be changed." Matsudaira Sadanobu said calmly.

"Huh?" Tachibana was surprised.

"I won't be going back to Edo tomorrow." Sadanobu Matsudaira squinted his eyes slightly, and his eyes were shining brightly. "Tomorrow, I will change my route to the south, to Osaka."

……

……

The Kinki Plain, where Kyoto and Osaka are located, has been fully developed thousands of years ago. This area can be regarded as one of the most developed areas in Japan.

Ogata thought it would take them about 3 days to reach Osaka, but because the infrastructure between Kyoto and Osaka is so good that it far exceeds his imagination, there are straight roads everywhere, So in the end, it took only 2 and a half days to arrive at the destination of their trip, Osaka.

Osaka, in a certain busy city

"Is this Osaka..." Ogata raised the bamboo hat on his head slightly, and looked at everything around him.

&nbbsp; Ogata, Acho, and Azuki have never been to Osaka, and these three people are looking at this strange city like a country bumpkin who has just entered the city. Only Fumo is calm Look, walk in the forefront and lead the way for the two of them.

"Look! The latest Nanban glass beads!"

"Kumamoto's Tangerines! Kumamoto's Tangerines!"

"Soba in Edo! The most authentic Edo soba!"

……

Because it is in a downtown area, I let out a cigarette and looked at both sides of the street, and there are shops and merchants hawking loudly everywhere.

Because it was in Osaka, the most authentic Kansai dialect was passed into Ogata's ears, which made Ogata feel strange and inexplicable, as if there were many A-machi talking...

"It really is the kitchen of the world..." Azuki, who was walking beside Ogata, murmured at this time, "Glass beads from Nanban, oranges from Kumamoto, soba noodles from Edo, crabs from Oshu... really can I saw goods from all over the world in Osaka..."

As soon as he entered Osaka, Ogata keenly felt that although it is one of the "three major cities" as famous as Kyoto and Edo, the atmosphere in the air of Osaka is very distinct from the atmosphere of the other two cities. different.

To be precise, it should be said that the atmospheres of the three cities are all different.

The reason why the atmospheres of the three cities are different is probably related to the different labels of the three cities.

If the label of Kyoto, the ancient capital of thousands of years, is culture, and the label of Edo, the ruling center of the Tokugawa shogunate, is politics, then the label of Osaka is probably economy.

Osaka is located in the Kinki Plain, adjacent to the sea, with extremely convenient waterway transportation, and it is just located in the middle of Japan. This unique geographical location makes Osaka a "distribution base" for collecting and distributing materials from all over the country.

In Osaka, you can see goods from all over the world, especially specialties from all over the world, so it is called "the kitchen of the world".

As a giant economic city, Osaka has also attracted and cultivated a large number of giant businessmen who can be said to be incomparably rich.

These giant merchants in Osaka are so terrifying that the folks have a common saying: When the merchants in Osaka are angry, all the princes of the world are shocked.

Due to the defects of the system, the gradual collapse of the small peasant economy and the emergence of capitalism, most of the vassal states have fallen into a financial dilemma to this day.

In order to get rid of the bankruptcy of the vassal government, a large number of vassal states had to rely on borrowing money from the giant merchants in Osaka, including the powerful vassals like Satsuma.

The total number of stones in the Satsuma clan is 77 stones, and it is one of the most powerful clans in the world. However, in essence, the finances of the Satsuma clan have always been ugly, and they have always owed an astonishing amount of debts.

It is estimated that the Satsuma clan has already owed 500 million taels of gold to the outside world. Even if they don't spend a penny for the entire year, it will take hundreds of years to pay off...

It is precisely because most of the vassal states are now relying on borrowing money from the giant merchants in Osaka that there is a saying that "when the merchants in Osaka are angry, all the princes in the world are shocked".

If one day, all these giant merchants in Osaka stop borrowing money from the feudal states, then more than half of the feudal states in the world will directly collapse financially, and the feudal lords will no longer be able to afford porridge.

"How?" At this time, Fumo, who was walking in front, suddenly turned around and chatted with Ogata and the others, "Isn't the city of Osaka very lively?"

Ogata nodded: "Well, it is indeed more energetic than Kyoto and Edo."

"I have seriously thought about moving here in Osaka before." Fumo said with a smile, "Compared to Kyoto, I actually prefer Osaka, which is more lively. But in the end, my moving plan was due to various reasons. And let it go."

"I'm the opposite." Ogata smiled, "I like Kyoto more than Osaka."

"Oh? Why?" Feng Mo cast a curious look at Ogata.

"There is no special reason. How should I explain it to you... Simply put, I prefer the more relaxed and slower-paced atmosphere of Kyoto."

Having said that, Ogata changed into a half-joking tone:

"If one day in the future, I want to find a place to settle down, I might choose Kyoto as my place of residence."

"Hehehe. Do you live in Kyoto..." Feng Mo laughed again, "The prices in Kyoto are very expensive."

……

……

While talking and laughing, they finally arrived in front of an ordinary-looking carpenter's shop

This carpentry shop was opened by Xianbingwei, Feng Mo's old subordinate.

Feng Moben was going to be invited by his old subordinate to visit his old subordinate in Osaka, and at the same time help Ogata to find the said to be very powerful swordsmith: Yuji.

So after arriving in Osaka, they planned to meet Xianbingwei first, and then go to find Yuer slowly.

Xianbingwei has excellent carpentry skills. Before Fuma Zhili was disbanded, Fuma and the others relied on paste umbrellas and wooden crafts made by Xianbingwei to subsidize the expenses of Fuma Zhili.

After Fuma disbanded Fuma Village, Xianbingwei took his family and moved to Osaka, where he opened a small carpenter's shop, which has remained to this day.

Ogata and Atachi: "Mr. Senbingwei, long time no see."

Ogata and Atachi, who had met Senbei in Kyoto last summer, saluted him after seeing him for a long time.

When Xianbingwei saw that Ogata came here with Fengmo, he was surprised at first, then quickly reacted, and entertained them very warmly.

Ogata and A-machi had only met Xianbingwei who had visited Fuma in Kyoto last summer, and they were not very familiar with him, and Azuki didn't even know him.

So in order to avoid embarrassment, and to leave enough space for Fumo and his old subordinate to reminisce about the old times, Ogata, Acho, and Azuku briefly greeted Xianbingwei and left Xianbingwei. Carpenter's shop in my hometown, hang out in the streets to pass the time.

After a while, they passed a tea house that kept emitting a pleasant smell of tea.

The three people who were so saliva by the aroma of the tea got into the tea house, found a seat at random, ordered 3 cups of tea and a few plates of dim sum, and watched the streets with people coming and going outside the tea house, while having a Chatting with each other.

"I always feel that the people in Osaka are very enthusiastic and cheerful." Azuki said, holding hot tea with both hands and sipping it, "It's very different from the people in Kyoto."

"Perhaps this is the character of Osaka people." Ogata picked up a stick of glutinous rice dumpling and stuffed it into his mouth.

"The Kansai dialect spoken by people in Osaka is quite different from my Kansai dialect." Because there were a lot of glutinous rice balls stuffed into his mouth, Ah-cho spoke a little vaguely.

The three of them were all very interested in the city they visited for the first time. The three of them quickly drank the tea in their respective cups and cleaned up all the snacks they bought, and planned to continue to visit various places in Osaka.

But the three of them just left the door of the tea house

"Wow wow ah ah ah ah ah!"

The three of them heard the sound of wailing coming from the door of the teahouse.

The three people who were startled by the cry hurriedly followed the sound to see that the owner of the cry was a little girl who was only about 12 years old.

She hugged a big package, crouched by the gate of the tea house, buried her face in the big package in her arms, and cried loudly.

The girl's cry not only shocked the three of Ogata and the others, but also the passers-by around, but almost everyone looked away after glancing at the little girl, and continued to do their own things except Xu. Fang them 3 people.

"Little girl, what's the matter with you?" A-Ming walked over quickly, bent down and patted the little girl's back.

Suddenly a stranger came forward, and the little girl was so startled that even her crying stopped for a moment.

Maybe it's because A-Machi is pretty, so she looks particularly friendly. Under A-Machi's kind words and persuasion, the little girl gradually explained the reason for her crying.