On this day, Cheng Da went to find Mou Rongtian and saw him practicing swordsmanship in the courtyard, so he stood aside and watched.
Mou Rongtian finished his stance, returned the sword to its sheath, and asked, "Cheng Baihu, is something wrong?"
Cheng Da said: "Master Qianhu, we have the whereabouts of Pang Yuchun."
Mou Rongtian said: "Say in the house."
The two entered the hall, and when Cheng Da turned around and closed the door, Mou Rong added, "Where is Pang Yuchun now?"
Cheng Dadao: "According to an informant's report, he met Pang Yuchun in Japan's Edo Castle six months ago. It seems that Pang Yuchun is really a spy for Japan. After failing to poison the king, he went to Japan."
Mou Rongtian asked: "Is this informant reliable?"
Cheng Da said: "This person has been working for us for several years and is absolutely reliable."
Mou Rongtian asked: "What does he do?"
Cheng Da said: "Tea seller."
Mou Rongtian asked: "Selling tea to Japan?"
Cheng Da said: "Yes."
Mou Rongtian asked: "What is the background of this person?"
Cheng Da said: "He is from Fujian, and his name is Min Can. His ancestors made a living by fishing. The court banned the sea and was not allowed to go into the sea. With his life cut off, he traveled thousands of miles to Japan to make a living.
“He discovered that Japanese people also liked drinking tea, especially the tea produced in Fujian, so he started selling tea.
"At the beginning, he had little capital and no customers, so his business was very small. But within a few years, it flourished. Now, his family is extremely wealthy and he has customers in all the major cities in Japan. His business is really big.
"
Mou Rongtian said: "It seems that this person's words are trustworthy. You go and prepare the ship. I want to go to Japan."
Korea and Japan face each other across the sea, and the sea distance is not far. As long as you sail through the narrow Korea Strait, you can reach Japan quickly. However, the two countries are hostile and there is no navigation between them, so they can only sneak across.
A few days later, Mou Rongtian and Shi Yi, accompanied by Cheng Da, went to Gyeongsang Province at the southeastern end of the Koryo Kingdom, and then took a boat to Geoje Island. This is a transit point for smugglers between Koryo and Japan, and there are many smuggling merchant ships bound for Japan.
.
Cheng Da found a smuggling merchant ship that took them a few days later and sailed to the Hirado Domain on Kyushu Island in Japan. They disembarked from the ship and landed, three by two, and arrived at Hirado Town, the Hirado Domain Hall.
This is an important maritime trade town in Japan, where merchants gather. In front of the town, Mou Rongtian pointed to a bronze statue less than one meter high on a high platform and asked Shi Yi: "Yanzi, do you know who this is?"
Seeing the bronze statue facing the vast blue waves of the sea, Shi Yi raised his right hand, with no expression on his gloomy face, and said, "Who is this grandson?"
Mou Rongtian asked Cheng Da again: "Cheng Baihu, you don't know, right?"
Cheng Da said: "Hey, isn't he the old thief Wang Zhi?"
Shi Yi said: "The name sounds like we are from the Central Plains?"
Mou Rongtian said: "He is indeed from the Central Plains."
Shi Yi said: "What does this grandson do?"
Mou Rongtian said: "This guy was a famous pirate leader during the Jiajing period. He was later captured and executed by the imperial court."
Shi Yi said: "It turns out that this grandson is such a high-ranking person."
When the three of them entered the town, Mou Rongtian saw a hotel with "Zheng's Old Inn" written on its front and thought to himself, "This should be owned by people from the Central Plains." So he walked in.
A middle-aged man in his thirties saw them wearing Hanfu and asked in Chinese: "Are some of the guests staying at the hotel?"
Mou Rongtian asked: "Is there a separate courtyard?"
The shopkeeper said: "Yes, yes, but the price is a little high."
Mou Rongtian asked: "Do you accept Zhongyuan's money?"
The shopkeeper said: "Yes, but we only accept cash, not banknotes."
In addition to gold, silver and copper coins, the Ming Empire also printed treasure banknotes, named Ming Tongbao, which had six denominations, namely one Guan, five hundred Wen, three hundred Wen, two hundred Wen and one hundred Wen.
Mou Rongtian asked: "How much does it cost per day?"
The shopkeeper said: "Two hundred coins."
Mou Rongtian asked: "Take us to see the yard?"
The shopkeeper said: "Wait a moment." Then he shouted into the back room: "Long'er."
A boy of about ten years old jumped out of the house carrying a small wooden sword and said: "Dad, what's the matter?"
The shopkeeper said: "Take these guests to Dongkua Courtyard to have a look."
The boy said to Mou Rongtian and the others: "Please come with me, my guests."
Mou Rongtian saw that the child had a very cute tiger-like head and a tiger-like brain. He liked it very much, so he asked, "What's your name, child? How old is he?"
The child led them back and said, "My name is Zheng Zhilong. I am ten years old this year."
Mou Rongtian asked: "Is the shop owner your father?"
Little Zheng Zhilong said "hmm".
Mou Rongtian asked: "What is his name?"
Little Zheng Zhilong said: "My father's name is Zheng Shaozu."
Mou Rongtian asked: "Where is your hometown?"
Xiao Zheng Zhilong said: "Quanzhou, Fujian."
Mou Rongtian asked: "Why are you here?"
Little Zheng Zhilong smiled and said, "I can't survive anymore."
Mou Rongtian felt very uncomfortable when he heard this, and asked again: "Will you be bullied here?"
Little Zheng Zhilong pouted and said, "Why aren't you bullied? Those Japanese kids are bad and like to bully others." He waved the small wooden sword in his hand and said, "If they bully me, I will beat them."
Mou Rongtian asked: "Can you beat them?"
Little Zheng Zhilong said: "If you can't beat me, you have to beat me, otherwise they will think that I am easy to bully."
Mou Rongtian said: "Uncle will teach you a few tricks later. If they bully you again, beat them."
Shi Yi interjected: "Yes, beat the one raised by their maid."
Little Zheng Zhilong said happily: "Okay, let's beat them for raising them." Then he said to Shi Yi: "Uncle, what do you mean for raising them?"
Shi Yi smiled at little Zheng Zhilong and said, "Want to know?"
Little Zheng Zhilong nodded.
Just as Shi Yi was about to say it, Mou Rongtian interrupted: "Yanzi, why are you talking to your child about this? Don't teach him bad things."
Shi Yi laughed and said in a nonchalant manner: "Okay, if you don't want to talk, don't talk. Who told you to be a high-ranking official and me to be a junior one? A high-ranking official will crush others to death."
Seeing that Shi Yi didn't say anything, little Zheng Zhilong pulled him and asked: "Uncle, uncle, tell me quickly, what is raised by a maid? Why didn't you tell me?"
Shi Yi pointed at Mou Rongtian and said, "It's not that my uncle didn't want to tell me, it's that he didn't let me tell him."
Little Zheng Zhilong pulled Mou Rongtian back and said, "Uncle, let him speak."
Mou Rongtian said: "Your child is quite curious. This is not a good thing, even if you don't know. Don't ask anymore, otherwise uncle will not teach you martial arts."
Little Zheng Zhilong covered his mouth and did not dare to ask any more questions.
They came to the east cross courtyard. There was only a Japanese-style main room here, with adobe walls as high as one person. Mou Rongtian felt that the concealment was okay, so he said: "This is it." Then he said to Cheng Da: "Old Cheng, wait for us here.
Come back. If we don’t come back, you don’t have to go anywhere.”
Cheng Da said: "I understand, are you leaving today?"
Mou Rongtian said: "I'll pay the deposit and then leave. You can go inside and rest."
Cheng Da said: "Take care on the road."
Mou Rongtian and little Zheng Zhilong walked back, and little Zheng Zhilong said: "Uncle, when will you teach me martial arts?"
Mou Rongtian said: "Uncle, I still have something to do. I'll teach you when I'm done."
Xiao Zheng Zhilong said: "When can you come back?"
Mou Rongtian said: "It's impossible to tell."
Little Zheng Zhilong said: "Then I will wait for you, you must come back."
Mou Rongtian said: "Don't worry, kid, uncle will be back."
Arriving at the front house, Mou Rongtian said to shopkeeper Zheng, "Shopkeeper, we've moved in." He took out a silver coin and put it on the counter and said, "Here's the rent. You accept it first. If you don't have enough money, you can make up for it later."
Shopkeeper Zheng saw Yinzi and said with a smile: "Why are there so many? How long will the guest guest stay?"
Mou Rongtian said: "I can't tell."
Shopkeeper Zheng took out the money, weighed it, and said, "This is five taels and three cents, eight cents and five cents. I've written it down. If I don't use it up, I'll give it back to a few more people."
Mou Rongtian asked: "Is there a bank here? I would like to exchange some local money."
Shopkeeper Zheng said: "How much do you want to exchange? Is the amount large? If not, a small store can exchange it."
Mou Rongtian said: "It's about thirty taels, can I exchange it?"
Shopkeeper Zheng said: "Okay."
Mou Rongtian took out a few silver ingots and put them on the table. Shopkeeper Zheng passed them and said, "These are thirty-six taels, five cents and three cents. Do you want to exchange them all?"
Mou Rongtian said: "Replace everything."
Shopkeeper Zheng said: "Japanese silver is pure. The current market is that one tael of Central Plains silver is exchanged for eight cents and five cents of Japanese silver. Both houses have exchanged it this way. I will never deceive anyone."
Mou Rongtian asked: "What are two houses?"
Shopkeeper Zheng said: "It's a Japanese bank."
Mou Rongtian said: "We believe you, just change it."
Shopkeeper Zheng hesitated for a moment and said, "What do you guys do?"
Mou Rongtian said: "We heard that the tea business in Japan is easy to do, and we would like to come and inspect it."
Seeing that shopkeeper Zheng looked troubled and refused to exchange money, Mou Rongtian said: "What's wrong shopkeeper, are you worried that we are robbers? Don't worry, we are all kind people. If you have concerns, then we will go
I'll change the money elsewhere, so I won't bother you."
Shopkeeper Zheng was worried. He saw that Mou Rongtian and Shi Yi were tall and powerful, and they were unfamiliar faces. They had never dealt with each other before, and he felt unsure, fearing that the money he took out would be robbed by the other party.
After hearing Mou Rongtian reveal his thoughts, shopkeeper Zheng smiled awkwardly and said: "What did this guest officer say? How could I think that way? I just remembered that I don't have so much cash at home, so I can't exchange it for you two.
"Do you think this is a good idea? I can take the silver to a nearby replacement house and exchange it for you?"
Mou Rongtian said: "Then I'll trouble the shopkeeper."
Shopkeeper Zheng said: "Hey, there is no need to be polite. You guys live in the shop, so I should serve you guys."
Mou Rongtian added: "The shopkeeper will buy two more Japanese clothes and trousers by the way. No robes, just shorts. They don't have to be too good, they just need to be comfortable."
Shopkeeper Zheng saw that Mou Rongtian and Shi Yi were both tall, so he smiled bitterly and said, "It's not easy for you two to buy Japanese clothes and pants with your figures. I'll try my best to help you find them."
Mou Rongtian said: "Thank you."
Shopkeeper Zheng asked his son to look after the house and went to buy some money and clothes for Mou Rong. He walked for more than an hour before he came back with a pile of clothes in his hand. As soon as he entered the door, he said: "It's not easy to find clothes you can wear.
Why are you so tall? I’m afraid not one of you among a thousand people in Japan can see you."
Mou Rongtian thought to himself: "Height is an issue. It's too eye-catching, but there's nothing we can do about it. We can't just saw off both legs."
He took the money and clothes from shopkeeper Zheng, changed them with Shi Yi, then left the inn, climbed on his mount, and left Hirado Town for Edo Castle.
They ran all the way from west to east, and finally arrived outside Edo City, the capital of Japan, in the morning. Mou Rongtian was not in a hurry to enter the city, but stayed at the Zhao family's old store on the outskirts of the city. Compared with the city, he felt
Living in the suburbs is more secluded and safer.
[Author's digression]: Dear readers, if you have not voted for your recommendation today,
If you still keep it in your bag, please vote for "Iron-blooded Guards". Zhainan would like to thank everyone here.