Chapter 597 Kinoshita Mai: Sanako! You stinky bitch! You
Sell me out!【5100】
"Uniform? Military flag?"
Serizawa raised his eyebrows vigorously, then showed a bored expression.
He rested his right elbow on his right leg, raised his right arm, rested his chin on his right palm, and played with the big iron fan he carried with him in his left hand.
"That's it for the military flag. For things like uniforms, wouldn't it be enough to design just one?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Shannan Keisuke, who was sitting on Qingden's left hand side, shook his head:
"Serizawa-kun, you are wrong. Uniforms are the face of an army. A conspicuous and impressive uniform will be of great benefit to the image of our army."
After Isamu Kondo finished speaking, Hachiro Qinghe added:
"Yes, the design of uniforms and military flags cannot be careless!"
As these two cultural figures expressed their opinions one after another, eyes with different emotions wandered in the air of the conference room.
Some people's faces are full of "it doesn't matter", "anything is fine", "Does this kind of trivial matter require a special meeting? Let's end it quickly!". For example, Saito Kazuo, and another example is Serizawa Kamo.
There were also some people who looked happy and eager to try. Typical representatives were Souji, Mai Kinoshita and Sanosuke Harada.
At this time, Hijikata Toshizo interrupted:
"Tachibana, do you have any specific ideas about the style of uniforms?"
Qingdeng replied quickly without thinking:
"Although Prime Minister Yagi Gennosei is willing to order military flags and uniforms for us for free, I don't want them to spend too much money."
"I intend to form a long-term relationship with each other that helps each other."
"If a lion opens its mouth wide, it will offend the other person."
"Therefore, I plan to design a set of standard feather fabrics first."
"As for the hakama, lining, and other parts of clothing, let's leave it to later."
"Speaking of which...do we really need to accept assistance from that Yagi?"
"From the moment we accept someone's assistance, no matter how much money we spend, we owe it to that person."
"To be honest, I don't really like this feeling of being indebted to others."
"Although our current military budget is very tight, we should still have enough money to make a military flag and hundreds of sets of clothes, right?"
——You put it easily! If you are not a householder, you don’t know how expensive firewood and rice are!
Qingdeng thought to himself angrily, then changed into a helpless tone and said unhurriedly:
"Harada-kun, it's not a bad thing to accept people's kindness in a timely manner."
"If you don't have enough money and care too much, you don't want people to owe you or owe others, but you will let the precious friendship you have have be lost."
"Yagi Gennosei is willing to order military flags and uniforms for us for free - this shows that the other party is showing goodwill to us and intends to form a strong, win-win friendship with us."
"And by accepting others' kindness, we can send the message to them that 'we are willing to help each other.'"
"In this way, this transaction has become a stepping stone in the relationship between the two parties."
"On the other hand, if we ignore all the other party's overtures of good will, the other party will not be able to grasp our ideas, which will make it difficult for the relationship between the two parties to move forward."
"Sometimes you help me, sometimes I help you - that's how many friendships are born."
After Harada Sanosuke listened, he nodded slightly as if he didn't understand.
"I see...I understand!"
"Well, as long as you understand."
"In other words, we need to eat more of other people's food, use other people's food, and take other people's food!"
Okay, he didn't understand.
Qingdeng let out a long sigh.
Even Hachiro Kiyokawa, Kamo Serizawa and Nishiki Shinmi, who are not members of the Imperial Guard School, also know that Sanosuke Harada is an idiot with a weak brain.
Therefore, even though Harada Sanosuke said something extremely stupid, no one showed any surprise.
The scene is exceptionally harmonious.
"Okay, let's get back to the topic!"
Qingden clapped his palms vigorously, attracting everyone's attention.
"I have only two requirements for the style of feather fabrics."
"One, it's best to have a color that's eye-catching enough."
“Two, it’s best to have a profound and inspiring meaning in it.”
"As Jingsuke said just now, military flags and uniforms are the face of an army."
"A uniform that is eye-catching, lovable, and contains profound meanings will bring a good impression to the public, and thus greatly enhance the public's goodwill towards us."
"Next, please feel free to discuss and speak freely!"
As soon as he said this, there was a lot of discussion in the conference room.
Everyone was either thinking alone or discussing with the people around them.
"Todo-kun, what do you think?"
Inoue Genzaburo turned his head and asked Toudo Heisuke on his left.
Toudo Heisuke smiled bitterly:
"Sorry, I don't know anything about clothing..."
Kinoshita Wu rubbed her palms together - I really want to share my thoughts with others - such a sentence was almost printed on her pretty face.
However...she turned her head and looked to her left and right.
People with odd-numbered squad numbers sit in one row, and people with even-numbered squad numbers sit in the opposite row.
Because Kinoshita Mai is the captain of the ninth division, she is the one at the end of the odd-numbered queue, so there is air to her left, and to her right sits the captain of the seventh division...that is, Sanako.
Kinoshita Mai looked at the air on the left, then looked at the expressionless Sanako on the right... Finally, she lowered her head in grievance.
Every move she made was captured by Sanako out of the corner of her eye.
After a moment of silence, Sanako sighed silently.
"Miss Kinoshita, since you have an idea in your heart, why don't you just say it out loud? Why do you need to be secretive and hesitant?"
Suddenly being called by Sanako... Kinoshita Mai's delicate body shook violently several times.
"I...I..."
As if chewing something, she muttered, lowering her head lower and lower, and repeatedly played with her fingers.
Seeing this, Sanako sighed again.
"If you don't dare to speak in front of everyone..."
After saying that, she tilted her upper body towards Kinoshita Mai and stuck out her crystal left ear towards him.
"You should have the courage to talk to me, right? If you have anything to say, just tell me."
Kinoshita Mai raised her gaze and looked at Sanako in astonishment.
"This posture is very tiring. If you still don't speak, I will ignore you."
Sanako's words were like blocking the escape route.
After Wu hesitated for a few breaths, she took a deep breath.
"Well... I think we can design Haori to be--"
She spoke quickly and concisely at a volume that only she and Sanako could hear clearly.
There was no expression on Sanako's face.
But gradually, her beautiful eyes slowly opened wide, with a look of surprise in them.
…
At the same time——
"Haori..."
The Souji raised his little head, blinked his beautiful eyes, and stared straight at the ceiling above his head, thinking.
After a moment, she seemed to have thought of something happy, excitement spread in her cheeks, and she loudly said with great interest:
"Tachibana-kun, I have a suggestion first! Design our haori to be purple! What do you think?"
Nagakura Shinpachi, who was opposite her, subconsciously asked after listening to her speech:
"Purple? The cost is too expensive, isn't it?"
The world is colorful, but not all colored things are suitable for dyeing.
If you take some water-soluble colored juice and smear it on it at will, even if the color is very bright at the time, it can be washed with water and the original color will be revealed.
Therefore, dyeing can only be considered successful in the true sense when certain colors can be fixed on the fabric and not easy to fade.
In ancient times with poor technological means, such natural dyes were rare, and purple was even rarer.
As the saying goes, "things are more valuable when they are rare".
Due to the scarcity of dyes and complicated craftsmanship, this kind of fabric is naturally expensive, so it naturally becomes a symbol of wealth.
In ancient times, both East and West regarded purple as a noble color.
For example: In the ancient Roman period in the West, government legislation stipulated that only the top nobles could wear purple robes, and anyone else who dared to transgress would be punished.
So there is a proverb left in the West called "be born to the purple", which is literally translated as "born in purple", which means coming from a famous family.
Not to mention the East.
Big red and big purple, yellow flag and purple cover, gold seal and purple ribbon... These idioms all highlight the lofty status of purple from the side.
Although with the rapid development of dyeing technology, it is no longer so difficult to obtain purple dye, its price is not cheap enough that even civilians can consume it.
Otherwise, the general manager, who is particularly fond of purple, would not cherish his few purple clothes so much.
Mai Kinoshita, who likes red, and Sanako, who likes blue, can wear red clothes and blue clothes respectively as casually as daily clothes.
But Souji, who likes purple, cannot do this.
Before meeting Ainoto, apart from the purple ribbon used to tie his hair, the only purple clothes Souji owned were a haori and a hakama.
The former was a congratulatory gift given to her by Shusuke Kondo after she obtained the permission of the Natural Rishin-ryu.
The latter was an adult gift given to her by a joint venture between Kondo Isamu, Hijikata Toshizo, Inoue Genzaburo and her sister Okita Hikaru.
She has always cherished these two pieces of clothing, and would only wear them when she was in a happy mood and during holidays.
It wasn't until Qingdeng, who became her acquaintance and had plenty of money, gave her several pieces of purple clothes that she finally achieved "purple freedom."
Faced with Nagakura Shinpachi's doubts, the director chuckled:
"It's free anyway, so it doesn't matter if it's a little luxurious, right?"
As soon as she finished speaking, Qingdeng immediately retorted angrily:
"That's not possible. As I said just now, we can't let Yagi Gennosei spend too much money."
Immediately afterwards, Hijikata Toshizo grinned:
"Soji, you just want to take this opportunity to get some clothes you like for free, right?"
"I, I didn't think so..."
The Souji laughed and looked away guiltily.
At this time, Kondo Isamu's rich voice broke in:
"Tachibana-kun, can I speak?"
"Please, everyone is free to speak."
"Then - everyone, please listen to me!"
Kondo Isamu sat up straight and cleared his throat:
"Actually... I admire Yoshiki Ako very much. The person I admire is Oishi Zangsuke. I think he is a samurai among samurai."
"Therefore, I have been looking forward to wearing the costumes worn by the Ako martyrs when they charge to kill the enemy for a long time!"
"We designed Haori to have the same look as the Ako martyrs, what do you think?"
Shannan Jingzhu heard this and couldn't help but ask:
"Is it the kind of haori with mountain-shaped patterns on its sleeves?"
Shannan Keisuke asked as he stretched out his fingers and made several gestures on his cuffs.
Isamu Kondo nodded vigorously.
"That's right! It's the kind of black haori with mountain-shaped patterns on the cuffs!"
The Ako Righteous Men—the Forty-Seven Ako Righteous Men.
In the 14th year of Genroku (1701), the Lord of the Ako Domain was ordered to receive the emperor's envoy. However, he was fooled by a minister named Kira and was disrespectful. The Lord of the Ako Domain was angry and injured Kira, violated the law, and was sentenced to seppuku. Later, his retainers served him
revenge.
In the fifteenth year of Genroku (1702), Ishiuchi Zangsuke, the leader of the Ako clan, led 46 feudal warriors and attacked Kira's residence under the cover of night.
At that time, the martyrs uniformly wore black feather fabrics with mountain-shaped patterns embroidered on the cuffs.
After successfully removing Kira's head, they surrendered and allowed the shogunate police to take him into custody.
The shogunate ordered them to commit seppuku collectively. In the end, except for one person named Terasakaemon who survived, the others all committed seppuku and died.
The loyal and brave actions of these 47 Ako feudal lords were praised by people, and the world respected them as "Ako righteous men".
The "Ako Incident" has also been staged in kabuki, Joruri Bunraku puppet theater and other stages, and has been adapted into various movies.
Kondo Isamu's proposal received widespread discussion.
Shannan Keisuke crossed his arms and muttered:
"Imitate the clothes of the Ako martyrs..."
Todo Heisuke asked:
"Will this really not cause misunderstanding? Others may think that we are going to imitate Ako's righteous deeds of the past and kill the traitor with a sword!"
Harada Sanosuke immediately joined the discussion:
"Black clothing...wouldn't it be too dull and inconspicuous?"
At this moment, a series of sneers suddenly sounded:
"Hehehehe...!"
Everyone moved their eyes to look at the owner of the sneer: Serizawa Duck.
"Kondo, let me remind you: the truth of the 'Ako Incident' is not as beautiful as what is spread among the people, so I do not recommend imitating the clothes of the Ako martyr."
After hearing this, Kondo Isamu immediately said quickly with an unconvinced look on his face:
"Although some people always say that the Ako martyrs are hypocrites, I believe that they are all loyal and brave men without a doubt!"
After being sung for generations, the nature of the "Ako incident" has been basically stereotyped as a "revenge drama in which justice triumphs over evil", and the image of the Ako martyrs has also been stereotyped as loyal ministers who regarded death as home.
But according to the research of some historians, the Ako martyrs were not that noble.
At the beginning, Oishi Zangsuke and others never thought about avenging their lord.
During the Yuanlu period... when did this happen? The world has been at peace for nearly a hundred years, and everyone's thoughts have been corrupted by the comfortable life. Who still takes the relationship between monarch and ministers, and the idea of loyalty to the emperor seriously?
Now that the company has closed down, the next thing to do is to find another company! Who can care about avenging the original boss?
However, the ultra-stable social order made the bureaucracy of each vassal state nearly saturated, and some vassal states even had serious financial problems at that time.
There was no vacant position, and no spare money... Therefore, Oishi Naisuke and others could not find a new job at all.
They were really desperate and decided to go all out - since they were almost out of food, they might as well risk it all and leave their mark in history!
In this way, they were forced to avenge their master.
Some clues can also be seen from the time.
Lord Ako died in March of the 14th year of Genroku (1701).
However, Oishi Zangsuke and others did not kill Kira until December of the fifteenth year of Genroku (1702).
Why did it take so long to take revenge?
Even if we want to collect intelligence, Kira Residence is such a big place, does it take one year and nine months to conduct reconnaissance?
Even if you wanted to purchase equipment, you didn't come up with any powerful equipment in the end? Moreover, Kira Residence is not a heavily guarded dragon's den and a tiger's den. Sending a dozen or so highly skilled kendo masters would be enough to kill everyone.
All in all, people today may never know the truth of the "Ako Incident".
Serizawa Kamo's sudden collapse caused great dissatisfaction with Isamu Kondo.
Fortunately, at this moment, Shannan Keisuke came to the rescue and said:
"I think Kondo-kun's idea is quite good."
“Ordinary people don’t know the ‘truth of history’.”
"The Ako martyrs are heroes deeply admired by the people and enjoy high prestige in the market."
"If we imitate the clothes of the Ako martyrs, I think we will be able to greatly win the favor of the people."
Shannan Keisuke's statement was approved by many people. With his "assist", Kondo Isamu's proposal received widespread support.
However, at this moment...
"Tachibana-kun!"
Sanako's shouts echoed throughout the conference room and outside.
Everyone looked up - only to see Sanako grabbing Kinoshita Mai's wrist and forcing her to raise her hands.
"Miss Kinoshita has something to say!"
Kinoshita Mai's beautiful eyes were wide open, staring blankly at Sanako, her small red lips moved quickly, as if she wanted to say something, but couldn't because her brain was overloaded.
However, what she wanted to say was perfectly reflected in her eyes: You stinky bitch actually betrayed me!
At the same time, Sanako raised the corners of her lips, showing a "planned" expression.
Although he was not sure what new tricks these "cat and fox enemies" were up to, Aoden still asked Kinoshita Mai first:
"A Wu, do you have anything to say?"
"Gu...!"
Kinoshita Mai's eyes quickly wandered and dodged.
After a moment, she whispered weakly:
"How about...making the color of the haori into a light onion color...?"
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In fact, Bao Baozi can update on time at 22 o'clock, but in this case, today is a short content of 4,000 words, so Bao Baozi just wrote another 1,000 words, making up 5,100 words.
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PS: Sanako is becoming more and more gentle ~ she is no longer the iceberg beauty she was when she first appeared.
