The legendary life of John Manjiro (this chapter is free)
As mentioned at the end of the previous chapter, Leopard Baozi was so envious of Manjiro that he decided to open a separate chapter to detail Manjiro's life——
When he was 14 years old, a very ordinary trip to sea completely changed his life.
In the twelfth year of Tenpo (1841), Manjiro went out to sea to fish as usual, with a total of five people traveling with him.
After one day at sea, they unfortunately encountered a storm.
Although Manjiro and others rowed desperately to the shore, they still could not escape the storm.
After the storm, although the fishing boat luckily sank, they were blown to an unknown place.
After drifting on the sea for five and a half days, Manjiro and others discovered an uninhabited island.
They decided to stay on this uninhabited island first, wait for passing ships, and make ends meet by fishing.
They lived this way for 143 days before they encountered a passing American whaling ship, the captain was named John.
The kind-hearted Captain John rescued Manjiro and others, and they finally no longer had to engage in "wilderness survival".
At that time, there were still 12 years before the "Black Ship Incident" (1853) occurred, and Japan had not yet been founded.
Because Japan is still implementing a policy of isolation, Captain John cannot directly sail the ship to Japan to send Manjiro and others home.
According to the practice at the time, Captain John had to first go to Hawaii to put Manjiro and others there, then notify the Edo shogunate, and then call the surrender at the specified time and place - provided that these people were willing to go back and the shogunate was willing to pick them up.
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On the way to Hawaii, Manjiro saw a Western culture that was very different from Japan, which opened his eyes.
Captain John liked this cheerful and studious Japanese boy very much. He not only taught him English personally, but also patiently taught him various navigation knowledge.
After arriving in Hawaii in November, Manjiro's studies over the past few days have allowed Manjiro to understand the insignificance of his own place and the vastness of the world.
So he made up his mind to stay on Captain John's whaling ship.
Captain John, who liked Manjiro very much, naturally agreed happily.
Although his companions strongly opposed it, he had made up his mind.
In December, Manjiro said goodbye to his companions and followed Captain John alone.
Manjiro, who had determined his ambition, helped clean the ship while learning English on the ship.
After passing the language test, he began to learn various Western navigation techniques on the ship.
He followed the fleet to various parts of the world and even witnessed the scenery of Antarctica.
During this period, because he was deeply loved by Captain John, he became his adopted son and officially changed his name to "John Manjiro".
More than a year later, in 1843, Manjiro finally arrived in the United States, which he had longed for.
Manjiro came to the United States and lived with Captain John's family. With his hard-working and cheerful personality, he quickly gained the love of the captain's wife and truly became a member of John's family.
Soon after, Captain John went through the admission procedures for Manjiro to major in navigation and asked him to study.
Manjiro studied at Oxford School and Barrett College.
As a fisherman, he cherished the opportunity to study, so he studied hard. Coupled with his many years of sailing experience, he had exceptionally good results in school.
After graduation, Manjiro returned to the ship. Through his own efforts, he gained the recognition of the entire crew, and he has a promising future.
However, he has always been thinking about Japan. He often misses his hometown and wants to return to his motherland.
For this reason, Manjiro has been waiting for the opportunity. During this period, he even traveled around the world for a week, fulfilling his original wish of choosing to go to the United States.
Manjiro, who no longer had any nostalgia for sailing, began to devote himself to looking for opportunities to return to Japan.
At that time, there happened to be news about the development of gold mines in California. After hearing this, Manjiro resolutely said goodbye to Captain John, who had taken care of him for many years, and began his gold mining career.
He bought a ticket directly from the east coast of the United States, bypassing South America and arriving in California in the west. In just one month, he saved 600 US dollars - which was already an extremely large amount of money in the mid-19th century.
After saving up enough money, Manjiro immediately came to Hawaii, preparing to return home via a false route.
The local people who learned about this kindly told him that some Japanese had returned to China before, but most of them did not go well.
Especially for someone like him who had stayed abroad for several years, the shogunate almost regarded him as half an enemy.
Even if someone is suspected of believing in Christianity or being too deeply influenced by foreign countries, they may be directly executed.
Although he knew that his return journey would be unlucky, he still resolutely embarked on the journey home.
In December 1850, Manjiro left a letter home to Captain John, and then boarded a merchant ship bound for Shanghai, China, with two other Japanese compatriots who also wanted to return home.
After arriving in the waters near Japan, they changed into a small boat and sailed to Japan.
However, the weather was unpredictable. As they approached the land, the wind changed direction and caught up with the ebb tide. Although Manjiro and others rowed desperately, they were still getting further and further away from the land.
In desperation, Manjiro and others just smashed it and closed their eyes and fell asleep.
When they woke up, they discovered land - they arrived at Ryukyu.
A few days later, Manjiro and others were sent to Kagoshima in Satsuma, and were taken to the city for questioning on the same day.
Due to the system regulations at the time, all those returning from foreign countries were gathered in Nagasaki for interrogation, so Manjiro was sent to Nagasaki not long after.
In Nagasaki, Manjiro was interrogated 18 times.
Although the shogunate at that time had not yet encountered the "Black Ship Incident", it had gradually realized that it was no longer feasible to remain closed to the country as before.
The senior officials of the shogunate noticed the value of talents like Manjiro and therefore did not punish him.
In July of the following year, Manjiro returned to his hometown of Tosa Domain. At this time, Manjiro was already 26 years old. It had been 12 years since he left home, and he also met his mother who was still alive.
In October of that year, he obtained the status of a samurai, got rid of his nationality, and was allowed to use his hometown, that is, "Nakahama" as his surname.
In the fifth year of Kayei (1852), he was hired by Shimazu Saibin as an English teacher at Kaisei Institute.
The following year, the "Black Ship Incident" broke out, and the shogunate was in urgent need of talents who understood American affairs.
In this way, Manjiro was summoned to Edo, where he worked as a translator and taught foreign studies.
Soon afterwards, he entered the service of Katsurin Taro.
To this day, he has always been Katsurin Taro's right-hand man.
By the way - Manjiro and Captain John had a fairytale ending.
In the seventh year of Ansei (1860), the shogunate sent a mission to the United States, and Manjiro, who was well versed in American affairs, was allowed to accompany him.
Relying on this opportunity, he came to the United States again and met Captain John. The father and son reunited emotionally.
Manjiro also gave Captain John a samurai sword. The sword was later displayed in a museum, but unfortunately it was stolen by a thief.
Later in 1870, Wan and his son met again.
In the end, Manjiro taught at Kaiseisho (the predecessor of the University of Tokyo). Although he was occasionally involved in political turmoil, he lived the rest of his life peacefully.
To be honest, after reading Manjiro's life, Bao Baozi was really envious (Bao Baozi cried)
To make a simple analogy, Manjiro's life is equivalent to——
One day when I was out working, I encountered an alien and boarded an alien spacecraft.
I saw an alien civilization that was completely different from the earth's civilization, so I decided to follow the alien spacecraft and sail around.
I traveled through various galaxies and saw various wonders such as black holes and asteroid explosions.
Then he came to the alien's home planet and learned the technology of space navigation. After graduation, he became the deputy captain of a certain spaceship and traveled around the galaxy.
Finally, Yijin returned to his hometown and returned to the earth.
He became the only person on earth who knew how to navigate space. He was officially established and lived a life without worries about food and clothing.
To be honest, to have such a life, it is really worthwhile to come to this world. (Leopard head weeping)
