Chapter 357 East Japan Renxia World's Highest Power[6000 Words]
In the southwest of Edo, there is a three-story mansion that is inconspicuous because it is located in a remote area.
Edo has never been short of dignitaries.
Compared with the large mansions of dignitaries, this mansion seemed so inconspicuous.
But anyone who knows a little bit about the identity of the owner of this mansion knows that the owner of this mansion is no less powerful than the dignitaries of Edo.
At this moment, Lin and Yuan Yi were staying in a certain room in this mansion.
Both of them had taken off their swords and placed them on the tatami on the right side of their bodies.
Lin knelt respectfully on the tatami in an extremely standard posture, with her back straight, her eyes closed, and she was meditating.
Compared to Lin, Yuan Yi's sitting posture is much more casual.
Gen Yi just sat cross-legged on the tatami carelessly, yawning loudly from time to time.
The two of them have been in this room for a long time.
They are waiting.
Waiting for someone to arrive.
After waiting for an unknown amount of time, the sliding paper door of this room was finally opened.
The person who opened the sliding paper door was a young man sitting on one knee beside the door.
"Miss Kinoshita," the young man said respectfully, "Master Tojo is here."
After hearing this young man's words, Lin, who had been closing her eyes just now, slowly opened her eyes.
As the young man's announcement ended, footsteps sounded from far to near in the corridor outside the door.
The footsteps moved from a distant place to the door - a middle-aged man with an extremely majestic figure appeared outside the opened paper sliding door.
Although this middle-aged man was wearing a black kimono, the top of the kimono was completely opened, revealing his upper body covered with rock-hard muscles.
While exposing the muscles of his upper body, he also revealed the ferocious tattoos that covered almost his entire upper body.
The middle-aged man first looked at Lin and Genichi in the room with calm eyes.
After seeing Yuan Yi sitting cross-legged casually, a strange and subtle light flashed in the eyes of this middle-aged man.
After retracting his gaze from Lin and Yuan Yi, the middle-aged man slowly walked into the room, and finally sat down cross-legged in front of Lin and Yuan Yi.
After the middle-aged man entered the room, the young man who had just been responsible for reporting "Master Dongcheng's arrival" to Lin gently closed the sliding door.
The paper sliding door blocks the light outside the room again, turning the room back into a secret room.
It's just that in addition to Lin and Genichi, this secret room now contains the middle-aged man who just entered the room.
"...Long time no see." Lin took the lead and said to the middle-aged man, "Mr. Dongcheng, you really made my uncle and I wait so long."
"I came to see you in the morning, but it was not until the afternoon that I finally saw you."
"It's been a long time indeed." The middle-aged man whom Lin called Dongcheng smiled, "Miss Kinoshita, when was the last time we met? I had forgotten that you actually treated Kinoshita this time.
The adults also brought it."
"Please forgive me, Miss Kinoshita, I have a meeting this morning with Kansei Shixing that cannot be canceled. I'm really sorry to have kept you two waiting for so long."
"It doesn't matter. I'm not in a hurry anyway." Lin said softly, "Mr. Dongcheng, my uncle is also here now, so for the sake of convenience, you can just call me 'Lin'."
"Should I call you by my first name?" Dongcheng shrugged, and then said in a half-joking tone, "As a courtesy, you can just call me by my first name, 'Dawu'. I prefer my surname to my last name."
My acquaintances are calling my name."
"Compared with the surname 'Dongcheng', I always think that my name 'Dawu' sounds better."
After making some witticisms in a joking tone, Dongcheng sat up slightly and then put on a more serious expression than before:
"Kinoshita...ah, no, Miss Lin, I know you are a person who likes to get straight to the point."
"And I also like to get straight to the point and don't like to say too many irrelevant greetings."
"So let's just skip the small talk and stuff for now."
"Just tell me your reason for coming."
"Lin, you actually brought Kinoshita-sama to Edo. You must not be here to sell rice, right?"
"Master Tojo. I hope you can mobilize your subordinates to help me find where Shiranui's new base is located in Edo."
Seeing that Dongcheng said readily that he wanted to get straight to the point, Lin stopped talking nonsense and went straight to her topic.
Although Dongcheng just told Lin that it was okay to call him by his first name, after all, he had been called "Dongcheng-sama" for so long, and Lin couldn't change it for a while, so she simply didn't change it and continued to call him by this name.
The middle-aged people are called "Dongcheng adults".
"Shiranui?" Dongcheng's brows frowned slightly.
"Master Tojo, you should know the news that Shiranui is cooperating with the shogunate and moving their new base to Edo, right?"
"Hey, hey, hey, how could I not know about this kind of thing?"
"It's good to know." Lin nodded gently.
"What I'm more curious about is - what are you doing looking for the base location in Shiranui?"
"...The relationship between our Calabash House and Shiranui has always been quite bad."
Lin did not directly explain what she was doing with Shiranui's base. Instead, as if she meant something, she said something that seemed to have nothing to do with the question Tojo had just asked.
However - even though he didn't directly answer Dongcheng's question just now, Lin's words just now made Dongcheng realize something in an instant and he raised his eyebrows suddenly.
"...It seems that you are planning to do some great things here in Edo."
"hehe."
Dongcheng let out a few chuckles.
"Miss Lin, you and Kinoshita-sama are indeed relatives. We both like to do very random things."
"Finding the location of Shiranui's base...it might be difficult."
"Although I don't know much about Shiranui, I also know that they are very persistent in keeping the location of their base secret."
"Few outsiders know the exact location of their base."
"Even for me, it's not easy to find out the location of their base."
"It may take a lot of time."
As soon as Dongcheng finished speaking, Lin said:
"It's okay, I can wait."
"Miss Lin, if you're not in a hurry, it's easy to talk."
"I'll have my men set out to investigate later."
Having said this, Dongcheng paused.
After a pause, a strange smile appeared on Dongcheng's face.
"Although I know that it is impossible for you, Miss Lin, to pay the debt without paying, I would like to remind you, Miss Lin."
Dongcheng raised his hand and made a "money" gesture.
"Help you find the location of Shiranui's base - this is not a small favor that can be done for you casually."
"I definitely want to collect money."
"And - the price is not cheap."
"You don't have to worry about money." Lin responded without hesitation, "This is not the first time that my 'Calabash House' and your 'Dongcheng House' have cooperated. Don't you still know the financial resources of our 'Calabash House' and my
Kinoshita Rin’s ability to make money?”
"I, Kinoshita Rin, have a lot of money."
"Hahaha." Dongcheng let out a series of generous laughs, "I just like to deal with such generous people like you, Miss Lin."
"Okay! I'll ask everyone under me to move later!"
"Ms. Lin, apart from helping you find the base location in Shiranui, is there anything else you want to entrust me to do? I'm open to lucrative business."
"There are two more things I need your help with."
As Lin spoke, she reached into her arms, took out a neatly folded piece of paper, and then handed the paper towards Dongcheng in front of her.
"The first thing: Lord Dongcheng, I hope you can help me buy what is written on this paper."
With some doubts, Dongcheng took the piece of paper handed over by Lin and unfolded it.
After moving his eyes and quickly scanning the words written on this piece of paper, Dongcheng's pupils shrank slightly:
"This is……?!"
"This is what I hope Master Dongcheng will buy for me." Lin said calmly.
"...Ms. Lin, why did you buy these things?"
"Do you still have to ask?" Lin said calmly, "Of course it will be used to cause trouble for Shiranui. I want to use it as our secret weapon against Shiranui."
When talking about the word "secret weapon", Lin emphasized her tone.
"How much do you want?" Dongcheng asked.
"I will buy as much as you can get." Lin's answer was straightforward.
"...Miss Lin, with all due respect - the thing you wrote on the paper is very difficult even for me to get."
"I know that what I write on this paper is very difficult to get."
"But I also know what you are capable of, Master Dongcheng."
Speaking of this, a faint smile appeared on Lin's face that had been expressionless since entering the room.
"Lord Tojo, you are the leader of the 'Tōjōya', the largest Renxia force in Edo. You are the most powerful person in the 'Renxia World' in East Japan."
"The forces under your command cover the entire Kanto and Northeast China, and your hands and eyes are all over the sky. Many senior officials in the shogunate have very close ties with you."
"The thing I wrote on the paper is just 'difficult to get' for you, not 'impossible to get'."
"Sir Dongcheng, I know you just mentioned that these things are difficult to obtain. In fact, you just meant to imply that I will spend a lot of money."
Seeing that his little thought just now was accurately revealed by Lin, Dongcheng did not show an annoyed look on his face, but instead grinned.
"Don't worry, Master Dongcheng."
Lin paused here.
After taking a deep breath, he said word by word:
"Like I just said - all I have is money."
"Okay!" A bright smile appeared on Mr. Dongcheng's face, "I will try my best to get you the things you wrote on this paper."
"Miss Lin, you just said that in addition to asking me to find the location of Shiranui's base, you also have two requests."
"One of the requests is for me to help you buy those things."
"What's the other request?"
"The other request is easier for you, Mr. Dongcheng." Lin said softly, "After you buy me the things I wrote on the paper, I hope you can lend me a batch of these things that I can use.
of your subordinates."
"I'm going to hire them."
"Ha, it is indeed an easy thing to do." Dongcheng smiled, "Okay, no problem! But - hiring my subordinates also requires money."
"But to show my apology for keeping you two waiting for so long today, I will give you a smaller amount of the employment fee."
"Thank you." After saying this in a calm tone, Lin picked up the saber placed beside her, "We have finished talking about what we need to talk about. Mr. Dongcheng, we will leave first."
"If you find the exact location of Shiranui, or if you have bought the things I entrusted you to buy, come to the hotel where I live now to find me and my people."
Lin quickly reported the address of the hotel where they were currently staying.
"Miss Lin, Master Kinoshita, do you need me to see you off?"
"No need." Lin said without hesitation, "Master Dongcheng, you still have a lot of things to do, right? So I won't disturb you any more."
"Hahaha! I just like your character, Miss Lin! Hey! Zong Bing, send Miss Lin and the others away!"
As soon as Mr. Dongcheng finished speaking, a loud response sounded outside the door.
The sliding paper door of the room was opened, and the person who opened the door and the person who just responded was the young man who first informed Lin and Genichi that "Tōjo is here."
Under the leadership of this young man named Zong Bing, Lin and Yuan Yi left the mansion in Dongcheng.
After leaving the mansion and walking onto an uninhabited path that was already far away from Dongcheng's mansion, Yuan Yi stretched out vigorously.
"The negotiation with that guy Dongcheng Daigo went much smoother than expected." Yuan Yi said with a smile.
"The reason why it went so smoothly is because of your presence, uncle." Lin said calmly, "Dongcheng Dawu is a man who loves money as much as his life. As long as it is a business that can make a lot of money, he will not refuse anyone who comes."
"The reason why he agreed to all our requests so happily just now is because you are here, uncle, and he doesn't dare to make any mistakes."
"Uncle, didn't you notice that guy Daigo Toucheng entered the room, and his eyes changed immediately when he saw you there?"
"If you weren't there, believe it or not, he would have kept talking to me about all kinds of things in order to get the most benefit from me."
"The reason why I brought you here, uncle, is to warn Dongcheng: 'Sword Master' Kinoshita Genichi is also here, so don't mess around."
"I feel like I'm about to become a powerful bargaining chip for you, Xiao Lin." After making a little joke, Yuan Yi asked Lin, "Xiao Lin, now that we have successfully negotiated this mutually beneficial deal with Tojo Daigo,
The business is over, so what are we going to do now? Should we just go back to the hotel and rest?"
"...No." Lin said softly after being silent for a while, "I don't plan to go back to rest so soon."
"Although Tojo Daigo has been entrusted to help us find the location of Shiranui's base, it is still unknown how long it will take him to find Shiranui's location."
"For the sake of safety, I would like to entrust a few more powerful and trustworthy people in Edo to help me find the location of Shiranui..."
After saying that, Lin turned her head and cast a questioning look at Genichi beside her.
"The only reliable and powerful person I know in Edo is Tojo Daigo."
"So - uncle, I know you have always had a wide network of contacts."
"Is there anyone in Edo who you think is reliable and can help us find the location of Shiranui's base?"
"Is there anyone who is reliable and powerful enough..." Yuan Yi stroked the goatee on his chin.
After thinking for a while, Yuan Yi softly said "Ah".
"There really is such a person."
"who?"
"Xiao Lin, do you know the Shirobei Club in Yoshiwara?"
…
…
Edo, somewhere.
"There are a lot of people gathering in front of you." Ating, who was holding a big fortune in his hand, said in a vague tone while chewing the big fortune in his hand, "Ayi, let's go and see what's going on in front."
Having said that, without waiting for Ogata's reply, Atachi took the lead and walked quickly towards the crowd gathered in front.
Although he was a little embarrassed to say this, Ogata had to admit that he and Atachi seemed to be more relaxed now.
To a certain extent, the two of them have become "playing mainly, and looking for information as a supplement."
However - although he has realized that he and Atachi seem to be a little too leisurely now, Ogata has no intention of correcting it.
From the time he left Kyoto to now, Ogata's nerves have been tense almost all the time.
So Ogata is also happy to take advantage of this opportunity to let himself and A-Machi relax a little.
However, the two of them were leisurely and leisurely, and the intelligence collection work actually did not fall behind too much.
After experiencing a small incident at noon when "Yoshiwara Doshin and Guashuu caught the scum who ran away with the debt", and after filling their stomachs at the sushi restaurant, the two successfully collected a sum of money in the afternoon.
New information about the "Imperial Trial Combination":
Only the first place in the literary test and martial arts test of the "Imperial Examination" can get the bonus. The first place prize in the literary test and the martial arts test is both 20 taels.
20 taels - this is already a number that is enough to make those ronin who live a poor life and the samurai from poor family flock to it.
With such a high bonus, it is natural that many warriors who are short of money will be attracted.
The reason why we set up a system where only the first place can get the bonus is to encourage everyone to win the first place.
If it is set so that the top 3 or top 5 have bonuses available, it will easily lead many people to think that there are bonuses available for other places anyway, so it doesn't matter even if they don't take first place.
As far as Ogata knows - although only one person can get the bonus in both the literary test and the martial arts test, there are still a huge number of people who signed up to participate in this "imperial test".
This shows how attractive the 20-tael bonus is.
People who are confident in their knowledge hope to get the 20 taels that come first in the literary test.
People who have confidence in their martial arts are eager to get the 20 taels that come first in the martial arts test.
There are also some people who are confident in their knowledge and martial arts, and want to win all the top 20 points in the literary and martial arts examinations.
At the same time, there are also some people who are not interested in money, and the reason why they participate in this trial is just to compete with the masters.
In this way, a large number of people of all kinds gathered at the "Imperial Trial Combination".
…
…
Ogata followed Amachi and ran quickly towards the crowd in front.
After arriving at the outermost edge of the crowd, the two raised their heads and looked into the crowd.
I saw a sedan in the innermost part of the crowd.
Everyone just gathered around the sedan chair.
This sedan was parked in front of a magnificent mansion.
Several warriors dressed as guards stood around the sedan to prevent the onlookers from getting close to the sedan.
Looking at the sedan, Ogata muttered:
"It's a double-waisted carriage... It seems that the people sitting in this sedan are from the Wu family..."
The Japanese sedan chair is also called a "carriage".
People of different classes can use different sedans.
The double-waisted carriage is a sedan that can only be used by members of the martial arts family.
"What are everyone doing here?" Ating turned her head and asked an uncle beside her, "Is there any big shot sitting in the cage? Why are everyone looking at this cage?"
"There's no big shot sitting in that cage." The uncle replied, "Have you seen that big house?"
The cage stopped in front of the door of a magnificent mansion, and the big tree nuzzled towards the magnificent mansion.
"This is the home of a certain Hatamoto samurai who has a salary of 7,000 koku."
"The eldest son of this family married the eldest daughter of another Hatamoto samurai family."
"Today is the wedding day for these two families."
"The bride is sitting in the cage."
After listening to the uncle's explanation, a look of intense interest appeared on A-Machi's face.
He quickly turned his gaze away and focused on the sedan, waiting for the bride to come out of the sedan together with the people around her.
A faint look of curiosity appeared on Ogata's face at this time.
It has been more than a year since he came to the Edo period, but he has never seen a wedding from this era.
Weddings in ancient Japan were mainly divided into three types: weddings in front of gods, weddings in front of Buddha, and weddings in front of people.
There are many differences between these 3 types of weddings.
The biggest difference is that the wedding before a god is held in a shrine, the wedding before a Buddha is held in front of a Buddha statue, and the wedding before a person is held at the groom's home.
Compared with the wedding before gods and the wedding before Buddha, the process of wedding before people is much simpler.
The sedan the bride is riding in stops in front of the groom's house - this is a public wedding.
Under the expectation of everyone, a warrior standing next to the sedan finally opened the door of the sedan.
A young woman wearing immaculate white clothes slowly walked out of the sedan along the opened sedan door.
Shiraku - the wedding dress worn by ancient Japanese women.
Since ancient times, Japan has believed that white is the color of sunlight and is sacred.
White without dirt means clean and dirt-free. It also means that it can be dyed into various colors after entering the husband's house, making it easy to blend into the husband's family.
The bride wore light makeup on her face, and with her white skin, she looked extremely beautiful.
After the bride came out of the sedan, exclamations came one after another from the crowd watching the excitement.
After Amachi saw the bride finally emerging from the sedan chair, a complicated and strange light flashed in his eyes.