Chapter 104: Japanese Guests

It was the next morning when Ye Zitong woke up. She was lying on the bed, in a bright room. The room was very shaded. A ray of light shot through the gap beside the curtains and shone on her fair hands. When Ye Zitong saw that the room was very strange, she struggled to sit up. At this time, a sound of light footsteps came from outside. The footsteps approached, and Qianqian walked in with a white jade bowl.

Seeing that Ye Zitong had already sat up, she smiled and said, "Sister is awake. I just made red dates and tremella soup for you, so eat it while it's hot."

When Ye Zitong saw that it was her and knew that she was Dalang’s mansion, she felt relieved. She looked left and right, but she didn’t see her maid and asked, “Ice Flower, where is she?”

"You are talking about that little maid! She took care of you until midnight last night and was exhausted. I let her go to bed." Qianqian said, while putting the little bowl on the small table next to the bed, and then putting a pillow behind her. Then she picked up the bowl again and smiled: "Actually, my elder brother was waiting by your side last night. You were unconscious and he was very anxious."

"What about others?" Ye Zitong asked in a low voice.

"He went to court. He is now a Jinyiwei Qianhu. He has to go to court every day. He left before dawn and has not slept all night."

Qianqian used the spoon to scoop a spoonful of tremella soup and said with a smile: "Eat first, and when you have the energy, let's talk slowly."

"Thank you! I'll do it myself."

Ye Zitong took the small bowl and spoon, ate little by little, thinking that his father had broken up with one knife from now on, he couldn't help but feel sad. Her eyes turned red again. Qianqian had heard about this from the little maid. She sighed in her heart and comforted her softly: "Sister, my father died when I was nine years old. I was sold as a slave. I have been tragically spent four years until my elder brother rescued me. From then on, I regarded him as my only relative. I only have him in my heart.

Likewise, the pain in the past has gradually faded, so the elder sister should be more open-minded. Your pain is actually nothing. As long as you live a good life, Uncle Ye will gradually forgive you. After all, you are father and daughter. The key is that you have to cheer up now. You already have the flesh and blood of your elder brother in your belly, and you must be in a cheerful mood. When I was a child, I heard from my mother that if my mother cried, the child in her belly would cry. You should think more about your child now."

When Zi Tong heard what she said made sense, he nodded and forced a smile: "I only know that your name is Qianqian, what is your surname? Where is your hometown?"

Qianqian refused to tell her about her life experience, so she smiled and said, "My surname is Guo, and my nickname is Yamei. This is what my elder brother gave me."

"Why did he name you a mute girl? You are not mute."

"When I first met him, I couldn't say a word, and then I slowly became better and better. By the way! Do you know Gu Ying?"

"Gu Tuangao?" Zitong smiled knowingly, "Why didn't I know her? When I was a child, my sister and my mother went to Suzhou and lived in her house! Why, is she here too?"

"Here, she opened a pastry shop in Beijing, and there is my pencil shop next to it. When you are in a better condition, I will take you to play."

Under Qianqian's gentle comfort, Ye Zitong's mood began to improve slowly, and there was a smile on her face. After taking a moment of napping, her spirit gradually recovered, so she got up and begged Qianqian to take her to the garden to visit.

Let’s talk about Li Weizheng. As soon as he arrived at the office, Fitingan came to report that the envoys from Japan arrived in the capital one after another last night.

The 23rd year of Hongwu was the end of the Japanese Southern and Northern Dynasties. The Northern Dynasties was the first year of the Mingde period. Emperor Komatsu ascended the throne, but the military and national power was in the hands of the shogun Ashikaga Yoshiman. The Southern Dynasties was the seventh year of the Yuan Dynasty. Emperor Kameyama ascended the throne, and the actual power was controlled by Prince Ryoseki. Although the Japanese Southern and Northern Dynasties were the orthodox royal family, their strength was always dominated by the Northern Dynasties. Due to the disputes within the Ashikaga family, the Northern Dynasties were unable to unify the Southern Dynasties for a long time, but with the expedition of the Yidao

The general Ashikaga Yoshiman took control of the power, and the civil strife of the Ashikaga family ended. The Northern Dynasties also won steadily on the battlefield, and finally forced the Southern Dynasties to the negotiating table. Although the Southern Dynasties' Elders' House was determined to give up the three major artifacts that symbolized the emperor, Prince Ryoseki, who was in power, refused to admit defeat. On the one hand, he recruited people loyal to the royal family and Goryeo mercenaries, and on the other hand, he sent his envoy Kikuchi Take to meet the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, begging the Ming Dynasty to support the Southern Dynasties, in an attempt to obtain weapons and food support from the Ming Dynasty.

As Ashikaga Yoshiman of the Northern Dynasties was about to unify the country, in order to trade with the Ming Dynasty and restore the rippling Japanese economy, he also sent his envoy, Hojo Kinshi, to meet the Ming Emperor, so the two envoys arrived at the Ming Dynasty at the same time was just a coincidence.

In fact, when Zhu Yuanzhang first established the Ming Dynasty, he did trade with Japan. However, because the Hu Weiyong case involved Hu Weiyong collusion with Japan and the rampant Japanese pirates along the coast of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang canceled his exchanges with Japan. For a full ten years, there was no news between the two sides.

Although there is no official exchange, in fact, some people still risked the beheading and engaged in smuggling trade with Japan and made excessive profits. Especially in places where the imperial courts were weakly controlled by Guangdong, the smuggling situation was very rampant. Japanese knives, fans, summus, lacquerware and other items continued to flow into the Ming Dynasty from various private channels. Moreover, Japan's silver refining skills were relatively high, and there were also many smugglers who trafficked Huguang white lead to Japan to refining silver.

In addition, Japanese pirates were also an external threat to the Ming Dynasty. Since the Yuan Dynasty, thousands of Japanese ronin began to rob the coast of the Ming Dynasty together. They invaded the long coastline from Liaodong to Leizhou. They were like a piece of stubborn ringworm on the Ming Dynasty. They were hit hard many times, but they were always difficult to ban.

Zhu Yuanzhang attached great importance to the arrival of Japanese envoys, but at the same time he also suspected that the envoys had other conspiracies. On the one hand, others asked the Ministry of Rites to visit the Qingli Department to receive Japanese envoys, but on the other hand, they secretly sent the Jinyiwei to monitor their whereabouts. The Jinyiwei accepted this task and was Li Weizheng's three schools.

Fitingan gave Li Weizheng a detailed report, including the list of two missions and their whereabouts after entering the Ming Dynasty. Li Weizheng sat in his room and carefully flipped through the information of the two missions. Since Zhu Yuanzhang handed this matter solemnly to him, he even did not hesitate to give out the gold medal for the transfer of troops. Of course, the emperor did not intend to do so, but it also shows his importance to these two missions. In addition, Li Weizheng himself also had a strong interest in Japan during the Ming Dynasty.

The report is divided into two parts. The first part is the activities of the Northern Dynasties mission, and the second part is the activities of the Southern Dynasties mission. The Northern Dynasties mission lived a very strict life. They strictly abide by the laws and regulations of the Ming Dynasty every time they went to. The members of the mission never took a step forward. However, the Southern Dynasties mission seemed to live a very rich life. They went to the wine shops at night, went to shops during the day, and even set up stalls to sell Japanese knives in front of the mission station. Unlike the missions of the country, they were like a tourist group coming to the Ming Dynasty.

Li Weizheng couldn't help but develop a strong interest in the Southern Dynasty mission. There were thirty-three people on the list. The leader of the mission was called Kikuchi Takeo. His description of him was short, sturdy, bald, smiling all day long, full of harmony. Next was the deputy envoy Inoue Kikuchi. The names below were very ordinary, nothing more than Tianaka and Zhukou. But in the end, Li Weizheng suddenly became interested again. The last two were also called Kikuchi. The first one was Hideji Kikuchi. His evaluation of him was that he was good at sword skills and was not polite. He was the one who set up a stall in front of the mission station. The latter name seemed to be a woman, called Kikuchi Fengya. The report below also specifically stated that she was a woman with a beautiful face and was addicted to strong wine. Every night when she went to the tavern, she would return drunk.

Based on intuition, Li Weizheng immediately felt that the mission that Zhu Yuanzhang was interested in should be the Southern Dynasties. They had already entered Beijing at this moment, and they all had their respective addresses under the report. The Northern Dynasties lived in the imperial city Wumanyi, while the Southern Dynasties lived in an inn, which was Yangui Inn on Pishi Street.

After Li Wei was reviewing the report of the day, he stood up and walked out, walked out, followed Yang Erlang in person and hurried forward and asked, "Sir, are you going to the military camp?"

"No! I want to go to Pishi Street."

Pishi Street is a north-south street parallel to Fudong Street. Although it does not have a large number of time-honored shops like Fudong Street, it is relatively lively, especially the restaurants and accommodation industry in Jiangning County. It has a developed accommodation industry, gathering hundreds of restaurants and inns of all sizes, with dense populations and mixed characters.

Li Wei did not wear a flying fish suit, but changed into a smoke-green regular dress and brought two of them to Pishi Street. Soon, he found Yangui Inn, where the Japanese Southern Dynasties mission was staying, which was a top-notch inn. It was one of the best inns in Pishi Street, with a wide storefront, a sign as high as one inn, and exquisitely decorated items. Those who live here are usually wealthy businessmen or wealthy families.

At present, more than 20 Jinyiwei have used various methods to deploy defenses around the inn to monitor the Japanese mission's every move. Li Wei was sitting at a teahouse opposite and asked for a pot of tea and a few colored and delicate spots. He sat at the window on the second floor, facing the gate of the inn, and could clearly understand the every move opposite. After a moment, a Jinyiwei household came hurriedly and reported in a low voice: "Sir, things may not be very satisfactory?"

“Why?”

"We monitored them too closely, but they dared not do anything. They have been hiding in the inn since last night and have not come out. They seem to have discovered that they are being monitored and they will not receive any information."

"I got it, reduce the number of people by half, and leave only two or three people nearby, and stay away from the rest."

The hundred households hurried away. The evacuation of the Jinyiwei quickly saw the effect. A quarter of an hour later, the Japanese delegation began to move out. They walked out of the street in groups of three or three. At this time, Li Wei was seeing a slender Japanese man walking out of the inn. He was wearing a traditional Japanese black and white samurai suit, and his figure looked like a twelve or thirty years old, but he looked about thirty years old. He walked to the inn with a few Japanese knives, pasted a piece of white paper prepared in advance on the wall, and wrote two Chinese characters: "Selling Knives". He waved three knives to the ground, and even half-squinted his eyes and sold them.

Li Weizheng had a good eye. He saw a line of small words on the white paper at a glance, which seemed to be the price. Many people who came forward to look at the knife first looked at the price, then shook their heads and left. It seemed that the price he sold was very expensive.

Just as he was holding a teacup in one hand and carefully observing the man opposite, a gentle voice suddenly sounded in his ears, "May I ask, is there anyone sitting here?"

Li Wei was turning around and saw a woman in gorgeous clothes standing in front of him. To be precise, she should be a Japanese woman. She was combed with a traditional Japanese high-end, had a thin layer of white face on her face, a folding fan in her hand, and a light yellow silk robe embroidered with pink cherry blossoms. She had a pretty face, especially her lips were very stylish. She had a gentle and modest smile on her face, but her eyes were very sharp, as if she could see through it at a glance.

Seeing her, a name immediately popped up in Li Weizheng's mind: Kikuchi Fengya.

He smiled and nodded, waved his hand and said politely: "Please sit down!"

The Japanese woman bowed and sat down slowly. She opened the folding fan, half covering her face, and asked with a charming smile: "Are you their heads? They are the Jinyiwei who monitors us."

"You speak Chinese very well, and you actually know the Jinyiwei. It seems that you have been paying attention to my Ming Dynasty." Li Weizheng said with a smile without panic.

"I yearned for the Ming Dynasty since I was a child. I lived in Liaodong for five years at the age of ten, and later traveled around the Ming Dynasty for two years. I returned to Japan at the age of seventeen. So I am a Chinese master, so my uncle asked me to be the translator of the mission. My name is Kikuchi Fengya. May I ask you the surname of sir?"

Seeing that she did not hide her identity at all, Li Wei smiled and said, "I am the next surname of Li, Jinyiwei Qianhu, we are ordered to protect your safety, not surveillance. I need to make this clear first."

"Oh! It seems that we are too careful." The woman smiled sweetly, waved her hand and called the waiter over. She pointed to the tea ceremony on the table: "Please, can you change us two pots of wine and serve a few side dishes for wine?"

The waiter frowned and was about to say that this was a teahouse, not a restaurant, but saw a woman take out a ingot of about ten taels of silver and push it to him, "Get prepared for me, and I will reward you with the rest."

The waiter was so shocked that his eyes were about to fall off. He had seen many generous people, but he had never seen such a generous woman. He quickly accepted the money and smiled and said, "Wait a minute, I'll come soon."

When Li Weizheng saw this, he smiled and said, "I heard that Japan has a lot of silver for a long time, and it is indeed well-known. Miss Kikuchi..."

"Call me Fengya", Kikuchi Fengya corrected his name very seriously.

"Yes! I want to say that Miss Fengya seems to be from a famous Japanese family."

But Kikuchi Fengya shook her head, "Li Qianhu is not completely right. It is true that I came from a famous family, but I am generous but have nothing to do with a famous family, but because my money comes too easily."

At this time, the waiter brought wine and side dishes and set a table for them. Kikuchi Fengya stretched out her delicate hand and picked up the wine pot to pour a glass for herself and Li Weizheng. Then she smiled and said, "In your country, you can exchange one or two taels of gold. I can exchange one or two taels of gold in Japan, but I can exchange ten taels of silver in Japan. As long as I run two or three trips, I will not have to worry about food and clothing in the second half of my life, so I have a little more money than others."

Li Wei raised his eyes and glanced at her sideways and said, "Aren't you afraid that I will arrest you?"

Kikuchi Fengya drank the wine in his glass and smiled slightly, "This is what I did when I was fifteen years old. Now I am a member of the Japanese mission. You can't arrest me without evidence. Of course, Li Qianhu is a smart person. Have you ever thought that this is a shortcut to getting rich!"

After saying that, she picked up the wine pot and stood up, Yingying bowed and said, "Okay, I'm very happy to know Li Qianhu. If you are willing to drink with me, you can come to me tonight. Let's stop when we get drunk."

Her eyes were snatching, and she left with a kettle charming charm. Li Weizheng smiled faintly. He knew what Kikuchi Fengya was doing. Just when she paid the bill with ten taels of silver, the knife seller across the street should have been Kikuchi Hideji and a knife buyer who had reached a deal, and bought a knife with an inch of gold, but she didn't even look at the quality of the knife. She thought she hadn't noticed this scene.
Chapter completed!