Maeda Village, located just outside of Minezawa Castle, is the largest village in Minezawa Castle and is home to the newly developed castle town of Minezawa Castle.

The castle town of Minezawa Castle was expanded from the original market of Maeda Village, which was originally only a place for trading in nearby villages, and thanks to the influence of caravans, Maeda Village now has two merchant houses, a hostel, a sake brewhouse, and a grain exchange.

In a room on the second floor of Maedaya, the only sake house in Maeda Village, three or five men are laughing in the company of several geisha-looking women. Aside from the looks of these geisha who accompany the drinkers, it is difficult to have such a banquet in the "countryside".

A man sitting in the middle dressed as a samurai, with the sword at his waist removed and set aside, and the two geisha snuggled up to him one by one, and kept passing the wine glasses on the table to the samurai's mouth, and their mouths were still spitting teasing laughter.

The samurai apparently enjoyed this treatment very much, and did not refuse the wine handed by the geisha, and after a while, his face turned a little red.

"Haha!" Suddenly, the samurai laughed, and then said to another man dressed as a merchant beside him, "Kanbei, you have been so flattered that you have treated me like this today!" ”

The man called Kanbei smiled, and then said to the samurai with a flattering face, "Kasai-sama, who doesn't know from merchants near and far, that in this Minezawa Castle, Kasai-sama is a real big man." Isn't there something to ask for in the next?,Today's these are just a little thoughts.,As long as Kasai-sama is satisfied! ”

Hearing Kanbei's words, the samurai was first overjoyed, and then pretended to be frightened and said, "Eh, you can't talk nonsense!" Minezawa Castle is the territory of Shimazu-sama, and it is just a garrison below, and it is a lowly position, so I can't afford to be so praised by you Kanbei. However, although the samurai said this, the smugness on his face could be seen as long as he was not blind.

The guard looked at each other in the same way as the other man, who nodded knowingly, then took out a wooden box from behind him and placed it on the desk.

"What is this?" The samurai suppressed the excitement in his heart and asked knowingly.

Kanbei glanced at several geisha, who quickly got up and exited the room. After the geisha walked out, Kanbei pushed the wooden box in front of the samurai, and slowly opened it with the samurai's expectant eyes.........

In an instant, a dazzling silver light "blinded" the samurai's eyes, and the samurai's breathing began to be rapid obviously, and then he covered the box with both hands, raised his head and stared at Kanbei, "Kanbei, tell me what you mean!" ”

.........

Kasai Kiyoyasu cautiously returned to Minezawa Castle, ignoring the salute of the patrolling ashigaru along the way, and strode towards Kasai Yashiki.

After returning home, Kasai Kiyoyasu opened the wooden box he was carrying, and then tremblingly stretched out his hands and took out a handful of silver judgments from the wooden box. Kasai Qingyasu swore that he had never seen so many silver judgments in his life.

Hiding the wooden box carefully like a thief, Kasai Kiyoyasu came to the small courtyard with an excited face.

"These silver judgments are worth 1,000 yuan, which is equivalent to my 10 years of money, this Kanbing Wei is really generous!" When he thought of today's windfall, Kasai Kiyoyasu was excited. As the garrison of Minezawa Castle, Kasai Kiyoyasu earned about 200 koku a year, which is about 100 koku when converted into money. And the wooden box I received today, the silver judgment inside is worth at least 1,000 yuan, which is a lot of wealth for Kasai Qingkang!

With the gradual development of Minezawa Castle, Kasai Kiyoyasu has earned a lot of "extra money" more or less openly and secretly, but the total is not more than 50. Kanbei's 1,000-yuan silver sentence stunned Kasai Kiyoyasu in an instant.

After being happy for a while, Kasai Qingkang seemed to think of something, and the smile on his face shrank a little, staring straight in one direction and falling into deep thought.

After a long time, Kasai Qingyasu yelled outside, "With the work!" With the work! ”

"What do you command?" The attendant who was called Yosaku quickly ran to Kasai Kiyoyasu's side and said to Kasai Kiyoyasu.

Kasai Kiyoyasu touched his chin and said slowly, "Who is on duty in the city tonight?" ”

"Today is the fourth day of the new year, and the third and fourth squads are usually on duty at night." Yosaku thought for a moment, then replied.

Minezawa Castle's garrison Ashigaru had only one squadron of 50 men. The 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th squads are not in a group of two squads, and they take turns to be on duty for the rest of the day, while the fifth squad guards the castle tower. In the Tsugawa family, the general castle will not arrange a special vigil like Minezawa Castle, after all, as long as it is not stupid, who will run into the castle of the Tsugawa family to spread wild?

But Minezawa Castle is different, and the warehouses of Minezawa Castle are stockpiled with muskets that are considered the most important by Soji Tsugawa! Therefore, the guards of Minezawa City, especially the night guards, did not relax in the slightest.

After hearing Yosaku's words, Kasai Kiyoyasu nodded, and then continued to Yosaku, "Go and call Ichiro Kosaki and Jiro Ando to me, I have something to tell them." ”

"Hah!"

.......

Shimada Kanbei, a merchant from Hazen, is going to the Binai area to buy some grain and return to Hazen to sell.

Compared to the grain of Hazen, the grain in the Tsugawa family's domain is not only of high quality, but also cheaper than the grain of the Yuzen area, so it can be said that it is of good quality and low price. This is also the reason why there are often big businessmen who would rather walk more and come to the Tsugawa family to buy grain.

However, the merchant is only the identity of Shimada Kanbei on the surface, and secretly Shimada Kanbei has another layer of identity - the samurai of the Hashu Exploration Question. This time he came to Minezawa Castle, Shimada Kanbei had his own mission, and even the other samurai who were traveling with him didn't know what this mission was.

In one of the rooms of the Maeda Village Inn, a group of men dressed as Shimada Kanbei and several other businessmen who accompanied him sat in the room, talking in a whisper.

"Shimada-sama, what are we here for? That's 20 silver pieces! That Kasai Kiyoyasu is just a samurai who is not even a castle generation, is it worth the cost of so much to buy it? Katsushiro Okamoto, who was sitting next to Shimada Kanbei, said with a puzzled expression.

Hearing Katsushiro Okamoto's words, Shimada Kanbei said with a smile, "Katsushiro, don't underestimate this Kasai Kiyoyasu. According to the family's information, although the lords of Minezawa Castle are Shimazu and Saburo, in fact, Shimazu and Saburo are often absent from the castle. The affairs of Minezawa Castle are all handled by Kasai Kiyoyasu. ”

"And the task given to us by the main bus this time really depends on this Kasai Qingkang to achieve." Shimada Kanbei continued, "Let the others get ready, and meet Kasai Kiyoyasu outside Minezawa Castle on time tonight." ”

"This matter is very important, there must not be a little mistake, otherwise the anger of the lord is not something you and I can bear!" After speaking, Shimada Kanbei glanced at Katsushiro Okamoto and the others with a warning face.

"Haha!"

After Katsushiro Okamoto and the others left, Shimada Kanbei came to the desk where the sword was placed in the corner, picked up the knife and pulled it out violently, and a cold light reflected on Shimada's face.........