Old men and young men, as soon as they went up and down, walked through the deep walls. Along the way, the servants gradually thinned, and only the sound of tuk tuk's footsteps echoed between the two walls of the mezzanine, which was exceptionally clean.

"Little brother, what do you call it?" The old man was still smiling, his eyes were level ahead, staring at the long corridor.

"Oh." Cao Jie was originally thinking about how to meet the head of the Li family, but now the old man's words made him feel a little abrupt, "Old father, my name is Cao Jie, and my brothers usually call me Cao." ”

"Huh? Brother?" The old man's eyes lit up, as if the word brother was some kind of golden treasure. The old man no longer stared at Yongdao, but instead looked at the young man who was panting and breathing under him, "Where is that little brother?" ”

"I am a guard and a little banner, and I spy on things from the sentinels." Speaking of this, Cao Jie seemed to be a little proud and raised his head, but then his eyes dimmed. "However, it's also a life to run errands for the official!"

"Haha!" The old man on Cao Jie's back suddenly laughed loudly, which made Cao Jie feel a little annoyed, feeling that the old man was laughing at himself.

"The old man dares to ask again, has the little brother's knife seen blood?"

Cao Jie shuddered, stopped suddenly, and turned around in some surprise to look at the old man who was carrying his back.

Kind eyebrows, kind eyes, if there is no smile.

No matter how you look at it, this is an old man, why does he say things like crawling out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood?

Suddenly, Cao Jie thought of something terrible.

……

Toei, Kagoshima Castle.

The cherry blossoms, which have been in full bloom for more than a month, fall on the main maru of the castle tower, and the ancient stone slabs with scratches on the tip of the sword bear witness to the sword and sword shadows that this famous Warring States city has experienced.

But now, the Shimazu samurai standing on duty by the city wall are long gone, replaced by a group of ashigaru armed with Japanese iron cannons.

Otomo and the Shimazu family once led the trend of Japan's contact with the world during the Warring States period. In particular, the Western civilization brought with it by the Portuguese missionary Sabiel in 1549 had a major impact on Japan. The Southern Barbarians have sufficient, the Southern Barbarians have large cylinders, and the Southern Barbarians have iron cannons, these powerful weapons from the so-called Nanban, and slaughtered the Warring States heroes armed with katanas again and again.

The spread of science and technology is often accompanied by pain, which is not an ordinary bloody pain, but also a cultural pain. It may be easier for the people of the Shimazu family to understand and realize these truths.

Shimazu Mitsuhisa, the second-generation lord of Satsuma, looked at the fine iron cannon that shone with cold light, and frowned.

The situation on the island of Kyushu, Shimazu Mitsuhisa felt that something was not good. Since the Edo Shogunate issued the Lockdown Decree five times, although the Shogunate has not taken any major actions against Satsuma, Shimazu Mitsuhisa knows that after the promulgation of this decree, the Shimazu family has slowly lost all the profits of foreign trade, which is like a butcher's knife, which is being embedded in the neck of the Shimazu family little by little. The loss of finances meant the loss of the capital of the war, and the Shimazu family, who were at odds with the Tokugawa family, felt unprecedented fear.

Both the samurai of the Shimazu family and the common people of the castle town are more or less aware of this.

For the sake of the future of the Shimazu family, Shimazu Mitsuhisa had to do something.

Mining of gold and development of new fields to revitalize the industries of the domain. On the other hand, the exploitation of the Ryukyus was intensified.

And the most important point.

The raw silk and weapons of the Ming people.

"Newspaper~"

Boom Boom, an Shimazu samurai, with his head down, running quickly on the cloister outside the door.

With a bang, the door of Mitsuhisa Shimazu's room was pulled open, and a samurai fell to his knees behind Mitsuhisa Shimazu.

"Everyone's old, they're back."

……

The afterglow of the setting sun sprinkled the rippling blue waves on Taihu Lake, and the fishermen returned with a full load. Next to a thatched hut on the shore, Li Guanghang and Li Ling, father and son, were wielding spears in their hands, but they didn't mean to stop at all.

"Yong'er! Your marksmanship is much easier to use than those drills in the barracks! Li Ling wiped the sweat on his face with his sleeve, suddenly changed his posture, and continued to wave the spear.

Li Guanghang was a little tired, although he was in a good state of mind and re-energized the blood that he hadn't felt for a long time, but this body was a scholar after all.

Li Guanghang threw the spear to the ground at once, and fell down, panting for breath.

"Dad, let's rest...... Take a break! ”

Looking at Li Guanghang, who was panting, Li Ling suddenly felt a little relieved in his heart, and he also stood the spear aside, stopped, looked at Li Guanghang, showed a row of teeth, and smiled.

"Stinky boy, don't follow your grandfather to do business and study, what do you want to do when you learn martial arts!"

Of course, Li Guanghang knew that the dam of Daming, which was full of ant nests, was about to collapse. But Li Ling was born in a prosperous and wealthy environment, and he didn't know that a catastrophe was coming.

Li Guanghang would not tell him that in a few years, the city of Suzhou would become a battlefield of corpses and a sea of blood, full of braided flags and uniforms.

Li Guanghang would not tell him that when the time comes, many of his family and friends will die tragically at the hands of the Han Chinese.

"Practicing martial arts, of course, is to protect the family and defend the country and make meritorious contributions!"

"A gentleman should strive for self-improvement, step through the lack of Helan Mountain, and fight the world."

"Hahaha! What a self-improvement, the world! Good, good!"

Li Ling shouted hello three times in a row, he couldn't imagine that his son would have such ambitions.

In fact, Li Ling knew in his heart that this Ming Dynasty would be unstable for a long time. In recent years, disasters have continued, it is said that Zhang Xianzhong and Guo Tianxing they have entered Shu, the scourge of thieves has already affected most of the land of the Ming Dynasty, a few days ago some people said that they saw some thieves in Fengyang, the capital.

If you have a skill, you will have the capital to survive in troubled times.

After being silent for a while, Li Guanghang felt that it was time to tell Li Ling something.

"Dad, the two people we let go that day," Li Guanghang paused and looked at Li Ling's face, "Those two people are the second uncle's people." ”

"What!" Li Ling sat up all of a sudden, stared at his cowbell-like eyes, and looked at Li Guanghang incredulously, "Then ...... person he wants to kill?"

"Yes, the one he wants to kill is me." Li Guanghang nodded.

"But...... But second brother, what reason does he have to get rid of you?" Li Ling walked back and forth a little anxiously, his face was not good.

"Grandpa's body, something is wrong."

"How is that possible? I saw my father a few days ago......" Li Ling stood still, looked at Li Guanghang, his eyes drooped, "That medicine...... Not for my mother?"

"I'm afraid not," Li Guanghang subconsciously stood with his hands down, "and in less than a month, grandpa may not be able to hold on." ”

"In that case, the second brother wants to ......"

"That's right, if I am killed, with your prestige, Daddy, you will not be able to suppress the rest of the family, and when Grandpa is not there, the other families will take the opportunity to make trouble, I am afraid the consequences will be unimaginable!"

"How about that! Letting go of those two people means that there is no evidence now, which is ......"

"Daddy," Li Guanghang grinned, "if there is no evidence, then we will make evidence." ”

……