"What do you want to buy?"

Lin Heshui walked into the store, and a twelve or thirteen-year-old boy greeted him and asked in a stiff Hokkien dialect. Lin Heshui didn't answer immediately, and looked around at the furnishings in the store, the façade of this shop is not big, and it can be the size of three or four Eight Immortal tables, but it is very deep, and after a rough look, there are two or three into the courtyard. The furnishings of the shop are also very simple, and the water sign says that in addition to making ready-to-wear for others, there are also services for buying used clothes and helping people change clothes. The main customers are the middle and lower classes, but they are very clean, the counters and the stools for customers to sit down and rest are wiped clean, and the smell of scratching is in the air. Lin Heshui couldn't help but sneeze and said with a smile: "I'm from Dayuangang, is Mr. Yoshida here?" His friend asked me to bring him a letter! ”

"Dayuangang?" The boy looked confused. Seeing this, Lin Heshui added with a smile: "It's Yoshihiko Yamada and Ichiro Ono, they asked me to bring the letter!" ”

"Saburo has a letter coming?"

Hearing the sound next to him, Lin Heshui turned around and saw a middle-aged man in his early forties coming out of the room, wearing a shoulder coat on the upper body, a pair of wide pants on the lower body, holding a folding fan in his hand, long eyebrows and thin eyes, a circle of slight whiskers under his chin, and his face looked quite gentle, but his back was straight, his shoulders were broad and thick, and his exposed forearms were thick and powerful.

"San Lang? Who is Saburo? Lin Heshui asked puzzled.

"Oh, I said I'm in a hurry!" The man smiled and knocked his head twice with a folding fan: "It's Yamada-kun, he does three things at home, and the familiar people around him call him Saburo, why does he have a letter?" Are you okay? “

"Yamada-kun is very good!" Lin Heshui took out the letter from his arms, but did not hand it to the visitor: "However, before leaving, Yamada-kun told him that the letter could only be handed over to Mr. Yoshida Okiji himself, where is Mr. Yoshida?" “

"Oh! I'm sorry I forgot to introduce myself, but I'm Okiji Yoshida! The middle-aged man smiled: "Yuer, why don't you go make tea soon, guests from afar, please go to the back room and sit down and talk!" “

"Yes!" The young man hurried to the inner room, and Yoshida Okiji asked Lin Heshui and the captain to go to the inner room, and Lin Heshui found that although the façade of this Yoshida house was narrow, the inside was very spacious, and there were several courtyards of twenty or thirty zhang square, and the corridors on both sides of the courtyard were also placed with various tools for practicing archery, swordsmanship, and spearmanship. Yoshida Okiji saw Lin Heshui's gaze, so he explained with a smile: "There is no way, and there is no peace here, if you don't teach your children some self-defense skills, I'm afraid that when the catastrophe comes, your own life will not be saved!" “

"That's what Mr. Yoshida said!" Lin Heshui said with a smile: "Literature must be armed, and the ancients are honest and do not deceive me!" ”

Hearing Lin Heshui's answer, Yoshida Okiji's eyes couldn't help but light up, and he smiled: "That's right!" “

At this time, the three of them had already arrived at the place where they were entertained, and after the guests sat down, Yoshida Okiji confessed his guilt, and then opened the letter and read it, Lin Heshui noticed that the other party looked solemn when he read the letter. After reading the letter, Yoshida Okiji carefully folded the letter, took it into his arms, and solemnly bowed to Lin Heshui, and said: "Mr. Lin, San Lang has already said in the letter, you helped him on the side of the senior, here I thank you first!" ”

"Mr. Yoshida, we are all strangers outside, and I am also beneficial to Yamada-kun's affairs, but why be polite if you do it with your hands?"

"I can't say that, it's not easy for someone like Mr. Lin to be willing to do a lot of work to strangers!" At this time, the young man had already brought the tea, Lin Heshui looked up and down, although the young man had not fully grown up, but the palm of his hand was covered with calluses, his arms were swinging powerfully, and his steps were flexible, obviously he had also worked hard in spearmanship and swordsmanship, and he couldn't help but blurt out: "Mr. Yoshida, you are so good at even a half-grown child here, and you are really a strong general with no weak soldiers!" ”

"I'm not a child!" The boy retorted angrily.

"Yuji, how can you talk to Mr. Lin like this?" Yoshida Okiji scolded the young man, and smiled at Lin Heshui: "Mr. Lin, he is the child of a late friend of mine, raised in the store, and I don't have any skills, so I teach indiscriminately, and he also learns indiscriminately, which makes you laugh!" “

"You're kidding, I'm still messing around with my neighbor's companions at this little brother's age!" Speaking of this, Lin Heshui lowered his voice: "Mr. Yoshida, you have already told me about those things in Siam in the past, Yamada-kun, you are really a first-class hero, at this time, it is just a dragon swimming in the shallows, the tiger falling in Pingyang, sooner or later there will be a day to turn over!" ”

Listening to Lin Heshui's words, Yoshida Okiji's face couldn't help but move slightly, he followed Yamada Nagamasa in Siam and repeatedly broke strong enemies, and his scenery was almost no less than that of a famous Japanese country at that time, but now he has been reduced to a small garment store owner in Lower Manila, what is the difference between the differences? It is impossible to say that he has no thoughts in his heart, but he is scheming and rarely shows it.

"Huh!" Yoshida Okiji snorted and hid the expression on his face: "Those are all things of the past, I am thinking now that I can open this ready-to-wear store, take care of my deceased friends, and pray to God for their blessings!" By the way, Mr. Lin, do you have anything to do with your visit to Manila this time? If it's an errand matter, maybe I'll be able to help a little bit! “

"Mr. Yoshida really has the style of an ancient knight!" Lin Heshui gave a thumbs up and said with a smile: "Actually, I came to Manila this time in the name of the master, and I came here to discuss a deal!" ”

"Master? To be able to let Mr. Lin run for him, he must be a big man? “

"Hmm!" Lin Heshui smiled and nodded: "If you Japanese say it, you should be able to be regarded as the elder of the million-stone daimyo!" ”

"The elder of the million-stone daimyo?" Yoshida Okiji couldn't help but show a solemn look, after a round of changes (confiscation of territory) for the three generations of the Tokugawa family, Japan can be called a million-stone daimyo, except for the shogun's family, there is only the Kaga Maeda family, which is equivalent to the top of the political pyramid of the mother country.

"My master is the commander of the Ming Dynasty and Zhejiang, although I can't divide the soil like your country, hereditary replacement, but the annual income of Zhejiang Province must exceed one million stones, so it will be flattened!"

"That's nature!" Yoshida Okiji nodded, he is also a native of Kyushu, the local trade with the Ming Dynasty is very prosperous, there are many merchants from Zhejiang, and I have heard that Zhejiang is the rich place of the Ming Dynasty second only to Nanzhili and Jiangxi, if you talk about the income, Zhejiang Province alone is likely to exceed all the heavenly collars of the Tokugawa family, compared to the trembling all day long, lest one day anger the general's family was changed by those foreign daimyos, the life of the capital of the Ming Dynasty is actually much more nourishing.

"Then dare to ask, what did your lord ask Mr. Lin to do in Manila?" Yoshida Okiji asked suspiciously: "I heard that Daming is a **** kingdom, there is nothing, so why do you need to come to Manila?"

"To deal with the Dutch!" Lin Heshui's mouth showed a casual smile: "Mr. Yoshida, I won't hide it from you, my eldest son has decided to expel the Dutch from the Dacheng, those Dutch are good at firearms and navigation, my master asked me to come to Manila, just to recruit a group of volunteers who are good at firearms!" ”

"Dutch? Volunteer soldiers? Yoshida Rush lowered his head, took a sip of tea, and when he raised his head again, his face was a lot colder: "Mr. Lin, it seems that you are also planning to help Yamada-kun with this favor!" ”

"Huh!" Lin Heshui laughed: "Mr. Yoshida, we Ming people have a saying, no trace of the heart, no trace of the poor family; Regardless of the heart, the heart is less than perfect! I don't know if you've heard of it? ”

"Humph!" Yoshida Okiji snorted coldly and didn't speak, but his face looked a lot better. The implication of Lin Heshui's words is obvious: he admits that he has another intention to make friends with Yamada Yoshihiko, but after all, he has helped Yamada a lot, after all, there are few perfect people in ancient and modern times who do not consider the interests at all, if they only talk about their hearts and minds, then who can make friends?

"Mr. Lin, I'm sorry, since the Siam incident, I have been disheartened, I just want to raise these children and support themselves, I don't want to become a knife in the hands of others for fame and fortune!" Speaking of this, Yoshida Okiji stood up and said to the young man on the side, "Yuji, arrange a place for Mr. Lin to live in the backyard!" He didn't wait for Lin Heshui to excuse himself and said in a deep voice: "Mr. Lin, my ability is limited, and I can only repay you for your kindness to Yamada by arranging a few days of food and lodging, please forgive me!" With that, he pushed the door and went out, leaving Lin Heshui and the captain in the house and looking at each other.

"Mr. Lin, what should I do next?" The captain asked nervously.

"If you come, you will be safe!" Lin Heshui smiled: "Aren't you tired, you and I have a few drinks tonight and conspire to get drunk!" “

"Good!"

After Yoshida Okiji left, the young man named Yuji became cold towards Lin Heshui and the two, and Lin Heshui didn't care, and went straight to a villa in the back to bathe and change clothes under the guidance of the young man, and handed over the luggage voucher to Yuji, and asked him to go to the dock to pick up his luggage. Lin Heshui They have been adrift at sea for more than half a month, with countless fleas on their bodies, jumping into a large wooden barrel filled with hot water, the humid hot air on their faces, and brushing their skin red with a brown brush, and the comfortable feeling is like going to the sky.

"Mr. Lin!"

Lin Heshui was leaning against the wall of the bucket to enjoy himself, when he suddenly heard the captain's voice, he closed his eyes and asked lazily, "What's the matter?" ”

"Do you think he will agree to this Yoshida?"

"Promise what?"

"What's more, didn't you come here to win him over as a mercenary?" The captain couldn't help but be anxious when he saw Lin Heshui's lazy appearance.

"Who knows, I'm not a roundworm in his stomach!" Lin Heshui lazily put a hot towel on his face, and his voice became angry: "If he doesn't go, at most we will run for nothing, what's the big deal, there are so many firearms in the world, and there is no shortage of these widows!" “

"Really? There are a lot of people who can use firearms, but that Yoshihiko Yamada-"

"What happened to Yoshihiko Yamada?" The hot towel on Lin Heshui's face was pulled, and he sneered: "At most, they refuse to come to our side, and they have to stand on the side of the Dutch. I also talked to him about speculation, and wanted to show him a clear way, so as not to burn the jade, but he still had to go on his own, whether it was success or failure, whether it was life or death, it was all his own business. ”

"Really?" The captain had seen the dignitaries of Narelansha City with his own eyes, but he was not as confident as Lin Heshui, and he was just about to open his mouth to say a few words of irony, when he suddenly saw a vague figure on the ground at the door, obviously someone was hiding outside the door and eavesdropping. Lin Heshui shrewdly made a silent gesture, raised his voice and said: "That's natural, although Dayuangang is prominent, at best there are two or three hundred soldiers, plus the others will die only five or six hundred, I have 60 million ding, if it doesn't work once, it will be twice, and if it doesn't work twice, it will be three times, and the Dutch will have to deal with the Spaniards and Lord Zheng Yiguan, how many soldiers and how many boats can be sent to save the people?" With such a huge disparity between strength and weakness, isn't the victory or defeat known to all the wise and foolish? “

The captain was frightened by Lin Heshui's acting, and for some reason, Lin Heshui lay on the edge of the barrel, grabbed the captain's right hand, and pretended to talk heartily, while writing with his fingers on the captain's palm, "There are people outside!" The captain was not a fool, he had already understood, and raised his voice in response: "In that case, sir, why do you bother to travel so far? “

"Rich and dangerous!" Lin Heshui pretended to be helpless: "The big man will definitely take it down, but you and I may not be rich, if this Yoshida Okiji can persuade Yoshihiko Yamada to defect to them, it will be much easier to win the big member, wouldn't you and I have made a great contribution in front of the adults, of course, this is also good for them, not to mention anything else." They are under the fence in Manila, and they live on people's noses, and after winning the big position, it is not impossible to become a master. "Yes, I hope that Mr. Yoshida is more interesting, and it's just hello, I'm good, everyone!" The captain chimed in.

In the corridor outside the house, Yoshida Okiji was half-crouching, his ears pressed against the wall, listening to the whispers inside. At this moment, there was a sound of footsteps outside the courtyard, and he quickly jumped backwards and hid behind a water tank at the back of the corridor. Then Yuji walked to the door and owed Lin Heshui from the big wooden barrel in the house: "Mr. Lin, I have already taken your luggage back, and it is all in your residence!" (To be continued.) )