I just want to build a city

The next day, Mr. Zhongtian went to the town with the money and a little gift prepared yesterday.

Naturally, the small gifts are for those children who presented gifts on the dedication day. Whether they are asking for something or sincerely grateful, the lord must respond to it.

Most of the children would excitedly ask him if the lord would like it when they received the pastry gift.

Zhongtian's answer has always been only one: what the lord prefers is your kindness.

It's too difficult to happen to have glass and saltpeter like the previous two times.Mr. Nakata does not hope that after there are no more special stones to be found, some children will develop the mentality that as long as they pick up stones perfunctorily, they will get benefits.

So, although the lord really likes one or two beautiful stones inside, which are used as paperweights for daily replacement, he still has to secretly emphasize to these children.No matter how expensive the gift is, the lord will not take a second look at it.However, a gift with a heart, if you want to come, it won't be too bad, will it?

Just like the conch shells and isinglass brought back this time, there are indeed special ores.

Mr. Nakata weighed the three purses in his cuff pockets, and the three small gifts that he deliberately distinguished in his hand, and finally went to the homes of the three people.

The first one to look for was the kid who found the saltpeter. His name was very simple, Dashi.Although his name is Dashi, he is a bit skinny, so he was not selected for this year's patrol.I used to live near a rocky land with my family. I have played with stones the most since I was a child. I heard that the lord likes all kinds of novelty things. On the dedication day the year before, there was a boy who held a strange stone and won the favor of the lord. So I searched for those strange stones in my memory near Tottori. Did he really find them?Saltpeter is called cold stone by them, because when it touches water, it can emit cold air around him.Dashi once saw a piece of saltpeter rolled into the muddy water, and it didn't take long for the muddy water to freeze.After telling my parents, I was warned not to touch the stone that was cursed by the monster Yukino.

Yes, because monsters were prevalent in the Heian period, this kind of stone with its own material properties is also considered to be caused by the power of monsters.After all, Oishi is more courageous than his parents who have experienced all kinds of vicissitudes, so he found saltpeter and dedicated it to Mr. Haruki.However, after going back, he was cleaned up by his parents, that's all.

Except for the big stone, the whole family hoped with trepidation that the lord did not look at the collected offerings after he came back, or that he didn't care about this dirty stone.After more than two months, the whole family thought that the lord really didn't care about that inconspicuous stone, and they were all relieved.Although Dashi was a little disappointed, he felt very sorry to see his family members so worried about life, so he didn't mention it again.

Unexpectedly, I saw the lord's steward come to their house today, holding some things in his hand, it seems that he didn't come to settle accounts and punish or something. This kind of development made the whole family a little confused.

"Master Nakata..." The elders of the family timidly stepped forward. They had just moved to the Yuanshi territory for half a year, and they were still very timid in the face of these upper-level figures.

"On the day of dedication, I gave away a big stone house with a white stone wrapped in coarse cloth." Mr. Nakata actually checked it out yesterday, but he still needs to ask again.

"Yes, I am Oishi." The young man was bolder than his family, not to mention that he had been studying in the samurai mansion for a while, so he naturally dared to approach him normally. "Master Zhongtian, may I ask, are you here because the lord likes the stone I offered?"

Steward Nakata has never been in touch with Oishi, so he never thought that he would have such a blunt temperament. However, he really likes this direct way compared to other village people's meandering and time-wasting words.

"That's right, the lord asked me to send some gifts to the people who gave the offerings, and I will reward you with a sum of money. I hope you can come to the manor tomorrow. The lord wants to find some more special stones." .”

"No problem, I'll go to the manor tomorrow." Although it's not long since I came to the territory, everyone knows one thing, that is, it is very honorable to do something for the lord, not to mention that the lord will No matter what kind of reward is generously given to you, if things are done well, it is possible to get rid of the status of a commoner.

"Then, that stone doesn't belong to the monster Xuenv..." The family who moved to the same place as the family heard their conversation, with such sourness in their words, and wanted to win some attention.

The gaze was caught, but it was not a kind look.

Steward Zhongtian no longer looked at Dashi with a flat gaze, but looked at the tongue-in-cheek woman very coldly. "You have to remember one thing. The lord is a person who is favored by Inari God, so the territory has always had good weather and good harvests. In the territory protected by the gods, there is absolutely no possibility of monsters appearing to make trouble."

"Yes, yes..." The woman timidly replied repeatedly, and then hurriedly hid back home.

Mr. Nakata finally explained to Dashi's family, and then went to the second fish maw family.The family that makes fish gelatin doesn't have much trouble. Fish gelatin will be liked by the lord. These villagers from Linhai Village are naturally happy and honored. Mr. Zhongtian said that they will continue to buy it in the future. After the first-class isinglass produced by their family, I couldn't help but be overjoyed.Isinglass is troublesome to make, but for fishermen who usually fish every day, they just spend some time at night.Moreover, the value of isinglass is much more valuable than fish.Things that are exclusively for the lord, maybe in the future, they can specialize in the production of fish gelatin, but of course, the quality is not the quality that is provided for the lord.

The last family I went to was the young man who was good at diving.This family still thinks that their child just gave a beautiful conch shell to the lord.Now, when Mr. Zhongtian came, he found out that his own child had specially selected conch shells that had already produced pearls and were of good quality and dedicated them to the lord.They were not reluctant to give up the value of the pearl, because the silver rewarded by the lord was enough to buy a single pearl.It's just that they didn't match each other, pearls are not really rare things, but the lord wants to call their children to the manor to meet them.

The lord wanted to call Ah Hai to meet him. After hesitating for a while, they changed their child into clean clothes and tidied up the whole person before letting him see Mr. Qingshu.

"Master Zhongtian, why does the lord want to see me?" Ah Hai didn't quite understand. Although he thought that the pearl shell was so beautiful, the lord might like it, but he didn't think that the lord would summon him because of this. For those who can be a little water-based and can hold their breath, pearls are not difficult to get, and they are not new, as they are available on the market.What he sent was just a thought.Thank the lord for allowing them to live the life they have today.

Steward Nakata glanced at the young man behind him, then turned his gaze away, without clearly explaining anything to him. "Your lord's thoughts are not something we can understand. However, I heard that your swordsmanship in the samurai mansion is not bad."

Nakata understands a little bit. Although Kaito-kun is very reliable in the heart of the lord, it is impossible for the military power of the future samurai to be placed in the hands of only one person, and there cannot be such things as hereditary.Therefore, calling this young man may be to train a few more characters for the future samurai army, so that Kai Teng-kun's family will not be the only one.

This has nothing to do with loyalty and trust, but a shameful and balanced decision.At least, this Ah Hai is still from Linhai Village, and he is also someone whom Mr. Hai Teng admires, so there won't be much suspicion.Didn't Xing make any wrong reaction yesterday?She first served as the female official next to Mr. Qingshu, so she naturally supported Mr. Qingshu in doing so.

Just like the Fujiwara family, supporting Minamoto Yoshimitsu and Minamoto Yoshinobu.

On the way Nakatahara took the boy A Hai back to the manor, in the manor, General Todo, as always, took the time to come to the study room of the Qingshu Monarch Courtyard, and wanted to take Qingshu-kun to continue today's practice of swordsmanship.

"Young master, it's time for swordsmanship training today. I'll wait for you in the courtyard." After finishing speaking, he turned around and left the study room, and went to wait in Fujiwara.

Haruki-kun looked helplessly at the way General Todo didn't even give him any room to refute, turned around and left, and sighed softly.It's not that General Fujido doesn't respect the son of the chief general, but he has a deep understanding these days so far, let the young master seize the opportunity to speak, he will let you know why time passes so quickly, people are caught off guard.

Then, just don't let him say a word, and start training directly.

Mr. Qingshu had no choice but to put down the books on his elbows, and went to the middle of the courtyard with his short legs. In the courtyard, the attendants had already cleared the space for daily training, and one of them was holding a wooden knife. Haruki-kun's training weapon.

"Since the young master is here, let's start?" General Fujido took a wooden knife from one of the attendants, and waited for Qingshu-kun to change his clothes and come over.

"General Fujido, I'm going to meet a villager this afternoon, so let's not practice sword skills today."

"Oh? Can I ask who the young master is going to meet?"

"..." Mr. Qingshu hesitated for a moment, then answered. "Of course, it was Zhuang Min who gave me a conch shell on the day of the dedication meeting."

Haruki-kun intentionally didn't say the boy's name, after all, if Kaito-kun appreciates him, maybe General Todo knows about him.

"Oh~ the young master is talking about Ah Hai." Fujido put on a smile on his face, and it was rare to see Haruki-kun's eyes widen, with a childish appearance of losing his composure, which was quite pleasant.

he knows!

"Since it's Ah Hai, let someone bring it here to talk. I also think that kid is good and has perseverance. It's a pity that he's a little younger and can't compare to others."

Haruki-kun had no choice but to accept his fate. With Xing's help, he took off his coat and put on loose trousers that were easy to move. "How did General Fujido know that I was talking about the boy named Ah Hai?"

"Because, in the half month before the first day of the Yuan Dynasty, he would ask my subordinates for leave every afternoon, saying that he was going to fish for something in the sea." General Fujido raised his eyebrows. The joy of a failed plan. "Since his leave is approved, of course we want to see if he went diving to fish for something, and what else. After I came back, my subordinates told me what happened during this period Listen. I can still insist on going into the sea in winter, looking for pearl shells and offering them to the lord. I can say that I have a deep memory. Naturally, I paid more attention to this boy."

Qingshu-kun put on his clothes and sighed secretly.In the afternoon, he also wanted to ask the cook to make a steamed egg pudding according to what he said after meeting that Ah Hai, but it just fell through.However, after half a month of diving into the sea, he had a better impression of this boy from Ah Hai, who has perseverance and resilience.It's really a pity to just let it go for a year or two and let his physique catch up with others.

No way, today's sword training is doomed not to be rejected.

Qingshu-kun waved his hand and asked Xing to wait at the gate of the main courtyard, and asked Zhongtian-kun to bring people to the courtyard when he came back.

After Xing Yiyan withdrew, Qingshu-kun began the most painful part of his day again.

……

By the time Xing and Nakata-kun came with Ah Hai, Haruki-kun was already sweating a little from the training by General Todo, and his body is now active.

"My lord, Ah Hai has already brought it."

"My lord, General Fujido." As the one with the lowest status at present, Ah Hai knelt down on the ground and saluted when he saw Qingshu-kun and Fujido-kun's clothes when he lowered his head.

"Get up, since you want to be a patrol soldier, and as a samurai in the future, you must not be lower than other people when practicing swordsmanship." Qingshu-kun said this, and took it from Xing's hand. Sweat towel, wiped the sweat on the neck.

"Yes." Hearing this, Ah Hai immediately raised his body. Although he was still kneeling there, his back was already straight.With his kneeling posture and drooping gaze, it seems that Kai Teng-kun intentionally taught him some correct etiquette postures when facing the lord.

General Fujido stood behind Haruki-kun and glanced at the young master in front of him with satisfaction. Although he was a bit lazy in swordsmanship practice, he had the demeanor of General Yuxin in leading his subordinates.Compared with the other young master who is following General Lai Xin now, he is much stronger.I don't know what General Lai Xin thinks about the heir.

Thinking of this, General Fujido looked at Qingshu-kun, and couldn't help but dim. In terms of General Lai Xin's successor, he preferred Qing Shu-kun, but General Lai Xin's current wife...

"Can I ask you a question?"

"My lord, please tell me."

Qingshu-kun gestured at a conch shell that was bigger than his two palms, and asked. "You brought back such a big conch shell, I'm afraid you can't find it near the surface of the sea, so how deep have you dived and how long can you hold your breath?"

Ah Hai frowned, feeling a little troubled by Qingshu-kun's question. "I don't know how deep it is. I only know that I swim and dive much faster than ordinary people. If I hold my breath on the bottom of the sea and don't inhale, I can count about one hundred to two hundred."

Indeed, in this era, it is impossible to estimate the distance of the deep seabed, but holding your breath for 2 to 3 minutes shows that the muscle fibers of Ah Hai are thinner than ordinary people, and the oxygen consumption Three or four times less than ordinary people.The muscle fibers are slender, and the pressure-bearing capacity of the ears must be different from that of ordinary people, so that they can go deep into the sea and accept the pressure brought by seawater.

This proves that although Ah Hai's physical fitness is not as good as that of an older man in his prime, he is top-notch and outstanding among his peers.

"It's really amazing. It seems that in the future, there will indeed be an extraordinary person among the patrol soldiers." Mr. Qingshu praised so much, but seeing Ah Hai's appearance, he didn't look very happy.

Ah Hai lowered his eyebrows and took a deep breath. "The lord has praised me too much. I'm still far away. I'm afraid I won't be able to join the patrol team for two years."

Ah Hai's luck was very bad. He wanted to sign up in the first year, but he was not old enough. He signed up in the second year. At the age of 12, how could he compare with those young people in their 20s in terms of strength and endurance? In the prime of life, at least when he is about 15 years old, he can stand out from the crowd with his already strong physique.About this point, Ah Hai himself is very clear.

"Yeah, at your current age, you have to wait at least two or three years."

Hearing that Qingshu-kun approved of his remarks, Ah Hai became even more depressed.He really wanted to become a warrior as soon as possible, not just to change his identity as a commoner...

"Two or three years. With your potential, the blank period of two or three years is really a waste of your talent." Mr. Qingshu clicked on A Hai's basic panel, and you can see that after passing the samurai mansion After training for a period of time, Ah Hai's talent value has reached a height of 70, and his loyalty value is also 70. This kind of value is really rare among ordinary people.

"My lord, what do you mean?" Ah Hai understood what Qingshu-kun had planned for him.

Qingshu-kun squeezed the sweat towel in his hand, with a gentle smile, but cunning was hidden in his eyes. "I am weak, and I only learned basic self-defense swordsmanship with General Todo. It is really overkill. General Todo should teach better students. You come to the manor every afternoon and accept the lessons from General Todo with me." How, this way you don’t waste your natural talents.”

I'm so smart.

Qingshu-kun thought so, just like modern teacher teaching, one-on-one, of course, the main energy of teaching is to focus on you, if you add such a student, the energy will naturally be divided into two, Moreover, A Hai is indeed talented. A person who cherishes talents like General Fujido will not leave A Hai aside just because he is the lord.

"Since the young master admires the child Ah Hai so much, it is of course no problem for me to teach one more person. You and Ah Hai are about the same age, and I will have a better pairing partner in the future, which really makes me feel a lot easier." After all, General Fujido has been with Haruki-kun for more than a year. As a grown-up who has experienced many battles, he will not lose to Qingshu-kun every time.So, after Qingshu-kun finished speaking, he added in this way, seeing Qingshu-kun turning his head in astonishment, he smiled generously, and said to Ah Hai again.

"Ah Hai, the lord has such high hopes for you. Don't slack off in your daily saber practice. Let the lord take a good look at your efforts."

"Yes, I will definitely do my best every day!"

Ah, no, it doesn't matter if you don't try your best...