"Taro, Dad, I have to leave home for a while! When I'm not at home, you have to be a good boy and don't cause any trouble to your mother."

"Dad, where are you going?"

"Dad, I'm going to Otsu. I won't be back until the New Year."

"Otsu? Why do you want to go so far away?"

"The Qinjin vassal government is recruiting young men recently! The wages offered are quite high. I don't have anything else, but I have a lot of strength! So I have to prepare enough money for our family before the New Year."

"Open recruitment of young men? What is this for? Building a city? Or building a road?"

"I don't know, it doesn't matter what he does! As long as I'm paid enough, I can do it whether it's moving rocks or cutting down trees!"

…

"Mom, I'm leaving!"

"Oh... son, do you really want to go to Dajin?"

"Oh, mother, it's already this time, how can you pay back your mother-in-law?"

"Sigh... I'm not worried about you... Otsu is too far away. It's more than ten miles away. I'm afraid you might encounter some accident halfway..."

[Note: One mile in the Edo period is equal to 3.924 kilometers in modern times]

"Mom, don't worry! I'm not the only one going to Dajin! The two brothers from my neighbor's house, the big brother from across the street, and a few friends from the next village all want to go to Dajin with me! Let's go together and look after each other.

, what accident can happen? So just relax!"

"well……"

…

"Brother, do we really want to go to Otsu?"

"Of course! What? At this point, even the luggage and transportation are ready, and you want to run away?"

"No, no! I will go wherever my eldest brother goes. I'm just worried... We brothers have no other skills except farming. Will they take us in?"

"Of course I accept it! The Qinjin vassal government has made it clear that 'restoring old fields and developing new fields' will be listed as the top goal of revitalizing the vassal state. They are now in urgent need of farmers who are proficient in farming. Isn't this suitable for us? Besides, they opened it.

The wages are so high! Working there for a month is better than working here for three months!"

"But... I have never traveled far... Suddenly I have to go to such a far place, and I feel a little unsure..."

"Tsk, with me accompanying you, what are you afraid of? Brother, don't hesitate! We must seize this good opportunity this time! Earn money to repair the roof! The weather is getting colder and colder, it won't take long

It will start to snow. If we don’t repair this broken roof, we won’t be able to survive the winter! Do you want to freeze to death at home?”

"No, I don't want to..."

"Since you don't want to, then go to bed quickly! We'll be on the road early tomorrow morning!"

…

"I just heard on the street that the Qinjin Domain is recruiting experienced carpenters. I plan to give it a try."

"Eh? Qinjin Clan? Is it the Qinjin Clan of 'Nioh' Tachibana Aoden?"

"Well, yes."

"Carpenter... Danna, you haven't done carpentry work for a long time, can you do it?"

[Note·Dana: Japanese women’s honorific title for their husbands]

"Anyway, let's give it a try first. As you know, the recent years have been very bad and money has become increasingly difficult to make. As long as there is an opportunity to make money, I am willing to give it a try."

…

"Son! Pack your bags! We, father and son, are leaving tomorrow!"

"Let's go? Where?"

"Go to Otsu!"

"Otsu? Why do you want to go to Otsu?"

"Of course I'm going to make money! The Qinjin vassal government is recruiting strong men, farmers, and skilled craftsmen of all kinds. This is a great business opportunity!"

"Business opportunities...? What business opportunities can this have?"

"Tsk! What do I usually say? If you want to make a lot of money, you must read more! As long as you read more, you will have the ability to distinguish right from wrong and rich knowledge! These two will help you have the ability to 'discover business opportunities'

!Son, let me ask you, do you know about the ‘Mingli Fire’?”

"Hmm... Although I don't like reading, I still know this bit of common sense. Isn't it the incident caused by a burning sleeve during the Ming Dynasty (1655-1657) that killed two-thirds of Jiang's people?

It was a big fire that burned all the houses to ashes."

"Yes, do you know that when the fire subsided, in order to rebuild Edo, countless young men and craftsmen gathered in Edo. In order to meet the living needs of these people, izakayas, bathhouses, Okonokoro and other shops sprung up like mushrooms after a rain! A large number of merchants

I benefited from it and made a lot of money!"

"Huh? So is there such a story behind the 'Mingli Fire'?"

"The impact of the 'Mingli Fire' goes beyond that! In the past, people only ate two meals a day, one in the morning and one at noon. Rebuilding a town was a hard job, and 'two meals a day' was simply not enough.

I didn’t have the energy to work, so I changed it to ‘three meals a day’. Over time, the ‘three meals a day’ lifestyle became popular.”

"Father, you are so knowledgeable..."

"Stop flattering me here! If you understand, hurry up and pack your bags! We are going to open a brand new izakaya in Otsu! I am sure that our business will be prosperous! Make a lot of money!"

"Yes, yes! I'm going to pack my bags now!"

"Quick! Quick! Move fast! The key to doing business is 'speed'! If you have a quick hand, you will have a slow hand! Now there must be many colleagues gearing up and rushing to Dajin! We have to hurry up and 'grab the territory'

Okay! The opportunity to make money is always fleeting! Once you miss it, you will get nothing!"

…

"I'm off!"

…

"Huh...huh...how far is it from Otsu?"

…

"Here we are! We've arrived in Otsu!"

…

"Wow, wow...! There are so many people! As expected of Otsu! There are so many people! Much more than the population of our village! This is the first time I have seen such a dense population!"

…

"Look! The light green Haori...is the Shinsengumi! It's the patrol team of the Shinsengumi!"

…

"He's so handsome...Okay, I've decided! If the Shinsengumi launches a new round of recruitment in the future, I will definitely apply!"

…

"Damn it! The people of Kyoto really live up to their reputation! They are all annoying! Since they are all here to recruit young men, why do you act like 'I am different from you' and 'we are noble people'? Arrogant

What the hell!"

…

"Attention! Line up! Don't crowd! Craftsmen and people who are proficient in farming, please go this way! Ordinary strong men should go that way."

…

"Hey! What are you doing! No fighting! Quarrels and fights are strictly prohibited here!"

…

"You guys should all listen carefully! If someone starts messing around again, our patrol team will send these disobedient guys to the prison to calm down!"

…

…

Kinoshita Rin's support for Qingto and the Qinjin clan can be said to be the best interpretation of the term "generous giving".

She did not say exactly how much material she donated.

But according to what Kiryu’s boss later revealed, she packed up almost half of Calabash House’s inventory and gave it to Qingto!

From Osaka to Otsu, the distance is not far and the road is not difficult.

Even with a slow carriage, 2 or 3 days are enough to travel back and forth between the two places.

But even so, the huge transport team composed of hundreds of carriages took a total of more than half a month to finally transport the amount of supplies for that day!

The mission of the transportation team has been completed, but the "battle" in the finance room has just begun!

Following Elodie's example, all members of the finance office worked overtime and worked hard.

In the end, it took much less time than expected to bring this large-scale transportation project to a successful conclusion.

When all the account books, which are as thick as bricks, are stacked up, they look like a small mountain.

Thanks to Elodie's ability and the hard work of the finance office, the specific amounts of various materials sent by Kinoshita Lin were taken care of and clearly counted.

Elodie recorded it on a piece of paper and made a simple "data sheet".
To be continued...