Chapter 176: Let’s Try Our Best!
After A Man left Yuan Ye’s residence, she searched for her old man for a long time at the liquor stalls in Xin Wanjin but couldn’t find him. However, smelling the wine, she swallowed a few mouthfuls. Hesitating, she decided not to look for him first. She took out the “support money” she had tricked from A Qing and spent it on her old man, drinking two bowls of wine to moisten her throat.
Of course, she didn’t dare to drink too much. Mainly, she was a person of status now. As a senior retainer of Wanjin and a senior retainer of the Yuan Ye Family, she felt it inappropriate to practice drunken boxing in broad daylight in a bustling market. So, she only indulged herself for a bit before reluctantly continuing her search. Finally, she found her old man in the fields of Da Nan Village.
Da Nan Village was the village newly built by Wanjin after receiving new immigrants from Mino. Everything was in its infancy, full of vitality. Izumi Heiji, wearing a conical hat, was squatting by a newly reclaimed field, examining the soil quality.
A Qian and A Yu were sitting under the shade of a tree not far away, enjoying the cool air, with nothing to do. When they noticed A Man slowly riding over on her tall steed, they both stood up and looked at her. A Qian, in particular, had a glint of jealousy and defiance in her eyes, wishing she could rush over and kick A Man off her horse with a flying kick, but she didn’t dare, so she could only glare hatefully.
A Man paid no attention to these two little things. She dismounted beside Izumi Heiji and immediately complained, “Why are you here instead of enjoying yourself in the market town? You made me search for a long time!”
Izumi Heiji ignored her words, simply dusting the dirt off his hands and sighing, “The soil here is better than Kōka’s. If we cultivate it for two years, the harvest will surely be good.”
“The harvest will be good this year,” A Man said. She knew Yuan Ye had developed a strange fertilizer, and the initial trials were quite successful, greatly increasing the yield. But farming wasn’t her concern, so she got straight to the point, “He asked me to ask you if you’re willing to do something, something that pays.”
“Do something?” Izumi Heiji wasn’t surprised. He turned his head and asked, “What do you need me to do?”
A Man’s eyes showed confusion. She was surprised, “You agree?”
Izumi Heiji looked down at the soil and sighed, “This is indeed a good place…”
He had been wandering around Xin Wanjin during this time. After a more in-depth understanding, he found that there was indeed a unique vitality here. The commoners lived very well, maintaining at least a basic level of dignity. As long as they worked diligently, they could achieve sustenance and even accumulate savings. As long as they followed the rules, the weak would not be abandoned or trampled upon by the strong…
There wasn’t even a strict hierarchy here. The local lord didn’t have retainers, or rather, no proper retainers, which meant Xin Wanjin had almost no samurai groups, nor nobility or temple families. The boundaries of social classes were almost erased, and the vast majority of people had no privileges; they were all equal.
The Sōson he dreamed of was exactly like this, and Xin Wanjin was even better than his dream. After all, even he couldn’t guarantee that he could achieve the aforementioned points.
Xin Wanjin was almost heaven to him. Even after thinking for so many days, he still couldn’t understand why Yuan Ye was secretly changing customs and trying to separate Xin Wanjin from tradition. But it didn’t matter anymore—Yuan Ye wanted to be Emperor. As long as he could govern the world like this, it wouldn’t be bad for him to be Emperor.
Izumi Heiji had already decided to move his hometown people to live in Xin Wanjin. Then, he would build a small autonomous village near Da Nan Village, paying the annual tribute and providing a certain amount of military service according to the regulations. He had already chosen the location and planned to copy the layout and water conservancy plans of Da Nan Village. He was secretly studying them these days, examining the blueprints.
As for Wanjin frequently having to go to war and not being very peaceful, that was still nothing. There wasn’t a single place in the world that wasn’t at war. Kōka and Iga could only be more chaotic; Xin Wanjin was already quite good.
A Man didn’t understand what he was thinking at all. She also looked down at the ground and hesitated before saying, “You don’t have to be like this. He’s just asking casually; it’s not like he can’t do without you. Even if you’re unwilling, with the influence of me and A Qing, he’ll still allocate a piece of wasteland to you…”
She paused halfway through and changed her mind, “Actually, even without me and A Qing’s influence, if you brought him three to five hundred people, he would definitely welcome you with open arms and even pay you a large sum of money. He’s always worried about Xin Wanjin not having enough people. Now, seeing anyone with two legs outside Xin Wanjin makes him almost unable to walk, his eyes light up, and he subconsciously swallows. So… you really don’t have to go against your wishes just for a piece of land.”
Izumi Heiji was speechless for a moment. He felt that this granddaughter gave him no face at all. What did “it’s not like he can’t do without you” mean? But he had raised A Man, so his mental resilience was naturally high. In a blink of an eye, he put it out of his mind and directly asked her, “So, what exactly does Lord Yuan Ye want me to do? Am I going back to Mino?”
He still believed that there was no such thing as a free lunch. Since he was going to move his hometown people here, it was natural for him to demonstrate his value. It wouldn’t hurt to risk his life again, as long as it was worth it.
“I already said it’s not like he can’t do without you!” A Man quickly waved her hand. “You’re already so useless. Going back to Mino wouldn’t do much good. He just wants you to be a… uh, consultant. Someone who can offer advice when things come up, whether it’s useful or not doesn’t matter. You can do whatever you want normally, and it’s retirement.”
“Consultant?” Izumi Heiji thought Yuan Ye was planning something against Saito Yoshitatsu and was ready to take another risk, but it was just this? Just talking?
He was silent for a while, feeling underestimated, but he didn’t refuse. Trust wasn’t something that could be built in a day or two. He nodded gently.
He would take it slow. After understanding Xin Wanjin, he suddenly felt a long-lost drive. After all, there were no samurai here, no oppressors, and he didn’t have to be someone’s vassal or become a new oppressor. He truly wanted to do something for a better future.
A Qian and A Yu had been watching from the side for a long time and were already itching to try.
They had been wandering around Xin Wanjin during this time and had discovered that A Man had high prestige among the locals and was very imposing—mainly because A Man was currently in charge of the Military Police, and the Military Police also served as police officers. She often personally led people to beat up citizens who violated hygiene regulations by defecating or spitting randomly, and she would personally kick thieves and drunkards and send them to hard labor. Basically, everyone feared her and respectfully called her “Lord A Man” when they saw her.
Moreover, A Man’s monthly salary was in the highest tier in Xin Wanjin, and she could also use A Qing’s monthly salary, which was equivalent to receiving two high salaries. As long as she didn’t go on drunken sprees or gamble, and only bought things, she was very well-off. She rode a tall steed daily, wore different dōmaru in rotation, had gold and silver inlaid on her sword hilt, and her helmet’s golden horns could pierce the sky. She was ostentatious to a certain degree.
The two of them were very envious of this. Seeing their old man being conscripted, A Yu secretly tugged at A Qian. A Qian quickly stepped forward and asked, “What about us? What can we do? How much money can we get?”
A Man looked them up and down, then pouted, “You two are useless right now. Continue your studies. Not a single coin!”
Anger flashed in A Qian’s eyes, and she immediately shouted, “We’ve almost finished learning! We’re more useful than you! You don’t believe me? Try it!” After saying that, she showed a malicious smile and provoked her, “You definitely don’t dare, right?”
She had wanted to beat up this old beast A Man for a long time. Now that A Qing wasn’t here, she was alone, which was a perfect opportunity to strike!
A Man looked down on her from the bottom of her heart. She glanced at her dismissively and said, “Believe it or not, if I shout now, twenty people will come and beat you until you shit yourself? Do you want to try?”
A Qian immediately turned her head and looked around. She saw a few people waiting in the distance, likely A Man’s subordinates. Her courage immediately shrank. A Man looked at her and remembered something, then said to Izumi Heiji, “Right, that… old man, I’m doing well now. Shouldn’t you pass on the position of head of the Life Preservation Style to me?”
“No!” A Qian was anxious and quickly said, “Old man… uh, Grandpa isn’t dead yet. Why should you take over? Even if Grandpa dies, it’s not like you can just take over!”
“I should be the one to take over. I am the legitimate heir. You two are just trash I won gambling! Without me, you would have died long ago!” A Man retorted, then turned to Izumi Heiji and asked, “Old man, what do you say? If our Life Preservation Style is to take root in Xin Wanjin, I should be the one in charge. Only I can develop the Life Preservation Style!”
Izumi Heiji was stunned for a moment. He looked at the serious A Man, then at the brand new, vibrant Xin Wanjin all around him. After a long pause, he slowly nodded, having no objections.
…
The next morning, Yuan Ye met Izumi Heiji, A Qian, and A Yu in his office. He warmly welcomed Izumi Heiji’s willingness to contribute his remaining years, held his hand and spoke courteously for a long time, showing him the utmost respect. He reiterated his intention to support Izumi Heiji in establishing a Sōson in Xin Wanjin, stating that he would not interfere too much with the village’s self-governance and self-construction—the overall nature would be similar to the relationship between the US government and state governments in later generations. The village would handle minor matters itself, and only major issues would require his attention.
This was also an experiment, and Yuan Ye was very happy to gain a village’s worth of population for free. Absorbing nearly two thousand Mino immigrants had only temporarily alleviated his labor shortage. With the development of the Da Nan Village area, he still lacked people.
Izumi Heiji was officially hired. Afterward, the two entered into casual conversation. Yuan Ye hoped that if Izumi Heiji had the time and energy, he could guide Xin Wanjin’s external intelligence agency and occasionally give lectures to the trainees. Then, he invited Izumi Heiji to visit Meng Ziqi, hoping to use his experience to see if Meng Ziqi could still be saved.
This was something he suddenly thought of last night when he couldn’t sleep. Although A Man was knowledgeable, her age was limited. She was far inferior to the experienced Izumi Heiji. Perhaps Izumi Heiji had seen doctors who could cure someone in a vegetative state.
Izumi Heiji didn’t expect that the first task as this inexplicable “consultant” would be to see a patient. However, he still took it seriously. After repeatedly examining and inquiring about Meng Ziqi’s condition, he felt that he should have died long ago. Finally, after a long period of deliberation, he said, “I’ve never seen someone who has been in a coma for so long and is still alive…”
Yuan Ye was somewhat disappointed and sighed, “Is there really no way?”
Izumi Heiji thought again and again, but still shook his head and sighed, “I do know a monk with excellent medical skills, but I’ve never heard of him being able to cure this kind of illness. We can only try, but I can’t guarantee anything.”
He paused and shook his head again, “Even if we try, the hope is very slim.”
Yuan Ye looked at Meng Ziqi for a while and nodded gently, feeling that brain damage was indeed a difficult and complicated problem, and it was hard to solve. For now, all he could do was try his best.
Having some hope was better than having no hope at all.
