Chapter 13: Rich and Generous

"Taro, Jiro." As soon as Yan Xu opened his mouth, two people knelt down in front of him.

"You two will temporarily take over the position of the head foot soldiers, each leading ten foot soldiers, and patrol the rice village and the riverside paddy fields respectively to prevent the invasion of bandits and kappa."

"Hey! I guarantee with my life that I will not let any enemy invade your territory!" Taro knocked his head to the ground, shaking with excitement. He didn't even feel the wound split. Only the villagers kneeling behind him saw a red spot gradually spreading on the washed-white loincloth. To be honest, it was quite round.

Jiro's face turned red and his neck became thick. He wished he could find an enemy and die together with him on the spot to express his loyalty.

It's no wonder that the two were so excited. Even though the Ashigaru head is not a samurai, he is the pinnacle that a civilian can reach in the army, and it is also the threshold for promotion to a samurai.

Faced with the two people who were madly expressing their loyalty, Yan Xu just nodded calmly and did not say anything else. Instead, he turned around and returned to the Yamada family residence because he had more important things to do.

For Yan Xu, it didn't matter whether the two natives could do what they said, or even whether they were dead or alive. What he had to do now was to understand the situation here as quickly as possible, gain a foothold and find a way to make a profit. Otherwise, he would only make money and not spend it, and his savings, which were almost at the bottom, would not be able to hold on. This was also the reason why he chose to become a third party, he wanted to make money.

After returning to the Yamada family residence, Yan Xu recruited fifty farmers and asked them to take care of the paddy fields by the river. As for how to explain these farmers who suddenly appeared, who did he need to explain to?
Just after recruiting the foot soldiers, Yan Xu suddenly thought of something and looked at the Kappa materials he had obtained.

Yan Xu thought that there was no need to keep the materials dropped by a small monster, so he might as well use them and see the effect. He then randomly picked a foot soldier that he liked as the target of strengthening.

"Benboerba?!" Looking at the ugly bald foot soldier in front of him with small eyes, flat nose and big mouth, holding a harpoon, Yan Xu felt a little complicated. This thing was a strengthening material, and it was clearly a thing for making half-demons.

After careful inquiry, it was found that this special type of soldier named Apo by Yan Xu was not very capable in land combat, but was good in water combat because it had the characteristics of amphibians and could lurk underwater for a long time.

Yan Xu had long suspected that there was more than one kappa nearby, but they just didn't dare to go into the water. Now with Apo and the nylon rope net he brought, he might be able to solve these troubles.

Fujiki woke up earlier than Yan Xu expected, before it got dark. He was wearing only a piece of clothing and was carried by two foot soldiers.

"Give him hot soup and rice balls." Yan Xu, who had something in mind, waved his hand and rewarded him with a sumptuous meal.

It was unclear whether Fujiki was truly grateful or pretending to be grateful, but he took the food gratefully and ate it sweetly with a mouthful of soup and a mouthful of rice ball.

This is true, even samurai can't eat rice balls every meal, let alone ninjas like Fujiki who make a living by doing odd jobs.

Yan Xu waited patiently for him to finish eating before expressing his idea of ​​hiring the ninja organization that Fujiki belonged to.

Although he didn't know Yan Xu's background, Fujiki agreed readily because the other party was really rich.

As a ninja, although Fujiki has little combat power, he is very good at obtaining information from details, so even in a short time, he has gained some understanding of Yan Xu and others.

Fujiki couldn't tell Yan Xu's background, because his experience and common sense were useless on him. He could only guess that he was a noble man, because he was really particular, which could be seen from the details such as clothing, food, habits, hygiene, etc.

If one wants to develop such a habit, one must be born into a noble family and have no worries about food and clothing.

Of course, although there are not many nobles, there are still some, but there are not many nobles who are both rich and generous. Japan is small in area, let alone the nobles in Kyoto who are so noble that they can hardly eat, even the many daimyo who ceded land to become kings do not have much capital, and the frequent conflicts between them make them less motivated to produce and accumulate wealth, so even if they are noble, they have to live frugally.

And even if he had money, he would only spend it on himself and the samurai. For example, Yan Xu, even his farmers had a set of uniform new clothes. Fujiki had never seen such a thing.

That's enough. Mori is not a well-known ninja organization. It's more like a makeshift team that sticks together for warmth. There is no room for them to be picky.

However, Fujiki's injuries have not yet stabilized, so he can only send someone to take his token to contact the Mori organization.

Yan Xu gave this job to Taro. Having been a ronin before, he was no stranger to the area and could find the meeting place. However, he couldn't just go there like that. He had to at least dress up to show his strength.

If you go to negotiate a contract with someone wearing a military coat or wearing a suit, which one has a higher chance of success?

Unless you are planning to show off and get slapped in the face, a decent outfit is a must, so Yan Xu specially gave Taro the foot soldier's equipment in advance.

To put it bluntly, it is still a bamboo mat. This thing has not been used in actual combat, so Yan Xu doesn't know how effective it is. It must not be very good, but it is still quite intimidating to wear.

Compared with the foot soldiers, in addition to the uniform style of bamboo mat armor, the foot soldiers only have a red-topped conical hat and a sword, which are mainly used to mark their identity and status. After all, the foot soldiers have to follow the foot soldiers, so they naturally have to be more eye-catching.

As for what to do if he is too conspicuous and is targeted, Yan Xu doesn't care about these trivial matters anyway, and the other party is more willing to show off their status and position in this way, otherwise what is the point of working hard for promotion.

Apart from the red-topped hat, which has a greater symbolic meaning, the katana is still pretty good. It is made of two-foot-long steel bars that are quenched and polished, and can cut watermelons as easily as cutting melons. As for chopping people, Yan Xu has never tried it, but it should be much easier to use than a machete.

The sharp blade made Taro immediately put his once precious sword into the cold palace. He set off with rice balls in his pocket, full of energy. As for the travel expenses, half a bag of rice would be enough.

This thing is more useful than money. Just take out a handful of rice when eating, drinking, defecating and urinating along the way. No one will refuse it, and you don't have to worry about receiving counterfeit money.

However, it is time to put the matter of making money on the agenda. Yan Xu was thinking about the things he brought and how to exchange them for money. He had been spending money but not earning anything during this period of time, which made him feel very anxious.

I brought a lot of things with me, but I definitely can't sell them on the streets. I can find merchants, but small merchants can't take them all, and I don't have connections with big merchants. If I take the initiative to go to their doors, the price will be lowered and I can't show my status.

Ultimately, it all comes down to information and connections, and Yan Xu hoped to get some additional information from Sen.

The next morning, Taro set off with four foot soldiers. Yan Xu had nothing to do and didn't dare to wander around, so he found the village chief and listened to what he saw and heard when he was young.

A village chief cannot just be someone who can do the job. As a bridge between the villagers and the rulers, the village chief must not only be eloquent, but also have some knowledge. At least he must know when to be submissive and when to be tough. He must be able to handle his job and be able to intimidate the villagers. Kimura is such a village chief.

As for how Kimura became the village chief, the reason is very simple. His grandfather was the village chief, his father was the village chief, so he was also the village chief. Even his name is Kimura, which means wooden village.

(End of this chapter)