Mystery One, Toyotomi's Secret Order

Chapter 19

He remained silent, apparently Kodama's answer satisfied him.But what Jinzhi didn't know was that Kodama in front of him jumped onto a bigger stage after the end of the war, and even surpassed him to become the most influential figure in contemporary Japanese society; Toyotomi Hideyoshi who rose from the Honnoji Incident.

Going forward

Shanghai in [-]

After bidding farewell to Austin, Zhang Wei left Texas with rich souvenirs (wooden box, compass and map) and returned to New York.Redman had already heard the news of the successful completion of the mission from Austin's phone call.After the meeting between the master and the apprentice, Redman also had quite a lot of doubts and curiosity about the compass and the map. Of course, he also had a lot of doubts and curiosity about Zhang Wei’s previous bold inferences (Zheng He may be the first person to complete the feat of circumnavigating the world). , began to have daydream and confidence.

So with the support and encouragement of his teacher and curator, Zhang Wei decided to go to China again, trying to find some clues related to the compass and map.If time permits, of course, it is not ruled out to stop by Sinbad in Baghdad.

Now that we have to set foot on China again, Zhang Wei’s good brother-in-law, Jiang Long, is definitely indispensable for this journey.The story of this good pairing between China and the West begins with the "Yu Garden", a well-known scenic spot in Shanghai, the Oriental Pearl Tower.

Next to the Jiuqu Bridge next to the Town God's Temple in Shanghai, there is a Jiangnan forest garden known as the "urban forest" with a long history: Yu Garden. 20 years ago, the young but newborn Zhang Wei came to Asia.When visiting Japan, the small and exquisite Japanese-style gardens in Kyoto often made Zhang Wei linger and forget to return, leaving a deep impression on him.Zhang Wei later learned that Japan has been deeply influenced by Chinese culture since the Han and Tang Dynasties.So he just set foot in Shanghai, the gateway to modern China, and excitedly spoke his half-baked Chinese with a foreign accent, and went straight to Yu Garden, one of the representatives of local Chinese forest gardens.

The impulsive and curious Zhang Weifu came to this kaleidoscope-like metropolis where China meets the West, and immediately suffered a lot.When they came near the Town God's Temple, the local businessmen saw that this foreign boy who had just arrived and was alone, who didn't understand Shanghai dialect at all, was easy to bully.A transaction agreed to be paid in silver dollars on the spot, after the transaction, insisted that the price was denominated in US dollars, and Zhang Wei was required to make up the price difference.Of course Zhang Wei refused angrily, and wanted to get back the silver dollars he had paid before and left.Relying on the strength of their numbers, the merchants not only insisted on not refunding the money they had paid in silver dollars, but also blocked Zhang Wei's way.Although there were many people drinking and drinking at the scene, most of them stood by and watched, waiting to see the foreign boy make a fool of himself.

At the time when he was besieged on all sides and was in a dilemma.A young man who was doing rough work nearby, seeing the crowd surrounding and dragging a gentle, childish and flustered young man, picked up the carrying pole for work and rushed into the crowd on the spot.

This young man who is not amazing, of medium stature (about 1.7 meters in height), but with extraordinary courage and skill, has the amazing momentum and courage of Master Zhang (Zhang Fei) who is invincible.After shaking his fists and palms, the shopkeeper, who had always been bullying and afraid of evil, obediently refunded the purchase price and apologized.In this way, Zhang Wei's danger under the city was solved.

A desperate situation that seemed to be perilous at first, was resolved with the stupidity of this farmer from northern Jiangsu.Grateful, Zhang Wei dragged Jiang Long back to the Peace Hotel where he was staying on the Bund to repay his kindness by having a feast of foreign food.Although Jiang Long didn't fully understand Zhang Wei's intentions.But the foreigner was moved by the sincerity of bowing, bowing, and shaking hands.The two gesticulated, and after some tugging and stalemate, the young man took Zhang Wei to taste the crab roe soup buns from the nearby famous "Nanxiang Steamed Bun Shop"; and then led the foreign boy to taste various Shanghai authentic snacks and delicacies — Rib rice cake, pan-fried steamed buns, siu mai, crab shell yellow...etc.As a result, Zhang Wei fell in love with Chinese food before falling in love with Chinese Linyuan.

Since the first errand every time I return to Shanghai, I run to Yu Garden.Of course, it is not in a hurry to enjoy the garden, but to taste delicious food.Food accompanied by beautiful scenery has become a fixed scene for two friends to meet in Shanghai.

Like the plot of a martial arts novel, the knights of the rivers and lakes draw their swords to help when they see injustice.Since then, the two have become attached to each other and become good partners in walking the rivers and lakes.Zhang Wei was an only son, and was a few years older than Jiang Long. In addition to treating Jiang Long as a brother with a different surname, he also taught Jiang Long a lot of knowledge, international etiquette and foreign language.Zhang Wei does not put on airs and is easy-going and has the personality of a scholar and a cowboy. He is paired with Jiang Long, who is big and transformed, and goes straight to the nature of a farmer.The disparate backgrounds and backgrounds, coupled with the language and cultural barriers spoken by chickens and ducks, despite the first few years, made many situations and jokes.After getting along for a few years, the characteristics of complementing each other, the two have become good partners for both civil and military affairs.

Jiang Long in the restaurant was enjoying the soup dumpling filled with crab roe, while chatting with Zhang Wei about the homework.

"What, you're hungry again? I told you before, I can't forget the crab roe soup dumplings, so I quit my job and came to Shanghai to teach. Don't you come here whenever you like, and eat as much as you like. Anyway, teaching! Not everywhere The same? You, want to learn from our old Confucius and travel around the world. Okay! But... crab roe stuffed with soup, only Shanghai has it in the world, and if you want to eat it elsewhere...you can't eat it."

Every time he saw Jiang Long's serious and preaching face like an old pedant, Zhang Wei wanted to laugh.But this time, he didn't smile.But he punched his companion on the shoulder with a fist.

"Eat what you eat, how can there be such a big reason? I have never heard of: 'Eat the emperor is big!'"

Jiang Long looked puzzled, and instead of stroking his shoulder, he grabbed his head and asked, "Is there such a saying? It's...it's the first time I've heard it."

"China is so big, there are more than hundreds of tribes, and the culture is so diverse, there are dozens of kinds of soup dumplings alone; dare you have been, heard, and eaten all of them?"

Although Zhang Wei had the intention to play tricks on Jiang Long on purpose.However, the words are true.

"That's right! You are a great scholar and professor, and your words have always made sense. But what do you mean by this...?"

Jiang Long has an advantage, he won't argue with you.If you don't know something, say you don't know; if you can't handle it, say you can't handle it.Although he wandered all over the world and settled in the metropolis of Shanghai for many years, the simplicity and straightforwardness of the farmer's man remained unchanged, and he was so cute and simple.

Jiang Long often said that his mother always warned him like this: "Be honest and down-to-earth, don't slap your face and pretend to be fat." Therefore, Jiang Long would blush even if he told a little lie.This is very different from Zhang Wei's well-informed, sophisticated little tricks and tricks when necessary.

Zhang Wei took a sip of tea to get rid of the smell of oil and meat in his mouth, and then said: "The meaning of this... is to say: 'When eating, I am the biggest. Even the Emperor and I have to wait for you to finish the meal Only when you finish eating can you be asked to do errands.” The Chinese don’t say: “The country is based on the people, and the people regard food as the sky.” Therefore, when eating, of course, the people who eat are the largest. In everything, you must first fill your stomach full. Otherwise, nothing can be done.”

Listening to Zhang Wei's reasoning and preaching, Jiang Long buried his head and continued to worship his five internal organs temple.

"Champ, you're right. I like the saying 'eat the emperor!' I like it. I'm going to concentrate on eating buns now. Be the emperor, don't bother me anymore."

Jiang Long looked up at his old companion, then stuffed a soup dumpling full of hot gravy into his mouth.It's too late to stop him, but seeing Jiang Long's mouth full of buns, his face flushed as red as Mr. Guan's.Zhang Wei hurriedly handed over the plate and tea.

Jiang Long spit out half of the steamed stuffed bun on the plate in one gulp, quickly poured a mouthful of tea, blinked his eyes, blushed, panting, and said, "This emperor is really hard to be! Almost... didn't burn me to death. "

Zhang Wei suppressed his smile, his tone was more regretful than reproachful: "It's not the first time to eat soup dumplings, look at how embarrassed you are eating."

"I'm still to blame? I just listened to you talking about the truth, and I was distracted for a while. I almost burned me to death!"

Jiang Long swallowed tea, stuck out his tongue frantically, and shook his head in a funny way, which amused Zhang Wei again, and finally he couldn't help laughing.There were not only two guests Zhang Wei and Jiang Long in the lobby, bursts of laughter erupted from the entire hall, only Jiang Long was red-faced and accompanied by fiery eyes and golden stars, which was very embarrassing.

After a full meal, the two old friends walked into Yu Garden, followed the winding stone path, followed the water flow, bypassed the pond, passed through Yangshan Hall and Dianchun Hall, and came to a small hill - a big rockery.In summer, Shanghai is actually not much different from New York, and the climate is unbearably hot and humid.Avoid the famous two halls in the garden, one is to keep the outside cooler, and the other is to avoid people's eyes and ears.

The two leisurely walked all the way to the bottom of Yu Linglong.Yu Linglong is actually a huge Taihu Lake stone with a height of eight or nine meters.The peak stone is exquisite and transparent, and the whole body is porous, with the beauty of leakage, transparency, wrinkle and thinness.It is said that if you light a burner of incense under the stone, smoke will come out from all the holes in the stone; if a basin of water is poured from above, all the holes will also spray water.The word "Yuhua" is engraved on the stone, which means the essence of the stone.

Walking and swaying, Zhang Wei searched for vistas along the way, sometimes standing and watching, sometimes walking forward, sometimes looking at strange rocks and flowers, sometimes looking for strange things, people who don't understand think that these two strollers in the garden are First-time tourists.The old friend who has always been impatient is not as comfortable as Zhang Wei. After a while, he can't hold his breath.

"Champ, now you can always tell me, the purpose of this trip...to Shanghai? Don't tell me, it's a special trip to visit old friends, eat delicious food, go to the garden..."

After not seeing each other for a long time, Zhang Wei teased his old friend: "Why, can't you?"

Of course, Jiang Long was not so easy to dismiss, and sang cross talk with his old friend.

"Okay! Of course. I'll accompany you anytime. But don't ask me to do some life-threatening troubles later."

Zhang Wei smiled