Time flies so fast, it is now July 23rd, and it is time for Pei Ziyun’s club to set off for Hokkaido.
At the pier, a group of people were bustling.
At the ferry, Pei Ziyun was carrying a satchel, and Kota Toyama was following closely with a suitcase. A group of students boarded the merchant ship.
This ferry is the Himawari of Oba Ferry Company. The Himawari is bound for Hokkaido. The departure route is Oarai in Ibaraki Prefecture, Tokyo, and arrives in Hokkaido.
This time, the club’s trip to Hokkaido was entirely undertaken by the Bando Foundation.
I chose the ferry to go to Hokkaido because the process of traveling is also a kind of enjoyment. Compared with the one-hour flight, the ferry is more interesting and not too long and boring.
As for choosing the Himawari of Oba Ferry Company, it is because the Bando Foundation holds 15% of the shares of Oba Ferry Company and can provide more comfortable services.
The schedule is to depart in the evening and arrive at 13:00 the next day. The whole journey takes 19 hours. The one-way ordinary fare is 8,500 yen. When Pei Ziyun, Toyama Kota, Saeko, and Hayakawa Naomi lined up to enter the cruise ship, a waiter saw Pei Ziyun and his party. , he bowed to Pei Ziyun and asked, "Is it Mr. Yamada?"
Today, Pei Ziyun was wearing a white jacket and black casual pants. He looked very sunny and energetic. He nodded slightly and replied: "Yes, what's the matter? What's the matter?"
The cruise ship staff bowed again and said in an embarrassed tone: "Can I see your ticket?"
Pei Ziyun thought for a while and handed the black card in his hand to the staff.
The staff took a look and confirmed that it was Pei Ziyun, so they said to Pei Ziyun and his party: "Hello, Yamada-kun!"
"Because you are the VIP 5 passengers of this ship, you can use the VIP channel when boarding the cruise ship."
The staff wearing light blue work uniforms pointed to the VIP channel. There are two passages on the Sunflower cruise ship, one is the main passage and the other is the VIP passage.
The VIP channel is specially provided for VIP3 and above customers. A relatively small channel is opened on one side of the cruise ship so that these VIP customers can board the cruise ship conveniently and quickly, while ordinary users queue up in the main channel to enter one after another.
When Kota Toyama heard this, he couldn't help shouting: "We are also VIP users, so don't wait too long!"
As he spoke, Toyama Kouta waved to the passengers queuing up.
Hayakawa Naomi and Saeko looked at Toyama Kouta, Saeko showed contempt, and Hayakawa Naomi whispered: "Kouta, you are so rude."
"Really? I'm so sorry!" Naomi Hayakawa gained the respect of Kota Toyama with snacks, and Saeko made Kota Toyama afraid. Sometimes Saeko would pull Kota Toyama to have a discussion when she was bored.
Kota Toyama also wanted to bully Saeko because he was only eight years old and had no strength. Who knew that even in their first sparring session, Saeko, who was extremely skilled, used a wooden sword to beat Kota Toyama until his nose was bruised and his face was swollen, and he screamed in agony.
This happened several times, and every time Saeko wanted to find someone to fight with, Toyama Kouta became bruised and swollen.
Pei Ziyun and his party, guided by the waiter behind the VIP channel, walked to the accommodation area of the cruise ship and introduced the measures on the cruise ship.
"The Sunflower provides delicious food from all over the world!" the waiter said: "The restaurants are mainly concentrated on the 3rd and 4th floors. There are three free buffets, guaranteed to satisfy all tastes."
"The paid restaurants launch new products every day. Of course, because you are top VIP users, you can dine in any restaurant for free."
The waiter said: "I recommend you to try Sugazaki Yoshiko's Oliver. This is an Italian delicacy and the signature restaurant of the cruise ship."
Behind Pei Ziyun, Hayakawa Naomi, who was walking silently, his eyes lit up after hearing these words.
“Finally, don’t forget to experience the most essential facility on the ship—the 270-degree viewing room, where you can enjoy afternoon tea and watch the sea view.”
“If you are into sports, deck skydiving and deck surfing are also good options!”
As Saeko listened, her face showed an expression of eagerness to give it a try.
"I wish you a pleasant journey." With that, the waiter led the group to their accommodation, handed over the keys and turned to leave.
Saeko waited for the outsiders to leave, and couldn't help but shout softly: "Wow, that sounds awesome. Can we sleep here at night?"
Pei Ziyun said casually: "Yes, just like at home, let's take a rest, pack up our things, and then go to the restaurant. Since there are many dining opportunities in Hokkaido, you can find what you like. Anyway, for top VIP users, any restaurant is free."
"Have a good rest at night. There is a hot spring in the hotel in Hokkaido. You can go and take a dip..."
Saeko entered the room cheering, and Naomi Hayakawa also stood up and said softly: "Yamada-kun, I will keep an eye on Saeko and call you if anything happens. Don't worry."
Pei Ziyun smiled and lowered his head: "Thank you for your hard work, Naomi."
Seeing them leaving, he looked at the room. The cabin was of course very small, even if it was a VIP room. He put down his bag, changed his shoes, and turned around to go to a restaurant. But as soon as he entered the door, he frowned slightly. But I moved on and ordered a few dishes.
"Please wait a moment." The waiter looked at the black card and came up quickly.
The appetizer is a platter of winter melon and melon, followed by a platter of three kinds of sashimi, with two kinds of dipping sauces, and topped with anchovy, which is the representative fish of Kansai summer, followed by red sea bream and octopus.
Sure enough, without much time, a man came over and bowed slightly: "Are you Yamada-kun? I am Kitaoka Tatsuya from Iwagami Shrine. I'm sorry to bother you. Can you sit down?"
Pei Ziyun reacted, with a serious face, and bowed his head: "Yes, I am Yamada Shinichi, Kitaoka-kun, just sit down."
Kitaoka Tatsuya seemed to be a young man, but he looked very stable. He sat down and asked the maid to serve wine. When the wine was served, Kitaoka Tatsuya poured wine for Pei Ziyun: "Although you are not old, you are a warrior. How can you not drink? Please!"
Pei Ziyun smiled and took a sip. It was soft in the mouth and had a long aftertaste. The price was not cheap.
Just after taking a sip and thinking about the purpose of his visit, he heard Kitaoka Tatsuya ask: "Yamada-kun, although it is extremely rude, I want to ask you a question - have you ever learned the war of overturning the curtain?"
"The curtain fell, or is it called the Rebellion of the Three Feudatories in official history?" Pei Ziyun asked with a flash of his eyes.
"Yes, that's it." Kitaoka Tatsuya lowered his head slightly to express his serious inquiry.
"The objective reason is that Japan has been closed for a long time, and the foreign powers opened the country with strong ships and cannons, which added to the conflicts accumulated over the past 200 years."
“So it’s time to reform!”
Kitaoka listened and nodded slowly: "Indeed, it was time to reform."
Pei Ziyun ate the food: "Historically, at that time, the general Shinkawa Keitaka made several stupid moves. The three biggest ones were that he wanted to put the responsibility on the emperor - he wanted the emperor to issue an edict to found the country so that he could take the blame."
"The second step is to discuss it with all the vassals."
"The last thing is the so-called big policy return."
The muscles on Kitaoka Tatsuya's face twitched: "How can you see it?"
"The Shinkawa shogunate established a system, used military power to suppress the daimyo, and prohibited the imperial court from directly granting official positions to the daimyo. However, for the samurai family, they implemented the samurai family's laws and regulations and implemented management decisions."
"And Shinkawa Keitada wanted the emperor to take the blame, but the emperor said no and forced reforms. This is elevating the long-forgotten emperor and violating the imperial edict, and the legitimacy of the collapse appears."
Pei Ziyun poured a glass of wine for Kitaoka Tatsuya: "And the return of the great government strengthened this point, allowing the overthrow faction to gain the flag."
"Even the discussion among the vassals has broken the original system of the Shinkawa family - ministers can discuss important matters together and even refute the shogunate, but this minister is no longer a minister."
"It can be said that Shinkawa Keitaka almost single-handedly buried the shogunate."
"It's a pity that he died, and then Shinkawa Keixing came to power. He was a wise master, at least a wise master of the shogunate. The war was won and the shogunate continued."
Listening to these words, Kitaoka Tatsuya had a slight regret in his eyes, and said: "You are right - Yamada-kun, do you think it is necessary to continue the shogunate?"
"What would have happened if the war had ended and the imperial court had won?"
Pei Ziyun thought about it seriously and said: "History cannot be assumed - but it must be assumed, history will be very different!"
"Please tell me." Kitaoka Tatsuya poured another glass of wine himself.
Pei Ziyun said: "In our history, although the shogunate has won, the problem has not been completely solved. The conflicts of 200 years have been accumulated together, and the separatism of the various lords has become a fact. It took Xinchuan Qingxing 30 years to basically wipe out the vassals. Make reforms official."
"In fact, the vassals have only become members of the new era. Together with the shogunate, this power has even led to the birth of democracy."
"The fallen San Francisco was the main force. In order to win, they sold their outdated matchlock guns and other old weapons very early and bought British rifles. Moreover, the feudal warriors (samurai) had been infiltrated by the shogunate for a long time and were a bit unreliable, so the samurai warriors were abolished. As the basic establishment, a new army was established with the fallen robbers and farmers as the main force. Although they have little experience, they are not afraid of death, or in other words, they come from cheap sources."
"But this also determines that the three vassals are digging their own graves. Because they have abolished the vassals who have been loyal to them for generations, how can the lord of the vassal control the military power and the fruits of victory?"
"You know, middle and lower-level officers are all ronin who have been abandoned and despised by the feudal lords. If they are unwilling to be loyal to the shogunate, how can they be loyal to the lord of the feudal lord?"
"If the overturn is successful, the imperial court and the emperor may become the biggest winners!"
"Through the sweeping power at that time, all the vassals were abolished, and maybe the vassals were abolished and counties were established. An unprecedented unified Japan was born."
"A powerful Japan will definitely conquer the outside world, instead of spending half a century adjusting its political power like the old shogunate."
Kitaoka Tatsuya's eyes lit up and he lowered his head: "It's so insightful, Mr. Yamada. It's really shocking. We have studied and touched on what you said, but it has never been so clear."
"If you could go back to that era, you must be a martyr to the rebellion, right?"
"We are indeed gay."
Kitaoka Tatsuya was filled with endless joy, and his words were incoherent. He had already made a decision in his heart, but at the next moment, he dropped the cold words: "Then what?"
"Japan is in Asia. If it wants to conquer, it will have to swallow the elephant. What if it fails?"
"Also, if I go back to that era, even if I have to participate, I will definitely be on the side of the shogunate."
Kitaoka Tatsuya suddenly raised his head and saw in surprise a cold little face.
(End of chapter)