After the Kurofune incident, the Edo shogunate signed the Treaty of Kanagawa with the United States, and they were forced to open the two trading ports of Shimoda and Hakodate. In the fifth year of Emperor Komei's reign, the two sides signed the Treaty of Friendship and Trade between Japan and the United States on the Powhatan, adding ports such as Kanagawa, Nagasaki, Niigata, and Hyogo. At the same time, foreigners were allowed to stay and do business in Edo and Osaka.
Although Kyoto was not included in the list, it was very close to Osaka, only a day's journey away. Now, nearly ten years had passed since the Treaty of Friendship and Trade between Japan and the United States. After the incident at the Forbidden Gate, the Emperor's faction rethought their strategy. Now, they only mentioned the Emperor, and their goal was to overthrow the Tobaku. They no longer mentioned the Tobaku, and they began to actively cooperate with the West.
As the most important river in the Kansai region, the Oda River originated from Lake Biwa, connecting Kyoto Basin and Osaka Plain. During the Edo period, it was an important transportation channel for Kyoto. Most of Osaka's foreign merchants also came to Kyoto along this river. Zhang Heng asked around for the nearest pier and arrived there before sunset.
The liveliness here was no less than that of a market. Along both sides of the river, there were madams and ladies neatly arranged on the roofs. Signs and curtains swayed with the wind. The first floor was made of fine convex lattices, and the second floor was a worm cage window. This was a very traditional Japanese-style building. It was made of wood, and the entrance was narrow but very long. Under normal circumstances, the part facing the street was used as a shop, and the rooms at the back were used as residences. The advantage was that the shops were denser, one next to another.
There were boatmen unloading goods at the pier, and there were also madams and ladies preparing to take a boat to the river. Not far away, there was a shrine, and many believers gathered outside the door to pray for blessings or for protection.
It didn't take Zhang Heng too long to find a Western merchant who was interested in hiring an interpreter. The latter's name was Gabriel, a Frenchman who came to Kyoto with the business group to talk to local merchants about the sale of a batch of cotton yarn. Apparently, he was not satisfied with the cotton yarn business and seemed to have other plans. It was just that it was not convenient for him to tell other people in the business group what he wanted to do, so there was no way he could hire an interpreter.
Just as he was worrying about where to find a Japanese who could understand French, Zhang Heng came knocking on his door. Overjoyed, Gabriel waved his hand and offered Zhang Heng a daily salary of one minigan. The minigan was a type of gold coin commonly used during the Edo period. One minigan was worth about one tael of gold, and one tael of gold was equivalent to sixty taels of silver or four strings of coins. At that time, a craftsman in Kyoto earned about seventy taels of silver a day. In other words, Zhang Heng's daily income was almost the same as a craftsman's two-month income.
Zhang Heng wasn't completely clueless about the translation market. Before he came to Kyoto, he had consulted with the people at the pier. Currently, there was a huge shortage of professional translators in Japan. However, there were more people who could communicate with foreign merchants than before the Kurofune incident. In fact, even when the shogunate closed the country, Satsuma, Changzhou, and several other vassal states had secretly done some business with foreign countries.
Japanese iron cannons (actually, matchlocks) originated from the Satsuma Domain. At that time, a Portuguese merchant ship was blown to Tanegashima, south of Satsuma, by a typhoon. Hence, Japanese iron cannons were also known as Tanegashima iron cannons.
It had been more than ten years since the shogunate opened up trade with Japan. Many Japanese had traveled to Europe to study, and translators weren't as valuable anymore.
Gabriel's offer was double the market price, and this was when both parties weren't familiar with each other. Zhang Heng also asked for an advance of one minigan. Even so, Gabriel didn't hesitate for long before agreeing. Zhang Heng knew that what the French businessman was going to do in Kyoto wouldn't be simple.
However, with Zhang Heng's Lv.3 swordsmanship and the experience he had accumulated from the previous few quests, he wasn't too worried about encountering any danger. Besides, the sun had already set, and he might not be able to find another employer. In the end, both parties reached an employment agreement.
After Gabriel paid Zhang Heng a minigan, he asked Zhang Heng to meet him at the tea house next to the pier the next morning. By the time Zhang Heng left the pier, the sky was completely dark.
Since it was close to the quest, Zhang Heng didn't feel hungry. However, he had to find a place to stay as soon as possible.
During the Edo period, the shogunate set up a system to control the daimyo lords, requiring them to go to Edo every once in a while to perform government duties on behalf of the shogunate. Of course, this was just a pretext. The main purpose of this system was to make it easier for the shogunate to send the daimyo to play around, reducing the time they spent in their territories. At the same time, the daimyo lords wouldn't dare to mess around in their territories. Otherwise, they might be arrested the next time they went on a mission.
Tokugawa, on the other hand, was kind enough to build a lot of lodgings along the way. Later on, they even developed caged houses, which were similar to hotels in modern times. Not only did they provide one night and two meals, but many caged houses also had maids to take care of the guests' daily lives. However, at the end of the shogunate, the number of travelers increased, and the caged houses became a mess. Not only did scoundrels provide gambling devices and help hire prostitutes, some caged houses even let their maids sell their bodies.
After that, the merchants of Osaka were the first to organize a chain of hotels. With unified service standards, travelers could stay in hotels with guild signboards hanging outside the doors with peace of mind.
However, whether it was the caged houses or the chain of hotels, they were just a temporary choice for Zhang Heng. Considering that the quest was going to last for a long time, Zhang Heng was more inclined to rent his own house. Seeing that he still had some time left, he didn't rush to the hotel. Instead, he found a middleman nearby and asked him to show him a house.
The middleman was a fourteen or fifteen-year-old young man. He looked very smart, and he was also a local in this area. He was well-informed and knew about the affairs of every household. Zhang Heng paid him a hundred coins in advance and promised to pay him another hundred coins after the deed was done. The middleman immediately perked up. Ignoring the fact that he hadn't eaten dinner yet, he immediately took Zhang Heng to the streets and alleys.
However, the middleman didn't seem to be satisfied with the houses in the prime locations that he recommended. The two of them walked further and further away from each other, and Zhang Heng had no choice but to look around. Initially, Zhang Heng had planned to give up and wait until tomorrow to continue looking. However, the last place they came to made Zhang Heng's eyes light up.
Upon entering the door, they saw a small courtyard. In the center of the courtyard was a cherry blossom tree that bloomed like a toadstool. Under the tree was a clear well. The layout of the entire courtyard was square, simple and beautiful. When the door was pulled open, it was very spacious. There was also a tea room, and the furniture was very complete. In the words of modern times, it was the standard for people to move in with their luggage.
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