Chapter 316 6. Preparation for the Construction of Luoyang Town Fire Fighting

Sanyuan Fujitaka could not understand Koyata's anxiety, just as Koyata could not understand his confidence.

When Koyata returned to Zixiaolu Mansion, the old servant in the house had become the steward. The man who used to be blurry-eyed and would fall down at the slightest gust of wind was now so agile that it was unbelievable.

"Your Excellency does not look very good. Aren't you going to the Imperial Palace to pay tribute?" The old man asked while holding Koyata's horse.

He has been in Kyoto for a long time. It is hard to say anything else, but his ability to read people's expressions must be excellent.

"Will the wealthy families in Luojing hire some private soldiers?" Koyata suddenly thought.

"Private soldiers? I'm kidding. Don't you know the situation of the wealthy families?" The old man also laughed.

Yes, except for some nobles who have connections and ways to make money, most of the nobles are poor. Even the richest families like Ichijo clan packed up their bags and went to Shikoku Nakamura to make a living, let alone other weak chickens.

Kobayata handed the whip to Tatsuzo, and looked at Aji and Tatsuzo who came out to greet him, and he had no idea what to do.

Originally, Kobayata thought that no matter how bad the nobles in Kyoto were, they were still wealthy families, and every household should have at least a few private soldiers like thugs to protect the house.

In this way, when things are urgent, Ashikaga Yoshiteru has such a big face, and he rang the bell for help, these private soldiers gathered, there must be more than a thousand people. After resisting in the Imperial Palace for a long time, the Kyoto's servants and the court's mediating envoys fell.

But who would have thought that these people didn't even have a capable fighter in their families, and they were really useless.

Kobayata walked into the house with a heavy heart. Uncle Tsunayoshi hadn't slept yet, holding a Chinese book and reading it at night. Not only was there a young maid standing by, but there were also hot tea and snacks.

"Uncle is so leisurely!" Kobayata sat down.

Uncle Tsunayoshi saw Kobayata coming back and quickly put down the Chinese book in his hand, "My dear nephew, you are back. How is the tree these days? Is everything going well today?"

Tatsuzo also came in from outside, holding the wooden box containing the Dayun Sea given by Ashikaga Yoshiteru. "

Kobayata pushed the wooden box forward, "This is a gift from His Highness the Lord, Uncle can take a look at it."

Although Uncle Tsunayoshi was poor before, he was also a nobleman in the palace, and he had a good eye. He did not open the wooden box, but gently stroked the wooden box made of cypress wood.

First look at this well-made wooden box, which is not painted, but only repeatedly dried and brushed with varnish.

"It must be an ordinary product! "Uncle Tsunayoshi exclaimed.

The maid obediently lit another candle and brought it to him.

A black cloud texture appeared on the persimmon red background, and a noble color flowed in the candlelight. The traces of time and the careful care and love (patina) of collectors from past generations came into view.

"Hiss~~, a famous Tang Dynasty tea set, let me guess." Uncle Tsunayoshi couldn't let it go at first sight.

"Dayun Dahai!" "That's right!" Xiaopingtai nodded.

"I've heard that this thing is in the hands of Dashu, but I never thought that it would fall into the hands of my nephew today. "Uncle Tsunayoshi was amazed.

Of course, Koyata didn't want to compete with Uncle Tsunayoshi. Plans one and two didn't work, so Koyata still had plan three!

It's hard to say whether Sanyuan Fujitaka can get Ashikaga Yoshiteru to increase his guards. Who knows when it will be done?

The noble families in Kyoto don't even have a few thugs to protect their homes, so they can't be relied on.

Koyata's plan is on the candle in front of him!

"Uncle, the weather is hot and the sun is shining. Luojing is so big, it must be very difficult to prevent fires!" Koyata pretended to point at the candle casually to express his concern about fire prevention.

"Yes, although there are not fires every day, there are always one or two fires in Luojing every day. In late autumn and early winter, there are even more fires. "Uncle Tsunayoshi just looked up at the candle, still touching the sea of ​​clouds.

"Don't the court and the shogunate care?" "How can we care? Luojing is so big, it's really powerless to put out the fire. ”

“Don’t the towns have police and firefighters?” “Hmm? What do you mean, Koyata?” Uncle Tsunayoshi finally understood what he meant.

“Why not report to the Emperor, unite with the shogunate, coordinate with the townspeople, divide Ryokan into districts, select 30 to 50 people from each district, patrol the streets at night, and wait in each district during the day. If a fire breaks out, they will rush to rescue and put out the fire immediately. The court and the shogunate don’t need to spend a penny, just give each town firefighter a name, and let the townspeople pay to establish a town firefighter team, and they will definitely be happy. ”【Note 1】

“Hmm? That makes sense! My dear nephew, what you said is very true! "Uncle Tsunayoshi felt that this was a possibility when he heard it.

Does Kobayata really care whether there will be a fire in Kyoto?

After establishing the town fire extinguisher, given the nature of feudal rulers, Kyoto is so big, with at least a thousand people in the town fire extinguisher team, can they trust private control and management?

It must be that the shogunate will send people to do direct management and deployment at the beginning, and only when they have to pay for it in the end will they pass it on to the private sector.

And there are thousands of town fire extinguishers who are organized, trained, have a management team, and have uniform uniforms. As long as one person is given a long spear, it will immediately become an army.

No matter whether the court and Ashikaga Yoshiteru can see it, or have the intention to use this team. The fire problem in Kyoto must be dealt with, and it is better to have a way than not to have it.

As long as this town fire extinguisher team is established, if there really comes a day when the big bell of the Imperial Palace rings, town fire extinguishers from all directions will rush to the Imperial Palace for assistance, and the Imperial Palace can gather thousands of people in a short time.

How could three to five thousand people break through the stone wall of the Flower Palace and the luxurious double-eaves wooden door that Ashikaga Yoshiteru built for his own face and the prestige of the shogunate?

If you can't fight overnight, everything will be easier to handle when daybreak comes. Whether it is issuing orders to the four parties for help or asking the court to mediate, it is easy to say.

"My dear nephew, you might as well write down a statement. I'll take it to Ertiao Guanbai for review first. If His Highness Guan Bai approves it, the imperial court will definitely approve it."

"It's natural. My nephew wrote it overnight, so I left everything to my uncle."

Finally getting some clues, Mrs. Xiaoping breathed a sigh of relief.

[Note 1]: Even though there were many large towns in Japan during the Warring States Period, there were never any professional fire brigades.

The most ridiculous thing is that the Edo shogunate stipulated that the daimyo were not allowed to mobilize manpower on a large scale at night in Edo, and at the same time, they also stipulated that the daimyo should be responsible for the fire-fighting work in Edo. Isn’t this hilarious to death!

It was not until the time of the Eighth Generation Shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune that he canceled the fire-fighting missions of various daimyo, established a town fire department, divided more than 40 areas, and established patrol teams to deal with the fires in Edo. In the end, the town fire department became completely private, and the establishment and management were fully funded by the town people.

Even later, a certain town firefighting team in Edo established a baseball team and became a strong team in the Japan Baseball League.