I was a swordsman in ancient Japan

"Tell me about the financial situation of the foot station in the past half month."

"Yes!"

Hasegawa and Tang Ze walked one after the other on the way out of the "teaching building" of the Renzu Depot.

Tang Ze, who was half a body behind Hasegawa, reported to Hasegawa roughly the current financial situation of Renzujichang.

After silently listening to Tang Ze's report, Hasegawa said in a deep voice:

"That is to say, there is still a surplus of funds in the Renzu Depot?"

"Yeah." Tang Ze nodded lightly, "But there's not much to spare. It's probably only going to last for another month."

"One month?" Hasegawa nodded lightly, "Well, I see."

"I will allocate new funds to you as soon as possible."

"In the future, it should be easier to manage the Renzu Depot."

Hasegawa smiled slightly at Tang Ze.

"I have successfully persuaded several senior officials of the shogunate. They have agreed to support our Renzujichang."

"Really?" Tang Ze smiled happily.

"Well, it's true."

Hasegawa reported to Tang Ze the names of the senior officials who were willing to support the football field.

The names reported by Hasegawa are without exception the names of high officials who are now well-known in the shogunate.

The admiration in Tang Ze's eyes became stronger.

"Master Hasegawa, how did you move these senior officials?"

It is naturally impossible for Hasegawa to tell Tang Ze the truth: these officials are all members of the "anti-Shiranui Group", and he got these officials because he also contributed to the opposition to Shiranui before. s help.

"Of course I drank wine with those high-ranking officials." Hasegawa thought of a random reason and fooled Tang Ze.

Both Hasegawa and Tang Ze left the "teaching building" of the foot camp at this time.

At this moment, an anxious shout sounded from the sides of the two:

"Master Hasegawa! Master Tang Ze! I finally found you!"

This voice was also extremely familiar to Hasegawa. It was Irino's voice.

Irino is also one of the officials of Renzujichang.In terms of status, he is only under Tang Ze, and he can be regarded as Tang Ze's deputy.

Unlike Tang Ze, who is thinner, Irino is fatter and not very good at sports.

Hasegawa followed the prestige, and saw Irino running towards them with a big belly, grunting.

From a distance, it looks like a ball is rolling towards them.

"Irino. What's the matter?" Before and after Irino rushed to him, Hasegawa asked first, "Why are you running in such a hurry? Is something wrong?"

"Master Hasegawa." Irino's face was pale, as if he had encountered something terrible, "Master Laozhong came to visit suddenly!"

Led by Irino, Hasegawa tidied his clothes and hair, and ran towards the meeting room of the Renzu Depot with a solemn expression.

The door of the meeting room was opened, and Hasegawa saw 2 figures.

One of the figures was Hasegawa's immediate superior, Matsudaira Sadanobu.

The other figure was Matsudaira Sadanobu's nickname: Tachibana.

After indicating with his eyes that Irino, who was leading the way, left first, Hasegawa entered the guest room alone and closed the door.

Kneeling in front of Matsudaira Sadanobu, Hasegawa respectfully saluted Matsudaira Sadanobu.

"I don't know that the old middle-aged man is here, and I am far away from welcoming you. Please forgive me, the old middle-aged man!"

Just now, Matsudaira Sadanobu took Tachibana alone and a small number of guards, and went to the headquarters of Huofu Bandit Kai to look for Hasegawa.

But who knows that Hasegawa just isn't in the headquarters of Huofu Thief Kai, so when I asked him about it, he went to Renzujiao.

So Matsudaira Sadanobu had no choice but to divert to the Renzu Depot. Fortunately, the distance from Huofu Thief to Renzu Depot was not too far.

"Excuse me, Hasegawa. It's better to be natural." Matsudaira Sadanobu smiled at Hasegawa, "Now that I think about it, it seems that we haven't seen each other for a while."

Hasegawa respectfully responded to every greeting from Matsudaira Sadanobu, while carefully thinking about the reason for Matsudaira Sadanobu's sudden visit.

Although he directly belongs to the old middle school and is under the direct jurisdiction of Matsudaira Sadanobu, Matsudaira Sadanobu has never been involved in his work.

Hasegawa himself forgot when was the last time Matsudaira Sadanobu came to him.

Matsudaira Sadanobu is a workaholic who never does meaningless things. This is known to all the shogunate in the shogunate.

So Hasegawa firmly believed that Matsudaira Sadanobu came to him for no reason, and must have come for some purpose.

Although Sadanobu Matsudaira has been smiling at him, the smile on Sadanobu Matsudaira's face not only did not make Hasegawa feel any warmth, but also made Hasegawa feel an ominous premonition in his heart.

After briefly exchanging greetings with Hasegawa, Matsudaira Sadanobu sat up a little bit more straight, and then put on a slightly more serious tone:

"Hasegawa, you must be wondering why I suddenly came to you, right?"

"I won't talk too much nonsense, just get straight to the point."

Speaking of this, Matsudaira Sadanobu raised his eyes, and pierced Hasegawa with a somewhat cold gaze.

"Hasegawa, you are really brave."

"How dare you spend the funds allocated to you Huofu Thief Kai under my nose."

As soon as Matsudaira Sadanobu's voice fell, Hasegawa's pupils suddenly shrank.

Afterwards, cold sweat emerged on Hasegawa's forehead at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Hasegawa, your account book is very beautiful, and ordinary people may not be able to find clues from your account book."

"But ah"

Matsudaira Sadanobu raised his left index finger and tapped his left eye socket.

"Your account book is good enough to fool other people, but it's still too reluctant to fool me."

"Two months ago, I found out that your account book is a bit weird."

"I sent people to investigate for 2 months, and finally discovered your little secret a few days ago."

There was more and more cold sweat on Hasegawa's forehead, so much that it was about to drip onto the tatami.

"In order to have sufficient funds to operate Renzuyaochang, you set aside part of the funds that the shogunate gave to Huofu Thieves to buy coins."

"Then take advantage of the fact that the conversion prices of gold, silver, and copper in the market are always fluctuating frequently, buy coins at a low price, and then sell them at a high price. You have successfully earned enough funds for you to continue to operate the Renzu depository."

"I have to say that your account book is really beautiful."

"I didn't find out until two months ago that you've been falsifying your accounts."

"Hasegawa, did I say something wrong?"

After finishing speaking, Matsudaira Sadanobu quietly looked at Hasegawa in front of him.

Hasegawa pursed his lips tightly and remained silent.

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and opened them again, his eyes were full of determination, as if he had already made some resolution.

"No."

"Then you pleaded guilty?"

"A guilty plea."

Seeing that Hasegawa readily admitted the crime he committed, a look of satisfaction flashed across Matsudaira Sadanobu's face.

But these few touches of satisfaction are only fleeting.

After a sneer, Matsudaira Sadanobu went on to say:

"I don't need to tell you, you should also know what the consequences will be if you misuse the public funds allocated by the shogunate and engage in such speculative things?"

"I know." Hasegawa nodded gently.

The lightest punishment for using the public funds allocated by the shogunate indiscriminately is to be beaten to the end and lose his official position.

As for the heaviest punishment, it is to apologize by harakiri.

"Master Laozhong." Hasegawa said softly, "No matter what kind of punishment, the lower officials are willing to accept it."

"I just hope that you don't shut down the Renzu Depository."

"Let the Zujichang continue to operate."

After finishing speaking, Hasegawa leaned over, put his hands on the tatami, pressed his forehead against the tatami, and assumed the posture of Doshizaza.

Huofu Thief Gaiguan, who was shocked outside the situation, begged with the most humble attitude the owner of national power who was 10 years younger than him.

Matsudaira Sadanobu's gaze towards Hasegawa was still devoid of any emotion.

"Hasegawa, it seems that this foot station is really important to you."

Matsudaira Sadanobu's tone was still calm and terrifying.

"Not only did he not hesitate to commit such a felony that might lose his head to maintain the operation of the foot station."

"Even though I might die soon, I begged me not to shut down the Renjiao Depot."

"You said that you are willing to accept all punishments. If I ask you to make a seppuku here now, will you be willing?"

"Yes." Hasegawa replied without any hesitation or hesitation.

Because Hasegawa pressed his forehead firmly against the tatami, Matsudaira Sadanobu couldn't see Hasegawa's current expression.

But just based on the firmness contained in Hasegawa's "willing" just now, Matsudaira Sadanobu can roughly guess what Hasegawa's expression is like now.

"Relax, Hasegawa." Sadanobu Matsudaira smiled and shrugged, "I'm not interested in your intestines."

"Raise your head, Hasegawa."

After receiving Matsudaira Jonobu's order to raise his head, Hasegawa hesitated for a while, then raised his head again and looked directly at Matsudaira Jonobu.

"I came to look for you today, and I didn't come to Xingshi to inquire about crimes."

"It's here to compliment you."

"I didn't expect you to have some business acumen and know how to make money by buying and selling coins."

"It's not that I don't understand the benefits of setting up and running a human foot farm."

"If the shogunate's financial situation is good, I also very much hope that the people's foot farm can continue to operate."

"So if you can rely on the funds allocated by the shogunate to support Huofu Thief Kai and Renzu Jichang at the same time, then I have to praise you for your success. With the least amount of money, you have made The most important thing is to be a rare capable minister."

"So I will continue to pretend that I don't know your secret and maintain the status quo."

"You can continue to do business like you are doing now, using the funds from Huo to pay the thieves to earn money for operating the farm."

"Just work hard."

When it came to the words "work hard", Matsudaira Sadanobu specially emphasized his tone.

Hasegawa's pupils shrank slightly after hearing Matsudaira Sadanobu's accentuated "work hard".

"Okay. I've finished what I need to say. I'm short on time, so I'll take my leave first." Sadanobu Matsudaira stood up.

Hasegawa was about to get up and see him off, but Matsudaira Sadanobu raised his hand one step ahead to stop him:

"No need to see me off. I remember the way I left."

"Work hard, Hasegawa."

After quietly leaving this sentence, Matsudaira Sadanobu led Tachibana out of the room.

After Matsudaira Sadanobu led Tachibana to leave first, only Hasegawa was left in the guest room.

Hasegawa stared blankly at the air in front of him, and then heaved a long sigh after a while.

"I've been caught." Hasegawa smiled helplessly.

Sadanobu Matsudaira led Tachibana and the guards who had been waiting outside just now, and walked straight to the outside of Renzuki, preparing to return to the mansion.

When he had reached the bank of the river and was about to leave by boat, Tachibana couldn't help but asked Matsudaira Sadanobu:

"My lord, do you just let Hasegawa Heizo go like this?"

"Then what do you plan to do with Hasegawa?" The old man asked back, "Order him to apologize on the spot?"