The villain also has spring 2

Chapter 2210 2208 The Legacy of Toba

Chapter 2210 2.208 The Legacy of Toba

“Irasha Imasai (Welcome to our restaurant)!” Several servants from Narumi-ya immediately bowed.

At first glance, Narumiya is actually a rice shop.

As a merchant serving the Todo family, the daimyo of the Tsu Domain (a domain in Anno District, Ise Province during the Edo period, also known as the Anno Tsu Domain. It was ruled by the Tomita clan before 1608 and later belonged to the Todo clan for a long period), Narumiya Taihei initially made his fortune by selling rice from the Tsu Domain's storehouses.

During the Edo period, "daimyo's court merchants" were private merchants who provided goods, funds, or services to various domains (daimyo territories) and received official recognition and privileges. These merchants typically established long-term cooperative relationships with the daimyo, undertaking tasks such as transporting tribute rice, supplying daily necessities, and handling financial transactions. They also enjoyed privileges such as monopolies, tax exemptions, or low-interest loans. A key characteristic of these court merchants was their special status; although they belonged to the commoner class, their close relationship with the daimyo gave them a higher social standing than ordinary merchants. Their business operations were extremely diverse, covering multiple sectors including grain, cloth, daily necessities, finance, and shipping.

Due to the "Sankin-kotai" system (a system in Japan's Edo period where the shogunate controlled daimyo by requiring them to periodically travel to Edo Castle to handle government affairs for the shogun before returning to their territories to govern), each daimyo was required to maintain their domain in Edo, resulting in significant financial pressure and reliance on imperial merchants for supplies. These merchants gained protection by becoming imperial merchants, avoiding arbitrary taxation or extortion; some even participated in domain policy decisions.

The famous Mitsui family started as a clothing store called "Echigoya" and later became the "Supplementary Servants" and "Osaka Gold and Silver Servants" of the shogunate, accumulating enormous wealth through the use of public funds. There was also Kawamura Zuiken, who came from a poor farming family in Ise and later became a merchant employed by the shogunate, leading the development of westward and eastward shipping routes, managing waterways and ports, and ensuring the transport of tribute rice. "Senbikiya" became a merchant employed by the Tokugawa shogunate by supplying high-quality fruit, and after the Meiji Restoration, it transformed into a high-end fruit retailer. "Yamamotoyama" started its business during the Genroku era and later became a tea merchant employed by the shogunate and several other major families, continuing its business to this day.

Because each domain's own residence needed to maintain itself, the daimyo would dispatch their chief retainer to be stationed in Edo. They also established rice storage and commercial outposts in Osaka, Edo, and other places to store and sell the domain's annual tribute rice, and to issue "rice tickets" for financing. In short, the domain's rice storage and trading outposts were the daimyo's actual representatives for rice storage and transactions in the official rice market.

Therefore, Narumi-ya is the rice supplier (secondary distributor) of the Tsu Domain's Todo-zō-ya-shiki.

Atobe Shōgan, who was stationed in Edo, was the "chief chief retainer" of the Tsu Domain's Tōdō clan.

Chief retainer Atobe Shōgan pocketed half of the spoils from the extermination of the "Toba Navy" (formerly the "Kuki Navy," which, as an organized military force, existed in name only in the early Edo period and eventually disappeared completely when the Kuki family became ordinary feudal lords; in this story (note that), some of the remaining members became pirates). He also secretly sold the pirate treasure under the guise of Narumiya, converting it into cash. Afterwards, he murdered everyone involved, including the remaining pirates, to silence them. Sensing danger, Narumiya Taibei first tried to win over the swordsman protagonist by offering gifts and beautiful women, hoping that Chief Retainer Atobe Shōgan would dissuade him. However, this backfired, and he was ultimately forced to report the matter directly to the daimyo of the Tsu Domain, Todō Daimyo. Although this exposed the chief retainer's conspiracy, it also led to his own arrest as an accomplice in the sale of the stolen goods.

Of course, this is just the original plot. At this moment, Narumiya Taibei is sitting upright in his own store.

"Guests from afar, what would you like to trade?" Dana Barrett, the chief executive of Dream Paris, had the appearance of a southern barbarian, and her tall and upright figure (1.82 meters) made Narumi Taibei immediately decide to personally receive her.

As mentioned earlier, although the Tokugawa Shogunate implemented a policy of national isolation during the Edo period, as European colonists explored the seas, more and more Westerners came to Japan. Compared to the missionary Spanish and Portuguese, the Edo Shogunate preferred to deal with the Dutch, who focused solely on commerce. At that time, the Dutch monopolized trade with Japan, and European goods and culture were imported into Japan through them. Therefore, the Japanese at that time referred to all European cultural influences as "Rangaku," or "Dutch learning," placing it alongside "Sinology" (Chinese learning) as one of the two major foreign cultural systems.

If the Nanban (Southern Barbarians) were able to arrive in Edo later, then they must have been Dutch merchants known as the "Sea Coachmen." "I wonder if the boss has any valuable items to offer in exchange for my collection?" Dana Barrett, the chief of Dream Paris, deliberately asked in broken Japanese.

"Oh!" Upon hearing the words "treasure" and "collection," Narumiya Taibei's eyes lit up: "May I have a look?"

“No.” With a flick of her palm, Dana Barrett, the chief executive of Dream Paris, conjured up a seven-jeweled lotus flower.

"Ah..." As soon as this treasure, overflowing with spiritual energy, is revealed, the "monster" tainted by malevolent energy will immediately manifest itself. This time was no exception. Upstairs and downstairs, the closed doors opened one after another, and the samurai lying in ambush in Narumiya were the last bloodline of the Toba Navy.

The leaders are none other than Ara (Sanae Nakahara), the daughter of the last leader of the Toba Navy, and Kayo (Chiko Suzumi), the daughter of a Toba Navy pirate who works as a maid at the Narumiya. There is also the beautiful Kosasa (Junko Kosakura), who was given as a gift to the swordsman protagonist and then given to the chief retainer, Atobe Shokan.

Now, they all use "Toba" as their surname, secretly control Narumiya Taibei, and occupy Narumiya as a safe house to protect the Toba lineage.

Of course, there's also Higaki Nui (Nakamura Tamao), a samurai wife who, under orders from the chief retainer Atobe no Kōkan, tracks down the Toba navy and kills two husbands in pursuit of pirate treasure. And then there's Narumiya's female head (Omi Teruko), who joins the Toba clan as a result.

"女中" generally refers to female servants serving in the homes of samurai, merchants, or wealthy people. "头" means "leader" or "supervisor." "女中头" means the head of the female servants in a household.

In addition, there are the Koga female ninja (Yuko Asuka) from "Makai Tensei", the wife of Mozaemon (Tatsuko Higashi), the wet nurse of Tokugawa Ietsuna, the fourth shogun of the Edo shogunate, Yajima Tsubone (Nahoko Kubo), the adopted daughter of the craftsman who forged the demon sword, Muramasa Michi (Ai Kanzaki), the concubine of Hosokawa Tadaoki (Yuko Kikuchi), and the "Three Chiba Women" of Sakura who were coerced into rebellion by refugees: (Mineko Maruhira), (Aoi Nakajima), and (Mirei Jung).

These were all lonely and helpless women from Edo. Now they are all under the protection of the Narumiya Toba lineage.

Moreover, Nobuko Kabuki, the beautiful assassin of the Black Finger Party, and Yajima Tsubone, the wet nurse of the 4th Shogun Tokugawa Ietsuna, are each other's opposite-dimensional counterparts.

"A familiar memory." This is undoubtedly one of the anchor points for the disordered teleportation of the Purple Coral Spirit.