In order to pass the blame to Yoshida Toyo, Naohide promised to invite Yoshida Toyo to Ryoma's apprenticeship ceremony, so the next day Naohide took Oguri and others out to visit Toyo's mansion - why did so many people go out together? Of course it was not just for a visit. Yoshida, the Calamus Festival is coming, and we need to buy a lot of holiday supplies.

The Iris Festival on the fifth day of the lunar month, also called "Zi Gong Day", is derived from the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival and is a major festival recognized by the shogunate. On this day, every household will hang carp flags to pray for the boys in the family, and also Eat strawberry cakes, decorate calamus to ward off evil spirits, and take a hot bath "furo".

In addition to Ryoma, the boys at the private school include Katsugoro and Hayato, and Eiko is also very interested - hanging carp streamers also means asking for a child. Although the couple got married not long ago, Eiko has already planned it, Ichihime Ertaro, Properly.

The group of people headed straight to Obiyamachi, and met many pedestrians on the road - everyone was happily preparing to celebrate the festival.

As soon as Naohide arrived in Kochi last month, he visited Yoshida's residence to express "thank you", but at that time Yoshida Toyo was still serving as an official in Aki County, so he missed the opportunity. Only this time did he finally meet him - as a county official, Yoshida was in Iris. I must come back to give gifts to the feudal lord.

Just as Naohide expected, after the servant presented him with a famous thorn, Yoshida went out to greet him personally this time.

"Long time no see Zhiyu, now I'm daydreaming about it." The old-fashioned Yoshida couldn't say such words as "Long time no see, I miss you very much". He held it in for a long time and only managed to say "please".

Oguri Tadashi was happy when he saw it. He didn't want to take the opportunity to have an attack. He was not sick. His father also tried his best to instill the concept of local snakes when he went out. He had never seen a master who was more stupid than himself. "It's okay." , this trip was not in vain.”

Naohide and Oguri followed Yoshida into the main hall, and the others were entertained by Yoshida's attendants.

"Oguri-dono, this is the Yoshida-dono of the Yamauchi family, a man of erudition and both civil and military talents." Because the title card only said Naohide Hatamoto came with his friends to pay homage, so Naohide had to introduce it to both parties - Fuso has a very strong sense of hierarchy. You can only introduce people of low status to people of high status.

When Yoshida heard this, MMP, this hole is getting deeper and deeper. It is just a matter of private school permission, which has made him miserable - the shogunate is a feudal system, and retainers of other daimyo collude with Hatamoto without the permission of the feudal lord. A big taboo at the time.

The three of them started chatting awkwardly. Naohide first explained that he was in trouble in Tosa last year, but fortunately Yoshida came to his aid, which made Yoshida very embarrassed - apart from the paperwork, he really didn't help much, but Yoshida secretly wanted something from Naohide, so he had to deal with it. .

Naohide held Ryoma's apprenticeship ceremony on the Iris Festival and invited Yoshida to attend the ceremony. However, Yoshida was going to the city that day, so Yoshida was unable to attend and could only express his congratulations.

"Foolish disciple is young, please ask Mr. Yoshida to take care of you when you are in urgent need."

"Yes." After Yoshida agreed, he took the opportunity to make a request. He invited Naohide to teach agriculture in Aki County.

It turns out that the agricultural book that Naohide gave to Yoshida last year was only taken seriously this year - when Naohide came to Kochi last year, the autumn harvest was over. After Yoshida got the agricultural book, he just randomly arranged for someone to study it.

Later, the shogunate publicly commended Izu Country's agricultural harvest, and specifically mentioned "Hori Style Agricultural Techniques" and "Hori Style Carp Production in Rice Fields" when promoting agriculture. At this time, the shogunate took the lead in promoting agriculture and demonstrating it, so there is something good about it. They had to be shared with the princes, so Yoshida took out the two books and studied them carefully after getting the documents from the feudal office.

After reacting, he slapped his thigh, and I, the person who wrote the book,

I had seen him before, but he was fooled into leaving at that time, what a pity! After finally waiting for Naohide to return to Kochi, he was anxious to summon Naohide. If Naohide didn't come to Yoshida today, he would also ask someone to invite Naohide.

But the development of things is always unexpected. Naohide's first assassin was an imperial family member. This time when he returned to Kochi, the assassin he left behind was an Edo samurai. But this time the assassin who came to visit revealed his identity, Hatamoto Hori.

Naohide. Because he valued Naohide, Yoshida read his name and tattoos very carefully, and he was shocked at that time - he was promoted too quickly.

Naoxiu had long wanted to go deep into the countryside and make friends with fellow villagers. Finally, he got the chance and agreed to the invitation, and both parties made an appointment to set off together after the festival.

After the things are done, we can finally purchase holiday supplies. Carp streamers, strawberry cakes, and calamus leaves are indispensable. Some time ago, we were busy purchasing household items, tidying up the house, making teaching tools, preparing lessons, and giving lectures. I was busy during the festival.

I've been delaying and delaying until now.

The castle town of Kochi is not big, and it is not as big as the Chukwa Prefecture in later generations. It is far less prosperous. The big shops are concentrated in Honmachisuji 1-chome, which is similar to the Fuso Bridge in Edo. It is the most prosperous commercial area.

Carp flags are hollow carps made of cloth or silk. They are divided into three colors: black, red, and blue. Black represents the father, red represents the mother, blue represents the boy, and the number of green and blue flags represents the number of boys in the family.

A group of people were picking out carp streamers, and suddenly there was a noise outside. The waiters in the store all ran out to watch the fun. They were idle and everyone followed Oli out to watch the fun.

When he left the store, he saw a samurai drawing his sword. Zhixiu saw three children kneeling opposite him, and he quickly stopped.

"presumptuous!"

"Asshole, who is talking?"

The samurai's fierce gaze shot towards him, and the crowd around him dispersed in a hurry. He saw the leader Oli at a glance. Oli, who was visiting privately incognito, was specially wearing kapok clothes, but his Qi nourished his body, and his demeanor made him a big shot, not to mention the two of them.

The dog-legged Zangpachi and Gonroku had already jumped out with knives in hand - these two guys were specially selected guards. They were very strong in stature. Although they were a little short, they were strong. If Oguri spoke, he would start to chop people.

Naohide disliked the custom of samurai using swords in the street. Besides, it was none of Oguri's business. He had to intervene, so he stepped forward quickly.

"Idiot, have you forgotten what you promised my lord last time?!" The six-foot-tall Naohide became serious and very oppressive, and the two samurai sword-wielding followers quickly stepped forward to hold their master back.

There was a businessman among the kneeling people. When he saw that the situation had turned around, he quickly got up and explained to Oguri the reason: It turned out that a child ran into the steamed bun shop he opened to steal food, and was discovered by his son Chojiro, who chased him.

After coming out, the child who stole the steamed buns knocked down the child of a rural sergeant who was passing by. The Ashigaru who brought the child to buy things was furious and joined the pursuit. As a result, the child who stole the steamed buns bumped into the sergeant's child again.

On his body, the sergeant drew his sword and wanted to teach everyone a lesson.

The businessman said, avoid the easy and take the serious. Nowadays, it is rude for civilians to rush into samurai. The samurai can teach civilians a lesson, but Naohide felt that this "sergeant sergeant" was making a fuss. Is he drawing his sword to kill someone? He looked at the kneeling man.

There was also a man with a knife inside, probably the country man who knocked down the child. Several other children were so frightened that they cried loudly. The scene was very ugly.

"Leave a few people to accompany me to the monastery," Naohide said, and the crowd immediately dispersed - even if they refused to enter the monastery, merchants and civilians would not dare to get involved in a dispute with a samurai master.

"This is Naohide Mimotobori. It's unsightly on the street. Well - if you have anything to do, go to the steamed bun shop and tell me."

After Naohide revealed his identity, the disobedient sword-wielding samurai became honest. There were too many people, so Naohide let the samurai and villagers enter the steamed bun shop, and Oguri followed them in quietly.

The steamed bun shop was not big and there were no chairs at this time. The owner of the steamed bun shop borrowed three wooden barrels. Naohide, Oguri and the samurai sat down, while the country man knelt down to the side.

"Your Excellency is of extraordinary appearance, and you honor your surname by name." Naohide first tried to reassure the samurai.

"I am Yamada Chuhei Hiroe, a samurai of the Yamauchi family." Yamada no longer looked angry when he saw Naohide treating him politely.

"It's really shameful for civilians to behave like this." Naohide had no position to participate in the internal affairs of the Tosa Domain. But if Naohide mentioned this to the head of the Yamauchi family, Yamada might also be scolded and punished for being barbaric. After all, he drew his sword in front of Hatamoto.

It doesn't matter whether it's big or small. If it's raised, it's not impossible to say that it will lose the face of the Yamauchi family.

Naohide asked several children and adults to apologize to Yamada, and the owner of the steamed bun shop also offered an apology. Yamada was embarrassed to ask for it, so he left after asking Naohide where he was staying.

As soon as Yamada left, Okada Yihei, the country man whose child was knocked down, gave his son a big slap in the face, making Naohide roll his eyes.

"Okada-kun——"

"The villain is here."

Naohide asked about Okada's situation. He claimed that he brought his children to the castle town to buy carp streamers for the festival. Unexpectedly, he bumped into the sergeant when this happened.

On the other side, Oguri Tadashi could no longer hold himself back. He asked Okada why he was kneeling in the mud even though he had nothing to do. Okada hesitated and spoke, leaving Oguri dumbfounded.

Originally, "unreasonable criticism" was a privilege of the samurai. The samurai could draw his sword and cut down civilians who offended unreasonably. However, the Yamauchi family went even further. Because they were outsiders, they were more strict with lower-level samurai. It was stipulated that lower-level samurai who rebelled would be punished even if they were punished.

The sergeant was executed on the spot, and the sergeant would not be held accountable.

This rule was originally aimed at the retainers "local scholars" left behind by the original Chosogabu clan in the hometown. It was feared that the local scholars would find trouble and provoke them.

However, over the years of Tenpo's murders, the Yamauchi family has been strict in economy, and the samurai's income has also been affected. The feudal government used "half-knowledge" and "reduced knowledge" methods to deduct Lumi, which caused the samurai directly under the Yamauchi family to hold back their anger, especially

It was the Tosa Domain that had a new head two years ago. The thirteenth generation feudal lord Toyohiro Yamauchi activated the Tiger Fish Group to implement reforms, which was generally resisted by the conservative retainers. The corporals of Kochi Castle vented their anger on lower-level samurai and civilians.

More and more samurai are drawing their swords, and now they have become sergeants who provoke rural soldiers whenever they have nothing to do.

Okada was a rough man and knew little about this, but he stammered and made his meaning clear. Naohide listened and explained the details to Oguri. Oguri had been well-fed and well-fed since birth, and Tianbao knew that the trouble was serious, and Edo also

The depression lasted for a long time, and it was said that many farmers starved to death, but he did not understand the impact on the entire society at all. He had never thought about samurai taking anger out on others. After hearing this, he immediately fell silent.

Naohide couldn't care about the shattering of Oguri's views for the time being. Anyway, it would be shattered sooner or later. With all the tossing at the end of the Tokugawa period, it was better to be shattered sooner rather than later. When he heard the name Okada Yihei, he was shocked and hurriedly told the villagers
Chapter completed!