Eguchi Seihei is thirty years old this year. He is a low-level samurai in the Haisaka Domain with a monthly salary of thirty koku. His wife died of tuberculosis, leaving behind two underage daughters and a mother with Alzheimer's disease at home.
The hard-working Seibei never dared to go to the pub to have fun with his colleagues, and rushed home as soon as work was over. Therefore, he was called Twilight Seibei, which was somewhat looked down upon. Men should be smarter.
That evening, after finishing his work in the grain depot, Seibei took the lead to say goodbye to everyone, put on his clogs, picked up his sword and hurried home, ignoring the troubles made by his colleagues who deliberately made fun of him.
After walking through fields and vegetable patches, we walked on a dirt road. Our five-year-old daughter, Izu, was playing on the roadside. When she saw Seibei coming, she yelled for Oji-san and rushed over. Seibei picked up her daughter with a smile on her face.
With a smile on his face, this was probably the happiest time of the day for him.
Smoke was already rising from the thatched roof chimney at home. This was the eldest daughter Xuan Shi cooking. She pushed open the simple firewood door and said to her attendant: "Go back. Qing Bingwei's servant is a better man than him."
Logically speaking, a poor boy should have eaten at the samurai master's house before going back. However, the Kiyobei family was too poor, so they didn't let him eat every time.
A few hens were walking around leisurely in the yard. They were fed by the mother. They could provide the family with two eggs every day for their daughter's breakfast. However, Kiyohei himself had never eaten them. He opened the door to the house.
After shouting I'm back, the eldest daughter hurried over and saluted him: "You're back." Then she took his sword and carefully placed it on the shelf. Kiyobei took off his clogs and looked at two rotten socks.
He sighed silently, pushed the door open, walked to the Japanese room where his mother was, and asked, "How are you, mother?"
The Alzheimer's mother stopped her work and said, "Which family are you the master of?" Kiyohei said loudly, "I am Iguchi Kiyohei, the treasurer of the Haisaka Domain, your son." Then he shook his head helplessly.
Withdrew.
In order to supplement the family income, Seibei took on a small job, weaving bird cages out of bamboo. The family worked hard all night and could exchange for a few copper coins. At this time, before dinner was served, Seibei picked up what his daughter had not finished.
The semi-finished product was carefully compiled.
After a while, dinner was ready, and the family sat around the fire pit. The ten-year-old daughter helped her father and grandmother serve porridge, and then helped her sister and herself serve a bowl. Everyone picked up their chopsticks and said, "I'm starting."
." Then he started to eat. The dinner was very simple. It was just watery rice porridge and a small bowl of pickled radish. In order to let his daughter who was still growing up eat more, Kiyobei always only ate one bowl and another at the end.
Rinse the bowl with hot water, drink it, and then pat your belly to say you are full.
After dinner, his pastime was to weave bird cages with his two daughters. When the charcoal fire in the fire pit was about to go out, he could go to bed. This was done every day. Kiyobei didn't think there was anything wrong with it. His wife's illness and funeral cost him too much.
He has borrowed hundreds of copper coins from everywhere. Now in order to pay off the debt, he can only live frugally. Kiyobei has not bathed or shaved his hair for several days. His face is unshaven, and the smell on his body can make people sick. The contempt of his colleagues
, he doesn’t pay attention to the hardships of life, as long as his two daughters can grow up healthily.
There is only one thing that can make Kiyohei a little happy, and that is when his childhood sweetheart, Miss Tomoe, comes to visit. Iinuma Tomoe married a nearby feudal lord a few years ago. His life was unfortunate, and he was beaten and criticized all day long.
When I returned home from a divorce, I would drop by Kiyobei's house and help with housework, cooking, etc. Whenever this happened, Kiyobei's heart would be filled with a feeling of happiness, even more than when he first got married.
His life was even sweeter. As for marrying Pengjiang, he didn't even dare to think about it. A beautiful woman like Pengjiang with a good family background would probably not look down on a pauper like himself anyway.
While she was thinking wildly, her little daughter crawled over, sat down in Kiyobei's arms, and said in a sweet voice, "Dad, Aunt Tomojiang came today and asked me if I would like to call her mother."
Kiyobei's mind was filled with excitement. Tomoe really meant this! He wanted to marry him as his wife. In fact, he had already agreed with this in his heart, but he was just not sure. Now that he was fine, his daughter's words made him determined.
Confidence, he said seriously: "Then just say you are willing. It's getting late, so go to bed."
After sending his daughter away, Kiyohei touched some money on his body and planned to go to the hothouse to take a bath and fix his hair. He would ask for leave tomorrow and go to the Iinuma family to propose marriage. He had made up his mind and was about to go out when he suddenly heard a sound from far away.
There was a sound of drums. This was the war drum of the generals gathered in the feudal lord's palace. It would not be beaten unless something important happened. Kiyohei quickly grabbed his sword, put on his clogs, and didn't even bother to take a shower. He quickly walked through the night.
He ran towards the feudal lord's palace.
Dozens of samurai have gathered in the feudal lord's palace. The family boss personally gave instructions, saying that the feudal lord is holding a meeting in Edo. A letter came saying that a group of gangsters have kidnapped His Majesty the Emperor and are going to fight the general. As a loyal vassal under the shogunate, Haisaka
The feudal lord should send troops to join the war. The war was urgent, and the samurai had to leave overnight and were not allowed to say goodbye to their families.
But the warriors didn't even bring all the equipment, they just carried two swords, one long and one short. Besides, since ancient times, when going to war, you have to say goodbye to your family. Only by wearing the belt sewn by your wife around your waist can you stay safe. Why is this?
This time it was so urgent to set off overnight. The warriors made dissatisfied sounds, but the elders were indifferent. They even brought up the feudal lord to suppress everyone, saying that anyone who did not want to go out would betray the feudal lord and commit seppuku. As for the equipment, there was no need to worry.
There will be arrangements on the Edo side.
Three days later, an army composed of general Tokugawa Iemitsu and daimyo loyal to the shogunate gathered in the west of Edo. The leading general was the Sendai Ibi daimyo, the seventeenth generation governor of the Date family, and the one-eyed dragon Date Masamune.
Your Excellency, you are over sixty years old this year, but you are still in good spirits and fighting on the front line.
General Tokugawa did not come to the front line, but gave full authority to Lord Date. At the front of the queue were the retainers of the shogunate. They were all wearing brand-new gear, equipped with swords and bows, and riding big horses, majestic.
Behind them is the Ashigaru brigade, wearing battle hats and holding spears, and behind them is the mysterious iron artillery team. They are hidden behind shields and used as the killer troops. This battle can be regarded as one of the few large-scale battles in recent decades.
The scene was so big that thousands of troops were mobilized.
Looking at the brightly armored shogunate army, the samurai from various daimyo could not help but secretly envy them. They came in a hurry and their armors were not ready, and the shogunate only provided some cloth belts for them to tie up their sleeves.
The food was very mediocre, just rice balls and prunes. The samurai complained, but only Kiyohei thought it was very good, much better than his own porridge.
War drums rumbled, war horses neighed, flags fluttered, and with Masamune's fan dancing, the cavalry and infantry took turns attacking the emperor's troops on the opposite side. Kiyobei was too far away to see clearly what was going on in front of him, he could only hear
The clatter of horse hooves and the faint sound of killing in the distance.
With so many troops mobilized, I am afraid that this battle will be won soon. This is what the samurai thought in their hearts. Everyone knows that the emperor is just a puppet. The annual living expenses must be paid by the shogunate. The emperor's decrees are not even linked to the imperial palace.
If he can't get out, how can he recruit troops to go against the general? I'm afraid there are hundreds of treacherous ministers and traitors who don't know the heights of heaven and earth, complaining that the emperor is against the general. The general takes this matter very seriously, and not only sends out the most elite iron cannons
They even invited Date to lead the team, and also summoned so many samurai under the daimyo. It was difficult to defeat such a luxurious lineup.
After a while, news came from the front that the battle was won. So everyone cheered: "Half!" Everything was as expected. The Emperor's faction lost, and the samurai could go home without playing. Everyone was in a good mood.
When he started joking, Kiyobei's heart was relieved, because his sword had been sold when his wife was buried, and now he only had a bamboo sword stuck in his waist. If he really wanted to go into battle,
That's not a dead end.
While they were cheering, suddenly there were several loud noises in front of them, and then the front army retreated like a tide. The ashigaru were all wounded and bleeding, and the samurai also lost their helmets and armor, looking terrified.
Why were they defeated? Qing Bingwei and the others didn't have time to think about it, and they were swept back by the surging defeated troops.
In the twenty-seventh year of Kan'ei in the Japanese Kingdom, the ten-year-long overthrowing war began. After this war, the Japanese Kingdom fell into a century of chaos. These were not foreseeable by those who participated in the first battle.