At Fushimiguchi, one of Kyoto's "Seven Exits of Kyoto", an official in his 30s registered a group of traveling merchants from Edo and waved to the people behind them.
The leader of the merchants who lined up behind this group of Edo merchants was an old man who was missing a tooth.
Before the official could say anything, the old man with a missing tooth hurried over to greet him with a fawning smile.
While the official was saying something like "My goods are just some drinks, no problem," he quietly stuffed two small items into the official's big palm.
The official lowered his eyes and looked at the palm of his hand - there were two pieces of bean plate silver.
After taking a look at the two pieces of bean plate silver, the official kept the money calmly.
The old man and the official's payment and collection operations were smooth and smooth, as if they had been rehearsed in advance or had been done countless times.
Four oxcarts, and the goods loaded on these four oxcarts - this is all the old man and his men brought to Kyoto.
The official who had been paid by the old man surrounded the four ox carts of the old man and performed some pretentious actions that looked like "searching", then waved to indicate to the old man that he could enter the city.
…
…
After this old man with a missing front tooth led his caravan into the city, he did not go straight to any hotel or to a certain commercial area in Kyoto.
Instead, he first led his caravan into an inaccessible alley in Kyoto.
"Sir Samurai!" After checking the surroundings to make sure there was no one else around, the old man shouted towards the carriage of one of the ox carts, "You can come out now."
Boom.
As soon as the old man finished speaking, the door of the bullock cart was pushed open.
"I didn't expect it to go so smoothly..."
Ogata sighed as he slowly walked out of the carriage of the bullock cart.
The deal that this old man with a missing front tooth just mentioned to Ogata was that Ogata gave him money, and he took Ogata to "smuggle" him.
According to the old man, he is already a habitual offender in this regard.
On the surface, he is an ordinary wine merchant, but privately, he has helped countless people like Ogata, who are inconvenient to enter Kyoto openly, to "smuggle" smoothly, thereby making huge extra money.
With the idea of "give it a try, even if I fail, I will still have a way to escape", Ogata nodded and agreed to the deal.
So there was a scene where the old man used 2 douban silver to bribe the officials, and the old man successfully "smuggled" Ogata with him.
After getting out of the car, Ogata held the knife at his waist and looked in the direction of Fushimiguchi.
"It went really smoothly beyond my imagination..."
"Nowadays, the officials and officials in Kyoto are very corrupt."
The old man sneered, and the smile on his face was filled with a strong sense of ridicule?
"No, it should be said that all parts of Japan have the same virtues now: absolutely ****. The Edo shogunate is now on its deathbed."
"Kyoto has long been in ruins. As long as you are willing to give money to these gatekeepers, no matter who you are, Kyoto will let you in and out."
"I don't even remember how many people I have brought to Kyoto over the years."
"I thought that Kyoto has the name of Koshiyama Koshinosuke in charge, so the officialdom here wouldn't be too censorious."
Ogata also heard about the famous name of Koshiyama Koshinosuke, the "name worshiper".
Although he didn't know much about this person, Ogata had heard of names such as "Kamiyama Koshinosuke's outstanding talent".
"Kamiyama Koshinosuke?" The old man shrugged, and the sarcasm on his face became more intense, "Kamiyama is indeed a character."
"But there's only one person left in Kyoto, Kamiyama, who has some skills."
"As long as those few wine bags and rice bags headed by Kyoto Governor Toda Tadahiro are still there, no matter how powerful Kamiyama is, they will never be able to bring Kyoto back to life."
"After all, no matter how clean a drop of water is, it cannot make a turbid pool clean."
After hearing the old man's emotion, Ogata shrugged:
"No matter what, it's fine, in short - the officials in Kyoto really helped me a lot."
Ogata, who was not very interested in these matters in Kyoto officialdom, reached into his arms and took out his money bag as he spoke.
After taking out 7 douban silver coins, he threw them to the old man.
"Here, the agreed reward."
After receiving the 7 bean silver coins thrown by Ogata, the old man immediately started to smile.
In less than half a stick of incense, he made a net profit of 5 pieces of silver. It was such a good deal that it was hard not to laugh out loud.
"Samurai-sama, you are right, government affairs are not only beneficial to you, but also to me." The old man put away the bean paste silver and continued to say to Ogata, "Samurai-sama, let me give you something as a parting gift.
"
After saying that, the old man turned around and walked to a bullock cart nearby.
He was looking for something inside the packages placed on the bullock cart.
Finally - he took out a red Tengu mask and threw it to Ogata.
"Master Samurai, this is for you."
“The Gion Festival is being held right now, so it’s the perfect time to go out wearing a mask without making people feel weird.”
"This thing should come in handy for you who have trouble letting others see your face."
"Thank you." He took the mask thrown by the old man and looked it over again and again. After confirming that it was just an ordinary mask, Ogata smiled at the old man and thanked him, "This thing is inconvenient for me to show my face.
It is indeed very useful for people.”
…
…
After watching the old man lead his caravan to leave, Ogata put on the Tengu mask on his face and sighed in his heart: What a bold businessman...
Knowing that he might be a vicious and wanted criminal, he still dared to take the initiative to come to him to "do business" - this courage made Ogata feel a little admired.
The breathability of this Tengu mask, which covers Ogata's entire face except for a pair of glasses, can only be considered average, but not to the point of being uncomfortable.
Because he was wearing a mask, his field of vision instantly became narrow, which made Ogata feel quite uncomfortable.
——Let’s make do with it.
After muttering to himself as if to comfort himself, Ogata slowly walked out of the alley.
As soon as he exited the alley, the noise immediately hit Ogata like a tsunami.
——There are so many people...
Ogata looked up and saw that there were no less than a hundred people in his field of vision.
It had been a long time since he had been to a place with so many people, which made Ogata feel a little uncomfortable.
——Anyway... let’s start at the pharmacy.
Taking a breath of cold air into his stomach, Ogata felt that his mind became more alert under the stimulation of this cold air.
I randomly asked a passerby "where is the nearest pharmacy?" and then followed the passerby's instructions and strode straight forward along the dirt road full of ravines at my feet.
It had not rained for several days. Under the sun's rays, the dirt road under his feet was so hard that Ogata had the illusion that "the mud under his feet might be as hard as steel."
Just as the old man said just now - now is the time when no one will feel strange even if you go out wearing a mask.
The passers-by who passed by Ogata did not cast doubtful glances at Ogata, who was wearing a Tengu mask.
Either just cast a curious look, or simply ignore it.
From time to time, Ogata would see some passers-by who were also wearing masks.
When these passers-by wearing masks saw Ogata, a "similar person", they would basically nod to Ogata, making Ogata smile.
As we get closer to the commercial area, the flow of people around it gradually increases.
The appearance of the houses on both sides of the street has gradually changed.
The area Ogata was in just now should be a residential area for Kyoto citizens. There are ordinary houses on both sides of the street.
After entering the commercial district, the houses on both sides of the street changed from ordinary private houses to commercial buildings.
After scanning his surroundings, Ogata withdrew his attention and energy and began to concentrate on searching for the pharmacy.
After a while, Ogata found a beautiful house with the smell of medicinal herbs constantly coming out.
He strode into the pharmacy and walked to the counter. A young man standing behind the counter immediately put on a flattering smile and asked Ogata "What do I want to buy?"
"Excuse me, do you recognize the handwriting of this prescription and know which doctor wrote it?"
Ogata took out the two prescriptions from his arms and asked the young man.
Seeing that Ogata was not here to buy anything, the expression on the young man's face froze slightly.
However, this young man still showed very strong professionalism. After quickly adjusting the expression on his face, he took the two prescriptions handed over by Ogata and looked at them carefully.
"Sir Samurai, I'm sorry." The young man looked at the two prescriptions for a while, then shook his head, "I can't recognize the handwriting..."
"That's it..." Ogata took back the two prescriptions, "Excuse me for disturbing you."
Ogata had long expected such a result.
Ogata has long been prepared for a "protracted war".
Therefore, the people in this pharmacy did not recognize the handwriting on the prescription, and Ogata did not show any signs of frustration.
——Let’s find a second pharmacy...
Ogata thought to himself as he left the pharmacy with nothing to gain.
…
…
——Huh? Am I...entering the entertainment area?
Ogata, who noticed the change in the surrounding atmosphere, raised his eyebrows and looked around him.
When we were in the business district just now, there were only some ordinary shops on both sides of the street.
From just now, Oubono gradually began to notice that the atmosphere around him and the scenes on both sides of the street began to gradually change.
Although there are still many shops on both sides of the street, in addition to these shops, there are many more people performing arts on both sides of the street.
Not far in front of Ogata, a strong man about the same height as him lifted a large rock high into the air, as if to show his great strength to passers-by.
After this giant man lifted the huge rock, he immediately received cheers and applause from everyone around him.
Opposite the giant man who was performing a stone-lifting performance, a young man whose clothes revealed the word "poor" everywhere was playing the shamisen.
It's a pity that not many people stopped to listen to the performance.
Ogata looked around and saw these "entertainers" performing various performances almost filling every corner of the street.
They performed their own special tricks, attracting countless passers-by to stop and watch and applaud.
Ogata asked a passerby next to him and found out that he had actually entered the entertainment district of Kyoto.
This street is called "Fangcheng Xiaoji" and is one of the most famous happy streets in Kyoto.
At the same time, according to this passer-by, there is a pharmacy located on this small road in Fangcheng.
After confirming that he had not gone the wrong way, Ogata headed deeper into the alleys of Fangcheng while looking around with curious eyes.
Even before he left the Hirose Domain, Ogata had never seen such a bustling scene with buskers everywhere.
At this moment, a loud and powerful male voice suddenly attracted Ogata's attention.
After Ogata followed the sound, he raised his eyebrows in surprise.
——He is a storyteller...
The owner of this loud, powerful male voice was a middle-aged man sitting upright on a small high platform.
Because of the distance, Ogata could not hear clearly what story the storyteller was telling.
It was clear that this storyteller was quite popular, and there were many listeners gathered around him who were listening intently to the book.
Looking at this storyteller, Ogata felt a sense of intimacy arise spontaneously.
In his previous life, Oru loved listening to books.
And now is the first time Ogata has seen a storyteller since he came to this Edo period.
So after seeing this storyteller, Ogata's feet immediately stopped and he couldn't move any further.
——Go and listen to it.
Unable to resist the sudden feeling of intimacy, Ogata slowly walked towards the storyteller.
There were really many listeners gathered around this storyteller.
There are three floors inside and three floors outside.
Just when Ogata was looking for a suitable opening to break in, his pupils shrank slightly.
Just because - when he was moving his eyes to find an opening, his eyes caught a glimpse of... a familiar figure.
Although the owner of this figure had changed her clothes now, Ogata still recognized her at a glance.
She was now in the middle of the crowd, raising her head and listening intently to the storyteller.
Feeling that his heartbeat was accelerating uncontrollably, Ogata immediately gave up his plan of "looking for an opening to break in" and decided to directly carry out a "frontal attack".
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"Sorry, please give way."
Ogata used some rough movements to push away the listeners who were blocking him one by one, and launched an "attack" into the middle of the crowd.
I was happily listening to a book when suddenly someone came from behind me and pushed me aside - no matter who it was, I would feel a little unhappy in my heart.
After several young men in their prime were pushed aside by Ogata with brute force, anger immediately appeared on their faces.
He turned his head away and was about to scold Ogata.
But after seeing the two knives on Ogata's left waist, he swallowed back the words of condemnation that had already flowed to his mouth.
They were angry, but not so angry that they lost their minds and provoked a samurai with a sword at his waist.
After squeezing out a way through brute force, Ogata finally arrived three steps behind her.
The reason why he didn't get closer was mainly because Ogata was worried that if he got closer, she would be discovered by her.
And Ogata planned to give her a little surprise.
And Ogata's plan was successful - she focused all her attention on listening to the book and did not notice Ogata's presence three steps away behind her.
After taking a deep breath and calming down the beating speed of his heart a little -