Chapter 451 Ogata: Why do people always love to trouble me? [6800 words]
"Please come back!" Hosei shouted to Sukezo and Yushiro in a much harsher and louder voice.
At the same time that Sukezo and Yushiro shouted this, Hosei turned his sharp gaze towards Sukezo and Yushiro.
Sukezo and Yushiro were frightened by Hosei's loud voice and sharp gaze, and they all shrank their necks.
Visible emotions such as fear, unwillingness, pain, despair, and grievance appeared on their faces.
Looking at the changes in the expressions on the two people's faces, for some reason, fragments of memories that should have been buried for a long time emerged uncontrollably from the depths of Ogata's mind.
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"Hey! Is anyone still alive?! Anyone can do it! Just give me a shout!"
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"master……"
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"Makino, Sawamura..."
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"Mikami-senpai... If you want to continue to thank me, go ahead... You can do anything, just tell me something..."
…
These memory fragments emerged uncontrollably from the depths of Ogata's mind, playing back and forth in front of Ogata's eyes.
Sukezo and Yushiro lowered their heads and slowly left the Hosei Sword Hall under the guidance of a certain apprentice who was still in the sword hall at this time.
When the two of them had just left the Hosei Sword Hall, Oubang said to Hosei:
"Lord Baosheng, it's getting late now. It's almost time for me to take my leave."
"Yes." Baosheng smiled at Ogata, "Mashima-sama, thank you for your hard work today!"
After exiting the gate of the Hosei Sword Hall, Ogata took a deep breath and looked up at the almost black sky above his head.
At this moment, there are already bright stars hanging in the sky.
Ogata was not so much looking at the sky as he was looking at the stars above his head.
He pursed his lips, wondering what he was thinking.
After a while, Ogata took his eyes away from the sky above his head.
Then he hurried towards the direction where Sukezo, Yushiro and the others left.
"Hey! You two!"
Ogata quickly caught up with Sukezo and the others.
"My name is Majima Goro."
"Tell me more about the concerns about your village by the wanderers."
…
…
Inns in the Edo period were also divided into four levels: Honjin, Wakihonjin, Hatago, and Wooden Inn.
Honjin is a residential facility specially designed to provide services to daimyo, public officials, and senior officials of the shogunate.
The Wakihonjin, which is a level lower than the Honjin, provides services to lower-level daimyo and shogunate officials.
If you want to stay in Honjin and Wakihonjin, it depends not only on money but also on status.
No matter how rich you are, if you are not a high official or a shogunate official, you will not be able to live in the Honjin and Waki Honjin.
Hatago and wooden accommodation are hotels that specifically serve ordinary samurai and civilians.
Hatago is a general accommodation facility that provides services to samurai and civilians, and usually provides meals.
The type of hindaro that does not provide meals is called a hiramon.
The lowest-level kiyuku was the cheapest hotel in the Edo period. Not only did the rooms have a single type, but the rooms were generally small and old, and they did not provide meals or bedding.
Because of the class and the worst service, the price of wooden accommodation is also the cheapest.
A one-night stay in a wooden hotel costs about one-fifth of that of a hotel in Hatago.
Ogata and Atachi still have a considerable amount of savings now.
And the two of them are not the kind of stingy people who live without money, and they are never stingy when it comes to food, clothing, housing and transportation.
The inn where the two of them lived in Nishikino Town was a standard hatago.
Unlike Ogata, who is active from morning to night, Atachi is very leisurely these days.
Nishikino Town is not that big, and Omachi has already visited every corner of Nishikino Town.
With nothing to do, Atachi can only huddle in his hotel room every day these days and learn Ezo.
She never imagined that she, who could not even speak Mandarin (Kanto dialect), would one day learn Ezo.
Atachi was considered a "semi-illiterate" by the standards of this era and could only read kana, but could not recognize most of the kanji characters.
This is a bit like knowing only pinyin but not Chinese characters. This kind of semi-illiteracy is quite common in this era.
So in order for Atachi to understand this teaching guide, Ogata had previously spent a lot of effort to notate all the Chinese characters in this teaching guide, and also marked the meaning of the Chinese characters on the side.
Since he had nothing to do except huddle in the hotel and learn Ezo, Amachi's learning progress had already surpassed that of Ogata, and he had already mastered the sixth chapter of this "Guide to Teaching Common Ezo Phrases"
One-third of the vocabulary.
"Osoma...shit...Osoma...shit..."
Amachi, who was holding the teaching guide and lying on the tatami, was learning the new vocabulary Osoma.
Osoma in the Ezo language means shit.
Because the sky outside had completely darkened, Atachi had lit an oil lamp just now and was reading a book by the light emitted by the lamp.
After silently memorizing this new vocabulary, Amachi, who felt a little tired, closed the teaching guide in his hand and stretched hard.
Then he tilted his head and cast his gaze to the sky outside the window.
Looking at the already darkened sky, A-Machi murmured:
"It's so slow...Did something happen..."
At this point in time in the past, Ogata had already come back.
However, until now, Amachi has not seen Ogata.
It was a coincidence that just as A-Machi was thinking about why Ogata came back so late today, she heard familiar footsteps coming from outside the room.
"A-Machi, I'm back."
The person who opened the hotel door was none other than Ogata.
Before Atachi could ask Ogata why he came back so late, Ogata spoke first:
"Omachi. Just pack your luggage tonight, and we will leave Kinkino Town temporarily tomorrow."
"Leave Nishikino Town?" A Machi looked confused.
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…
next day, morning
Ogata and Omachi didn't have much luggage. Their outfits could be said to have carried out "traveling light and simple" to the extreme.
Their luggage only contained clothes, money, water bottles and other odds and ends.
Each of them can carry a small cloth bag to carry all their luggage.
By the way, the monfu haori hakama and white clothes they purchased for the wedding were all stored with Uncle Kei who planned to settle in Edo.
Both the embroidered hakama hakama and the white hakama are formal attires. They have no use other than to look good.
For Ogata and Atachi, who were about to travel far away, these dresses were just a bunch of burdens, so before leaving Edo, Ogata and Atachi left all these clothes with Uncle Kei for safekeeping.
Ogata and Omachi, who had packed their luggage, stood at an entrance to the north of Nishikino Town.
In front of them stood a farmer with a weathered face, none other than Suzo.
Sukezo faced Ogata in front of him and kept nodding and bowing to Ogata:
"Samurai-sama! Thank you very much!"
Yesterday, before visiting the Hosei Sword Hall, Sukezo and his other companion, Yushiro, had already visited samurai from various places in Kinkino Town.
Although the contents of the replies received were different, the overall meaning was that I couldn't help.
The Hosho Sword Hall was the last stop on their "Nishikino Town trip"... However, they were still rejected at the Hosho Sword Hall.
Before Sukezo and Yushiro came to Nishino Town, they had gone to other towns to recruit samurai and only recruited one samurai.
If the Hosho Sword Hall is the last stop for the two of them on their "trip to Nishikino Town".
Then Kinkino Town is the last stop for the two of them on this "recruiting samurai journey".
Regardless of whether they succeeded in recruiting samurai in Nishikino Town, they would have to go back home.
So when they came out of the Hosei Sword Hall yesterday evening, Suzo and Yushiro were in despair... and they were both prepared to take only one samurai back.
However, just when they were desperate, Ogata came.
After Ogata left the Hosho Sword Hall, he caught up with the two of them, and then asked them only one question about how long it would take to get from Nishikino Town to their village.
After learning that if he walked fast enough, he could start in the morning and arrive in the evening, Obeno said something that both Sukezo and Yushiro couldn't believe their ears at the time: I understand, and I will do my best.
The earth helps you.
When they were almost desperate, a samurai came to the door and expressed his willingness to help. Although he didn't know how strong the samurai was, nor what his temperament was, Suzo and the others had already arrived and grabbed the suspected life-saving straw.
situation.
Sukezo and Yushiro immediately agreed with Ogata on the departure time and would set off at dawn tomorrow morning.
Facing Sukezo who was nodding and bowing to him in thanks, Ogata said with a hint of helplessness:
"There's no need to keep thanking me like this. I've already received your thanks."
"Where is your other companion and the warrior you recruited before? Have they not arrived yet?"
Hearing Ogata's question, Sukezo stood on tiptoes, turned his head, and looked around.
"The two of them are a bit slow...why haven't they come yet..."
When Ogata brought Omachi to the agreed intersection just now, he only saw Sukezo.
When asked where Yushiro had gone, Suzo said that he had gone to pick up the samurai he had recruited from another town.
After looking around, Suzo quickly ran to the intersection not far away and looked towards the end of the road.
When Sukezo ran to the side, looking for Yushiro and the others, Atachi quietly walked up to Ogata and whispered to Ogata in a low voice that only she and Ogata could hear clearly:
"Have you told Nishino-kun and the people at the sword hall?"
"Yes." Ogata nodded lightly, "I told Nishino-kun last night that I would leave Nishino Town temporarily for a while, and I also asked Nishino-kun to go and talk to the people at the Hosei Sword Hall for me.
"
After agreeing to Sukezo and Yushiro and saying that he would help them, Ogon went to the Minamoto Tachibana House, met with Nishino Jiro, and told Nishino Jiro that he would temporarily leave Nishino Town for a while.
In order to facilitate explanation, Ogata did not tell Nishinojiro that he planned to fight bandits. Instead, he told Nishinojiro that he was a little bored staying in Nishino Town and planned to take Uchiko to other nearby towns.
At the same time, Nishino Jiro was also asked to send a message to the people of the Hosei Sword Hall for him later, telling the people of the Hosho Sword Hall that he planned to visit other nearby towns and cities to appreciate the scenery of the Northeast and come back after a while.
Omachi glanced at Sukezo who was looking for Yushiro not far away, and then lowered his voice a little lower.
"Why do you suddenly want to help those farmers deal with bandits?"
"You must be too bored in Nishikino Town and want to stretch your muscles, right?"
Ogata was stunned for a moment when he heard this question from Atachi.
Then he raised his hand and scratched his hair.
"The reason why I chose to help..."
A wry smile appeared on Ogata's face.
When Ogata said these words, A-Machi noticed that some memories appeared in the depths of Ogata's eyes.
Ogata seemed to be remembering something.
"I don't know how to explain it to you in detail..."
"Ah! Master Samurai! Yushiro is back!"
At this time, Sukezo pointed to the end of the street in front of him and shouted to Ogata and the other two.
Ogata looked in the direction pointed by Sukezo's finger and saw Yushiro trotting towards them.
And behind Yushiro, followed a samurai.
I have a messy head that hasn't been taken care of for a long time. Because I haven't taken care of it for so long, my hair is tangled in many places.
The clothes on my body were all torn and dirty. It seemed that they had not been washed for a long time, and they were so dirty that the original color could not be seen.
Perhaps because I couldn't find suitable shoes to wear, I only wore a pair of wooden clogs, and my dirty feet were red and cracked from the cold.
The sword at the waist is also in an unsightly state. The scabbard is full of spots, and a large number of curls on the handle have fallen off, making people very doubtful whether the blade inside is still intact.
The above is what this warrior looks like.
It is a very standard ronin look of this era.
The ronin are basically a group of people who have no fixed place to live, so most of the ronin look like beggars.
Sukezo briefly introduced this ronin for Ogata.
This ronin's name was Tsuchiya Shinsaburo, and he was the only samurai that Sukezo and Yushiro successfully hired before Ogata agreed to assist them.
Tsuchiya is a very taciturn person, he doesn't talk much and doesn't express much.
Facing Ogata and Atachi, he only said hello very coldly, introduced himself, and said no more.
Sukezo's village is a little far away from Nishikino Town. Even if they set out early in the morning, if they don't walk faster, they may not be able to arrive before dark.
So after everyone arrived, Ogata and his party officially set off for Suzo and his friends' village.
On the way, Ogata and the others chatted for a while.
Through small talk, Ogata learned a lot of new information about Suzo and his village.
For example, their village has a total of 89 people. It is an extremely small village. There are only 32 young and middle-aged people, and the rest are old, weak, women and children.
They are not such a poor and impoverished village.
Before the "Tianming Famine" broke out, there were nearly 200 people in their village. The wealth in the village was neither too much nor too little. Although it was not a rich village, it was by no means poor.
However, this was only the situation before the "morning famine" broke out.
After the "Tianming Famine", a major famine that spread across the country, the farmers were the ones who were hardest hit.
What's more, the Northeast region is the center of the "dawn famine" and is the hardest hit place.
After the famine broke out, they quickly ate up all the food that humans should eat.
After eating up all the food that humans should eat, they began to eat tares, rice bran and other foods that were not only unpalatable but also very harmful to the body.
After eating even the tares and rice bran, they could only eat tree bark and grass roots...
When Sukezo and Yushiro recounted the tragic scenes when the "Tianmei Famine" broke out, they cried uncontrollably because they mentioned sad points several times.
After the "morning famine" passed, the village that originally had a population of nearly 200 people now has less than a hundred people.
Some of the other one hundred people basically starved to death in the "morning famine".
After finally surviving the horrific "dawn famine", after three years of recuperation, they finally regained some strength, but they were targeted by rogues who became bandits. I have to say that their village is really destined. Too bad.
The other samurai invited by Suzo and the others was Tsuchiya. Although he didn't talk much, he briefly talked about his past while on the way.
He was born in the Hachinohe Domain of Ou.
Hachinohe Domain is a relatively inconspicuous vassal state among the Northeastern vassals.
An important indicator to measure the strength of a vassal state is the total rice production of the vassal state in a year.
The total rice production of the Hachinohe Domain in a year is only 20,000 koku, which is less than that of Hirose Domain, Ogata's hometown.
The total rice production of Hirose Domain in a year is still 30,000 koku.
Faced with the "Twilight Famine", a major natural disaster that has rarely occurred in decades, powerful feudal lords like Aizu and Sendai, with an annual rice production of tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of koku, can still rely on their strong financial resources to survive. The family managed to survive.
However, a feudal clan like the Hachinohe clan with a poor family simply did not have the ability to withstand this huge natural disaster.
Famine was raging, and the Hachinohe Domain's finances were unsustainable.
In order to alleviate financial difficulties, the Hachinohe Domain adopted various measures.
One of the measures was to attack the samurai within the domain.
Using a sword on the samurai was no different than cutting off one's own arm. But at that time, the Hachinohe Domain could not control so much in order to keep the domain alive.
It is better to lose one's own arm than to lose one's life.
The first round of layoffs.
Many samurai in the domain were deprived of their jobs and demoted to ronin for various reasons.
The remaining samurai who have not been laid off in the second round will have their salaries reduced.
Tsuchiya was one of the many samurai who was demoted to ronin in this first sword attack.
He was originally a low-level warrior with a salary of 40 stone years.
Not long after the feudal lord decided to lay off workers, he was stripped of his job and demoted to a ronin.
The reason why he was demoted was that his clothes were too shabby and damaged his image as a samurai.
Those samurai who were demoted to ronin were basically dismissed for a random reason, and then abandoned by the feudal lord who had served them conscientiously for half their lives.
According to Tsuchiya: At that time, many samurai cried loudly after learning that they were demoted to ronin.
Almost all of them have served the Hachinohe clan for generations, and have shed blood and sweat for the Hachinohe clan.
There are many families who have served the Hachinohe Domain from generation to generation since the establishment of the Hachinohe Domain, and have served the Hachinohe Domain for nearly two hundred years.
It is not difficult to imagine the feelings of the samurai who have been serving the Hachinohe Domain since their ancestors, but in the end were abandoned by the people they had served for generations. It is not difficult to imagine the feelings of those samurai who were forcibly demoted to ronin.
It's a pity that no matter how much they cry or howl, the feudal lord they have been serving at the risk of their lives never pays attention to them from the beginning to the end.
Tsuchiya did not say what his reaction was when he learned that he was demoted to a ronin.
It is only said that he left Hachinohe Domain after being abandoned by the lord of Hachinohe Domain.
Because he had no parents, wife or children, and was alone, he was considered to be a relatively good type among the many samurai who were demoted as ronin and lost their source of livelihood.
Those warriors with old men on top and young men on the bottom were miserable. They couldn't even go out and wander.
After leaving the Hachinohe Domain, Tsuchiya wandered to Kinkino Town and lived a semi-settled life in Kinkino Town.
Because he can do some handicrafts, Tsuchwu now relies on handicrafts to earn a living. He lives a life without a meal.
Tsuchiya said why he agreed to help Suzo and his village.
His reason is simple. He hasn't eaten white rice in big gulps for a long time.
He wanted to eat white rice until he was full after a long time.
The reason is that simple.
…
…
Ogata and his party set out early in the morning, and finally arrived at Sukezo's village when the sky was already half dark.
They could have arrived faster.
Tsuchiya may not have enough physical strength because he hasn't had a full meal for a long time. His physical strength is not as good as that of Sukezo and Yushiro.
In order to take care of Tsuchiya, who was weak in physical strength, Ogata and his team rested several times along the way.
Without these few breaks, Ogata and the others should be able to reach Suzo's village before dark.
"That's our village!"
Sukezo raised his hand and pointed forward, and Ogata looked in the direction Sukezo's finger pointed.
Because they were currently standing on a hillside, they could just overlook Suzo's village not far ahead.
The first impression that Sukezo and his village gave Ogata was that it was dilapidated and lifeless.
Although the sky began to get dark and the light began to dim, Ogata could still barely see the houses in Suzuzo's village through the dim light.
Without exception, all the houses are old and dilapidated.
I don’t know if it’s because the houses are so dilapidated, but looking from a distance, I can’t feel much life or smoke.
If it weren't for the fact that it was close to a hotel and most of the houses had smoke coming out, Ogata would really doubt whether there were still people living in this village.
"Let's enter the village." Sukezo said as he slid down the hillside along a trail not far away.
Ogata and his party followed closely behind, and soon went down the mountain and walked towards the village.
"Hello!"
As he was about to enter the village, Suzo put his hands to his lips and shouted loudly towards the entrance of the village.
"We're back!"
"We brought the samurai back!"
Yushiro on the side also shouted.
They hadn't entered the village yet, they had just arrived at the entrance of the village, when something unexpected happened.
"Hey! You bastard! Stop!"
An extremely loud voice suddenly sounded from the village.
The sound of this loud voice was so shocking that even though Ogata and others were far away, they felt that the shout was ringing in their ears.
Except for Ogata who was able to remain calm, everyone including Suzo, Yushiro, Amachi and Tsuchiya were frightened by the sudden loud voice.
As soon as the loud voice fell, Oubon saw a man who looked like a samurai rushing out of a house in the village.
To say that this person has "the appearance of a samurai" may be a bit inaccurate.
It should be said that he has "the appearance of a ronin".
This man looked similar to Tsuchiya. If he didn't have two knives on his waist, he would definitely be regarded as a beggar.
After the "beggar warrior" rushed out of the house, he waved the knife in his hand and ran away.
"Get away! Get away from me!"
Some people dressed as villagers seemed to want to step forward to stop this "beggar warrior", but after seeing the bright sword in this guy's hand, they all showed timidity and stepped aside.
"Stop!!"
The "Beggar Samurai" was followed closely by a samurai who also looked like a ronin, and the loud voice that shocked Atachi and the others just now was made by this samurai.
The "loud warrior" had an extremely burly figure, roaring angrily while following closely behind the "beggar warrior".
But his speed was really slow. Not only did he fail to catch up with the "Beggar Warrior", but the distance between them also grew further and further.
I don’t know whether I should say that the “beggar warrior” was lucky or unlucky.
His pursuers could not match his speed.
However, at the end of the direction he chose to escape... stood Ogata and others.
"Get out of my way!"
The "Beggar Samurai" raised the sword in his hand and shouted viciously at Ogata and others who were blocking him.
Sukezo and Yushiro were so frightened that their faces turned pale and they quickly ran away.
After Sukezo and Yushiro, who were walking in front of Ogata and others, hid aside, the person facing the "beggar samurai" became...Ogata.
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PS: What happened to Tsuchiya in this chapter is historical fact.
By the late Edo period, even the shogunate was not having an easy time, let alone the vassals everywhere?
In the late Edo period, one of the main reasons why the number of ronin surged was that in order to reduce financial pressure, many vassal states "lay off" a large number of people, stripping many samurai of their jobs and demoting them to ronin.
.
This situation of demoting samurai to ronin in order to reduce financial pressure was more common in feudal lords with small families.
Demoting a large number of samurai under the rule to ronin would be breaking one's arms, but breaking one's arms would be better than bankruptcy and collapse of the entire vassal state.
Today's Japanese history lesson will teach you how Japan punished those "N*T*R enthusiasts" and "Tauren" in the Edo period. Please read the words of the writer below↓↓↓