Ningtaro is an ordinary farmer in this ordinary village.
He is 28 years old this year and has a wife who is one year younger than him. They currently have 4 children, 2 boys and 2 girls.
The oldest son is only 12 years old this year, and the youngest daughter was just born.
A large family was crowded into a dilapidated small house.
It's the end of the year.
At the end of the year in Mutsu, there is nothing but snow outside.
In a place like this where the weather is freezing in winter, there is nothing else to do except stay at home, rely on the food you have saved to survive the winter, and do some small crafts to supplement your family income.
It was the afternoon when there was still a short period of time before dark.
Ningtaro was sitting cross-legged in a corner of the house, making a birdcage.
The wife held her newborn baby girl in her arms and breastfed her.
The other three children were fighting and playing nearby.
They originally had 2 sons and 3 daughters - but unfortunately, 1 son and 1 daughter died shortly after birth, and the other 1 son and 2 daughters died in the "morning famine".
The whole family is without exception - their faces are sallow, their cheeks are somewhat sunken, and there is not much flesh on their bodies.
Both Ningtaro and his wife's eyes were dull and dim.
On the contrary, the children of the two of them had bright eyes and had a great time playing the game of "pretending to be a samurai".
"Mother, mother." Ningtaro turned to his wife and asked, "Is the milk still sufficient?"
Although the other three children were playing nearby, Ningtaro's wife showed her breasts without any scruples and breastfed her little daughter who had just been born.
"Yeah." She nodded, "Just do it..."
"That's right..." Ningtaro said softly, "That's good..."
"We are really lucky this year." Ningtaro's wife smiled at her husband.
Although she smiled, because her face was sallow and her cheeks were sunken, her smile was not only unattractive, but also a bit scary.
"This year's harvest is pretty good. It shouldn't be a problem to survive this winter."
"Yes." Ningtaro nodded gently, a faint smile appeared on his face, "Yes. God has finally opened his eyes."
Although it has been over three years, Ningtaro still vividly remembers the tragic situation of "famine at dawn".
The crops failed completely and there was no food.
Although the government has provided relief food and other methods to provide disaster relief, their lives are still very difficult...
There are only a few cases where you can eat food that humans should eat. Most of the time, you can only eat things that humans should not eat.
Ningtaro wanted to cry just thinking about the hard days at that time.
They had a newborn daughter at the time.
But because he didn't eat well, his wife had no milk, so she could only feed her little daughter things that babies of this age should not eat, such as soup made from barnyard grass.
This kind of stuff that even dogs don’t drink is impossible for babies to grow up healthily.
After drinking barnyard grass soup for a period of time, the little daughter suddenly vomited and developed a high fever. In the end, she died of the illness.
Because he had experienced such a tragic situation, after the birth of his new daughter, Ningtaro became a little nervous about his wife's milk, and would ask his wife every few days if she still had milk.
"I hope the situation next year will be as good as this year." When he said this, a little light appeared in Ningtaro's dim eyes.
After surviving the seven-year "dawn famine", they finally had a better life recently.
Although the food stored at home is not enough to feed the whole family, it is more than enough to keep them from going hungry every day.
Their family's situation is considered relatively good in this village.
Because their family does not have many children, and their parents died young, the pressure to support a large family is not great.
Compared with the previous life when "famine at dawn" had not passed, the days in which they could eat the food that people should eat in the past two years were really like a dream.
"It would be better if the government could clean up the bandits everywhere." Ningtaro's wife answered.
Their village is located in a territory directly under the shogunate's jurisdiction in Dewa.
Probably because it is close to the castle town, until now, no bandits have visited their village.
But no one can guarantee that their village will be safe forever, and that there will never be bandits who come from nowhere and care about their money, food, and women.
"I heard the village chief say a few days ago," Ningtaro said, "It seems that after the spring comes next year, the government will join forces with other Ou feudal lords to exterminate mountain bandits in various places."
"Really?" Ningtaro's wife looked delighted.
"I heard everyone say that." Ningtaro smiled, "It should be true."
"Occasionally, the government will do some practical things." Ningtaro's wife muttered.
"After all, we are the people of the government." Ning Tailang shook his head and said, "Without the people, there would be no officials. It is impossible for the government to abandon us and ignore us."
"After all, 'We are like water, and the government is like a boat floating on the water. Without our water, the boat of the government cannot float.'"
"You're here again." Ningtaro's wife showed a helpless smile, "You obviously don't even know a single Chinese character, so you just pretend to be a scholar."
Not only was Ningtaro not ashamed of his wife's complaints, he also showed a proud expression.
Many years ago, a warrior who was practicing martial arts passed by their village.
The samurai had a very kind personality and had a pretty good relationship with Neitaro.
During the few days that the samurai stayed in the village for a brief period, he briefly introduced Sinology to Neitaro.
Ningtaro had completely forgotten much of what the samurai said at that time.
But there was only one sentence, and Ningtaro vaguely remembered its meaning - we are like water, and the government is like a boat floating on the water. Without our water, the boat of the government cannot float.
It may be different from the original words the samurai said at that time, but Neitaro felt that the meaning should be quite similar.
Because he only remembered this sentence, the rather vain Ningtaro would repeat this sentence whenever he had the opportunity to make himself more educated.
"In short - the government should really plan to eliminate bandits everywhere." Ningtaro said in a decisive tone.
Ningtaro has always trusted the government.
Or rather... I have a favorable impression.
Because it was thanks to the government's relief that they were able to survive the "dawn famine" that lasted for seven years. Although three children died in the end, compared with the kind where the whole family died, they were
Home is so much better.
The recent good times have given Ningtaro a wonderful imagination about the future for the first time in a long time.
He imagined that the government would continue to help these poor farmers.
God will no longer torment them.
He doesn't ask for much.
He just hopes that the whole family can have enough to eat and that every child can grow up healthily.
After having a brief chat with his wife, Ningtaro continued to work on his crafts wholeheartedly.
But at this moment - there was a sound of knocking on the wooden board outside the room.
Hearing this voice, Ningtaro and his wife frowned.
They naturally recognized this voice - it was a summons for their village. All the villagers except the old, weak, women and children had to gather at the village chief.
Once this sound is made, it basically means that something has happened that the village chief wants to announce to everyone.
"My dear, you stay at home." Ningtaro put down the half-finished birdcage in his hand, "I'll go to the village chief to see what happened."
"Yes." Ningtaro's wife nodded, "Let's go slowly."
Ningtaro quickly rushed to the village chief's home.
After all the villagers except the old, weak, women and children arrived, their old village chief directly announced to them a piece of news that shocked them: a high-ranking official from the government was coming to their village and would be arriving soon.
As soon as the village chief said this, the villagers immediately "exploded".
Their village is just an ordinary little village, but a high-ranking official from the government wants to come to them?
They asked their old village chief what kind of official came to their village, and their old village chief only said that he didn't know, only that he was a very big official.
A small official arrived at their village just now, informed the village chief of the news, and asked the village chief to quickly lead the villagers to stand on both sides of the widest road in the center of the village, ready to welcome the government officials.
Upon hearing this request, the villagers looked surprised - because they only had to stand and did not need to kneel on the ground.
When the little official came to tell them the news, the village chief asked this question for the villagers. The little official said bluntly: Yes, there is no need to kneel, just stand and lower your head, don't look directly
Queue is fine.
Although the incident happened unexpectedly, the villagers could only do as they were told.
After all, the person who came was a high-ranking official of the shogunate. If something went wrong, common people like them would not be able to afford the consequences.
So all the families brought their families with them and stood on both sides of the widest road in the center of the village as requested by the little official.
Ningtaro also took his wife and children into the queue and stood still.
The wife holds her infant daughter.
Ningtaro's two big hands tightly grasped the hands of the other three children to prevent them from moving.
Ningtaro had heard many stories about "children who accidentally collided with the car of a daimyo or some high official, and were hacked to death by the daimyo's or high official's guards".
In this day and age, it is a serious crime for an unrelated person to hit a car driven by someone "on top of someone else".
If that "superior person" has a good temper, he may let you go.
If the "human superior" has a bad temper, he may instruct his subordinates to hack the person who hit the car to death without any punishment himself.
All the people in the village stood on both sides of the widest avenue.
After standing until some people's legs were sore, they finally saw a small queue appearing at the end of the road - there were many knights on horseback, and in the center of the group of knights on horseback was a very gorgeous cage.
After finally waiting for the unknown high-ranking official to arrive, the villagers quickly lowered their heads and looked at their noses with their eyes, and their minds with their noses.
Ningtaro placed his chin directly on his chest, and at the same time, in a very stern tone, he asked the children next to him to quickly lower their heads as well. They must not raise their heads until they were told they were allowed to do so.
After a while, Ningtaro heard the sound of a large number of horse hooves and human feet coming from the middle of the road in front of him.
Because he couldn't raise his head, Ningtaro couldn't count the number of people in the queue or take a closer look at what the cage in the center of the queue looked like.
Soon, the queue passed in front of the villagers and then walked away.
The procession did not stop at their village.
It goes straight through the widest road in their village.
After the team had completely left their village, a small official came up on horseback and said to the villagers: "That's it. Thank you for your hard work. You can continue to do whatever you want to do next."
After leaving these words, the clerk rode away on horseback.
Only the villagers still looked confused.
"Which official visited our village?"
"have no idea."
"I thought some high-ranking official came to inspect the incognito service, but it turned out that he just used the road in our village?"
The villagers were discussing in a lively manner.
Ningtaro was not interested in the discussion among the villagers, nor in the procession of unknown high-ranking officials just now.
After the senior officials' queue left and they were informed that they could go on and do whatever they wanted, Neitaro went home directly.
He just wants to make two more birdcages before going to bed so that his family's savings can be more abundant and he can live a life with enough food as soon as possible.
…
…
Inns in the Edo period were divided into four categories: honjin, waki honjin, hayago, and wooden ryuku.
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.
As for Hatago and Wooden Inn, they are specialized in serving ordinary samurai and ordinary people. The grade and service conditions of Wooden Inn are worse than Hatrō.
This evening, a certain honbu in Deyu became lively.
Because a certain high-ranking official from the government is staying at this main formation tonight.
Who is the chief official of this government?
Except for the general person in charge of this formation, the rest of the staff are completely unaware.
But they could vaguely guess from the nervous look of their general manager and the queue of this high-ranking official that his background was quite high.
There were various types of guards, attendants, etc., totaling hundreds of people.
Although the number of people is not very large, the horses and tools they use are all of high quality - officials who can use such high quality goods must not be small officials.
In fact, they should be lucky that they don't know who is staying in their formation tonight.
If they knew who was staying tonight, they would be so nervous that they would even tremble while walking...
…
…
"Lao Zhongsheng."
Tachibana knelt on one knee not far from Matsudaira Sadanobu and said respectfully to Matsudaira Sadanobu.
"Dinner is ready. Please have your meal."
Matsudaira Sadanobu was sitting cross-legged by the window at this time.
There is light snow flying now, dotting the already dark night sky.
Matsudaira Sadanobu just looked at the snowy scene outside the window.
"Yes." Matsudaira Sadanobu nodded lightly.
After looking away from the window and sitting down in the room, several attendants entered the room carrying sumptuous meals and handed them to Matsudaira Sadanobu.
The food has gone through layers of testing just now.
"Lord Nakagashi, this is the special delicacy of the Ou area - Oma tuna, Kiri Danke, Inaniwa udon and senbei soup. Please enjoy it slowly."
"Oma tuna..." Matsudaira Sadanobu smiled, "I haven't eaten pure Oma tuna in a long time..."
After saying that, Matsudaira Sadanobu picked up the bowls and chopsticks and started to eat happily.
Matsudaira Sadanobu did not choose to go to Ezo by sea.
Instead, he chose to take the land route.
After arriving at Tsugaru Strait along the official road, take a boat to Ezo Island.
Traveling by land takes longer than traveling by sea.
But Matsudaira Sadanobu was in no rush to go to Ezo.
It will take some time for the army and baggage to be assembled in Ezo.
Therefore, Matsudaira Sadanobu, who did not need to rush to Ezo, had enough time to go north along the land line to Ezo at a leisurely pace.
Moreover - the reason why we chose to take the overland route was for two important purposes.
The first purpose: Matsudaira Sadanobu wanted to breathe the air of the Ou area for the first time in a long time.
In addition to being a veteran of the shogunate, Matsudaira Sadanobu is also the current feudal lord of the Shirakawa Domain in the Ou region.
High-ranking officials like Laonaka and Wakatoshi are basically held by daimyō (the vassal of a daimyo who is related to the shogun by blood) or a lord of the clan (the vassal of the daimyo who surrendered to the first shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu earlier).
.
The Shirakawa Domain ruled by Matsudaira Sadanobu is one of the feudal lords of the Mutsu region.
After the current shogun Tokugawa Ieashi came to the throne and appointed Matsudaira Sadanobu as the new chief, Matsudaira Sadanobu left the Shirakawa Domain and lived in Edo, working wholeheartedly to revitalize the shogunate.
Because all the energy in the past few years has been focused on revitalizing the shogunate, they have been unable to deal with the feudal politics of Shirakawa Domain.
The feudal administration of the Shirakawa Domain is basically left to the important ministers headed by the family elders.
Matsudaira Sadanobu himself has not returned to Shirakawa Domain for some time.
Therefore, Matsudaira Sadanobu wanted to take this opportunity to travel overland to Ezochi to breathe in the air of the Ou area, which is considered his birthplace.
If possible, Matsudaira Sadanobu would also like to stop by Shirakawa Domain to see his hometown that he has not been back to for a long time.
It's a pity that no matter how the route is drawn, it is impossible for his queue to pass through Shirakawa Domain unless it makes a big circle.
Therefore, Matsudaira Sadanobu could only regretfully give up.
The second purpose of choosing to take the overland route is to see with your own eyes the sentiments of the people in the Ou area.
After the "Tianmei Famine" broke out, the Ou area was the hardest hit.
Three years ago, not long after the "Tenmei Famine" ended, Matsudaira Sadanobu took office as the new and old minister of the shogunate.
Many of the reforms he has made in the past three years are tailor-made for the "Tianming Famine" - to "treat" the various harms caused to the country after the "Tianming Famine" broke out, and to prevent such a large-scale famine from happening again.
Appear.
Matsudaira Sadanobu wanted to see it with his own eyes.
Look at how the Ou area, which was hardest hit, is recovering now.
Matsudaira Sadanobu has always adhered to the idea of "peaceful farmers, national security".
If you want to know how that area is recovering from the disaster, the simplest and most effective way is to see how the farmers are living.
Therefore, since leaving the Edo period, Matsudaira Sadanobu has deliberately directed his troops to every rural area along the way.
Matsudaira Sadanobu mainly looked at the faces of farmers in the countryside.
Just by looking at their faces, you can roughly understand how the farmers are doing now.
Whenever he was passing through a village, Matsudaira Sadanobu would send his officials into the village in advance to inform the villagers to stand on both sides of the road.
When passing through a road lined with villagers, Matsudaira Sadanobu, who was sitting in a sedan chair, would observe the faces of the villagers.
Although the villagers all lowered their heads, it did not prevent Matsudaira Sadanobu from observing their figures and the looks on their faces.
After quickly clearing away all the food that needed to be chewed on the table, Matsudaira Sadanobu picked up the warm soup and drank it in small sips.
While taking a sip of the soup, he spoke in an instructive tone to Tachibana who was waiting aside.
"Tachibana, have you seen the conditions of the villages we passed today?"
"I see it." Tachibana said respectfully.
"Tell me what you think." Matsudaira Sadanobu continued, "What do you think of the conditions of the villagers in those villages?"
"yes!"
After Tachibana quickly organized his words, he said with a smile:
"Lord, I think that the conditions of the villagers in the villages we passed today are very good."
"What's a good idea?" Matsudaira Sadanobu asked.
"Without exception, they all look bad." Tachibana immediately replied, "There is no doubt that they are not eating well."
"But judging from their condition, they are not hungry."
"Farmers are neither full nor hungry. This is the best state!"
As soon as Tachibana finished speaking, a faint smile slowly appeared on Matsudaira Sadanobu's face.
"good."
Matsudaira Sadanobu praised.
"It's not in vain that I have cultivated you for so many years."
Hearing Matsudaira Sadanobu's praise, Tachibana's eyes involuntarily flashed with joy, and then he quickly said a few humble words.
"Tachibana, you remember." Matsudaira Sadanobu said slowly, putting away the smile on his face, "We can't let the farmers live too well, and we can't let the farmers live too badly."
"The conditions of the villagers in the villages we passed today are very good."
"If the farmers in all the rural areas across the country are in the same state as the farmers in the rural areas we passed through today, then our country will be able to enjoy long-term peace and stability."
"Tachibana, remember these words--"
Matsudaira Sadashin paused.
Then he said quietly:
"Keeping farmers half-dead is the secret to running a country."
As soon as Matsudaira Sadanobu finished speaking, Tachibana nodded vigorously:
"Yes! Thank you, Mr. Lao Zhong, for your teaching!"
"So far, the situation in each village can be considered satisfactory." Matsudaira Sadanobu continued, "I hope that every village I encounter in the future can continue to satisfy me."
After saying that, Matsudaira Sadanobu drank the soup in the bowl in one gulp.
When placing the empty bowl back on the dining table in front of him, Matsudaira Sadanobu said softly:
"This bowl of senbei soup tastes really good... better than the senbei soup I've had before."
"Lao Naka-sama, after Kimura-sama, who is in charge of managing this honjin, learned that you will be staying here tonight, he specifically asked his men to select the freshest ingredients to cook this bowl of senbei soup." Tachibana responded, "
Probably because of this, the taste of this bowl of senbei soup is even more delicious."
"So that's it." Matsudaira Sadanobu said with a wry smile, "You are really thoughtful."
"But I don't really like being welcomed with such fanfare."
"Tachibana, you go and tell that Kimura right now, just say: I thank him for his kindness, but don't do anything like this again."
"yes!"
…
…
December 25, the second year of Kanzheng (1790).
Nishikino Town, inside the hotel where Ogata and Omachi stay——
Atachi stood in the center of the room.
Ogata, on the other hand, was half-crouching in front of Amachi.
The two of them were working together to put a kimono on Omachi's body.
After successfully putting on the kimono, Atachi raised his arms horizontally and asked:
"Ayi, what do you think?"
"Hmm..." Ogata stared closely at the piece of fabric on Omachi's chest that was bulging out from her chest muscles.
Then he raised his hand and touched the tight clothes.
"...The clothes do seem to be tighter." Ogata murmured.
"Right..." Amachi let out a helpless sigh, "It seems it's not my imagination... Okay, don't rub it anymore!"
Omachi angrily slapped away Ogata's hand, which was massaging her breasts with a serious look on his face.
"Take off your clothes." Ogata said seriously, "Let me see with my own eyes whether there has really been a change."
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Thanks to book friend [Zhan Yue Cup Shadow], I voted for 21 monthly votes for this book yesterday. This is the first time I have seen someone who voted for 21 monthly votes without giving a reward.
I'm really scared, thank you very much for your support!
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Yesterday, I saw a comment left by a book friend on QQ Reading, praising the quality of the book, the writing style, and the content being very suitable for adapting it into an anime or something.
First of all, I would like to thank the book friend for the positive review.
Then I would like to tell you something that should be considered good news that I have not told you for a long time. It is related to the IP derivation of this book.
For specific content, please see the "Writer's Word" below↓↓↓