Chapter 467 The Legend of Gold and the Gold Diggers【7600 words】
"That's it...what a pity. I still want to hear more stories about the Sword Master..."
After hearing the definite recovery from Ogata that "I don't know the stories of other swordsmen", Nishino Jiro showed a hint of disappointment on his face.
"Wow..." At this moment, Amachi, who was turning his head and looking back, exclaimed in low voice, "The seats are almost full..."
Hearing Omachi's exclamation, Ogata turned his head and looked back.
When I was telling Jiro Nishino the story of Fujusai, only 30% of the seats were occupied.
Unexpectedly, in the blink of an eye, 90% of the seats were occupied.
Everyone's chatter made up a series of chirping noises.
"By the way." Ogata looked away from his back and casually asked Nishino Jiro beside him, "Nishino-kun, didn't your father, eldest brother, and other family members follow you to watch the show?"
Only then did Ogata suddenly remember that Nishino Jiro was alone, without any family members accompanying him.
Those friends from Treasure Island House all had to perform on stage.
If Ogata and Atachi were not with him, he would have to watch the show alone tonight.
"Mom, she happens to have something to do tonight."
"Father and eldest brother also happen to be busy tonight."
Speaking of this, Nishino Jiro suddenly showed a wry smile.
"But even if my father and eldest brother have nothing to do tonight, I probably won't invite them to the show."
"Both of them have no interest in kabuki at all."
"Invite them to come to the show, but they are reluctant to say otherwise. Even if they come, they may fall asleep after watching half of it."
"Aren't your father and your eldest brother interested in kabuki?" Ogata looked surprised.
"Yes." Nishino Jiro nodded, "When I told my father that I wanted to become a kabuki playwright, my father, who doesn't like kabuki very much, was very opposed to it."
"But in the end, my father decided to support my ambition."
A complicated smile appeared on Nishino's face.
"Mashima-sama, why do you think my father decided to support my ambition to become a Kabuki playwright?"
"...Is it because you are the second son in the family?" Ogata said softly.
"Correct answer." The complicated smile on Nishino Jiro's face looked a little helpless, "The family's property is destined to be inherited by the eldest brother."
"As the second son, I can only rely on myself."
"My father decided to support me in becoming a Kabuki playwright so that I could be self-reliant in the future."
"So for me, being a kabuki playwright is my ambition, but I also have to work hard in order to make a living in the future."
"If I can't make it in this industry, then I will have to take some boring jobs that my father found for me."
In this era, all classes and walks of life in Japan followed the eldest son inheritance system.
Whether a warrior or a commoner, family property is basically inherited by the eldest son.
Except for the eldest son, the other sons were either raised at home like rice bugs, or were required to be independent and self-reliant.
In ministerial and samurai families, sons other than the eldest son are often used as political tools to marry into other families.
Nishino Jiro is one of those lucky second sons, and his father will help him find a way out and develop the skills to earn a living.
Some families basically ignore the children except the eldest son, which has resulted in many tragedies.
"But my eldest brother told me this morning that he is very interested in this kabuki show based on the executioner Ittousai, and he will make time to watch it later."
"But if it's true or not, I don't know..."
Ding ding...
Before Jiro Nishino finished speaking, a crisp shamisen music, like water droplets dripping into the lake, suddenly sounded.
Hearing the music of the shamisen, Nishino Jiro was stunned at first, and then immediately said excitedly:
"Ah, it's begun!"
After saying that, he turned his eyes away from Ogata and stared at the stage in front of him expectantly.
No one in the world knows the plot of "Ittōsai" better than the author Jiro Nishino.
Jiro Nishino has also watched the rehearsals of Treasure Island House hundreds of times.
But watching a rehearsal and watching a formal performance give people completely different feelings.
Just the atmosphere is different.
When watching rehearsals, one can only watch in isolation.
When watching the official performance, there were countless people accompanying me, all looking at the stage with expectant eyes.
Ogata, who was sitting in the front row, turned his head and looked at the darkness behind him, and the seats were all fully occupied.
It seems that Nishino-kun didn't lie just now... the tickets are really sold out...
After sighing like this, Ogata withdrew his gaze, crossed his arms across his chest, and followed the people around him to look at the stage in front of him attentively.
On the left side facing the stage, there is a path connecting the stage and leading to the auditorium.
This path is at the same height as the stage and is called the "flower path". It is an important passage for the main characters in the play to enter and exit.
The music of the shamisen that is currently echoing in the scene is actually informing the audience in disguise: the performance is about to begin.
After the music started playing, the originally noisy scene gradually became quiet.
After a while, the actors of Takarashimaya, wearing makeup and costumes, walked onto the stage one by one along the flower path.
Looking at the actors walking onto the stage one by one, the corners of Ogata's mouth tilted up slightly involuntarily, revealing a strange smile.
Although he was mentally prepared, Ogata still felt very complicated when he saw a kabuki performance based on his own experience being performed in front of his eyes.
He couldn't help but think about the future.
People in later generations would never have imagined... This kabuki play is based on the personal experience of "The Executioner Ittosai", and Ittosai himself personally participated in the creation of the script.
And he was one of the first people to watch the show.
Thinking of this, Oufang couldn't help laughing.
…
…
Ezoji, Matsumae Domain, Matsumae Castle
"Kinoshita Genichi?"
Matsudaira Sadanobu repeated this slightly unfamiliar name in a low voice.
He felt that the name sounded familiar, as if he had heard it before.
"As far as I know." Inamori interjected at this time, "This Kinoshita Genichi seems to be a swordsman who is quite famous among the people."
Hearing Inamori's words, Matsudaira Sadanobu suddenly remembered that he had indeed heard of it before.
I still can’t remember how long ago, Matsudaira Sadanobu heard the name “Kinoshita Genichi”.
Just like what Inamori said just now, he is a swordsman.
According to Matsudaira Sadanobu's knowledge, this man's swordsmanship is extremely superb, and he seems to be revered as the "Sword Master". His name began to spread more than forty years ago, so if this man is still alive now, he must be very old.
It's already very big.
But he doesn't seem to have done any earth-shattering things, so he is only famous among those martial arts people, but few people know about him among the common people.
If a warrior wants to become famous, the easiest way is to do something earth-shattering.
Ogata Issei is a good example.
The lower one defeats the upper one, kills the master with one strike and kills the master, and becomes famous in one fell swoop.
What Ogata Ittosai did after that in Kyoto further expanded his fame.
Although Ogata Ittousai's reputation is not yet a household name now, a large number of ordinary people in Japan already know the name "Executioner Ittousai".
In this era of underdeveloped information transmission, it is a rare thing for a warrior to be able to make many ordinary people aware of his existence.
Two hundred years after the opening of the Edo shogunate, few pure warriors could do this.
This is the only impression I have of Kinoshita Genichi and Matsudaira Sadanobu.
After digesting the new information provided by Inamori just now, Matsudaira Sadanobu said softly:
"It is indeed a very strange piece of information... Did Kinoshita Genichi provoke those Lucians, and then those Lucians came to seek revenge?"
"Forget it, I'm too lazy to think about it."
"Whether Kinoshita Genichi is dead or alive, it has nothing to do with our shogunate."
After simply digesting the information Inamori had just provided, Matsudaira Sadanobu concluded that this information was of no use to them.
He just knew that a group of Lucians were looking for Kinoshita Genichi.
As for whether Genichi Kinoshita was alive or dead, Matsudaira Sadanobu didn't care at all.
Inamori has told all the information he has learned recently about the Lucians.
Seeing that there was nothing left to ask, Matsudaira Sadanobu asked a new question.
"Inamori, now tell me carefully about the current situation of the Northern Army."
"Especially in terms of baggage, tell me the key points."
"How long can the current baggage reserves in the camp last for our army to fight?"
When he received the order from Matsudaira Sadanobu and came to meet Matsudaira Sadanobu, Inamori was already prepared that he would not be able to go back in a few hours.
Inamori, who had long been mentally prepared for a "protracted war," heard Matsudaira Sadanobu's question, cleared his throat again, organized his words, and then explained the situation of the army.
…
…
"Ittosai" begins with the protagonist Hanyu I practicing swordsmanship in the sword hall, and ends with killing the master, and then walking gracefully on the road to escape from the feudal clan.
Under Ogata's guidance, "Ittosai" can actually be read as a history book.
The causes, processes, and results of the decision to kill the tyrant are basically consistent with the real situation.
The only fly in the ointment is that in the Kabuki world there is a rule that "real names cannot appear in Kabuki scripts", so all the names in the play are fictional.
The protagonist's name was changed to "Hanyu Isei" who was similar to "Ogata Issei" only in the pronunciation of his name.
The true story of Ogata slaying Gennai Matsudaira has both inheritance and continuity, and the story of wielding a sword for justice is very in line with the views of people of this era. People of this era love to read such stories.
So as long as your writing skills are not too bad, no matter how you write, the script will not be too bad.
Coupled with the guidance of Ogata, the real protagonist of the story, this "Ittosai" is extremely realistic.
Although the actors and musicians in Takarashimaya are not professionals who rely exclusively on kabuki to earn a living, their level is not bad either.
The performance of the members of Takarashimaya has exceeded Ogata's expectations.
When the performance just started, the onlookers were attracted by the wonderful stories performed by the actors.
The most typical example is Atachi.
A Machimoto is the kind of person who really likes to listen to and read stories.
Amachi, who likes listening to books, is also very interested in kabuki.
When she first learned that Ogata was going to assist Nishino Jiro in writing the script, Amachi specifically asked Ogata not to tell her anything related to the content of the script.
When the members of Takarashimaya started rehearsing, Amachi also asked Ogata not to tell her anything about the rehearsal content and progress.
Therefore, A-Machi is actually no different from the ordinary spectators present and knows nothing about "Ittosai" and does not know what kind of performance will be performed subsequently.
Although Ogata had long ago established his relationship with Amachi, he had told him in detail about his past in Hirose Domain. As for what Ogata had experienced in Hirose Domain, Amachi might have been this
The one who knows the most clearly in the world except Ogata himself, but she still sees it with gusto.
The performance duration of "Ittōsai", converted into modern earth time units, is approximately one and a half hours.
One and a half hours later, Hanyu I, who successfully killed the tyrant in the play, performed the last scene of the play: holding the sword at his waist, he walked gracefully along the flower path for the performers to enter and exit.
Afterwards, all the members of Takashimaya, actors and musicians, all stepped onto the stage and bowed to the audience.
When the members of Takarashimaya bowed and thanked them, the whole audience erupted in cheers that seemed to lift the roof of Chiyoza.
Listening to the cheers and cheers from around him, a smile slowly appeared on the face of Ogata, who was crossing his arms.
…
…
"Everyone's response was quite enthusiastic!" Nishino Jiro's expression and tone were quite excited.
Nishino Jiro was walking home side by side with Ogata and Omachi.
Nishino Jiro, who was going back to his Minamoto Tachibana House, and Ogata and Omachi, who were going back to the hotel where they were staying, happened to be traveling on the same road for a certain section of the road.
So they went together naturally.
As soon as Chiyoza was flowing out of the crowd, Nishino Jiro excitedly described how enthusiastic the response from the onlookers was.
"This play "Ittōsai" is indeed very good." Amachi, who was smiling, echoed in a tone without any flattery, "I feel that there is hope that it will become nationally famous and become a household name like "Chodeomizo"
The popular kabuki."
"Whether it will become popular all over the country depends not only on the quality of the kabuki script." Jiro Nishino showed a wry smile, "it also depends on luck."
"Whether a kabuki play will become popular all over the country depends on luck."
"If you're lucky enough, maybe it will become popular all over the country in an instant."
"For example, if a certain family's ministers and nobles like the show "Ittosai" very much, and if they promote it among the ministers and nobles, there is a great chance that it will become popular all over the country."
Having said this, Nishino Jiro paused, then smiled and shrugged.
"Although I also hope that "Ittōsai" will become as popular as "Tadamonzo" across the country, no one can predict the future."
"We can only take one step at a time."
"But overall, it's a good start now."
"Judging from the audience's reaction, today's performance was quite successful."
"Yes." Ogata answered with a smile, "Today's performance, to be honest, was so good that it exceeded my expectations."
"This is all thanks to the excellent performance of everyone at Takarashimaya and the guidance you gave me, Majima-sama." Jiro Nishino cast a respectful look at Ogata, "If it hadn't been for your guidance to me, Majima-sama.
, I will never be able to complete a script of this quality.”
"Nishino-kun, don't belittle yourself." Ogata raised his hand and patted Nishino Jiro on the shoulder, "What I have done is actually very limited. Thanks to your excellent writing skills, this excellent script was born."
"Although I don't know much about kabuki, I can tell that the script you wrote is excellent."
"The success of today's performance is partly due to you."
"Thank you." Listening to Ogata's praise, Nishino Jiro seemed a little shy, "But I'm still young. I still have a long way to go before I can become an excellent kabuki playwright."
…
…
On the first day of the third year of Kansei (AD 1791), Ogami drove Omachi in the early morning and was driven by Omachi. He slept in the morning, went to Kinei Shrine for New Year's worship in the afternoon, and went to Chiyoza to watch "Ittosai" in the evening.
Spent it. Quite fulfilling.
In the following days, as he did all the activities he could do, Ogata's life returned to the rhythm of the few days before the New Year, sitting in the hotel room doing nothing every day.
It wasn't until January 4th, when the Hosei Sword Hall reopened, that Ogata finally said goodbye to this extremely leisurely life.
With the reopening of the Hosei Sword Hall, Ogata's life has gradually returned to its previous compact state.
Since watching the first performance of "Ittōsai" on the night of January 1st, Ogata has been paying attention to the performance of "Ittōsai".
Overall, the performance of "Ittōsai" can be said to be a great success.
Originally, people at Takarashimaya only planned to perform "Ittosai" for seven days, on the nights of January 1st to January 7th.
Unexpectedly, Naihe's popularity is so popular that every venue is sold out.
Due to the strong demands of the residents of Kinkino Town, Takarashimaya had to increase the number of performances and extend the performance days to the 11th.
After the performance on the 11th, the residents of Nishikino Town asked for another performance.
The members of Takarashimaya have been performing "Ittosai" for 11 consecutive days and are already exhausted.
So I had no choice but to say: I will continue playing "Ittōsai" again, but I have to wait for a short period of time and let them take a break.
As time went by, one of the things that Ogata was most concerned about was finally determined: the time for Minamoto Tachibana to send a merchant ship to Ezo.
January 15th.
The owner of Minamoto Tachibana House, Nishino Jiro’s father, decided to start the first merchant ship dispatch of this year on January 15th.
…
…
The third year of Kanzheng (1791 AD), January 14, night
Nishikino-cho, inside a certain bathhouse, 2nd floor
"Oh! Majima-kun! We meet again!"
Shisuke warmly greeted Ogata, who was slowly walking towards him.
"Good evening, Mr. Shisuke." Ogata responded with a smile.
Shisuke was the one who met by chance on the second floor of this bathhouse before, and then told a group of young people, including Ogata, about his past hunting of man-eating giant bears, and taught them how to deal with bears in the wild.
The "original hunter".
Shimasuke often comes to this bathhouse.
After each bath, he would rest for a while on the second floor of the bathhouse and tell people his past hunting stories.
Since this bathhouse is adjacent to the hotel where Ogata lives, Ogata only comes to bathe in this bathhouse.
Because Omachi took longer to take a bath than Ogata, Ogata would go to the resting area on the second floor to kill some time after taking a bath.
So I often meet Shisuke by chance.
Every time I met Shisuke, Shisuke was telling people about his previous hunting experiences, or was preparing to tell people about his hunting experiences.
Shimasuke was an "original hunter" who lived in Ezo, so he might be able to gather some useful information from his previous hunting experiences.
So whenever he met Shisuke on the second floor, Ogata would come up and listen to his hunting stories.
After listening to Shisuke's hunting stories for more than a month, I didn't collect much useful information. Instead, I learned a lot about various hunting tips and wilderness survival techniques.
Ogata wanted to know more about Ezo.
Ogata knew almost nothing about Ezo.
The only thing Ogata knew about Ezo was that they still lived a very primitive settlement life and made a living by fishing and hunting.
He also took the initiative to ask Shisuke if he knew about Ezo.
Unfortunately, I only received a negative answer.
Shisuke and his fellow villagers lived a very isolated life, rarely communicating with the outside world.
According to Shisuke, his village has basically no contact with Ezo. He also knows very little about Ezo. He only heard about some strange customs of Ezo from the elders, such as calling a bear that has eaten human flesh "unka".
Mui" and a few simple Ezo words.
Ogata, who was still a little warm from the shower, sat cross-legged next to Shisuke, and then said to Shisuke:
"Mr. Shisuke, today may be the last time I come to listen to your story."
"Oh?" Shimasuke's eyes flashed with surprise, "Are you leaving here?"
"Yes." Ogata nodded, "Tomorrow morning I and Uchiko will leave Kinkino Town. Tonight is my last night in Kinkino Town."
"That's it..." Shisuke grinned with a smile full of kindness, "Then I wish you and your wife a safe journey in advance!"
"Since tonight is the last night you stay in Nishikino Town, then listen to my story tonight."
"After all, it's the last time."
"That's what I meant." Ogata smiled, "But don't tell your story tonight too long. If you tell it too long, I might not be able to hear the end."
Although I couldn't get any useful information from Shisuke's mouth, his hunting stories were quite interesting.
Listening to Shimasuke's stories has become one of Ogata's important pastimes during this time.
Unfortunately, sometimes the stories Shimasuke tells are too long. Before the story is finished, Omachi has already finished taking a bath, so he has to put down the half-heard story and leave the bathhouse.
"Okay." Shimasuke laughed a few times, "Then I'll try to pick a shorter story to tell today!"
At this time, Shisuke was surrounded by people who usually liked listening to Shisuke's stories.
After seeing that the audience had almost arrived, Shimazuke cleared his throat and prepared to start today's story.
"Mr. Shisuke! It is said that there are gold mines in Ezochi. Is this true?"
The person who asked this question was one of the audience members surrounding Shimazuke, a young man who was probably only in his early teens.
Ogata had some impression of this young man, who was an old listener of Shisuke's.
Hearing the boy's rhetorical question, Shimasuke was stunned for a moment, and then asked:
"Why are you asking this?"
"I heard what the samurai who came to our bar today said." The young man said, "Those drunk samurai said that Ezochi is full of gold mines, and they said they wanted to go there to gold mine and become rich."
"Ha." Shimasuke smiled with an unknown meaning, "How could the Ezo Land be full of gold mines? If the Ezo Land was really full of gold mines, the shogunate would have sent troops to occupy the entire Ezo Land."
"Ezo Land is full of gold mines and so on, but people are just spreading rumors."
Having said this, Shimasuke picked up the teacup on the side, took a sip of tea, moistened his throat, and then said:
"But there is indeed gold poured there in Ezochi."
"I once heard my father say that when the Edo shogunate first opened two hundred years ago, some people found placer gold in the rivers of Ezo."
"As soon as the news came out, tens of thousands of speculators flocked to Ezo, hoping to strike for gold and get rich."
"But gold is not that easy to find. The speculators who flocked to Ezo to hunt for gold basically lost all their money."
"And their rough gold mining behavior of occupying various rivers has also angered the Ezo people."
"Although the Ezo people still live a very primitive and barbaric life, it would be troublesome if they started to cause trouble."
"In order to calm down the emotions of the Ezo people, the Matsumae Clan, which is located in the northernmost part of the country and has the responsibility of monitoring Ezo, with the help of the shogunate, ordered that gold mining in Ezo is strictly prohibited."
"If a gold digger is caught, he will be punished on the spot."
"Under the 'gold mining ban' imposed by the shogunate and the Matsumae clan, the Ezo land, which had been plagued by gold diggers, was finally restored to peace."
"However, to this day, there are still some people who want money rather than their lives. In order to make a fortune, they decide to take risks and come to Ezochi to pan for gold despite the government's ban."
"When I was young, I encountered a group of gold diggers who passed through our village."
"Today's gold diggers are basically a bunch of lawless desperadoes who regard law and morality as nothing."
"The gang of gold diggers passing by our village actually planned to rob our village of money and food."
"Oh, those gold diggers are stupid too."
“I came to Ezo to pan for gold, but I didn’t know much about Ezo.”
"They didn't realize that our village is a 'ghost village' where people make a living by hunting. Even the women can draw bows and shoot arrows."
"Compared with bears and wolves, those gold diggers are nothing to mention."
"Under the volley of our bows and arrows, we shot the gold diggers who were trying to steal our money and food into hedgehogs."
"I can remember the funny expressions of those gold diggers when they saw the whole village taking out their bows and arrows. Hahahaha."
Shisuke's words directly aroused the interest of many people present.
"Mr. Shisuke! Can you tell us how your village fought against those gold diggers? I want to hear it!"
"Yeah, yeah, we want to hear it!"
Shimasuke looked embarrassed: "How to fight those gold diggers... This story is not very exciting."
"It's okay, just tell us!"
Seeing that most of the audience expressed that they wanted to hear the whole story of their village's fight against the gold diggers, they could only sigh helplessly and then said:
"Okay then, let's change today's story to how our village dealt with that group of gold diggers."
"I remember that was 35 years ago..."
Shisuke began to tell a story.
However, Ogata's mind was still immersed in the "Gold Rush in Ezo Land" that Shisuke just talked about.
There is a lot of gold in Ezochi, and to this day there are still outlaws going to Ezochi to dig for gold. This is the first time Ogata has heard of it.
No one had ever told Ogata about this before.
Because Ezo is so remote, in this era of extremely underdeveloped information transmission, there are very few people who know about Ezo.
Ogata didn't expect that after listening to Shisuke's story for so long, he didn't collect any useful information.
Unexpectedly, the night before leaving Nishikino Town, I had an unexpected surprise and received a piece of valuable information.
Gold digger?…
Ogata silently chewed the word "gold digger" in his heart.
According to what Shisuke just said, there are still many desperadoes who want money but not their lives and go to Ezo land to hunt for gold.
These people who came to dig for gold had already regarded the authority and laws of the shogunate as nothing, so it was not surprising what they did.
Ogata silently labeled the group of "gold diggers" as something "needing attention" in his mind.