I Was a Swordsman in Ancient Japan

I Became a Swordsman in Ancient Japan Volume 1 The Life of a Samurai from Scratch Chapter 451 Ogata: Why do people always make trouble for me? [6800 words] "Please go back!" Baosheng shouted at Suzuzo and Yushiro with a much harsher and louder shout.

At the same time that Tosukezo and Yushiro yelled, Hosho cut his sharp eyes to Suzuzo and Yushiro.

Startled by Baosheng's loud voice and sharp gaze, Sukuzo and Yushiro shrank their necks.

The obvious fear, unwillingness, pain, despair, grievance and other emotions climbed onto their faces.

Looking at the expression changes on the faces of the two, for some reason, memory fragments that should have been dusty for a long time emerged from the depths of Ogata's mind uncontrollably.

...

"Hey! Is anyone still alive?! Anyone can! Answer me!"

...

"master……"

...

"Makino, Sawamura..."

...

"Senior Mikami... If you want to continue thanking me, go ahead... Anything is fine, just tell me something..."

...

These memory fragments that emerged from the depths of Ogata's mind uncontrollably were shown back and forth in front of Ogata's eyes.

Susan and Yushiro drooped their heads, and slowly left the Baosheng Sword Gym under the guidance of a certain apprentice who was still in the Gymnasium at this time.

When the two of them had just left the Baosheng Sword Gym, Xu Fang said to Baosheng:

"Master Baosheng. It's getting late now. It's almost time for me to retire first."

"Yes." Baosheng Chong Xufang smiled, "Mashima-sama, thank you for your hard work today too!"

After leaving the gate of the Baosheng Sword Gym, Ogata took a deep breath and looked up at the almost completely black sky above his head.

At this moment, there are already bright stars hanging above 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 turned his eyes away from the sky above his head.

Then he hurried towards the direction where Susan and Yushiro left.

"Hey! You two!"

Ogata quickly caught up with Suzoku and the others.

"My name is Goro Mashima."

"Tell me in detail what the wanderers in your village have missed."

...

...

The inns in the Edo period were also graded, and they were divided into 4 classes: Honjin, Waki ​​Honjin, Hatago, and Wooden Rentals.

Honjin is a residential facility dedicated to providing services for daimyo, public officials, and senior officials of the shogunate.

The Waki ​​Honjin, which is one level lower than the Honjin, provided services for daimyo and shogunate officials with lower ranks.

If you want to stay in the Honjin and Waki ​​Honjin, you should not only look at the money but also your status.

No matter how rich you are, if you are not a minister or shogunate official, you will not be able to live in Honjin and Waki ​​Honjin.

Hatago and Wooden Rentals are inns specially serving ordinary samurai and common people.

A hatago is a general lodging facility for both samurai and civilians, and meals are usually provided.

Hatago that does not provide meals are called "hirahatago".

The lowest-level wooden rental hotel 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 and bedding.

Because the grade and service are the worst, the price of wood rental is also the cheapest.

One night at a wooden rental lodging costs about one-fifth of the price of a hatago.

Ogata and A-Machi still have a considerable amount of savings now.

And the two are not the kind of penny-pinching misers, they have never been stingy about basic necessities of life.

The inn where the two of them lived in Nishino Town was a standard hatago.

Unlike Ogata who has activities from morning to night, A-machi is very free these days.

Nishikino-cho is not big, and Ah-cho has visited every corner of Nishikino-cho for a long time.

Ah-cho, who has nothing to do, can only stay in the hotel room every day these days, learning the Ainu language.

She never imagined that she, who can't even speak Mandarin, would learn Ainu language one day.

A-Ming belongs to the standard "semi-literate" of this era - he can only understand kana, but not most Chinese characters.

This is a bit similar to only recognizing Pinyin, but not Chinese characters. And this kind of semi-literacy is quite common in this era.

So in order to make A-Machi understand this teaching guide, Ogata had spent a lot of effort to annotate all the Chinese characters in this teaching guide, and marked the meaning of the Chinese characters on the side.

Because there is nothing to do other than stay in the hotel and learn Ainu language, the progress of A-cho has long surpassed Ogata, and he has mastered the sixth form of this "Teaching Guide to Common Phrases in Ainu Language". one-fifth of the vocabulary.

"Osoma...shit...Osoma...shit..."

Atachi, who was lying on the tatami with the teaching guide in hand, was learning a new vocabulary—Osoma.

Osoma in Ainu language means shit.

Because the sky outside was completely dark, A-Machi had lit an oil lamp just now, and read a book by the light from the oil lamp.

After silently memorizing the new vocabulary, A-Ming, feeling a little tired, closed the teaching guide in his hand, and stretched vigorously.

Then he tilted his head and cast his gaze to the sky outside the window.

Looking at the already dark sky, Ah-Ming murmured:

"It's really slow... Did something happen..."

At this point in the past, Ogata had already returned.

However, until now, Ogata has not been seen by Ah-machi.

It's also a coincidence—A-Machi was just thinking about why Ogata came back so late today, when she heard familiar footsteps outside the room.

"Machi, I'm back."

The door of the hotel room was pulled open - the person who pulled the door was Ogata.

Before A-Machi could ask Ogata why he came back so late, Ogata took the lead and said:

"A-machi. Simply pack your luggage tonight, and tomorrow we will leave Nishino-machi for a while."

"Leaving Nishino Town?" Ah-ding looked puzzled.

...

...

The next morning, the morning—

Ogata and Machi didn't have much luggage. The outfits of the two can be said to have carried out the "light and simple travel" to the extreme.

Their luggage only has clothes, money, water bottles and other odds and ends.

Each of them carries a small cloth bag, which can carry all their luggage.

By the way—the Monsuke haori hakama and Shiro Mugo clothes they bought for the wedding were stored in Kei-san who planned to settle down in Edo.

Monfu Haori Hakama and Bai Wugou are both dresses, they are useless except for looking good.

For Ogata and A-cho who were going to travel far, these dresses were just a bunch of burdens, so before leaving Edo, Ogata and A-cho deposited all these clothes in Uncle Kei for safekeeping.

After carrying their luggage, Ogata and A-machi stood at an entrance in the north of Nishino-cho.

In front of them, stood a farmer with a vicissitudes of life—it was Zhuzou.

Zhu San faced Ogata in front of him, and kept nodding and bowing to Ogata:

"Samurai-sama! Thank you very much!"

Yesterday, before visiting the Hosho Sword Gym, Suzo and his other companion, Yushiro, had already visited samurai in various places in Nishikino Town.

The replies received, although the content is different, but the overall meaning is the same - there is nothing to help.

The Baosheng Sword House was the last stop of their "Tour of Nishino Town"... However, they were still shut down at the Baosheng Sword House.

Suzozo and Yushiro had gone to other towns to recruit samurai before they came to Nishinocho—only one samurai was recruited.

If Baosheng Sword Gym is the last stop of the two of them's "Journey to Jinye Town".

Then Nishino Town is the last stop of the two of them on this "journey to recruit samurai".

Regardless of whether they succeeded in recruiting samurai in Nishikino Town, they had to go home.

So when they came out of the Baosheng Sword Gym yesterday evening, Zuzo and Yushiro were in despair... They were already prepared to take only one samurai back.

However, just when they were desperate, Ogata came.

After Ogata left the Baosheng Sword Gym, he caught up with the two of them, and then asked them only one question - how long would it take to get from Nishino Town to their village.

After learning that if the footsteps are fast enough, you can set off in the morning and arrive in the evening, Ookai said something that made Suzuzo and Yushiro couldn't believe their ears at the time: I understand, I will do my best to help you.

When he was about to despair, a samurai came to the door and expressed his willingness to help. Although he didn't know the strength of the samurai, and he didn't know the temper of the samurai, but Zhu San and the others desperately saw the existence of the suspected life-saving straw. caught the situation.

Suzumi and Yushiro immediately made an appointment with Ogata on the departure time - they will leave at dawn tomorrow morning.

Facing Zhuzo who was nodding and bowing to thank him in front of him, Ogata said in a somewhat helpless tone:

"Don't thank me so hard. I have received your thanks."

"Where's your other companion and the samurai you recruited earlier? Haven't they arrived yet?"

Hearing Ogata's question, Sukuzo 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 Ah-machi to the agreed intersection just now, he only saw Zhuzou.

When asked where Yushiro had gone, Suzo said that he had gone to pick up the samurai who had been recruited from another town.

After looking around in a circle, Zhu San quickly ran to the edge of the intersection not far away, and looked towards the end of the road.

When Sukuzo ran to the side, looking for Yushiro and the others, A-Machi quietly walked to Ogata's side, and whispered to Ogata in a voice that only she and Ogata could hear clearly:

"Have you told Nishino-kun and the people in the sword hall?"

"Yeah." Ogata nodded lightly, "I told Nishino-kun last night that I would leave Nishino-cho temporarily for a while, and also asked Nishino-kun to speak to the people at the Baosheng Sword Gym for me. "

After agreeing to Zhuzo and Yushiro, saying that he would help them, Oo conveniently went to Gentachibana House, approached Nishino Jiro, and told Nishino Jiro that he would leave Nishinocho for a while.

For the convenience of explanation, Ogata did not tell Nishino Jiro that he planned to hunt bandits, but told Nishino Jiro that he was getting bored in Nishino Town and planned to take his wife to visit other nearby cities and towns.

At the same time, he also asked Nishino Erlang to take a message for him to the people of Baosheng Sword Gym, telling the people of Baosheng Sword Gym: He plans to go to other nearby cities and towns to enjoy the scenery of the Northeast, and come back in a few days.

A-Machi glanced at Suzou who was looking for Yushiro not far away, then lowered his voice a bit.

"Why do you suddenly want to help those farmers deal with bandits?"

"Could it be that you are too bored in Nishino Town and plan to exercise your muscles?"

Hearing this question from A-Machi, Ogata was stunned for a moment.

Then he raised his hand and ran through his hair.

"The reason why I chose to help..."

A wry smile appeared on Ogata's face.

When Ogata uttered these words, A-Machi noticed—a hint of memory surfaced in the depths of Ogata's pupils.

Ogata seemed to be remembering something.

"I don't know how to tell you in detail..."

"Ah! Samurai-sama! Yushiro is back!"

At this moment, while pointing at the end of the street in front of him, Suzaku yelled at the two of Ogata.

Ogata followed the direction pointed by the three fingers of the assistant - and saw Yushiro running towards them at a trot.

And behind Yushiro, followed by a samurai.

With a messy confinement head that has not been taken care of for a long time, due to the long time of not taking care of it, the hair is knotted in many places.

The clothes on his body were all torn and dirty, as if they hadn't been washed for a long time, and they were so dirty that they couldn't see their original color.

Perhaps because I couldn't find suitable shoes to wear, I only wore a pair of clogs on my feet, and my dirty feet were red and cracked from the cold.

The appearance of the saber at the waist is also unsightly. The scabbard is full of mottles, and the handle of the handle has fallen off in large numbers, making it very doubtful whether the blade inside is still intact.

The above is what this warrior looks like.

It is a very standard ronin appearance in this era.

Ronin are basically a group of people who eat their last meal and live without a fixed place, so most of them look like beggars.

Susandai Ogata briefly introduced this ronin.

This ronin was Shinzaburo Tsuchiya, the only samurai Suzo and Yushiro had successfully hired before Ogata agreed to assist them.

Tsuchiya is a very taciturn person, neither talking nor expressing much.

Facing Ogata and Atachi, he only said hello very coldly, and after introducing himself, he stopped talking.

The village of Suzaku and the others is a little far away from Nishino Town. Even if they set off early in the morning, if they don't walk fast, they may not be able to arrive before dark.

So after all the people arrived, Ogata and his party officially set off to Zusan and their village.

On the way, Ogata and the others chatted casually.

Through chatting, Ogata learned a lot of new information about Zusan 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 and weak women and children.

They were not such a poor village.

Before the "Tianming Famine" broke out, there were nearly 200 people in their village, and the wealth in the village was neither too much nor too little. Although it is not that kind of rich village, it is by no means poor.

However——this was just the situation before the outbreak of "Famine of Daylight".

After the outbreak of the "Tianming Famine" that spread across the country, the farmers were the most affected.

What's more-the Northeast region is also the center of the "Tianming Famine" and is the hardest-hit place.

After the famine broke out, they quickly ate up the food that humans should eat.

After eating all the food that humans should eat, they began to eat food such as barnyardgrass and rice bran that were not only unpalatable, but also very bad for the body.

After eating the weeds and rice bran, they can only eat bark and grass roots...

When Sumo and Yushiro were describing the tragic scene when the "Tianming Famine" broke out, they cried uncontrollably because they mentioned the sad place several times.

After the "Tianming Famine" passed, the village, which originally had nearly 200 people, became the size of less than 100 people now.

Some of the other one hundred people basically starved to death in the "tawny famine".

After finally surviving the dreadful "Tianming Famine", after 3 years of recuperation, they finally regained some vitality, and were targeted by rogues who were reduced to bandits. It has to be said that their village is really It was ill-fated.

Another samurai invited by Zhu San and the others—that is, the Tsuchiya, although he didn't talk much, he also briefly talked about his past when he was on the way.

He was from the Hachinohe domain of Ou.

The Hachinohe clan is a relatively inconspicuous fan country among the clans in Northeast China.

An important indicator to measure the strength of a feudal state is to look at the total rice output of the feudal state in a year.

The total rice production of the Hachinohe clan in one year is only 20,000 shi—less than that of Ogata’s hometown, the Hirose clan.

The total rice production of the Hirose clan in one year is still 30,000 shi.

In the face of the "Tianming Famine", a catastrophic natural disaster that has rarely been encountered in decades, powerful feudal clans like Aizu Fan and Sendai Fan, with an annual rice output of tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of koku, can still rely on their strong The family is holding on.

And a clan with a weak family like the Hachinohe clan has no ability to survive this catastrophic natural disaster.

Famine raged, and the finances of the Hachinohe clan were difficult to sustain.

In order to alleviate financial difficulties, the Hachinohe Domain adopted various measures.

One of the measures is to operate on the samurai in the domain.

To use a knife on the samurai is no different from breaking one's own arm-but at that time, the Hachinohe clan could not control so much in order to keep the clan country alive.

It's better to break your own arm than to lose your life.

The first cut - layoffs.

Many samurai in the domain were deprived of their jobs for various reasons and demoted to ronin.

The second knife - the remaining warriors who have not been laid off will all have their salaries reduced.

Tsuchiya was one of the many warriors who were demoted to ronin in this first knife.

He was originally a junior warrior with a salary of 40 stone years.

Not long after the feudal lord decided to lay off his staff, he was stripped of his job and reduced to a ronin.

And the reason he was demoted was that the clothes on his body were too shabby, which damaged the image of a warrior.

Those samurai who were degraded as ronin were basically like this-they were given a random reason, and then they were abandoned by the feudal lord who had served half their lives conscientiously.

According to Tsuchiya: At that time, many samurai burst into tears when they learned that they had been demoted to ronin.

Almost all of them have served the Hachinohe clan for generations and shed blood and sweat for the Hachinohe clan.

There is no shortage of families who have served the Hachinohe clan for generations since the establishment of the Hachinohe clan and have served the Hachinohe clan for nearly two hundred years.

He has served the Hachinohe clan since his ancestors, but in the end he was abandoned by the objects his ancestors served for generations. It is not difficult to imagine the feelings of those samurai who were forcibly reduced to ronin.

It's a pity—no matter how much they cried or wailed, the feudal lord they had been serving with their lives ignored them from the beginning to the end.

Tsuchiya did not say how he reacted when he learned he had been cast as a ronin.

It is only said that after he was abandoned by the lord of Hachinohe, he left Hachinohe.

Because he has no parents, wife and children, and is alone, he can be regarded as a relatively good type among the many warriors who have been relegated to ronin and lost their source of livelihood.

Those warriors who are old and young are miserable, and they can't do it even if they want to go out and wander.

After leaving Hachinohe, Tsuchiya wandered to Nishinohe Town and lived a semi-settled life in Nishinohe Town.

Because of being able to do some handicrafts, Tsuchiya now relies on handicrafts to earn a living. Live a life without a meal.

Tsuchiya said why he agreed to help the three of their villages.

His reason is simple - he hasn't eaten white rice with big mouthfuls for a long time.

He wanted to eat all-you-can-eat white rice for the first time in a long time.

The reason is as simple as that.

...

...

Ogata and his party set off early in the morning, and when the sky was already half dark, they finally arrived at the village of Zhu San and the others.

They could have arrived a little faster.

Tsuchiya may not have enough energy because he hasn't had a full meal for a long time. Physical strength is not as good as Zhu San and Yu Shiro.

In order to take care of the exhausted Tsuchiya, Ogata and his party took several rests along the way.

If there were no rest time for these few times, Ogata and the others should be able to reach the village of Suzaku and the others before dark.

"That's our village!"

Zuo San raised his hand and pointed forward, and Ogata looked in the direction that Su San's finger was pointing at.

Because they are standing on a hillside now, they can just look down on their village of Zhu San not far in front of them.

Ogata's first impression of Zhuzo and his village was that it was dilapidated and lifeless.

Although the sky began to darken 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 too dilapidated, but from a distance, I can't feel much anger and smoke.

If it wasn't for the fact that most of the houses near the restaurant now had cooking smoke wafting out, Ogata would have really doubted whether there were still people living in this village.

"Let's go into the village." As Zhusan said, he slid down the hillside along a trail not far away.

Ogata and his party followed closely behind, and quickly descended the mountain, heading towards the village.

"Hey!"

When he was about to enter the village, Zhu San put his hands to his lips and shouted loudly towards the entrance of the village.

"We're back!"

"We have brought back the samurai!"

Yushiro on the side also shouted.

They hadn't even entered the village, just arrived at the entrance of the village, when something happened suddenly.

"Hey! You bastard! Stop for me!!"

An extremely loud voice suddenly sounded from the village.

The sound of this loud voice was astonishing. Even though Ogata and the others were far away, they felt that the shout was ringing in their ears.

Except for Ogata who was able to remain calm, whether it was Suzo, Yushiro, or A-Machi and Tsuchiya were all shuddered by the sudden loud voice.

As soon as the loud voice fell, Xu Jian saw a warrior-like person rushing out of a certain house in the village.

It may not be accurate to say that this person has "the appearance of a samurai".

It should be said to be "the appearance of a ronin".

The appearance of this person is similar to that of Tsuchiya—if he didn't have two knives around his waist, he would definitely be regarded as a beggar.

After the "beggar warrior" rushed out of the house, he fled while waving the knife in his hand.

"Get out! Get out of here!"

Some people dressed as villagers seemed to want to step forward to stop this "beggar warrior", but after seeing the shining knife in this guy's hand, they all showed timidity and stepped aside.

"Stop for me!!"

Behind the "beggar samurai" was a samurai who also looked like a ronin, and it was this samurai who made the loud voice that startled A-Ming and the others just now.

The "Samurai with a loud voice" had an extremely burly figure, and while howling angrily, he followed closely behind the "Samurai Beggar".

But his speed was really slow. Not only did he fail to catch up with the "beggar warrior", but the distance between them was getting farther and farther.

I don't know whether to say that "beggar warrior" is lucky or unfortunate.

Those who pursued him were not as fast as him.

However, at the end of the escape direction he chose... stood Ogata and others.

"Get out of here!"

The "beggar warrior" held up the knife in his hand, and yelled viciously at Ogata and others who were standing in front of him.

Suzumi and Yushiro turned pale with fright, and fled to the side.

After Suzozo and Yushiro, who were walking ahead of Ogata and the others, hid aside, the person facing the "beggar warrior" became... Ogata.

*****

*****

PS: What happened to Tsuchiya in this chapter is a historical fact.

In the late Edo period, even the shogunate had a hard time, let alone the vassal states everywhere?

In the late Edo period, the number of ronin increased sharply. One of the reasons was that many vassal states "laid off staff" in order to reduce financial pressure, deprived many samurai of their jobs, and degraded them into ronin. .

This kind of situation where samurai are demoted to ronin in order to reduce financial pressure is more common in those with small family backgrounds.

Relegating a large number of samurai under his rule to ronin is self-defeating, but it is better than the bankruptcy and downfall of the entire vassal state.

In today’s small Japanese history class, let’s popularize science on how Japan punished those “N*T*R lovers” and “Tauren” in the Edo period. Please read the words of the writer below↓↓↓