I Was a Swordsman in Ancient Japan

Dewa area——

In a certain ordinary village——

Ning Taro 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. The two currently have 4 children, including 2 boys and 2 girls.

The eldest son is only 12 years old this year, and the youngest daughter was born not long ago.

The whole family lived in a dilapidated small house.

It's the end of the year.

In Mutsu at the end of the year, there is nothing but snow outside.

In this kind of place where it is very cold in winter, there is nothing else to do except stay at home, rely on the food saved before the winter, and do some small handicrafts to subsidize the family.

It was the afternoon when it was still a short time before dark.

Ning Taro sat cross-legged in a corner of the house, making a birdcage.

The wife breastfeeds her newborn baby girl.

The other 3 children were playing and playing next to them.

They originally had 2 sons and 3 daughters—unfortunately, 1 son and 1 daughter died shortly after birth, and the other 1 son and 2 daughters died of "starvation at dawn".

The whole family was without exception—they all had sallow complexions, sunken cheeks, and little flesh on their bodies.

Both Ning Taro and his wife had dull and gloomy eyes.

On the contrary, the children of the two of them had sharp eyes, and they had a great time playing the game of "playing a samurai".

"The child's mother." Ning Tailang turned to his wife and asked, "Is there still enough milk?"

Although the other three children were playing nearby, Ning Taro's wife showed her breasts without any scruples, breastfeeding her youngest daughter who had just been born.

"Yeah." She nodded, "Let's just force it..."

"That's right..." Ning Taro said softly, "That's good..."

"We're really lucky this year." Ning Taro's wife smiled at her husband.

Although she smiled, but because of her wife's sallow complexion and sunken cheeks, her smile was not only unattractive, but rather creepy.

"This year's harvest is not bad. It should not be a problem to survive this winter."

"Yeah." Ning Taro nodded lightly, and a faint smile appeared on his face, "Yes. God finally opened his eyes."

Although it has been over for 3 years, Ning Taro still vividly remembers the tragic situation of "Tianming Famine".

The crops failed all over the place, and there was nothing to eat.

Although the government has provided relief food and other means to provide disaster relief, their lives are still very difficult...

Eating food that humans should eat is a rare case, and most of the time they can only eat things that humans should not eat.

Ning Taro wanted to cry just thinking about the hard days at that time.

They had a young daughter at the time, also newborn.

But because of poor food,

His wife had no milk, so she had to feed the young daughter things that babies of this age should not be eating, such as soup made from weeds.

This kind of stuff that dogs don't drink, it is impossible for babies to grow up healthily.

After drinking barnyard soup for a while, the younger daughter suddenly vomited and developed a high fever. In the end, he died of illness like this.

Because he had experienced such a tragic situation, Ning Taro was a little nervous about his wife's milk after the birth of his new daughter, and would ask his wife every few days if she still had milk.

"I hope next year's situation will be as good as this year." When he said this, a little light appeared in Ning Taro's gloomy eyes.

After surviving the seven-year "Tianming Famine", they have finally had a good life recently.

Although the food stored at home is not enough for their whole family to eat, it is more than enough to keep them from starving every day.

The situation of their family is considered to be 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 too great.

Compared with the previous life when the "famine at dawn" had not yet passed, the days when they could eat the food that people should eat in the past two years were really like a dream.

"It would be even better if the government can clean up the bandits everywhere." Ning Tailang's wife answered.

Their village was located somewhere within the shogunate territory in Dewa.

Probably because of the proximity to the city, until now, no bandits have visited their village.

But no one can guarantee that their village will be safe forever, and there will never be bandits who don't know where they come from to miss their money, food, and women.

"I heard from the village chief a few days ago." Ning Taro said, "When spring comes next year, the government seems to be going to unite with other feudal states in Ou to wipe out bandits everywhere."

"Really?" Ning Taro's wife was delighted.

"I heard everyone say that." Ning Taro smiled, "It should be true."

"Occasionally, the government will do some practical things." Ning Tailang's wife muttered.

"After all, we are the people of the government." Ning Tailang shook his head and said, "Without people, there will be no officials. It is impossible for the government to abandon us."

"After all, 'We are like water, and the government is like a small boat floating on the water. Without our water, the small boat of the government cannot float'."

"You're here again." Ning Tailang's wife smiled helplessly, "She doesn't even know a single Chinese character, and Jing Ai pretends to be a scholar."

Not only was Ning Taro not ashamed of his wife's complaints, but he also showed a proud expression.

Many years ago, a samurai who was practicing martial arts passed by their village.

The samurai has a very kind personality, and has a good relationship with Ning Taro.

During the few days that the samurai stayed in the village briefly, he briefly introduced Sinology to Ning Taro.

Ning Taro has forgotten a lot of what the samurai said at that time.

But there is only one sentence, and Ning Tailang vaguely remembers its meaning - we are like water, and the government is like a small boat floating on the water. Without the water like us, the small boat of the government cannot float.

It may be different from what the samurai said at the time, but Ning Taro thinks the meaning should be similar.

Because he only remembered this sentence, Ning Taro, who is quite vain, would recite this sentence whenever he got the chance, so as to make himself more educated.

"All in all - the government should really plan to wipe out bandits everywhere." Ning Tailang said in a resolute tone.

Ning Tailang has always trusted the government.

Or rather... more favorable.

Because it was thanks to the relief from the government that they were able to survive the "Famine at dawn" that lasted for a full seven years. Home is so much better.

The recent good times have given Ning Taro a beautiful imagination about the future after a long absence.

He imagined that the government would continue to help these poor farmers in the future.

God doesn't bother them anymore.

He didn't ask for much.

He just hopes that the whole family can have enough food and every child can grow up healthily.

After a brief chat with his wife, Ning Taro continued to focus on handicrafts.

But at this moment—the sound of knocking on wooden boards suddenly sounded outside the room.

Hearing this voice, Ning Taro and his wife frowned.

Naturally, they recognized this voice—this was the calling order of their village. All the villagers except the old, weak, women and children were assembled by the village head.

Once this sound is made, it basically means that there is something that the village chief wants to announce to everyone.

"Mother, stay at home." Ning Tailang put down the half-finished birdcage, "I'll go to the village chief to see what happened."

"Yeah." Ning Taro's wife nodded, "Go slowly."

Ning Tailang hurried to the village chief's house.

After all the villagers in the village except the old, the weak, women and children arrived, their old village head directly announced a shocking news to them: a senior official from the government was coming to their village, and he would be there soon.

As soon as the village chief said this, the villagers immediately "exploded".

Their village is just an ordinary small village, and there are high officials from the government wanting to come to them?

They asked their old village chief what kind of official was coming 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 head of the news, and asked the village head to quickly take the villagers to stand on both sides of the widest road in the center of the village, ready to welcome the government officials.

Hearing this request, the villagers all showed surprise—because they only need to stand instead of kneeling on the ground.

When the little official came to inform them of the news, the village head asked the villagers this question for the villagers. The little official said bluntly: Yes, you don’t need to kneel, just stand and bow your head, don’t look directly at them. Queue will do just fine.

Although it happened suddenly, the villagers could only follow through.

After all, the person who came was a senior official of the shogunate. If something went wrong, the consequences would be unaffordable for ordinary people like them.

So every family dragged their families along and stood on both sides of the widest road in the center of the village according to the request of the little official.

Ning Taro also brought his wife and children into the line and stood still.

The wife holds the infant daughter in her arms.

And Ning Taro's two big hands tightly held the hands of the other three children, preventing them from moving.

Ning Taro has heard a lot of stories about "a child accidentally ran into the car of a daimyo or some high-ranking official, and was hacked to death by the guards of the daimyo or a high-ranking official".

In this era, it is a felony for unrelated people to collide with the car of those "superior people".

If that "superior person" has a good temper, he may let you go.

If the "superior man" has a bad temper, he may instruct his subordinates to hack the person who hit the car to death without any punishment.

The people of the whole village stood on both sides of the widest avenue.

After standing until the legs of some people were sore, they finally saw a small procession appearing at the end of the road - there were many knights on horseback, and in the center of this group of warriors on horseback was a magnificent cage.

After finally waiting for the unknown senior officials to arrive, the villagers hurriedly lowered their heads, watching their noses and hearts.

Ning Tailang's chin was directly on his chest, and at the same time, he asked the children next to him to lower their heads quickly, and they must not raise their heads before saying that they are allowed to raise their heads.

After a while, Ning Taro heard the sound of a lot of horseshoes and human feet coming from the middle of the road in front of him.

Because he couldn't raise his head, Ning Taro couldn't count how many people there were in the queue, and what the cage in the middle of the queue looked like.

Soon, the queue passed in front of the villagers, and then walked away.

This team did not stop at their village.

Just go straight through the widest road in their village.

After the team left their village completely, a petty official came on horseback and said to the villagers, "It's ok, thank you for your hard work, and you can continue to do what you should do in the future."

After leaving these words, the little official rode away on horseback.

Only the villagers are still dumbfounded.

"Which high official came to our village?"

"have no idea."

"I thought that some high-ranking official came to Weifu to inspect, but it turned out that he was just borrowing a way in our village?"

The villagers discussed in a hurry.

Ning Taro was not interested in the discussion of the villagers or the queue of high officials who did not know which one was there just now.

When the queue of high officials left and he was told that he could go on and do whatever he wanted, Ning Taro went straight home.

He just wants to make two more birdcages before going to bed, so that his savings can be more sufficient, and he can live a life full of meals as soon as possible.

...

...

The inns in the Edo period are divided into 4 categories: 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.

As for the cages and wooden rentals, they are dedicated to ordinary samurai and ordinary people. The grade and service conditions of the wooden rented lodgings are worse than those of the cages.

This evening, a certain Honjin in Dewa became lively.

Because a senior official of a certain government stayed in this main formation tonight.

Who is the official of this government?

Except for the general manager of this formation, the rest of the staff are completely unknown.

But they could vaguely guess from the nervous appearance of their chief executive and the queue of this senior official that this senior official should have a lot of background.

The number of guards, attendants, etc. totaled hundreds of people.

Although the number of people is not very large, the horses and utensils they use are all high-quality products-the officials who can use such good products must not be petty officials.

In fact, they should be thankful that they don't know who is staying in their main formation tonight.

If they knew who was staying tonight, they would probably be so nervous that they would even tremble when walking...

...

...

"My lord."

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.

Right now, light snow is flying, dotting the already dark night sky.

Matsudaira Sadanobu just looked at the snow scene outside the window.

"Yeah." Matsudaira Sadanobu nodded gently.

Withdrawing his gaze from the window and sitting down in the room, several attendants brought a sumptuous meal into the room and handed it to Matsudaira Jonobu.

The food has already passed through layers of poison tests just now.

"My lord, this is a special delicacy of the Ou region - Oma tuna, Kiritanpo, Inaniwa udon noodles and senbei soup. Please use it slowly."

"Oma tuna..." Sadanobu Matsudaira smiled, "It's been a long time since I've eaten pure Oma tuna..."

After all, Matsudaira Sadanobu picked up the bowl and chopsticks and began to eat.

Matsudaira Sadanobu did not choose to go to Ezo by sea.

Instead, choose to go by land.

After arriving at the Tsugaru Strait along the official road, board a boat to Ezo.

It takes longer to travel by land than by sea.

But Matsudaira Sadanobu was not in a hurry to go to Ezo.

It will take a certain amount of time for the army and supplies to be assembled in Ezo.

Therefore, Matsudaira Jonobu, who does not need to rush to Ezo, has enough time to go north along the land line to Ezo at a leisurely speed.

And - the reason why I chose to go by land is also for two important purposes.

The first purpose: Sadanobu Matsudaira wants to breathe the air of the Ou area after a long absence.

In addition to being the senior middleman of the shogunate, Matsudaira Sadanobu is also the current lord of the Shirakawa domain in the Ou area.

High-ranking officials like Laozhong and Wakayoshi are basically held by pro-fan daimyos (vassal states of daimyos who are blood related to the shogun) or genealogical daimyos (vassal states that surrendered to the daimyo of the first shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu earlier) .

The Shirakawa Domain ruled by Matsudaira Sadanobu is one of the pro-fan daimyos in the Mutsu area.

After the current general, Tokugawa Iezai, ascended the throne and appointed Matsudaira Sadanobu as the new old middle school, Matsudaira Sadanobu left the Shirakawa domain, lived in Edo for a long time, and worked wholeheartedly for the revitalization of the shogunate.

Because all the energy in the past few years has been devoted to revitalizing the shogunate, they are unable to deal with the vassal regime of Baihe Fan.

The vassal administration of the Baihe Fan was basically handed over to the important officials headed by the elders.

Matsudaira Sadanobu himself hasn't been back to the Shirakawa clan for a while.

So Matsudaira Sadanobu wanted to take this opportunity to travel overland to Ezo, and take a good breath of the air of the Ou area, which is his birthplace.

If possible, Matsudaira Jonobu would also like to stop by the Shirakawa clan to see his hometown, which he hasn't been back 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 the Baihe Fan unless it makes a big circle.

Therefore, Matsudaira Sadanobu can only give up with regret.

The second purpose of choosing to go overland is to see the people in the Ou area by the way.

After the outbreak of "Ten Ming Famine", the Ou area was the hardest hit place.

Three years ago, not long after the "Tianming Famine" ended, Matsudaira Sadanobu took office as the new and old middle school of the shogunate.

Many of the reforms he has made in the past three years are tailor-made for the "Tianming Famine" - "treating" the various harms caused to the country after the "Tianming Famine" broke out, and preventing such a large-scale famine from happening again Appear.

Matsudaira Sadanobu wanted to see it with his own eyes.

Look at how the hardest-hit Ou region is recovering now.

Matsudaira Sadanobu has always been adhering to the idea of ​​"farmers' safety, country's safety".

One of the easiest and most effective ways to know how the area is recovering from the disaster is to go and see how the farmers are doing.

So since leaving the Edo period, Matsudaira Sadanobu deliberately directed his team to every village along the way.

Matsudaira Sadanobu mainly looked at the faces of the farmers in the countryside.

Just by looking at their faces, one can get a rough idea of ​​how the farmers are doing now.

Whenever he wanted to pass through a village, Matsudaira Sadanobu would send officials under his command into the village in advance to inform the villagers to stand on both sides of the road.

And when crossing the road full of villagers standing on both sides, 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 expressions on their faces.

After quickly clearing away all the food on the table that needs to be chewed, Matsudaira Sadanobu picked up the warm soup and drank it in small sips.

While sipping the soup, he said to Tachibana who was waiting aside in a teaching tone.

"Tachibana, have you seen the condition of the villages you passed today?"

"I see." Tachibana Gong said.

"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 language, he said with a smile on his face:

"My lord, I think—the villagers in the villages we passed today are in very good condition."

"What's the best way?" Matsudaira Sadanobu asked.

"They all look bad without exception." Tachibana replied immediately, "There is no doubt—they all don't eat very well."

"But judging from their state, they are not hungry."

"The peasants are neither full nor hungry. It 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 couldn't help flashing a bit of joy in his eyes, and then hurriedly said a few modest words.

"Tachibana, remember." Sadanobu Matsudaira 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 villagers in the villages we passed today are in very good condition."

"If the farmers in all the rural areas of the country are in the same state as the farmers in the few rural areas we passed by today, then our country will be able to enjoy long-term stability."

"Tachibana, remember this sentence—"

Matsudaira paused for a moment.

Then he said quietly:

"Letting the peasants half-dead is the secret of governing the country."

As soon as Matsudaira Sadanobu's voice fell, Tachibana nodded vigorously:

"Yes! Thank you, Mr. Zhong, for your teaching!"

"So far, the situation in each village can be regarded as satisfactory." Matsudaira Sadanobu continued, "I hope that every village I encounter in the future will continue to satisfy me."

After finishing speaking, Matsudaira Sadanobu drank the soup in the bowl in his hand in one go.

When putting the empty bowl back on the table in front of him, Matsudaira Sadanobu said softly:

"This bowl of senbei soup tastes really good...it's even better than any senbei soup I've had before."

"My lord, Mr. Kimura, who is in charge of managing this headquarters, specially asked his staff to choose the freshest ingredients to cook this bowl of senbei soup after learning that you will be staying here tonight." Tachibana replied, " Probably because of this, the taste of this bowl of senbei soup is more delicious."

"So that's how it is." Matsudaira Sadanobu said with a wry smile, "I really have a heart."

"But I don't much like welcoming me with such fanfare."

"Tachibana, go tell that Kimura now, and say: I thank him for his kindness, but don't do similar things again."

"yes!"

...

...

In the second year of Kanzheng (1790), December 25.

Nishinocho, in the inn where Ogata and Amachi stayed——

Machi stood in the center of the room.

Ogata squatted in front of A-Machi.

The two were working together to put a kimono on Ah-cho's body.

After successfully putting on the kimono, A-Machi raised his arms horizontally and asked:

"Ayi, what do you think?"

"Hmm..." Ogata stared at the piece of fabric on A-Machi's chest that was bulging by her chest muscles.

Then he raised his hand to touch the tightly stretched clothes.

"...The clothes seem to be stretched even tighter." Ogata murmured.

"Right..." Ah-Ming let out a helpless sigh, "It doesn't seem to be my illusion... Okay, stop rubbing!"

Machi slapped the serious-looking Ogata's hand off angrily.

"Take off your clothes." Ogata said solemnly, "Let me see with my own eyes whether there has really been a change."

*****

*****

Thanks to the book friend [Zhanyue Cup Shadow], yesterday I voted for 21 monthly tickets for this book in one breath. This is the first time I saw someone who voted for 21 monthly tickets without tipping.

Really sincerely, thank you very much for your support!

*****

*****

Yesterday I saw a book friend over there leave a comment, praising the quality of the book is very good, the writing style and content are very suitable for adaptation into anime or something.

First of all, I would like to thank the book friend for the good review.

Then I will tell you a piece of news that has not been told to you for a long time, which should be considered good news, and it is related to the IP derivation of this book.

For details, please see the "Writer's Words" below↓↓↓

The genius remembers the address of this site in one second:. Mobile version reading website: