I Was a Swordsman in Ancient Japan

Speaking of Xing's head, the bald head poured another sip of wine into his mouth, and then continued:

"Fortunately, during this period of time, the government has finally begun to vigorously rectify the naturalized Ezo in the domain."

"Some of the naturalized Ezo who were offered rewards were caught one by one."

"Now there is only the most troublesome one who is still fleeing."

After finishing speaking, the bald head raised his hand and pointed at the wall covered with wanted posters.

"Here, Lord Samurai, I think you can remember this face well. If you meet someone with this face, remember to avoid it quickly, and then notify the nearby officials."

Ogata looked at the wanted notice that the bald head was pointing at.

He just focused on looking at his own arrest warrant, and didn't even look at other arrest warrants.

The arrest warrant pointed by the bald head has a rather rough face.

The hair and beard on his face were extremely vigorous, which made Ogata involuntarily recall the image of Zhang Fei in "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms".

The artist who drew this arrest warrant is quite skilled, and he can outline very profound facial features with a few simple strokes.

Profound facial features coupled with exuberant hair—a typical image of Ezo.

Ogata glanced at this person's bounty - 20 taels.

Although it is completely incomparable with Ogata's current 800 taels, Ogata is completely out of the question.

The other wanted criminals are just ordinary criminals, not like Ogata - who regards the dignity of the shogunate as nothing.

If you don't compare it with a wanted criminal of Ogata's level, 20 taels of gold is undoubtedly a high reward.

As long as he or his head is presented to the government, 20 taels of gold is enough for a family of three to eat and drink for many years to come without wasting money—of course, the premise is that there will be no "famine at dawn" Such a catastrophe will cause a huge depreciation of money.

"This man's name is 'Makanao', and his nickname is 'Ichiro Hanamura'. He is the only wanted criminal who is still at large among the naturalized Ezo."

The bald head continued.

"This man is very cunning. The government has spent a lot of effort, but they can't find him. I don't know where he is hiding."

"In addition to being cunning, this man is also very dangerous. He has many subordinates, all of whom are naturalized Ezo.

He gathered all those naturalized Ezo who were dissatisfied with us and people, and it is said that a small force has developed. "

"Hey, I really hope that the people in the government can bring these guys to justice quickly, so that we ordinary people can live and work in peace and contentment."

"Are there many naturalized Ezo here in Matsumae Castle?" A-cho, who had been listening quietly just now, asked now, "I don't seem to see many Ezo on the street today."

From the moment they landed to the present, except for the three naturalized Ezos who planned to kill them, Ogata and A-Machi have never seen the rest of the Ezos in kimonos.

"It's normal that you didn't see it." The bald head nodded, "Those naturalized Ezo basically live in the northwest corner of the city."

"Except for the northwest corner, the number of naturalized Azou is relatively small."

"You can see more naturalized Ezo in the northwest corner."

...

...

at the same time--

In Songqian City, somewhere in an extremely hidden house in the western suburbs——

A relatively young Eizo tiptoed into a certain room in the mansion.

"Maka Nao-sama." After entering the room, the young Ezo said to a group of black shadows in the room in a very respectful tone.

The black shadow in the corner of the room is actually a human figure.

Immediately after the young Ezo's voice fell, the figure "squirmed" at a slow speed, and then a deep voice came from the figure.

"What is it?"

If Ogata and A-machi were present, they might be surprised to see the true face of this figure.

This figure was the only wanted criminal who was still at large among the naturalized Eizo that the bald head had just told them to pay attention to - Maca Nao.

While tugging at the lush beard on his chin, Maca Nao cast his sharp eyes on the young Ezo in front of him.

"Three of our compatriots died in the city today." The young Ezo responded in a neither salty nor light tone, "died in a certain alley, because the three of them had bows and arrows on their bodies, so the government judged that they were three It is to rob others with bows and arrows, and then be killed by others."

"So the government doesn't seem to intend to seriously investigate how these three of our compatriots died."

"The plan is to close the case with 'these three people were killed instead of robbery'."

"...Have you found out who the three dead people are?" Maca's beard-struck action became rough.

"I've found out. It's He Pei, Xinolai, and Ma Bo."

"...I don't have much impression of these three names." Maca Nao said softly, "Is it a compatriot who just lived in Songqian City recently?"

"Maka Nao-sama, it's normal that you don't have much impression." The young Ezo replied, "Although the three of them lived in Matsumae Castle very early, they have always lived a low-key life, so they have been inconspicuous."

"Did the three of them really get killed because the robbery failed?" Maca asked further.

"...It is very likely that this is the case." The young Ezo's voice that had been unemotional just now finally showed some fluctuations, "According to the friends of the three of them, because they have never been willing to hire They work."

"Some time ago, the three of them said to their friends, 'They are starving to death, and they want to grab some money to eat'."

"...It seems that they are three compatriots who have been driven to a dead end." Maka Nao's voice was full of hatred, "Damn Kazuto...!"

After finishing speaking, Maca got up and walked to the next window.

Standing by the window, you can clearly see the fire in the distance.

This area in the northwest corner of Matsumae Castle is the place where the naturalized Einzo live together, and it is also the poorest place in Matsumae Castle.

At night, the area is largely unlit, in stark contrast to the rest of the city.

Looking out of the window, Maka Nao could see a very obvious difference-the area where he and his compatriots lived was dark, while the rest of the city outside this area was brightly lit.

The same city, but two worlds.

Maca stared at the lights outside the window, with hatred slowly appearing in his eyes.

"Tell the others."

Maca Nao said to the young Ezo behind him.

"Let them be ready to fight at any time."

"We must take down Kazuto's leader—the head of Matsudaira Sadanobu!"

When uttering the name "Matsudaira Sadanobu", Maka Nao's tone was forceful.

As if talking about something that is bound to happen.

...

...

Matsumae Domain, Matsumae Castle, in a certain military warehouse——

"My lord, this way."

A middle-aged official made a "please" gesture to Matsudaira Sadanobu behind him, and then led Matsudaira Sadanobu to a certain corner of the warehouse.

The middle-aged official was flanked by two young officials.

As for Matsudaira Sadanobu - with his hands behind his back, he strode forward under the leadership of the middle-aged official.

And his surname Tachibana, and a group of guards followed closely behind.

The middle-aged official who led the way brought Matsudaira Sadanobu to a "sea of ​​wooden boxes" composed of boxes of huge rectangular wooden boxes.

The wooden boxes that make up this "wooden box sea" are all very large, and it is more than enough for an adult male of average height in this era to lie in it.

Before and after bringing Matsudaira Sadanobu to this "sea of ​​wooden boxes", the middle-aged official immediately winked at the two young officials who had been following closely just now.

These two young officials who were still eye-catching quickly understood, and then stepped forward and worked together to open a wooden box in this "wooden box sea", revealing the scene inside the wooden box.

"My lord." The middle-aged official bowed and made a gesture of "please" to Matsudaira Sadanobu, "This is Yu Guobeng who just arrived. Please take a look."

Matsudaira Sadanobu stepped forward and looked into the wooden box.

A large amount of dry straw is stuffed inside the wooden box.

In the middle of this pile of dry straw, lay a huge cannon barrel quietly.

The pitch-black gun body reflects a unique metallic luster.

Matsudaira Sadanobu raised his hand to caress the cannon body.

Feeling the cold touch of his fingertips, Matsudaira Sadanobu showed a faint smile:

"I've been waiting for you for a long time..."

Guobeng - actually artillery.

During the Warring States Period more than 200 years ago, the Portuguese passed artillery to the family of Otomo, a prince in the south of the country at that time.

The master of the Otomo family at that time: Otomo Zonglin, after witnessing the power of the artillery, was very pleased to name it "Guobeng".

Since then, the Japanese have been used to referring to artillery as the national collapse.

Of course, some people used to call the artillery "big tube". Because there are quite a lot of models of large cylinders, and the style and firepower of some large cylinders are no different from cannons.

Matsudaira Sadanobu is used to referring to artillery as the "National Beng Party"

This time, sending troops to the north, pointing the sword at the Red Moon Fortress, Matsudaira Sadanobu is bound to win.

This time the war actually contained many political elements.

Through this war, let the Ezo who are dissatisfied with them and people witness their strength and let them recognize the gap between their two nations.

Therefore, in order to let the Ezo people feel the strength of them and the people as deeply as possible, after persuading the shogun to send troops to the north, Matsudaira Jonobu then persuaded the shogun to mobilize as many iron cannons (guns), large cylinders and national collapses as possible. .

The shogun, who was almost obedient to Matsudaira Sadanobu, agreed to Matsudaira Sadanobu's proposal almost without hesitation.

Now is an era of peace, and there has been no large-scale war befalling this country for a long time. Whether it is the shogunate or the vassal state, the armaments have long since been abolished.

Therefore, after a lot of mobilization, a total of 400 iron cannons, 9 Guobeng, and 52 large barrels of various types were mobilized.

These firearms have been delivered to Matsumae Castle one after another in these days.

Just now, Matsudaira Sadanobu finally received the news that the Nine Gates Guobeng finally arrived here smoothly and has been stored in the warehouse.

As for the iron cannon and the big tube, it will take some time to arrive.

Matsudaira Sadanobu, who had been waiting for these big killers for a long time, couldn't wait to ask his subordinates to take him to the warehouse to see the newly delivered Guobeng.

That's why the scene where Matsudaira Sadanobu was brought into this warehouse by the middle-aged official.

After moving his finger away from the barrel of Kunobeng in front of him, Matsudaira Sadanobu turned his head and asked the middle-aged official beside him:

"Have the nine gates arrived safely?"

"It's all delivered."

"Open them all for me to see."

"yes."

The middle-aged official winked at the two young officials beside him.

Then the two young officials stepped forward one after another and opened the other 8 boxes of wooden boxes next to them - without exception, there were huge gun barrels lying inside.

After installing wheels and other various parts to these barrels, they can be put into combat.

After confirming that the quantity was correct, Matsudaira Sadanobu then said:

"What about the shells? Are all the shells delivered?"

"So far, 60 shells have been sent." The middle-aged official replied, "There are more than 100 shells that will be delivered later."

"Where are the shells stored? I want to see."

"yes!"

The middle-aged officials led Matsudaira Sadanobu to another warehouse.

For safety, gunpowder, shells and other items are stored in another warehouse.

Arriving at the warehouse where the shells are stored, seeing the brand-new shells one after another, a satisfied smile covered Matsudaira Sadanobu's entire face.

"Okay, okay." Standing in front of the boxes of shells, Matsudaira Sadanobu said two words "Okay" with a smile on his face.

Standing behind him, Tachibana showed a bit of surprise on his face—Sadanobu Matsudaira usually has a straight face, and it is really rare to say the word "good" with a smile like this now.

In fact, Matsudaira Sadanobu is indeed very happy now.

He can't wait to see the scene where their artillery blows away all the Ezo who are entrenched in the Red Moon Fortress.

...

...

The taste of "crab pot" is indeed quite good.

The crabs here were bigger and tastier than any crab Ogata had ever seen before.

After enjoying a sumptuous dinner of crab pot and hot wine, Ogata and Atachi left the restaurant contentedly.

Because the crab pot is very suitable for the taste of Ah-Machi, even after leaving the restaurant, Ah-Machi still misses the taste of the crab pot.

"It tastes really good." A-Ming licked his lips, touching his belly that was still very flat even after a full meal, "Let's eat it later."

"Wait to eat in two days." Ogata said, "If you eat too often, you will get tired of it soon."

After finishing speaking, Ogata turned his head, and looked seriously at A-Machi's somewhat ruddy face.

"You seem to be more energetic. Do you still feel dizzy now?"

Previously, the sequelae of seasickness still remained in Ah-Ming's body, and he still felt a little weak and dizzy until before eating.

"Yeah." Ah-cho nodded, "I feel much better after eating, and my head is no longer dizzy."

"That's good."

The end of the direction of Ogata and A-machi is the inn they are renting.

Just when the hotel they rented appeared in front of their field of vision, two passers-by who passed by A-Machi drew A-Machi's sight.

The two passers-by were a woman and a little girl.

Both of the woman's eyebrows have been shaved off, and her teeth are stained black—you can tell she is a married woman at a glance.

Women shaved off their eyebrows and stained their teeth black after marrying as wives—this was one of the trends in the Edo period.

But until today, this trend has declined, and many women have stopped doing it—for example, Machi didn't do it.

Today, there are more women like A-Ming who don't shave their eyebrows and stain their teeth black. It's rare for this kind of people to shave their eyebrows and stain their teeth black after they get married.

The little girl looked about 6 or 7 years old and was being held in the arms of the woman.

The facial features of the woman and the little girl are somewhat similar, it should be a mother and daughter.

The mother and daughter who passed by Ogata and A-Machi were talking and laughing, chatting happily about something.

Even though the mother and daughter had passed by A-Ming, A-Ming still turned his head and stared at the mother and daughter with a thoughtful look on his face.

"A-Machi, what's the matter?" Ogata noticed A-Machi's strangeness, turned his head, and cast doubtful eyes on A-Machi.

"Ah, it's nothing." Ah-Ming quickly looked away from the mother and daughter, "Let's go, let's go back to the hotel."

...

...

After returning to the hotel, the two sat and rested for a while, then turned off the lights, and prepared to go to bed and rest directly.

The two of them still spent most of the day at sea today. Although A-Ming has become more energetic after dinner and the sequelae of seasickness have been alleviated a lot, there must still be a lot of fatigue accumulated in A-Ming. in the body.

It was with this in mind that Ogata decided to eat and rest earlier today, to investigate the whereabouts of Xuanzheng and Xuanzhi, and save it for tomorrow after a good rest.

In order for A-Ming to have a good rest today, the Great Harmony of Life, which I used to do every night before, will not be done tonight.

But after getting into the bed with A-Machi, Ogata found that A-Machi's eyes were wide open, looking at the ceiling, thinking of something.

"A-cho, what's wrong?" Ogata asked, "Why are you so serious?"

"...It's nothing." Ah-Ming said softly, "I just saw a mother and daughter when I was returning to the hotel."

"Then it suddenly occurred to me that one day, I will be like that woman, hugging and playing with my child..."

"When I think about it, I feel a little... complicated."

"It's hard to imagine the picture of me holding my own child in the future..."

Hearing this, Ogata was stunned.

Then muttered:

"A child... Hearing what you said... It's also hard for me to imagine the scene of me holding my own child in the future..."

Holding the child with A-Machi—this kind of picture seems far away at first glance, but it is not so far away when you think about it carefully... This picture is still in Ogata's imagination, maybe in a year or two becomes a reality.

Although at the beginning when he was honest with A-Machi, Ogata still took protective measures consciously.

But the protection measures in this era are too backward. All Ogata can do is to make the asteroid deviate from its orbit and not hit the earth directly.

But this method cannot be perfectly protected - Ogata also took corresponding courses in school in his previous life.

And Ogata can't count how many times he was too involved, which caused his speed to be a little bit slower or a little bit slower, causing the asteroid to pass by the earth or directly hit the earth.

Due to too many times, Ogata would not be surprised if A-Machi told Ogata that she was pregnant after a few months.

"...The picture of us hugging our child will really appear in the future." Ogata turned his head and smiled at A-Machi, "Let's work hard together."

"Raising children together."

"I don't know whether our first child will be a boy or a girl." A-Ming murmured.

"I don't care if it's a boy or a girl. I don't care about this kind of thing. I don't give preference to anyone because of the gender of the child."

"Will you teach our children swordsmanship?" A-Ming continued to ask, "If they are our children, they should be very talented in swordsmanship."

"Teaching will definitely be taught. In such a world, it is still necessary to learn some swordsmanship for self-defense. But I don't force them to become some great swordsmen, and open a sword hall in the future."

"Compared to the sword hall, I prefer our children to study more and open a private school in the future."

"Ah, yes, we can try to let our children and grandchildren learn Lanxue (Western learning)."

After that, Ogata showed a meaningful smile.

"Lanxue? Why?" Ah Ding looked puzzled.

"It's nothing, I just feel that learning Lan Xue is more promising."

Of course, it is impossible for Ogata to tell Ah-machi that he is a time traveler, knowing that 70 years later, there will be ships from the United States blasting the gate of Japan.

Although he didn't know much about Japanese history in his previous life, Ogata still knew about the founding of Japan in the 19th century.

It is also because of this that Ogata knows about swordsmanship, and after 70 years, it will become useless, so I don't really hope that he and the children and grandchildren of Acho will open some sword halls in the future, because there is no future.

By the generation of the great-grandchildren of the two, Lan Xue has become a very popular knowledge. As long as you understand Lan Xue, you will not worry about being reused.

Ogata, who knows what will happen in the future, finds this kind of thing very interesting.

...

...

the next day—

Last night, Ogata and A-Machi discussed for a long time about the future—basically, it was all things that were and were not.

Before he knew it, A-Ming, who was tired from chatting, fell into a deep sleep.

After A-Machi fell asleep, Ogata also closed his eyes.

Not long after dawn, Ogata and A-Machi both got up and changed their clothes.

They plan to officially start looking for clues related to the whereabouts of Xuanzheng and Xuanzhi, the two masters and apprentices today.

They are ready for a protracted war.

Although the scale of Matsumae Castle is small, it is tantamount to finding a needle in a haystack if you want to find two people who don't even know when they arrived in Ezo in such a town.

And maybe I searched Matsumae Castle all over, but couldn't find any clues.

The two who had prepared for a protracted war a long time ago, when they sailed to Ezo by boat, they counted the money they had left now in order to meet the ensuing protracted war.

When A-cho left Shiranui-sato, he didn't have much money with him, so after the reunion with Ogata in Kyoto, A-cho basically used Ogata's money.

The money Cang Yong gave him when he left the feudal domain + the money he got from the imperial trial + the money he got from killing the bandits more than a month ago + the money Nishino Erlang gave him after "Yi Dao Zhai" was sold out + from those who didn't know how to live or die The money taken by the guy who robbed or took his head = Ogata's current total savings.

If silver coins and copper coins are not included, Ogata and Atachi now have a total of 186 taels of money.

As long as they don't spend it indiscriminately, the money is completely enough for the "protracted battle" they will fight in Ezo.

After getting up, washing, and changing clothes, A-machi asked Ogata:

"Where shall we go first?"

"...Let's go to the port first." Ogata pondered for a moment, and then replied, "If Xuanzheng and Xuanzhi landed in Ezo through the port of Matsumae Castle in a proper manner, then maybe there will be a port staff remember them."

After quickly deciding on the first investigation location, Ogata and A-Machi quickly left the hotel and headed towards the port.

Just when he was about to arrive at the intersection connecting the port and the city, Ah-machi's eyes suddenly lit up, he held Ogata's sleeve with his right hand, and pointed at the street intersection not far away with his left hand.

"Ayi, look at that!"

After Ogata looked in the direction that A-Machi's finger pointed, he couldn't help but let out a faint exclamation: "Wow..."

I saw an old man sitting at the corner of the intersection connecting the port and the city ahead.

There are many wooden cages in front of this old man.

These wooden cages house many kinds of animals.

As far as Ogata can recognize, there are two kinds of foxes and squirrels.

Looks like a pet stand selling pets.

Girls have always loved cute animals.

A-Machi is no exception.

With bright eyes, Amachi pulled Ogata and ran towards the pet stand in front of him.

Before and after coming to this pet stall, Ah-cho squatted down, like a child who received a favorite gift from his parents, looking at the small animals in these cages with joy.

"Hehehe, just take a look." The owner of this pet stall, that is, the old man sitting behind these wooden cages, smiled and said to A-Ding, "If you have an animal you like, you can buy it home. , the price is absolutely fair.”

"Sir, what is this?" A-Ming pointed to an animal that looked like a mouse and a rabbit in a certain cage.

"It's called a pika." The old man replied, "It's a unique animal in Ezo. Isn't it cute? It only costs 40 silver."

After introducing the animal named pika, the old man began to introduce animals in other cages.

"The pets I sell here are all unique animals in Ezo."

"This is a red fox."

"It's the red squirrel."

"It's a flying squirrel."

...

Machi listened intently to the old man's introduction.

Ogata, on the other hand, accompanied Ah-Ming and listened to the old man's introduction.

Ogata also likes cute little animals.

So now he and A-Ming are also looking at these cute little animals in the cage with great interest.

But when the game is over, Ogata has not forgotten the business.

After the old man's introduction fell, Ogata raised his head and asked the old man:

"Sir, how many years have you been running this pet stall here?"

"It's been a long time. Many years ago, I sold pets here."

"Have you always set up a stall here?" Ogata continued to ask.

"Yes. I mainly do business with those merchants who do business in Ezo and the local area."

"It connects the city and the port. People who land from the port have to pass through here if they want to enter the city, so it is convenient for me to do business with those merchants."

"The animals I sell are all unique to Ezo. So many merchants will buy animals from me, and then bring them back to the mainland and sell them to princes, nobles and rich people who love to keep pets."

"You usually set up a stall here? Then why didn't my wife and I see you here yesterday?"

Ogata remembered it very clearly. When he and A-Ming landed in Ezo and left the port to enter the city yesterday afternoon, they didn't see this pet stall.

"Oh, then you probably just missed the time when I opened the stall."

"I usually open my stall at 5am (8am) and close at 4pm (4pm)."

"Because it takes time to bring so many pets back to where I live, I always close the stall earlier."

Ogata recalled the time when he landed yesterday - when he and A-Ming landed, it was already past 4 o'clock in the afternoon, which happened to be later than the old man's closing time.

After thinking for a moment, Ogata continued to ask the old man:

"Sir, may I ask what your name is?"

"Just call me God Tang." The old man smiled.

"Mr. Tang Shen, I want to ask, do you have any impression of these two men."

Ogata described the appearance characteristics of Xuanzheng and Xuanzhi one by one.

When Xuanren, Xuanzheng's young apprentice and Xuanzhi's junior, was in Kyoto before, Xuanren told Ogata and the others the appearance characteristics of Xuanzheng and Xuanzhi.

Ogata had already memorized the physical characteristics of the two that Xuanren mentioned.

The old man has set up a stall here for many years.

And this place is the intersection connecting the port and the urban area, and everyone who lands at the port and wants to enter the urban area must take this intersection.

Therefore——if Xuanzheng and Xuanzhi landed in Songqian Castle by boat in a proper manner, then the old man might have an impression of these two people.

So Ogata decided to start with this old man first, firing the first shot in this "protracted battle" to find Xuanzheng and Xuanzhi.

For this old man, Ogata actually had no expectations.

After all, this old man looks at least 60 years old, and there are many people who see it every day.

Ogata had no expectations of his memory.

Not only is Ogata like this, but A-Machi also doesn't have any expectations.

"Well... the old people in their fifties, and the young people in their 30s... speaking with a Kyoto accent..."

The old man muttered about the physical features that Ogata had just mentioned.

"Oh! Come to think of it, I have seen these two people, I have quite an impression of these two people."

"Cough, cough cough...!" Ogata happened to be swallowing his saliva just now.

He had just swallowed half of his saliva when he choked on his own saliva after hearing the old man's answer.