I Was a Swordsman in Ancient Japan

——500 taels...

Ogata couldn't help but take another look at the wanted warrant in his hand.

For some reason, at a certain moment just now, Ogata had the urge to surrender to the government!

While having this impulse, a big plan was born in my mind:

First go to the government to surrender, sell yourself, then let Ah Ding receive the 500 taels of gold, and then think of a plan to escape from prison by yourself.

Ogata felt that his plan seemed quite clever.

When one day in the future when the money is very short, maybe we can carry out this plan that can grab the government's wool.

He participated in the "Imperial Trial" in Edo before, and after exhausting himself and good luck, he finally earned 100 taels of gold.

As long as Ogata and the others don't mess around with this money, 100 taels of gold is enough for Ogata and his wife to stop worrying about money for at least 10 years in the future.

500 taels of gold - if you don't use it to buy antiques or other messy things, this money is really enough for Ogata and A-Machi until the end of their lives.

At this moment, Jincheng on the side beckoned to Ogata, expressing his desire to see the stack of wanted warrants.

Ogata was only interested in his wanted warrant, and he was not interested in the rest of the wanted warrants.

Now that he has read his wanted warrants, Ogata has no interest in holding this stack of wanted warrants anymore. Seeing that Jincheng wanted them, he simply gave them all to him.

Jin Cheng took the stack of arrest warrants from Ogata, casually flipped through them, and said:

"I didn't expect you to be the kind of ronin who lives on bounties. These bounty criminals must be very difficult to catch, right?"

"Of course." Hosaka shrugged, "After working hard for several months, it's just a common thing to find that the bounty hunter is dead, or he's chasing the wrong person."

"So my apprentice and I don't all live by catching bounty criminals."

"If we come across a job that earns money and feeds us, we will do it too."

"Just like this job now."

Kasaka grinned.

"Although there is no money to take,

But there is white rice to eat, which can save several days of meal money. And it's also very suitable for our master and apprentice. Apart from swinging swords, we master and apprentice have nothing else to do well. "

At this time, Jin Cheng had roughly finished flipping through the stack of wanted warrants in his hand.

When handing the pack of wanted warrants to Hosaka, Jincheng said softly:

"Thank you for your invitation. But after all, I'm used to being alone, and I don't really like partnering with others."

"That's it." Seeing that Jincheng's invitation to join him as a bounty hunter was rejected, Hosaka didn't show annoyance, and just smiled casually, "Forget it."

After returning the stack of wanted warrants to Hosaka, Jincheng smiled, and then continued:

"I just looked at these arrest warrants, Ogata Yidaosai is really powerful."

"Among this pile of arrest warrants, only Ogata Yidaosai's bounty is more than one hundred, and it's still a full five hundred."

"As expected of the Shogunate's most wanted criminal."

"If anyone can catch Ogata Yidao Zhai, leaving his name aside for the time being, it is certain that he will have enough food and clothing for the rest of his life—as long as you don't spend money recklessly."

"Ho ho."

As soon as Jincheng finished speaking, Kasaka suddenly sneered a few times.

After the sneer, Hosaka who showed a mocking smile suddenly changed the topic:

"Although 500 taels of gold is a sum of money for ordinary people like us, we can afford food and clothing for a lifetime."

"But for those rich and powerful, 500 taels may be just money for a few days of fun."

"I used to be a low-ranking samurai in the Mito Domain in Kanto."

"I have seen with my own eyes how extravagant the daily lives of the rich and powerful of the Mito Domain are."

"Because the Mito Clan is close to Edo, many of the Mito Clan's dignitaries would take a carriage to Edo's Yoshihara to have fun."

"In a gold-selling land like Yoshihara, it's not uncommon to spend tens or hundreds of taels of gold overnight."

"After being cool at Yoshiwara, I will take a carriage back to Mito."

"Mito clan?" Jincheng raised his eyebrows on the side, "You are from the male clan."

Mito Fan——together with Owari Fan and Kishu Fan, known as the "Three Royal Family", is the closest relationship with the shogunate, and they are all majestic feudal clans with terrifyingly high numbers of stones.

As the lowest number of stones among the three royal families, the Mito clan has 350,000 stones, making it an undoubted male clan.

"That's right. I'm a samurai from the Mito domain, but only a junior samurai."

Kasaka shrugged.

"Before I left the feudal domain, I was a treasury officer in the Mito feudal domain. I was responsible for abacus, counting and managing warehouse inventory every day. My salary was only a pitiful 50 shi."

Hearing what Hosaka said, Ogata couldn't help raising his eyebrows.

Treasury officer—Oufang is familiar with this job.

"I took over as treasury officer when I was 20 years old."

"When I first took over the job of the treasury officer, I worked very hard."

"Every day I'm exhausted with calculations, bookkeeping, and hard work."

"But gradually, I realized something was wrong."

The sarcasm in the smile on Hosaka's face became more intense.

I just don't know who the mocking look on his face is for.

"I work so hard every day, and I can't get any real compensation."

"Because I was born as a low-level warrior."

"You are all samurai, you should all know what the origin of a lower-level samurai means?"

Everyone, including Ogata, nodded silently.

Ogata himself was born as a low-level samurai of the Hirose Clan, so he naturally knew what a low-level samurai represented.

It means that unless the ancestral grave is smoking, you will never be able to climb to such a high position.

In the Edo period, when the Shiqing Shilu system was practiced, one sentence was used to describe the officialdom of the shogunate and the vassals, that is-"the upper-level samurai monopolizes high-level official positions, and the lower-level samurai monopolizes low-level official positions."

Unless he made some great achievements, even if he struggled for a lifetime, it was impossible for a low-level warrior to get a high position.

"Those samurai who are born well enough have high-ranking officials at their fingertips."

"As for me, a low-level warrior from a humble background, no matter how hard I try, I probably won't be able to get promoted in my life. I can only live a life of poverty."

"I feel very uncomfortable."

"So I gradually stopped working so hard to serve the public. Regardless of whether I work hard or not, the result is the same. I can only get such a meager salary, and I can't see the hope of being promoted and living a good life."

"However, I still complete my own job on time and according to the amount every day."

"After I started to serve the job with less enthusiasm, my boss came to me out of the blue."

"Can you guess what he told me?"

Kasaka shook his shoulders, and sneered a few more times.

"He thinks that I have not worked as hard and desperately as I used to work recently."

"I told him: I do my job well every day."

"Then he said: I know that your daily work is indeed done well, but just like this, are you satisfied?"

"As a samurai, you should serve your lord wholeheartedly."

"In the face of a job where the full score is 10 points, you should strive to achieve 12 or 15 points."

"Only in this way can the morality of the samurai be honored."

"I obviously finish my work well every day, but I was scolded and lectured for no reason."

"The more I thought about it when I got home, the angrier I became."

"Serve the lord? When did the lord of the Mito clan be kind to me? Why should I go all out to serve someone I've never met?"

"And the one who doesn't talk about samurai morality should be the lord, right? My family has served the Mito Domain since the establishment of the Shogunate."

"I've been serving as a public servant for two hundred years, but because of my humble background, my salary has never been raised, and I can only do some humble jobs—is there anyone who talks about warrior morality like this?"

"The more I thought about it, the angrier I became, so I went to my boss the next day to argue."

"Then I was scolded by my boss again."

"He said: As a dignified warrior, how can he always think about such vulgar things as firewood, rice, oil and salt."

"As a samurai, one should be indifferent to fame and wealth, serve one's duty wholeheartedly, and always put the master first... In short, you should talk about samurai morality with me."

"He also recited to me the sentence in "Ye Yinwen Book": 'When you worship from a distance every morning, you should first worship the Lord and your parents, and then worship the gods and Buddhas. Putting the Lord first will not only make the parents happy, but also the gods and Buddhas. I will also understand this intention. As a warrior, you don’t have to think about everything except the lord. The stronger this ambition is, the more you will be able to pay attention to the situation on the lord’s side, and never forget it.”

While reciting this famous line from "Ye Yinwen Shu", Huosaka shook his head, his appearance looked very funny.

"Ye Yin Wenshu" - in the first year of Hengbao (AD 1716), it was dictated by Yamamoto Tsunetomo, the courtier of Nabeshima Mitsushige, the lord of the Saga domain, and written by the samurai Tashiro Jinki in seven years.

Its style is a typical "Analects of Confucius".

It is a book on samurai training, which warns samurai what to do, what not to do, and what kind of samurai is a "true samurai".

Since the book was written, it has been hailed as a classic by many people. If you can learn the real bushido in this book, you think it is a must-read book for all samurai.

The sentence that Huosaka just recited is a famous saying in "Ye Yin Wen Shu".

"I was already very angry. After hearing my boss talk about samurai morality and shake my head and recite "Ye Yin Wen Shu" to me, I became even more angry."

"I'm thinking about daily necessities, what's wrong?"

"Don't tell me things you can see with your eyes and touch with your hands, but tell me nonsense."

"I figured it out."

"Samurai morality and everything is bullshit."

"It's just that it's more convenient for people like us from humble backgrounds to work hard for people like them who are born with high officials and rich salary, and don't worry about food and clothing."

"Anyway, I'm full for one person, and the whole family is not hungry."

"So, in a fit of anger, I simply fled the Mito Domain overnight and became a vagrant."

"Although there is no stable source of income, life is happier than before."

"All the income I get now belongs to me. No one will point my nose at me anymore and tell me that I can't consider daily necessities, and I have to serve the public wholeheartedly."

Ogata and the others have been quietly listening to Hosaka's story about his past.

Ogata is a traveler, not a samurai born and raised in this Edo period, so not only does he not have any intimacy with the idea of ​​Bushido, but he also despises it.

Therefore, when I heard Hosaka bluntly said that "samurai morality is bullshit", I didn't feel uncomfortable. I also felt that what Hosaka said was right, expressing the cruel nature of samurai morality-rulers use it to control samurai and rule the country Tool of.

A-Ming also didn't show any discomfort - she was not a child of a samurai family, and naturally she didn't have any feelings for the so-called Bushido.

There was also Tsuchiya who did not show any discomfort.

After hearing Hosaka's rebellious words just now, Tsuchiya's face remained expressionless - just wondering if it was because he didn't talk much or express much.

Only Jin Cheng showed obvious displeasure.

As soon as Huosaka's voice fell behind, Jincheng's expression changed immediately:

"I won't ask or take care of the holidays between you and your boss and master."

"But you are also a samurai, and it is not appropriate to say 'samurai morality is bullshit', right?"

"And I think what your boss said is not unreasonable."

"As a samurai, if you always think about vulgar things like firewood, rice, oil and salt, how is it different from a commoner?"

"I just expressed some of my reflections on samurai morality." Hosaka shrugged, "Kinjo, although you are Usuke, you are also from a banner family with a salary of 3,500 stone years."

"You shouldn't be able to understand the hopeless life of a low-level samurai, right?"

The displeasure on Jin Cheng's face became more intense.

"...Forget it." Jin Cheng withdrew his gaze from Huosaka, "Everyone has his own ambitions, and I'm too lazy to argue with you."

The conversation between Huosaka and Jincheng just now made the atmosphere of the scene a little less harmonious in an instant.

At this moment, an unexpected voice sounded:

"When eating, let's talk about something a little more interesting."

The speaker is the taciturn Tsuchiya.

In Ogata's impression, this seemed to be the first time Tsuchiya spoke since the meal was opened.

Because Tsuchiya's mouth was stuffed with rice when he was speaking, his speech was a bit slurred.

As soon as Tsuchiya's words fell, Kasaka stretched vigorously:

"You're right, you should talk about something relaxing and interesting during meals. What I just said about my past was a little too dull, sorry."

"Let's talk about something interesting!"

"Tsuchiya, listen to your accent, you are from Mutsu, right?" Kasaka turned his gaze to Tsuchiya.

"Yes." Tsuchiya nodded, "I am from the Hachinohe clan in Mutsu."

"Since you're from Mutsu, it's easy to handle." Hosaka showed his signature grin, "Do you know about 'unclean fasting'?"

Tsuchiya raised his eyebrows: "I heard a little."

"It's good if you know about unclean fasting. Then have you heard about the trend of unclean fasting? For example, who, so, witnessed unclean fasting somewhere."

Tsuchiya shook his head: "I have only heard about unclean fasting. I am not very interested in unclean fasting. I have never taken the initiative to ask people around me about unclean fasting. I have never heard of any unclean fasting. Things related to unclean fasting."

"Is that so..." There was a hint of frustration on Hosaka's face.

Ogata, who had been listening quietly, couldn't help raising his eyebrows after Hosaka said the word "unclean fasting", which was a bit like a title.

After the conversation between Kasaka and Tsuchiya ended, Ogata interrupted and asked:

"Is unclean fasting a certain person's title?"

"That's right!" Hosaka nodded with a smile, "Bujingsai is the title of a very powerful samurai. It's just like Ogata Ittosai's 'Istosai'."

"Unclean fasting? A very powerful warrior?" Jin Cheng said indifferently, "Why have I never heard of such a character."

"It's normal that you haven't heard of it." Hosaka said slowly, "Bujingzhai is only famous in Mutsu, and basically no one knows this character outside of Mutsu."

"I only knew about this character after I wandered to Mutsu with Mizuno four months ago."

"I heard that Bujing Zhai is a very powerful warrior."

"Adept at wielding a Japanese sword."

"And the sword technique he uses is Tang Tu's Japanese sword technique."

"Wave sword technique?" Ogata raised his eyebrows, with interest in his eyes.

Ogata had heard of the name of Japanese Sword Art in his previous life.

Many people mistake Japanese swords for samurai swords, which is not true.

The Japanese sword is a knife that combines the curved blade of the samurai sword with the hilt of the Chinese sword, enabling the use of Chinese and Japanese sword techniques at the same time.

According to legend, the founder of Japanese Sword Art was Qi Jiguang, a famous anti-Japanese general in Ming Dynasty.

"That's right, it's the Japanese sword technique that is said to have been lost in Tang soil."

"I don't know where Bujingzhai learned the Japanese sword technique, and then practiced the Japanese sword technique to the peak."

"Anyone who is his enemy will be killed by his Japanese sword."

"Because he is an enemy and after fighting him, the surrounding land will be stained with the blood of the enemy, so he called himself 'unclean fasting'."

"I've never seen what Wadaoshu is like, so after knowing this character, I've been looking for him, wanting to see Wadaoshu with my own eyes."

"It's a pity that after searching for so long, I didn't even see the shadow of unclean fasting."

"Because Unclean Zhai is only famous in Mutsu, so basically only Mutsu people know the existence of this character."

"Not only can't I find the unclean food, but I can't even find out what the unclean food looks like..."

"It's normal that you can't find unclean food, and you can't find out what it looks like." Tsuchiya said abruptly, "After all, there was no news about unclean food more than forty years ago. Out."

"More than forty years?" Ogata exclaimed in a low voice, "Then this unclean fast is quite old."

"Yes." Tsuchiya nodded, "If Bujingzhai is still alive, he should be almost 70 years old this year."

"As far as I know, not long after Bujingzhai became famous in Mutsu more than 40 years ago, he suddenly disappeared."

"No one ever saw him again."

"There is no further news about him."

"The whole person seems to have disappeared directly."

"So I think Uncle Zhai may have died in an unknown place more than 40 years ago."

"Even if he is not dead, he should be 60 or 70 years old this year, and he is about to die."

Hearing Tsuchiya's words, Kasaka laughed and shrugged disapprovingly:

"What you said just now is just your guess! Maybe someone who is not clean is still practicing Japanese swords leisurely in a certain place!"

"Anyway, I have a lot of time. I will keep looking until I am sure that Uncle Zhai is dead."

"It would be a pity if we didn't get to know the sword technique that originated in the Tang Dynasty but has been lost in the Tang Dynasty."

...

...

at the same time--

In a house in the middle of the village.

At this moment, there are many people in this house.

People with more status and prestige in the village gathered in this house at this time.

The owner of this house is none other than the head of the village—an old man with thinning and graying hair on his head.

The old village chief sat in the center of the hall of the house.

The rest of the people sat around the old village head.

"...In other words, have we recruited a total of 5 warriors now..." The old village head said in a hoarse voice, "5...the number is still a bit small..."

"We have tried our best to find a samurai who is willing to assist us." The person who spoke was Zhuzou, "but... there are no samurai who are willing to assist us...either they think it is dangerous or the pay is too low..."

"Yushiro and I worked hard to finally invite two samurai..."

"...Village Chief." At this moment, a tall middle-aged man sitting cross-legged in front of the old village chief gritted his teeth, "I still don't think we should invite those warriors..."

"Whether these warriors we have invited are good or bad, and whether they are reliable or not, we can't tell at all..."

"Look, didn't something happen today?"

"Qingliu's daughter was almost raped by a warrior."

Hearing the words of the "tall middle-aged man", everyone present couldn't help lowering their heads.

Earlier, after learning that bandits were thinking about their village, they actually had a very heated discussion on "whether to ask samurai for help".

Some people think that it is necessary to ask the samurai to help, and it is more reliable to ask the samurai to help than to ask the government to help.

But there are also quite a few people who think that the samurai should not be invited over, because inviting the samurai over is no different from luring a wolf into a house.

The reason is that the warriors have a bad reputation.

Although the villagers in this village have not had much contact with samurai, they have heard many bad rumors related to samurai.

For example: In order to test new swords, some samurai took innocent civilians to test their swords.

Another example: Some samurai were beheaded by the samurai on the grounds of "disrespect" just because their saber was touched by others or other trivial matters. Then the samurai is not subject to any punishment because of the privilege of "cutting the imperial guard".

All in all - quite a few villagers felt that it would be a bad idea to bring back a bunch of bad-behaved warriors.

People from the two factions quarreled fiercely, and finally decided to ask the warriors to come and help, relying on the highly respected old village head to make a copy.

In fact, quite a few people who supported the samurai who came to help were also very afraid that the samurai who were invited would commit some atrocities.

It's just that the fear of bandits overwhelmed the fear of warriors.

When helping the third class to go to the nearby cities and towns to invite samurai, the villagers who stayed at home hurriedly hid their money and food before the samurai came.

After Hosaka and Mizuno arrived at the village first, those who had young girls in the family warned the girls in the family-never go out.

It's a pity—an accident almost happened today.

That scumbag just arrived in the village this morning, and in the evening, taking advantage of Qingliu and his wife's absence, he sneaked into their home, intending to rape their daughter.

If it wasn't for another samurai to help in time, otherwise I can't imagine the consequences.

The fear that these returned samurai would cause trouble had come true—and this made all the villagers feel both distressed, chagrined, and terrified.

They were afraid that the remaining warriors might also be of some kind with impure thoughts.

"That samurai named Huozaka who saved Qingliu's daughter is quite upright..." Zhuo San said softly.

"What about the other samurai?" The "tall middle-aged man" who questioned the village chief just now about the correctness of inviting the samurai back said without hesitation, "Are the other samurai trustworthy? Are they all honest people?"

Zhu San lowered his head and became silent.

"...Okay." The old village chief sighed softly, "Everyone has already been invited back, so there is no point in debating whether to invite the warriors here."

"I can only take a gamble..."

"I hope the remaining five warriors are all kind-hearted people..."

"However, precautions should be taken."

"Everyone remember to hide all their money and food."

"If you have young girls at home, you should take good care of your girls, and don't let your girls stay alone at home."