I Was a Swordsman in Ancient Japan

Chapter 391: Steam engine and imperial examination system

  Makimura does not know Takikawa.

   When Ogata frowned and looked at Takigawa, Makimura turned his head to the direction of Ogata and asked in a low voice:

   "Brother Ogata, do you know him?"

   "...I don't know it for the first time, but it's not a very friendly understanding."

   Although when he saw Ogata frowning, Makimura roughly guessed that even if he knew Ogata and this samurai he didn't know, the friendship would definitely be bad.

   But after hearing Ogata personally admit that his relationship with this person is not the kind of friendly relationship, Makimura's face is still uncontrollably covered with bitterness.

   "The man's clothes seem to be made of the finest silk from'Sendai Flat'. It looks like he should be a samurai with great status. How did you engage with these high-ranking samurai..."

   The name of "Sendai Flat" is no one knows.

   In the words of Modern Earth, "Sendai Flat" is a well-known brand.

   is a brand specializing in high-end silk.

   Because of its excellent quality, "Sendai Peace" has also become one of the tributes dedicated to the royal family and generals.

   can use "Sendai flat" in this era, all are big families.

  Makimura has worked in Kyoto for 5 years and because of the power, I have seen many wealthy and powerful people.

  Because he is a person who has seen the world, he has a good vision, so he can tell at a glance that the clothes worn by this samurai who he doesn't know are all high-quality goods that ordinary samurai can't wear.

   Different from the first meeting in Yoshihara's staying house the day before yesterday, Takikawa was wearing a black haori with a straight striped hakama.

  The sword worn on the waist is also different from the one Ogata saw the day before yesterday.

  The hilts and collars of the   Takato and Wakisashi are decorated with silver ornaments, and they look extremely gorgeous.

  Because they are so gorgeous, people wonder whether these two knives have practical value in the end.

   Although Ogata does not recognize at a glance that the clothes Takikawa wears are made of high-quality "Sendaihei" fabrics like Makimura, he can also tell that his clothes are not ordinary.

The handsome facial features, the clean and tidy head of the moon, coupled with the gorgeous costumes, and the exquisite saber, make him look dignified, and the breath radiating from all over his body seems to be proud to announce to everyone that he is a Kachimoto samurai. identity of.

   And his full-fledged dress really attracted a lot of attention for him.

  Many passers-by who passed by him turned back and cast different emotional glances at Takikawa.

   The eyes of men are mainly surprise, jealousy, and admiration.

   And women's eyes are less jealous and envy. But instead of it, there are a lot of other emotions.

   Takikawa is not alone.

   There are many people who seem to be friends of Takikawa behind him.

   Ogata counted, and there were 13 people in the group behind Takikawa.

   After frowning and looking at the sudden appearance of Takigawa, Okinawa calmly lowered the center of gravity of his body slightly, and then he was ready to pull the sword out of its sheath at any time.

   Takikawa had a big embarrassment when I was in the house the day before yesterday.

   In this era when the samurai generally emphasizes reputation and respect, when an outsider and the samurai pass by, they accidentally touch the samurai's shoulder, and the samurai may draw swords and hack people.

   Therefore, in order to avenge the previous day's revenge, Takikawa drew his sword and slashed towards Ogata-the possibility is still very high.

Although Makimura didn’t know what happened between Ogata and this person, after learning from Ogata’s mouth that the relationship between him and this person was not that kind of friendly relationship, he also silently raised his guard, like Ogata. He lowered his body's center of gravity a little like that, and stared straight at Takikawa and the others.

   While staring at Takigawa, Ogata also looked at Tsujiban not far away from the corner of his eye.

   The six officials guarding the gate of Tsujiban all looked at them with weird eyes at this time.

   At the same time, they clenched the thorns in their respective hands silently.

   Looking at their appearance, it is not difficult to imagine-if Ogata and Takikawa and others had a conflict, these officials would definitely rush to arrest them without saying a word.

  While Ogata is staring at Takigawa, Takikawa is staring at Ogata.

   Some of the unknown companions behind Takikawa saw this and asked Takikawa in confusion:

   "Takikawa-kun, what's wrong?"

"……It's nothing."

   Takikawa looked at Ogata, and then at the registration site for the "Gozen Examination" next to Ogata, and then—

   "Are you also here to sign up for the'Prince Test Combination'?"

   "That's right." There is nothing to hide from this kind of thing, so Ogata confessed very happily.

   continued to stare at Ogata with complicated eyes for a long time, but did not say a word, and ignored Ogata, passing by with his companions behind him.

   Ogata and Makimura watched the departure of Takikawa and others.

   Knowing that the Takikawa gang had turned a street corner and completely disappeared from the two people's field of vision, the two people slowly adjusted the body's center of gravity that had been lowered.

   As soon as the two of them withdrew their gazes from the direction where Takigawa and others disappeared, they heard an angry voice coming from beside them:

   "It's terrifying...I thought you two were going to fight that group of people..."

  The speaker is the official responsible for checking whether the applicant is a fugitive.

   "Sorry, I surprised you."

   As soon as Ogata’s apology fell, another official sitting next to him turned to Tsujibannu who was next to him, and said to Ogata:

   "Fortunately, you didn't fight a while ago. If you fight a lot just now, you will all be caught in jail."

   "If you are all caught in jail, then you two will definitely suffer."

   "I knew that group of people just now. They were all Kabamoto warriors. They had a big family."

   "They go to jail in the morning, and can get out of the jail with the help of people at home in the afternoon."

   "Although I don't know what is going on between you and them, it's better to stay away from them. It's better not to provoke them."

   After giving some kind reminders to Ogata, the officer showed Ogata a piece of paper that he had been writing on since the beginning, covered with a lot of words, and it looked like a clerk.

   "Take it away. Don't lose it. This thing is proof of your identity."

   "At five o'clock in the morning seven days later, take this document to the Kitamachi Office."

   "After confirming your identity, a special official will take you to the place where the literary examination is assessed."

   "Remember not to be late."

   After briefly clarifying some of the main points of the "Gozen Test Combination" to Ogata, the official handed the paper that looked like a document to Ogata.

   "Thank you." Ogata took the piece of paper and scanned the words on the paper.

   There is nothing superfluous on this piece of paper, but Ogata’s name, age, martial arts genre used, household registration and other important information are written, and there is a big red stamp on the lower left corner of the paper.

   After confirming that the ink was dry, Ogata solemnly took the piece of paper into his arms.

   "Go away, Makura."

After    greeted Makura, Xu Jian took the lead to walk away from the registration point.

   Makimura took a few steps quickly, and after catching up with Ogata’s pace, he asked Ogata:

   "Speaking of which, brother Ogata, are you confident to pass the literary test? If you can't even pass the literary test, you don't even have the qualifications to participate in the martial arts test."

As soon as    Makimura's voice fell, Okinawa said grimly:

   "If I don't have the confidence to pass the essay test, then I won't be so active in wanting to take part in the ‘Gozen Test Combination’."

   As early as the day before yesterday, when he wandered around Edo Castle with Amachi, looking for information about the "Gozen Test Combination", Ogata learned from passers-by what the content of the literary test was.

  The content of the essay test is to make papers.

   But it’s not about writing eight-legged essays.

   is a fill-in-the-blank question.

   hollow out the important content of some sentences in the Four Books and Five Classics, and then fill in the hollowed out content.

   This is the whole content of the essay test. Fill in the blanks.

   A total of 100 sentences are tested, and half of the sentences are answered correctly, that is, if the answer is 50 correct, even if you pass the literary test, you can enter the following martial arts test.

   Regarding the fact that the literary examination only fills in the blanks, Ogata is not surprised.

   Almost a thousand years ago, when implementing the "Dahua Reformation" to comprehensively study the various cultural systems of the Tang Dynasty, the imperial examination system of the Tang Dynasty was also moved to Japan.

   It is a pity that when Japan implemented the imperial examination system, it happened at a time when the power of the nobility rose sharply.

   The imperial examination system with equal spirit naturally had a huge conflict with the aristocratic tradition.

  The imperial examination system did not survive long in Japan before it died out.

   By the time of the Edo period, the imperial examination system had completely disappeared.

   The vast majority of people in this era don’t even know what it means to take exams and do papers.

   In the absence of an examination culture, it is definitely impossible to take a test of eight-legged essays, which is extremely difficult.

   There may be fewer than ten people who can write eight-part essays in Japan.

   Therefore, among the various types of examination questions, only fill-in-the-blank questions are the most suitable.

   is not only a good test of how well the tester’s four books and five classics are memorized, but also allows people who have never taken the test before to quickly understand how to answer the questions.

   There is no more suitable test question.

   As soon as Ogata finished speaking, Makimura laughed a lot.

   "That's right, I seem to have asked an extra question."

   "I remember Ogata, you seem to have told me that you learned the Four Books and Five Classics very well."

   Hearing Makimura's words, Ogata couldn't help but smile.

   "It's okay."

  ……

  ……

   "Takikawa-kun."

   Just turning a corner and far away from Ogata, a young man standing behind Takigawa asked Takigawa.

   "Who was that person just now? Seeing how you two were just now, your relationship with that person just now seems very bad."

   "A ronin from Izumo...it was a bit unpleasant with him, right."

Because what happened to Takikawa the day before yesterday is so profound that Takikawa wants to forget it, Takikawa still remembers this man who made himself a big embarrassment in front of so many people-Izumo Rani , Goro Mashima.

   What happened to Ogata in the house the day before yesterday is not a feat worthy of telling outsiders.

   Therefore, Takikawa does not intend to tell his companions in detail what happened between him and Ogata.

   After learning from Takikawa's mouth that the person just now was just a waver, the friends behind Takikawa all showed a loss of interest.

   After fooling around with the question his friend asked just now, Takikawa shrugged and let out a sneer.

   "Although I have had some unpleasantness with him, I don't plan to care about him in general."

   "He is just a stranger from a foreign country, and I am the eldest son of the Kakimoto Takikawa family."

   "Doesn't the price be lowered when the dignified flag is compared with a wave of people?"

   Takikawa's words with a slight contempt made the group of friends behind him amused.

   "You're right." The person who asked Takikawa and Ogata just now laughed, "We are Hamoto, and it would be too cheap to care about with the ronin from an unknown country."

   "What's more, we are not just ordinary Kabamoto." Another friend of Takikawa echoed, "We are the aspirations of Samu, let alone waste time on a few people."

   This friend's words are in Takikawa's heart.

   "That's right." Takikawa said with a proud face. "Rather than wasting time on these ronin, it's better to concentrate and focus on other business matters."

"Okay, don't talk about the guy just now." Takikawa waved his hand, "I was delayed for some time with that guy just now, let's speed up our pace, hurry up to the tea house and start our'joint research' today. ."

   Takigawa, or other friends, when the word "ronin" is mentioned, there is a slight or strong contempt in his face and tone.

   During this period of time, Takikawa and his group of friends gathered together almost every day to study the four books and five classics together in preparation for the subsequent "Imperial Examination" essay.

   Takikawa and the others called their daily behavior of gathering together to study the Four Books and Five Classics as "joint research."

   Takikawa and the 13 young men who are also Kachimoto samurai behind him are both friends and like-minded people.

   And Takikawa also likes to call themselves "Shishi", to separate them from the other samurai who are eating together and waiting to die.

   The shogunate is known as "80,000 Qiben", but the actual number of banners is actually less than 5,000.

   Including the level one level lower than the Kamoto samurai, and unlike the Kamoto samurai who have the right to meet the generals directly, the total number is less than 20,000.

Although    is a high-ranking warrior who belongs directly to the general, most of them are corrupted.

   As one of the banners, Takikawa naturally understands the corruption of the banners and the royal family better than anyone else.

   Quite a lot of Kibmoto, Yu Family’s children are greedy for pleasure, and both civil and martial arts are abolished.

   The thought of so many Kakimoto and Yu family children so useless, Takikawa felt superiority spontaneously.

  Because he is not only civil and military, but also ambitious, he has always been determined to serve the curtain and let the shogunate regain the prosperity of Ieyasu when he was alive.

   At this time, the 13 friends behind Takikawa, like Takikawa, are determined to Sama.

  Because of the same aspirations, they always get together like this from time to time to prepare together for the subsequent "Private Test Combination".

   They are determined to show their talents in the "Imperial Examination" and gain the appreciation of Matsuhira Dingxin, and then make a big stride towards the goal of "Samu".

   When he thinks that he is a civilian and martial artist, and a lofty person who is aiming at Samu and is constantly striving for it, Takikawa feels overwhelmingly superior.

   If someone with his own identity wastes time on such a ronin who may not even have a fixed residence, he will suffer the most.

   Of course, Takikawa asked himself—he was just out of identity considerations, and didn't want to care about Ogata, who was a mere trifle. It didn't mean that his resentment towards Ogata was gone.

   Walking in front of the friends and leading the way, Takikawa subconsciously turned his head and looked to the back where Ogata was no longer visible.

   There were a few undetectable displeasure and resentment in his eyes.

   What happened in the residence the day before yesterday, Takikawa still vividly remembers.

   Because of Ogata, he lost a big face in front of so many wanderers.

  Takikawa still remembers the eyes of those wandering girls looking at him until now.

   Thinking back to the eyes of the tour girls looking at him, Takikawa felt his resentment towards Ogata a little bit inflated.

"By the way, did the person standing there just now want to sign up for the'Private Examination'?" Although Takikawa said just now to stop talking about this topic, some people still talked about Kazuo unconsciously. Party-related topics.

Takikawa nodded: "I just saw that the two officials sitting at the table behind the case were looking through the wanted warrants to check if the guy is a fugitive wanted criminal. That guy should have signed up for the'Prince Trial' just now. ."

   "That person should also be the kind of person who is interested in the bonus." Another Takikawa friend echoed in a contemptuous tone, "After all, he is a ronin."

   "Probably so." The corners of Takikawa's mouth were slightly raised, and a faint complacency appeared on his face.

   Hearing these words from friends just now, Takikawa felt a strong sense of superiority coming out of his heart.

   The identity gap between myself and the guy who made myself embarrassed is like a cloud of mud.

   What does it mean to be able to recite "The Analects" in Chinese? It's not just a roamer.

   Unless you can find a reliable new owner, you can only spend the rest of your life in a mediocre corner like mud in the second half of your life.

   And he was born in Qimoto, and he is not an ordinary child of Qimoto.

   3,000 stones of Jialu, although it is not the top-notch in Qiben, but such Jialu is enough to disregard most of the Qiben and Yu family.

  While having a superior family background, he can also be a literary and martial artist. He has the lofty ambition of being "successor to the curtain", and his future is limitless.

   When I think of this, the irritation that Ogata has caused me to be embarrassed in the room is slightly reduced. What makes up for the displeasure is a strong sense of superiority.

   This strong sense of superiority made the corners of Takikawa's mouth become more and more upturned, and his walking speed couldn't help but become a little faster.

  ……

  ……

   Edo, Edo Castle.

   "Old Master, please forgive me for being blunt. The reforms you have made can be described in one word-bells and whistles."

   In the Edo Castle, in a room specially used by high-ranking officials for discussions, there are constant voices of people talking.

   There are 5 people in the room.

   Although there are only 5 people, these 5 people are without exception, except for the generals, the 5 most powerful people in the shogunate.

   These 5 people are-the old Nakamatsu Ping Dingxin, and the only 4 people who are currently in the shogunate, Ruojinian.

   If it is sent to the official position, it is only one level lower than the senior middle school, usually there are 3-5 people. It manages officials outside the scope of the senior middle school's power and assists the generals and the old middle school in ruling the country.

   Laozhong and Ruo Nianzhi gathered together to discuss national affairs, this is just a very common thing.

   Today is the same as usual-Matsudaira Matsuba, as an old middle school, and the four Ruonianyou people got together to start a new round of discussions on national affairs.

   It's just that - in the recent period, the number of discussions held by Matsohira Teshin and Ruonianyou has obviously increased and become more frequent.

   The reason is that the various reforms, large or small, brought out by Matsuhira Dingxin’s recent events one after another.

   And Ruo Nianyou are also forced to actively or passively discuss these reforms made by Songping Dingxin with Songping Dingxin.

   "Instead of making these fancy reforms, it is better to concentrate a little bit and focus on the areas that can really revitalize the country."

  The person who spoke was one of the four Ruonian mails-Toshiki Kitagawa.

   Beichuan, who had just passed his 28th birthday, spoke in a low tone.

   His dark eyes are full of confidence, flashing a bit rebellious.

   allows the audience to understand that this is a pair of eyes that a doer who is determined to do real things will have.

The Yicai, who has been forged through the harmony of hard work and talent, is so highly praised by the teachers and friends around him, he leaned forward in the direction where Matsuba Matshin was sitting, and he seemed to rush to Matsuba Matshin at any time. The look of his body.

   Although the status of Laozhong is higher than that of Ruo Nianyou, there is no difference in height between the seats of 5 people, it is just an irregular circle.

   After quietly listening to Beichuan's sharp speech just now, the expression on Dingxin's face did not change at all.

   It seems that Beichuan's sharp accusation just now refers to others, not himself.

   After Beichuan’s voice fell, Dingxin asked calmly:

   "Then I'm going to ask Kitagawa-kun, do you have any ideas about the phrase you just said, "Concentrate a little bit and focus on the place that can really rejuvenate the country"?"

   "It's easy! Just do one thing." Beichuan raised a finger and said, "Send envoys to the Nanban countries to investigate the Nanban countries in depth!"

   Beichuan's words not only made Dingxin frowned, but the other people around him also frowned.

   "Can you tell me the reason?" Dingxin asked.

"Old Master, you should have seen the wind commentary posted by the Dutch businessman George three months ago?" Beichuan said in a deep voice, "England, among the Southern Barbarian countries, has begun to use one on a large scale. The device named'steam engine'."

   "The rest of the Nanban countries have also begun to gradually put into use the'steam engine'."

"According to the wind commentary post presented by George, a small'steam engine' has the power of a hundred animals. Only one'steam engine' can increase the daily mining volume of a mine by several times, even ten times. Several times."

As soon as    Beichuan finished speaking, Dingxin let out a smile with a deep disdain:

   "Kun Kitagawa, this kind of rhetoric is no different from the falsehood of a three-year-old child, do you believe it too?"

   "Of course I have read what you said about this post by the Dutch businessman George before March."

   "I also remember the above."

   "It said: The steam engine uses steam as its power."

   "Isn't this bullshit?!"

   When saying this, the volume of Dingxin suddenly increased several times, shaking the necks of the other three Ruo Nianyou except Beichuan.

   "Small steam can resist the power of a hundred animals? Even a five-year-old child will not believe this kind of stupidity."

"Old Master!" Bei Chuan replied with an unbelievable voice, "To be honest, I am also skeptical of George's post in Fengshuo's post that the'steam engine' can withstand the power of a hundred animals. ."

   "But because we don't know the truth or not, we should send people to the southern countries to investigate!"

   "If the content written in this post by George is correct, then the'steam engine' is definitely a big killer for the benefit of the country and the people! We must also have the'steam engine'!"

   Although Kitagawa's tone is sincere, Matsuba Matshinbu still looks uninterested.

"Now there is no spare money and free time to investigate the Nanban countries." Matsuba Dingxin waved his hand impatiently. "Instead of wasting this money to investigate the Nanban countries, it is better to use the money to investigate the movements of the country of Lucia. "

   "Russia has sent expeditions to Ezo land more frequently."

   "Compared with the English country, the country of Lucia, which is eyeing our northern gateway to Japan, is more worthy of our attention."

   Seeing Matsuhiro Matsuri showing a disinterested attitude toward the proposition just now, Beichuan's face immediately became hard to look.

   Just when Beichuan was about to say something more, another Ruonianyou sitting next to him pulled Beichuan's sleeve.

   This person is the other of the 4 Wakanenyo-Yoshimoto Tsuiemon.

   Yoshimoto is the oldest of the five people present-50 years old this year.

   is not only the oldest one, but also the least useful one.

   He didn't have much ability, and he sat in the position of Ruo Nianzhi purely relying on Zu Yin.

   When everyone was discussing government affairs enthusiastically, he basically sat on the side like a motionless puppet and said nothing—because he could not say anything that was instigated.

   But to say that he has no effect at all, it is not.

   When Laozhong quarreled with the rest of Ruo Nianzhi, he was always the first to stand up as a peacemaker.

  Because he is the oldest, even Matsuhira Dingxin will give him face to his elders, and when he stands up to be a "peacemaker", Dingxin will also give him a face.

   Thanks to Yoshimoto’s blessing, Edo Castle has lost a lot of blood and light disasters.

   Seeing Yoshimoto remind him not to touch Songping Dingxin with his actions and eyes, Beichuan pursed his lips and snorted coldly after being silent for a while.

   "...Forget it, about sending envoys to the Nanban countries, let's talk about it slowly later."

   Kitagawa pulled his sleeves back from Yoshimoto's hands.

   "Old Master, let's discuss the next thing." Beichuan put his hands around his chest, "The next thing to discuss is also something I have been paying attention to since I heard about it."

   "This matter is related to the'Imperial Examination' held by you, Mr. Zhong."

   After hearing the word "Gozensake" from Beichuan's mouth, Matsudaira's eyes narrowed slightly.

   "Old Master." Beichuan Chao Matsubishi Dingxin cast a meaningful look, "I recently heard of such an interesting rumor from other people."

   "Everyone knows that the reason why Lao Zhong Dao held the "Prince Test Combination" is to use this as an opportunity to encourage everyone to practice martial arts and revitalize the martial arts."

   "But recently, an interesting rumor came out: This is just a superficial reason. It is used to fool some officials in the shogunate so that the'Once Upon a Time' can be held smoothly."

   "In essence, Lao Zhong Dao held the'Imperial Examination' for another purpose."

   "The real purpose is to accumulate experience in holding exams, and to find out the content and methods of exams that suit our people little by little."

   "In order to prepare for the resurrection of the'imperial examination system' in our country in the future."

   "Old Master, this rumor is true or false, can you give us a positive answer here?"

   The rest of Ruonian Post didn't show any surprise after hearing Beichuan's words.

   They calmly declared to Songping Dingxin silently: They already knew about this rumor.

   The four Wakanenyo, headed by Kitagawa, focused their attention on Matsupira Matshin.

   Bathed in the gaze of the four colleagues, Matsuba Dingxin did not immediately answer.

   only continued to maintain his expressionless appearance, silent.

   After a short silence--

   "Hahaha." Matsuhira Dingxin let out a few chuckles, "Does this still need to be said? Of course this is a false rumor."

   "Resurrecting the imperial examination system in Tangtu? How can the resurrection of the imperial examination system, which has been extinct in our country for hundreds of years, benefit our country?"

   "The reason why I plan to hold the'Imperial Test Combination' is just to better encourage everyone to practice literary and martial arts."

   "There is no other purpose."

   "The rumor you have heard is nothing but a malicious slander on me."

   "You don't need to care."

   "...The old master did not mean to revive the imperial examination system." After quietly listening to what Dingxin said just now, Beichuan said in a flat tone, UU reading www.uukanshu. com "The demise of the imperial examination system in our country hundreds of years ago has proved that the imperial examination system only applies to the Tang Dynasty, not to our country."

   "We have a large number of outstanding warriors, and there is no need to resurrect the imperial examination system."

   "Since Mr. Zhong, you personally said that your purpose of hosting the'Prince Test Combination' is very simple, then I can rest assured."

   I don’t know why, when Beichuan said the sentence just now, he emphasized the intonation of the words "in person".

  Matsuhira smiled without saying a word, lowered his head to grab the teacup by his knee.

   When he lowered his head, a faint coldness appeared in his eyes.

   It's just that he just lowered his head at this time, and this coldness was fleeting, so the surrounding Beichuan and others did not notice the coldness in Matsupira's eyes.

  *******

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