I Was a Swordsman in Ancient Japan

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

"Fortunately, during this period, the government finally began to vigorously rectify the naturalized Ezos in the domain."

"Some of the naturalized Ezos who were offered a reward were caught one by one."

"Now there is only this most troublesome one who is still running away."

After that, the bald head raised his hand and pointed at the wall covered with wanted orders.

"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 order that the bald head was pointing at.

He just looked at his wanted warrant, but didn't look at other wanted warrants.

The wanted order to which the bald head was pointing had a rather rough face painted.

The hair and whiskers on the face are extremely exuberant, making Ogata involuntarily recall the image of Zhang Fei in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

The artist who drew this wanted order is quite skilled, and can outline very deep facial features in a few simple strokes.

Profound facial features and exuberant hair-the typical Ezo image.

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

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

The other wanted criminals are just ordinary criminals, which is like Ogata-the dignity of the shogunate is regarded 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 will be enough for a family of three to eat and drink for many years in the future, provided that there is no such thing as "day starvation". This is a catastrophic disaster that will greatly depreciate money.

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

The bald head continued.

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

"In addition to being cunning, this person is also very dangerous. He has many subordinates, all of whom are naturalized Ezos. He gathered all the naturalized Ezos who are dissatisfied with us and people, and it is said that he has developed a group. Little power."

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

"Are there many naturalized Ezos in Matsumae Castle?" Ah Ding, who had been listening quietly just now, asked at this time, "I don't seem to see many Ezos on the street today."

From landing to the present, apart from meeting three naturalized Ezos who planned to kill them, Ogata and Amachi have never seen the rest of Ezos wearing kimonos.

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

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

"You can see more naturalized Ezos at the northwest corner."

…

…

at the same time-

Matsumae Castle, in an extremely hidden house somewhere in the western suburbs—

A relatively young Ezo tiptoe walked into a room in this house.

"Maca makes trouble for adults." After entering the room, the young Ezo said to a group of dark shadows in the room in a respectful tone.

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

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

"What's the matter?"

If Ogata and Amachi were present, they would be surprised to see the true face of this figure.

This figure is the only fugitive wanted criminal among the naturalized Ezos that the bald head just told them and asked them to pay attention to it-Maca Nao.

Macnao grabbed the lush beard on his chin while casting a sharp gaze at the young Ezo in front of him.

"Today, three of our compatriots died in the city." The young Ezo responded in a neither salty nor light tone. "Dead in a certain alley. Because the three of them had bows and arrows on them, the government judged them to be three. It is to rob others with bows and arrows, and then be killed by others."

"Therefore, it seems that the government does not intend to seriously investigate how these three of our compatriots died."

"We plan to close the case as'These 3 people are robbed and killed instead of being killed.'"

"...Have you found out who the three dead are?" Maca's beard pulling became rough.

"I found it out. It's Hepei, Sinole, and Ma Bo."

"...These three names don't make any impression." Maca said softly, "Are you a compatriot who has only recently moved into Matsumae City?"

"It's normal for you to have no impression that Maca makes trouble." The young Ezo replied, "Although the three of them lived in Matsumae Castle very early, they have always lived low-key, so they have been inconspicuous."

"Are the three of them really killed because of the failure of the robbery?" Maca Nao then asked.

"...It is very likely that this is the case." The young Ezo's voice, which has been without any emotion, finally showed some fluctuations at this time. "According to the three of their friends, because they have not been willing to hire them. Work."

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

"...It seems that they are three more compatriots who have been driven to a dead end." Maca's voice showed a strong hatred, "Damn and people...!"

After all, Maca got up and walked to the side window.

Standing by the window, you can clearly see the light of the distant fire.

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

After nightfall, there was little fire in this area, which formed an extremely sharp contrast with the rest of the city.

Maccao looked out through the window and could see an extremely obvious difference—the area where he and his compatriots lived was pitch black, while the other urban areas outside this area were brightly lit.

There are two worlds in the same city.

Maca stared at the lights outside the window, and hatred slowly appeared in his eyes.

"Tell others."

Maca said to the young Ezo behind him.

"Make them ready to fight at any time."

"We must take down the leader of the Heren-the head of the person who has made peace and trust!"

When the name "Songping Dingxin" was uttered, Maca's voice was sonorous and powerful.

It's like talking about something that is sure to get.

…

…

Matsumae Clan, Matsumae Castle, inside a certain military warehouse—

"Old Master, go here."

A middle-aged official made an "invite" to Songping Dingxin behind him, and then led Matsuheing Dingxin to a corner of the warehouse.

The middle-aged official was accompanied by two young officials on both sides.

As for Songping Dingxin-carrying his hands on his back, under the leadership of this middle-aged official, he strode forward.

His little surname Tachibana, and a group of guards followed.

The middle-aged officials who led the way brought Songping Dingxin to a "sea of ​​wooden boxes" composed of boxes of huge rectangular wooden boxes.

The wooden boxes that make up this "sea of ​​wooden boxes" are very large, which is more than enough for adult men of this age with average height to lie in.

Before and after taking Songhei Dingxin to this "sea of ​​wooden boxes", the middle-aged official immediately winked at the two young officials who had been following him just now.

These two fairly eye-catching young officials quickly understood, and then stepped forward to open a wooden box in this "sea of ​​wooden boxes", revealing the scene in the wooden box.

"Old Master." The middle-aged officer bowed and made a "please" action to Songping Dingxin, "This is the collapse of the country that Yu just arrived. Please have a look."

Songping Dingxin stepped forward and looked into the wooden box.

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

In the center of the dry straw lies a huge cannon.

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

Songping Dingxin raised his hand and stroked the cannon.

Feeling the cold touch of the fingertips, Matsuba Dingxin gave a faint smile:

"I have been waiting for you for a long time..."

The collapse of the country is actually artillery.

In the Warring States period more than two hundred years ago, the Portuguese spread the artillery to the home of the princes in the south of the country-Otomo.

The lord of the Otomo family at the time: Otomo Zonglin, after witnessing the power of the artillery, was very pleased to name it "the collapse of the country".

Since then, the Japanese have used to refer to artillery as the collapse of the country.

Of course, some people call the artillery "big tube". Because there are quite a few types of big cannons, the style and firepower of some big cannons are no different from cannons.

Matsuhira Dingxin is the "National Collapse Party" who used to call artillery the collapse of the country.

This time the army sent troops to the north, and the sword pointed to the Red Moon Fortress, Songping was sure to win.

The war this time actually contained a lot of political elements.

Through this war, Ezo, who was dissatisfied with them and their people, was able to witness their power with their own eyes, and let them recognize the gap between their two nations.

Therefore, in order to let the Ezos feel the strength of them and their people as deeply as possible, Matsudaira persuaded the shogun to send troops to the north, and then persuaded the shogun to mobilize as many iron cannons (fire guns), big barrels and the country as possible .

The shogun, who was almost obedient to Matsuba Matshinbu, almost agreed to Matsuba Matshinbu's proposal without hesitation.

This is an era of peace, and there has been no large-scale war in this country for a long time. Regardless of the shogunate or the vassal state, the armaments have long been depleted.

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

These firearms have been delivered to Songqian City one after another in these days.

Just a while ago, Songping Dingxin finally received the news that the collapse of the 9 countries was finally delivered to this place, and it has been collected into the library.

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

Matsuba Dingxin, 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 latest national collapse.

That's why Songping Dingxin was brought to this warehouse by the middle-aged official.

After removing his finger from the barrel of Guobeng in front of him, Matsuba Dingxin turned his head and asked the middle-aged official beside him:

"Are all the 9 countries collapsed safely delivered?"

"It's all served."

"Open it all to me to see."

"Yes."

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

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

After installing various parts such as wheels on these barrels, they can be put into combat.

After confirming that the quantity is correct, Songping Dingxin immediately said:

"What about the shells? Did the shells arrive?"

"So far, 60 shells have been delivered." The middle-aged official replied, "There are more than a hundred shells to be delivered later."

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

"Yes!"

The middle-aged officials took the Songping Dingxin to another warehouse.

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

Arrived at the warehouse where the shells were stored, after seeing the new shells, the smile full of satisfaction was already covered with the whole face of Matsuba Dingxin.

"Okay, okay." Standing in front of the box of shells, Dingxin Songping said two "OK" with a smile on his face.

A look of surprise appeared on Tachibana's face standing behind him—Matsuhira Matshinori always had a straight face, and it was rare for him to say two "good" words with a smile like he is now.

In fact, Matsuhira Dingxin is indeed very happy now.

He couldn't wait to see the scene where their artillery drove all the Ezos entrenched in the Red Moon Fortress.

…

…

The taste of "Crab Pot" is indeed quite good.

The crabs here are bigger and more delicious than all the crabs Ogata has seen before.

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

Because the crab hotpot fits the taste of Acho, after leaving the restaurant, Acho still misses the taste of crab pot.

"It tastes really good." Ah Ding licked his lips and touched his flat belly even after a full meal. "Let's eat later."

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

Having said that, Ogata turned his head too far and looked at Amachi's somewhat ruddy face seriously.

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

Prior to this, the sequelae of seasickness still remained in Ah Ding's body, and he still felt a little tired and dizzy before eating.

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

"That's good."

At the end of Ogata and Amachi's direction is the hotel they rented.

When the inn they were staying in appeared in front of their field of vision, the two passersby passing by Ah Ting drew A Ting's gaze away.

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

The woman's eyebrows were shaved off, and her teeth were dyed black-she knew she was a married woman at first glance.

After a woman married as a wife, she shaved off her eyebrows and dyed her teeth black—this was one of the trends in the Edo period.

But to this day, this trend has declined, and many women have stopped doing this-for example, Ah Ting did not do it.

Today, there are more women like Ah Ting who do not shave their eyebrows and have their teeth blackened. This kind of people who shave their eyebrows and black their teeth after marriage are relatively rare.

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 women and this little girl are somewhat similar, they should be towards the mother and daughter.

The mother and daughter who passed by Ogata and Amachi were talking and laughing, and they were chatting happily.

Even though the mother and daughter had passed by with Ah Ding, Ah Ding still turned his head and stared at the mother and daughter with thoughtful expressions.

"Amachi, what's the matter?" Ogata, who noticed Amachi's strangeness, turned his head and cast a puzzled look at Amachi.

"Ah, nothing." Ah Ding quickly retracted his gaze from the pair of mother and daughter, "Let's go, let's go back to the hotel."

…

…

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

The two of them still spent most of the day at sea today. Although Ah Ding has become a lot more energetic after dinner, and the sequelae of seasickness has been reduced a lot, but there must be a lot of fatigue backlog in Ah Ding. Of the body.

Taking this into consideration, Ogata decided to eat and rest earlier today, to investigate the whereabouts of the two people, Xuanzheng and Xuanzhi, and leave it to the next day after a good rest.

In order for Ah Ding to have a good rest today, the life harmony that I used to do every night will not be done tonight.

But after getting into the bed with Amachi, Ogata found that Amachi opened his eyes wide and looked at the ceiling, not knowing what he was thinking.

"Amachi, what's the matter?" Ogata asked. "Why look serious?"

"...Nothing." Ah Ding whispered, "I just saw a mother and daughter when I was returning to the hotel."

"Then it suddenly occurred to me—I will be like that woman one day, holding my child, playing with my child or something..."

"When I think of this, I feel a little...complex."

"It's hard to imagine the scene of me holding my child later..."

Hearing this, Ogata was stunned.

Then he mumbled:

"Children... Listening to what you said... I can hardly imagine the scene of holding my child later..."

Holding the child with Amachi—This kind of picture seems far away at first thought, but it’s not far away when I think about it carefully... This picture that still exists in Ogata’s imagination may change in a year or two. For reality.

Although at the beginning, when he and Amachi were frank with each other, Ogata would also consciously take protective measures.

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

But this method is not perfect protection-Ogata had taken corresponding courses in school in his previous life.

Moreover, Ogata has been unable to count how many times he was too involved, causing his speed to slow down a little or a little, causing the asteroid to pass the earth or directly hit the earth.

Due to the excessive number of times, Ogata would not be surprised if Amachi told Ogata that she was pregnant a few months later.

"...In the future, the scene of us holding our baby really appears." Ogata turned his head and smiled at Amachi, "Let's work hard together."

"Bring up the children together."

"I don't know if our first child is a boy or a girl." A Ding murmured.

"I don't care if it's a man or a woman. I don't care about this kind of thing. I don't have a preference for someone because of the child's gender."

"Will you teach our kids swordsmanship?" Ah Ding then asked, "If it were our kids, he would be very talented in swordsmanship."

"Teachers must be able to teach. 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 books and open a private school in the future."

"Ah, by the way, we can try to let our children and grandchildren learn Lanxue (Western knowledge)."

After that, Ogata gave a meaningful smile.

"Lanxue? Why?" Ah Ding was puzzled.

"It's nothing, it just feels that learning Lanxue is more promising."

Of course it is impossible for Ogata to tell Amachi: He is a traverser, knowing that in 70 years, there will be American ships blasting through the gates of Japan. From then on, people who are familiar with orchid studies have become sweet cakes.

Although I don’t know much about Japanese history in my previous life, Ogata still knew about the founding of Japan in the 19th century.

Because of this, Ogata knew about swordsmanship, and after 70 years, it became useless, so he didn't really hope that he and Amachi's children and grandchildren would open a sword hall in the future. It had no future.

By the generation of the great-grandson of the two, Lanxue has become a very popular knowledge. As long as you understand Lanxue, you don't have to worry about being reused.

Knowing what will happen in the future, Ogata thinks this kind of thing is very interesting.

…

…

The next day—

Last night, Ogata and Amachi discussed things about the future for a long time—basically, there are things with and without.

Before not knowing it, Ah Ding fell into a deep sleep when he was tired of talking.

After sleeping in Amachi, Ogata also closed his eyes.

Not long after dawn, Ogata and Amachi both got up and changed their clothes.

They intend to officially start looking for clues related to the whereabouts of the two masters and apprentices Xuan Zheng and Xuan Zhi.

They are ready to fight a protracted battle.

Although Matsumae Castle is not large in scale, it is tantamount to finding two people in such a town who do not even know when they arrived at Ezo Land. It is tantamount to finding a needle in a haystack.

And maybe I searched Song Qiancheng all the time, but I couldn't find the slightest clue.

The two who had been prepared for a protracted battle a long time ago, when they came to Ezo land by boat, they counted the money they had left in order to prepare for the next protracted battle.

When Amachi left Shiranui, he didn't have much money, so after Kyoto and Ogata reunited, Amachi basically used Ogata's money.

Money given to him by Tokuraaga after leaving the feudal domain + money from the imperial trial + money from killing the band of bandits more than a month ago + money distributed to him by Jiro Nishino after the big sale of "Ichitosai" + money from those who do not live or die The money taken from the guy who robbed or demanded someone else's head = Ogata's current total deposit.

Excluding silver and copper coins, Ogata and Amachi now have 186 taels of money.

As long as the money is not misused, the money will be sufficient for the "protracted war" they will fight in Ezo.

After getting up, washing and changing clothes, Amachi Asakata asked:

"Where shall we check first."

"...Go to the port first." Ogata groaned for a moment, and then replied, "If Xuanzheng and Xuanzhi had landed in Ezo land through the port of Matsumae Castle in a proper manner, there might be a port. The staff remember them."

After quickly deciding on the location of the first investigation, Ogata and Amachi hurriedly left the hotel and hurried towards the port.

Just when he was about to arrive at the intersection connecting the port and the city, Amachi suddenly flashed his eyes, handed Ogata's sleeve with his right hand, and pointed his left hand towards the street not far away.

"A Yi, look at that!"

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

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

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

These wooden cages contain many kinds of animals.

There are two types of foxes and squirrels that Ogata can recognize.

It seems to be a pet stall selling pets.

Girls always like cute animals.

Ah Ding is no exception.

With his eyes shining brightly, Amachi pulled Ogata quickly to the pet stand in front of him.

Before and after arriving at the pet stall, Ah Ding squatted down and looked at the small animals in these cages with joy, like a child receiving a favorite gift from his parents.

"Hehehe, just look at it." The owner of this pet stall—that is, the old man sitting behind these wooden cages—hehe laughed, and said to Ah Ting, "If you have an animal you like, you can buy it home. The price is absolutely fair."

"One step, what is this?" Ah Ding pointed to an animal in a cage that looked like a mouse and a rabbit.

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

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

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

"This is a red fox."

"This is a red squirrel."

"This is flying squirrel."

…

Ah Ding listened intently to the introduction of the old man.

And Ogata accompanied Amachi to listen to the introduction of the old man.

Ogata also likes cute animals.

So now he and Ah Ting are also looking at the cute animals in the cage enthusiastically.

However, Ogata did not forget what was going on.

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

"Now, how many years have you been operating this pet stall here?"

"Long time. Many years ago, I sold pets here."

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

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

"Here 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 animals that are unique to Ezo land. So many merchants will buy animals from me, and then sell them back to the princes and nobles and rich people who love pets."

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

Ogata remembers very clearly that when he and Acho landed in Ezo Land and left the port to enter the city yesterday afternoon, they did not see the pet stall.

"Oh, then you guys should have missed the time when I opened the stall."

"I usually open the stall at 5 o'clock in the morning (8 o'clock in the morning), and close the stall at 4 o'clock in the evening (4 o'clock in the afternoon)."

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

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

After thinking about it for a moment, Ogata then asked the old man:

"Just one step, dare to ask the name?"

"Just call me Tangshen." The old man smiled.

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

Ogata cites the appearance characteristics of Gensho and Gennao one by one.

Before that, when he was in Xuanjin, Xuanzheng's young apprentice and Xuanzhi's junior apprentice in Kyoto, Xuanren told Ogata and the others about the appearance and characteristics of Xuanzheng and Xuanzhi.

The appearance and characteristics of these two people mentioned by Xuan Ren, Ogata had long remembered that they were very familiar.

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

And this place is the intersection between the port and the city. All people who land at the port and want to enter the city must walk through this intersection.

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

So Ogata decided to start with this old man. UU Reading www.uukanshu.com fired the first shot of this "protracted battle" looking for Xuanzheng and Xuanzhi.

For this old man, Ogata actually has no expectations.

After all, this old man looks at least 60 years old, and sees more people every day.

Ogata has no expectations of his memory.

Not only Ogata is like this, but Amachi also has no expectations.

"Um... old people in their 50s and young people in their 30s... with a Kyoto accent..."

The old man murmured at these physical features that Ogata had just said.

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

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

Just halfway through the saliva, I choked on my saliva after hearing the old man's answer.