I Was a Swordsman in Ancient Japan

"I was a swordsman in ancient Japan ()"

Everyone present focused their eyes on him, which made Takikawa even more complacent.

After clearing his throat, he shouted in a louder voice:

"Now more and more warriors are either impoverished, or indulging in pleasure, depraved, and unwilling to make progress."

"Why is this so?"

"It's all because the samurai are becoming more and more contemptuous of bushido and samurai Tsunaki."

"As warriors, we should abide by warrior morality! Study Zhu Zizhengxue!"

"In the future, if I become the aide of the old lord, I will definitely propose to the old lord to revitalize the samurai family and encourage the samurai to abide by Bushido!"

"Only in this way can the current situation of the warriors becoming poorer and more indulged in pleasure be reversed!"

After Takikawa finished his passionate speech in a triumphant tone, some people present showed admiration—for example, some wandering girls.

Some people were expressionless - such as Fuling Taifu, Gua Sheng, and Shirobei.

Someone else's brows slowly wrinkled.

"It seems that Takigawa-kun not only has great ambitions, but also has his own unique insights into the reform of the shogunate."

Shirobei spoke in a neither salty nor bland tone, because the tone did not contain any emotions, so people could not guess what he was thinking now.

"But it's not enough to just shout slogans."

Shirobei continued.

"If in the future you really become the staff of the old middle-aged man, and then the old middle-aged man asks you what you should do to revitalize the samurai family, what are you going to do?"

"It's simple!" Takikawa's face did not lose confidence, "First of all - first transfer a batch of funds to reward those real warriors all over the country who have strictly abided by the warrior's morality!"

"For example—the samurai who died protecting Mr. Matsudaira Gennai, the former lord of the Hirose Domain last year!"

Hearing Takikawa's words, both Guasheng and Ogata's expressions changed.

As for Takikawa - when he said this, his face was full of reverence.

"The samurai who died protecting the former lord of the Hirose Clan, Mr. Matsudaira Gennai, fought to the last moment to protect their lord. They are real samurai!"

"Secondly, increase the reward for the lord-killing thug—Ogata Itsuki!"

Takikawa gritted his teeth, his face became gritted.

"This man is a disgrace to the warrior!"

"He has the guts to do such a heinous thing as killing the lord!"

"Although there are rumors that Ogata Itsuki has died in battle in Nijo Castle in Kyoto, this is a rumor after all! I think he is very likely to be alive!"

"Therefore, we must increase the reward for Ogata Yishi! At the same time, send a large number of people to track down Ogata Yishi's whereabouts!"

"When you find Ogata Yishi, show his head to the public!"

Showing the head of the owl to the public - this is a relatively happy way of death in ancient China.

But in Japan, it is a very insulting way of death for the samurai to show the owl's head to the public.

If a samurai commits a capital crime, generally speaking, he will be ordered to perform seppuku. Only when he commits other special crimes will he be punished with other punishments, such as arson.

In ancient Japan, people at that time could be described as "talking about fire".

A small group of flames might be able to destroy a large city. Whether it is Edo or Kyoto, these large cities have been destroyed by fire countless times in history.

Therefore, the punishment for those who commit the crime of arson, whether they are warriors or civilians, is to burn them alive and experience the power of the flame for themselves.

Only those warriors who have committed unforgivable and major crimes will not even give them a chance to cut open their stomachs, and directly order them to be beheaded for public display.

Guasheng, whose portraits of Ogata are pasted on every wall in the house, immediately expressed extreme dissatisfaction when Takikawa's voice just fell:

"Hey!"

Guasheng didn't even call Takikawa's name, just called him "Hello".

"Do you guys know what kind of person the former lord of the Hirose Clan is?" Gua Sheng said with a dark face,

"We won't list all the evil things that guy did."

"I'll just say one thing—that guy Matsudaira Gennai once killed the disciples of the Sakakibara Sword Gym for no reason."

"These disciples of the Sakakibara Sword Gym are all samurai of the Hirose Clan, and they are the subjects of Matsudaira Gennai."

"Matsudaira Gennai killed his subjects without any reason, and Ogata Yidaozhai did justice for the heavens, and punished Matsudaira Gennai, what's wrong?"

Guasheng originally thought that Takikawa must not know what a beast Matsudaira Gennai is, so he said what he just said.

However, Takigawa's answer surprised Guasheng.

"I know." Takigawa said in a nonchalant tone, "I know Matsudaira Gennai-sama has a weird personality and a bad reputation."

"I also know that Master Matsudaira Gennai once killed his subjects."

"But so what?"

"As I said just now, even if you are not a king, you should not be a minister or a minister!"

"No matter how many crimes Matsudaira Gennai-sama has committed, he is still the king! He is the lord of Hirose Domain!"

"And Ogata Itsuki, no matter how justifiable the reason he has to kill the lord, it can't change the fact that he is the subject of Matsudaira Gennai-sama!"

"Even if the king is not the king, we courtiers must swear allegiance to the death! This is the samurai morality that we warriors should abide by!"

"Only in this way can this country go on the right path!"

"If the warriors in the future follow Ogata Yishi's example and wantonly attack and kill the lord with their swords, what will this country look like in the future?"

"Therefore, we must seize Ogata Yishi at all costs and take his head, so that warriors all over the world can take warning!"

The wandering girls present didn't know much about these political matters.

So most of the girls present looked at Takikawa blankly, and then at Guasheng.

After hearing what Takikawa said just now, Guasheng's face became even darker.

Just when Gua Sheng was about to open his lips to say something——

"Takigawa-kun's opinion is really penetrating."

The person who spoke was Ogata standing behind Gua Sheng, with his back leaning against the wall, and his arms folded around his chest.

When he said the word "whip penetrating into the inside", Ogata specially emphasized his tone, making it seem that the overall tone of his sentence just now was very strange.

As soon as Ogata finished speaking, Takigawa frowned slightly and looked at Ogata.

Ogata then went on to say:

"Takigawa-kun, you just said that only by revitalizing the samurai Tsunaji and encouraging the samurai to abide by the Bushido, can the samurai become more impoverished and indulge in more pleasure. Right?"

"That's right." Although he didn't know what this rogue from a foreign land who just met today wanted to do, Takigawa nodded slightly after hearing Ogata's question, "Currently, the majority of samurai lack..."

Takikawa just wanted to make another long speech, but was interrupted by Ogata a step ahead:

"Takigawa-kun, have you seen how the low-level samurai live?"

"You must have never seen it, have you?"

"Because of their low status, many warriors have received low salaries for generations."

"In order to alleviate poverty, some of them devote themselves wholeheartedly to the public service, or have to find another job. While serving the public service, they plant land and do handicrafts to subsidize their families."

"Are they poor because they have not lived up to the samurai code?"

After quietly listening to Takigawa's impassioned statement just now, Ogata only felt that he was angry and funny.

In the second half of Takigawa's words - that is, the part where he offered a huge reward and showed his head to the public after he was caught, Ogata didn't feel much, and didn't feel very angry.

After all, there are many people in the world who want to take his head, and Takikawa is not alone.

However, after listening to the first half of Takigawa's remarks, that is, only by vigorously encouraging the samurai to abide by the samurai morality can the samurai become more impoverished and indulge in pleasure, Ogata frowned. Involuntarily crinkled up.

Before leaving the domain, Ogata was a junior samurai of the Hirose domain.

At that time, many brothers who practiced swords with him in the Sakakibara Sword Gym, like Ogata, had no hope of rising due to status and salary, and lived a life that was not much better than that of ordinary farmers .

Because he was born in a family of lower-level samurai, and he has many friends who are lower-level samurai, so after hearing Takikawa's point of view that "emphasizing samurai Tsunaji can change the atmosphere of samurai", Ogata only felt that ridiculous.

Many brothers who practiced swords with Ogata in the Sakakibara Sword Gym in the past have very noble personalities.

They usually serve their duties conscientiously and have never done anything that violates samurai morality.

But no matter how noble their character is and how conscientious they are in serving the public, they cannot make their lives better.

Not only did it fail to improve their lives, but in the end they ended up being massacred for no reason by the lord they had been serving all this time.

To make the life of a low-level samurai like Ogata rich, Ogata felt that there were many ways.

But it certainly does not include vigorously promoting the so-called bushido.

As for what Takigawa said afterwards, "It is better to be a king than a king, and I can't be a minister or a minister"... Such an argument is tantamount to saying in a disguised form: The death of those brothers of Ogata will be in vain. Matsudaira Gennai should have been killed in order to avenge them.

After hearing Takigawa's words, it was difficult for Ogata to remain silent.

Takikawa probably didn't expect that someone would dare to question him, so he was stunned for a while, then raised his head slightly.

"Heiichiro Takigawa, the eldest son of Takigawa, who is the eldest son of Banner Banner and a disciple of a great master of Sinology, Takigawa Heiichiro, where did you learn from?"

"I haven't worshiped any famous teacher." Ogata said in a calm tone, "I only went to the temple house for a few years when I was young."

After hearing Ogata's words, Takigawa's face showed a slight complacency and complacency.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty's proposition just now is the common proposition of me and many of my classmates from the Yangyue School."

"My classmates and I are all apprentices of Master Xiangsheng. Under the teaching of Master Xiangsheng, we are all full of knowledge."

"We all believe that vigorously encouraging warriors to abide by warrior morality and studying "Zhu Zizhengxue" is the only way to reverse the current atmosphere among warriors."

"Ordinary people should not comment on the affairs of the shogunate."

"So please stop talking nonsense in the future."

Ogata didn't know what the Yangyue School was.

Guasheng, who was standing not far from Ogata, lowered his voice at the right time, and said softly at a volume that only she and Ogata could hear clearly:

"Yangyue School is a private school run by Aioi Harusui."

After listening to Guasheng's explanation, Ogata couldn't help laughing.

Takikawa’s words just now seemed polite, but he turned a corner and said the same thing overtly and secretly—I follow everyone, you who have only been to a temple house, don’t talk nonsense about my opinion. .

Those who were a little more perceptive could have heard that what Takigawa said just now was mocking and criticizing Ogata in disguise.

Shirobei pursed his lips, as if he was thinking about what to say to ease the tense atmosphere.

As for Gua Sheng—a very strong displeasure appeared on her face.

"Hmph, it's just a teacher from Xiangsheng Chunshui, you..."

Before Gua Sheng could finish his refutation, a big hand suddenly put on Gua Sheng's shoulder.

It was Ogata's hand.

After implying that Guasheng didn't need to say more with his movements, Ogata slowly straightened up his body that had been leaning against the wall from just now.

"Master Takigawa, do you think that I, an ordinary person who has only been to the temple house, do not have enough knowledge to question your claim?"

Takikawa did not answer Ogata's question aloud.

He only raised the corners of his mouth higher, making his face more confident and complacent, and answered the question Ogata just asked with his movements.

"Okay, let's stop this topic." Shirobei, who didn't want to let the atmosphere become so stiff, said at this time, "We still..."

Shiroubei, who wanted to be a peacemaker, hadn't finished his sentence, so Ozen cleared his throat, and then——

"Meng Wubo asked: 'Is Zilu benevolent?' The Master said: 'I don't know.' Asked again, the Master said: 'Yuye, a country of a thousand chariots, you can rule its endowments, but you don't know its benevolence.'" How about seeking? ’ The Master said: ‘Seek, a city of a thousand houses, a family of a hundred vehicles, can be made a ruler, but I don’t know how benevolent it is.’ ‘What about Chi? Even if you talk to guests, you don’t know their benevolence.’”

All the people present cast their astonished and shocked eyes on Ogata.

Gua Sheng opened his mouth wide in astonishment.

Surprise flashed in Shirobei's eyes.

Mrs. Fengling's reaction was fairly flat, but she raised her small hand to gently cover her slightly parted rear lip.

Among them, Takikawa had the biggest reaction—the confident smile on his face froze immediately, his eyes were wide open, and the eyeballs seemed to be about to fall out of their sockets.

The reason why everyone had such a violent reaction was because Ogata was reciting "The Analects of Confucius" in Chinese just like Takikawa just now.

And people with a little normal hearing can hear that Ogata's Tang Yin is much more standard than Takikawa's just now.

After Ogata recited one sentence, he immediately recited the next sentence.

One sentence after another, without any pause, I smoothly recited seven long and awkward sentences in "The Analects".

After the recitation was finished, Ogata said softly to Takikawa, who was still smiling stiffly and staring wide-eyed in front of him:

"Although I have only been to the Temple House for a few years, I still studied hard during the time when I was studying in the Temple House."

After leaving these words lightly, Ogata strode out of the room.

Ogata didn't bother to pay any attention to this Takikawa.

Because the two are not from the same world at all.

Although Ogata is a samurai like this Takigawa, he is the ruling class of this era.

But Ogata is just a low-level samurai of the small fan of Hirose Fan.

And Takikawa is directly under the banner of the shogun.

Strictly speaking, people like Takikawa are the true ruling class of this era.

Ogata had nothing to say about Takikawa, who was the real ruling class.

No matter how much reasoning is said, it's just a chicken talking to a duck, and Ogata is too lazy to waste time with this kind of person.

After Ogata strode out of the room, Guasheng hurriedly followed after being stunned for a while.

As for Takikawa—he was still standing there stupidly, not yet fully recovered.

*****

*****

Sad news: The author fell ill yesterday.

It's acute gastroenteritis.

I feel dizzy and want to vomit again, it's so hard...

Because the author is a part-time job, I have never had time to save manuscripts. Has been in the state of zero deposit

After returning from the hospital last night, I forced myself to leave this chapter.

Because yesterday's body was really uncomfortable, so today's chapter is only 4400 words...

If everyone catches up on time, the author should be recuperating in bed right now.

Hope you get well soon...