I was a swordsman in ancient Japan

"So if the two of you want to spend the night, try to spend the night in an inn built by the shogunate like we did last night."

"It is safer to spend the night in an inn built by the shogunate than in an inn built by a private individual."

"En." Ogata silently wrote down the old man's advice, "Thank you for your reminder."

"Why is it so chaotic here in the northeast?" A-Ming couldn't hold back his curiosity, and asked a question that both she and Ogata had been confused about.

"Because of being poor." The old man shrugged with a wry smile, "Mutsu and Izuha have never been rich."

"Most of the land is mountainous, and the climate is cold. The crops in most places are not good. There is only a small area that can be called rich."

"Poor is poor, but when things are good enough, life can be so-so."

"It's just that the situation can't be good all the time."

"The Tianming famine 7 years ago tortured the people of Ouyu very much"

"The reason why our Ouyu is in such a mess now is also thanks to the Tianming famine seven years ago."

After hearing the word "starvation in the morning" from the old man's mouth, Ogata and Atachi's expressions changed one after another.

The term famine at dawn is an extremely heavy term for people of this era.

They can all be described as turning pale.

Ogata has never experienced the Tianming Famine. When he traveled to this era last year, the Tianming Famine had ended for 2 years.

However, although he has never experienced it, he has always heard about this terrible famine from many people.

"The Tianming famine seven years ago hit our Ou region the hardest."

"I have fully witnessed this disaster that lasted 4 years"

The old man's face gradually turned livid.

Like recalling some bad memories.

"After the disaster, neither the shogunate nor Ou's vassals were able to deal with the famine, and they couldn't feed so many people's stomachs."

"The vassal government of most of the vassal states has basically fallen into a state of paralysis, unable to help the hungry victims."

"In order to survive, a large number of farmers have become displaced refugees."

"As far as I know, the small Hirosaki Clan has lost nearly half of its population."

"Before the Tianming famine broke out, there were still 13 people in the Hirosaki domain. After the Tianming famine ended, there were only 7 people left."

"The missing half of the population either fled, fled elsewhere, or starved to death."

"When the Tianming famine started, there were many mid- and low-level warriors who turned into bandits in order to survive."

"The gangsters who are raging all over Ou and disturbing Ou are basically middle and low-level samurai who fell into bandits in order to have enough food after the dawn famine broke out, or farmers who fled in the past."

"I really hope that the shogunate and the Ou feudal clans can quickly wipe out these hateful gangsters."

The old man let out a long sigh.

"The Sky Famine ended 3 years ago."

"Gradually, we can eat local delicacies such as bowl soba noodles and bamboo leaf fish board again."

"Next, as long as we kill all these hateful gangsters, we in Ouyu will be able to return to the stability before the dawn famine broke out."

Speaking of this, the corners of the old man's mouth turned up slightly.

The nostalgic light burst out from the pupils of both eyes, and the eyes stared blankly ahead.

He looked like he was looking at the past.

It also seems to be looking at a bright future not far from now.

Today's weather is very nice.

The sun, which casts soft light on the earth, hangs high above the blue sky.

The loose white clouds, like cotton, cover the mild sunshine more softly, often accompanied by a gust of cool breeze, and the treetops covered with white snow obediently shake their waists and shake the snow on the treetops. Blocks shake off.

With such good weather, it is really hard to imagine that there was such a terrible snowstorm last night.

Such a fine weather made Ogata involuntarily take a deep breath of the fresh air.

In the hotel just now, to be precise, in front of the outsiders headed by the old man, Ogata had been wearing the human skin mask to conceal his identity, incarnate as "Mashima Goro".

After leaving the hotel and returning to the wilderness with no one around, Xu conveniently took off the human skin mask, revealing his original appearance.

The breeze was blowing on his real face, which was quite comfortable.

Ogata and A-Machi moved their moccasin boots, and heard one after another "squeak, squeak" on the snow-covered road.

The pair of moccasin boots on their feet were bought from a clothing store that sold Ezo clothes when passing through a small town a few days ago.

According to the owner of the shop, the pair of moccasin boots the two bought were genuine Ezo boots, the kind that Ezo people usually wear.

Whether these boots are Ezo or not, Ogata does not know.

But these buckskin boots are really easy to use.

Wearing it to walk on the snow does not feel cold at all.It is simply the "snow walking artifact" of this era.

When Ogata and A-Ming leaned on crutches and walked forward on the snow, A-Ming suddenly sighed softly:

"Three years have passed since the Tianming famine, but the aftermath of this great famine has not been interrupted until modern times."

After the two quietly listened to the old man's explanation of why the Ou area is now in such a mess, they said goodbye to the old man and started their journey again.

Although the two of them had reached a place where Nittajuku could no longer be seen at all, what the old man said just now still lingered in A-Machi's mind.

"I am very impressed with Tianming Famine"

A-Machi let out a sigh of relief, and a look of reminiscence appeared on his face.

"I remember it very clearly"

“During that time, I couldn’t get enough for every meal”

"Because our Kansai side was less affected by the disaster, a large number of refugees flooded into Kansai."

"After the refugees came, our Kansai became chaotic."

"Although I haven't seen it with my own eyes, I heard that during that time, a large number of refugees attacked the rice shop to rob rice, or directly attacked the execution office or the vassal mansion, demanding that the officials hand over the rice."

After all, A-Machi let out another breath, and forced out a faint smile.

"Luckily this famine is over."

"The common people can now eat again."

"Everyone is gradually living a good life again."

As soon as A-Ming's voice fell, Ooyoshi showed a faint smile, and then said softly in a calm tone:

"Is it a good day?"

"When everyone can live a life where they can eat enough, new troubles will appear."

"After eating enough, I want to wear better clothes."

"After wearing better clothes, I want to live in a bigger house."

"After living in a bigger house, I want to eat better food."

"When you eat better food, you want to wear better clothes"

“Contentment is easier said than done.”

"Now everyone thinks that a life with enough food is a good life."

"But after everyone can easily eat enough, everyone will start to feel that life is a good life if they can eat enough, wear good clothes, and live in a big house."

"So the good days may never come."

"Thousands of years later, the common people may still be working hard to pursue the good life of that era."

"As expected of the head name of the literary test of the Gozen Trio." A-Machi looked at Ogata beside him in a daze, "What he said is different from an illiterate like me who can't even recognize a few Chinese characters."

"Although I don't quite understand the meaning of what you just said, I always feel that what you just said is very powerful"

"It doesn't matter if you don't understand." Ogata shrugged with a smile, "Take what I said just now as the crazy words I said on a whim."

Last night, the old man told Ogata and A-cho: As long as you walk fast enough, you can reach Nishikino-cho before evening.

And Ogata and A-Machi happen to be the kind of people who can move fast enough.

Except for a brief break in the morning, noon, and afternoon, the two of them have been rushing towards Nishino Town non-stop.

Until 15:16 or [-]:[-] in the afternoon, the two finally saw wisps of cooking smoke on the horizon ahead.

After seeing the cooking smoke, the two felt that the strength in their bodies had increased a bit, and they sped up their pace a little more.

At the same time, Ogata also put on the human skin mask again.

After approaching and entering Nishikino Town, the unique noise of the city town came to the ears of Ogata and Atachi after a long absence.

Perhaps because of the proximity to the city, Ogata didn't run into any gangsters who planned to murder him all day long.

Nishino Town is larger than Ogata imagined, and the population is also larger than Ogata imagined.

He and Ah-Ming were walking on an unknown street, and as far as the eye could see, there were quite a lot of passers-by passing by.

"Should we find a hotel first?" A-cho asked.

"Of course." Ogata replied without hesitation, "Find a hotel first, and then look for the Gentachibana House."

Ogata casually asked a passerby, and then asked where the nearest hotel was.

The hotel closest to Ogata and Atachi is an ordinary hotel with a height of only 2 floors, both in terms of size and price.

After looking at the rooms in this hotel, they found that the quality of the rooms was not bad, so the two opened a double room.

After finding a hotel to stay in, the two began to look for Yuanju House.

Yuanjuya seems to be very popular in this Nishikino town.

Ogata asked someone casually, and found out the location of Yuan Tachibana House, and then quickly arrived at the door of Yuan Tachibana House.

For a merchant who can own 2 merchant ships, his shops will certainly not be so shabby.

Ogata had already imagined that Minamoto Tachibana House should be very grand.

After actually seeing the appearance of Yuan Tachibana House with his own eyes, Ogata found out that it was so.

Yuanju House is 3 stories high and covers an extremely wide area.It is one of the most magnificent shops that Ogata has ever seen.

Ogata and A-Machi stepped into Gentachibana, and saw a young man sitting behind a counter right in front of him.

The young man stood up immediately after seeing Ogata and A-machi entering the store, and then smiled softly.

"Welcome, what do you two need? Our Tachibana House specializes in Ezo products. We have all kinds of Ezo products. Please choose as you like."

Ogata walked slowly to the counter, and then began to negotiate with the young man standing behind the counter.

"What?" The young man frowned slightly, "You want to meet the owner of our Yuanju House?"

"Yeah." Ogata nodded, "We have a business that we want to do with Yuan Tachibana House."

"Business?" The young man raised his eyebrows.

After a moment of silence, the young man said:

"Unfortunately, we can't just let two outsiders go to see the owner."

"If you have anything to do, you can talk to me directly."

"I am Ichiro Nishino, the eldest son of the master."

"I can relay your words to my father for you later."

Ogata didn't expect that the person who was sitting behind the counter looking at the store turned out to be the young master of this original orange house, and a bit of surprise flashed across his face.

After thinking for a while, Xu conveniently explained the business he wanted to discuss with Yuanjuya.

"That is to say, you want to go to Ezodi on our merchant ship?" Ichiro Nishino frowned again, not long after he had stretched out.

"Yeah." Ogata nodded, "We want to go to Ezo for some reasons, so we want the merchant ship from Guipu to give us a ride."

As soon as Ogata finished speaking, Ichiro Nishino immediately bowed and apologized to Ogata and Atachi:

"Sorry, we can't take you to Ezodi."