I was a swordsman in ancient Japan

Soak in the warm pool water, staring at the mouth of the pomegranate with the "like-minded" comrades around, expecting that the next person who enters the bath will be a young and beautiful girl.

After Sadanobu Matsudaira took office as an old middle school and took control of the state power, he believed that the bathhouse does not distinguish between men and women, which is really indecent, corrupting the atmosphere, and depressing the spirit of the people.

Therefore, with a swipe of the pen, it is required that all bathhouses in the country must be divided into men's baths and women's baths, and there should be no more men's and women's bathhouses.

Since this order was issued, those bathhouses where men and women bathe together have quickly begun to decorate and rectify.

Now, there are basically no bathhouses in the country where men and women can bathe together.

According to Ogata's knowledge, since Matsudaira Sadanobu launched this "bathhouse reform", from the samurai to the ordinary civilians, it seems that quite a few people hate Matsudaira Sadanobu to the bone, and hope that Matsudaira Sadanobu can step down as soon as possible.

At the same time, I also heard that since there are no mixed bathhouses, the business of many bathhouses that were originally mixed baths has suddenly deteriorated.

The reason for this is not difficult to guess that many old sex critics have lost the motivation to take a bath again.

There is no way to look at a woman's body anymore. What's the point of taking a bath in the rest of my life?

So after the "Bathhouse Reform" was released, many old-fashioned critics who had lost their dreams "destroyed after a setback".

Ogata did not dislike Matsudaira Sadanobu's "bathhouse reform".

Not only are they not disgusted, but they also think it is a rare benevolent and good governance.

Just as he still can’t appreciate Tsukiyoto, Ogata still can’t understand why people in this era can accept mixed bathing, and they think it’s not a strange thing for men and women to bathe together.

After saying goodbye to A-Machi at the entrance of the bathhouse, Okai entered the men's bath on the left, and A-Machi entered the women's bath on the right.

The layout of this bathhouse where Ogata and A-machi often come to take a bath recently belongs to the layout of bathhouses that are very common at present.

There are two floors, the first floor is the bathing area, and the second floor is the rest room. After taking a bath, guests can go to the second floor to rest, but only men can go up to the second floor to rest.

There are two entrances and exits on the first floor, and cloth noren curtains are hung on both entrances and exits.

These two curtains are hung at different entrances and exits, one of which has the inscription "Male soup" and the other has the inscription "Female soup".

"Soup" in Japanese has many meanings, one of which is "bath".

There is no doubt that the "male soup" and "female soup" are separated by a thick wooden wall. Apart from hearing some voices coming from the "female soup", the old color critic can't do or see anything .

Whether it is a "men's soup" or a "female soup", the layout inside is similar. After paying the money at the counter, first go to the undressing room to take off your clothes, and then go to the shower room to wash your body.

Behind the shower room is the bathtub for bathing.

The mouth connecting the shower room and the bathtub is commonly known as the "pomegranate mouth".

Only after washing your body in the shower room can you go through the "pomegranate mouth" and take a bath in the bathtub.

Quickly took off the clothes on his body, and after simply washing his body in the shower room, Xu conveniently passed through the pomegranate mouth, ready to enter the bathtub for a bath.

It's about 8 o'clock in the evening. In the Edo period, this was the best time for bathhouse business.

After passing through the pomegranate entrance and entering the steamy bathing room, Xu Bian saw that 6% of the bathhouse was already full of people.

I tried the water temperature with my fingers and it was a little hot, but in the winter, the water temperature is just right.

After immersing the parts from the neck down into the hot water, Ogata swam to a place where there were not so many people, and quietly enjoyed the feeling of being surrounded by the warm bath water.

The quality of the human skin mask on Ogata's face is really high, it's fine if it can be confused with the real one, and it's not afraid of being wet by water vapor.

Thanks to the high quality of the human skin mask, Ogata was able to take a bath in the bathhouse so openly these days.

Ogata got up from the bath after soaking until the skin of his fingers was slightly wrinkled.

After wiping his body clean, he went to the undressing room and put on the change of clothes he brought.

Ah-machi's bath time is longer than that of Ogata.

So after changing his clothes, Obi went up to the second floor of the bathhouse, preparing to rest on the second floor of the bathhouse while waiting for A-cho to get out of the bath.

The second floor of the bathhouse was one of the most important social places in the Edo period.

Basically all bathhouses have a second floor for male guests to rest after taking a bath.

Some male guests who are more free will go to the second floor to rest and play after taking a shower.

Before going up to the second floor, and just walking on the stairs, Xu Bian heard the noise coming from the top.

After stepping on the last step, Xu Fang saw people of different ages spending their time in different places and in different ways.

Or get together to discuss all kinds of weird topics.

Or take the entertainment equipment such as shogi and go that are specially provided for guests in the bathhouse.

On the second floor of this bathhouse, some staff set up a small stall to sell snacks and tea, so some people bought steamed buns, yokan and other snacks, and drank the free tea while eating snacks, so happy.

Because the second floor of all bathhouses is closed to women, there are no women here at all.

Among all the people present, there was no acquaintance of Ogata, so Ogata walked to the window silently, watching the scenery outside the window boredly to pass the time.

At this moment, Ogata suddenly noticed a loud voice from his side:

"Okay! Anyone who wants to hear my hunting stories back then, please sit down!"

This voice is a bit old, but very energetic.

Because the voice was very loud, it directly attracted Ogata's attention.

Ogata Xunsheng saw that the owner of this voice was an old man.

The old man looked about 50 years old, and his hair was more than half white.

Although he is old, he is hale and hearty, with piercing eyes.

After the words he just said fell, the six young people who were probably only in their teens sitting in front of him immediately sat down around the old man with bright eyes.

"Master Dao!" one of the young men asked, "What are you going to talk about today?"

"Today, let me tell you the story of hunting giant bears in Ezo when I was young!"

Ezo land?

Hearing this word, Ogata frowned slightly.

"That was also a very thrilling hunt, huh? With one step, do you want to come and listen to it?"

The old man noticed Ogata who had been looking at him from just now, so he extended an invitation to Ogata.

Ogata pointed to himself: "Can I come to listen too?"

"Of course!" the old man said briskly, "I hope that the more people come to listen to my story, the happier I will be! Let's listen to it together! My story won't be very long."

Listen to the story of the old man hunting in Ezo, maybe he can collect some information related to Ezo, so Ogata is also willing to take advantage of the fact that he has nothing to do now, to listen to the story of the old man hunting bears in Ezo.

Following the 6 young people and sitting behind the old man, the old man looked Ogata up and down several times with his eyes moved, and then asked:

"I haven't seen you before, are you a foreigner?"

"Yeah." Ogata nodded, "Because of some things, I traveled here."

"Since the Tianming famine broke out and the number of bandits in our Northeast has increased, it has become very rare for foreigners to pass by our place." The old man smiled bitterly, "Anyway, let me introduce myself first."

"My name is Shimasuke, and I used to be a Mataki of the Matsumae domain who lived in Ezo. Now that I am old, I can't draw a bow or hunt, so I moved to Nishino Town to live with my daughter and son-in-law. "

"Ghost again?" Ogata's eyes showed a bit of surprise, and he couldn't help but look at the old man in front of him several times again.

"Outsider, do you know what a ghost is?"

Ogata nodded: "I've heard of it. It's the kind of person who both farms and hunts, right?"

Japan's Tohoku region and Ezo have always been the "Kingdom of Wildlife".

Deer, wolves, bears and all kinds of wildlife are abundant.

Bears are not only numerous, but also extremely destructive, so the number of bears poses the greatest threat to humans.

So a special group of people was born in the Northeast and Ezo.

They are engaged in agricultural cultivation in spring and summer.In winter and early spring, they hunt in groups in the forest, mainly hunting bears and deer.

People in the Tohoku region and the Ezo land who are engaged in both farming and hunting are called "Matagi".

"Yougui" is actually an Ainu language, meaning "winter hunter".

Although there are people who have heard of Mataki before, this is the first time Ogata has seen Mataki with his own eyes.

"Since you know what you mean, it's easy to handle." Shimasuke grinned, "I don't need to explain."

"Where did I just say that? Ah, yes. I used to be a Matagami in a certain Matae village in the Matsumae Clan in Ezo."

"We farm in spring and summer, and take up bows and arrows to hunt in the mountains after winter."

"I'm not bragging, I was the number one hunter in the village when I was young."

While talking, Shimasuke assumed the posture of drawing a bow and shooting an arrow.

"Let's not talk about deer, which can be hunted by ten-year-old children. I have killed countless bears alone."

"But while I'm an undoubted veteran when it comes to bear hunting, I never take it lightly when it comes to preparing for a bear hunt."

"Because a bear is a terrible animal."

Shimasuke's tone slowly became serious.

"Once a bear is running, it can easily overtake a human."

"In terms of running, humans can't outrun bears no matter what."

"An adult bear can break a tree with a trunk as thick as two bowls with just one paw."

"Humans are almost certain to die after being hit by a bear."

"Especially the bears in Ezo. The bears in Ezo are much scarier than the bears in the Northeast."

"I don't know if it's because the Ezo land is colder. The wolves and bears on the Ezo land are larger than the wolves and bears here in the northeast."

Shimasuke drew a big circle in the air in front of him with both hands.

"If the bears in Ezo and the bears in the Northeast are singled out, the bears in Ezo will definitely win. The difference in size is too great."

"The best weapon to use against bears is poison arrows."

"Whether it's our Oni or Ezo, we all use poisonous arrows to hunt bears."

"Although the formula of the poison used by Ezo and the others is different from that used by our Matagui, the effect is similar."

"After the bear is hit by our poisoned arrow, it only takes 10 breaths to be poisoned to death."

"I've hunted countless bears in my life."

"But if you want to talk about the most dangerous hunt in my life, it is without a doubt the battle with that giant man-eating bear when I was 36 years old."

Shimasuke is eloquent.

The cadence is well handled, making it very comfortable to listen to.

I don't know if this eloquence has been tempered by telling the hunting stories of my youth with the people around me for a long time.

Ogata was also fascinated by listening unconsciously.

Ogata seldom heard the real hunting stories taught by real hunters, whether in the past life or in the present, so Ogata's curiosity was also aroused at this time.

"Bears are very strange animals."

"They usually don't treat humans as food."

"But if they eat humans, they won't be able to eat anything other than human flesh until they die."

"Even if there are many delicacies such as wild berries, fish, and venison, I will never touch them again."

"Why?" asked a young man sitting next to Ogata.

"There is a saying in our village that human meat is far more delicious than other foods, and it is so delicious that bears are completely obsessed with this food and can no longer eat other foods."

Shimasuke shrugged.

"And Ezo's argument is that this is a punishment given to the bear by the gods."

"Once a bear eats a human being, as punishment, the gods will punish the bear to eat human beings for the rest of its life."

"The Ezo call the bear who ate human flesh Unkamuyi."

"Unkamuyi?" asked another young man.

"It's Ainu language. It means evil god."

"As for why it is called a bear that ate human flesh, I don't know much about it. Our village doesn't have much contact with Ezo, so I don't know much about Ezo."

"Because after a bear eats a human, it can no longer eat food other than human flesh, so there is a rule in our Yougui that once you encounter a bear that eats human flesh, you must hunt it down as soon as possible."