Dewa area——

　　In a plain ordinary village----

　　 Ning Taro is an ordinary farmer in this ordinary village.

　　 is 28 years old and has a wife who is one year younger than him. The two currently have 4 children, 2 boys and 2 girls.

　　 The oldest eldest son is only 12 years old this year, and the youngest daughter has just been born.

　　 A large family crowded in a dilapidated small house.

　　 It is the end of the year.

　　 Mutsu at the end of the year, there is snow except snow outside.

　　 In this kind of place where the weather is cold as soon as winter arrives, there is nothing else to do except stay at home, rely on the food saved before, and make some handicrafts to subsidize the household.

　　 At this time, it was a short time before dark in the afternoon.

　　 Ning Taro sat cross-legged in the corner of the house, making bird cages.

　　 The wife held her baby girl who was just born and nursed her.

　　 The other 3 children were playing around and playing.

　　 They also had 2 sons and 3 daughters-it's a pity that 1 son and 1 daughter died shortly after they were born, and the other 1 son and 2 daughters died of "Twilight Starvation".

　　 The whole family is without exception-their faces are sallow, cheeks are a little sunken, and there is not much meat on the body.

　　 Ning Taro and his wife both had dull and dim eyes.

　　 On the contrary, the eyes of the children of the two of them are pretty good, and they have a lot of fun playing the game of "playing a samurai" there.

　　 "The child is his mother." Ning Taro turned to his wife and asked, "Is there enough milk?"

　　Although the other three children were playing nearby, Ning Taro’s wife showed her **** unscrupulously and breast-feeded her little daughter who had just been born.

　　 "Hmm." She nodded, "Reluctantly..."

　　 "Really..." Ning Taro whispered, "That's good..."

　　 "Our luck is really good this year." Ning Taro's wife smiled at her husband.

　　 Although there was a smile, the wife's face was sallow and her cheeks sunken, which made her smile not only not pretty, but also a bit crappy.

　　 "This year's harvest is not bad. It shouldn't be a problem to survive this winter."

　　 "Yeah." Ning Taro nodded slightly, and a faint smile appeared on his face, "Yes. God finally opened his eyes."

　　 Although it has been over 3 years, Ning Taro still remembers the tragedy of "Twilight Starvation".

　　 The crops failed completely and there was nothing to eat.

　　Although the government has provided relief food and other methods for disaster relief, their lives are still very difficult...

　　 It is rare to eat food that humans should eat. Most of the time, they can only eat things that humans should not eat.

　　 At that time, Ning Taro wanted to cry just thinking about it.

　　 They had a young daughter who was also born not long ago.

　　 But because of poor eating, his wife doesn't have milk, so she can only feed the little daughter something that babies of this age shouldn't eat, such as soup made from tares.

　　 This kind of stuff that dogs don’t drink is impossible for babies to grow up healthily.

　　 After drinking the tares soup for a while, the little daughter suddenly vomited and developed a high fever. In the end, he was alive and sick.

　　Because of this miserable situation, after the birth of his new daughter, Ning Taro was a little nervous about his wife's milk. Every few days he would ask his wife if he still had milk.

　　 "I hope the situation next year will be as good as this year." When he said this, a little light appeared in Ning Taro's dim eyes.

　　 After going through the 7-year "day famine", they finally have a good life recently.

　　Although the food reserves at home are not enough for the whole family to eat, it is more than enough to keep them hungry every day.

　　 The situation in their home is considered good in this village.

　　Because the children in their family are not many, and the parents of their husband and wife have died young, the pressure to support one family is not too big.

　　 Compared with the previous life when the "day hunger" has not passed, the days when they can eat the food that people should eat in the last two years are really like dreams.

　　 "If the government can take a good look at the bandits everywhere, it would be even better." Ning Taro's wife answered.

　　 Their village is located somewhere in Dewa directly under the jurisdiction of the Shogunate.

　　 is probably due to the proximity to the town. Until now, no bandits have come to visit their village.

　　 But no one can guarantee that their village will be safe forever, and there will never be bandits who don’t know where they are thinking about their money, food, and women.

　　 "I heard the village chief say a few days ago." Ning Taro said, "When the next spring comes, the government seems to unite with Ou's other vassals to wipe out the bandits everywhere."

　　 "Really?" Ning Taro's wife was delighted.

　　 "I hear everyone say that." Ning Taro smiled, "It should be true."

　　 "Occasionally, the government still does something practical." Ning Taro's wife muttered.

　　 "We are citizens of the government after all." Ning Taro shook his head and said, "If there are no people, there are no officials. The government cannot abandon us."

　　 "After all, ‘we are like water, and the government is like a small boat floating on the water. Without our water, the small boat of the government cannot float.’"

　　 "You are here again." Ning Taro's wife smiled helplessly, "Obviously she doesn't even recognize a single Chinese character, so she loves to pretend to be a scholar."

　　 Not only was Ning Taro not ashamed of his wife's complaints, he also showed a proud expression.

　　 Many years ago, a samurai who was doing samurai training passed through their village.

　　The samurai has a very kind personality, and his relationship with Ning Taro is pretty good.

　　 During the few days that the samurai stayed in the village briefly, he briefly introduced Sinology to Ning Taro.

　　 A lot of what the samurai said at the time was completely forgotten by Ning Taro.

　　 But there is only one sentence that Ning Taro vaguely remembers its meaning-we are like water, and the government is like a small boat floating on the water. Without our water, the small boat of the government cannot float.

　　 may be different from the original words of the samurai at the time, but Ning Taro felt that the meaning should not be much different.

　　Because I only remembered this sentence, Ning Taro, who was quite vain, would chant this sentence whenever he had the opportunity to make him more literate.

　　 "In short-the government should really plan to suppress the bandits everywhere." Ning Taro said in a decisive tone.

　　 Ning Taro has always trusted the government.

　　 Or rather... more favorable.

Because it was thanks to the government’s relief that they were able to survive the “twilight famine” that lasted for a full 7 years-although three children died in the end, they were compared with the death of the whole family. The home is so much better.

　　 The recent good situation has given Ningtaro a long-lost vision of the future.

　　 He imagined that the government would continue to help these poor farmers.

　　 God no longer toss them.

　　 He didn't ask for much.

　　 He just hopes that the whole family can eat and every child can grow up healthy.

　　 After a few brief conversations with his wife, Ning Taro continued to do the handwork wholeheartedly.

　　 But at this moment—the sound of knocking on wooden boards suddenly sounded outside the room.

　　 Hearing this sound, Ning Taro and his wife frowned.

　　 This voice, they naturally recognize it-it can be regarded as the summoning order of their village. All the villagers except the old and weak women and children were gathered by the village chief.

　　 Once this sound is made, it basically means that something that the village chief wants to announce to everyone.

　　 "My child, mother, you stay at home." Ning Taro put down the half-made bird cage in his hand, "I'll go to the village chief to see what happened."

　　 "Yeah." Ning Taro's wife nodded, "Go slow."

　　 Ning Taro hurried to the village head’s house.

　　 After all the villagers arrived in the village except the old, weak, women and children, their old village chief directly announced to them a shocking news: an official from the government is coming to their village, he will be there soon.

　　 As soon as the village chief said this, the villagers immediately "exploded."

　　 Their village is nothing more than an ordinary small village. There are officials from the government wanting to come to them?

　　 They asked their old village chief who was coming to their village. Their old village chief only said that he didn't know, but he knew that it was a very big official.

　　 A small official arrived in their village just now, informed the village chief of the news, and asked the village chief to take the villagers to stand on both sides of the widest road in the middle of the village, ready to welcome officials from the government.

　　 Upon hearing this request, the villagers were shocked-because they only need to stand instead of kneeling on the ground.

When the little official came to inform them of the news, the village chief asked this question for the villagers. The little official bluntly said: Yes, you don’t need to kneel, just stand and lower your head, don’t look directly. The queue will do.

　　 Although it happened suddenly, the villagers could only do it.

　　 After all, the person who came was a high-ranking official of the shogunate. If something went wrong, the consequences would be unaffordable for ordinary people like them.

　　 So every family dragged their homes and stood on both sides of the widest road in the middle of the village according to the request of the little official.

　　 Ning Taro also took his wife and children into the queue and stood still.

　　 The wife is holding her infant daughter.

　　Ning Taro's two big hands held the other three children's hands tightly, preventing them from moving.

　　Ning Taro has heard many stories about "a child accidentally ran into a daimyo or some official's car and was hacked to death by the daimyo or his guards."

　　In this era, it is a felony for unrelated people to collide with those "superior" cars.

　　 If the "Master" has a good temper, he might let you go.

　　 If the "Master" has a bad temper, he might instruct his subordinates to hack to death the person who crashed the car, and he would not be punished.

　　 The people of the whole village stood on both sides of the widest avenue.

　　 After standing until some people's legs were sore, they finally saw a small queue appear at the end of the road-there were many horseback warriors, and in the center of this group of horseback warriors there was a gorgeous driving cage.

　　 After finally waiting in line for the unknown officials, the villagers hurriedly lowered their heads, watching their noses and hearts.

　　 Ning Taro’s chin was directly on his chest, and at the same time, with a stern tone, he also asked the children next to him to lower their heads. Before saying that they are allowed to raise their heads, they must not raise their heads.

　　 After a while, Ning Taro heard the sound of horses hooves and human feet coming from the center of the road in front of him.

　　Because he couldn't raise his head, Ning Taro couldn't count the number of people in the queue, and look closely at the top driving cage in the center of the queue.

　　 Soon, the queue passed in front of the villagers, and then moved away.

　　 This line did not stop at their village.

　　 just straight through the widest road in their village.

　　 After the queue completely left their village, a small official came over and said to the villagers: "Okay, thanks for your hard work. What should you do afterwards, please continue."

　　 After leaving these words, the little official rode away.

　　Only the villagers are still confused.

　　 "Which official came to our village?"

"do not know."

　　 "I thought it was an official who came to the microservices to inspect it, but did it just borrow the way in our village?"

　　 The villagers talked about it.

　　 Ning Taro has no interest in the discussion of the villagers and the queue of officials who do not know who they are just now.

　　 When he left the line of the high official, and learned that he could go next, what to do, Ning Taro went straight home.

　　 He just wants to make two more bird cages before going to bed, so that his family's savings can be more sufficient, and he can live a life that can eat a meal as soon as possible.

　　……

　　……

　　 There are 4 types of inns in the Edo period: Honjin, Wakimotojin, Lage, and Kidanju.

　　Honjin is a residential facility dedicated to serving daimyo, public officials, and senior officials of the shogunate.

　　Wakimoto Jin, which is inferior to the Honjin, provides services to the lower-ranked daimyo and shogunate officials.

　　 As for the travel cage and the Mudansu, they serve ordinary samurai and ordinary people. The level and service conditions of Mu Dian Su are worse than those of Lv Cong.

　　 This evening, a certain Honjin in Dewa became lively.

　　Because a certain government official stayed in this Honjin tonight.

　　Who is the official of this government?

　　 Except for the head of this Honjin, the rest of the staff have no idea.

　　 But they can vaguely guess that this high official's background is not small from the nervous appearance of their chief officer and the queue of this high official.

　　 The total number of guards, attendants, etc., adds up to hundreds of people.

　　 Although the number of people is not very large, the horses and equipment they use are all good products-officials who can use such good products will certainly not be small officials.

　　Actually, they should be thankful that they don't know who is staying in their main line tonight.

　　 If they were to let them know who is staying in tonight, they would be so nervous that they would even shiver when they walk...

　　……

　　……

　　 "Old Master."

　　 Tachibana knelt on one knee not far from Matsuhira Dingxin, and said respectfully towards Matsuhira Dingxin.

　　 "Dinner is ready. Please have a meal."

　　Matsuhira Dingxin was sitting cross-legged by the window at this time.

　　 There is little snow flying right now, dotted with the already dark night sky.

　　Matsuhira Dingxin just looked at the snow scene outside the window.

　　 "Yeah." Matshinori nodded gently.

　　 retracted his gaze from the window and sat down in the room. Several attendants entered the room with a generous meal, and then handed it to Matsuba Datsunobu.

　　 Meals have gone through layers of poison testing just now.

　　 "Old man, this is the specialty of Ou area-Oma tuna, cut dandelion, Inaniwa udon and senbei soup. Please use it slowly."

　　 "Oma tuna..." Matsuhira Masanbu smiled, "I haven't eaten pure Oma tuna in a long time..."

　　 After that, Matsuhira Dingxin picked up the bowl and chopsticks and began to feast on.

　　 Songping Dingxin did not choose to go to Ezo Land by sea.

　　 Instead, I chose to go by land.

　　 After arriving at Tsugaru Strait along the official road, board a boat to Ezo Land.

　　The time required to travel by land is longer than the time required to travel by sea.

　　 But Matsudaira did not rush to Ezo land.

It will take a certain amount of time for the 　　 wait for the army and the groceries to be assembled in Ezo land.

　　 So there is no need to rush to the Ezo land, Matsubaira Dingxin, there is enough time to go northward along the land line to Ezo land without any haste.

　　 And-the reason why I chose to go by land is also for two important purposes.

　　 The first purpose: Matsudaira wants to breathe the air of Ou area for a long time.

　　 In addition to being the veteran of the shogunate, he is also the current lord of the Shirakawa clan in the Ou area.

High-ranking officials such as Lao Chu and Wakanenyo were basically held by the pro-feudal daimyo (the feudal country of the daimyo who is related to the shogun by blood) or the genealogical daimyo (the feudal country that surrendered to the daimyo of the first shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu earlier) .

　　 The Shirakawa clan under the rule of Matsubatashinbu is one of the pro-flan dynasties in the Mutsu area.

　　 After the current general Tokugawa Isa assumed the throne and appointed Matsuba Matshinbu as the new veteran, Matsuba Matshinbu left the Shirakawa domain and lived in Edo as long as he devoted himself to revitalizing the shogunate.

　　Because the energy of the past few years has been devoted to revitalizing the shogunate, it is unable to deal with the administration of the Shirakawa domain.

　　 The administration of the Shirakawa domain is basically handed over to the important ministers headed by the elders.

　　 Matsuhira Dingxin himself hasn't returned to Shirakawa for a while.

　　 That’s why Matsudaira wanted to take this opportunity to travel by land to Ezo Land to take a good breath of the air in Ou, where he was born.

　　 If possible, Matsudaira would like to stop by Shirakawa Clan and see his hometown he hasn't returned for a long time.

　　 It's a pity that no matter how he delineated the route, his queue cannot pass through the Shirakawa Domain, unless it makes a big circle.

　　 Therefore, Matsuhira Dingxin can only regret to give up.

　　The second purpose of choosing to go by land is to see the local people in Ou by the way.

　　Ou area was the hardest-hit area after the outbreak of "Teen Famine".

　　 Three years ago, not long after the end of "Ten Ming Hunger", Matsuba Matshin was appointed as the old and new middle school of the shogunate.

Many of the reforms he has made in the past three years have been tailor-made for the "Twilight Famine"-"treating" the various damages brought to the country after the "Twilight Famine" broke out, and preventing such a large-scale famine from happening again. appear.

　　Matsuhira Dingxin wants to see it with his own eyes.

　　Look at how the Ou area, which was hit hardest by the disaster, is recovering now.

　　 Songping Dingxin has always adhered to the idea of ​​"the farmers are safe and the country is safe".

　　 I want to know how well the area has recovered from the disaster. The easiest and most effective way is to see how the farmers’ lives are.

　　 Therefore, since leaving the Edo period, Matsudaira has deliberately directed his team to every village along the way.

　　 Songping's letter mainly depends on the faces of the farmers in the countryside.

　　 Just by looking at their faces, you can get a rough idea of ​​how the farmers are now.

　　 Whenever he wants to pass through a village, Songping Dingxin will send his subordinate officials into the village in advance to notify the villagers to stand on both sides of the road.

　　 And when crossing the road full of villagers on both sides, Dingxin Matsuba sitting in the sedan chair will observe the faces of the villagers.

　　Although the villagers are all bowing their heads, it does not prevent Matsudaira from observing their figures and complexion on their faces.

　　 After quickly sweeping away all the food that needs to be chewed on the table, Matsushita Matsushita held up the warm soup and sipped it.

　　 While taking a small sip of the soup, he said to Tachibana who was waiting beside him in a teaching tone.

　　 "Tachibana, do you see the state of the villages that you passed today?"

　　 "I saw it," Tachibana said.

　　 "Let’s talk about your feelings." Matsuba Dingxin continued, "What do you think of the status of the villagers in those villages?"

"Yes!"

　　 Tachibana quickly organized the language, and said with a smile:

　　 "Old Master, I think that-the villagers in the villages passing by today are in very good condition."

　　 "What is a good way?" Matsuhira Dingxin asked.

　　 "They all look bad without exception." Tachibana replied immediately, "There is no doubt-they are not eating well."

　　 "But judging from their state, they are not hungry either."

　　 "The state of farmers who are neither full nor hungry. It is the best state!"

　　 As soon as Tachibana's voice fell, a faint smile appeared on Matsubishi's face.

　　 "Not bad."

　　 Song Ping Dingxin praised.

　　 "It's not wasted that I have cultivated you for so many years."

　　 Hearing Matsudaira's compliment, Tachibana's eyes flashed involuntarily, and then he hurriedly said a few humble words.

　　 "Tachibana, you remembered it." Matsubishi said slowly, putting away the smile on his face, "You can't let the farmers live too well, or let the farmers live too badly."

　　 "The villagers in the villages that passed by today are in very good condition."

　　 "If the farmers in all the rural areas in the country are in the same state as the farmers in the rural areas we pass through today, then our country will be able to maintain long-term stability."

　　 "Tachibana, remember this sentence firmly—"

　　 Songping Dingxin paused.

　　 then said quietly:

　　 "Letting farmers half-dead is the secret of governing the country."

　　 As soon as Matsuhira Dingxin's voice fell, Tachibana nodded vigorously:

　　 "Yes! Thank you Mr. Zhong for your teaching!"

　　 "So far, the situation in each village can be considered satisfactory." Matsudai Dingxin continued, "I hope that every village I will encounter in the future will continue to satisfy me."

　　 After that, Matsuhira Dingxin drank the soup in his bowl in one breath.

　　 When he put the empty bowl back on the dining table in front of him, Matsubishi said softly:

　　 "This bowl of senbei soup tastes really good... it tastes better than the senbei soup I've had before."

"Old Master, Kimura-sama who is in charge of this Honjin, after knowing that you will be staying here tonight, specially asked his staff to choose the freshest ingredients to cook this bowl of senbei soup." Tachibana replied, " Probably because of this, the taste of this bowl of senbei soup is more delicious."

　　 "It turned out to be like this." Matsubaru Dingxin smiled wryly, "I really meant it."

　　 "But I don't like to welcome me with such a big fanfare."

　　 "Tachibana, go tell that Kimura now and say: I thank him for his kindness, but don't do similar things again."

"Yes!"

　　……

　　……

　　 The second year of Kuanzheng (1790), December 25.

　　 Kinnocho, in the hotel where Ogata and Acho live——

　　 Amachi stood in the center of the room.

　　 and Ogata squatted halfway in front of Amachi.

　　 The two are working together to put a kimono on Ah Ting's body.

　　 After successfully putting on this kimono, Ah Ting raised his arms horizontally and asked:

　　 "A Yi, what do you think?"

　　 "Hmm..." Ogata stared at the piece of fabric on Amachi's chest that was swollen by her pectoral muscles.

　　 then raised his hand and touched the tight clothes.

　　"...The clothes really seem to be tightened~lightnovelpub.net~ Ogata murmured.

　　 "Right..." Ah Ding let out a helpless sigh, "It doesn't seem to be my illusion... Okay, don't rub it anymore!"

　　 Amachi slapped Ogata's hand with a serious face.

　　 "Take your clothes off." Ogata said solemnly, "Let me see with my own eyes if there really is a change."

　　******

　　******

　　 Thank you book friend [Zhanyuebeiying]. Yesterday, I voted for 21 monthly tickets for this book in one go. For the first time, I saw people who voted for 21 monthly tickets without rewards.

　　 is really sincere and fearful, thank you very much for your support!

　　******

　　******

　　 Yesterday I saw a book friend over there leave comments, praising the quality of the book is very good, the style and content are very suitable for adaptation into anime or something.

　　 Thanks in advance to the book friend for his praise.

　　 Then I will tell you a piece of news that I haven't told you, it should be considered good news, and it is related to the IP derivation of this book.

　　For specific content, please see "Writer's Words" below↓↓↓

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