December 4, 1790
In a house in Kinno-cho——
As soon as Ogata entered the house, he saw Jiro Nishino.
Jiro Nishino was sitting cross-legged on the ground, watching the rehearsal of the members of Baodaoya in front of him attentively.
When Jiro Nishino and the members of Takarajima-ya saw Ogata enter the room, they immediately stopped what they were doing and bowed to Ogata to greet him.
With the concerted efforts of Ogata and Jiro Nishino, they finally managed to complete the writing of the script the day before yesterday - I have to say, Jiro Nishino is very talented in writing.
In such a short period of time, a script was completed that made Ogata feel quite satisfied.
Ogata actually didn't understand Kabuki, nor did he know what kind of Kabuki script was considered a good script.
He only knew that under his guidance, Jiro Nishino's Kabuki play basically conformed to historical facts and could be read as a history book.
In Ogata's eyes, as long as the script based on his deeds is true to reality, it is a good script.
After completing the script around 9 o'clock in the morning the day before, Jiro Nishino excitedly took the script and took Ogata to find the only Kabuki troupe in Kinnocho - Takarajima-ya.
According to Jiro Nishino, although Takarajima-ya is a Kabuki troupe, all its members only regard Kabuki as a secondary job and there is no one who relies solely on Kabuki for a living.
All members of the Baodaoya usually have their main jobs, and only treat Kabuki as a hobby or part-time job. They usually do their main jobs, and only when there are festivals, they get together to perform a play, satisfying their hobbies while also making some extra money.
Because they do not make a living from Kabuki but perform Kabuki out of their passion, every play performed by Takarajima-ya is of high quality. They are well-known in Kinnocho and are very popular among the people of Kinnocho.
Whenever there is a Kabuki performance at the Tairajima-ya, the tickets are sold out very quickly and every show is basically packed.
Every New Year, Takarajima-ya performs Kabuki in Nishikinocho.
Due to the high popularity of Takarajima-ya, watching the performances of Takarajima-ya has become one of the must-do things for many people in Kinno-cho every New Year.
Jiro Nishino, who aspires to become a "Kabuki playwright", has a very good relationship with Takarajima-ya.
Before this, Jiro Nishino had made an agreement with Takarajima-ya that Takarajima-ya would perform a new play written by Jiro Nishino during the New Year this year.
Therefore, the members of Takarajima-ya have been waiting for this script by Jiro Nishino for a long time.
The morning before yesterday, when Jiro Nishino handed the finished script to the members of Takarajima-ya for reading, all the members of Takarajima-ya praised the script written by Jiro Nishino and said that it was a good play that might become very popular.
There are 15 members in Baodaoya, 8 of whom are responsible for playing music and 7 are responsible for acting - all of them are eager to try, and they just received the script the day before and immediately began rehearsing in full swing.
There are many similarities between Chinese opera and Japanese Kabuki. For example, both performing arts have people who are responsible for playing background music on the spot.
In Chinese opera, there are people who are responsible for playing the erhu and castanets behind the scenes to provide background music for the performances on stage.
Japanese Kabuki is similar - there are people responsible for playing the shamisen, shakuhachi, and various other instruments behind the scenes to provide background music for the performance in front of the scenes.
In a professional Kabuki troupe, in addition to those who play music and perform rehearsals, there are also those who are responsible for makeup, setting up the stage background, and doing odd jobs...
However, Takarajima-ya was just an amateur troupe whose members only performed Kabuki as a side job, so having two types of people, one responsible for playing music and the other for performing, was barely enough.
The play written by Jiro Nishino requires at least seven people to perform - just the right number.
Through the time he spent writing scripts with Jiro Nishino a few days ago, Ogata also developed a certain curiosity about the art of Kabuki.
Since the script was completed the day before and rehearsals had begun, Ogata's daily morning activities changed from "writing the script with Jiro Nishino" to "coming to watch their rehearsal."
The room that Ogata is currently walking into is where the members of the Takarajima-ya practice Kabuki.
"Good morning! Mashima-kun!" Jiro Nishino greeted Ogata in his usual warm tone.
"Good morning." Ogata nodded in response and sat cross-legged next to Jiro Nishino. "How is the rehearsal going?"
"So far, everything is going well!" Nishino's tone was full of excitement that could not be concealed. "Everyone is very enthusiastic! They can't wait to perform "Ittosai" in the New Year."
"Ittosai" - the name given to this drama by Ogata and others.
A good name, to some extent, determines the life or death of a drama.
If the play can be given a loud, catchy title that even illiterate people can remember, it will greatly promote the spread of the play.
After finishing the script, Obe and Nishino racked their brains to think of what to name the play.
In the end, Ogata made the final decision to name the drama "Ittosai".
Although Ogata now has a lot of titles, such as "Executioner Ittosai", "Ogata Ittosai", "Human Killer Itsuki", "Shura"...
But the most popular one is undoubtedly "The Executioner Ichidaosai".
Since Ogata escaped from the feudal clan, almost all the people he met who called him by his title chose to call him "Ittosai" or "Ogata Ittosai", and very few people called him by his other titles.
The three words "Yidaozhai" have only three syllables, are catchy, and are widely circulated.
This play is based on his deeds, so the title "Ittosai" is just right for the play.
After Ogata proposed the name "Ittosai", Jiro Nishino immediately nodded in agreement with his eyes shining.
So the name of the play was finalized.
"That's good." Ogata nodded with a smile, then silently followed Jiro Nishino to watch the members of Takarajima-ya who were rehearsing "Ittosai" in front.
While writing the script with Jiro Nishino, Ogata also learned a lot of Kabuki knowledge from Jiro Nishino.
Early Kabuki was not something that could be presented on stage; it was a bit like a modern gray industry.
When Kabuki was first created, it mainly relied on selling sex appeal to attract attention.
Many female Kabuki actors rely on their beauty to attract people to their performances.
A very small number of female Kabuki actors often engage in sexual transactions while performing Kabuki performances.
The Edo Shogunate noticed this chaos and felt that it was immoral, so in 1629, the Edo Shogunate issued a ban on "female Kabuki", prohibiting women from performing Kabuki.
Without women to perform, what would happen to the female characters in the show?
Then let a cute boy play the role.
After the Edo Shogunate issued a ban on "female kabuki", "wakashu kabuki" was born.
"Ruozhong" refers to underage boys.
The ban on "onna Kabuki" has caused people to shift their attention more to the lovely "wakashu Kabuki".
The responsibility of playing female roles and using sex appeal to attract attention shifted from "female kabuki" to "yokashu kabuki".
In the first year of the Jōyō era (1652), the Edo shogunate also banned the Wakazo kabuki on the grounds that it was immoral.
From then on, women and underage men were no longer allowed to perform Kabuki, and only adult men were allowed to perform Kabuki.
However, the troubled history of Kabuki did not end there.
As the saying goes, "Every policy from the top has its countermeasure." Even after the Edo Shogunate banned underage boys from performing Kabuki, many underage boys still disguised themselves as adult men and continued to perform Kabuki.
And it’s not just underage boys who are cute; there are plenty of adult men who are cute as well.
Therefore, even though the shogunate issued a ban on "female Kabuki" and "yoga Kabuki", the current situation where Kabuki relied on selling sex appeal to attract attention and a large number of Kabuki actors did things that were immoral did not change at all.
The Edo Shogunate was furious and felt that Kabuki actors were beyond help.
Therefore, in the second year of Meireki (1656 AD), the shogunate ordered the demolition of all theaters in Kyoto, the center of Kabuki, on the grounds of Kabuki brawls.
When Kabuki was almost swept into the dustbin of history, thanks to the efforts of many Kabuki defenders, the shogunate agreed to let Kabuki go on the condition that it "get rid of the prostitution and perform orthodox dramas."
From then on, Kabuki officially embarked on the path of becoming a "serious" drama.
Thanks to the efforts of many Kabuki playwrights and actors, Kabuki has gradually changed from a "gray industry" that was not very presentable to the presentable performing art that is loved by all classes.
However, the shogunate has not yet lifted the ban on "once-female Kabuki" and "wakashu Kabuki".
Therefore, all the members of the Baodaoya who are currently rehearsing in front of Obe are, without exception, all adult males.
On the Kabuki stage, all roles, whether male or female, are played by adult men.
So you don’t need to have any doubts - every female character you see on the Kabuki stage, no matter how beautiful “she” looks, is a cross-dresser.
In "Ittosai", which was co-written by Ogata and Nishino, there are female characters - two female characters based on Asaki and Afuku from the izakaya where Ogata used to work part-time.
When Ogata learned that the two characters based on Asaki and Fuku had to be played by men, he felt very complicated.
Fortunately, the two female characters based on Asaki and Fuku were played by two handsome men from Takarajima-ya.
According to Jiro Nishino, these two are the actors who specialize in playing women in Baodaoya.
After women and minors were no longer allowed to perform in Kabuki, the female roles in the play were played by young men with delicate looks, preferably those with feminine features.
After accompanying Jiro Nishino to watch the rehearsal of Tairajima-ya for a while, Obe took his leave first.
Although Ogata would come to watch the rehearsal almost every morning, it was impossible for him to spend the entire morning here watching others rehearse. He would be bored to death.
So Ogata would just take a quick look and then leave, and then rush to the Hosho Sword Hall to gain experience... No, he would gain experience while instructing the apprentices of the Hosho Sword Hall.
Anyway, the rehearsal venue of Formosa Boulevard is quite close to Hosho Kenkan, so it doesn’t matter.
…
…
As evening approaches——
"It's okay to hold the blade close to the guard with your right hand, but don't use too much force with your left hand. Let go of your left pinky finger and only use your ring finger, middle finger, and index finger to hold it gently."
Holding a wooden sword and in a mid-stance stance, Ogata pointed at a young man in front of him who was standing opposite him with a sword.
The young man's name is Kobayashi, and he is also one of the "Ten Swords of Hosho".
Kobayashi does have some talent in swordsmanship, as he is known as one of the "Ten Swords of Hosho".
After receiving Ogata's instructions, Kobayashi followed Ogata's instructions and slightly loosened his left hand that was holding the lower end of the handle.
After taking a look at Kobayashi's left hand, Ogata nodded:
"Yes, that's it. Keep this posture and attack me."
"yes!"
Kobayashi shouted and slashed at Ogata with his knife.
Bang!
When Kobayashi's wooden sword was about to hit Ogata's head, Ogata suddenly swung the wooden sword in his hand horizontally, hitting the blade of Kobayashi's wooden sword directly, knocking Kobayashi's wooden sword away with one blow.
[Ding! Use Sakakibara Ittoryu·Ryubi to defeat the enemy]
[Gain 35 personal experience points, and 30 swordsmanship "Sakakibara Ittoryu" experience points]
[Current personal level: Lv34 (5080/5200)]
[Sakakibara Ittoryu Level: 12th Stage (3625/9000)]
"How is it?" Ogata asked Kobayashi in front of him, "Do you feel that your sword-drawing speed has increased a lot?"
"It's indeed faster..." Xiaolin said with a wry smile, "but I still can't force you, Master Mashima, to strike a second time..."
Ever since Ogata got the nickname "One-Sword Samurai", many people in Hosho Sword Hall have silently set a goal for themselves - to force Ogata to use the second sword.
But no one has achieved this goal yet.
"How is it? Do you want to continue practicing?"
"No." Xiao Lin shook his head. "It's almost dark, and I should go home soon."
Ogata turned his head and looked at the sky outside the window - the sky was already dark, and in a moment, it would be completely dark.
"I didn't realize it's already this dark..." Ogata whispered, "Then I should probably leave soon."
Hosho Sword Hall would close when it got dark, so most of the disciples in the hall had already left.
Seeing that it was already dark, Ogata put the wooden sword in his hand back on the sword rack and prepared to leave the sword hall and return to the hotel to start his evening activities: learning the Ainu language and having negative distance contact with Atachi.
However, just as Ogata put the wooden sword back on the sword rack, he saw an apprentice holding up his hakama and rushing into the dojo.
Since Ogata happened to be closest to the entrance of the dojo, the apprentice asked him:
"Mashima-sama, have you seen the master?"
"Master Baosheng? It seems he went to the bathroom just now."
Speak of the devil, and here he comes. As soon as Ogata finished speaking, Baosheng, who had just finished using the toilet, returned to the dojo through another small door.
Seeing Baosheng coming back, the apprentice ran towards him and said to him:
"Master! Two farmers came to the museum and asked you to save them!"
"Farmers? Save them?" Baosheng frowned slightly.
The apprentice did not hold back his voice , so Ogata, who was not far away, also heard what he said.
When he heard the words "save them", Ogata's brows furrowed slightly like Baosheng's.
…
…
It was a rare occurrence for farmers to come to our door and ask for help.
Out of curiosity, Baosheng allowed the two farmers to come in.
There was a seldom-used reception room in the sword hall, so Baosheng took the two farmers to this reception room.
"Well - you two can tell us your names first." Baosheng put his hands into his sleeves and looked at the two farmers in front of him.
There were only four people in this medium-sized reception room.
Hosho, the two farmers, and Ogata.
Ogata was somewhat curious about what the two farmers meant by "save them", so he told Baosheng that he wanted to sit on the side and listen.
Ogata is now a distinguished guest of the Hosho Sword Hall, so Hosho naturally has no reason to refuse such a small request.
After the two farmers sat down in the reception room, Xu Fang began to look at them.
Both of them have very distinctive looks.
There are many spots and wrinkles on a face, and it looks quite old.
The other is bald, with no hair on top of his head at all.
The two of them were extremely reserved and nervous. Since entering the sword hall, their faces had been pale and their whole bodies seemed to have shrunk together.
His eyes darted around unconsciously, and he seemed extremely uncomfortable with everything around him.
After hearing Baosheng ask their names, the two farmers quickly responded.
"My name is Zusan." said the weathered farmer.
Bald Farmer: "My name is Yushiro."
"Sukezo and Yushiro, right?" Baosheng nodded, "Tell me what you are doing. What do you mean by 'save you'?"
"It's like this..." The old farmer... Zhu San swallowed his saliva to moisten his throat, and then continued, "Our village... has been spotted by a ronin..."
"At the end of last month, one of our villagers went up the mountain to dig wild vegetables when he encountered a dozen vagrants lurking on the hillside and secretly observing our village."
"Our companion was hiding not far behind the group of ronin at the time, so he overheard their conversation."
"That group of ronin are planning to plunder our village, saying they want to steal some good things to celebrate the New Year..."
At this point, both the bald farmer named Sukezo and the weathered farmer named Yushiro, their already pale faces turned even paler.
"Our village finally survived the 'Tianming famine', and it was not until this year that life finally got a little better..."
"If we let those ronin take away our food and property, we won't know how we will survive..." Yu Shilang continued, with a hint of tears in his voice.
"Just waiting for those ronin to come and rob us will lead to death. It is better to resist. Maybe there is still a chance to survive..." The person who spoke changed back to Juzo.
"So we want to ask the samurai for help! Help us fight off those ronin!"
As soon as Zuzo finished speaking, he turned a pleading look to Baosheng in front of him.
Yushiro who was standing beside him also cast a pleading look at Baosheng.
When Zuzo was about to say something else, Baosheng raised his hand to signal them not to say any more.
"I understand what you mean."
Baosheng said expressionlessly.
"I see... this is what you mean by 'saving you'..."
"You want to hire us to help you fight off the bandits, right?"
"Instead of going to so much trouble to ask the samurai for help, why don't you ask the government for help?"
As soon as Baosheng finished speaking, Zhusan said with gritted teeth.
"It's no use asking the government for help!"
"Our village was robbed by another wave of people three years ago! We asked the government for help at that time!"
"What's the result?"
"It was not until those vagrants had looted our village and left in a swagger that the government officials finally arrived!"
"What's more, it's still the end of the year and the Chinese New Year is almost here."
"This is the laziest time of the year for the government!"
"By the time we report this to the government, and then the officials report it down one level at a time, and then approve it one level at a time and send officials to assist us, I'm afraid it will be after the New Year!"
Baosheng remained silent - although he rarely dealt with the government, he had heard about its bloated organization and slow pace.
"...Since you want to ask the samurai to help you, how much are you prepared to pay us?"
This question from Baosheng made Sukezo and Yushiro look embarrassed.
After the two of them stared at each other for a while, Zusan gritted his teeth, bowed his head and said:
"Our entire village...nearly all starved to death during the 'Morning Famine'..."
"We have finally recovered some of our strength...so we...don't have much money..."
"The only reward we can offer is to ask every warrior who is willing to assist us to eat white rice for every meal until they defeat the bandits..."
"White rice?" Baosheng frowned, "Do you think you can hire samurai just by offering them white rice?"
"This is what we..." Yushiro lowered his head, "everything we can give out..."
"You want to hire samurai to work for you with such a low salary... You must not be able to hire many samurai now? Tell me - how many samurai have you hired now?"
Sukezo and Yushiro looked at each other at the same time, and the embarrassment on their faces became even more intense.
"Answer quickly." Baosheng's tone became a little stern.
"We split into three groups and went to different villages to invite samurai..." Sukezo whispered, "So far, Yushiro and I have only invited one samurai..."
"A samurai?" Baosheng shook his head helplessly. "It's as expected. The reward you offered is too low. You didn't even give me money. You just offered me rice."
"For such a low reward, the only people who would agree to help you are probably those who are so poor that they can barely afford to eat, or those who are extremely kind-hearted warriors."
"I'm sorry. I can't help you. And I won't let my disciples assist you."
When Baosheng said this, Zhu San and Yushiro all looked anxious.
Just as the two of them were about to say something else, Baosheng spoke first:
"Even if you go to all the surrounding towns and cities, you probably won't be able to invite more than 10 samurai."
"As for the group of ronin who were planning to rob you, there were more than ten of them who came to scout."
"Their total number is probably no less than dozens."
"Even if you invite a few samurai to help, you can't fight against dozens of ronin."
"This kind of battle with no chance of winning will only lead to death in vain."
"So I'm sorry - no matter how much you offer, I will not fight a battle that will lead to my death, and I will not let my disciples fight such a battle either."
"Please go back."
Suzo: "Samurai-sama..."
"Please go back!" Baosheng interrupted Zusan with a much harsher and louder shout.
While interrupting Juzo's words, he directed his sharp gaze towards Juzo and Yushiro.
Sukezo and Yushiro were frightened by Baosheng's loud voice and sharp gaze, and they both shrank their necks.
Finally - Sukezo and Yushiro left the reception room with frustrated faces.
After the two men left the reception room, Baosheng asked a disciple who was still in the sword hall to escort the two men out of the sword hall.
After the two farmers left, Ogata finally spoke the first words since the two farmers began to tell their stories.
"Lord Baosheng." Ogata turned his head and said to Baosheng beside him, "It's getting late now. It's almost time for me to leave first."
"Yes." Baosheng smiled at Ogata, "Mashima-sama, you have worked hard today!"
…
…
After leaving Hosho Sword Hall, Sukezo and Yushiro walked down the street with frustrated looks on their faces.
"So the pay is too low after all..." Yushiro hung his head and sobbed.
Zhu San who was standing by was also silent.
The pay they offered was too low - and everyone in the village knew it.
If their village was rich enough to throw large sums of gold in the faces of those samurai, they believed that they would be able to invite many samurai to help.
But they only dare to think about "taking a large fine to slap someone in the face"...
"What should we do now..." Yushiro looked at Sukezo beside him with a confused look on his face, "I don't know when those ronin will be here... and the two of us have only invited one samurai so far..."
"Those who went to other towns probably didn't invite many samurai."
"Can such a small number of samurai stop those ronin?"
Zhu San was silent again.
Although they don't know how to fight or the art of war, they still know simple arithmetic.
The number of ronin who are targeting their village is unknown, but there are most likely dozens of them.
The villagers had little fighting power. The only ones who could fight against the ronin were the samurai they hired.
And if they can finally invite 10 warriors, they will be thankful...
No matter how you look at it, their village is doomed to fail now...
"It would be great if there was a samurai who could defeat a thousand men at once" Juzo said with a wry smile, sounding almost delusional.
Just as he finished speaking, a young voice suddenly sounded behind them:
"Hey! You two!"
Sukezo and Yushiro were stunned for a moment, then turned back.
It was a familiar figure that I had just seen.
It was the young warrior who had been sitting next to the owner of the sword hall, but his name was unknown.
The young samurai walked slowly to Sukezo and Yushiro, and continued:
"My name is Majima Goro."
"Tell me more about how your village is targeted by the wanderers."