Dewa Region——
In an ordinary village without any special features——
Ning Tailang is an ordinary farmer in this ordinary village.
He is 28 years old this year and has a wife who is one year younger than him. The two currently have four children, including two boys and two girls.
The oldest son is only 12 years old this year, and the youngest daughter was born not long ago.
The whole family lived in a dilapidated little house.
It's the end of the year.
At the end of the year in Mutsu, there was nothing but snow outside.
In a place like this where it's freezing cold in winter, there's nothing else to do except staying at home, relying on the food saved to survive the winter, and doing some handicrafts to supplement the family income.
It was afternoon, and there was still some time before dark.
Ning Tailang sat cross-legged in a corner of the house, making a birdcage.
The wife held her newborn baby girl in her arms and fed her milk.
The other three children were fighting and playing nearby.
They originally had two sons and three daughters - unfortunately, one of the sons and one of the daughters died shortly after birth, and the other one son and two daughters died in the "Tianming famine".
Without exception, all the family members had sallow faces, sunken cheeks, and very little flesh on their bodies.
Ning Tailang and his wife both had dull and gloomy eyes.
On the contrary, their children's eyes were still bright and they were having a lot of fun playing the "playing warrior" game.
"Mother." Ning Tailang turned to his wife and asked, "Do you have enough milk?"
Although the other three children were playing nearby, Ning Tailang's wife bares her breasts without any scruples and breastfeeds her newborn daughter.
"Yeah." She nodded, "Just barely..."
"Really..." Ning Tailang said softly, "That's good..."
"We are really lucky this year." Ning Tailang's wife smiled at her husband.
Although she smiled, her face was sallow and her cheeks were sunken, so her smile was not only ugly, but also a little creepy.
"The harvest this year is pretty good. It shouldn't be a problem for us to survive this winter."
"Yeah." Ning Tailang nodded gently, with a faint smile on his face, "Yes. God has finally opened his eyes."
Although it has ended for three years, Ning Tailang still remembers the tragic situation of the "Tianming Famine" vividly.
The crops had failed and there was nothing to eat.
Although the government has provided relief by distributing relief grain, their lives are still very difficult...
Eating food that humans should eat is a rare case, and most of the time we can only eat things that humans should not eat.
Ning Tailang wanted to cry just thinking back to the hard times back then.
They had a little daughter who was also born not long ago.
But because the baby ate poorly, his wife had no milk, so she could only feed the little daughter things that babies of this age should not eat, such as soup made from barnyard grass.
This kind of stuff that even dogs won’t drink can’t possibly help babies grow up healthily.
After drinking barnyard grass soup for a while, the little daughter suddenly vomited and had a high fever. In the end, she died of the disease.
Having experienced such tragic situations, Ning Tailang became neurotically concerned about his wife's milk after the birth of his new daughter. He would if she still had milk.
"I hope next year will be as good as this year." As he said this, a little light appeared in Ning Tailang's dim eyes.
After enduring the seven-year-long "Morning Famine", they are finally living a good life recently.
Although the food stored at home was not enough for the whole family to have a full meal, it was more than enough to keep them from going hungry every day.
Their family situation is considered relatively good in this village .
Because there were not many children in their family and their parents died early, the pressure of supporting a large family was not that great.
Compared with their previous life when the "Dawn Famine" had not yet passed, the days in the past two years when they could eat the food that people should eat really seemed like a dream.
"It would be better if the government could clear out the bandits in various places." Ning Tailang's wife continued.
Their village was located somewhere in Dewa, within the direct jurisdiction of the shogunate.
Perhaps because it is close to the city town, until now, no bandits have come to visit their village.
But no one could guarantee that their village would remain safe forever, and that there would never be bandits coming from nowhere to covet their money, food, and women.
"I heard from the village chief a few days ago," Ning Tailang said, "It seems that the government will unite with other feudal states in Oshu to eliminate bandits in various places when spring comes next year."
"Really?" Ning Tailang's wife looked delighted.
"I heard everyone say that." Ning Tailang smiled, "It should be true."
"The government still does something practical occasionally." Ning Tailang's wife muttered.
"We are the people of the government after all." Ning Tailang shook his head and said, "Without the people, there would be no government. The government will never abandon us."
"After all, 'we are like water, and the government is like a boat floating on the water. Without us, the water, the government's boat cannot float.'"
"You're here again." Ning Tailang's wife smiled helplessly, "You obviously don't even recognize a single Chinese character, but you just like to pretend to be a scholar."
Ning Tailang was not ashamed of his wife's complaints, and even showed a proud expression.
Many years ago, a warrior who was training as a warrior passed through their village.
The samurai had a very kind personality and had a good relationship with Ning Taro.
During the few days that the samurai stayed in the village, he briefly introduced Chinese studies to Ning Tailang.
Ning Tailang had completely forgotten much of what the samurai had said at the time.
But there was only one sentence whose meaning Ning Tailang vaguely remembered - we are like water, and the government is like a small boat floating on the water. Without us, the water, the government's small boat cannot float.
Maybe it is different from what the samurai said at the time, but Ning Tailang feels that the meaning should be similar.
Because he only remembered this sentence, the rather vain Ning Tailang would repeat it whenever he got the chance, in order to make himself look more cultured.
"In short - the government should really intend to wipe out the bandits in various places." Ning Tailang said in a decisive tone.
Ning Tailang has always trusted the government.
Or rather... I have a more favorable impression of him.
Because it was thanks to the relief from the government that they were able to survive the "Tianming Famine" that lasted for seven years - although three children died in the end, compared with those families where the whole family died, their family was much better off.
The recent good times have given Ning Tailang a long-awaited hope for the future.
He imagined that the government would continue to help these poor farmers.
God no longer troubles them.
He doesn't ask for much.
He just hopes that the whole family can have enough food and every child can grow up healthily.
After a brief chat with his wife, Ning Tailang continued to work on his handicrafts wholeheartedly.
But at this moment - there was a sound of knocking on wooden boards outside the room.
Hearing this voice, Ning Tailang and his wife frowned.
They naturally recognized this voice - it was the call to their village. All villagers except the elderly, the weak, women and children had to gather at the village chief's place.
Once this sound is made, it basically means that the village chief has something to announce to everyone.
"Mother, you stay home." Ning Tailang put down the half-finished bird cage in his hand, "I'll go to the village chief to see what happened."
"Yes." Ning Tailang's wife nodded, "Take care."
Ning Tailang hurried to the village chief's house.
After all the villagers except the elderly, the weak, women and children arrived in the village, their old village chief directly announced to them a piece of news that shocked them: a high-ranking official from the government was coming to their village and would be here soon.
As soon as the village chief said this, the villagers were immediately "excited".
Their village is just an ordinary little village, how could a high-ranking official from the government come to visit them?
They asked their old village chief what kind of official was coming to their village, and their old village chief just said he didn't know, only that he was a very high-ranking official.
Just now, a minor official arrived at their village and informed the village chief of the news. He asked the village chief to quickly lead the villagers to stand on both sides of the widest road in the center of the village, ready to welcome the government officials.
When the villagers heard this request, they were all surprised - because they only needed to stand and did not need to kneel on the ground.
When the clerk came to inform them of the news, the village chief asked this question on behalf of the villagers. The clerk said bluntly: That's right, there is no need to kneel, just stand and lower your head, and don't look directly at the queue.
Although the incident happened suddenly, the villagers had no choice but to do as they were told.
After all, the visitor is a high-ranking official of the shogunate. If something goes wrong, the consequences will be something that ordinary people like them cannot afford.
So every household brought their families and stood on both sides of the widest road in the center of the village as requested by the clerk.
Ning Tailang also joined the line and stood still with his wife and children.
The wife held her infant daughter in her arms.
Ning Tailang's two big hands tightly grasped the hands of the other three children to prevent them from moving.
Ning Tailang had heard many stories about "children accidentally bumping into the carriage of a daimyo or high-ranking official, and being hacked to death by the daimyo or high-ranking official's guards."
In this era, it is a serious crime for an unrelated person to bump into the carriages of those "superiors".
If the "superior" has a good temper, he may let you go.
If the "superior" has a bad temper, he may order his subordinates to hack to death the person who hits the carriage, and he himself will not be punished at all.
The villagers all stood on both sides of the widest avenue.
After standing until some of their legs were sore, they finally saw a small procession appearing at the end of the road - there were many horse-riding warriors, and in the center of this group of horse-riding warriors was a very gorgeous carriage.
When the unknown officials finally arrived, the villagers quickly lowered their heads, their eyes on their noses and their noses on their hearts.
Ning Tailang rested his chin directly on his chest, and at the same time, in an extremely stern tone, he asked the children next to him to lower their heads quickly, and they must not raise their heads until he said they were allowed to do so.
After a while, Ning Tailang heard the sounds of a lot of horse hooves and people's feet passing by in the middle of the road in front of him.
Because he couldn't look up, Ning Tailang couldn't count how many people were in the queue or take a closer look at what the carriage in the center of the queue looked like.
Soon, the team passed in front of the villagers and then went away.
The convoy did not stop at their village at all.
It just went straight through the widest road in their village.
After the team had completely left their village, a minor official came on horseback and said to the villagers: "That's enough, thank you for your hard work, just continue doing what you should do next."
After leaving these words, the clerk rode away on his horse.
Only the villagers were still confused.
"Which high official has visited our village?"
"have no idea."
"I thought some high-ranking official came to inspect incognito, but it turns out he's just passing through our village?"
The villagers were discussing the matter in a lively manner.
Ning Tailang had no interest in the villagers' discussion or the group of unknown high-ranking officials.
When the group of high-ranking officials left and Ning Tailang was told that he could continue to do what he was supposed to do, he went straight home.
He just wanted to make two more bird cages before going to bed so that his family could save more and live a life with enough food every day sooner.
…
…
In the Edo period, inns were divided into four categories: Honjin, Wakihonjin, Hatago, and Kiyûjuku.
The Honjin was a residential facility that provided services exclusively for daimyo, court nobles, and high-ranking officials of the shogunate.
The wakihonjin, which was one level lower in rank than the honjin, provided services to the daimyo and shogunate officials of a slightly lower rank.
As for Hatago and Kiyonoku, they were specifically for ordinary samurai and ordinary people. Kiyonoku's grade and service conditions were worse than Hatago's.
This evening, a certain main camp in Dewa became bustling.
Because a high-ranking official from a certain government office will be staying at this main camp tonight.
Who is the high-ranking official in this government?
Except for the person in charge of this main camp, the rest of the staff were completely unaware.
But they could vaguely guess from the nervous look of their chief executive and the queue of this high-ranking official that this high-ranking official must be of high status.
The total number of guards, attendants and others added up to hundreds of people.
Although their number was not large, the horses and equipment they used were all of high quality - an official who could use such high quality equipment must not be a minor official.
In fact, they should be thankful that they didn't know who was staying at their main camp tonight.
If they knew who was staying tonight, they would be so nervous that they would tremble even when walking...
…
…
"Mr. Laozhong."
Tachibana knelt on one knee not far from Matsudaira Sadanobu and spoke respectfully to him.
"Dinner is ready. Please enjoy your meal."
At this time, Matsudaira Sadanobu was sitting cross-legged by the window.
There is a light snowflake flying in the air now, decorating the already dark night sky.
Matsudaira Sadanobu just looked at the snow scene outside the window.
"Yeah." Matsudaira Sadanobu nodded gently.
After taking his eyes away from the window and sitting down in the room, several servants came in with a sumptuous meal and handed it to Matsudaira Sadanobu.
The food has just gone through layers of poison testing.
"Lord, this is the specialties of the Ou region - Oma tuna, kiritanpo, Inaniwa udon noodles, and senbei soup. Please enjoy."
"Oma tuna?" Matsudaira Sadanobu smiled, " It's been a long time since I've had authentic Oma tuna..."
After saying that, Matsudaira Sadanobu picked up his bowl and chopsticks and began to eat with relish.
Matsudaira Sadanobu did not choose to travel to Ezo by sea.
Instead, choose to go by land.
After arriving at the Tsugaru Strait along the official road, take a boat to Ezo.
It takes longer to travel by land than by sea.
But Matsudaira Sadanobu was not in a hurry to go to Ezo.
It will take some time for the army and baggage to gather in Ezo.
Therefore, Matsudaira Sadanobu did not need to rush to Ezo. He had enough time to head north to Ezo along the land route at a leisurely pace.
Moreover, the reason for choosing to travel by land is for two important purposes.
The first purpose: Matsudaira Sadanobu wanted to breathe the air of the Ou area for the first time in a long time.
In addition to being the elder councilor of the shogunate, Matsudaira Sadanobu was also the current lord of Shirakawa Domain in the Ou region.
High-ranking officials such as Rochū and Wakanoyoshi were basically held by daimyo who were related to the shogun by blood or daimyo who were hereditary daimyo (daimyo who submitted to the first shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu, earlier).
The Shirakawa Domain ruled by Matsudaira Sadanobu was one of the daimyo of the Mutsu region.
After the current shogun Tokugawa Ienari ascended the throne and appointed Matsudaira Sadanobu as the new elder councilor, Matsudaira Sadanobu left the Shirakawa domain and lived in Edo for a long time, devoting himself to the revitalization of the shogunate.
Because all his energy in recent years has been focused on revitalizing the shogunate, he has been unable to deal with the affairs of the Shirakawa domain.
The affairs of the Shirakawa domain were basically handed over to important officials headed by the family elders.
Matsudaira Sadanobu himself had not returned to Shirakawa Domain for some time.
Therefore, Matsudaira Sadanobu wanted to take this opportunity to travel to Ezo by land to breathe in the air of the Ou region, which was considered his birthplace.
If possible, Matsudaira Sadanobu also wanted to pass through Shirakawa Domain and visit his hometown which he had not returned for a long time.
Unfortunately, no matter how he planned the route, his column would not be able to pass through Shirakawa Domain unless he took a big detour.
Therefore, Matsudaira Sadanobu could only give up with regret.
The second purpose of choosing to travel by land was to see the customs of the people in the Ou region with my own eyes.
After the Tenmei famine broke out, the Ou region was the hardest hit area.
Three years ago, not long after the end of the "Tenmei Famine", Matsudaira Sadanobu took office as the new councilor of the shogunate.
Many of the reforms he made in the past three years were tailor-made for the "Tianming Famine" - to "treat" the damage caused to the country after the outbreak of the "Tianming Famine" and to prevent such large-scale famine from happening again.
Matsudaira Sadanobu wanted to see it with his own eyes.
Look at how the Ou region, which was hit hardest, has recovered now.
Matsudaira Sadanobu always adhered to the idea that "the country is at peace if the farmers are at peace."
The easiest and most effective way to find out how an area has recovered from a disaster is to go and see how the farmers are living.
Therefore, since leaving the Edo period, Matsudaira Sadanobu deliberately commanded his troops to visit every rural village along the way.
Matsudaira Sadanobu mainly looked at the faces of the farmers in the countryside.
One only needs to look at their faces to get a rough idea of ​​how the farmers are doing.
Whenever he was about to pass through a village, Matsudaira Sadanobu would send his officials into the village in advance to inform the villagers to stand on both sides of the road.
While passing through the road lined with villagers, Matsudaira Sadanobu, sitting in the sedan chair, would observe the villagers' expressions.
Although the villagers all lowered their heads, it did not prevent Matsudaira Sadanobu from observing their figures and facial complexions.
After quickly eating all the food on the table that needed chewing, Matsudaira Sadanobu picked up the warm soup and drank it in small sips.
While sipping the soup, he spoke in an instructive tone to Tachibana who was waiting beside him.
"Tachibana, did you see the state of the villages we passed through today?"
"I see." Tachibana said respectfully.
"Tell me what you think," Matsudaira Sadanobu continued, "What do you think of the conditions of the villagers in those villages?"
"yes!"
After quickly organizing his words, Tachibana said with a smile:
"Master Lao Zhong, I think that the villagers in the villages we passed through today are in very good condition."
"What's the best solution?" Matsudaira Sadanobu asked.
"They all look bad without exception," Tachibana replied immediately, "No doubt about it - they all don't eat well."
"But judging from their condition, they are not hungry."
“The farmers are in a state where they are neither full nor hungry. This is the best state!”
As soon as Tachibana finished speaking, a faint smile slowly appeared on Matsudaira Sadanobu's face.
"good."
Matsudaira Sadanobu praised.
"It's worth it that I have cultivated you for so many years."
Hearing Matsudaira Sadanobu's praise, Tachibana's eyes couldn't help but flash with joy, and then she quickly said a few humble words.
"Tachibana, remember this." Matsudaira Sadanobu put away the smile on his face and said slowly, "The farmers can't live too well, nor can they live too poorly."
"The villagers in the villages we passed through today are in very good condition."
"If farmers in all rural areas across the country were like the farmers in the villages we passed today, our country would be able to enjoy long-term stability."
"Tachibana, remember this sentence——"
Matsudaira Sadanobu paused.
Then he said quietly:
“Keeping the peasants half dead is the secret to running a country.”
As soon as Matsudaira Sadanobu finished speaking, Tachibana nodded vigorously:
"Yes! Thank you for your teachings, Mr. Laozhong!"
"So far, the situation in each village can be considered satisfactory." Matsudaira Sadanobu continued, "I hope that every village I encounter in the future will continue to satisfy me."
After saying this, Matsudaira Sadanobu drank the soup in the bowl in one gulp.
After placing the empty bowl back on the table in front of him, Matsudaira Sadanobu said softly:
"This bowl of senbei soup tastes really good...better than any senbei soup I've had before."
"Sir, Mr. Kimura, who is in charge of this main camp, specially asked his men to select the freshest ingredients to make this bowl of senbei soup after learning that you will be staying here tonight." Tachibana replied, "Perhaps because of this, this bowl of senbei soup tastes even more delicious."
"So that's how it is." Matsudaira Sadanobu smiled bitterly, "That's really thoughtful."
"But I don't really like this kind of fanfare."
"Tachibana, go tell that Kimura right now and say: I appreciate his kindness, but don't do something like this again."
"yes!"
…
…
The second year of Kanzheng (1790), December 25.
In Kinno-cho, inside the inn where Ogata and Omachi were staying——
Ah-Machi stood in the middle of the room.
Ogata half-knelt in front of Atachi.
The two of them were working together to put a kimono on Atachi.
After successfully putting on the kimono, Atachi raised his arms and asked:
"Ayi, what do you think?"
"Hmm..." Ogata stared at the piece of cloth on Atachi's chest, which was bulging due to her pectoral muscles.
Then he raised his hand and touched the clothes that were stretched tightly.
"…The clothes do seem to be getting tighter." Ogata murmured.
"Right..." Ating sighed helplessly, "It seems that it's not my illusion... Okay, stop touching me!"
Atachi slapped Ogata's hand away in annoyance as he looked serious.
"Take off your clothes," Ogata said seriously, "Let me see for myself if there is really a change."