"Is that so... What a pity! I wanted to hear more stories about the Sword Master..."
After hearing Ogata's revelation that "I don't know the stories of other swordsmen," a hint of disappointment appeared on Jiro Nishino's face.
"Wow..." At this moment, Ating, who was looking back, exclaimed softly, "The seats are almost full..."
Hearing Atachi's exclamation, Ogata turned his head and looked back.
When I was telling Jiro Nishino the story of Fujingsai, only 30% of the seats were occupied.
Unexpectedly, in the blink of an eye, 90% of the seats were already occupied.
Everyone's chattering formed a series of chirping noises.
"By the way." After retracting his gaze from behind, Ogata casually asked Nishino Jiro beside him, "Nishino-kun, didn't your father, elder brother, and other family members come with you to watch the performance?"
It was only then that Ogata suddenly remembered that Jiro Nishino was all alone, without any family members to accompany him.
All those friends from Formosa House had to perform on stage.
If Ogata and Atachi hadn't accompanied him, he would have had to watch the performance alone tonight.
"Mother just happens to have something to do tonight."
"Father and eldest brother also happen to be busy tonight."
At this point, Jiro Nishino suddenly revealed a wry smile.
"But - even if my father and eldest brother didn't have anything to do tonight, I probably wouldn't invite them to the show."
"Neither of them has any interest in kabuki at all."
“If you invite them to watch a show, whether they will be willing or not is another matter. Even if they do, they may fall asleep halfway through the show.”
"Your father and your elder brother had no interest in Kabuki?" Ogata looked surprised.
"Yeah." Nishino Jiro nodded. "When I told my father that I wanted to be a Kabuki playwright, my father, who didn't like Kabuki very much, was very opposed to it."
"But in the end, my father decided to support my ambition."
A complicated smile appeared on Nishino's face.
"Mashima-sama, why do you think my father decided to support my ambition to become a Kabuki playwright?"
"…Is it because you are the second son in the family?" Ogata asked softly.
"That's right." The complex smile on Nishino Jiro's face showed a hint of helplessness. "The family business is destined to be inherited by my eldest brother."
"As the second son, I have to fend for myself."
"My father decided to support me to become a Kabuki playwright so that I could be self-reliant in the future."
"So, for me, being a Kabuki playwright is both an ambition and something I have to work hard for in order to make a living."
"If I can't make it in this field, I'll just have to do some boring job my father finds for me."
During this era, all classes and industries in Japan followed the system of primogeniture.
Whether a samurai or a commoner, the family business is basically inherited by the eldest son.
Except for the eldest son, other sons were either kept at home like parasites or required to be independent and self-reliant.
In noble and samurai families, sons other than the eldest son were often used as political tools to marry into other families.
Jiro Nishino is one of those lucky second sons - his father will help him find a way out and develop the skills to make a living.
Some families basically ignore all children other than the eldest son, which has caused many tragedies.
"But my eldest brother told me this morning that he is very interested in this Kabuki play based on the executioner Ittosai, and he will take some time to watch it later."
"But whether it's true or not, I don't know..."
Ding ding...
Before Jiro Nishino could finish his words, the clear sound of shamisen music, like water drops dripping into the lake, suddenly rang out.
Hearing the sound of the shamisen, Nishino Jiro was stunned for a moment, then immediately said excitedly:
“Ah, it’s started!”
After saying that, he turned his eyes away from Ogata and stared at the stage in front of him with anticipation.
No one in this world knows the plot of "Ittosai" better than the author Jiro Nishino.
Jiro Nishino has watched the rehearsal of the Tairajima-ya hundreds of times.
But watching a rehearsal and watching a formal performance give people completely different feelings.
The atmosphere alone is different.
When watching the rehearsal, you can only watch in solitude.
When watching the actual performance, there were countless people accompanying us, all looking at the stage with anticipation.
Ogata, who was sitting in the front row, turned around and looked behind him - it was dark and all the seats were occupied.
——It seems that Nishino-kun was not lying just now... The tickets are really sold out...
After sighing like this, Ogata retracted his gaze, crossed his arms over his chest, and stared intently at the stage in front of him along with the people around him.
On the left side facing the stage, there is a path connecting the stage and leading to the auditorium.
This path is at the same height as the stage and is called the "Flower Path". It is an important passage for the main characters in the play to enter and exit the stage.
The sound of the shamisen that is now echoing in the venue is actually a disguised way of notifying the audience: the performance is about to begin.
After the music started, the originally noisy scene gradually quieted down.
After a while, the actors from Baodaoya, with makeup on their faces and wearing costumes, walked onto the stage one by one along the flower path.
Looking at the actors going onto the stage one by one, Ogata's mouth corners involuntarily curled up slightly, revealing a strange smile.
Although he had prepared himself mentally, Ogata still felt very complicated when he saw a Kabuki performance based on his own personal experience being performed right in front of him.
He couldn't help but think about the future.
——People in later generations would never have imagined that… this kabuki play was based on the personal experience of “The Executioner Ittosai”, and Ittosai himself participated in the creation of the script.
— and was one of the first people to watch the show.
When he thought of this, Xu Fang couldn't help but laugh.
…
…
Ezo Land, Matsumae Domain, Matsumae Castle——
"Kinoshita Genichi?"
Matsudaira Sadanobu repeated the slightly unfamiliar name in a low voice.
He felt that the name sounded familiar, as if he had heard it before.
"From what I know," Inamori interrupted, "this Kinoshita Genichi seems to be a swordsman who is quite famous among the people."
Hearing what Inamori said, Matsudaira Sadanobu suddenly remembered - he had indeed heard of it before.
It was unclear how long ago that Matsudaira Sadanobu heard the name "Genichi Kinoshita".
Just as Inamori said just now, he is a swordsman.
As far as Matsudaira Sadanobu knew, this man's swordsmanship was extremely superb, and he seemed to be revered as the "Sword Saint". His name began to spread more than 40 years ago, so if he was still alive now, he must be very old.
But he didn't seem to have done anything earth-shattering, so he was only famous among martial artists, and fewer people knew him among the common people.
If a warrior wants to become famous, the easiest way is to do something earth-shattering.
Ogata Issei is a good example.
He defeated the strong with the weak, defeated a hundred with one, killed his lord, and became famous in one fell swoop.
What Ogata Ittosai did afterwards in Kyoto further expanded his fame.
Although Ogata Ittosai's fame is not yet a household name, a considerable number of ordinary people already know the name "Executioner Ittosai".
In this era when information transmission is underdeveloped, it is already a very rare thing for a military man to make his existence known to many ordinary people.
In the two hundred years since the Edo Shogunate was established, few pure warriors could do this.
This is the only impression Matsudaira Sadanobu has of Genichi Kinoshita.
After digesting the new information that Inamori had just provided, Matsudaira Sadanobu said softly:
"This is indeed a very strange piece of information... Did Kinoshita Genichi provoke those Lucia people, and then those Lucia people came to seek revenge?"
"Forget it. I'm too lazy to think about it."
"Whether Kinoshita Genichi is dead or alive, it has nothing to do with our shogunate."
After simply digesting the information that Inamori had just provided, Matsudaira Sadanobu concluded that this information was of no use to them.
I just know that a group of Lucia people are looking for Genichi Kinoshita.
Matsudaira Sadanobu didn't care whether Kinoshita Genichi was dead or alive.
Inamori has told all the information he has learned recently about the Lucia people.
Seeing that there was nothing else to ask, Matsudaira Sadanobu asked a new question.
"Inamori, tell me the current situation of the Northern Legion."
"Especially the baggage. Tell me the details."
"How long can our army fight with the current baggage reserves in the camp?"
When Inamori received the order from Matsudaira Sadanobu and came to meet Matsudaira Sadanobu, he had already prepared himself that he would not be able to return for a few hours.
Inamori, who had long been mentally prepared to fight a "protracted war", cleared his throat again after hearing Matsudaira Sadanobu's question, organized his words, and then told the story of the army.
…
…
"Ittosai" begins with the protagonist Hanyu Ise practicing sword in a sword hall and ends with him killing his lord and then walking away from his clan in a carefree manner.
Under Ogata's guidance, this play "Ittosai" can actually be read as a history book.
The causes, process and results of the decision to kill the tyrant are basically consistent with the actual situation.
The only drawback is that there is a rule in the Kabuki world that "real people's names cannot appear in Kabuki scripts", so all the names in the play are fictional names.
The protagonist's name was changed to "Hanyu Isyo", which is similar to "Ogata Noriyoshi" only in pronunciation.
The true story of Ogata killing Matsudaira Gennai has a complete beginning, development, climax and ending, and the story of wielding a sword for justice is very much in line with the values ​​of people of that era. People of that era love to read such stories.
So as long as your writing skills are not too bad, the script will not be too bad no matter how you write it.
Coupled with the guidance of Ogata, the real protagonist of the story, this play "Ittosai" is extremely realistic.
Although the actors and musicians of Baodaoya are not professionals who make a living by performing Kabuki, their level is not bad either.
The performance of the members of Takarajima-ya has exceeded Ogata's expectations.
As soon as the performance began, the audience was attracted by the wonderful story performed by the actors.
The most typical example is Ating.
Atingben is the kind of person who likes to listen to and read stories.
Atachi, who likes to listen to storytelling, also has a great interest in Kabuki.
When Atachi learned that Ogata was going to assist Jiro Nishino in writing the script, she specifically asked Ogata not to tell her anything about the content of the script.
When the members of Baojimaya began rehearsing, A-machi also asked Ogata not to tell her any rehearsal content or progress.
So A-Machi was actually no different from the ordinary spectators present - she knew nothing about Ittosai and had no idea what kind of performance would be next.
Although Ogata had told Omachi in detail about his past in Hirose Domain long before they established their relationship, Omachi might be the one in the world who knew the most about what Ogata had experienced in Hirose Domain besides Ogata himself, but she still read it with great interest.
The performance duration of "Ittosai", converted into modern Earth time units, is about one and a half hours.
An hour and a half later, Hanyu Iyo, who successfully killed the tyrant in the play, performed the last scene of the play: holding the sword at his waist, he walked away gracefully along the flower path for performers to enter and exit the stage.
Afterwards, all members of Formosa Boulevard—actors and musicians—went on stage and bowed to the audience.
When the members of Takarajima-ya bowed to express their gratitude, the whole audience erupted in cheers and applause that seemed to blow the roof off the Chiyoza.
Listening to the cheers and applause coming from all around, a smile slowly appeared on Ogata's face as he crossed his arms.
…
…
"The response from everyone is quite enthusiastic!" Jiro Nishino's expression and tone were quite excited.
At this time, Jiro Nishino was walking home with Ogata and Atachi.
Nishino Jiro, who was returning to his home in Minamoto-ya, and Ogata and A-machi, who were returning to their hotel, happened to be taking the same route at some point.
So it was natural for them to go together.
As soon as he followed the crowd out of Chiyoza, Jiro Nishino excitedly described how enthusiastic the audience's response was just now.
"This 'Ittosai' is indeed very good." Atachi, who was smiling, responded without any flattery, "I feel that it has the potential to become a popular kabuki that is famous throughout the country and known to every household like 'Chushingura'."
"Whether a kabuki play can become popular nationwide depends not only on the quality of the script," said Jiro Nishino with a wry smile. "It also depends on luck."
"Whether a Kabuki play can become popular all over the country depends a lot on luck."
"If I'm lucky enough, it might become a nationwide sensation in an instant."
“For example, if a noble or aristocrat really likes the play Itdaosai, and then promotes it among the nobles and aristocrats, there is a great chance that it will become popular all over the country.”
At this point, Jiro Nishino paused, then smiled and shrugged.
"Although I also hope that Ittosai can become as popular as Chushingura, no one can predict the future."
"We can only take one step at a time."
“But overall, it’s a good start.”
"Judging from the audience's reaction, today's performance was quite successful."
"Yes." Ogata continued with a smile, "Today's performance, to be honest, was better than I expected."
"This is all thanks to the excellent performances of everyone at Takarajima-ya, and the guidance you gave me, Majima-sama." Nishino Jiro looked at Ogata with respect, "Without Majima-sama's guidance, I would never have been able to complete a script of this quality."
"Nishino-kun, don't underestimate yourself." Ogata raised his hand and patted Nishino Jiro on the shoulder. "What I have done is actually very limited. Thanks to your excellent writing skills, this excellent script was born."
"Although I don't know much about Kabuki, I can feel that the script you wrote is excellent."
"The success of today's performance is also due to your contribution."
"Thank you." Hearing Ogata's praise, Nishino Jiro seemed a little shy, "But I'm still young. I still have a long way to go before I can become an excellent Kabuki playwright."
…
… …
On the first day of the third year of Kansei (1791), Obunaga drove Atachi in the early morning and was driven by Atachi, slept in the morning, visited Kinei Shrine for the New Year’s Day in the afternoon, and watched Ittosai at Chiyoza in the evening. It was quite a fulfilling time.
In the following days, since all the activities he could do were done, Ogata's life returned to the rhythm of the few days before the New Year - he just stayed in his hotel room every day doing nothing.
It was not until January 4, when Hosho Kenkan reopened, that Ogata finally bid farewell to this extremely leisurely life.
With the reopening of Hosho Sword Hall, Ogata's life gradually returned to its previous busy state.
Since watching the first performance of "Itosai" on the evening of January 1, Osamu has been following the performances of "Itosai".
Overall, the performance of "Ittosai" can be said to be a great success.
Originally, the people at Baodaoya only planned to perform "Ittosai" for 7 days, on the nights of January 1st to January 7th.
But the popularity is so great that every show is sold out.
At the strong request of the residents of Kinno-cho, Baojimaya had to increase the number of performances and extend the performance days to the 11th.
After the performance on the 11th ended, the residents of Kinno-cho requested for another performance.
The members of Baodaoya have been performing "Ittosai" for 11 consecutive days and are already exhausted.
So I could only say helplessly: I will continue to perform "Ittosai", but I have to wait for a while to let them take a break.
As time passed, the thing that Ogata was most concerned about - the time when Minamoto no Tachibana would send merchant ships to Ezo - was finally determined.
January 15th.
The owner of Genjuya, Jiro Nishino's father, decided to start the first merchant ship dispatch of the year on January 15th.
…
…
On the night of January 14, 1791, the third year of Kansei—
In a bathhouse in Kinno-cho, on the second floor—
"Oh! Mashima-kun! We meet again!"
Shimasuke warmly greeted Ogata who was walking slowly towards him.
"Good evening, Mr. Shimasuke." Ogata also responded with a smile.
Shimasuke - the "original hunter" who had met on the second floor of this bathhouse before, and who told a group of young people including Ogata about his past hunting of man-eating giant bears, and taught them how to deal with bears when they encountered them in the wild.
Shimasuke often comes to this bathhouse.
After taking a bath, he would rest for a while on the second floor of the bathhouse and tell people his previous hunting stories.
Because this bathhouse was next to the hotel where Ogata was staying, Ogata only came to this bathhouse to take a bath.
Because Atachi takes longer to bathe than Ogata, Ogata always goes to the rest area on the second floor to kill time after taking a bath.
So I often run into Shimasuke.
Every time I met Shimasuke, he was telling people about his previous hunting experiences, or preparing to tell people about his hunting experiences.
Shimasuke used to be a "original hunter" who lived in Ezo, so by listening to his previous hunting experiences, we might be able to gather some useful information.
So whenever he happened to run into Shimasuke on the second floor, Ogata would go up to him and listen to his hunting stories.
After listening to Shimasuke's hunting stories for more than a month, I didn't gather much useful information, but I did learn a lot of hunting tips and survival skills in the wild.
Ogata wanted to know more about Ezo.
Ogata knew almost nothing about Ezo.
The only thing Ogata knew about the Ezo was that they still lived in a very primitive settlement life, relying on fishing and hunting for a living.
He also took the initiative to ask Shimasuke if he knew about Ezo.
Unfortunately, I only received negative responses.
Shimasuke and his fellow villagers used to live a very secluded life and rarely communicated with the outside world.
According to Shimasuke, their village had basically no contact with the Ezo people. He knew very little about the Ezo people. He only heard about some strange customs of the Ezo people from his elders - such as calling a bear that had eaten human flesh "Uenkamuyi" and a few simple Ezo words.
Still feeling a little warm from his bath, Ogata sat cross-legged next to Shimasuke and said to him:
"Mr. Shimasuke, today may be the last time I come to listen to your story."
"Oh?" Shimasuke's eyes flashed with surprise, "Are you leaving here?"
"Yes." Ogata nodded. "Tomorrow morning, I will leave Kinno-cho with Uchiko. Tonight is my last night in Kinno-cho."
"I see..." Shimasuke grinned, revealing a kind smile, "Then I wish you and your wife a safe journey in advance!"
"Since tonight is your last night in Kinno Town, please listen to my story carefully tonight."
"After all, it's the last time."
"That's exactly what I meant." Ogata said with a smile, "But don't tell your story too long tonight. If you do, I might not be able to hear it to the end."
Although we couldn't get any useful information from Shimasuke, his hunting stories were quite interesting.
Listening to Shimasuke's stories became one of Ogata's important pastimes during this period.
It’s a pity that sometimes Shimasuke’s stories were too long, and before he could finish the story, Atachi had already finished her bath, so he had to put down the story he had just heard half of and leave the bathhouse.
"Okay." Shimasuke laughed a few times, "Then I'll try to pick a shorter story to tell today!"
At this time, people who usually like to listen to Shimasuke's stories have gathered around him.
Seeing that most of the audience had arrived, Shimasuke cleared his throat and was about to start today's story.
"Mr. Shimasuke! It is said that there are gold mines all over the Ezo area. Is this true?"
The person who asked this question was one of the audience members surrounding Shimasuke—a young boy who was probably only in his early teens.
Ogata had some impression of this young man, as he was an old listener of Shimasuke.
Hearing the boy's question, Shimasuke was stunned for a moment, then asked back:
"Why are you asking that?"
"I heard from the samurai who visited our izakaya today," the boy said. "Those drunk samurai said that there are gold mines all over Ezo, and they wanted to go there to pan for gold and get rich."
"Ha." Shimasuke gave an ambiguous sneer, "How could Ezo be covered with gold mines? If Ezo was really covered with gold mines, the shogunate would have sent troops to occupy the entire Ezo long ago."
"It's just a rumor that Ezo is full of gold mines."
Having said that, Shimasuke picked up the teacup beside him, drank a sip of tea, moistened his throat, and then continued:
"But there is indeed gold in Ezo."
"I heard from my father that when the Edo Shogunate was first established 200 years ago, some people found gold in the rivers of Ezo."
"As soon as the news got out, tens of thousands of speculators flocked to Ezo, intending to make a fortune in the gold rush."
"But gold is not that easy to find. Most of the speculators who flocked to Ezo to pan for gold lost everything."
"And their brutal gold rush that occupied various rivers also angered the Ezo people."
"Although the Ainu still lead a very primitive and barbaric life, if they start to make trouble, it will be a troublesome matter."
"In order to calm the emotions of the Ezo people, the Matsumae Domain, which was located in the northernmost part of our country and had the responsibility of monitoring the Ezo people, issued an order with the help of the shogunate to strictly prohibit gold mining in the Ezo area."
"If we catch a gold digger, we'll execute him on the spot."
"Under the 'gold rush ban' by the shogunate and the Matsumae clan, the Ezo region, which had been in chaos due to the gold rush, finally regained its peace."
"But even today, there are still some people who value money over life and decide to take risks to get rich, and come to Ezo to pan for gold despite the government's ban."
"When I was young, I encountered a group of gold prospectors passing through our village."
"Today's gold diggers are basically a group of lawless desperadoes who have disregarded laws and morals."
"The gold diggers who passed through our village actually planned to rob our money and food."
"Oh, those gold diggers are stupid too."
"I came to Ezo to look for gold, but I didn't know much about Ezo."
"They didn't realize that our village is a 'ghost village' where people make a living by hunting. Even the women can draw bows and shoot arrows."
"Compared to the bears and wolves, those gold diggers are nothing."
"Under our volley of arrows, the gold diggers who were trying to steal our money and food were shot into hedgehogs."
"I'll remember the funny expressions on those gold diggers' faces when they saw everyone in our village taking out their bows and arrows for the rest of my life. Hahahaha."
Shimasuke's words immediately aroused the interest of many people present.
"Mr. Shimasuke! Can you tell us how your village fought against those gold diggers? I want to hear it!"
"Yeah, yeah, we want to hear it!"
Shimasuke looked embarrassed: "How to fight against those gold diggers... This story is not very exciting."
"It's okay, just tell us!"
Seeing that the vast majority of the audience wanted to hear about their village's fight against the gold diggers, he could only sigh helplessly and then said:
"Well, let's change today's story to how our village dealt with those gold diggers."
"I remember that was about 35 years ago..."
Shimasuke began to tell a story.
However, Ogata's mind was still immersed in what Shimasuke had just said about the "gold rush in Ezo".
There is a lot of gold in Ezo, and even today there are still desperate people going there to pan for gold - this is the first time Ogata has heard of such a thing.
No one had ever told Ogata about this before.
Because Ezo was so remote, and in that era when information transmission was extremely underdeveloped, very few people knew about Ezo.
Ogata didn't expect that after listening to Shimasuke's stories for so long, he didn't gather any useful information.
Unexpectedly, the night before leaving Kinno Town, I had an unexpected surprise and gained a valuable piece of information.
—Gold digger?
Ogata silently chewed over the word "gold digger" in his mind.
According to what Shimasuke said just now, there are still many desperate people who value money over their lives and go to Ezo to pan for gold.
These people who came to seek gold had long since disregarded the authority and laws of the shogunate, so it was not surprising that they did anything.
Ogata silently labeled the group of "gold diggers" as "needing attention" in his mind.