"Hirayama Chong, overwhelmed by anger, resolutely decided to continue the assassination operation regardless of the huge gap in numbers and strength between the two sides."

"There are many different theories as to what tactics Hirayama Oki used to assassinate Takao Kansuke."

"According to the most widely circulated version...Hirayama rushed out on a dark and stormy night, ambushing Takao Kansuke at the place he must pass when he returns home."

"The choice of time and place is impeccable, but the gap in combat power between the two sides is really too far."

Although Hirayama Ou fought tooth and nail, he was still outnumbered. If his legs and feet were not agile enough and he could not run fast enough, he would definitely have been hacked to death by Takao Kansuke's guards."

"Did the assassination fail..." The young girl sighed, regret and pity appearing on her face, "A great future, a happy family, just because the elder's son fell in love with his wife..."

Having said this, the young girl pursed her lips tightly as if she had finished speaking.

"Oh, there's nothing I can do. People without power are easily bullied... I'll go on."

"After Hirayama failed to kill Takao Kansuke, he naturally had no choice but to leave his hometown and become a ronin."

"Perhaps they were worried that Takao Kansuke was at fault first. The Owari Domain did not dare to make this matter too big, so they did not issue a wanted order for Hirayama Obo and allowed Hirayama to fly away."

"Although I haven't learned about it in detail, I have heard about it a bit."

"I heard that Hirayama Obo sank for a while after leaving Owari Domain, but he picked himself up and tried to make a comeback."

"He traveled around, promoting himself to various vassal states, hoping to use his swordsmanship skills to get an official position in a foreign land."

"But being an official is not that easy."

"In each vassal state, there are a lot of idle warriors waiting in line to become officials. They are eagerly waiting for the employees in various positions to die or be abolished so that they can

Take your place."

"How can it be so easy for a stranger like Hingshan Chong to jump in?"

"What's more, many vassal states are so poor that they can hardly take the blame. A few vassal states can only survive by borrowing money from Osaka merchants."

"These poor feudal lords can't wait to have most of the samurai in their territory, who reach out to the feudal government for Lumi every year, disappear. How can they hire more new samurai?"

"Hirayama Ou traveled through most of Japan, but no feudal state was willing to take him in - this is the last rumor I know about this poor man."

"It seems... Hirayama Ou is still a wanderer who can't find his destination."

“Not only was he unable to escape the predicament, but he also became even more depraved... He actually collaborated with others to engage in such despicable deeds... What was a high-spirited dojo demonstrator back then has now become a man who makes a living by resisting fraud and abduction.

The local ruffians...are really a trick of fate!"

Aoto and Tokugawa Iemo quietly listened to the end of the conversation between the aunt and the young girl.

Qingto subconsciously squinted his eyes and peeked at Tokugawa Iemo next to him.

It looked like Tokugawa Iemo's face had been painted with a layer of light cyan paint, and his expression was extremely serious.

It seems that what happened to Hirayama Oki greatly touched Tokugawa Iemo.

However, this is natural.

Tokugawa Iemo was determined to restore the authority of the shogunate.

The tragedy of Hirayama Oki's life nakedly and directly exposed the two irreconcilable social contradictions in the current era, which Tokugawa Iemo must face if he wants to realize ZTE.

First, unprecedentedly acute class contradictions.

Senior samurai like Takao Kansuke occupy a large amount of social resources and are firmly in the position of "exploiters". Their simple sneeze is an irresistible hurricane wave for the "exploited"

.

Second, the shogunate feudal system was on the verge of collapse.

To put it bluntly, the samurai class is a privileged class that does not engage in production and relies solely on money and food provided by the shogunate and the vassal state.

When the Edo shogunate was founded 300 years ago, the number of samurai was not that large, so both the shogunate and the feudal lords could afford to maintain samurai in their respective territories.

But as time went by, the long-term peaceful life led to an explosion in the number of samurai.

Today, the excessively large number of samurai groups has become a huge economic burden for the shogunate and the feudal lords.

In order to maintain their rule, the shogunate and the feudal lords carried out large-scale increases in revenue and expenditures more than once.

Reduce the number of officials; reduce salaries; try every means to reduce the number of warriors in the territory...

The life of the Tokugawa clan has become better - but the samurai at the bottom have suffered.

The increasingly difficult days forced many middle- and lower-level samurai to leave the vassal state and find another way out due to family bankruptcy.

The outlook and social order of the Edo period made it difficult for samurai to find good jobs.

The vassal state, which was generally impoverished, significantly tightened the standards for hiring officials.

As a result, the number of ronin has not been fundamentally reduced, which has led to the current number of unemployed ronin remaining high, and there is a steady increase trend...

Pingshan Chong's tragic experience is just a microcosm.

It can be expected that similar things, and even more extreme things, are taking place in various parts of the country without interruption.

Today's incognito visit has just begun, and I have directly witnessed such bloody and cruel people's sentiments...

Qingden didn't know what Tokugawa Iemo was thinking at this time.

But judging from his current demeanor...he guessed that Tokugawa Iemoji's heart might not be too peaceful right now.

Tokugawa Iemo stood there thoughtfully.

After a long time passed like this, he silently withdrew his attention and eyes from the old man and the young man who were still discussing Hirayama Chong.

"...let's go."

After leaving these words, the young monarch sighed with a mixed expression and walked straight to the crossroads ahead without looking back...

Which direction should we go next?

It seems like he hasn't decided yet.

…

…

At this moment——

Edo, Chishiya——

Kinoshita Mai knelt down obediently behind the counter, concentrating on checking Kiryu's account books.

Meow~~

He gained weight again, proving more and more the truth of the saying "big oranges are the most important". He lay lazily beside Mai Kinoshita's legs and combed his hair leisurely.

Suddenly, there was a sound of footsteps coming from far and near outside the door, approaching Qianshiwu.

At the same moment when she heard these footsteps, Kinoshita Mai's delicate body suddenly stiffened.

Although after falling in love with Aoto, Kinoshita Mai's personality became much more cheerful due to the influence of love, but her introverted nature and shyness towards strangers always made it impossible to change so quickly.

"Yes, there are guests..." Kinoshita Wu hurriedly put away the account books, abacus and pen and ink.

Almost at the same time as she was getting ready to welcome the guests - bang - the shop door was pushed open.

Kinoshita Mai quickly lifted her head from the counter and forced out an unnatural smile.

"Huan, welcome to the light...eh? Mr. Kiryu?"

The person who pushed open the door was none other than Kiryu.

"Young Master, I'm back after shopping for groceries."

Kiryu, who had a gentle and gentle smile on his weathered old face as always, waved the heavy vegetable basket in his hand towards Kinoshita Wu.

"Mr. Kiryu, welcome back!"

The stiff smile turned into a bright smile.

"You came back really early today. Is there no one in the vegetable market today?"

"Well, today is New Year's Day after all, so the flow of people in the vegetable market is naturally not as good as in the past. Here, young master, the white tofu you have been longing for."

"Okay~~ You can eat soup tofu tonight~~!"

Kinoshita Mai happily took the food basket from Kiryu's hand.

Just as she was humming a tune and turning around, ready to take the ingredients in the basket into the kitchen——

"...Young Master, don't leave yet."

"Huh? Mr. Kiryu, what's wrong?"

Kinoshita Mai stopped her feet, turned back, and looked at Kiryu in confusion.

"I...have something important to tell you - about your grandma."

The good news is that the author's mother can be discharged from the hospital soon. If nothing unexpected happens, she will be discharged from the hospital next Monday.

Mom is recovering well and no longer needs anyone to accompany her, so the author no longer needs to stay in the hospital for a long time.
Chapter completed!