Half a month after Yamata no Orochi met with Takasugi Shinsaku and Katsura Kogoro——

Changshu, Hagi, a certain unknown small hotel, a certain room——

Ever since I turned 60, my energy has dropped sharply.

Tamamozen was very troubled by this.

After working continuously for another 2 hours, fatigue set in as expected, my eyelids began to fight, and my head gradually became swollen.

As usual, she leaned on the elbow rest beside her and dozed off.

Half asleep and half awake, she suddenly recalled the old past.

Various images appeared, disappeared, split, and merged before her eyes.

Within a moment, one of the scenes was frozen, colored, lines condensed, outlines deepened, and it soon became a clear scene.

Although he could not speak in his dream, Tamamo Mae could not help but marvel after seeing the specific scene of this scene.

Heavy rain, deep mountains, a meeting of the Punishment Team, an atmosphere of despair...it was indeed the day she met Yamata-no-Orochi for the first time.

Although this happened twenty years ago, she still vividly remembers everything she experienced that day.

Hua Hua Hua Hua Hua...

The torrential rain poured down on everyone mercilessly.

Hundreds of people gathered in the desolate mountains to discuss future plans.

The meeting had just begun when someone shouted out of control:

"Bullshit 'punishment'! Bullshit uprising! We are simply dying in vain!"

As soon as this statement came out, the response was very serious.

"That's right! This is a suicide! It's not an uprising! It's not even the end of the curtain!"

"We are here to bring down the curtain, not to die!"

"I've had enough! Keep whoever you want, I won't keep you company anyway!"

"Me too! I quit too!"

"Let's go! I'd rather go alone than stay and die!"

As the noise continued, more and more people got up and left.

At first there were two or three people, then more than a dozen people, then dozens of people...

"Wait a minute! Don't leave!"

"Although this defeat is tragic, we still have a chance to make a comeback!"

"Hey! What about the promise that we will never give up until the shogunate falls?"

"Cowards! You cowards!"

Tamamo-mae, who had just turned forty at that time and still had charm, sat in the crowd with a blank expression, neither getting up to leave nor persuading those who left.

——The matter has come to this, and there is nothing that can be done.

She thought to herself pessimistically.

If she hadn't hated the shogunate so much and had nowhere to go, she might have gotten up and left.

Just half a month ago, the Fa Zhu Group—which had not yet been renamed the “Fa Zhu Party”—launched a new uprising.

The location of the uprising was chosen in Kobe.

Kobe is located in the southwest of Gyeonggi Province, far away from the core territory of the shogunate (Kanto), and the Tokugawa family's ruling power is weak.

Raise the flag of justice to "fall the curtain", capture Kobe, and then use it as a base to recruit troops, expand strength, attack the shogunate in one fell swoop, and clarify Uuchi - this is the plan of the Hōsūgumi.

Assembling personnel, stocking weapons, training tactics, everything was done step by step, steadily, without any mistakes.

However... even though they had made full preparations, after officially launching the uprising, everything they faced and encountered was completely different from what they had imagined...

Swords and the like have neither terrifying attack range nor terrifying armor-breaking ability. They are just displayed on the battlefield, far less useful than spears.

It can be used to chop down civilians who have no armor to wear, and it is very easy to use.

During the attack on Kobe, the performance of the soldiers of the Fuzhu Group could not be described as heroic.

But facing the well-equipped samurai group, it is still difficult to fight against them.

The warriors waved their swords mercilessly, killing the Fa Zhu group until they were completely defeated.

In only half a day, the uprising that the execution team had planned for a long time ended in a disastrous defeat.

The precious combat power that had been accumulated so hard was just wasted.

From the perspective of the shogunate, this was just an ordinary counterinsurgency.

The rebellion was put down without much effort, not even worth mentioning in the history books.

But for the Fa Zhu Group, this is undoubtedly a disaster.

As a result, there are today's scenes of "shouting loudly" and "getting up and quitting".

It would be too harsh to denounce those who decided to withdraw from the Judgment Team as "cowards" - anyway, Tamamo Mae understands them very well.

Trying your best but failing miserably... Such a tragic reality would make anyone feel depressed and collapse.

Even Tamamo Mae, who was a senior member of the genjutsu team, couldn't help but feel like quitting at this time.

Although the Hōzū-gumi is an association with a long history, it has always been on the verge of collapse under the repeated attacks from the shogunate and various vassals.

Before the "Black Ship Incident" seriously weakened the prestige of the shogunate, the Edo shogunate, which controlled a quarter of Japan, was actually a terrifying behemoth.

There is neither a wise leader to strategize nor an orderly organizational structure. It wants people but no one, and wants money but no money. It is really nonsense to want to overthrow the Edo shogunate with just a passion.

How did you get to where you are today step by step?

Absolutely, Tamamo-mae asked herself.

This is really a distant story...

Once upon a time, she was just an ordinary farm girl.

A majestic father, a kind mother, a thatched house, and several acres of thin fields.

Although it's not superior, it's not bad either. At least there's no risk of starving to death.

In such an environment where "the rich have vast fields and the poor have no place to stand", it is extremely lucky to have fields to plant.

There were no disasters, no accidents, no surprises... She just spent the first eight years of her life in an ordinary way - until the order to "help the hometown" came.

Speaking of "helping the countryside", this is really a system that makes thousands of people gnash their teeth.

To put it simply, this is a form of labor in the Edo period.

When the camp (post station) is short of people and horses, nearby villages must provide manpower and horses.

These people who were forcibly recruited to help did not get any wages, so they worked for free.

In the process of assisting in transporting goods, whether the horses you provided are killed or injured, or you yourself are killed or injured, you will be considered unlucky, and the shogunate will never provide any compensation.

What’s even more frustrating is that “helping rural residents” is mandatory and cannot be excused.

Once you receive an order, no matter whether it is busy farming or slack farming, you must put aside everything you are doing and rush to the camp to report.

One day when Tamamo-mae was 8 years old, his father was forced to transport goods by the nearby Hakone Shuba.

Hakone is a famous hot spring town, and its "Hakone Seven Hot Springs" are famous all over the world.

The thing Tamamo-mae's father wants to transport...is Hakone's hot spring water.

During the Fourth Shogun Tokugawa Ietsuna's era, early in the Kanbun era (1661-1673), "Okaito" appeared.

The so-called "Oka Hot Spring" is the hot spring water used by the general's family.

Hot springs that can not only make you happy but also have healing effects have always been enthusiastically sought after by Japan's public and military nobles.

However, it was impossible for the noble Shogun family to leave Edo just to soak in a hot spring.

Therefore, in order to allow the general's family to enjoy hot springs at all times, "Oka Hot Spring" came into being.

How to transport hot springs to Edo for the shogun to enjoy?

It's very simple, just transport it in wooden barrels!

Under the instructions of the officials of the shogunate and the generals, there are strict procedures for the use of Okaito.

First, the shopkeeper, who was wearing a formal attire with a family crest and a hakama and a mask, took water from the large soup with a long-handled ladle, poured it into a brand new cypress wood bucket, and then sealed the bucket.

Then, the soup barrels were transported using the rural assistance system, and they were moved to Edo in a relay system, traveling day and night.

It was first transported to Edobashi, and then sent to a warehouse in Edo Castle for storage by another labor force.

Atami, Hakone, Kusatsu and other hot spring areas will donate hot spring water to the shogun's family.

In this way, in order to let the shogun's family soak in the freshest hot springs, Tamamo-mae's father was forced to stay in the camp.

That's all.
To be continued...