Dewa area——

In a mediocre ordinary village——

Ningtaro 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. They currently have 4 children, 2 boys and 2 girls.

The oldest son is only 12 years old this year, and the youngest daughter was just born.

A large family was crowded into a dilapidated small house.

It's the end of the year.

At the end of the year in Mutsu, there is nothing but snow outside.

In a place like this where the weather is freezing in winter, there is nothing else to do except stay at home, rely on the food you have saved to survive the winter, and do some small crafts to supplement your family income.

It was the afternoon when there was still a short period of time before dark.

Ningtaro was sitting cross-legged in a corner of the house, making a birdcage.

The wife held her newborn baby girl in her arms and breastfed her.

The other three children were fighting and playing nearby.

They originally had 2 sons and 3 daughters - but unfortunately, 1 son and 1 daughter died shortly after birth, and the other 1 son and 2 daughters died in the "morning famine".

The whole family is without exception - their faces are sallow, their cheeks are somewhat sunken, and there is not much flesh on their bodies.

Both Ningtaro and his wife's eyes were dull and dim.

On the contrary, the children of the two of them had bright eyes and had a great time playing the game of "pretending to be a samurai".

"Mother, mother." Ningtaro turned to his wife and asked, "Is the milk still sufficient?"

Although the other three children were playing nearby, Ningtaro's wife showed her breasts without any scruples and breastfed her little daughter who had just been born.

"Yeah." She nodded, "Just do it..."

"That's right..." Ningtaro said softly, "That's good..."

"We are really lucky this year." Ningtaro's wife smiled at her husband.

Although she smiled, because her face was sallow and her cheeks were sunken, her smile was not only unattractive, but also a bit scary.

"This year's harvest is pretty good. It shouldn't be a problem to survive this winter."

"Yes." Ningtaro nodded gently, a faint smile appeared on his face, "Yes. God has finally opened his eyes."

Although it has been over three years, Ningtaro still vividly remembers the tragic situation of "famine at dawn".

The crops failed completely and there was no food.

Although the government has provided relief food and other methods to provide disaster relief, their lives are still very difficult...

There are only a few cases where you can eat food that humans should eat. Most of the time, you can only eat things that humans should not eat.

Ningtaro wanted to cry just thinking about the hard days at that time.

They had a newborn daughter at the time.

But because he didn't eat well, his wife had no milk, so she could only feed her 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 don’t drink is impossible for babies to grow up healthily.

After drinking barnyard grass soup for a period of time, the little daughter suddenly vomited and developed a high fever. In the end, she died of the illness.

Because he had experienced such a tragic situation, after the birth of his new daughter, Ningtaro became a little nervous about his wife's milk, and would ask his wife every few days if she still had milk.

"I hope the situation next year will be as good as this year." When he said this, a little light appeared in Ningtaro's dim eyes.

After surviving the seven-year "dawn famine", they finally had a better life recently.

Although the food stored at home is not enough to feed the whole family, it is more than enough to keep them from going hungry every day.

Their family's situation is considered relatively good in this village.

Because their family does not have many children, and their parents died young, the pressure to support a large family is not great.

Compared with the previous life when "famine at dawn" had not passed, the days in which they could eat the food that people should eat in the past two years were really like a dream.

"It would be better if the government could clean up the bandits everywhere." Ningtaro's wife answered.

Their village is located in a territory directly under the shogunate's jurisdiction in Dewa.

Probably because it is close to the castle town, until now, no bandits have visited their village.

But no one can guarantee that their village will be safe forever, and that there will never be bandits who come from nowhere and care about their money, food, and women.

"I heard the village chief say a few days ago," Ningtaro said, "It seems that after the spring comes next year, the government will join forces with other Ou feudal lords to exterminate mountain bandits in various places."

"Really?" Ningtaro's wife looked delighted.

"I heard everyone say that." Ningtaro smiled, "It should be true."

"Occasionally, the government will do some practical things." Ningtaro's wife muttered.

"After all, we are the people of the government." Ning Tailang shook his head and said, "Without the people, there would be no officials. It is impossible for the government to abandon us and ignore us."

"After all, 'We are like water, and the government is like a boat floating on the water. Without our water, the boat of the government cannot float.'"

"You're here again." Ningtaro's wife showed a helpless smile, "You obviously don't even know a single Chinese character, so you just pretend to be a scholar."

Not only was Ningtaro not ashamed of his wife's complaints, he also showed a proud expression.

Many years ago, a warrior who was practicing martial arts passed by their village.

The samurai had a very kind personality and had a pretty good relationship with Neitaro.

During the few days that the samurai stayed in the village for a brief period, he briefly introduced Sinology to Neitaro.

Ningtaro had completely forgotten much of what the samurai said at that time.

But there was only one sentence, and Ningtaro vaguely remembered its meaning - we are like water, and the government is like a boat floating on the water. Without our water, the boat of the government cannot float.

It may be different from the original words the samurai said at that time, but Neitaro felt that the meaning should be quite similar.

Because he only remembered this sentence, the rather vain Ningtaro would repeat this sentence whenever he had the opportunity to make himself more educated.

"In short - the government should really plan to eliminate bandits everywhere." Ningtaro said in a decisive tone.

Ningtaro has always trusted the government.

Or rather... I have a favorable impression.

Because it was thanks to the government's relief that they were able to survive the "dawn famine" that lasted for seven years. Although three children died in the end, compared with the kind where the whole family died, they were

Home is so much better.

The recent good times have given Ningtaro a wonderful imagination about the future for the first time in a long time.

He imagined that the government would continue to help these poor farmers.

God will no longer torment them.

He doesn't ask for much.

He just hopes that the whole family can have enough to eat and that every child can grow up healthily.

After having a brief chat with his wife, Ningtaro continued to work on his crafts wholeheartedly.

But at this moment - there was a sound of knocking on the wooden board outside the room.

Hearing this voice, Ningtaro and his wife frowned.

They naturally recognized this voice - it was a summons for their village. All the villagers except the old, weak, women and children had to gather at the village chief.

Once this sound is made, it basically means that something has happened that the village chief wants to announce to everyone.

"My dear, you stay at home." Ningtaro put down the half-finished birdcage in his hand, "I'll go to the village chief to see what happened."

"Yes." Ningtaro's wife nodded, "Let's go slowly."

Ningtaro quickly rushed to the village chief's home.

After all the villagers except the old, weak, women and children arrived, 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 arriving soon.

As soon as the village chief said this, the villagers immediately "exploded".

Their village is just an ordinary little village, but a high-ranking official from the government wants to come to them?

They asked their old village chief what kind of official came to their village, and their old village chief only said that he didn't know, only that he was a very big official.

A small official arrived at their village just now, informed the village chief of the news, and 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.

Upon hearing this request, the villagers looked surprised - because they only had to stand and did not need to kneel on the ground.

When the little official came to tell them the news, the village chief asked this question for the villagers. The little official said bluntly: Yes, there is no need to kneel, just stand and lower your head, don't look directly

Queue is fine.

Although the incident happened unexpectedly, the villagers could only do as they were told.

After all, the person who came was a high-ranking official of the shogunate. If something went wrong, common people like them would not be able to afford the consequences.
To be continued...