It was getting late, and after a few words of admonition, Gao Shisheng let everyone rest.

Saku Castle is located in the middle of Shikichi County, and does not border with foreign enemies, and after the Imagawa clan annexed Mikawa Province, Enoe Seihei has not seen any disturbance in the war for many years, and the curfew order is more of a false story.

Moreover, Gao Shisheng still inspected the acting official of Junfu who had a bronze medal, beckoned a team of night patrol ashigaru who passed by the gate of Yashiki, and informed the leader of the team to keep the camp gate for himself, and Gao Shisheng and Nagata Mori led a few companions and went straight to the brightly lit castle town opposite the camp.

The town of Mitsuki under Saku Castle is a typical samurai town. It is inhabited by many relatives of the samurai and ashigaru of the Banner Honbichu Samurai, and in terms of prosperity and liveliness, it is naturally far inferior to the many lodging towns built along the road of Sakamoto Street, but it is also much better than the rural fields outside Zenko-in.

The people of the castle town are accustomed to doing business, and as the saying goes, they rely on the mountains to eat the mountains, and they rely on the water to eat the water. Relying on the barracks, it is specialized in the business of the army that lives there, and the business of the caravans that come to replace Guan Wen along the road.

For the sake of city defense, Mitsuki Town is quite a distance away from Sakushi Castle, built on the shore of Lake Hamana, and you can still see the boats moored on the pier of the pier when you look to the left, and the Imagawa family navy is mainly concentrated in Maisaka-juku on the southwest shore of Lake Hamana, so Takashi Sheng saw that it was mostly a small haya boat, and it had nothing to do with the ship, and as for the Ataka ship, there were many sailors in the Seto Inland Sea who could afford it.

There are two (3.6 m) wide moats around Mishumachi with only one exit in the direction of Taikohori, which is also characteristic of Samurai Town, mainly for ease of management and defense.

When Gao Shisheng and the others entered, they were not hindered and interrogated, and the ashigaru guarding in front of the taiko gate just glanced at the group a few times at random.

Seeing that they were all dressed as samurai, I thought it was the samurai lord Xiu Mu in the nearby military camp, and came to the town to have fun, so the head of the group waved his hand to let people go, which made the master Sheng who was about to explain his identity a little surprised, but it didn't have much to do, and under the support of Nagata Mori and others, he swaggered directly into the town.

Even at night, the town is still bustling with activity, and outside the izakaya and tea shops on both sides of the town, there are people standing at the door to attract passers-by, and in the private rooms inside the main store, there are also pipa artists playing and singing.

When passing by a red cage tall verandah, several wandering girls saw that Gao Shisheng and Nagata Mori were wearing brocade clothes, and immediately wanted to come over and pull them into the house for recreation, but before they could get closer, they were preempted by Yashiro and stepped forward to reprimand and retreat, which provoked Hasegawa Hayabusa and Ono Tadaaki, who were eager to try, were very dissatisfied, complaining again and again, thinking that he had ruined the good things of the two, and fell behind at the end of the line, and looked back reluctantly.

There is no way to splash skin on these two uninformed countrymen, so everyone simply ignores them.

"Xiangsa, do you want to go to my shop first?" Nagata Mori led the way, and his family had properties in the counties of Tokaido, and if he was usually bored in the countryside, he would come to the county to live, and by the way, he would pay some floating money from the account for his daily expenses.

"There's no hurry." Carefully avoiding a vendor carrying a stick and selling along the street, Gao Shisheng stood in front of a Noh theater stage, full of interest.

The Kyogen ape music drama performed on the stage, one person dressed as an ape in the mountains, and the other dressed as a monk, used funny and humorous dialogues to make fun of each other, making Yashiro clap his hands and laugh.

After watching for a while, everyone's eyes were attracted by a burst of earth-shattering shouts, and the 'sumo wrestling persuasion' was being held in the school yard not far ahead.

Two tall and strong men, naked, wearing only calf-nosed shorts, writhing and rolling in the corner of the field, shouting endlessly, wrestling with each other, the end is earth-shattering, watching the crowd on both sides of the battle, waving and shouting, Yan Gongmu kept knocking on the small gong, walking around the field, urging the audience to place bets.

Sumo wrestling was called horn wrestling in ancient times, also known as wrestling and horn wrestling. It was first seen in the "Akitsu Shoki Taurin Ki" since the seventh day of July in the seventh year of the reign of King Taruhito, and the story of Nomi Suya and Dangma Tsuki wrestling to win.

Kakutatsu only began to flourish after the Nara period, and after three years of retirement, the imperial court set up a 'pull out division', which was later renamed Sonobu Division, and Kakutatsu was officially renamed Sumo.

During the Heian period, sumo wrestling was held every year on the seventh day of July, and after the Kamakura period, it became popular among the samurai as a martial art of the samurai, and has become a rare national entertainment that is closely related to daily activities such as folk worship of the gods, exorcism, harvest celebrations, and divination.

For example, at the Hamana Shrine in the Hamana Shrine on the Hamana Sea every year, sumo wrestlers perform solo sumo wrestling, and the invisible gods and spirits are used as opponents to perform a ritual ceremony, and the daisuki priest in the shrine will also perform a symbolic sumo wrestling in person.

The priests would divide into two groups when they began the ritual of worshipping the gods, and the two sides of the confrontation would push each other, and the winner would be considered to be able to achieve a good agricultural harvest that year.

During the Kamakura period, sumo wrestling was enshrined in the area of Tsuruoka Hachijonomiya Shrine in Kamakura. The "Tale of Soga", which was popular among the samurai disciples, included sumo wrestling between Saburo Kawazu and Goro Matsuno, and later Sumo wrestling held by Oda Nobunaga at Omi Jorakuji Temple, both of which are famous events.

Sumo wrestling, which evolved from a sumo to a shrine and temple restoration, became popular at the end of the Muromachi period, and it is first clearly documented that a 10-day sumo performance was held in the second year of Shoho to rebuild Kofukuji Temple.

The story of the struggle between the Kengomi Thunder God and the Kengokata Kamikami can also be seen as a legend about sumo, but the handshake is a move of ancient sumo, and the forty-eight hands of sumo were made up as early as the Kamakura period.

Sumo wrestlers in the market, like samurai, have their names and are passed down from father to son. The Kamakura shogunate once decreed: "You must choose those who are strong in all prefectures and counties and have no opponents in the world to win their rewards." ”

In addition to the shogunate court, there were also sumo wrestling, public wrestling, the winner of the reward items are: flag seal, silver medal, colored satin, brocade, horses, etc., in addition to the huge momentum of the 'sama', there are also children's sumo, joe sumo, women's wrestling and other ways.

Including but not limited to, historical figures, ghosts, gods and evil spirits, gods and Buddhas, etc., and the ape music drama watched by Gao Shisheng and others before, there are also two short and thin cowards, dressed as sumo wrestlers to boast about themselves, and expose each other's shortcomings.

The two strong men in front of them, with their hair combed to the sky, painted their faces and eyebrows to look like angry ghosts and gods, carved and embroidered all over their bodies, or prajna, or yaksha, coiled their bodies, and their muscles stretched out, like living creatures. This is a branch of the sumo wrestling of the ghosts and gods, and it is the most attractive for onlookers to watch, and it is often set up to 'persuade' for a few days in a row, and it can be a few months to decide the winner.

A shakuhachi flute player played the tune, and there were more than a dozen small drums on both sides of the school field, urging the hammers, surrounding the circle, and following the movements of the two people, like a horse eagle flying with it, like a dragon roaring and a tiger roaring, and the shock was endless.

Nagata Mori liked this kind of lively occasion the most, and seeing that he intended to bet, he motioned left and right to step forward and push the crowd through the crowd and squeeze in.

The gambler who was pushed was not happy and wanted to scold, but when it seemed that the person was dressed richly and there were Jian slaves to open the way, he didn't dare to say more than half a word, and obediently avoided a way.

Seeing that the other party was soft, Nagata Mori felt even more excited, walked to the gambling table, reached out and took out a bag of silver judgment, threw it on the table with a bang, and turned around and asked, "Who wins!" ”

Gao Shisheng was clean and self-conscious, and he was not interested in Bo Xi, but seeing that Nagata Sheng and others were full of interest, even Aoki Daizen, a desireless Kashima sword hero, stopped at the school field, but he didn't want to sweep everyone's interest, and asked, "What do these two people have to pay attention to?" ”

This is to ask the family background of the two sumo wrestlers, what the past victories and defeats were, and the family inheritance is naturally stronger than the wild road, and it also determines the net worth of the sumo wrestler, and the number of wins and losses is related to the odds.

The Yan servants who recorded the gambling accounts were all extravagant characters who saw the six ways and listened to the eight directions, and when they saw that there was a big money lord to see the reward, and heard that someone had an official status, they hurriedly came over to curry favor, and shouted from afar: "Borrowed!" Ay! Let's get it! Let's get it! ”

"I've seen everyone in Nagata, you have been in the arena for a long time! There is nothing else to come over today, and I will invite you to the banquet at Erpuya on Hualiu Street, just recently from Junfu City, I invited an Oiran Taifu! "This Yan servant, who was nearly thirty years old, smiled amiably, walked closer, put down the gong in his hand, and bowed to the crowd, and while he was speaking, there was already a 'probationary' who counted the amount of money.

"Dare to ask your name!"

"Soma Shinkuro!" Gao Shisheng has to be his common name, not his real name, after all, it is undignified to come to such a place as a samurai.

The boss of Yan Gong obviously also knows that this is a pseudonym, for this kind of samurai master who wants to have fun and has a self-respecting identity, he has seen too much, and he introduced cautiously but enthusiastically: "Back to Soma-sama, the two sumo wrestlers who are in the school field are the most famous players in the villain's field, one is called Hannya Goro, and the other is called Yasha Uemon, or it is said that a noble person like you is always prosperous in martial arts, and as soon as you come, you will meet the most exciting head, these two are both Hengzhang masters who have been fighting recently, and they often win Sekitori, but who can win steadily, The villain can't say for sure, after all, isn't it just luck to buy a game? ”

"Phew! Can I still take advantage of your three bosses? Nagata Mori shrugged.

This is too tactful, which means that in addition to telling the names of the two people, there is not much other useful sentence, but the boss of the three households is counting on this meal, and he can't leak secrets in public, admit that he secretly instructed and manipulated the victory.

Gao Shi Shengben didn't care about winning or losing, and he didn't care a lot, so he smiled: "I'll buy that person!" After speaking, he stretched out his hand and pointed to the Yaksha Uemon, not only because he had a right character in his official position right guard, but also because he liked the tattoo on the Yaksha Uemon very much.

Behind the Yaksha Uemon is tattooed a laughing Yaksha who is tearing and devouring people, and the person who was bitten by the Yaksha, half of the head has been vigorously ripped off by this evil ghost, and only the half of the corpse that remains in the fangs of the giant mouth is identified, and the person is clearly a Buddha through the clothing.

This is obviously based on the allusion of the Buddha Shakyamuni who sacrificed himself to feed ghosts when he was still the king of mortal mercy and transformed the Yaksha into the eight heavenly dragons, but at this moment he was tattooed on the back of this wrestler, but he did not feel the Buddha's compassion at all, and he could only see the mouth of the Buddha who died and left no bones, highlighting the ferocity and violence of the Yaksha ghosts.

Only a thick and tall strong man like a sumo wrestler can afford this tattoo, and he can be called an ordinary person, but I am afraid that the Yaksha itself may not be able to get a tattoo.

At the moment when Buddhism is prevalent, it definitely takes considerable courage for someone to dare to tattoo this kind of blasphemy tattoo of the Buddha.

In fact, it is very common for sumo wrestlers to tattoo on their own bodies, the main reason is also to attract visitors, attract people to bet, and help the owner to make money, after all, the fights are mostly held in various places are mobile, in the communication and communication is not developed, and it can even be said that the slow Warring States period, the local people know who these sumo wrestlers are, and in the past, there were those victories and defeats, and the tattoos are obviously easy to remember, so the names of sumo wrestlers are mostly related to tattoos.

The names of these two sumo wrestlers come from the tattoos on their bodies, and they have indeed achieved the purpose of winning people's favor, and even people like Gao Shisheng can't help but look around.

Seeing the gold owner's words, the boss of the three households immediately asked people to write a long flag, stand in a conspicuous place in the school field, and let his subordinates shout loudly: "Uncle Soma Shinkuro looks at the Yaksha Right Emon Junzhou two cents of silver and decides twelve pieces!" ”

"Uncle Soma Shinkuro looks at the Yaksha Uemon Junzhou two points of silver and sentenced twelve pieces!"

"Uncle Soma Shinkuro looks at the Yaksha Uemon Junzhou two points of silver and sentenced twelve pieces!"

He didn't even slow down, and shouted three times in a row, helping Gao Shisheng and Yasha Uemon to make a name for themselves among everyone, causing everyone in the audience to applaud.

The long flags sing and drink, one is prestigious, and the other is famous. It is all a means of sumo wrestling, in order to attract customers, and at the same time to satisfy the vanity of the owner of the money, prompting him to continue betting, or even if he loses, there are so many people cheering and cheering before, so as not to turn his face and change his mind, smash the field to make trouble, and affect the business.

Gao Shisheng didn't think anything of it, but Nagata Sheng and others can be said to have been in the limelight, and their wealth was overwhelming.

Rewarded by the gold master, the two people in the school field naturally couldn't make false moves anymore, and directly showed their true skills, scuffled, each with angry eyes, muscles on their bodies, competing with each other, trying to knock each other down.

The shouts of onlookers cheering for the two gradually stopped, holding their breath and concentrating, quietly waiting for the two to decide the winner, the rules of the wrestling are like this, when there is no big money owner to see the reward, they often rely on some fancy skills, deliberately fight equally, attract people to watch, once there is enough bounty to start, at this time it is necessary to quickly divide the winner.

Under the stalemate, Hannyo Gorou gradually became a little unable to support it, fell to the downwind, was pushed back again and again, and ploughed two foot marks on the soft mud ground, Yaksha Uemon took advantage of the victory and pursued, took half a step forward, grabbed Hannygoro's arm tightly with both hands, stood firmly on the ground with his right foot, stretched out his left leg, and tried to trip the other party, only to hear a shout of 'hey' and a roar of 'ha'.

But seeing the smoke and dust billowing in the field, when one person picked up the other and fell to the ground, the onlookers vaguely felt that the ground was shaking, and what they saw in a trance was not like two strong men fighting at the corners, but two huge Prajna ghosts and Yaksha ghosts were fighting and fighting.

The audience was full of gasps, no one spoke, and everyone was dumbfounded.

But it was Yasha Uemon who was slammed out of the field, allowing Hannya Goro to press hard under him.

Note 1: Yan Gong me, which refers to a special profession that relies on his face to eat among the townspeople, can be understood as the extreme Taoist elements of the Edo period, and now the Yakuza organization still retains the "Yan Gong Me", but some of them are called "directors", and they have also changed from a social person to a lawyer, financial accountant, and other cultural people who deal with the Metropolitan Police Department, which can be regarded as keeping pace with the times.

Note 2: Although formal sumo tournaments for profit only appeared in the Edo period, sumo wrestling became a rare entertainment event for the whole people at an early age.

Sekitori is a sumo rank, but the rank has only appeared in modern times, so it is just a quote here for easy description and understanding.

During the Warring States period, the nightlife was actually very rich, but of course it was limited to the safe Dahei Castle such as Kyoto, Sunfu, and Ichijo Valley Castle.