Life and Death, Food, Clothing, Shelter, and Travel / A Feast Before Battle

However, when faced with life's challenges, people can endure all kinds of pain and pressure, calling it "hard work and perseverance." But even so, people's physical and mental strength always has its limits, like the Chinese people who work overtime every day for unscrupulous companies and factories.

He endured humiliation and hardship, doing extra work that was arbitrarily assigned to him by his superiors every day, and also had to bear the pressure from his boss's unreasonable nitpicking. Eventually, his health collapsed, he was hospitalized, and unable to work, so he was fired and became a recluse.

People who jump off buildings due to various reasons, such as school bullying, workplace exclusion, being framed by malicious people, or losing their entire fortune due to gambling, are frequently seen in the news.

Ultimately, humans are not rational beings; they have moments when they lose control of their emotions, and they are not always able to manage themselves very well. Otherwise, there would be no lazy people or academic underachievers in this world.

For example, the country's economy continued to slump, and the people's resentment was hard to quell. As a result, for a long time, the prime minister was changed frequently, and high-ranking officials who committed crimes were sentenced to punish corruption in order to appease public anger.

But if this place were in Africa, one side would be driving a gold sports car, using a gold AK47, and sitting on a gold toilet; the other side would be waiting for handouts even for food.

If some influential person were to send a few guns, wouldn't plenty of people be willing to follow him in rebellion? Since death was inevitable anyway, it was better to kill the bad guys who had humiliated them and die a quicker death than to starve to death.

When faced with life's problems, people may choose to endure them, but when faced with the problem of survival, they have no choice but to resist this desperate situation. Thus, uprisings and riots occur, with irrational people clashing with incompetent and selfish superiors, and war becomes an endless conflict.

Hostility and prejudice often stem from a lack of understanding, but that doesn't mean mutual understanding is impossible. As long as both sides try to understand each other, when strangers become acquaintances, the same things that were once intolerable and unacceptable may become understandable.

The different social classes of samurai and farmers, and Shirou and his group versus Aichi group, were no longer completely opposed after spending time together these past few days.

To Shirou and the others, the villagers here were no longer just ignorant and cowardly farmers, but also Aichi, the village elder, the old woman who had lost her family, and human beings with flesh and blood, capable of greed and anger.

The same applies to the villagers.

From this day forward, the samurai will no longer be merely a tyrannical and brutal samurai, but Shirou, and Yukino.

Among the seven foreign samurai, there is the kind and reliable Shirou; the compassionate Yukino; Soji who plays with children; Nobu who loves to cause trouble; Houzoin Inshun, who, despite being a monk, is very skilled at training militia; Tawara Toda, who is always smiling and approachable; and Kojiro, who carries a blade of grass in his mouth, doesn't talk much, but is very dutiful in his guard duty.

Most biases arise from a lack of understanding.

Clean-conscious city dwellers would naturally perceive construction workers covered in grime, their clothes stained with paint and mud, sitting on the sidewalk eating their boxed lunches, or lying down to take a nap as if no one else were around, as slovenly slovenly and unclean.

In fact, there are some construction workers who, due to unpaid wages and in a bad mood, cause trouble everywhere, including defecating in the luxury bathtubs of well-known international chain hotels.

However, if you see them elsewhere, you'll find a different scene; they're no different from other salaried workers going out to eat.

After all, construction workers do hard work. Anyone with a bit of skill can earn seven or eight thousand a month if they are willing to work overtime. Those with better skills can earn over ten thousand a month. In a legitimate company, there is also a meal allowance.

When you become a team leader, if you have some connections, you can take on a small project and earn several times more money.

They can live a glamorous and carefree life simply by taking a shower and changing into nicer clothes. Moreover, because they travel all over the country with construction companies, they have a wide range of experience.

People may be content with the status quo, but they will never be content with being subordinate to others. Often, all people need is an opportunity to communicate.

Chapter 232 Life, Death, Food, Clothing, Housing, and Transportation

Beyond the large tree in the center of the village, the villagers, having finished disposing of the body, did not disperse. Having achieved their revenge, they seemed still caught in a state of excitement and euphoria.

Even the old woman who had fallen to the ground showed no sign of leaving.

Yukino stepped forward, took the old woman's shoulder, and said, "Grandma, let me help you up."

"Yukino, good child, just let me stay here. I've avenged my son, and now I can swallow my anger," the old woman said softly.

The nearby villagers said, "Grandma, don't say that. After we defeat the bandits, we'll have enough food. As long as we have food, we won't let you starve."

Others chimed in, "That's right! Staying alive is more important than anything else."

But the old woman no longer cared about any of that. Instead, she scanned her swollen eyes, which had pinkish rims and dull, grayish pupils, searching for a figure.

"Master Monk... Master Monk." The old woman, slumped on the ground, cried out at the top of her lungs with her toothless mouth, her hoarse voice carrying out her cries.

Houzoin Inshun stepped forward, squatted down, and asked, "This humble monk is here. Elder, is there anything I can help you with?"

The old woman spoke haltingly through her dry, peeling lips, "Ah, sir, it seems I won't be going to Pure Land. I killed, so I guess I'll only go to Hell... But for some reason, I feel a sense of relief. I'm the only one left alive in my family, and I've always felt guilty, ashamed to face them, unable to say 'I'm sorry.'"

Houzoin Inshun clasped his hands together and assured him, "Please rest assured, I will chant sutras to help his spirit find peace, and then tell Buddha that everyone in the village is not evil, so that you and all those suffering can be liberated after death."

"Really... really... that's great..." The old woman smiled with relief and then closed her eyes.

The sun shone on a small hill, directly opposite the village. The hill was black, surrounded by a golden glow, with only a few dark figures wielding hoes, digging something...

This is a communal cemetery in the village. Whenever someone dies, soil is dug up from outside and buried here. Over time, it has formed a small hill. The villagers on the mountain are not so particular and don't have the time to make coffins anymore. They just wrap the deceased in a tattered cotton quilt and bury them.

Those who buried the dead, those who saw them off, farmers, and warriors all mourned in solitude.

No sound could be heard; for a moment, everything seemed to have lost its voice.

Coo coo coo~!

Then a long, guttural sound rang out.

"Hahaha! Sankichi, has your wife been cooking for you properly every day? That's good." A villager laughed at the man next to him.

"Stop nagging! I was just fighting on the front lines, I overdid it! My wife is already cooking!" the village man with the rumbling stomach said embarrassedly.

"Yes, I feel great, and I'm hungry too. I can eat three bowls of millet porridge today!" the man next to me chimed in.

"Niu, do you really want to become a cow? You don't have that much grain at home, so I'm not going to give you any!" Sankichi shouted.

"If I were an ox, I'd eat grass all day long, and there would be more than I could ever eat! Plus, I'd be strong enough to help plow the fields; one of me would be as good as three of you," Niu said.

"Hahaha." Everyone burst into laughter, their previously suppressed emotions completely dispelled.

"Then we should prepare to cook too," Shirou said to his samurai companions, composing himself.

"Huh? Are you going to make something delicious?" Soji asked, his eyes shining.

"Hmm... Anyway, since we have time, it's necessary to treat everyone before the battle. A good meal now would be nice, but I don't know if there are any suitable ingredients in the village," Shirou said, resting his chin on his hand.

"Can you really make good food in a rural place like this?" The black-haired, red-eyed girl frowned, crossed her arms, and said with a skeptical look. Although she had never tasted Shirou's cooking, even if it was as good as Okita said, a skilled cook can't make a meal without ingredients.

"Oh, well, we'll just ask around." Tawara Toda waved his hand and called out to the villager he knew best, "Hey, Aichi!"

"Yes, sir. Is there anything I can help you with? Would you like to eat? I'll cook for you right away." Aichi ran over with a smile and asked. He seemed to have been completely transformed, and his attitude towards the samurai seemed less overly respectful and more like that of a guest.

In fact, compared to the previous way of interacting, where they would just stand by and answer questions, or quietly follow behind if no questions were asked, this way of being able to talk and laugh is much more comfortable.

Although social classes existed in later generations, they were not as rigid. Officials and merchants often coexisted, and celebrities and businessmen could also mingle together. One side might be famous but short of money, while the other side might have money and want to promote their products, creating a mutually beneficial relationship.

Not all rich people are bad, and there are scoundrels among the poor. But most are ordinary people with emotions and desires, kind hearts, and who sometimes make mistakes due to impulsiveness.

Princess and rich young ladies might dream of running away from their castles and meeting a poor boy. Although in reality Princess only seek out princes, it's inevitable that some people would have such a fantasy, and this has been the case for thousands of years.

A farmer raised an old ox that had become a spirit, and with guidance, he stole the feathered robe of a fairy maiden who had descended to earth, married her, and they became the Cowherd and Weaver Girl.

Once Cinderella meets the fairy godmother, she can put on the glass slippers, attend the ball, and be found by the prince.

These are all stories created by people, stories that people dream of and aspire to, and have been passed down through generations, gaining consistent recognition from people for thousands of years.

What these people often lack is simply an opportunity.

When it comes to friendship, there are four ironclad bonds in life, as well as the pure friendship of childhood. Which of these is not much stronger than the friendships formed through interests, flattery, and sycophancy?

As long as you can get along well when you're together, you can become good friends. It's just that when you're a child, without the influence of adults, there aren't many complicated things. Even if you fight or argue today, you can still get along well tomorrow.

Classes did not exist initially; they were simply relationships established by people in society. Rules were created for stability, and people were also bound by those rules.

Wearing too many shackles, people's minds are subtly influenced, battered and bruised by the hierarchy of contempt and unspoken rules, and then they can only integrate into the rules and become one of them.

When newcomers arrive, they laugh at the mistakes the original members made, just as they had laughed at them before. They mock the newcomers for being young and naive, until the newcomers figure out the rules and join them, at which point they laugh at the newcomers as well.

As the cycle repeats itself, everything becomes taken for granted, which leads to various problems.

The bond between comrades-in-arms is built on sharing sweat, blood, and glory, not on whether our parents are roughly equal in wealth and power.

The passion between fellow inmates lies in the humiliation they endured together, the suffering they shared, the protection they faced from the ill intentions of other patients who might try to approach, violate, or infect them, and the difficulties they encountered from the cell boss. True feelings can be revealed in these shared hardships.

Similarly, it is not impossible for samurai and farmers to be friends.

The samurai also killed the bandits, which was terrifying. Even knowing that they were fighting for the villagers, the battle was still frightening.

Now that the peasants have killed the bandits, the killing samurai are no longer frightening, because they are all the same, fighting to kill enemies who threaten their lives.

This was a ceremony that formally united the farmers and the warriors into one group, although the process was not entirely satisfactory...

However, Shirou and the others also felt that from this moment on, they could talk to the people in this village on an equal footing, no longer being feared and unable to communicate properly.

"Huh? Cooking? Does that mean you're cooking for yourself, Shirou? Wild vegetables? Samurai-sama, isn't white rice enough for you? That's how important people eat, isn't it? Or I'll send you a jar of dried plums and radishes." Aichi said blankly.

"This is a pre-battle snack. Even normally, we can't just eat white rice with pickled plums and salt. That's too monotonous and not nutritious enough. We can have less rice, but please gather more mushrooms, wild onions, and radishes," Shirou instructed.

"No, no, how can we let the adults eat such inferior things?" Aichi said, waving his hand.

"Just do as we say. It would be even better if there was meat," said Tawara Toda with a smile.

"I understand. There's a place behind the village where there are lots of wild onions, mushrooms, and radishes too. I'll go to the fields and get some vegetables." Aichi said as he ran out.

"Oh, please." Shirou replied.

The black-haired, red-eyed girl said, "So, back then, Takeda Shingen's subordinates ate meat and noodles every day, which is why they were all tall, strong, and powerful enough to stand Uesugi Kenshin."

The Soji curled his lip and said, "But now even the upper-class samurai in the city are starting to follow the nobility and only eat white rice. Where I used to live, those Monstrous Strength women used to say that only animals eat wheat."

The black-haired, red-eyed girl grinned mischievously and said, "What? Soji? Were you bullied? You should have just followed behind me from the beginning. Tell me what happened."

The Soji was so angry he was about to smash his bowl when he shouted, "Damn it! Nobu! Didn't you already know? What do you want to ask now? Are you looking for trouble?"

"Hmm, well... I asked because it was interesting," the black-haired, red-eyed girl said, changing the subject.

At this time, rice was still the staple food in Heguo, and some other grains and beans were also grown. In some places, konjac was also cultivated.

Wheat was introduced during the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and since there were no milling tools at the beginning, it could only be used as animal feed. Even with the later import of mills, flour and rice were still foods reserved for nobles and warriors.

This is an island nation with very infertile land. In the early days, without agricultural techniques such as soil fertilization, yields were pitifully low. In the cold northern regions, it was even impossible to grow rice. Therefore, farmers could only eat brown rice during festivals.

Farmers usually only eat a mixture of barnyard grass and beans, along with konjac, taro, radishes, and wild vegetables to survive.

This situation persisted even into the 19th century.

Because of scarce resources, even nobles did not have the habit of eating vegetables. They basically ate a large bowl of white rice for every meal. This caused problems, and even the Japanese Emperor, Yamamoto, the war criminal who bombed Pearl Harbor, suffered from severe beriberi.

There are even rumors that the number of soldiers who died in war was less than the number who died from beriberi.

It wasn't until later, when medical scientists who had studied abroad observed that Europeans, who ate bread every day, did not get beriberi, while the upper class in Japan, who ate white rice every day, were plagued by beriberi, while the upper class in China, who ate white rice every day, had very few beriberi, and even Japanese farmers, who could not afford white rice, did not get beriberi.

The study concluded that bread contains vitamin B1, while refined white rice does not. This is because Chinese people like to eat vegetables, and Japanese farmers would mix beans and other foods into their rice to fill their stomachs, thus both ingesting vitamin B1. Only the upper class in Japan, who only ate white rice, lacked vitamins, which is why beriberi was so prevalent.

This is also because ancient Japan was influenced by Buddhism and believed that killing would lead to hell. In the 7th century AD, the Emperor issued a "meat-eating ban," which prohibited the consumption of five categories of animals: cattle, horses, dogs, monkeys, and chickens. Apart from pigs, rabbits, fish, and shellfish, there were not many other options available.

Vegetarianism gradually became a etiquette tradition among the upper classes.

Later, during the Tokugawa Shogunate, the Dog General Tokugawa Tsunayoshi issued the Ordinance on the Protection of Living Creatures, prohibiting the killing of animals. Because the Shogun was born in the Year of the Dog, eating dogs was especially forbidden.

This tradition was maintained for 1200 years until Emperor Meiji set an example and led the noble class to start eating meat. Before that, the nobility considered vegetarianism to be noble and elegant.

Modern Japan still maintains a unique love for rice, eating it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Even among the dishes introduced from abroad, many of the most popular ones are related to rice.

For Chinese Cuisine, it's Yangzhou fried rice; for Indian cuisine, it's curry rice; even in ramen shops, many people mix rice with broth.

This led to the development of various rice-based foods, and even gave rise to figures like the God of Sushi" and the Rice Cooking Sage."

Once Aichi brought over all the ingredients, Shirou showcased his culinary skills. Although the ingredients and seasonings were limited, the natural vegetables and wild herbs possessed a unique flavor, preserving the deliciousness of each ingredient.

Konjac is boiled to remove toxins, then squeezed dry and ground into powder to make a starch precipitate for thickening sauces. Eggplant is fried in soybean oil until golden brown with a beautiful purple skin. Mushrooms are stir-fried until fragrant, and wild vegetables from the mountains are prepared in turn to create delicious dishes.

Finally, put the rice into a large iron pot, add water and simmer until cooked. The various sweet vegetable juices infuse into the rice grains, and the cooked rice becomes plump, round and shiny. When the lid is lifted, the aroma immediately fills the entire small house.

The soft, sticky white rice, infused with the vegetable juices, turns a beautiful golden yellow, and then is sprinkled with wild scallions. This simplified version of the ancient vegetable and mushroom stewed rice is now complete.

"I wish the old lady could eat this," Yukino said, still a little sad.

"Yukino, enjoy your meal! Try to eat Grandma's share too," Shirou said, patting the girl's head.

"Yes, Master..." Yukino held the plate of rice, not shedding a tear, but simply burying her head in her food. "Delicious, so delicious... I really hope that one day, all the old men and women in the world can eat such delicious food..."

"Ah, let's work hard together." Shirou didn't say anything more, he just stroked the girl's head.

Chapter 233 Pre-War Food Party

A large bowl of steamed white rice, each grain resembling a precious gem, is what gives it its name in Japan, "Silver relic." Now, in the large pot, the white rice is topped with crushed, golden chestnut pieces and has absorbed the fragrant vegetable juices, transforming into plump, golden-yellow grains of rice.

The white and green parts of the scallions release a rich aroma, while the fried eggplant, golden and purple, and the vibrant green wild vegetables add a touch of natural freshness, making the golden rice dish look like a collection of jewels.

The well-cooked white radish chunks fully absorbed the broth, becoming even sweeter and more refreshing. Meanwhile, the shredded carrots and sliced konjac were translucent and intertwined, forming red and white blocks with a smooth and elastic texture.

The black, fan-shaped mushrooms, cut into crescent shapes, contrast sharply with the white shimeji mushrooms, like two black and white fish playing in a golden ocean.

Finally, add some roasted matsutake mushrooms and fried taro to the side.

Under Shirou's superb culinary skills, this vegetable stew rice, made with limited ingredients and seasonings, was transformed into a dish that felt as sumptuous as a high-end meat dish.

"Shirou, this vegetarian meal is absolutely wonderful, the best I've ever tasted. Please give me another bowl!" Houzoin Inshun said with a hearty laugh as he ate, and soon handed over a plate that was completely empty!

"Okay." Shirou readily agreed. He used half of the bag of rice that Tawara Toda had given him, enough to feed ten grown men until they were stuffed, so he didn't care at all.