Arima’s reason for keeping Inotani and Ushiyama behind was something Aoto could deduce.
It was likely to discuss with Inotani and Ushiyama how to help him get through the Grand Elder Examination a month and a half later.
After Aoto’s father, Tachibana Takashi, passed away from illness, Arima, Inotani, and Ushiyama had always looked after Aoto as if he were their own, showing him all kinds of care.
Now that Aoto was at risk of being dismissed, it was impossible for the three of them to remain indifferent and uncaring.
The friendship between Arima, Inotani, Ushiyama, and the Tachibana family made Aoto sigh with emotion: “Kitsutachibana Aoto” hadn’t left him with only a pile of troubles…
Following Arima’s instructions, Aoto left his office alone first, then held the sword at his waist and strode out of the Magistrates Office, ready to begin his work for the day.
When there were no cases to handle, the daily work of Machikae Doshin was to patrol their respective jurisdictions.
Aoto currently had no cases to deal with, so his job now was to go inspect the area he was responsible for.
The patrol method of Machikae Doshin was not to circle every corner or important place within their jurisdiction.
The reason was simple—insufficient manpower.
The South Precinct and North Precinct—at first glance, one might think the former governed the southern half of Edo and the latter the northern half.
But that was not the case.
Edo was the ruling center of the Edo Shogunate.
For such an important city, the Edo Shogunate naturally did not feel at ease entrusting its complete management to one person.
Thus, the Shogunate divided the Magistrates Office in Edo into two, forming the South and North Precinct, and the two precincts adopted a “Monthly Rotation” system.
The so-called “Monthly Rotation” simply meant that the two precincts took turns managing Edo on a monthly basis.
If the North Precinct was responsible for Edo this month, then next month it would be the South Precinct’s turn.
And when it was the North Precinct’s turn to manage Edo, what did the officials of the South Precinct do?
They took a full month of paid leave!
They would remain on leave until it was their turn, the South Precinct, to manage Edo.
By next month, when it was February and the South Precinct was in charge of Edo, it would be the turn of the North Precinct, to which Aoto belonged, to take a full month of paid leave.
Of course—for a “San Kai” samurai like Aoto, due to the special nature of his work, he only had the chance to take a full month of paid leave under extremely lucky circumstances.
Even though it was already the other precinct’s turn to manage Edo this month, but because there was still an unfinished case, they could only continue to work—this was a very common occurrence among the “San Kai” of the South and North Precinct.
And during their holidays, it was even more normal to be urgently summoned and dispatched to support the precinct currently on duty due to the sudden emergence of an emergency case and insufficient manpower.
It was currently January, the month when the North Precinct was responsible for managing Edo, so Aoto, who belonged to the North Precinct, needed to work, while the officials belonging to the South Precinct… including the “San Kai” of the South Precinct, were basically all on holiday.
In other words—the total number of “San Kai” in the South and North Precinct was 36.
With such a scarce total police force, unless a special summons was issued, the police force that could be deployed each month would be cut in half!
Every month, officials from one precinct would always be on paid leave, so every month, only half of the police force would be on duty!
Currently, those responsible for maintaining public order in Edo were only the 4 Yoriki and 14 Doshin of the North Precinct’s “San Kai”.
As leadership-level cadres, the Yoriki of Regular Town Patrol naturally did not participate in the patrol work of Edo.
Only the Doshin of Regular Town Patrol participated in the patrol work.
There were only 6 Doshin in Regular Town Patrol in total; with such a small number of people, how could they possibly patrol every important place in Edo?
Therefore—the Doshin of Regular Town Patrol only patrolled every Jishinban within their own jurisdiction.
What is a “Jishinban”?
This leads to the two major special systems that allowed the South and North Precinct to maintain public order in Edo with such a small police force.
The first major system was the “Townspeople Self-Governance Organization”.
This system, simply put, was a special “governance system” that employed commoners to manage commoners.
Under this special governance system, the officials hired to assist in managing Edo were roughly divided into three levels: “Town Elder – Town Head – House Master”.
The “Town Elder” position was inherited by the Taruya, Naraya, and Kitamura families.
The job of this position was to assist the South and North Town Magistrate of Edo in governing Edo.
Their main duties included: helping the Town Magistrate convey orders from the Shogunate and the Magistrates Office to the people of Edo, compiling household registers, assisting in managing merchants and artisans, helping collect and submit various taxes and fees, and other various tasks.
[Note: Jinbetsucho: Household register in the Edo Period]
Below the Town Elder was the “Town Head”.
Throughout Edo, there were a total of 264 Town Head, each overseeing anywhere from 2 or 3 to over a dozen towns.
Town Head were all commoners from the landowning class, and most were hereditary.
Edo in the Edo Period was said to have “808 towns,” but in reality, there were far more than that number; by the Bakumatsu, Edo already had nearly 2,000 towns.]
And below the Town Head was the “House Master”.
Each Town Head had several to over a dozen House Master under their command.
The task of the House Master was to actually manage the various towns under the Town Head’s jurisdiction.
Some House Master were hired by the Town Head, but some House Master were also hereditary.
Although the Town Elder, Town Head, and House Master bore the heavy responsibility of assisting the Magistrates Office in managing Edo, they were not officials.
The reason was simple: they were commoners without swords at their waists, not samurai.
“Non-samurai cannot be officials”—this was an iron rule in Japan during the Edo Period.
Although they performed the functions of “officials,” they did not have the title of “officials.”
From the Town Elder down to the House Master, their official status was “Town Officials,” not officials; they were just a bunch of people who helped the samurai lords, at most, they were a bunch of “clerks.”
The “Townspeople Self-Governance Organization,” responsible for helping manage Edo, naturally also helped the “San Kai” handle cases.
If a case arose, it would first be handled by the Town Head and House Master responsible for managing that town.
Only if it could not be resolved would it be handed over to the “San Kai” of the Magistrates Office to deal with.
Therefore—the “San Kai” basically did not handle ordinary civil cases.
Whose cat was lost, whose wife got involved with the plumber who came to fix the pipes, whose wife was told, “Madam, you don’t want your husband to lose this job, do you?
So please.”—these trivial civil cases were basically left to the “Townspeople Self-Governance Organization” to handle independently.
Only when encountering major criminal cases that the “Townspeople Self-Governance Organization” could not handle alone, such as murder or theft, would the cases be handed over to the “San Kai” of the Magistrates Office.
If a major criminal case requiring the involvement of the “San Kai” occurred in a certain town, then the Town Head and House Master managing that town had to provide full assistance to the “San Kai” samurai responsible for the case.
The usual office of the House Master was the “Jishinban”.
A Jishinban can be understood as a facility that combines the functions of a modern police station and a fire department.
Inside the station, in addition to arrest tools like Protrusion (tsukubō) and Fork (sasumata) for apprehending criminals, there were also fire-fighting tools such as unit flags, fire hooks, and hand-operated fire pumps.
The House Master responsible for managing the town generally worked within the Jishinban of that town.
Besides the House Master, there were also minor officials like “scribes” hired by the House Master to help with miscellaneous tasks.
Patrolling every Jishinban within one’s jurisdiction, asking if anything major had happened in that town recently, staying to deal with it if something had happened, and moving on to the Jishinban of the next town if nothing had happened—this was the patrol process for the Machikae Doshin.
…
…
Edo, Hyuuga Town, Jishinban—
As soon as he stepped through the gate, a House Master working in this Jishinban quickly put on a formal smile, rubbing his hands together, and came to greet Aoto.
“Ah!
Lord Tachibana, you’ve arrived!”
“Greetings.” After a simple greeting to the House Master, Aoto quickly asked, “Has anything major happened in Hyuuga Town recently?”
“Nothing major.
Just a fight,” the House Master replied.
“Yesterday afternoon, the owner of Kikuya got into a street brawl with a passerby over a trivial matter.”
“But because both were pulled apart in time, neither was seriously hurt, and I led people to mediate immediately yesterday afternoon.
Both parties have now successfully reconciled.”
“Hmm.” Aoto nodded slightly.
“It’s good that nothing major happened.”
“Lord Tachibana!
The weather is cold today, would you like to come in for a cup of hot tea?”
“No need.” Aoto smiled politely at the House Master.
“This morning, the Constable called an emergency meeting, which already delayed my patrol time significantly.”
“I still have many places to patrol, so I dare not delay any longer.”
“I’ll be going now.
“Yes!”
Aoto, preparing to inspect the next Jishinban, left quickly with the House Master bowing in farewell, turned right, and entered a bustling commercial street.
“Kimono!
Come and see!
Newly stocked kimono!”
“Father!
I want to buy that!”
“Get out of the way!
Get out of the way!
The cart carrying goods is coming!
Move if you don’t want to be hit!”
…
Merchants busy opening their shops, laborers pushing goods with simple handcarts, hawkers shouting loudly to sell their wares early in the morning…
Although “Kitsutachibana Aoto” had seen countless such scenes in his memories, Aoto still couldn’t stop the fresh curiosity in his eyes.
After patrolling his jurisdiction for most of the morning and admiring these ancient and lively street scenes, Aoto felt his mood, which had been depressed by a series of difficult problems, lighten slightly.
How to deal with the “Grand Elder Examination” a month and a half later?
The only way to make his currently dismal political achievements shine brightly within a mere month and a half… was to solve some major, high-value cases.
The “Grand Elder Examination” was very different from the other two crises hanging over Aoto’s head: the life threat from the Anti-Foreign Faction and the property threat from the Shimizu Clan.
Facing the threats from the Anti-Foreign Faction and the Shimizu Clan, Aoto could still take the initiative, actively learn swordsmanship, and rely on the system to replicate powerful talents to protect himself from harm.
But this “Grand Elder Examination” was not like that…
Whether those high-value, major cases that could instantly make his political achievements shine would appear, and whether he would have the opportunity and ability to handle these major cases… it all depended on fate.
If those high-value major cases never appeared, or if Aoto never got the chance to handle them… then Aoto would be helpless.
To this, Aoto could only sigh with a heavy gaze: take it one step at a time, and first do what needs to be done each day.
After patrolling two more Jishinban where nothing major had happened, time quietly reached noon.
Aoto looked up at the sun, which was almost at its zenith, then silently pulled out the bento that Kyubei had given him that morning when he left home—three rice balls wrapped in lotus leaves.
—Let’s find a place to eat lunch…
Aoto looked around and immediately spotted a teahouse not far away.
The function of teahouses in the Edo Period was somewhat similar to modern cafes; they were important social venues in the Edo Period.
Going into a teahouse, ordering a cup of tea, and leisurely staying for a long time—it was the most suitable place to rest one’s feet.
Therefore, upon discovering this teahouse, Aoto almost unhesitatingly walked quickly towards it.
As soon as he entered the teahouse, the noisy sounds, slightly murky hot air, and the enticing aromas of tea and snacks rushed towards Aoto like a tide.
Looking at the dense crowd inside the teahouse, Aoto couldn’t help but worry if there would be no empty seats.
Just as Aoto was looking around for an empty table, he suddenly heard—from beside him, a very familiar and pleasant voice:
“Hmm?
Tachibana-kun?”
Aoto quickly looked in the direction of the voice, his face showing surprise: “Okita-kun?”
[Japanese History Class is starting~]
The “Townspeople Self-Governance Organization” system in the Edo Period was actually very complex.
The content mentioned in this chapter is a simplified version.
Between the Town Head and House Master, there were actually various other officials and organizations like the “Five House Master.” This chapter only roughly mentions the general composition and operation of the “Townspeople Self-Governance Organization.”
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