A great famine struck all of Japan: the so-called Great Tenpō famine. It was a time when there were frequent uprisings in rural areas due to farmers losing their land as a result of strict tax collection. The Tonegawa area of ​​Boso was a lawless area for a generation, as two major forces fought against each other: Sukegoro of Iioka, who wields power with his industrial capital behind him, and Shigezo of Sasakawa, a rising yakuza. Furthermore, the successive floods of the Tone River, which could be called fate, forced the farmers into even more poverty and despair. Meanwhile, farmers in Nabe Village continue to live a lethargic life, but agricultural reform is about to begin under the hands of Yugaku Ohara, a ronin who has settled in the village.

世界で初めて農民を組織したといわれる大原幽学を主人公に、笹川繁蔵、平手造酒、飯岡助五郎など浪曲でお馴じみの「天保水滸伝」をからませて、その時代に生きた人間群像を描く。脚本は「わが青春のとき」の山内久、監督は「不毛地帯」の山本薩夫、撮影は「君よ憤怒の河を渉れ」の小林節雄がそれぞれ担当。