Pillars of the Wu family

March in Yangchun is another good time when the grass grows and warblers fly. A gentle spring breeze blows on the Echigo Thousand Li Plain. The warm cyclone from the southwest is mixed with a comfortable coolness, which gradually blows away the restlessness in people's hearts. After a long experience The ice and snow have completely melted in the winter of today, and Echigo will also usher in the most beautiful season of the year.

A group of cavalry warriors roared past on the Qianli Plain. They all wore helmets and held big bows, and whistled to guide the hounds to drive away the prey in the woods. Sika deer bounced and scurried through the lush jungle. In the middle of the day, sometimes you can see hares. They are the first litter of pups born this year. They can bounce around and look for food alone in just over a month. It seems that they are living a very good life with thick fur.

"Chi Chi!" A series of arrow bells whizzed out, shooting down the prey that were fleeing in groups. This rhythm of harvesting prey has long been familiar. For eagle hunters, the most enjoyable thing is the thrill of chasing prey. When the prey is chased and panicked, it is the time for the hunter to harvest the spoils.

A group of warriors immediately rushed forward and dismounted from their horses, calmed down the excited howls of the hounds, took out pickled meat and threw it to these hard-working little guys, after a little inspection, they reported loudly: "Five deer, three hares , The harvest is good! The owner of the hall shot two!"

"Oh!" The warriors raised their weapons and galloped their horses, celebrating the success of this round of hunting.

At this time, a group of knights on horseback came out from the woods on the opposite side, their red armor was extremely conspicuous. The leader of the warriors carried a shot dead goat, threw it into the pile of prey, got off his horse and said, "My lord! It's getting late. Let's find a place to eat first!"

"Yeah." Kira Yoshitomo looked up.Unknowingly, it has already reached the peak of the sky.He said, "Camp and rest!"

Teams of horse warriors gathered from all directions, and they had more or less prey in their hands. Some caught a pheasant and a duck, while others caught deer and goats. The most powerful one held a small wild boar, of course. Some people also returned empty-handed, and they fell behind dejectedly.Occasionally, I will be teased by the teammates in front of me.

A group of hounds gathered together to play and fight, while the samurai took out the cooking utensils from the carriage, piled up wood and ignited it with oilcloth, set up a large pot to boil water, put the prey in the pot and boiled it for a while to remove the fur. , then sprinkle with chili salt and grill on the fire, and at the same time add water to the pot and add miso, and the small fish caught in the river will cook a pot of delicious miso fish soup.

Yamaoka Shichang rubbed his hands and said with a smile: "Grilled venison is served with delicious miso fish soup and delicious steamed pancakes. I really feel that what I have eaten before is scum!"

"Yes!" A young warrior said along the way: "This chili is so strong! Put a little in the miso soup. After eating, you will be warmed up, even if it is cold. You don't have to be afraid to go falcon hunting!"

"Look everyone! Ejiro is bragging again, no matter how cold it is, who knows how to act like a little quail in the past two months? Hahaha..."

The young warrior's face turned red, and he stammered back: "Don't laugh! I haven't eaten chili yet!"

"We know, we know! When Yingjiro was shivering from the cold, he was grateful for a bowl of miso soup for several days! Hahaha..." Everyone burst into laughter.

After falcon hunting, camping and barbecue has become an unwritten rule. If you ask the samurai in Sanhe what their favorite activity is, it must be falcon hunting. Both the horses and the red cavalry like to go falcon hunting. Chibei's riding and shooting skills are really bad, so he can only watch the horses easily shoot and kill the prey. In the end, who knows who thought of a trick, walked around in front of the prey with an iron cannon, dismounted and shot, although this would scare the mounts, But for the sake of the teeth-beating festival, I can't control a lot.

This time, Yoshitoki Kira took the horses to complete a hunt on the plains of Joetsu. Since he came to Echigo, in the not-so-long two months, his footprints have almost covered the entire Echigo, every bend in the river. In the dense forest, there are figures of Kira's family horses hunting, all because of the group of cavalry.

None of the local nobles came forward to accuse him of invading his own land for wanton hunting. When the flag of Ashikaga Erhiri was flying, a group of hundreds of fiery red cavalry seemed to be scorching the glaciers that had not melted for thousands of years. The Echigo samurai were surprised to find that the underage governor had such a group of fierce and sturdy cavalry.

Both men and horses are wearing armor, holding large spears, waist and crotch scimitars, and they can shuttle back and forth as freely as swimming fish. Since then, the legends of the warriors in Echigo have spread from far away in Kinai. A group of powerful warriors defended the shogunate.And there was a fierce collision with another group of samurai several times his own body, and finally the group of samurai came to Echigo after victory.

When the Ashikaga Erin and Ryomon flutter in the wind under the fierce north wind, countless Echigo warriors will always exclaim that it is the flag of the shogunate, and it is the family mon flag of Genji’s Pillar family. I haven’t seen that flag in years. The last time was 200 years ago during the Southern and Northern Dynasties. Echigo local tyrants have long been accustomed to the Uesugi Sasamon pattern of Kanto governors. Who still remembers that they united and fought under this two banners.

So when the two flags of Ashikaga appeared, it was like throwing a stone into a pool of stagnant water, and the surging waves stirred in the hearts of the warriors. Bad words, they backed down not only because of Kirayoshi's powerful martial arts name in the world, but also because of this shocking banner.

When the sound of the last roar of the north wind gradually disappears, it is the time of the year when the rain is the most abundant. Looking at the clouds floating in the distance, the dancing figure of the treetops is more stretched. Kira Yishi stood up and said thoughtfully, "The wind is blowing!"

When the red cavalry walking on the Echigo Plains gradually returned to the team, more than 700 red cavalry started their return journey at a neat pace. In the seaport of Naoetsu, there are more than [-] households densely scattered from the port to both sides of the river. Of course, all this changed a few months ago.

The speed of the seven hundred cavalry was very fast, but it took half an hour to reach the middle reaches of Guanchuan. When entering here, you can see tall waterwheels standing on both sides of Guanchuan. There will always be a similar waterwheel beside the waterwheel. The water mill, the water hammer roaring in the mill, from time to time a farmer leaves happily with his pockets in his arms.

Outside the mill, a ground servant kept order and managed the mill. Opposite him stood a group of peasants. They moved slowly in a pair, carrying various bags in their hands. They are all coarse grains, soybeans and other grains, and the needed coarse grain flour can be ground in this mill.

The ground attendant told them that as long as these coarse grains are mixed with water and made into dough, they can steam delicious noodle cakes, which are both delicious and satisfying hunger. Even the samurai lords love to eat them. In the future, farmers will no longer have to envy the samurai who eat rice. Gentlemen, if the farmers work diligently for the manor, they can still get a ration. In this lean season, if they can have a meal and save their own rations, they will give the old, young, women and children in the family an extra share of life. hope.

Soybeans are purchased directly. It is said that this inconspicuous thing will be directly transported to the largest mill downstream, where there is an oil press that can squeeze out the oil from the soybeans. The farmers certainly don’t know how to do it Clearly, the nobles of the Kira family would not tell them anyway.

The farmers queuing in front of the mill soon heard a roaring vibration, and looked up to see a neat row of knights galloping past. They hurriedly avoided to the side of the road and knelt on the ground, only to see the leader The samurai master swung his whip and walked away, and then got up from the ground with a sigh of relief.

"That's the old man from Kyoto! What a noble man!" The peasants didn't have much knowledge, they only knew that the samurai from Kyoto were mighty and majestic. Everything is amazing.

"My lord! Look, that's our fleet!" A samurai pointed to the slow-moving fleet on the river. The large return ship was slowly moving forward with a cargo of hundreds of shi, which was collected from various places. Their products are mainly soybeans and tea seeds. The Kira family mainly exchanged miscellaneous grains and brown rice. With Omi’s material support, a fleet of ships shuttled back and forth on the Shinano River and the Agano River to transfer the accumulated wealth of Echigo over the years. All useless materials were exchanged.

Relying on the good governance of exchanging food for waste, it also left a good impression on the servants and farmers in the seven counties of Echigo. At least this is a kind-hearted nobleman. Useless things are exchanged for precious food, and I can't control it when I curse behind my back for being stupid.

Kira Yoshitoshi didn't do anything these past few months, he took the cavalry around all day long to hunt eagles like idlers, and he always said nothing at the evaluation meeting of Kasuga Mountain Castle, either holding a bat fan to admire, or just staring at The mountains in the distance were in a daze, and the Echigo warriors ridiculed behind his back that he was a useless son of a prince. All the legends were false.

But he seemed to have done something. The new town that sprung up along the Guanchuan River, the smoky workshops were busy day and night, and the waterwheels and mills on both sides of the river were erected. The special craftsmanship of the three-house house in Kinai, the house built is tall and strong, beautiful and warm, and many people are envious of the beautiful shape of Shinmachi.

In the large connected new towns, completely different laws and regulations are enforced. The merchants lose the privileges they depend on for survival. It is also necessary to hook stones and arrows outside the new town. This is simply building a huge city, making people who come and go to Sekigawa marvel at the powerful financial resources of the Kira family. (to be continued..)

ps: I admit that I know Luo Likang, but I don’t want to copy his ideas. After I write it, I am not sure that I dare to write it?Some people also said that this is the same as a certain dimension, can this be the same?If you don’t believe me, keep reading, it’s strange if it’s the same!