Pillars of the Wu family

"Is this the core area of ​​Kasugayama Castle?" Nagano Yegu and Kobata Nobusada led several samurai into the Honmaru Castle Tower. Because of the influence of the assassination at the revelation banquet, except for Kira Yoshitoki and Nagao Ketora , but any samurai entering the core area of ​​Honmaru needs to take off their weapons and check for hidden weapons.

Complicated security check procedures have to go through three gates successively, and the handwritten monogram of Uesugi Constitution is verified before release is allowed. This kind of system similar to the certificate system also exists in the retainer group. It is changed every month, and the identification symbols are different each time. It is a precautionary measure to prevent people from sneaking into troubled waters.

The earthen wall in the city was replaced by a new wall made of composite soil and stones, and the limestone was repainted to make it look clean and tidy. The high wall of this new technology is still called a stone wall, but compared with the traditional stone wall, both thickness and height have been greatly improved. One meter thick and three meters high are enough to resist most possibilities of sneaking in. With the current average height of Echigo, it is impossible to climb over this kind of wall with bare hands.

In fact, the inner wall is not the tallest. The outermost side wall where the Otemon Gate is located has been raised to more than six meters high, and it is equipped with new-style arrow oars and iron running oars up to eight meters high with composite soil and stones. This not only increases the monitoring range, but also By the way, the safety is improved, and the level of safety in the Hokuriku region where muskets are still new is also at an explosive level.

The reconstruction work has been carried out intermittently since two years ago, and it is still ongoing until this year. It is estimated that it will take another year to completely rebuild and strengthen all the walls and buildings in Kasugayama City. Gang Tanfang served as the deputy in charge of supervision, and the two took turns to monitor the progress of the project. This time the siege of the city was regarded as a practice for the two.

It is different from entering the bottom layer of Kasuga Mountain City in the past.This time, the highest point of the entire mountain city is also the peak of Mount Kasuga.Here you can overlook the entire castle town and the Naoetsu Port in the distance.The two experienced a different feeling from the past.

Xiao Ban Xinzhen whispered: "My family's Guofeng City is not bad, why don't you feel this way?"

"My family's Takaru Castle is also a mountain castle, but the mountain castle is still different from the mountain castle. You can see how big the gap is if you look at the castle towns below the mountain." Nagano Yegu snarled down the mountain, and along the high slope, you can just see the densely packed towns below. , The population of this city is expanding very fast. With the strong economic growth of Echigo, it has attracted a large number of merchants and craftsmen to move in within two years.

It is different from the situation in Omi Sakamoto Port.Most of the craftsmen in Hokuriku, Dongguk, and Yuao have no plans to go to Kinai. The mountain high road there is too far away from their hometown, and it is far less convenient than Naoetsu Port, which has developed transportation and is located in Dongguk, Hokuriku, and Yuao. ,Safety.

The removal of the Sado navy led to Noto in the west and Yasuhira to the sea in Dewa in the east. Today, the Kira family controls four major ports: Naoetsu Port, Kashiwazaki Port, Sado Port, and the Niigata Port under construction. The Echigo Nagao family also focuses on The inland daimyo transformed into a powerful maritime daimyo.

The busy maritime trade has a great demand for maritime escort services. The Kira navy has also rapidly expanded during this year. The number of personnel has rapidly increased from 2000 to 300. Multiple ships.Anzhai Ship is building two ships, which add up to a small sea overlord.In this way, thanks to the short legs of the inland water army, it turned into a powerful navy that dominated the open sea.

The protection of the navy ensures the safe operation of trade to the greatest extent. Noto Wajima Port and Dewa Sakata Minato take the initiative to sign a trade agreement with the Kira Navy. Merchants traveling in Hokuriku and Uo will be protected by the Kira Navy. Related escort and rescue work Choose according to the needs of business travel, and modify the rules in detail according to the operating regulations of the Kira family in Yodogawa.

Today, there are more than 1 households in Kasugayama Castle Town, more than 8 households in Naoetsu Town, and a permanent population of more than [-]. The number of merchant ships that come and go every day is increasing. The expansion of Naoetsu Port has also been done. At present, it has replaced Sakata Minato. The trend of becoming the largest port in the north.

Nagao Jinglian stood in the corridor outside the Dahiro room and looked at the two of them carefully. He caught a glimpse of the samurai standing next to the two who nodded indistinctly, and then said seriously: "You can go in! Please pay attention to the etiquette of the samurai family when you meet. .”

"Yes! Let's save the trouble." Nagano Yegu replied hastily and cautiously, and the two followed Nagao Jinglian slowly into the large room, only to see a dozen warriors kneeling on futons in the wide hall, Among them were Uesugi Kensei and Nagao Tosho, who were accompanying the two samurai sitting side by side at the head seat.

Just hurriedly seeing the physical characteristics of the two of them, he quickly followed Nagao Jing and bowed down, and said loudly: "Ueno Samurai Nagano Yegu and Kobata Nobusada have seen the Zhenfu Hall and Dansei Hall!"

The two of them could feel several eyes scanning back and forth on their bodies, and it seemed to be stretched infinitely in just a few seconds, until a majestic voice came to their ears: "You two don't need to be polite, please Take your seat."

"Xie Zhen Mansion Hall, Dan Zheng Hall!"

"Although the assassination and the Ichikui incident still happened in the end, my righteous brother and I will remember the achievements of the two of you. In recognition of your achievements, two Bizen Osafune famous swords are presented to the two of you as a token of gratitude."

Send out two swords of Bizen long boatmen. Because of the geographical location, there are very few swords handed down in Kanto in this well-known swordsmith settlement in Gyeonggi and Zhenxi. The Taidao is also a high-grade high-end product.

"It's good to have a talented swordsman. If you want to send a knife, you can make it at any time. The two long boat workers' Taisao are still in stock a few years ago. As long as you have a good Izumo jade steel ingot, you can make a famous sword in two months. Yoshishi Kira smiled slightly. In his hand, he had a swordsman Soga and Heibei with excellent talent and potential. In recent years, due to the sufficient supply of jade steel ingots, the craftsmanship of making weapons has also been advancing by leaps and bounds. It is only one step away from a famous craftsman. Haruka, the gift of two swords is all for training.

"Thank you Zhenfudian!" The two held the Taidao fondly, until Uesugi Xianzheng coughed to remind them, and then hurriedly bowed down.

The reward link is completed, and the next step is to explain the business. Nagao Jinghu said to the two young people: "The aid to Ueno will be prepared in the next few days. The active cooperation of the local people is needed to go to Ueno, so please send your family to Ueno. Take the words to Nagano Shinnon Shouden, please Ueno people get ready."

Hearing the sound, the two said solemnly: "I understand!"

Uesugi Xianzheng can finally feel at ease after getting his promise.Nagano Yegu and Kobata Nobusada hurried back to pack their bags and prepare to leave.They will return to Ueno with the grain and rice aided by Echigo.Its meaning is to act as an envoy to communicate between the two parties.

Hearing that Uesugi Sensei had fulfilled his wish, Ogasawara Nagatoki rushed to the door to ask for help. Nagao Jinghu was filled with righteous indignation and almost agreed. Fortunately, he still remembered that Kira Yoshitoshi was now the guardian of Shinano. For the people of Shinano, it is impossible to restore the status of the lord.

"I don't dare to hope to regain the throne of the king, I just ask your highness to help me regain the old collar for a long time, I will be grateful!" Ogasawara begged for a long time, with his three sons sitting beside him. .The oldest is only one year older than Yoshito Kira, and the youngest is only 11 years old this year. The three children also cried together with their father.

Speaking of this, he was embarrassed to go too far, so he took advantage of the situation and said to the family: "Xinano's longing for the palace and homesickness has been fully understood by the family. Since there is no other request, the family will agree! It's just a matter of time. It needs to be delayed a little longer, after all, we will send troops to the field this year."

"Yes! As long as the two Highnesses can agree, I will be grateful for a long time! As for the time to send troops, I dare not ask extravagantly, it is up to the two Highnesses to decide." Ogasawara bowed for a long time.Slowly exit with three children.

Make a troop plan and design a marching route.The pre-preparation for military rations and Kodaka, the collection and analysis of ninja intelligence, and the determination of the military service accounts of each samurai, etc., all have to be carried out at the same time. The difference between the Nagao family and the Kira family is that Here, or in other words, all Sengoku daimyos are fundamentally different from the Kira family.

The traditional daimyo still maintains the idea of ​​uniting farmers and soldiers. It takes several months from establishing military service accounts, urging the lords to assemble, counting weapons and equipment supplies, and then the whole army goes out to battle. A certain territory has been preparing to send out the army until September, and the pre-war preparations account for half of the war.

As the governor of the Kira family, he did not personally participate in these preparations, because the main purpose of this war was to expel the invading Ueno Hojo Army, and the secondary purpose was to get a preliminary understanding of the Uesugi family's geographical advantages, people and returns in Ueno and Kanto. As for how much is left, it is impossible to take up the post of Guandong leader in the future and not leave the Kanto. Before leaving, you must familiarize yourself with the specific situation.

For the samurai of Echigo, the Eight Kingdoms of Kanto is a strange place. 30 years ago when Nagao was the most beautiful scenery, they teamed up with Hojo Soun to attack the two Uesugi in the mountains and valleys, but those were all old things. Most of the samurai who fought in Kanto back then were very old, and the new generation of Echigo had never been to that land.

As an outsider, it is impossible to be like Shinano, who knows everything. He dared to run around half of Shinano in the first Kawanakajima battle. A samurai who is unfamiliar with an unfamiliar battlefield must first carefully test the strength and truth of the opponent. manner.

Therefore, this time the Nagao Army decided to lead an army of [-] troops. Among them, the [-] Echigo Army is the main force of Nagao Jinghu, and the main force remaining behind Echigo is [-]. Honjo Shigecho, Kurokawa Kiyomi, and Hojo Takahiro, three warriors from Echigo, led the entourage.

Kira Yoshitoshi stayed in Echigo to guard his hometown, and [-] Xinnong Bei guarded the vicinity of Iiyama Castle. Of the remaining [-] troops, [-] were newly formed troops, and [-] horses returned to the army. Other than that, they were all Kira The original team of his family, this elite army is his main guarantee in terms of combat power.

There is also a reason why the Kira family stood still. The Takeda family teamed up with the Etsuchu Ichikui Army to give them a shady hand, and almost took this little life into it. Kira Yoshitoki and Nagao Jinghu were very angry and took revenge on the two shameless The disciples are also necessary.

But the current situation in Ueno country does not allow them to be distracted. If they are accidentally taken away from Ueno by the Hojo family, then Ueno country will become the next Kawanaka Island. Combined with Shinano Takeda and Etchu Ichikui, it becomes a situation of attack from all sides, and the danger contained in it is simply horrifying.

Therefore, it is necessary to send troops to Ueno to rescue the people of Ueno, whether it is to keep the enemy outside the country to ensure the greatest security of oneself, or to plan to enter Kanto in the future to become the governor of Kanto, or simply and crudely. It is inevitable that troops must be sent to the field.

As for revenge against the two shameless men who attacked Kirayoshi, it was an unplanned factor. It was not included in this year's plan. Solving the Ueno problem and waiting for an opportunity to severely injure the Hojo Army is the primary goal of this year's troop plan. In the face of unforeseen circumstances, the plan always fails to keep up with the changes, and temporarily changing the strategy has become a top priority.

The target of revenge is the Takeda family, one is that the assassination is really despicable and shameless, and the other is that Kai Takeda is Echigo’s confidant, and using troops against Shinano can effectively suppress the Takeda family, even if Echigo can only send a small number of legions to attack under the current situation. It must be fought back, and the fire torture has been done with great fanfare. Retaliation must be indispensable. Outsiders should not let outsiders think that the Kira family is weak and can be bullied, and they must be tough at critical moments.

Hattori Masamari has been living a very bad life recently, and his life is not satisfactory. Iga Ninja's successive misses have brought great pressure on him and the entire Iga Ninja. I don't know when he lost his old smile and confidence. He forced an ugly smile on the samurai walking by, and walked slowly towards the Honmaru Bamboo.

Iwazurumaru's complexion was not very good. Seeing the old acquaintance Hattori Masamari looking at each other with a wry smile, they all knew that their respective expressions were ugly, so they cheered up and said, "Masakaru-den is here! Please wait a moment, the owner of the hall is having a conversation! "

"Yeah! I'll just wait on the porch. If you have something to do, go there first!" Hattori Masanari knew that Iwazurumaru had a lot of things to do and was very busy, so he was not pretentious, so he smiled at him and walked away quickly.

Sitting on the porch, I caught a glimpse of a small surname in the corner, squatting in front of a small stove, clumsily fanning a fan. Some kind of fragrant soup was stewed on the stove, exuding a strong aroma. Hattori Masashi kindly reminded: "Pay attention to the lid, the soup will overflow. Already!"

"Oh! Thank you!" The little surname lifted the lid in a hurry, stirring it slowly with a spoon in one hand, and flickering the stove with the other. The milky white soup could be seen as crucian carp soup, and the little surname was already sweating profusely after stirring for a while up.

"I'll help you!" Hattori Masashiro walked over to help him fan the fan. The two of them worked much faster. After a while, when the fire was down, they covered the pot and simmered slowly over low heat. The little surname was grateful Bowed and said: "Thank you! My name is Masuda Shinsaburo, I am 12 years old, and I am from Masuda Township, Omi Asai County!" (To be continued...)