A tour of Japan's Warring States Period

There is no need for Koheita to worry about the new territory of Shinano. Koheita only needs to make arrangements with Isshiki Miyauchi who is still in the mountain.

This old man Isshiki is not the kind of person who uses his power to dominate others. He has both the arrogance unique to the old aristocracy and the tolerance unique to the old aristocracy. He was proud of his Isshiki family name, but he was also happy to see that new talents were emerging in the Yamauchi family, the territory was expanding, and samurai who needed to improve Yamauchi's skills were needed. The third generation of Kodaira was a member of the Yamauchi family, and he was an upright Yamauchi person, so he was easily accepted by the Yamauchi Samurai Order. (This is the point! If Koheita is a foreigner, it will be difficult for him to be accepted by the Yamauchi Samurai Order. This cannot be said to be a limitation. It can only be said that due to the limitations of the times, people from the same hometown will have the same Pronunciation, culture and customs make it easier to unite into a group)

After some earnest instruction, the fifty-year-old man took his retainers to Ina-Iida Castle, and also went with Hosokawa Saime, who served as the Dai of Takato Castle. Seeing that his father was running around and having nothing to do, he calmly left some ashigaru and a large amount of military supplies before returning. Now that he has been transferred to Inaba Castle, it is convenient for him to provide support at any time.

In this way, Koheita would be the highest-ranking and most powerful samurai in the entire Ejiri territory of more than 20,000 Kanbun, and no one would restrict him. Although the other Hatamoto samurai who were sent to Ejiri, including Uncle Tsuna, also wanted to monitor Koheita's words and deeds, Koheita was not trying to rebel. They just wanted to be a competent Yuri.

According to the usual practice, Uncle Tsunaliang had to leave the whole family, including his pregnant wife, in Yamauchi Fuchu City. Xiaoheita had no family members, so there was no such thing as a hostage. However, if you get married and are sent abroad in the future, it is really possible that you will often get along like this in different places.

This kind of hostage system cannot be said to be good or bad. Those who want to rebel will not be afraid even if their own mother, wife and children are taken as hostages and killed (a certain Kiso Yoshimasa, from his own mother to his son, all of them were taken as hostages and killed, but they still want to rebel) ), people who don’t want to rebel will not have second thoughts if they follow him. (A certain Shimizu Muneharu will not surrender even if he dies)

Anyway, because of this disgusting practice, Uncle Tsunaliang, who thought it was very likely that he would have a son in old age (forty years old is almost qualified to have a son in old age, after all, the Warring States Period), was very reluctant to let go of him, and killed people on the battlefield. The unblinking brave general's heroic demeanor is no longer visible at all, only the childlike attitude.

He had snatched the little girl back then, and he didn't know whether he had accepted her fate or something. The past two years in the mountains have been pretty good, and she has grown from a fat little girl to a grown-up girl. An An was at home serving Uncle Tsunaliang with peace of mind, and she actually succeeded in making a baby for Uncle Tsunaliang. Now I see that the father of the child in my belly is going away for a year and a half, and I can't stop crying.

Finally, the team set off, and after a quick look at Uncle Tsunaliang, who was walking at the end of the team, Koheita couldn't bear to interrupt him and look back. Tsk tsk tsk! Old trees bloom in spring, right? The old trees are blooming. Not right either! Anyway, the old tree is sprouting new shoots. The heart of spring is so budding that I can't stand it anymore.

So Koheita had no choice but to talk to several other Hatamotos. The Iwase father and his son had a good family background and had some experience in arranging Ashigaru marching formations. Moreover, father and son are well versed in various ways of fighting a bad war and are quite capable. Ogasawara Nagamasa is an expert in all bows, carbines, and sticks. Even if he is wearing armor, he can still walk like flying. He can draw the bow left and right on horseback, gallop and shoot, and he is very handsome. Kanai Meigoro is taciturn on the outside, but brave and brave on the inside. And if you ask questions, you will answer them, and the answers will be correct. In addition, he is very skilled in swordsmanship, so he is not a simple character.

As for Xiaoheitai's instructions before departure, Yamauchi Yoshinori's instructions were to protect the environment and the people, encourage farmers to plant mulberry trees, and nourish the people. These are things that feudal bureaucrats should do as a matter of course. Xiao Pingtai understands them all, and he also has the idea in his heart that serving as an official will benefit one party.

Returning to Ejiri Castle again, things and people have changed, and the traces of the past war have completely disappeared. Both the earthen walls surrounding the city and the dykes blocking the river have all disappeared, and the streets surrounding the city must have been renovated recently. There are also checkpoints and ban stations set up around the city, and there are teams of ashigaru patrolling along the way.

Ejiri's castle town and trading port also recovered from the war and were even better than before. Thanks to the fact that the Yamauchi area produces the cheapest candles in the entire Eastern Kingdom (the supply is quite sufficient), it has become a key product exported by the Yamauchi family to the outside world, driving the prosperity of Ejiri, an important port in the Yamauchi territory.

From the beginning of spring to the fall of snow, merchants carrying wood wax on packhorses from Ina Street have been transporting wood wax to Ejiri in the south almost continuously for days. Various souvenirs from the Shinano Mountains reach Ejiri via this prosperous street and are sold to all parts of the country. It also brings a steady stream of income and crowds to the Yamauchi family.

Products such as horses, rice, wheat, dried fish, seafood, bamboo and wood, which were originally exported to the outside world, are full of cargo ships going to and from the port due to the smooth trade routes. At every moment, a cruise ship is moored at the shore, and at every moment, a cruise ship is unmoored and anchored.

Merchants started making purchases directly at the port, and dyes, wine, paper, charcoal, and groceries imported from far away countries filled the port's warehouses. The popular goods were quickly ordered, and the shipowners and merchants brought the special products from the mountains back to distant countries to seek wealth.

The merchants who purchased the goods directed the laborers to carry various supplies that were in short supply, and chants of "Hey, hey, hey, hey" kept coming and going. There is wealth and prosperity everywhere, and it is really a pure land in the troubled times of the Warring States Period.

Koheta and his party of two to three hundred people (in addition to the samurai, Koheta's own ashigaru, uncle Tsunara, and the more than 100 ashigaru warriors under his command who must be recruited to expand and maintain production, as well as the accompanying luggage and supplies The effort of dozens of people) cannot be covered up. As soon as they entered the territory of Ejiri, someone with nimble legs and feet conveyed the news of Koheta's arrival back to Ejiri, which was a whole day faster than Koheta's team.

With such ample time to prepare, it is natural to come up with some tricks. The governor of Ejiri Town quickly sent people to welcome Kodaira and his party into the town. The Ashigaru servants arranged the longhouse and dispersed to rest.

The samurai had some other things to do, because Ejiri had long heard that the new Jodai of the family was the famous sister of the Eastern Kingdom, His Majesty Tansho. They were counting the days for their departure and were already waiting for Koheita to arrive.

Xiaopingtai is not a hypocritical bureaucrat on the surface. Although he has principles, he can also be understanding of people. So I happily accepted the banquet request from the merchants in the castle town and the people of Ejiri.