Prime Minister Bizen

Chapter 511 On the Fortification of the Nakagawa Territory (5.4K chapters)

In front of the two of them, the Xiu family unfolded the map prepared by the funds, and asked the attendant to find a box of Go, and on it, the 11 cities prepared for the two feudal clans were listed, among which the main city was marked in black, and the branch cities were marked with white chess pieces.

First of all, in the territory of Qingxiu Nakagawa, Hideka marked Fujita Castle, Takako Castle, and Hohara Castle in Date County. There is only one castle in Shino County that Hideka wrote as Fukushima, and there are three castles in Okisame County. They are Yonezawa Castle, Takahata Castle and Imaizumi Castle.

The number of cities that Zhongchuan Qingxiu had previously been approved for was 5 cities. The Xiu family's plan of 7 cities in two places also gave Zhongchuan Qingxiu more choices.

Hideka pointed to the map and introduced to Nakagawa Kiyohide, "I have prepared 4 cities for you to choose from for Nagato to stay in Nobuo and Date County. This will be the core of your rule. I think it is necessary for you to choose 3 cities here. .

Fujita Castle is located at the northernmost tip of Date County, directly connected to Shiraishi Castle at the southernmost tip of Date House.I think His Highness Guanbai has already talked to you about the purpose of your transfer to Iwashiro and Uzen, which is to look after Mogami and Date for His Highness Guanbai, and to spare time for Toyotomi's attendants and me. "

Zhongchuan Qingxiu nodded after listening to Xiu's narration and said, "That's true, His Highness Guan Bai has already told me about this matter, and I also intend to belong to Luocheng in Xinfu County."

"Then our ideas have converged." Xiujia heard that Nakagawa Qingxiu agreed with his ideas, and continued to smile and said, "So I prepared 4 cities for you in Xinfu County and Date County, and you choose 2.

Let's go back to the topic just now. Fujita Castle is located at the northernmost tip of Date County, north of the Abukuma River.Directly connected to Date's house, Baishi City, located on the main road of Dongshan Road, is the front line of monitoring Date's house. "

Hearing Hideka's introduction, Nakagawa Kiyohide nodded in approval: "Well, this Fujita Castle can be preserved."

"The second and third castles are castles located south of the Abukuma River. The mountain road can connect to Soma Ling, and at the same time, it can block the road from the Date family going south along the Abukuma River from the Morimaru area.

But now there are two questions. Would you like to place the Hirajo Hohara Castle in the north, or the Takako Castle built on the south side of the Abukuma River and relying on the mountain. "

Hearing Xiujia's introduction, he nodded to express his understanding, and at the same time asked Xiujia, "What's the difference between the two?"

"Takako Castle is a flat mountain city, and it is next to the Abukuma River. It is built to be more defensive, but it is backed by the remnants of the Iwaki Mountains. To the east is a valley surrounded by mountains on three sides. 800 meters to the east is the Abukuma River. Only the North The side is a plain.

However, the Abukuma River is the most important river in Mutsu, and there is a possibility of flooding, and the flat land on the east side may be submerged.

Generally speaking, the development of his east and west sides is limited, and the north side is surrounded by mountains and hills, where the upper limit of Gaozi City's development lies.

However, Baoyuan City is located on the plain, so the defense strength may not be high. You are a daimyo with a standard of 18 shi.

Without the barrier of Mizuhori, relying solely on the defense of Tubori Yasuhara Castle may not be enough.Of course, he is surrounded by flat land, and his development prospects are still considerable. "

There is no way, the rules set by Hideyoshi are just like this, even if Hideyoshi knows that this territory is 30.5 koku, which exceeds the daimyo's standard of 30 koku, it is impossible for Hideyoshi to say it now.

According to its daimyo standard of 18 shi, it is estimated that it will be 20w+ after the land inspection. Except for the main city, other branch cities can only be built according to the standards of knowing and doing higher than 5 shi and lower than 10 shi.

According to the regulations, the number of city walls and curved wheels should not exceed 3 circles. It is allowed to build a small number of scull towers in each city wall and curved wheels, and it is allowed to build courtyards and royal palaces, but it is not allowed to build castle towers.

The use of stone wall structures is allowed in all circles. Only the Honmaru is allowed to use stone screens for the castle structure, and only wooden screens can be used for Ninomaru and Sannomaru. It is allowed to excavate a 2-story dobori for defense.

In the previous article, the author has stated more than once that for Pingcheng, the most important part of its defense is Mizuhori. After losing Mizubori, Pingcheng's defense strength is much stronger than Tuzhaizi.

There is no way for Fujita Castle. The north of the Abukuma River is the most important food producing area in Date County. This is the plain of Yimapira River. Fujita Castle is already a rare Hirayama Castle on the Higashiyama Road on the north side of the Abukuma River!

"There's no way around this," Nakagawa Kiyohide said helplessly after hearing Hideka's explanation, "Since this is the case, there is nothing to consider. What defensive power does Hiragi have without Mizubori? Let's choose Takako Castle."

After finishing speaking, he looked up and saw Xiujia's smiling expression and said with a smile, "Gaozi City is also the best choice in His Highness's mind?"

In fact, Kiyohide Nakagawa’s words are wrong. Hideka knows that Nakagawa’s collar exceeds 30 koku. According to the rules, water holes can be used on the periphery of Hohara Castle. It can irrigate the surrounding fertile fields.

But now the Xiu family can't say that Zhong Chuan gets 30. At present, it seems that Gao Zicheng is indeed the best solution, so he can only nod along with his words and say, "It is indeed the case."

After getting Hideya's confirmation, he didn't hesitate anymore, nodded and said, "In that case, let's keep Fujita Castle and Takako Castle along the banks of the Abukuma River."

After Xiujia heard his confirmation, he removed the three Baizi cities on the map, drew circles with red pens at the positions of Fujita City and Gaozi City, and then placed them on the positions of these two cities with black stones.

Seeing Hideka's operation, Nakagawa Kiyohide and Ogasawara Hidetada looked at each other with a clear expression.

Ogasawara Hideyoshi teased Xiu's family and said, "I thought Heizi was the city you shot for me, brother. It turned out to be the city you hooped to death for us."

And Xiujia replied: "You have both. Heizi is indeed the city I designed for you, and it is also the city I don't want you to change."

Following the conversation about Kuroko, Hideka introduced to Kiyohide Nakagawa, "Fukushima Castle is located west of Abukuma River, south of Matsukawa, on a hill above the main road of Higashiyama Road.

It is the same as my Okayama Castle, surrounded by plains, like a samurai guarding the territory of Shino County, on both sides of the Abukuma River, if you build a city here, you can keep a good eye on the surrounding situation. "

Regarding the selection of Fukushima City, Kiyohide Nakagawa expressed different thoughts, and only heard him say:

"But now that the world is at peace, as a city, should commerce and trade be the first priority, should it be responsible for attracting the surrounding samurai and townspeople? At this time, building a mountain city here, will it be abandoned?
Besides, if the mountain city is built according to His Highness Guan Bai's standard of more than 20 shi, will the cost be too high?After all, I am not His Highness Guan Bai, and I don't have the courage to use 10 people to build Ishigaki Mountain Castle. "

In fact, what Nakagawa Qingxiu said makes sense. Historically, Fukushima Castle was built on the south side of Mount Shinobi, where the Arakawa River flows into the Abukuma River.

(Note: There are as many mountains and rivers with the same name in Japan as there are cities with the same name. This Arakawa is in Iwashiro’s Arakawa, which has nothing to do with Musashi.)

Regarding Zhongchuan Qingxiu's doubts, Hideka explained, "Judging from the current situation, the big names are indeed gradually abolishing the mountain city.

However, Takamatsu Castle in Sanuki, Nanao Castle in Noto, Kasugayama Castle in Echigo, and Takatoyo in Tosa are the most suitable locations for the main city.

Because of the ability to defend here, the castle town under the mountain is sufficiently developed, and at the same time, there is a port not far away, which is convenient for trade.

There is Shinfu Mountain standing in the middle of your Xinfu territory. No matter where the city is built, it may become the main line of the attacking side for others to attack your city.

What's more, artillery is gradually equipped among the major names. The biggest problem with this kind of siege weapon is the elevation angle of the bombardment. If it is a flat city, it can be bombarded at will, but if it is a mountain city, the cannon will lose its effect.

If you build a city at the foot of a mountain and the enemy sets up an artillery position on the mountain, then your own city will have no resistance to the artillery attack.

Besides, if you want to develop business capabilities, the Abukuma River is very deep, so you can build a port town in the east of the city and connect with Mutsu by river.

If the city is built at the foot of Dongshan Mountain, it may occupy part of the area of ​​the port. If it is built in Shanxi and Shannan, it will be some distance away from the port.

To sum up, building a city on Mount Shinobu is the best choice. You can monitor the entire Date Plain and control both sides of the Abukuma River if you are located here.

At the same time, this is the most important important node of Ou Mountain Road in Unicom Okitama County. If you set up the city here, you can take care of the control work of Ou Mountain Road. "

At this time, there are two most important roads to enter Okitama from Mutsu. One is to enter Okitama from the northwest of Shiroishi through Mutsu Mill Street, and the other is to go up from Nobuo along Matsukawa. Pass through Bangu and enter Zhici County.

In terms of the way of walking, there must be more roads on the Mill Street than on the border of Songchuan Street, because Songchuan Street is a valley washed out by rivers, and the mountains on both sides are relatively steep.

The Mill Street on the north side is originally a valley, and the two sides are relatively open. It will be much more convenient to enter Zhici County from here.

With Shiraishi under the control of the Date family, Nakagawa Kiyohide had to control the Matsukawa Street, otherwise Okisu-gun would be like an enclave to him.

Kiyohide Nakagawa hopes to build the city on flat ground, because the transportation of stone and wood is too time-consuming and labor-intensive to build a mountain city now.As he said before, he is not Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and he does not have such great energy.

But after listening to Xiujia's explanation, he expressed his approval of Xiujia's plan, the most important thing is Xiujia's sentence, "The artillery has been gradually equipped with various famous names."

Nakagawa Kiyohide, who had seen the power of the artillery in Hideka camp, would never let Mount Shinobe become the enemy's bombardment position for bombarding his own city.

"In this case, choose to build a city on Mount Shinobu, but I don't know why His Highness named him Fukushima Castle?"

It is impossible for Hideka to say: This is because a city called Fukushima Castle was built here in history, so he can only say to him, "Mt. Shino is on the Date Plain, standing on the plain like an isolated island.

It’s just that isolated islands don’t sound good, and I also hope that the new city can become a blessed place for Nagato, so it’s named Fukushima Castle. "

After listening to Xiujia's explanation, Zhongchuan Qingxiu said with a smile: "Then I will lend you a good word."

Zhongchuan Qingxiu's territory was divided into two basins in the east and west of the city because of the chestnut mountain. After talking about the fortification on the east side, everyone naturally turned their attention to Zhici County on the west side.

Because Zhongchuan Qingxiu's city building quota is only 5 cities, and he has already used 3 cities in the west, he can only choose 2 cities to build in Zhici County.

"Zici County is divided into two flat lands, the east and the west, with Mount Takatoya, Mount Komatsu, and Mount Iwakiri in the middle, and the east and west are like a butterfly.

Although Zhici County Zhixing only has more than 7 stones, it has a vast area, especially the Nagai Basin in the west and Mogami County. You need to leave a city here to increase your control.

Therefore, I plan to build a city in the east and west, which can help the adults control the entire Okigi County. The west side is at the intersection of Mogami River and Shirakawa River, and the valley where Komatsu Mountain and Iwakiri Mountain converge. The entire passage from west to east.

Originally there was no castle here, and the nearest three castles are Nagai Castle north of Shirakawa and south of Nogawa, Ogyu Castle upstream of Shirakawa, Takadoya on the southeast side and Komatsu Castle at the foot of Mount Komatsu.

If the adults choose to build a city here, they need to build a city on flat ground. Simply because there are remnants of the foothills in the north and south to rely on, and build a flat mountain city. "

Hideka paused here, pointing to the Yonezaka Street connected to Echigo and the Mogamigawa Street connected to Mogami on the map, and said:

"I still recommend that you choose to build the city in Imaizumi. Because no matter whether you choose to build in Ogyu or Nagai, you can't take into account the defense of the other street.

Yonezaka Street connects Uzen and Echigo Shibata. Mogamigawa Street is the main street on the west side of Okisan County. It directly connects with Tendo, Mogami County. If you need to monitor Mogami, why don’t you need to watch Uesugi?

If the number of your fortifications exceeds 6, I would suggest that you build cities in Nagai and Hagyu respectively, but now His Highness Guanbai has only approved 5 cities for you, so choosing Imaizumi to build the city is the best choice.

Regardless of whether it is from Uesugi or at least eastward, Imaizumi is the only road from west to east. Controlling this place is equivalent to controlling the eastward road from the west. "

"I understand what you said, but Nagai and Hagyu are closer to the front line, and the flat land in the west of Okigi-gun is very vast, and I am afraid that it cannot be effectively controlled if it is close to Imaizumi.

Not to mention that once encountering an enemy attack, Imaizumi can only be gathered to garrison, so that the large western plains will be lost to the enemy, and it must be a land of devastation.

And you also said that the land inspection has not yet started. If the number of Zhixing after the land inspection exceeds 20 shi, or even reaches 25 shi, will the number of cities I am allowed to keep be 6 or 7 cities?

If that time comes, wouldn't it be more appropriate to build the city directly in Nagai and Hagyu? "

Hideyoshi's central idea is that the fewer cities in a feudal state's hands, the better.

Now it is only because of the transitional stage that Zhongchuan Qingxiu is given 5 cities. In the end, even if Zhongchuan Qingxiu expands to 30 shi according to history, it is still unclear whether he can get another city.

Therefore, in the face of his inquiry, the Xiu family could only helplessly say, "I can't guarantee you the situation you mentioned, and I can only report it to my lord father after you confirm it.

Fortunately, the matter of the abandoned city is not something that happens overnight. Since you can't make a decision now, we will put it aside for the time being, including the abandoned city. Let the father judge, how about it? "

Kiyohide Nakagawa knew that this was the best result at the moment. If the upper limit of the city was really set by Hideyoshi, it was impossible for the Hideyoshi family to make a decision on their behalf, so he stopped asking and replied, "It's very reasonable."

"In the end, it is the choice of Yonezawa Castle and Takahata Castle." Hideka pointed to the two castles on the east side of Okitama County and said, "Yonezawa and Takahata Castle guard Mutsu Mill Street and Matsukawa Street respectively, and they are both entered by Mutsu. The only way exit of Zhici County.

Takahata Castle is on the north side, and it can also take into account the defense of the Mogami family. The road going south along the Nanyang Uo Street is surrounded by flat land. It is the best choice for economic development and guarding the Date Mogami two.

But Yonezawa Castle has always been the main castle of Okitama Prefecture, and it is at the end of Matsukawa Street, which can echo with Fukushima Castle on the east side, so I can’t make a decision for you, it’s up to you to make the decision. "

At this time, there was no Aizu Street connected to Aizu and Okitama. Historically, the construction of Gamo Clan Township would not start until after Gamo Clan was confiscated as a prefecture.

Now from Aizu to Okitama Yonezawa, you must go down Inawashiro Castle and enter Nihonmatsu, and then go north to Shino County and enter Okitama along Matsukawa Street.Therefore, the geographical location of Yonezawa Castle is not as good as that of Takahata Castle.

Takahata Castle was built at an important crossing where the two families went south, so they could watch over the movements of the Mogami and Date families at the same time.

The reason why it was not valued by the Date family before in history is entirely because Takahata Castle is too close to the border and is not suitable as a main city.

In front of Aizu Kaido Passage, Yonezawa Castle is surrounded by mountains on three sides. Although the north side is a plain, there are many branch castles guarding the front, and the east side is Matsukawa Kaido, which is a city that combines defense and economy.

But now that Kiyohide Nakagawa is entrusted to Iwashiro, and the main city is in Fukushima Castle, Shino Prefecture, the geographical location of Yonezawa Castle will be relatively weakened a lot.

If it is built on the basis of Takahata Castle, it can be connected to Mutsu Mill Street, Nanyang Uo Street and Matsukawa Street at the same time. Although it is not Misaka Street, if it develops into a trade center, it is understandable to detour a little for the convenience of trade. of.

After hearing Hideka's introduction, Nakagawa Kiyohide showed a very difficult expression and said, "It's really hard to choose~"

Hideya understands why he said such words, and the best solution is that Hideyoshi grants him 3 more cities, so that Nagai, Hagyu, Imaizumi, Yonezawa, and Takahata can all be kept, and they each have their own uses.

But now that there are only 2 cities left, and under the two major premise of retaining 1 city each, Yonezawa and Takahata have to make a choice.

If you abandon Yonezawa Castle, your connection with Fukushima Castle will be weakened, and you will set Takahata as the new main castle, and gradually drift away from Fukushima.

Because it is closer to the top of the mountain and Shiraishi of Date, and the road is much more convenient than the Matsukawa street where you have to go over the mountain. You are a businessman and a citizen, how would you choose to go?
If the city is built in Takahata and Yonezawa Castle is abandoned, it can be predicted that the streets of Matsukawa will basically be deserted. If this is the case, Kiyohide Nakagawa may have to use the Date Territory if he wants to closely link his own territory.

But if Takahata Castle is abandoned and Yonezawa Castle is chosen, then such a good geographical location of Takahata Castle and its economic and military significance will be gone.

Hideka didn't know whether Kiyohide Nakagawa saw the problem between the two cities, and still suggested to him, "If you belong to Takahata Castle, then I think you have to make a choice on the basis of retaining Yonezawa Castle."

"Why? Didn't you also say that Takahata Castle's geographical location is much better than Yonezawa Castle in terms of military power and economics and trade?"

Hearing Zhongchuan Qingxiu's inquiry, Xiujia told him everything she had just thought.

After listening to Hideka's explanation, Nakagawa Kiyohide finally made up his mind, took out a black chess piece from the chess bowl on the side, and hit it hard on the position of Yonezawa Castle, "It's here, Yonezawa!"

(End of this chapter)