Prime Minister Bizen

Chapter 512
Obviously Nakagawa Kiyohide understood the meaning of Hideka's words, Takahata Castle is indeed the best area in Okitama-gun.

However, on the premise that Aizu Street has not been connected, once Yonezawa is abandoned, the geographical development of Takahata Castle is likely to shift to Date and the top direction.

To give an example, Kunshan in Suzhou has experienced decades of development and is more oriented towards Shanghai than Suzhou.

However, the Warring States Period of Japan is not the unified China of later generations, and it is impossible to take the whole consideration into account.The Warring States Period was still a feudal society in essence, and what daimyo cared most about was the control of their own territories.

If Takahata is developed under the premise of abandoning Yonezawa, then Okitama may develop very well with Takahata as its own, but it will produce centrifugal force on Fukushima skills, which is unacceptable for Nakagawa Kiyohide to control the territory.

In essence, the Warring States daimyo would rather let Zhici County be abolished than see Zhici County fall out of his control.

Hundreds of years of ideological solidification made Takahata lose the opportunity for development. By the time of the Meiji Restoration, Yonezawa had become the undisputed core of Okigi, and Takahata lost the possibility and necessity of development.

Hideka was not surprised that Nakagawa Kiyohide made such a decision.He circled the side of Zhongchuan Qingxiu Luoheizi with a brush stained with vermilion, which was a temporary curtain for the fall of the Zhongchuan Fan.

He took out another statement from the other side, pointed to the central and southern parts of Iwashiro on the map and said to Ogasawara Hidetada, "It's much easier to prepare the castle on your side than on Nagatoshou's side."

Hearing the Xiu family's words, Ogasawara Hideyoshi pretended to be angry and said, "Hey, hey, brother, you can't treat one more favorably than another, why is it so much simpler on my side, do you really care about it?"

"You misunderstood me. There is a river between the two mountains of Iwashiro, and the economic core of development is on the west bank of the Abukuma River. Due to geographical restrictions, the city I stayed for you was designed along the Abukuma River."

Hideka pointed to the map and introduced to him, "First of all, Nihonmatsu Castle, this is the main city of the Hatakeyama family in Oshu. In the hands of Dajia.

The Date family also attaches great importance to this place. As the most important castle in the north of your territory, and also as the guard on the north side of the mountain castle in your own county, I think it is necessary to build a city here in Nihonmatsu.

But I didn’t use the original Nihonmatsu Castle directly. Hundreds of years have passed, and the river course of the Abukuma River has shifted to the west. Nihonmatsu Castle is too far away from the water source.

I plan to build a new Hirayama Castle on the basis of the Yuishi Pavilion on the south side, and its east side is next to the Abukuma River, so that there will never be a possibility of the flow being cut off again. "

Ogasawara Hidetada watched Hideka circle the location where Yuishikan was written on the map, and nodded in agreement, but Nakagawa Kiyohide said to Hideka, "The Abukuma River is very fast. How do you deal with yourself?"

In fact, his doubts are correct. There is no perfect city defense in the world. Nihonmatsu Castle quickly surrendered after being cut off because of deviation from the water source, and Yushi Castle is close to the turbulent Abukuma River, so it is indeed possible to be attacked by water.

And water attack is precisely the favorite method of war in the Hideyoshi faction.

But Xiujia was not worried about this. He used vermilion to draw two horizontal lines and one vertical line on the north, west, and south of Yushi City on the map and explained to them, "Xiuzhen's intellectual property is 20 shi, and the branch city cannot be used." Mizubori, but it didn't say that you can't dig canals to divert water to irrigate the surrounding fields!
The flow of the Abukuma River is turbulent, and the excavation of the canal can just dredge the water system and reduce the possibility of downstream flooding. At the same time, it can divert water to irrigate the farmland.

As for why the castle town developed and the city relies on the buildings on both sides of the ditch, and why the inner bank is one step higher than the outer bank, this is entirely necessary for water conservancy repairs. "

"Ah?!" Hearing Xiu's rogue's explanation, both of them showed surprised expressions, and Ogasawara Hidetada even blurted out: "Can you still explain it like this? Isn't this just Mizuhori?"

However, Xiujia explained to him, "No, no, this is a ditch for water diversion and irrigation. Because the ditch is convenient for water, people spontaneously gather on both sides of it.
In order to prevent the Abukuma River from flooding the ditches, the residents inside took the initiative to raise the embankment to prevent flooding.Building water conservancy is the duty of a daimyo, you didn't build city defenses!

Besides, your water diversion irrigation project started at the same time. Is there any evidence to prove that it was specially built for the new Nihon Songcheng? "

"There may be many roads!" After hearing Xiujia's explanation, Ogasawara Xiuzhen said in surprise, "Sikuyi~"

Xiujia looked at his childish expression, pretended not to understand why he was so excited, and continued to introduce to Nan, "Further to the south is your native county and mountain city.

The reason for choosing to build the city here is very simple. This is the relative central location of your skill. On the west side, there are two north-south lines crossing Lake Inawashiro to Aizu, and on the east side there are roads along the hills and over the Iwaki Mountains to the Iwaki Territory.

Needless to say, the north and the south rely on the Abukuma River. It is the Higashiyama Road Mutsu Street itself, which can be described as the center where the four roads converge. Relying on the Abukuma River, you can also set up shipping, connect with Fukushima Castle on the north side, and even continue northward. Lead the sea from Date.

Although your Iwashiro is not facing the sea, the Abukuma River is a slightly deep-water river in Japan. If you make good use of this river, the annual water transportation income is still a considerable amount of income. "

Hideka said here, and drew on the map the waterway trade route from south to north, the Higashiyama Road Mutsu land trade route from north to south, the Iwaki Iwashiro trade route from west to east through Kunitamura Castle, and the Inawashiro Lake from Aizu From the Aizu Echigo trade route.

"In order to better form a castle town on the east and west sides of Koriyama Castle, and make Koriyama Castle a trade hub connecting Yuo, Aizu, Iwaki, and Kanto, I suggest that the current abandoned Koriyama Hall be the first to find a suitable one in the east. The location is to build a flat city.

The north side directly uses the water of the Iga River as the north side Mizubori barrier, and the east, west, and south sides directly excavate canals to divert water from the south side of the Abukuma River to irrigate the Mizubori. I also recommend forming a pool directly in the south of the city, which not only has the merit of defense There is also the benefit of Feng Shui. "

After listening to Xiujia's introduction, Xiuzhen has already begun to conceive a vast blueprint in her mind. The geographical location of Koriyama Castle is too superior, otherwise it will not become a more developed city in Fukushima Prefecture than Fukushima City in future generations.

When she heard that feng shui was mentioned, Xiuzhen covered her mouth with her hand and smiled, "I never thought that my brother would know feng shui."

"Although I don't believe it, the beautiful scenery does have the effect of making people happy."

After Xiujia introduced the main castle of Koriyama Castle, Hideka pointed to Tamura Castle in the hills to the northwest of Koriyama Castle and said, "The Iwaki Mountains are said to be lofty mountains, but there are still many valleys.

Especially on the side near Iwashiro, where there are hills and valley bottoms. Although the roads are not convenient, they are not difficult either.

Funabiki here happens to be a relatively open basin, and with the Otakine River flowing through it, it is the best advantageous area for commercial and agricultural development in Tamura County.

Because of the many hills in Tiancun County, it may be relatively unimportant, but it is precisely because of the difficult roads here that it needs a main city to suppress the formation.

If the city is built here in Chuanyin, it can not only take into account the development of agriculture, but also become a transfer station of Panyan Street, enjoying the benefits of commerce and trade.

At the same time, when there is a war, it can also guard against the enemy coming from the Iwaki defense line, and become the front defense branch of the Honjo-gun Yamajo Castle.

After all, you also saw it on the map. To the east of the Abukuma River is the hill of Tamura County, which is convenient for soldiers to hide.

If you don't have a city to defend here, you may not find out until the enemy has all approached the county mountain city.

Therefore, even though the economic benefit of building a city here is not high compared to building a city in other areas of Iwashiro, it is indeed very necessary to use it as a defensive pass on the east side of Koriyama Castle. "

Ogasawara Hideyoshi listened to Xiu's introduction, nodded in agreement and said, "That's true, it is necessary to build a fort in the Funobiki area, but this is equivalent to wasting a quota of fort building."

"It's something that can't be helped." The Xiu family was also very helpless. It was imperative for Tamura to build the city. Perhaps this was why Hideyoshi gave Xiuzhen one more quota for building the city.

"To the south is Sukagawa Castle." Hideka pointed to Sukagawa in the south of Koriyama Castle and said, "The area of ​​Iwashiro is too vast, and if you want to connect the north and the south, you must have a middle successor.

The location of the Suka River is too important. It is from here that the Abukuma River has the conditions for ships to sail. If something happens to the south, the messenger can go south along the Abukuma River to rule Koriyama and Fukushima Castle.

Correspondingly at the same time, the goods on the Higashiyama Road can land here, and then continue to go south by land. In this way, the Mutsu Street north of the Sukagawa River can be a one-way street from south to north, and the efficiency of the road is greatly improved. Trade Efficiency is also improved.

Merchants traveling from south to north can meet at the Suka River, and from here continue to connect to Ibaraki and Shimono to the south and enter the Kanto.

At the same time, as a branch city in the south of Koriyama Castle, this place can also become the last line of defense in the south of Koriyama Castle, guarding against possible attacks from the south. "

After introducing it for so long, Xiu's family was also a little thirsty, took a cup of cold tea from the attendant and drank it in one gulp, and continued to introduce to Xiuzhen, "The southernmost part of Iwadai's Shirakawa County is Xiaofeng City.

Needless to say, this is the home city of the Shirakawa Yuki Clan. The Shirakawa Yuki Clan did not participate in the Odawara Battle this time, and his skills were deprived. Naturally, this place is under your management.

This is the birthplace of the Abukuma River, and it is also the gateway for Shimono to enter Iwashiro and Mutsu. It cannot be controlled by others in any case.

Komine Castle is backed by the Abukuma River, with Kansai Mountain in the south, the Myojin Mountains to the south of the Kansai Mountain, and the Aizu Mountains to the north of the Abukuma River, and Mutsu passes through the city from its castle town.

It can be said that controlling Komine City is equivalent to controlling the gates of Kanto and Mutsu. "

So far, Xiujia's point of view has been recognized by Xiuzhen and Zhongchuan Qingxiu, and they both gave a high evaluation of Xiujia's suggestion of falling into the city.

But in the next judgment, different opinions began to emerge.

"It seems that everyone has no opinion on the above five cities. The most critical issue is the sixth city." Hideka pointed to the map, the eastern part of Shirakawa County on the south side of Iwashiro, the western part of Ishikawa County, the northern part of Shirakawa County, and the large plains in Iwase County. said

"This is a vast plain. Even if there are mountains, they are just a few small hills tens of meters high. It is very difficult to control such a large area with only one city."

"If Shirakawa County is in your hands, I will not hesitate to build a city in Tankura (the main castle of Niwa Nagashige in later generations), and control the main city and the southern road from Iwaki to Iwashiro. relation.

But now this place belongs to the Yancheng clan, which makes you lose the possibility of blocking the southern road pass.In this way, if you want the enemy, you can enter your Nanyandai Plain from the south with fear. Such a vast plain cannot be defended by a city.

In the past, Sanlu, Fujita (not Fujido in Date County, which has the same name) and Sawai in Ishikawa County formed a tight defense line with the cities of Matsuzaki, Namezu, Tateyama, Houshan, Uemachi, and Kiuchiyama in Shirakawa County.

After this line of defense is the second line of defense consisting of Gushan, Guoshen, Quanzaki, Guanyinshan, Yamatoku, and Hotan.

But now there is only one place left for you to build a city, and I will give you three options to choose from.

One is to build the city on the basis of Namezu and Matsuzaki, which relies on the Abukuma River. Although it deviates from Mutsu Street, it can echo Ishikawa County.

Now it is impossible for you to build a castle in Ishikawa County, at most it is to build a samurai formation, so you need to have a city not far from Ishikawa County that you can rely on.

The second is to build the city on the basis of Houshankan, because this is the relatively southernmost point of your territory, where the Mutsu Street turns from north to south to east and west, heading towards Komine Castle, and you need a city to control the south.

It is far away from Ishikawa County, and the enemies of Ibaraki and Iwaki may leave from the tent and leave Ishikawa County to bypass here and directly attack Sukagawa Castle.

The third is the fortification of Kunishami City behind them. It is located in the center of Naniwashiro Plain, which can take into account all directions and can be used as a link between Komine Castle and Sukagawa Castle.

But in the same way, because his geographical location is too far behind, once there is a problem with the Ibaraki and Iwaki defense lines, although both can be taken care of here, the final effect may not be able to fully take into account both the east and the west.

The most important thing is that this place is closer to the Suka River and farther away from the Shirakawa small peak. If the enemy soldiers surround the small peak city, they will approach the east to the vicinity of Kiuchi mountain castle.

After losing the transfer base of Houshan City, it may be difficult for Guoshen City to connect to Xiaofeng City. The front line barrier of Xiaofeng City will be isolated and helpless like an isolated island. It is impossible to threaten the siege of the city without urgently blocking the defenders ahead. troops. "

After listening to Xiujia's introduction, Xiuzhen roughly understood the advantages and disadvantages of all parties. As Xiujia said, it was difficult to choose between the three options. Finally, he looked at Xiujia and asked, "Brother thinks the most suitable one is now?" That plan?"

Xiujia shook her head helplessly when she heard his inquiry.

It's not Xiujiazhuang, he really doesn't know how to choose, the best result is to get two more castle building places from Hideyoshi, and the three cities of Guoshen, Houshan, and Matsuzaki echo each other.

But with only one city, it is impossible to take care of both.

Without him, or for that reason, the plain in the south of Iwashiro is too vast, and the enemy has thousands or hundreds of ways to break through the defense.

The Ogasawara clan is different from the Nakagawa clan. Nakagawa Kiyohide only needs to take care of Mogami and Date on the north side.But Hideyoshi Ogasawara needs to take care of Date on the north side, Date coming from the east on Soma Road, and Satake in the south.

Therefore, in the case of focusing on defense in the north, the number of city building quotas used in the south is really not enough.

At this time, Zhong Chuan Qingxiu, who was listening on the sidelines, suggested: "If the quota of Sukagawa Castle is used here, how about building the castle based on the two cities of Matsuzaki and Houshan?"

For this proposal, Xiujia still shook his head and said it was not feasible.

Even if the three cities of Guoshen, Houshan, and Matsuzaki lose one quota, even if they have two quotas, it is still like a hole in the ceiling, without any effect.

The loss of Sukagawa Castle not only made Koriyama Castle South lose its foreseeable economic prospects in the future, but the defense line in the south was pushed to Shirakawa.

More importantly, the distance between Koriyama and Matsuzaki is too far, and it takes 8 hours to walk, which is almost equivalent to a day and a half for a person in this era.

After losing Sukagawa Castle, Koriyama Castle and Naniwadai seemed to be separated. If the enemy bypassed the front line of defense, there would be no defense in front of Koriyama Castle. Even because of the extremely long communication distance, Koriyama Castle would not respond much. time.

In the end, the Xiu family could only helplessly say, "Let's put the abandoned city here for a while. After the inspection, I will report to your father on your behalf and ask him to grant you two more places. It depends on his idea whether it will be fulfilled or not in the end."

(End of this chapter)