Pillars of the Wu family

Echigo had a bumper harvest in another year, and the brilliant results of 210 million shi once again proved that this is not a shooting star across the night sky, but a star that continuously emits heat, reaching Yuao in the east, Hokuriku in the west, and Kanto in the south There is a legend of Echigo quietly circulating in the vast land.

It is said that if the land is planted with grain, there will be a good harvest. On the contrary, the land can grow seven or eight stones of grain. The lord there is very kind and willing to accept farmers from other places. Many displaced people who lost their land due to disasters or other reasons are moved. How much food, just being willing to accept farmers from other places is a great thing, enough to make them clap their hands happily.

In this era, many lords are very repulsive to refugees from outside, especially the small rich, local servants and local village groups hate them even more. The total amount of land is limited, and if you give more to foreigners, you will have less, even if you have more land. If you can't finish planting, you can also have sons to plant for future generations. It is reasonable to give to foreigners anyway.

The Kira family can break this precedent, attracting refugees from other places to enter Echigo is a great thing to be excited about, so many refugees immediately rushed to tell each other, and soon gathered in small groups and rushed to Echigo.

Echigo’s bumper harvest has also spread to Kinai, including this year’s two military campaigns in Kira and Nagao. The impressive record of victory has also become a hot topic in Kinai, but Ashikaga Yoshiki, who lives in the Nijo Imperial Palace in Kyoto, is very excited. Annoyed, His Royal Highness Gongfang could only vent his anger with bottles and cans.

The promise that he regarded as a perfunctory word at the beginning turned out to be very promising. It took only three years to completely open Echigo's unfavorable situation. Who will say what will happen in another three years? The impulsiveness destroys the friendship between the monarch and his ministers.Ashikaga Yoshiki could only be angry with himself for being too impulsive.You can only vent your anger by smashing things.

The Miyoshi family in Kinai finally calmed down.There were no new actions in the two years following the Harima Expedition. Miyoshi Changqing himself also focused on internal affairs. By learning and imitating the policies of the Kira family, he organized the castle towns in Kinai and even Shikoku Honjo, and made a simplified version of the Sakamoto Rakushi Order. Utazu Port quietly implemented.

What is even more surprising is that Miyoshi's family reorganized their military service system, perfected and comprehensively implemented the system of sending relatives and children, and began to quietly re-establish military service. In the past two years, Miyoshi Changqing and Miyoshi Yixian have been working hard The law of dividing the country is brewing.Actively strive to transform into a full-fledged Sengoku daimyo.

It’s not all smooth sailing in Kinai. An unpleasant incident happened in the Otsu area of ​​Shiga County this summer. The export has always been in the hands of the Kira family, and Otsu's Magi is responsible for collecting taxes. [

This apparently overreaching behavior angered Nakajo Tokihide. In his opinion, this is a further enhanced version of the repeated harassment by the Rokkaku family in recent years. will fall into his hands.

Therefore, after receiving complaints from merchants, Yodogawa Mikunaga led the Kira Navy to make a big move.Suo seized the tax officer of Liujiao's family immediately and seized the tax collected.The ship that caused the accident was confiscated and several Xiaozao ships of the Rokkaku family who came to the rescue were sunk. Wan Dajun came to Dajin and waited in full force, but the Liujiao family shrank back and did not dare to show their heads.

The embarrassing Yoshihide Rokkaku was unwilling to let it go, so he simply brought the matter to the shogunate for a ruling. The shogunate had only one Qingshui Yamen without authority, and the status of Tokihide Nakajo and Yoshihide Rokkaku were not equal. Xian thought that he would definitely take advantage of the trouble later.

As a result, Ashikaga Yoshiki hit [-] boards each with a stroke of his pen. The Rokkaku family was wrong for encroaching on Otsu’s taxation rights, and the Kira family was also wrong for sinking the Rokkaku family’s ship. The Kira family paid compensation for several ships and settled hastily early on.

After the incident ended, Nakajo Tokihide wrote to Kirayoshi, on behalf of his retainers, he strongly demanded to increase the military service of the two counties of Omi, with a population of nearly 20 in the two counties of Omi and only 1 standing. The regiment is only [-] people, and the fundamental law effectively protects the safety of the two counties.

After some discussion with Yoshitoki Yamamoto, they decided to agree to the request for an increase in military service, but the request for an increase in military service was also very harsh. The number of increased military service was five thousand set by Yoshitoki Kira. They were selected from the Omi population, and then took a boat to Echigo to receive personal guidance and training from Tokiyuki Yamamoto.

The training period is tentatively set for one year. I believe that the Liujiao family will not find fault within one year. In addition to confirming the increase in military service, the Tongxinzhong and the Ronin Group can expand from their respective 2000 people to 3000 people. The right to recruit semi-militarized organizations is handed over to Tohide Nakajo, and Baochang Hattori will be responsible for monitoring the entire process, and will make a report and send it back to Echigo.

In this way, the armed forces of Omi will exceed 1 people, and the 7000 troops trained by Echigo will be [-] people. This number of armed forces is still very impressive. Based on the actual situation of the two counties of Omi And the food burden can only bear the armed forces of about [-] in the early days. One out of ten people is already an extremely high military service, and it will be too much if it is higher.

Large-scale new grain planting has not been implemented in the two counties of Jinjiang. There are three reasons. The first point is that there is less land to raise cattle and horses, and the effect of planting will be poor without so much fertilizer. The second point is that the climate temperature and precipitation are related to Echigo differs greatly, and the effect of planting will also vary greatly, but the effect is not as good as that of traditional rice planting. The third and most important point is that it is easy to circulate new grains with a large number of people in Jinai. People learn by stealing because they are afraid that they will not make themselves miserable.

For example, the Takeda family, the Hojo family, and people from all walks of life in Etsuchu, Kanto, and Yuao, who were unwilling to fail, obtained many seeds of new food through various channels, and they began to plant them secretly since last year. Without fertilization and pollination, the plants grown are short, and the yield per unit area of ​​new grain is astonishingly low.

Potatoes, pumpkins, corn, and all other high-yield crops must be supported by sufficient fertilizers if they want to grow them well. If you don’t know how to apply fertilizers, you can only rely on the original fertility of the land to support the growth of new crops.As a result, the new crops planted will not yield much crops in the autumn harvest.And the fruit seeds are small and ugly.It's far worse than Echigo's, and what's worse is that the land is exhausted, and the barren land can't be planted for two or three years.

How many Chinese people have been cheated by this one. Although they carefully tried to plant a lot of land, mosquitoes are still meat no matter how small they are. However, powerful daimyos such as Takeda, Hojo, Mogami, and Ashina aroused greater interest.Tirelessly probing and researching the agricultural development of Echigo.

A war delayed many things. The wedding between Saito Chaoxin and Aju was postponed until October [-]th. As early as last year, the date of the wedding was scheduled to be September [-]th, which is only in September. Saito Chaonobu was still busy in Ueno, so he had no time to prepare for the wedding. The wedding could only be postponed for more than a month. Anyway, the wedding had already been prepared for half a year. At most, it would delay the guests by more than a month, and it did not affect the quality of the wedding.

As early as more than a year ago, after the two parties finalized the wedding date, Kira Yoshitoshi and Aju held a small ceremony of confession.Atago Kikuhime, who was born in Murakami Genji Kuga-ryu, became the sister-in-law of Kira Yoshitoki, who was born in Kawachi Genji Ashikaga-ryu.This move also opened up a precedent for recognizing righteous relatives.

So Yoshitoki Kira came to watch the ceremony as a member of Aju's mother's family, attended this noisy and festive disclosure banquet, and saw the happy smile of his sister-in-law who was nine years older than him when he married Saito Chaoxin, Yoshitoki Kira finally came to an end With a knot in her heart, she prayed secretly: "Mother, Sister Aju has found her own love, and my child has also found her own love. You can enjoy happiness in heaven with peace of mind!" [

As Aju's natal family, Atago's family sent her elder brother to watch the ceremony. This noble son came here empty-handed, ate and drank for free in Kasuga Mountain City for more than a month, and then happily participated in a lively wedding. Echigo's samurai can not be compared.

Whether it is the samurai of Echigo, or the people of Kita Shinano, the people of Ueno sent envoys to send a congratulatory gift, whether it is a few coins or some swords, souvenirs, etc., it is always a friendship, and the etiquette is light. The truth is the same as ancient and modern.

When the son of the Atago family was leaving, he also received two hundred guanyue coins personally presented by his brother-in-law Saito Chaoxin. In addition, Kira Yoshishi also gave him two hundred guanyong coins, so that this thirty-year-old was still a three-year-old. The smiling face of the non-counselor young master was almost deformed.

……

In the golden autumn of October, the gentle autumn wind brings a touch of coolness to the body. Compared with Uonuma County, which is already a world of ice and snow, there is still autumn in the vast land below. In the baptism of the ocean, the lowest temperature in winter is minus 24-[-] degrees, and the highest temperature is only [-]-[-] degrees. There are few clouds and little rain in April and May every year. June and July are the seasons with abundant rain and snow until February of the next year.

Considering the weather factors, the progress of the project in the Shimotsu-Niigata area is always unable to speed up, and the progress will slow down when there is more rain and snow. The excavation of Shinhorikawa has been procrastinated for nearly two years, after hundreds of days of wind and rain. Day and night, the rough river channel was finally dug out. During the period, 30 laborers were used. With the supervision and incentives of the public, the construction period was shortened by nearly a year. The encirclement can be exploded early next year, and the entire river channel can be penetrated. .

The 12-meter-deepest Xin Hori River will be responsible for the connection between the Shinano River and the Agano River. There are several other tributary Hori Rivers that are still under construction. It is estimated that it will take two years to initially complete the vast Niigata area. The water network, which will become the agricultural center of Echigo, has a bright future.

Compared with the rapid excavation of the river, the speed of the polder is much slower. The speed of the project with Li Ding as the gatekeeper cannot be increased. In addition, the frequent rain and snow weather slows down the speed a lot. Li Ding once said that the focus of the polder is The quality of the water gates for flood discharge and the dykes of the polders is considered qualified if a polder can withstand a 30-year flood. Many polders in their hometown are still stable after hundreds of years of use. They would rather sacrifice speed to ensure the safety and stability of the polder.

As the executive officer of the polder project, Mitsui Toraka will come to Niigata to sit in town for half a month, holding a few materials and quick reading for approval. One of the important tasks he has to supervise is the review of each payment Approved, the procurement report of more than [-] guan will be forwarded to the survey and decision executive for review, Hosokawa Fujitaka will come to check the account every month, and Matsui Yuka will also come to check the account from time to time to verify the plan and source of funds of all projects.

The paper door was gently opened, and a small head poked in to look at the movement in the room curiously. The little boy was about twelve or thirteen years old, with a delicate smile and two small dimples. Seeing that Mitsui Toraka was still buried in his reply, Only then quietly got in and approached the high desk to look at his writing.

"Gensuke! Gensuke...where did you go?" The faint yelling in the distance made the little boy tremble violently.

"Are you scared?" The thick man's voice reached his ears, Xiao Gensuke nodded subconsciously, then suddenly turned around in surprise and saw Mitsui Toraka looking at him with a smile.

"Father! I was wrong!" The little boy realized that he had done something wrong, and he hung his head and dared not speak.

Mitsui Toraka loves this son-in-law very much. He is smart, cute and witty just like he was when he was a child. He patted him on the shoulder and said, "Don't be afraid, come and sit! Tell me what you have been studying recently?"

"Yes! Recently, my husband taught us "Thousand Characters". I will recite it for my father! ..." The little boy spoke Chinese with a Jiangnan accent, and slowly read the enlightenment books aloud. It was a great pleasure for Li Dingxian, a scholar, to teach a few children to pass the time.

A little surname quietly opened the paper door, and seeing the happy scene of the father and son, he leaned down in panic and said: "My lord, Mr. Li and Song Jingdian have arrived."

"Please come in, both of you." Mitsui Toraka rubbed Gensuke's little head, and warned softly: "You are already a big boy, remember not to be too naughty to make your mother sad, go back and see your brother!"

"Yeah!" The little boy nodded obediently, seeming to remember something, and asked curiously: "Father! Can Brother Yuji become a warrior in the future? Will he be my retainer?"

Mitsui Toraka's expression turned cold and he said, "Why do you ask such a question?"

"Because I heard that my younger brother will be my brother's retainer in the future, and he is the child of his mother. It must be very pitiful to be my retainer at such a young age!"

"Don't listen to their nonsense, our Mitsui family is a direct minister of the Zhenfu Palace, and your younger brother will also be a direct minister of the Zhenfu Palace in the future. Your brothers will be ministers of the same palace in the future, so you must love each other and not be separated by others. You must keep in mind the words 'Sparse and inseparable', remember?".

"Remember!" The little boy nodded half-understanding, then got up and walked to the door and smiled at Mitsui Toraka: "Don't worry, Father, I will definitely take good care of my brother!" (to be continued... )

ps: Today is Christmas Eve, Wumei is here to wish everyone a Merry Christmas!