Pillars of the Wu family

Although there is still a blizzard since the beginning of spring, this has been unable to prevent the general trend of warming up. As the sun slowly moves northwards, it will enter the season of warm spring and flowers. As the snow melts, the days leading to Echigo All major traffic routes have been restored, and business travelers are several times thicker than in previous years. This change represents the world's high recognition of the prosperity and development of Echigo.

Since the Kira family won two consecutive victories last year, more and more travelers are attracted to Echigo, and more businessmen are also determined to open up business routes there after seeing the strength of Echigo. In recent years, the expansion of the Kira family has been very fast. , The strong military strength ensured the stability of the territory, so that the bandits entrenched in the Shinano and Ueno mountains and forests disappeared for a while.

The Kira family is also the first samurai family to abolish customs duties and private toll taxes in various places. As long as they enter the territory of the Kira family, no matter whether it is Shinano Ueno or Echchu Echigo, there will never be a situation where they set up cards to collect exorbitant taxes for various reasons, just like the sea. Just as merchants who trade like to anchor at Naoetsu Port, business travelers traveling in the Kantohoku region are also more willing to enter Kira territory to do business. Even if the competition is fiercer and the price is lower, it is still more profitable than entering other neighboring countries to do business after deducting costs.

The prosperity of Echigo drove the economic development along several commercial roads of Shinano and Ueno. The executive officials of the two countries, Ina Tadaka and Mitsui Toraka, passed an excellent plan to locate the villages as close to the streets of Echigo as possible. Benefiting the people, at the same time, the dormitories under Pipa House are also opened all over the streets of the five countries, ensuring that there will be a large village and supporting dormitory facilities every ten kilometers.

Perfect security mechanism, abolition of exorbitant taxes and humanized business design.Make sure that the business district of the Kira family has already left behind all the samurai in Kanto at the starting line. After all, not every daimyo can make such a drastic major change.There is no excellent internal affairs personnel, lack of supporting perfect enforcement system, and the lack of money of the most important daimyo are the thresholds that cannot be bypassed.

This is a game only rich people can play. Only the Hojo family can try to do it in the entire Kanto. Adjustment, just like Echigo's new grains, all kinds of magic can be planted on the land of Kanto and Koshin, and they will become low-yield and low-quality crops. ,

Every decree always has the problem of acclimatization, and the mature set of decrees in Sakamoto Town cannot be copied to Echigo, because the climate changes, cultural customs, and geographical environments in Kinai and Echigo are completely different.Naoetsu is positioned as the largest port in the East with well-developed textile, printing and dyeing and other handicraft industries, unlike Sakamoto Town, which has the headquarters of Zenya and Biwaya, and is positioned to catch up with Sakai-cho and Kyo-cho.

A business group of dozens of people located at the foot of Gaochuang Mountain in the upper reaches of Guanchuan is slowly advancing along Guanchuan. This business group is completely different from ordinary caravans, because the team is all young men and everyone is carrying A Taidao, and all of them rode on horses with great vigor. It is obvious that this is a group of warriors who entered Echigo from other places.There are only ten carriages in the entire team, which are considered heavy loads, and these horse-riding warriors are tightly guarded around the carriage.

There are a lot of boats coming and going on the Sekigawa River, and sometimes you can meet passing merchants on the river bank. Both the passing travelers and the nearby boat owners don’t take this kind of caravan gathered by samurai. There are countless samurai vehicles traveling to and from Echigo. No one is ever banned from entering or leaving.With Echigo's powerful force, there is no need to worry about safety issues. [

Walking in the front of this caravan was a tall and burly warrior, about twenty years old, with a cupped tea whisk hair, arrows and heavy rattan bows hanging from the front and back of the saddle, and a sword with ribs hanging from his waist. A string of colorful necklaces, with a straw stick dangling from the corner of his mouth, like a cynical wonder seeker.He was good-looking and taller than ordinary people by more than a head, and he was quite majestic when he was riding a mount.

The name of the young samurai is Maeda Toshiie.He is a samurai from the Owari Oda family. He has been trained under the saddle of Oda Nobunaga since he was a child. Even though Owari country is no longer popular in the culture of strange people, he can still find the remains of the source of the flood of the past. Mark of.

Looking around, the business travelers chatted and said, "Is this Echigo? It doesn't look much different from Owari!"

"There's still a difference! That's...it's really cold! Sneeze!" Ikeda Hengxing's partner seemed to be sick along the way, and his nose was dripping as if in pain. Several companions behind him made fun of him, which provoked Ikeda Hengxing Xing complained: "Can this be my fault? I didn't expect that it would snow heavily when we arrived at Zhongxinong. It took us almost half a month to trek all the way from Shenzhi Castle to Sekigawa, and the snow finally melted at Echigo It’s clean, if I knew it, I’d better stay in Fukashi Castle Town for a few more days, and I won’t get sick when I come out after the snow melts...Ah Choo!”

Maeda Toshiie grinned, patted him on the shoulder and said: "It's hard to go out and get sick like this, and you will be laughed at by the samurai when you get home. Katsusaburo still needs to practice more! You should first Go to the carriage and rest for a while, it is enough for me to be alone here!"

"That's what you said! I'll go back and rest for a while, I really can't stand it anymore! I will buy you a drink at Kasuga Mountain City!" Ikeda Hengxing picked up a handkerchief to wipe his nose, and then waved his hands at several leading samurai They hurried back to rest in the carriage, those people didn't seem to mind that he was being lazy at all, they just joked and passed away.

As the caravan gradually moved north, it took only half a day to reach the junction of Yashirogawa and Sekigawa, where the caravan was going to cross Sekigawa by boat and go downstream. The monkey's young warrior shouted at the leading warrior on horseback, "His Royal Highness, come here!"

Maeda Toshiie was stunned for a moment, turned his face to this person and said, "Aren't you sick, Fujikichiro? Why don't you go back to rest, what do you want to say?"

Kinoshita Hideyoshi said with some embarrassment: "My Hideyoshi's illness is much better! I'm really sorry to make Your Highness Toshika worry, but I just want to ask His Highness how far it is to reach Kasugayama Castle. We have lost too much time on the way. There is not enough food. As the guide and follower of this mission, I, Hideyoshi, should be fully prepared as soon as possible."

Narumasa Sasaki got out of another carriage.Half-truthfully complained: "Hey! It would be too irresponsible for Fujikichiro to fall ill right after he arrived in Shenshi Castle! Besides, he obviously only knows the road from Owari to Shinano, and someone who has never been to Kita-Shinano is the one to do it. It’s too incompetent! It made me wait until I got a guide from Shinano to come to Echigo. Shouldn’t the money be borne by Fujikichiro!”

"Uchizosukeden's words are serious! Fujikichiro is just a small honcho, isn't it too much to ask him to bear the guide fee?" Maeda Toshiie couldn't bear to see Kinoshita Hideyoshi's face full of embarrassment.

Kinoshita Hideyoshi nervously explained: "That's because I've only been to Minami Shinano. When I was exiled to Namaka, I secretly followed Takeda Ozen Junshi to touch Zhongxinano. I planned to go to Echigo to see it." The northern country is beautiful, but because Kawanakajima was fighting a joint battle, I hurried back and caused trouble for you! I, Hideyoshi, am very sorry!"

"But that's also..."

Niwa Chohide stepped out of the last carriage.He said with a smile: "Uchizosuke-den should also be more considerate of Hideyoshi-den's difficulties! After all, I have not had a high-ranking official in Owari who has been to Echigo, and my lord's past correspondence was transferred through the imperial merchant. If the lord did not urge If it is so urgent, we can also try to follow the caravan to Kyoto first, then to Tsuruga Port, and take a boat to Echigo Naoetsu, but it will delay more time.”

Ikeda Hengxing also came out and said: "That's right, there was a joint battle between Luo and Zhong in Kinai last year. I heard that the Miyoshi repairman led an army of [-] to fight in Kyoto, and he still failed to defeat Liujiao Jingzhaodian and Liujiao in the last summer. Nakajo Dewa Shouden, it must be very dangerous to go to Kyoto at this time!" [

"So Fujikichiro doesn't have to worry too much about it. Uchizusukeden didn't intend to make things difficult for you. Doing your part and trying to repay the Lord is more useful than thousands of words. Work hard!" Niwa Nagahide's gentle words of reassurance quickly worked.Kinoshita Hideyoshi gave up the entanglement just now and pulled Maeda Toshiie to ask this and that.

The caravan stayed at the ferry for half an hour and crossed Guanchuan, and after another hour, it gradually became more and more densely populated. The villages are exceptionally clean and tidy.There is no trace of potholes on the smooth road, and there is no scene of perennial sewage flowing across the road.The attire of the peasants is close to the standards of the townspeople in Qingzhou.

Seeing this scene, Maeda Toshiie was invigorated. Seeing the hard-working farmers dotted across the land as far as the eye could see, he couldn't help sighing: "Is this the strength of Echigo? The village is built like a town, and the life of a farmer is like a Townspeople, how did they do it?"

No one answered his question, and the nearby villagers are also accustomed to such questions or contemplative expressions. Since the outbreak of Echigo Ishi Takada in the early years of Hongzhi, every newcomer will ask similar questions. The world is exploring the Kira family. What method to use to do all this quietly, many people are attracted by the fog full of Echigo.

Kinoshita Hideyoshi stared at the farmers going to and from the fields with bright eyes. As a poor child from the Owari countryside farmers, he climbed up from humble positions step by step. He knew better than anyone that the measure of the development of a neighboring country depends on the farmers. In his opinion, the lives of samurai all over the world are similar, and only the peasants everywhere can be divided into poor and rich.

It is said that the farmers in the Hojo clan in Kanto are the happiest. The four men and six people can make the farmers get [-]% more food. Only the farmers in Kinai can compare with them, but he never believes that the farmers in the Kanto can live like the townspeople. A closer look at the huts in the village seems to be very different from the traditional thatched huts, but it is not clear exactly what is different.

At the same time, in another carriage, Niwa Changhide was also in deep thought at the same time, secretly said: "This is the economic strength of Echigo! A strong and vibrant village, I have not seen it from the faces of the villagers. Numbness and pain, but with a rare expression of happiness and satisfaction, shouldn’t this expression only appear on the faces of samurai? Why do you feel happy?”

In the evening, the twilight was getting thicker, and a caravan of dozens of riders slowly came to the outside of Zhijiangjin in the lower reaches of Guanchuan. They were once again shocked by the huge urban agglomeration. At the far end, there are all towns and towns. At first glance, the towns in Naoetsu are all strange and different in size, but it doesn't feel like a mess, but a sense of patchwork that people are used to.

Kinoshita Hideyoshi was trembling with excitement, and said in surprise and excitement: "There are at least a few hundred towns here? No! There should be thousands or so. Naoetsu town has a port town as its core, and there must be a larger town in the port." Qun, wouldn't it be dozens of times larger than Qingzhou City Town!"

The samurai in Owari were all immersed in the shock of the sudden appearance of the urban agglomeration. Ikeda Hengxing suddenly shouted: "Look! That's a team of cavalry! Could it be that the red one is Kira Akabe?"

"Looking at their aura, they are definitely red dragon cavalry!" Maeda Toshiie stared at the hundreds of red armored warriors who were slowly crossing the river with wide eyes. With hot eyes, Maeda Toshiie almost subconsciously wanted to take out the big gun, and the next moment he remembered that the long-handled weapons were all on the carriage, and he slapped them on the saddle angrily to death with annoyance.

At this moment, the hundreds of red dragoons accelerated and changed their direction continuously with the momentum of wind and clouds. The formation of hundreds of knights on horseback was as uniform as a school of fish in the water. Mistakes, the scene formed by the outrageously powerful execution is so beautiful that Maeda Toshiie's eyes almost popped out of their sockets, and the samurai in Owari couldn't even utter a word.

A wave of assaults with hundreds of distances passed in a blink of an eye, and a whistle was heard the next moment. The red dragoons slowed down and became scattered. Then they relaxed and laughed and marched towards Kasugayama Castle at the west end of Naoetsu Town. The cavalry general who led the army seemed to have noticed the caravan standing still all the time, took off his shirt and gave them a friendly smile, and then rode his horse slowly past them.

Seeing the appearance of this young general, Maeda Toshiie shouted in surprise: "Kintaro! Why are you here... No! You are not Keitaro! Keitaro is not so tall and strong, you are..."

"What was your name just now? Keitaro?" Takikawa Tokimashi suddenly reined in his horse and stared at Maeda Toshiie's expression, and then swept across the row of dozens of elite mounted warriors, and asked patiently : "Your accent is not a samurai from the Eastern Kingdom. Where are you from the Eastern Kaido? What is your name? And what is the name of Keitaro you just called?" (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome Come to the starting point to vote, monthly pass, your support is my biggest motivation. For mobile phone users, please go to m to read.)

〖∷Update fast∷∷Plain text∷〗