On March 20, Yuqiupei began to deal with the issue of taking over the land leased from the north bank of the Kiso River. According to the previous treaty, the Yuqiu family will obtain the right to use the land within 30 feet of the north bank of the Kiso River for 7 years. Counting from last year , a year has passed, but Yu Qiuping has not yet implemented this regulation well-but the people of the four wealthy families have withdrawn from the river very faithfully, for fear of being picked up by Yu Qiuping-their safety and life are not at stake. The war contract is still in Yu Qiuping's hands.
Yu Qiuping has been thinking about how to effectively occupy these territories. Although the depth of thirty feet of land is not much, it is nearly 20 miles in length. Although Yu Qiuping's troops can barely try to defend the entire territory, that is not possible. This means that Yu Qiupei has to spread all the troops in a straight line on the north bank of the Kiso River, or form a formation with their backs to the water. Whether it is commanding or marching, they will encounter a lot of trouble.
Therefore, Yu Qiupei adopted another strategy. On the territory he rented on the north bank of the Kiso River, he built a rock fort every five miles, a total of three. And around the rock fortifications, supporting fortifications were built As well as inns and barracks. In the south of Yanzhai, a ferry and several pontoon bridges will also be built, equipped with several ships.
These three rock villages are guarded by three infantry platoons and one archery platoon every day, with shifts changing every two days. This kind of force can ensure that even if the Saito Army on the north bank comes to attack, the Tokiwa Bei on the beach can still resist for a period of time. , even if they cannot withstand it, they can easily retreat, demolish the pontoon bridge and drive away the ferry to prevent the enemy from crossing the river; if Yu Qiuping wants to lead his army to the north bank, he can also have a safe crossing route and a stable beachhead as a basis. And the pontoon bridge and ferry boat , is to allow the troops on both sides of the strait to quickly retreat or support. Yu Qiuping's strategic layout is like an open hand. The three rock villages on the north bank are like three fingertips, and the ones gathered in Kuroda City on the south bank The main force is similar to a broad hand, and they are connected to each other through the fingers formed by pontoons and ferries.
On April 18, Yu Qiuping's project was finally completed.
"Jinbingwei, what do you think?" Yu Qiuping stood at the head of Kuroda City, looking at the three rock fortresses in the distance on the other side of the river.
"A very good defense system." Naoe Tadahira sincerely praised him. "Not only were we not constrained by the Kiso River, we used the water flow to act as a barrier for us."
"This will make it easier for caravans in the future, and they will have a place to stay on the north bank of the Kiso River," Yu Qiuping lowered his head and looked at the Mitsubishi caravan that was ready to go outside the city. This was also the first time that Nobhiro Tomita went to Mino for trade on behalf of Sena Shiyoshi. With bank financing, the caravan's capital became much richer. Therefore, Sena Shiyoshi was not satisfied with simple cross-border trade, and even planned to use the funds to open many shops in Owari and Mino. He also It was precisely because I was busy planning this that I did not personally lead the caravan trade.
"Furthermore, Sanada-sama's intelligence work must have been carried out better," Naoe Tadahei added: "The four wealthy families on the other side of the river who have a no-war contract with us are all under our surveillance. Originally, our horses came and went. After crossing the river, the detection range on the other side of the river was very small. But now we can set up a post station to store horses in the stronghold on the north bank of the river, and the detection radius has been greatly expanded."
"That's true," Yu Qiuping nodded with satisfaction and said, "Uchiha Aooka did a pretty good job. He has a clear picture of the prices in various places in Meino. However, the military intelligence seems to be a little lacking."
"Maybe it's because the Saito family never had any unusual movements," Naoe Tadohira explained with a smile.
"By the way, Your Highness," Naoe Tadayei asked as if he remembered something: "Do you need to say hello to the checkpoint at the Oda family?"
Yu Qiuping was stunned for a moment before he understood what Naoe Tadayei wanted to say, "Are you talking about the tax collection checkpoint set up by the Oda family in the east of our territory?"
"Yes," Naoe Tadayei nodded. "Normally, passing merchant ships cross the river there, and they have to pay a large amount of customs duties. Our Mitsubishi caravan keeps smuggling across the river like this. What should we do if we are discovered?
"
"Well..." Yu Qiuping held his chin and pondered for a while, but couldn't come up with a good solution, so he comforted himself: "Let's just live with it, we'll talk about it later."
·
Just as the two were standing at the top of the city chatting, Sanada Masayuki suddenly walked over in a hurry.
"Kibei?" Yu Qiuping saw that Sanada Masayuki seemed to be in an emergency, "But is there anything unusual in Mino? Do you need to tell the caravan not to set off?"
"The information about Nishi Mino is good," Sanada Masayuki said as he took out a secret letter from his arms, "but it doesn't seem to have anything to do with us."
"Oh? What do you mean?" Yu Qiuping's eyes lit up and he asked curiously.
Sanada Masayuki handed the secret letter to Yu Qiupei and said: "Uchiha-sama and his ninjas have recently discovered that various wealthy families in Nishi Mino seem to be gathering troops to the west of Mino."
"Western? Kitaomi?" Yu Qiuping opened the envelope in surprise. What was written inside was the name of the wealthy family who had begun to gather troops from within their territory. "Are they going to start a fight with the Asai family? Why? How many people are there?"
"Please forgive me, Your Highness," Sanada Masayuki shook his head regretfully: "Because our intelligence system is still very weak, it is difficult to understand the specific trends."
"Oh, this is also a problem. Our intelligence now basically relies on the information that a dozen ninjas happened to discover, and then passed it on to Uchiha Aooka, and then reported it to you. Or it is the result of the cavalry team's reconnaissance on horseback.
, report them to Nobuyuki Anesama and then report them back to you. This is indeed not very efficient." Yu Qiuping sighed, "I'm not that good at this either."
"How about this, Kihei," Yu Qiuping patted Masayuki Sanada on the shoulder, "Our Yu Qiu family will set up a military intelligence department, led by you."
Seeing that Sanada Masayuki seemed to have some doubts, Yu Qiupei explained: "Since it is a fixed department, it can no longer be as scattered as it is now. Kihei can follow the example of our ashigaru organization of Tokiwabei and formulate a series of
The establishment system used in the Military Intelligence Department. Then each establishment, command system, scope of responsibility, personnel positions, salary assessment and promotion, daily training and selection of new personnel must be clearly written in black and white regulations.
From now on, daily management will be carried out in an orderly manner based on the regulations you wrote."
"What does His Highness mean, is to let me integrate the entire intelligence system?" Sanada Masayuki asked: "Split these people from the original organization, and then absorb them into a well-organized whole, and each person will be granted certain
position, and then manage the intelligence system like the ashigaru who manage the Jobanbei in accordance with military law regulations?"
"Yes," Yu Qiuping nodded and said, "Just absorb all those ninjas. If you still need information about the cavalry, I can help you appoint a rider who will report military information to you. Those lurking in the Saito family
I will leave all the detailed work to you to manage. If you want to recruit more ninjas or other personnel, just come to me and report."
"Yes." Although the task was arduous, and it was almost necessary to establish an operating mechanism of an intelligence system from scratch, Sanada Masayuki nodded confidently. Yu Qiupei was able to pull up Tokiwabei's team with his bare hands. He had a
It is possible to imitate the object and then integrate the intelligence agencies, which is probably not impossible.
"There is no need to worry these days," Yu Qiuping waved his hand, "Let everyone pay full attention to the affairs of the Asai family and the Saito family of Simino."
·
As time went by, the reasons for the changes in the Asai family and the Nishi Mino wealthy family gradually emerged. It turned out that in early April, the ninjas under the Asai family Isonohara Masaru discovered a man sent by the Rokkaku family in Sawa Mountain Castle.
A ninja of Simeon. He carries a letter written by Yoshihide Rokkaku to the three people of Simino. The letter mentions that this is a reply to the letter sent to the three people, and expresses his promise to the three people.
The Asai family requested to attack the Asai family together with the Rokkaku family, and agreed to send troops after the autumn harvest. When the Asai family learned about this, they were furious and immediately sent someone to question the Saito family, as their allies, about their intentions.
However, Saito Ryuuki and the central ministers flatly denied the matter, believing that it was the assertion of the Simino Trio. The Simino Triumvirate and other wealthy Simino families said that this was the Asai family's slander.
Refusing to admit the matter, the relationship between the Asai family and the Simino wealthy family, which had long been unhappy because of the Simino wealthy family's attempt to oust Saito Ryuuki, has become increasingly tense. In order to guard against the Asai family, the Nishi Mino family Naoquan
They even secretly set up a rock fortress in Sekihara, a strategic area between Mino and Omi, and detained the ninjas from the Asai family who came to investigate - this completely angered Asai Nagamasa.
In order to avoid the dilemma of being attacked from both sides, the angry Asai family took advantage of the opportunity of Rokkaku Yoshihide to march into Kyoto to confront the Miyoshi family, and sent troops to attack the wealthy family of Nishi Mino. Nishi Mino, led by the three people of Mino, gathered to prepare to resist
The Asai family attacked and asked for support from the Saito family of Inabayama Castle. However, the Saito family leader, who was already very dissatisfied with the Nishimino wealthy family's continuous small actions with the Rokkaku family behind their backs, was naturally unwilling to fight for them.
The Asai family was furious and refused to send troops.
Without the support of the Saito family, the wealthy Nishi Mino family was naturally unable to resist Asai Nagamasa. A small-scale battle broke out near the Miikageji River. Asai Nagamasa's Eagle Bei once again showed its power and defeated Nishi Mino.
The positions of three small wealthy families. Facing the high morale and numerical superiority of the Asai Army, the alliance of the Nishi-Mino wealthy families was forced to retreat, and handed over the strategic Sekigahara to the Asai family, and part of the territory of Mino Fuwa County.
Occupied by the Asai family.
After this incident, the Simino wealthy family and the Saito family had a complete falling out. The Saito family's refusal to send troops caused Simino a lot of losses, and the Saito family was also very angry at the good ideas of the Simino family. The two factions
The struggle for power intensified, and some of the wealthy Simeon families even began to expel the Saito family's acting officials from the Simeron territory.
Chapter completed!