In July of the 22nd year of Astronomy, two typhoons hit Kantō in succession. The sea off Kantō was very windy and rough. Many fishing boats that had not had time to return to the port became the first victims of the typhoons. The terrible storms were mixed with thunderstorms and terrible cumulonimbus clouds.
Covering the entire sky, a terrible disaster is quietly brewing.
This time coincides with the arrival of the most important rainy season of the year. June to August every year is the flood season with the most rain. In previous years, there would be some flooding at this time, but this year's situation is even worse.
Some.
Typhoons far exceeding ordinary storms swept through all the ports near the Kanto coast with terrible destructive power. Kamakura was hit by Otsunami. The ferocious sea water poured in like the Tone River and Arakawa, raising the rivers several meters, and the swollen river water broke the dams wantonly.
It spread, and when people woke up, the disaster was already unstoppable.
Kanto seemed to have turned into a huge powder keg. A huge crisis was triggered at this moment. A rare storm suddenly struck. For a time, there was a heavy storm in Kanto and the rivers swelled. A terrible flood surged out with huge destructive power. You can imagine this
What a disaster will come.
The ferocious flood was like a giant beast, wantonly destroying the weak dams, countless rice fields, and village houses were washed away. Many villagers were swept away by the ruthless flood while they were still sleeping. Looking at the whole Kanto, it turned into a vast ocean.
, each city wall is like a small boat in the sea, bringing unimaginable destructive power across the entire Eastern Kingdom.
Major territories such as Sagami, Musashi, Anbo, Kamisui, and Shimosu were severely affected. Countless houses were damaged in the storm. The people of Kanto could only lament and sigh in front of the terrible sky. Fortunately, the raging typhoon gradually decreased at the end of July.
It is an ordinary storm, but the flood disaster has not ended, but has become more and more severe.
For Hojo Ujiyasu, this year has been really unlucky. There has been an earthquake since the beginning of the year. Thousands of houses have been knocked down, and many more have become dilapidated even if they have not collapsed. The cost of repairs alone has cost the Hojo family a lot.
It has been a headache for nearly half a year. Although the life and death of civilians has nothing to do with him as the king, the king does not show mercy to the people and refuses to rescue him when a natural disaster occurs. It can easily lead to a larger-scale riot, either to destroy the country or to flee collectively. In the case of the Hojo family
The current situation is absolutely unable to withstand the double blow of natural disasters.
The Kanto region, especially the Musashi Kingdom, has been experiencing constant wars and wars since the 18th year of Tenmon, with repeated earthquakes and fires. As the richest region in Kanto, the total population of the Musashi Kingdom has dropped sharply from more than 500,000 a few years ago to just over 300,000.
This flood has caused large-scale refugees, and no one knows how long it will take to recover.
"Have even the gods and Buddhas given up on my Hojo family?" Standing on the castle tower of Kawagoe Castle, Hojo Ujiyasu looked at the boundless ocean, which was originally the Tone River that nurtured the land of Kanto. At this time, this was the mother river of Kanto.
But it was like a ferocious dragon, destroying everything in sight wantonly. The flood submerged all the land around the river, and countless people were swept into the flood and disappeared.
Under the gloomy sky, the torrential rain was like pouring water, and the water lines connected the sky and the earth like spears reaching the sky. Hojo Ujiyasu closed his eyes in pain. He was already very tired. Since the beginning of July until now, he has only slept every day.
For two or three hours, the non-stop flood control and disaster relief work has not stopped for a moment. Even if the iron man has been fighting for more than a month, he will still be unable to hold up, but he cannot fall. The Hojo family behind him needs his support, not him.
The time to fall.
Hojo Ujiyasu rested against the pillar for a moment. The cold wind mixed with the heavy air blew on his face, causing him to wake up again. He braced himself and ordered the retainers behind him: "We can't stop the disaster relief even if the flood doesn't stop.
Gathering the Musashi people, we will continue to work hard."
In Musashi country alone, thousands of people are missing. It is roughly estimated that no less than 6,000 houses have been destroyed. Tens of thousands of people have been displaced and have to pack up and flee their homes. Also affected by the disaster is the Kai Takeda clan, which is repairing the Hachioji Pass.
Senminfu was helpless in the face of this sudden disaster. The sudden mudslide swallowed up hundreds of lives, including several retainers of the Takeda family.
The Fuefuki River and Kamamashi River overflowed at the same time, causing huge losses to Kai. Thousands of houses were destroyed, and hundreds of people were swept away by the flood. Frequent floods also caused a huge burden on the Tsugasakikan, and many houses
It was destroyed in the storm, which made Takeda Harunobu look ugly.
Also greatly affected were many prefectures, including Shinano and Ueno. Many rivers also surged at the same time. The surge of the Chikuma River also caused nearly a hundred people to disappear and hundreds of houses to be damaged in Kitano Shinano. Echigo Shinano
The rivers, Agano River, and Sekikawa also suffered deaths, with more than 200 people dead and missing, and nearly a thousand houses collapsed and damaged.
During this once-in-a-century stormy weather disaster, the Kira family dispatched a large number of ships to rescue trapped civilians, and worked day and night to set up temporary settlements for the homeless. After learning that Echigo could provide a safe place to live, they
At one time, there were more than 20,000 refugees from Kanto, Ueno, and Shinano, which posed a huge challenge to the Kira family's logistics.
The continuous rain since the beginning of August has not abated. At least the local lords in various places have slowed down and organized efforts to fight floods and provide disaster relief. All samurai, including the daimyo, put down their bodies and went to the front line to participate in the disaster relief work. Hojo
Tsunari has not left the river defense works on the Tone River since the beginning of the month.
There are many samurai like him in Kanto. They curl up in tents under the river embankment and sleep soundly every day. They start new flood fighting work before dawn. All they can do is to move the victims to higher ground.
On the slope, people were organized to dig earth and rocks to block the damaged embankment, and then prayed to the gods and Buddhas to bless the land and the farmers.
Until the end of August, the long-lost sunshine will shine brightly. In the following entire September, Kanto will usher in the most important autumn harvest season of the year. Due to different disasters in Echigo, grain production has been reduced in various places.
Fortunately, Joetsu, where the Uesugi family is directly led, is generally doing well. The embankment in the Sekikawa area was just reinforced at the beginning of the year. Villagers and disaster victims spontaneously organized patrols for twelve hours a day, and finally the disaster in Joetsu was kept to a minimum.
degree.
The Nagao family has had a good harvest this year. Although the fertility effect of organic fertilizers has not reached the optimal level since they were first used, they relied on land inspections to establish the fertility of the land, and then adopted more standardized planting techniques combined with nutritional supplements from fertilizers.
, and at the same time, because the dikes in Joetsu are the most intact and the impact of water damage is the lowest, there will definitely be a good harvest after the statistics are calculated.
The combined total of Central Vietnam and Lower Vietnam is less than 20,000 stone. Because the impact of water damage has weakened the effect of increasing production, it is expected to increase by 10 to 20%. The grain output statistics of Upper Vietnam’s new fields and new grain experimental areas have not yet been released, but
Just the popularization and promotion of new farming methods and fertilizers trialled in Echigo have brought increased income to many territories. In the words of Honjo Sano, this is really an amazing achievement.
Although the breakthrough in fertilizers is only accepted by some people, the overall trend is in a good direction. We can expect that in the coming years, 350,000 people in Echigo will be able to get rid of hunger and let the people of Echigo live a better life.
Good times will not be far away.
Grain production statistics have not been released yet. The large-scale increase in grain production gave great confidence to the Nagao family. It also caused many people to change their attitude towards the Kira family. After Echichi, more than 70% of the people in the country changed from their original neutrality.
The attitude changes to friendly. Who doesn't want to make their life more comfortable? With the advanced agricultural technology brought by the Kira family, they will ask the poor hats.
Kira Yoshitoki didn't think it was anything special at first, but he saw a bunch of ragged farmers supporting each other and sitting on the shore to rest on the bank of Uonogawa River. He looked at the old people's cloudy eyes flashing with hope for survival.
Longing, and the children's dirty little faces had a unique innocence and hope for the future. He seemed to understand what people were longing for in this chaotic era.
"Peace, tranquility, and the end of troubled times?" On the way back, he could never forget the joy on the faces of the children when they were holding soup cakes. A family of five, old and young, received food donated by the Kira family.
At that time, the sincere emotion when he knelt down in gratitude, and the look of the dull middle-aged man who was frightened, excited and at a loss when he learned his identity echoed in his mind all the time.
Torahime, dressed as a warrior princess, danced her spear in the courtyard. From her skillful movements, it can be seen that her spear skills have improved greatly in the past six months, although her master Kakizaki Keie is far away in Shinano and cannot
Guided her training, but with her outstanding understanding and talent, she was still able to improve her spear skills to this level through self-study, which was only slightly worse than when she first arrived at Kiragi in Echigo half a year ago.
Half an hour later, Hu Ji walked out of the bathroom, her long hair pulled up high. When she saw Kiragi sitting on the porch, frowning and thinking, she asked: "What's wrong, Your Highness? Is there something on your mind?"
"Well, I'm thinking about the meaning of living."
"The meaning of living? Why do you think of this?" Hu Ji sat next to him, arranging her hair while thinking: "There is hope when you are alive. As long as you survive, you will have an endless future. If you have a future, there is hope. This
That’s probably the meaning of living.”
"Hope...?" Kira Yoshichi suddenly realized: "Yes, many people can't figure out the meaning of life, but this does not affect their longing for a better future. This is the power of hope, just like that family
Although the five members of the family were impoverished and had to leave their hometown, they never gave up hope. This is the original intention of survival."
Because when you are alive, you have expectations, and the future is full of uncertainty. Human beings have struggled to survive in the adversity of the wilderness since ancient times, and have passed down the belief in survival from generation to generation. As long as they live, they will one day realize their dreams.
Dreams and the future contain endless possibilities, and these possibilities will have the opportunity to realize their dreams.
"It's time to go back."
"Well! Hu Ji also misses her mother and brother very much."
On September 12, after spending the traditional festival of climbing the Double Ninth Festival, the Kira family and more than 2,200 people set out to return to Kasugayama Castle. This imperial palace will be managed by the Nagao family, and as expected, it is Sakado Castle.
There was no abnormal reaction from the Ueda Nagao family from beginning to end. Not only was there no abnormal reaction, Princess Aya who lived in Sakado Castle also met Torahime on the Uono River.
Princess Aya is a dignified and elegant lady. She is about twenty-five or six years old, but she is about 1.56 meters tall. It is said that among the Nagao brothers and sisters, only Nagao Kagetora is the shortest. Even the oldest Nagao is the shortest.
O Harukage is also over 1.6 meters tall, Nagao Shikage and Nagao Kageyasu are both over 1.7 meters tall, and their mother Tora Gozen is also said to be a very tall woman.
"Is it Tiger Princess?" Princess Aya is wearing a gown, a headband and a shawl, covering her long hair. This is the standard attire for a noble lady of the Wu family when she goes out. If not this time she is meeting the sister of a compatriot.
, she would also wear a curtain hat to cover her entire face, with a layer of green gauze covering it so outsiders could not see what was inside.
"Sister!" Hu Ji jumped in three steps at a time. Seeing her relatives again, she had countless grievances and endless things to say. When she was young, her sister used to hold her and play with her.
, later her sister married away, and she was left alone. Her childhood life was always gray, and there seemed to be danger at every moment. War and chaos were the only memories of her childhood.
"Torahime has grown so big that even I can't recognize you! Come here and let me see you." Princess Aya hugged Torahime and looked at her again and again. She checked her height and found that Torahime was already taller.
When her nose bridge was so high, she was surprised and said: "Torahime is so tall, she must be taller than Torachiyo!"
The two sisters chatted endlessly on the boat. Kira Yoshito stared at the little boy in Chinese clothes. The little boy's fair skin looked a little restrained, his eyes were big but his sickly look seemed to have no energy, and then he stood up.
After a while, he started coughing slightly, and seemed very uncomfortable.
The little boy's coughing sound attracted the attention of the two sisters. Princess Aya knelt down and patted the little boy's back to cheer him up. Hu Ji knelt down and asked curiously: "Is this Kunimatsu? What a smart and handsome boy."
Princess Aya smiled and nodded, and said to the little boy: "Kunimatsu, this is your aunt, please call me aunt."
"Hello, aunt!" Kunimatsu is a very smart child. When he saw Kiragi, he suddenly shouted: "Hello, uncle!"
"Ah! Kunimatsu is so good!" Kira Yoshishi touched the back of his head and smiled stupidly: "What a good boy."
"Oh! Your Highness!" Hu Ji was startled. Her face was instantly flushed with red, from her fair dimples to the roots of her ears. She squeaked: "What are you talking about! This will bring trouble to me!"
"Heh heh heh..." After being given a blank look by Hu Ji, Kira Yoshi could only laugh a few times and pretend to be stupid. (To be continued.)