Summer is gradually ending and autumn is getting thicker. Niigata Town in the north of Echigo has also begun to turn from warm to cold. The temperature difference between day and night is gradually widening. The cold current from the northern sea is constantly eroding the warm coastline. This season is the last in Echigo.
During the important harvest season, tens of thousands of farmers wearing straw hats waved sickles in the fields to harvest grains, with deep joy on their faces, which was a tribute to the harvest.
Matsui Nobuyuki stood on the terrace of the castle tower and looked at the golden rice fields swaying in the wind on the edge of the river in the distance. The pride in his heart was indescribable. It had been nearly a year since he was promoted to head of Niigata Town and he had made great progress in the transformation of Nitta.
After a lot of hard work, the five newly added polders have also produced rich harvests this year. Nowadays, Echigo has too much grain to finish. As soon as the autumn harvest is over, the accumulated grain will be transported to the Northeast and sold in Hokuriku in exchange for golden copper coins and coins.
Various product raw materials.
Li Ding walked over with three steps, and when he saw the satisfied look, he smiled and joked: "Xin Sanlang can't get enough of this wheat wave all day long. If you really want to see it, why don't you ask me to take you to the field to have a look, so as to save you the trouble?"
I am always unsettled when I think about it day and night."
Seeing his brother-in-law coming, Matsui Nobuyuki smiled sheepishly, and both of them grew two majestic mustaches. The Kira family's too young will always make the villagers feel a little distrustful. The villagers
A simple and honest man always feels that he can't do things with his words, so in addition to acting prudently, it is necessary for the executive officer to make himself appear as mature as possible.
Matsui Nobuyuki smiled and shook his head: "I'm not worried about this year's good year. I'm just thinking about when we can open up all the new fields on the Echigo Plains. The faster the new fields are developed, the better we will be."
The rest of your life will be easier."
Niigata Town has greatly improved from the dirty environment when it was built a few years ago. The newly built three-story Niigata Castle stands at the outlet between the Shinano River and the Agano River. The towering dams block the Taotao River on both sides.
Outside, rows of young willows are planted under the embankment, and a thick layer of alfalfa is spread all over the embankment. This high-quality pasture with deep roots has a great demand for nourishment of the river. Planting on the embankment can not only stabilize the embankment
It can also increase the yield of alfalfa, and several horse farms near Niigata have been established with the support of forage provided by two long rivers.
Li Ding admired the beautiful scenery of autumn and said calmly: "There is no need to rush this. The river defense project needs to be inspected and renovated every year. Several Shinbori Rivers leading to the dry stream have just been completed, and the saline-alkali sand dug from the dry stream still needs to be repaired."
Transport it to the river and spread it into the watercourse, flush it with river water for a few years, and then use dredging boats to dig up the silt to make a good natural fertilizer. Such a large new field in the Echigo plains and so many ditches and ponds will definitely make you think twice in ten years.
If it can be completed in ten years, we should keep our composure and do it step by step."
The Echigo Plains are second only to the Kanto Plains and even larger than the Lake Biwa Plains. However, it is so remote and uninhabited that no one has laid eyes on it for more than a thousand years. Even the local indigenous people of the Shimogotsu tribe do not feel that it is so dense.
What are the benefits of the river network and large plains? The cold current from the Japan Sea blows to Echigo, and the cool sea breeze mixed with a fishy and salty smell makes Echigo the hottest time in summer all year round. It will not exceed 278 degrees, 100 degrees.
We may not encounter a summer with a high temperature of 30 degrees Celsius once a year.
At the end of autumn, cold winds are raging, followed by heavy snowfalls. Although the scenery in the north is beautiful, it greatly affects the development of agriculture. In fact, the biggest problem Echigo faces is not the development of new fields, but the increasing pressure on fertilizer supply. Not to mention
Joetsu and Central Vietnam are highly developed agricultural areas. There are dozens of large and small breeding farms within a hundred kilometers of Niigata Town alone, as well as horse farms run by the Kira family, etc. So much land has not yet been developed.
It is better to build a breeding farm and increase profits.
So many cows and horses can only produce so much manure in a day. Even if you include the manure produced by people, it is not much more. The fertilizer collected through high-temperature composting is also very limited and cannot support the increasing number of new fields. So this year
In the initial major appraisal, the appraisal manager Hosokawa Fujitaka proposed steps that would be appropriate to slow down the development of new fields.
Echigo's population has just exceeded 700,000, including more than 180,000 minors under the age of 15, and more than 100,000 under the age of five. At first glance, the unremarkable data indicates that Kiragi's current trend towards Echigo
Since then, 100,000 people have been born, and nearly 30,000 people have died during the same period, of which one-third was lost due to war.
The population of 700,000 seems quite large. After excluding the old, weak, sick, women and children, the remaining strong men are less than 300,000. These people are scattered between the ages of 15 and 55. They are the core of every family.
The financial backbone and the main labor force of the family symbolizes the standard of whether a family is rich or not. The Kira family has a total of 25,000 people who are unwilling to expand because they do not want to break this population red line. Once the number of military personnel exceeds 10% of the existing strong labor force,
One, it will affect the economy and agricultural production.
The more soldiers are recruited, the worse the quality of the soldiers will be. The more time, energy and financial resources it takes to train these soldiers, and these soldiers may not be able to be smoothly converted into elite standing troops. More than half of them will die on the battlefield. Once the soldiers
Death benefits are another financial strain.
Nowadays, Echigo uses troops everywhere, and every time he uses troops, he has to give a reward so that the soldiers are willing to fight. Otherwise, it will be a war with no profit and risk death. The samurai and ashigaru have no intention to fight. They have to calculate after the war.
Merits are converted into merit, and the dead and injured need medical care, cremation, pensions and other expenses. Although there is no need to worry about food, money is definitely not enough to pay for it.
Fortunately, the gold and silver reserves in Echigo are abundant, and the Sado Ginzan is still kept under absolute secrecy and is not known to anyone, such as the Nanyue Mines, which are rich in lead ore and copper ores, and the Narumi Jinshan, which is rich in gold and silver. The output of gold, silver, copper and lead
The rich Iide Mine and the Hashidate Mine, which mainly produce gold, silver and lead, have been discovered one after another. The large amount of gold, silver and copper output can bring a net profit of 800,000 guan to the Kira family every year. This is still a serious lack of technical experience and manpower.
, making the data when production has not reached its peak, one can imagine what the situation will be like after full development.
Without the support of this wealth, how could Kira Yoshitoki dare to repeatedly offer huge bounties, let alone make the wealth of the Kira family's samurai famous in Kanto. For example, the Hojo family's samurai once commented sourly: "Where are they?"
It's a war, and we obviously use real money to win each victory. If we had so much money, we could still win big."
Looking at the sunset gradually setting on the horizon, the farmers still did not stop their work under the twilight. In such a good season, they have to harvest grain day and night. The fear is that there will be a storm at some time to dry the threshed grain.
If the time is delayed, the next step will be delayed accordingly. If it is delayed for half a month, it might snow.
Matsui Nobuyuki glanced at him and said as if nothing had happened: "It is said that the Ming Dynasty's efforts to encircle and suppress Japanese pirates have increased. Wang Wufeng led his fleet back to the East China Sea, but I don't know how long he can last."
"I went back at the beginning of last year. I heard from my family that Wang Wufeng wanted to surrender. It was said that he was killed by General Qi and was heartbroken. I also heard that the inspector in charge, Mr. Hu, was a fellow villager of Wang Wufeng. He was released.
Wang Wufeng actually believed him and took the fleet back."
Seeing that Li Ding's expression was normal and his words seemed to be disapproving of Wang Zhi's performance, Matsui Nobuyuki breathed a sigh of relief and said: "The Lord hates this Captain Wufeng very much, saying that he colluded with a group of scum of the Wu family in the Western Kingdom and Kyushu to cause trouble.
The coastal areas of the Ming Dynasty were so large that the shogunate's collection of tributes was forced to be interrupted. This person is an evil thief of the Ming Dynasty and a high-ranking official in Japan."
Li Ding raised his eyebrows with a strange expression, and said with a half-smile, "Oh? The town government intends to ban the Japanese pirates and restore the old Ming Dynasty, okay?"
"Uh! Don't say this nonsense. This is the duty of His Highness the Shogunate. We and your ministers must not say anything nonsense." Matsui Nobuyuki was so frightened that he broke into a cold sweat and hurriedly shut his mouth.
He was afraid of his sharp-tongued brother-in-law, who often made deviant remarks that made him very distressed. However, Li Ding didn't care about their rules and said disapprovingly: "The Duke of Zhenfu intends to win the world, what is there to hide?"
, In our Ming Dynasty, there is a saying that princes, generals and ministers should be kind. When the world is in chaos, there will always be heroes who will emerge at the right time. The Lord of the Town will definitely be such a great hero and he must be such a great hero."
"Hey! Please be careful what you say when it comes to civil affairs! Your Majesty has never said such a thing. Although the Ming Dynasty and our country are in the same neighborhood, they are not the same. My Lord is the royal sect of His Highness Gongfang.
He is a well-known loyal minister and general in the shogunate. He will never do any disobedient and evil things. What Wen Ju just said must not be spread out. If others misunderstand the Lord's thoughts, big trouble will occur!
"
Seeing Matsui Nobuyuki's panicked look, Li Ding thought he had understood what he was thinking, so he said triumphantly: "I don't care about the extraordinary things done by the town government. I can't say whether I can do the decapitation thing, just like me."
Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty once asked Mr. Ji Yulin and got the strategy of "building walls high, hoarding grain widely, and becoming king slowly", thus determining the prosperity of the Ming Dynasty for two hundred years. The master of Zhenfu must be familiar with this principle if he is proficient in Sinology.
Presumably, he will slowly become the king!"
…
The rustling autumn wind blows into Echigo with a bit of damp coolness. Autumn is the busiest season in Echigo, and it is also the busiest harvest season in Naoetsu Town. Traveling to and from Shimotsu Niigata Town, Uonuma Tokuichi Town, and Kariwa Kashiwazaki Port
There is an endless stream of caravans coming and going, and Echigo's rice, soybeans, potatoes, corn and other crops are transported to the main logistics distribution center of Echigo through them.
Farmers in Naoetsu Town put on thick autumn clothes and long johns while walking around. With the rise of several textile towns that started construction in Naoetsu Town last year, the residents of Echigo were the first to enjoy thick and warm autumn clothes, and they were widely planted in Echigo
The green ramie was harvested and processed into thick clothes here. The relatively wealthy townspeople began to wear fashionable fur clothes. In fact, fur clothes have always existed. Among the goods shipped from Tohoku to Kinai every year, fur is the most common gift. Takeda
Shingen once presented bear skins as a major gift to the shogunate.
The textile industry was the most profitable business in the Middle Ages. It should be noted that the major countries that will dominate the world in the future have experienced rapid development of the textile industry. Even without advanced textile machines, they can still create huge commercial value with a sufficient idle labor force. This is
I just saw it when I had a little bit of Kiragi.
There are a large number of women and elderly people in Echigo. They can only serve as the family's secondary labor force and help with some work during the busy farming season. However, the busy farming season only lasts for a few months, and there is a lot of time left for them to find something to do.
Yes, some villages were organized by the Su Lao underground people to make rattan baskets and straw hats, some planted fruit trees in the mountains, and some organized people to hunt in the mountains, kill the prey, steal the meat, eat it secretly, and then sell the furs.
In recent years, the prosperity and development of Echigo has attracted many tourists from all over the world to travel here. Some smart farmers have started a business as guides. They can earn some money by accompanying the wealthy travelers on their entire trip. If they serve well, they can still make money.
After getting a huge bounty, the nonsense of evacuating and rebuilding the village gradually disappeared with the arrival of various visitors, because they found a good business to make money.
The gradual increase in visitors has brought a fortune to villages everywhere. Farmers rely on their ancestral skills to attract customers with wooden crafts, animal skins, and strange stones, or they open a few shops and cook food to attract people. Some villages with a population of tens of thousands
Large villages are gradually taking on the function of small towns, and underground people from various places have built many vacant rooms for rent. As long as they pay a small amount of land money every month, they can stay here for three months to half a year. This method is also well-known.
Said to experience life in Echigo.
On a spring day, the grand hall of the mountain castle was solemn and solemn. The hall was filled with samurai from the Three Kingdoms of Etsushin. Today, the first major appraisal of the Echigo autumn harvest period was held. In addition to the samurai who were away on war and those who couldn't get away, the samurai from the Three Kingdoms
The samurai in the army were basically all here, and the meeting was held from midnight to noon, and after lunch it was held until the evening. As the territory of the Three Kingdoms increased, the amount of government affairs accumulation also increased geometrically, so this big review lasted until
It's not over until dark.
Hosokawa Fujitaka rubbed his swollen head and said in a hoarse voice: "This year's autumn harvest is in great shape, but there are still big problems. As the shortage of farmers' fertilizers further widens, the growth of Echigo's stone height has entered a bottleneck.
In this period, the output of further expansion of the farms is far from enough to meet the needs of the fields. In the future, if the chickens, ducks, pigs and sheep consumed are nearly saturated, it will be difficult to digest if more are put into the market, and overgrazing will also cause many future
The developed land has become barren, so I suggest that we suspend the development of new fields, maintain the current status, and then develop new fields when the population further increases and the consumption of related resources increases."
No matter in any era, food and population are hard indicators of the degree of development. A country is based on its people, and food is its first priority. People know etiquette when they have enough food and clothing, and they know honor and disgrace when they have enough food and clothing. Only when they are full can they have the strength to pursue truth, goodness and beauty. Eat when you are hungry
You don’t care about these things if you have a good meal or not. Now Echigo is facing adjustments after eating. Some wealthy townspeople and farmers have higher needs. It has become a reality that chickens, ducks, pigs and sheep occasionally come to the dining table, even for ordinary people.
It’s not strange for people to occasionally go to a noodle shop and eat a portion of “mountain whale meat” noodles.
Kira Yoshishi was very concerned about this issue and asked: "How will Shinano's decree be implemented in Ueno? When will the breeding industry be promoted?"
Matsui Yuxian bowed unhurriedly and said: "The decree has been implemented very smoothly. The population of Ueno Country has recovered to more than 250,000. Currently, the population of Shinano under our control is more than 200,000. However, the promotion of related breeding industry is still limited.
There are certain risks, but my intention is to start with agriculture to improve their lives, and then follow up with relevant expansion policies after the farmers have enough food and clothing."
"Yes! There are basic statistics on the developable farmland in the two countries. We are currently working hard to prepare relevant new field development plans. According to the current situation, the new fields that can be developed in the two countries are limited. According to the current information we have,
The territory of Shinano Province is expected to be able to develop 23,000 machibu, and Ueno Province is expected to be able to develop 15,000 machibu. The topography of the two places is relatively complex, and developing the above stone high will be an extremely long process."
"Long? How long will it take?"
"Fifty years or more!"
The samurai of Ueno and Shinano couldn't help but take a breath. Nagano Yasumasa repeated with an expression of disbelief: "Fifty years? How could it be so long! Didn't Echigo go from four hundred thousand to two in just three years?"
Is it a million koku? Isn’t it true that Hosokawa Hōbu is joking with us old guys?”
The samurai of the two countries also showed similar expressions, saying in their hearts, please don't coax us to tell the truth. However, Hosokawa Fujitaka did not show the expected expression, and said with a serious expression: "I have not deceived you, Shinano, Ueno.
You must have some idea of the landforms living in both countries. Although Shinano Country is mountainous and hilly, which affects the development of new fields, it is slightly better because it is a large area. Ueno Country is small and faces interlocking hills, which is really difficult.
, Echigo is a large place with a large plain, so there are such high stone heights.”
At this time, the samurai of both countries were also dumbfounded. The people of Shinano country dared to compete with Echigo for territory, but Ueno country did not have the confidence. Although Echigo has many mountains, it has more plains. One Echigo plain can almost rival another.
Musashi Plains, I heard that the Echigo Plains were only half developed and then stopped. How many stones would it cost to fully develop the plains?
Honjo Minoru thought for a while and asked: "Then please tell me how many new fields can be developed in five or ten years, and how much stone height can the two countries increase by improving seeds and standardizing farming during this period?"
"
Fujitaka Hosokawa explained patiently: "There are no relevant plans for the time being, and we cannot give Mimasaku an accurate figure. Judging from the current situation, it is no problem to open up one-fifth of the total wasteland in new fields within five years.
At most it will be doubled within ten years, two-thirds should be completed within twenty years, three-quarters within thirty years, and development should be almost completed within fifty years. As for Shigao, it is really difficult to estimate, because of the climate and rainfall in the two places.
The situation is very different from Echigo, and even the spring sowing and autumn harvest times are different, so there may be large errors."
There is no doubt about the professionalism pursued by the chief of the Kira family. Both the high-ranking Yoshitoki Kira and the hundreds of samurai in the hall are very convinced of the data he reported. He single-handedly led the agricultural reform of Echigo.
He played an important role in the creation of the two million koku, and he also played an important role in the glory of Omi Sakamoto. He was not proficient in many professions in the internal affairs department. He was truly the most capable official in the Eastern Kingdom.
"The autumn harvest of Echigo is about half completed. Based on the grain income of half of the autumn harvest in previous years and the grain income of various places, I drew a trend chart and roughly calculated that the stone height of Echigo will be between 2.8 million koku and 2.90 koku.
Between ten thousand stones, for the first time since the cultivation of crops such as potatoes and corn, which seriously depleted fertility, has been stopped, stone heights have increased significantly. As Hyobuden said, before the population expands further, it may be difficult to have more in the next few years.
The height of the stone grows." Matsui Tomoe was idle and his deputy Mitsui Takayasu took a chart and posted it on the pillars on both sides.
Although most of the samurai in the hall couldn't understand this kind of thing, they still couldn't help but cheer and applaud. I don't know what Jue Li means. It doesn't matter if you don't understand it, but it's just that it's very powerful. Echigo is the one who can renovate tricks quickly. They
These big bosses from the Eastern Kingdom don't care what kind of official tricks you pursue, as long as you have a lot of grain in your pocket, that's good.
Just as the samurai were praising him enthusiastically, a ninja quietly approached Mochizuki Yoshinaga, who was covering half of his face. His movements were very light and he quickly crouched towards a snake. Such a careful movement still caused a stir in the audience.
With the attention of most samurai, they saw the ninja staying beside Mochizuki Yoshinaga for a moment and then hurried away. Such strange actions aroused the curiosity of many people.
Mochizuki Yoshicho coughed, bowed and came out of the queue and said respectfully: "Your Majesty, I have received the latest news about the Imagawa family. Two months ago, on July 19th, the Imagawa family's army on the Raku army broke out in Okezama in the territory of Owari Province.
During the battle, the main formation of the Imagawa Army was attacked by a surprise attack, and more than half of the 3,000 Pudai were killed in the battle. The Daisuke of the Imagawa Administrative Department died in the battle at Okezama Tenakuping, and the remnant of the Imagawa Army returned to Sunfu."
Not to mention the people from Shinano who were close to Suruga were astonished. Even the people from Ueno were so surprised that they left their seats one after another. Hosokawa Fujitaka, Matsui Yukan and others from Kyoto couldn't help but change their expressions, muttering in a low voice: "Nani
?Daisuke Imagawajibe died in battle with Okehazama? This...how is this possible?"
The prestige of the Suruga Imagawa clan is well known all over the world. Even old farmers with little information know that the current shogunate has a powerful relative of the Imagawa clan. Imagawa Nori made great contributions to Ashikaga Takauji. Nor's second son Imagawa Sadao was appointed as Kyushu explorer.
He helped the shogunate pacify Kyushu and shocked the Western Kingdom, and made great contributions to the unification of the Southern and Northern Dynasties. From then on, the prestige of the Imagawa family spread far and wide.
During the Onin Rebellion, General Hosokawa Katsumoto of the Eastern Army, in order to win over the Imagawa clan of Suruga, married Ise Kitagawa, the adopted daughter of Ise Sadamichi, the deacon of the political office, to Imakawa Yoshitada as his wife, and thus Ise Hayao came into being.
Unan Sorui served as the acting elder of the Imagawa family tree and was the forerunner of the Sagami Hojo line. Suruga's relatives, Imagawa Yoshimoto and his son had dominated the Tokaido for nearly eighty years, but they fell into this small Owari barrel narrow space. It's really
It's so sad!
Kiragi stood up and looked at the sky outside the wide room with deep eyes. The scenery of Chunyue Mountain under the setting sun was very beautiful. Unfortunately, the beautiful scenery will eventually come to an end, but it was a cool breeze and a strong autumn atmosphere, and everything was desolate.
, sighed for a long time and murmured to himself: "Ozhajian... Ozhajian... Imagawa Osamu is dead! Is the world finally going to change? Yonglu, Yonglu, the one who protects the world and the family, and is always blessed.
! The sky is broken and the building is about to collapse. How can we protect the world and run the family?" (To be continued.)