The red sun in midsummer and May is scorching. This year's sun is far hotter than in previous years. It doesn't have the bright warmth of March and April, but it carries the heat wave of the fire season. In March, there was a rare hailstorm in Kaibi, which affected many crops.
The damage was serious. In the past two months, the sun has been shining continuously. The dry land has cracked and cracked. The seedlings in the rice fields have been burned to the point where their leaves hang down weakly. They have endured this long and painful midsummer.
.
The atmosphere in the Kaiji Ozaki Hall was as cold as winter. Takeda Yoshinobu was having a fierce argument with his father Takeda Shingen. The servants walked carefully along the edge of the corridor, and they only met each other a little bit.
Their heads passed by each other in a hurry. At this juncture, no one dared to say anything to offend the father and son in the hall.
Since Takeda Yoshinobu was imprisoned in Echigo for a few months, his temperament has become more and more unpredictable and his temper has become longer and longer. He had quarrels with his father several times because of minor differences. It is rare that Takeda Shingen can still be patient.
His son was exterminated by his temper, and both the family members and the servants felt that His Highness Taro had changed, but the lord remained the same.
Takeda Yoshinobu has fair skin, thick eyebrows and big eyes. His appearance is more similar to his mother, Mrs. Sanjo, but his temperament is just like that of Takeda Shingen when he was young.
Today, the disaster in the country is severe and the heat is deepening, but no water is falling. Some tributaries of the Fuefuki River and Kamamashi River have bottomed out. At this time, it is time to investigate the drought and rescue the victims, instead of deploying tens of thousands of soldiers in Suwa County to prepare for the disaster. Please be kind to me.
My father and the town master have reached an early peace, withdrawing their troops and allowing them to return to their hometowns for disaster relief, and then respectfully invite my father to go to Fuefuki River and Kamamaki River to visit the victims of the disaster."
Takeda Shingen looked at his eldest son, who was younger and more handsome than him, suppressed the unhappiness in his heart and said patiently: "Taro! My family has exempted all junior high schools from all taxes this year. We have also ordered our family members to station in various territories to dig wells and collect water.
To help fight against the disaster, it is really difficult for my family to go to the countryside to visit the victims in this scorching summer! And the troops stationed in Suwa County cannot be withdrawn. Our family has never broken off its request for peace to the Kira family, but
What should I do if the town government is unwilling to give up the land of the two counties?"
"The Duke of Jinfu is the guardian of Shinano appointed by the shogunate. If you need the two counties, just give them to him..."
"Don't talk nonsense!" Takeda Shingen shouted and stood up. He realized that his voice was a little too loud and frightened Takeda Yoshinobu. He sat back and said slowly: "These two counties are territories that I, the Takeda clan, must never give up. The family lineage is
The resentment among the people is getting stronger day by day. We are not used to the life that most of Shinano has lost. Sooner or later there will be chaos. If these two counties are handed over to the town government, you and I, father and son, will be dead."
"Is it so serious? I don't think it will be like this, kid?" Takeda Yoshinobu looked at Takeda Shingen in confusion, feeling that his father was making a fuss and deceiving him again.
Takeda Yoshinobu had been deceived by Takeda Shingen countless times since he was a child. Every time he said he would take him to play in the countryside, he never realized it even once. He had asked many times to go to Yuya Onsen, but every time when the trip was about to take place,
It was his father who quietly took his concubine away, leaving him to guard the Tsuzaki Hall in a daze.
"Of course it will be so serious. Have you forgotten the story of your grandfather and great-uncle? That is the problem left after your great-grandfather and great-uncle fought for power. In the end, your grandfather raided and killed all your great-uncle's clan on a rainy night.
Only then did they completely unify Kai and end the great chaos that had existed for more than a hundred years."
Takeda Shingen said that what he mentioned was the Yukawa Nobue Rebellion. Yukawa Nobue was Takeda Shingen's great-uncle and Takeda Nobutora's biological uncle. Because of Takeda Nobimasa's favor, he planned to abolish the eldest son and establish a younger one. In the end, he died at the young Takeda Nobunao (
(later renamed Takeda Nobutora) ended the war for the governor of the Takeda family. Needless to say the bloody battle during this period, compared to Takeda Nobunao's tragic childhood, the childhoods of Takeda Harunobu and Takeda Yoshinobu, father and son, were relatively happy.
Takeda Yoshinobu said blankly: "Grandfather? It seems that I have never seen this child before!"
"I have seen it, Taro. Your grandfather loved you the most in the past. That year, your grandfather also said that he would bring more local products back from Suruga, and he would prepare a special gift for you..." Takeda Shingen's
There was confusion and reminiscence in his eyes.
"What happened next?"
"Later...your grandfather lived in seclusion in Suruga and never came back." Takeda Shingen took a long breath and did not intend to continue this topic.
Takeda Yoshinobu said cautiously: "Father, I heard that you exiled your grandfather, right?"
"Who told you?" Takeda Shingen frowned and looked at his uneasy expression. He snorted coldly and said: "How can you exile your grandfather with the power of just one person in this family? It's not like the group of family members who have been descended from generation to generation worked together to block your grandfather.
Apart from Kai, my family has thought about bringing your grandfather back to enjoy his old age, but the old man is too stubborn and unwilling to come back."
Takeda Yoshinobu suddenly realized: "So that's the case, then it's really because of the Genedai retainers! But why do they force the governor? Now that the Kaidai Takeda family's family business is prosperous and declining, will the Genedai retainers also be like this?
What if we forced Father like that ten years ago? What should we do now that Kai has no way to expand?"
An undetectable light flashed in Takeda Shingen's eyes, and he said with a warm smile: "There will be a way, and the family members will definitely not force my family, don't worry!"
"What about this year's drought? Farmers can't withstand this dry summer even if they don't pay taxes! Looking at the weather, it may be difficult to rain within half a month. This year's grain output will definitely drop sharply, and we don't know what to expect next spring.
How many people have starved to death, but our Takeda family still has nearly 20,000 troops. Can we survive with food and grass? Without food and grass, what will the samurai and the Ashigaru eat? Will it cause trouble?" Takeda Yoshinobu's questions were like a series of questions.
It spit out like a cannon, and even Takeda Shingen was unable to parry it in a short period of time.
He had long discovered that his son was different from before. He always spoke and acted with a strong sense of purpose. Penetrated intelligence showed that he had a deep relationship with some of the sharp-headed warriors in his family. Most of these warriors were released from prison.
Of the 6,000 prisoners, a small number were young samurai from clan families close to Takeda Yoshinobu.
These people advocated the theory that Echigo was invincible at home, trying to fight for the right to speak in the family under the banner of young samurai. Their theory was that the Echigo Kira family could not resist and it was better to reach peace as soon as possible. As long as peace was reached, they could learn from Echigo
Use technical knowledge to improve Kai's living standards. When Kai becomes rich, he will no longer need to expand or die.
In short, their theories always have a bit of a strange tone. Most of these people are simply young samurai who are not yet popular in the mainstream public opinion in Kai. Some of the family members also know the supporters behind them, so everyone avoids talking about it.
Of course, many members of the clan still commented behind their backs that the performance of these young samurai was disappointing.
From ancient times to the present, the formation and function of samurai is to live a life of licking blood from the edge of a knife. What they fight for between life and death is land, wealth, reputation, family inheritance, etc. It would be better for them to give up their attachment to land than to kill them.
They also feel uncomfortable. The role of wealth is slightly less important than land, followed by personal reputation and family inheritance. Most samurai live this kind of life. Only a handful of top warriors will put family inheritance and reputation first.
Because land and wealth are easily accessible to them, they can only care about the latter two.
Unfortunately for the Kai Takeda clan, they are the kind of samurai family that lacks three of the four things. The land is scarce and cannot support the appetites of many generations of retainers. Although there are gold mines in wealth, it is not a long-term method. The mines will eventually be dug out. Fame is here.
There are some that are quite famous, especially in the Eastern Kingdom, but they are still completely incomparable to the glory of Yamana, Ouchi, and Nizi who play an important role in seven or eight kingdoms, or even one-sixth of the palace. Only the inheritance of family business is relatively stable.
They did not decline due to problems in the inheritance of their descendants like Yamana, Ouchi, and Nizi.
Takeda Shingen was determined to test his true thoughts and said patiently: "Well, these problems are very important. What solution does Taro have?"
A hint of excitement flashed across Takeda Yoshinobu's face, but he still answered cautiously: "Yes! My child thinks this is not too difficult to solve. There are many problems faced by Kaiji today. In summary, there are only food crises and huge
There are two military service burdens. The child's initial idea is to use Koshu stone gold to purchase grain from Echigo, disband half of the military service and return to their hometowns to farm, and learn advanced agricultural technology from Echigo to rectify Kai's agriculture. It will take a few years.
We can increase the stone height of Kai from 240,000 koku to more than 500,000 koku. By then, our territory will remain unchanged and our knowledge and deeds will double, so there should be no complaints!"
"Hmm. How to ensure the price of food when buying food from Echigo? Koshu stone gold is used to train red cavalry. If it is used to buy food, what should the red cavalry do? Disband 10,000 soldiers and return to their hometowns to farm.
Although it is good, what our Kaibi lacks is not the population but the land. Ten thousand surplus laborers suddenly increased in the countryside. What should they do if there is not enough farmland for them to cultivate? These Ashigaru are veterans who have experienced life and death battles. Without farmland, many people will
If you have no source of income, how can you appease them and ensure the safety of your family? How can you be sure that the Kira family will teach you wholeheartedly while learning Echigo's agricultural techniques?"
The young Takeda Yoshinobu was left speechless by a series of rhetorical questions. He couldn't figure out how to get the support of the Echigo Kira family. He was not stupid enough to say stupid things about surrendering the Kira family. He should at least become allies.
Only then can it be possible to gain a certain amount of support, just like the Three Kingdoms Alliance with Shun Kaso, and to reach the level mentioned by Takeda Yoshinobu, one must at least surrender to the Kira family and serve as a daimyō in order to be eligible to enjoy it.
Takeda Yoshinobu left unhappy. He still achieved nothing in this struggle. He did not understand the reason that no matter how strong Echigo was, his own family was not as strong as his own. He did not understand the role and influence of the clan retainers on the Kai Takeda clan.
How old was it? Takeda Nobutora was exiled under the joint efforts of Takeda Shingen and the Katayo family and could never come back. Although he lied again in front of Takeda Yoshinobu, the role of the Katayo family in that exile was disgraceful.
The effect is undoubted.
The Kai no Tiger, who had dominated Shinano for more than ten years, suddenly let out a long sigh. He had already figured out how bizarre and weird the thoughts of his eldest son were. Some members of the Genedai family knew that the arguments held by the young samurai came from the mouth of Takeda Yoshinobu, but they
Still daring to express his disappointment with these young samurai was just another way to release his dissatisfaction, and this was what troubled Takeda Shingen the most.
The Kai Takeda clan has two internal structures, the Oyamada clan leads in the prefecture, and the Yamada clan leads in Kawachi. In addition, the family has a complicated system of genealogy, old genealogy, new genealogy, Ashigaru generals, etc., making a man with only twenty-four
The samurai disputes within the Kai Kingdom of Ten Thousand Stones are comparable to the small Warring States Period of Kitai Ise.
A few years ago, Takeda Shingen, the Tiger of Kai, was confident of suppressing any problems in his family. However, with the failure of the two battles of Kawanakajima, the loyal and brave family members of the clan were crippled, and he worked hard to defeat them.
The Shinano Kingdom was handed over to others, and the double blow of prestige and territory had made him gradually unable to suppress the ulterior retainers. He was worried that when he went to bed one night, he would never see the sun again the next day.
"Taro has changed, so much that even I don't recognize him! What kind of soup did Kira Yoshiki give him to change so quickly... But what he said is right. I, the Kai Takeda clan, cannot stay in Kai Hao
If there is no action, the north cannot be aggressive, then there is only the south, the south is the Suruga Imagawa clan...but Taro is the Imagawa clan's real brother-in-law, what should we do? Do we want our family to attack our eldest son?" Takeda Shingen fell into deep worry.
In thinking.
…
Takeda Yoshinobu guessed one thing wrong, that is, the drought was about to disappear. Less than half a month later, a terrible typhoon mixed with endless storms swept half of Japan. The storms continued for more than ten days and nights, making the dry rivers rejuvenate.
The river surged and turned into a terrible flood. In less than half a month, the entire Eastern Kingdom turned into a vast expanse of water.
This storm brought a temporary pause to the intense fighting in Vietnam. Just as a group of uninvited guests came to Kuwayama Castle in Tonami County, Vietnam, Genjin Sugiura returned with more than 8,000 defeated soldiers who were like mud monkeys. These 8,000 defeated soldiers had just experienced
A disastrous defeat, and they were hit by heavy rain during the retreat. They could only brave the violent storm and cross several half-collapsed mountain roads, and barely managed to escape back to Sangshan City.
Kotokuji Noriken had no idea that there would be problems on the North Front, which was almost certain. He had reasons to shirk responsibility for his failure to attack Inami City. There was no obstacle in front of Sugiura Gento, so why was he defeated in such an embarrassing manner? Could he still be defeated?
Will the unsuspecting Chinese defenders in the rear fail? Or will they encounter that elusive cavalry surprise attack?
Angry and puzzled, Kotokuji Noriken angrily questioned Sugiura Gennin: "Iki Shoden has 20,000 Kaga elite troops under his command, and there are also 3,000 troops of Jinbo'emon captain as a joint force. In terms of strength, the elite are better than the poor."
The 30,000 miscellaneous soldiers led by the monk are more powerful than others. The front line guarding the mountain city is unobstructed. Didn't there be information that the ancient Guofu City was captured a few days ago? Why did it end up like this?"
Genjin Sugiura suffered a defeat and was kept in the rain for several days. As soon as he returned to Kuwayama Castle, he heard this scholarly monk coming to question him. The flames started to rise and he said in a vicious voice: "Don't talk about me.
If you are not good at fighting, you will know if you have the ability to go to Chengxian Hall and give it a try! If Chengxian Hall can encounter Uesugi’s cavalry and still escape death, I, Xuanren, will willingly surrender and walk around when I see Chengxian Hall!"
"This..." Kotokuji Noriken is a fair-faced monk with fine features. It has been widely rumored in Kaga that he is one of the faces of Chaoshengji Mizuru. He is only about 1.5 meters tall and is so skinny that he can't be close to him.
The comparison with Genjin Sugiura at the other end scared half of the three souls and seven souls of Genjin Sugiura's roar.
The chief priest untied the wet body pills with the help of Xiao Xing. He smiled bitterly and said: "What Iki Shoden said is right, what we encountered was not other samurai, but the cavalry of the Dragon of Echigo Uesugi Danzenden.
Xiandian, can you believe it? I waited for more than 23,000 troops and ran into Uesugi Danzheng in Fangshengjin City. The opponent only had 8,000 troops, including about 3,000 black armored cavalry. Our army also had 2,000 mounted samurai.
, eight thousand people who were able to conquer the country and were good at fighting, the result..."
"Sure enough, the 23,000 of us were smashed to pieces by Uesugi's bullet in front of us. If we hadn't escaped with our lives, we would have died under Uesugi's bullet! Look at my Agu.
You’ll know about the top-shaped pocket!” Sugiura Gento took off his tattered helmet and showed it to him. Half of the helmet was cut open like a leaking kettle. Sugiura Gento’s bun was messy after taking off the helmet, and it was obvious that the hair on his scalp was visible.
A small amount of hair was cut off with a sharp blade.
Kotokuji Noriken also knew how poor his military skills were. The elite cavalry of Masatora Uesugi would definitely be dead if they encountered him head-on. However, Kaga's first general, Gennin Sugiura, was defeated, so he didn't understand.
: "Uesugi Danmasa is actually here too. I just returned from the expedition to Dewa Country last year. Now I feel that Echichu is really much more than Izuku expected! But this is an army of 23,000 people! Even if they are defeated, there will not be only 8,000 people.
Want it back?"
"This time we were really unlucky. As soon as we arrived at Fangshengjin Castle, we bumped into eight thousand elites in the main hall of Uesugi Dan. Then we couldn't resist and retreated. When we retreated, there were still about fifteen or six thousand people. When we were retreating to Morishan Castle,
Kakizaki, Izumi Mamoru, and Saito Shimono Mamoru, who were killed halfway, made a surprise attack. After a fierce battle, Uesugi Danmasa came over and killed us, and then we were defeated."
It was only after the explanation from the chief priest that he realized that this time he had completely fallen into the trap set by Uesugi Masatora. Twenty-three thousand troops marched to Fangshengjin Castle with great fanfare. Uesugi Masatora, who had been waiting in the city for a long time, suddenly led his troops to kill him.
It turns out that the combat effectiveness of the Echigo cavalry was completely unmatched by the mounted samurai of Kagabokan.
The two wings were broken without any suspense, and the main formation was shaken. Masatora Uesugi saw the right opportunity and led several Kagemusha to attack together. They rushed left and right and tore Sugiura Gento's main formation into pieces. Sugiura Gento himself also encountered
I don't know if it was me or the shadow warrior who was chasing me, but I almost lost my life at the foot of Fangshengjin City.
Both wings collapsed and the main formation collapsed. Jinbo Nagaji, who was in the rear team, saw that the situation was not going well and used his family's ancestral oiling of the soles of the feet. This time, he abandoned his generational retainer Ishiguro Naritsuna behind and cut off the rear. Gen Sugiura
With the protection of the young Kaga samurai, Ren also managed to escape from the pursuit. More than two thousand people died on the spot. It was a completely one-sided massacre. Sugiura Kenjin hastily arranged for five thousand to cut off the rear army, and led it himself.
With 16,000 remaining soldiers, they desperately retreated towards Shoushan City.
After only escaping for more than ten kilometers, they bumped into Kakizaki Keiya and Saito Asanobu's surprise attack. They had just suffered a disastrous defeat and their morale had dropped to the bottom. They also encountered the two tiger generals of Echigo who were waiting for an ambush. No matter how stupid the assassin was, Genjin Sugiura
He also fully understood that he was in trouble. He was so angry that he abandoned half of his army and did not dare to retreat towards Moriyama Castle, so he ran towards Kuwayama Castle in Tonami County.
Fortunately, a sudden violent storm dampened the pursuit of the Echigo cavalry. The violent rain covered the field, and there was a white mist everywhere. Uesugi Masatora was worried that he would pursue too deep and cause an accident, so he ordered his troops to stop fighting.
That's why these eight thousand defeated troops fled into Sangshan City in embarrassment. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian to vote for recommendations and monthly votes. Your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile phone users please go to m
