After leaving the barracks, it was still early in the day, so Imagawa Yoshimoto decided to take his guards and ride out of the city for a walk. It was midsummer, and the scorching sun burned my body. I was already sweating profusely before walking very far. The past hot summer day
Here, Imagawa Yoshimoto hides in the pavilion of the temple and refuses to come out. He can take a bath three times a day. However, the farmers in the fields outside Imagawa Hall are not as leisurely as Imagawa Yoshimoto. Every one of them is deeply bent over.
Working among the crops.
"It's so hot and stuffy. It's such a crazy weather. Don't you want to take a rest?" Imagawa Yoshimoto rode his horse to a field bank and asked a dark-skinned old farmer. The old man was shirtless and naked.
The sweat on my back was almost running down in strands, and the coarse linen pants I wore on my lower body were soaked through.
"So that the samurai master will know." After the old man hurriedly knelt down to salute, he found that the samurai was quite easy-going, so he propped his hoe upside down, supported his waist to catch his breath, and said to Imagawa Yoshimoto, "It's hot, so the sunlight will be enough."
"If the weather is dull, it means it is going to rain. If there is sunshine and rain, the harvest will be good this year. How can you say that the weather is bad?"
"Why are you still asked to come out to work?" Imagawa Yoshimoto looked at the old man carefully and found that his beard and hair were all gray and many of his teeth were missing.
"Both sons were recruited, but they were gone. One died in Mikawa with the samurai master a few years ago, and the other died in Kamabahara a few months ago, and the bones were not found." The old man talked about the death of his two children,
But he didn't seem to show too much emotion, "But it's hard to live this life. The two children's dolls are still pointed at me to support them. My eldest son's children are now in the fields and can help me with some work."
"I'm very sorry..." Imagawa Yoshimoto's expression darkened when he heard this.
"What's the point? Isn't it like this? Who's family doesn't have a lot of dead people? My father and my younger brother also died in the draft." The old man stretched his muscles and sighed, "We Suruga are fine.
Yes, there haven't been many wars in decades. If the warriors in that war-torn village passed by, all the crops would be robbed."
As the old man spoke, he pointed to a deserted field in the far northeast near the official road. Several small figures could be vaguely seen in the field kneeling in the soil, trying to find some surviving crops. "There, Fukushima was there before.
Our samurai masters passed by when they were fleeing and trampled so many crops that Chiyo's mother-in-law's harvest this year is almost gone. The family of five doesn't know how they're going to survive."
"Didn't the Imagawa family provide any pension or compensation?"
"Is there a pension or compensation? Is there any family in the world that will pay it? At least the Imagawa family will be exempted from some rent in the lean years, which is already not easy..." The old man was open-minded, laughed a few times happily, and held his hands gently
The growing ears of rice are gratifying, "but the pension is not enough. We have several mouths to eat in our family. The widowed daughter-in-law is also sick, and the pension money has long been used to buy medicine."
"Thank God, Suruga fought that battle. If the war breaks out now, and another wave of civilians are recruited..." The old man held the hoe and looked at his grandson who was still busy weeding not far away, "I don't have a male in my family.
If the harvest is over, I guess that child will have to be expropriated. I can't take care of such a large area by myself. If the autumn harvest is delayed, the debts owed this year will not be paid, and there will be no food to eat. This winter will not be the best.
It’s better…”
After saying this, the old man, who had not rested for long, confessed his crime to Imagawa Yoshimoto, continued to bend his already aging waist, and started working in the fields. Imagawa Yoshimoto got on his horse and looked at the countless countless people in the vast fields.
The farmers who were trying their best to make a living took another look at the clothes they were wearing - even the most common piece of clothing was still countless times better than the best clothes of these farmers. He looked at the old man's mottled hands.
He looked at his calloused hands again and sighed slightly.
In the early morning of June 15th, the fifth year of Tenmon (1536), in the Imagawakan castle tower, the elders and important officials of the Imagawa clan gathered together. This was the first official appraisal meeting held after Imagawa Yoshimoto succeeded to the throne. Imagawa Yoshimoto himself sat
In the main seat, Taiyuan Xuezhai, who was the regent's family minister, sat on the side, while Shou Guini listened to the meeting behind the screen.
On the left side of Imagawa Yoshimoto, sat Asahina Taino, Miura Ujimitsu, Reikazu Reizumi, Ogasawara Haruyoshi, Uden Nagamochi, Abe Nobuzhin, Kamahara Mitsuru, Katsutsu Masasu, Ichinomiya Muneru; and
On the right side, sat Okabe Oyatsuna, Sena Ujisada, Sekiguchi Ujiroku, Matsui Sadamune, Anhara Tadayo, Ogikiyoshi, Yuhi Anchu, Hasegawa Motonaga, and Shinno Oikane. In addition to them,
There are also the direct ministers of Hatamoto sitting further down: Matsui Munonobu, Yamada Keitaka, Asai Masatoshi, Makiyama Nazuo, Umeyama clan high and others. The above people are all the important ministers who still follow the Imagawa clan.
Everyone bowed to Imagawa Yoshimoto as the family governor according to etiquette, and reported on the situation in the territory one by one. Due to the impact of the war, except for Umeshima Kaneyama, which was under the jurisdiction of the Abe family, could provide a normal surplus, the other families' finances were in dire straits.
It was a bit tight, and the situation was not optimistic. Taiyuan Xuezhai scribbled on the paper while thinking hard about the next countermeasures. Imagawa Yoshimoto was a little more relaxed. After everyone reported the report, he took the lead in starting a lively chat.
Asahina arrived and took offense at the wine bottle placed on the table.
"Asahina Bitchu, do you even have to drink at the evaluation meeting?" Imagawa Yoshimoto pretended to be dissatisfied and asked with a smile.
"Haha, it's your first time to participate in the assessment, no wonder you don't know. Back then, Lord Souyun made great contributions and was given the grace of 'going to the palace on foot' by my old lord. But after I made great contributions, I asked for it from my old lord."
The privilege of bringing wine to the palace." Asahina Taino said while drinking a glass of wine. The colleagues around him were obviously used to his unique style, and no one showed any abnormality.
"It's a pity that the descendants of Lord Soun are ungrateful." Lengquan Weihe Lengsheng continued. As the diplomatic monk of the Imagawa family, he had visited Odawara Castle many times to maintain contact with the Hojo family. Now he is the most indignant.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "The Hojo family betrayed their trust before the body of the late master was cold. Thanks to the former master, he visited Odawara Castle for a month before his death, but this kind of friendship was gone.
Dog." Okabe Oyatsuna was also filled with hatred. The Hojo family broke the alliance at the speed of light after Imagawa Ujiteru's death, which will only make future generations feel that Imagawa Ujiteru's series of efforts aimed at consolidating Shunichi's alliance were in vain. It is inevitable that
He ridiculed and belittled Imagawa Ujiteru - this was something Okabe Oyatsuna, as Imagawa Ujiteru's number one confidant, could not tolerate under any circumstances.
"The Fuji family and the Katsurayama family are not equally favored. Now that the Hojo family has come, they have turned against each other." The next person to speak was Ogikiyo. His territory is on the west bank of the Fuji River, and is controlled by the Shunhoku and Hojo families controlled by the Takeda family.
He controls the Kadong capital, and has always been under the greatest defense pressure, but he has never complained, but is still loyal to the Imagawa clan. With his status, he is indeed the most qualified to condemn the Kadong wealthy families who have turned to the Hojo family.
However, Yoshimoto Imagawa knew that some wealthy families, including the Fuji family, did not want to surrender to the Hojo family, but were forced by the situation. When the situation was crisis, Fuji Nobutada turned to Imagawa Yoshimoto, and only surrendered to the Hojo family after receiving permission.
He also secretly maintained contact with the Imagawa family. Of course, in a crowded environment like the assessment meeting, it was absolutely impossible to express his feelings for Fuji Nobutada, and he could only be temporarily wronged.
"Even if the Hojo family is extremely ambitious, they still care about the friendship between their ancestors." Shiroku Sekiguchi spoke slowly, as if to ease everyone's mood, "In any case, we will never cross the Fuji River west to enter the Imagawakan again."
."
"Is that because they don't want to? It's obviously just because the Takeda family is restraining Shunbei. They are worried that once they advance westward and the Takeda family enters from the north, the east side of the river they have gained will be lost. If the Takeda family is transferred from the border, the Hojo family will
I will call Xiao Xiao the next day." Okabe Okabe's attitude towards the Hojo family was obviously extremely bad.
"The father and son of Osawa in Horie Castle are loyal people. When Mr. Osawa returned that day, I thought he would fall to the side of the rebels. Unexpectedly, he actually raised an army and revolted. He fought hard to defend the city for dozens of days without losing the city."
Mejisada also didn't want to see everyone's attitudes gradually intensify, so he changed the topic and brought up the situation in Yuejiang. He was full of praise for Osawa Moto and Osawa Moto, "Now that the governor of the family has returned, what about Imagawa Yoshima?"
Knowing that our army was approaching, we had to shrink our troops and deploy our defenses eastward. The pressure on Horie City dropped sharply. A few days ago, Horie City even sent ninja communications to us."
"The Amano Atsugi Mamoru (Amano Keiguki) of the branch of the Amano family is also good. Last month, he responded to our call for rebellion against the Toe family and tried to seize Inui Castle from the rebellious Amano Keitai. It almost succeeded, but it's a pity that
Imagawa Yoshima sent troops in time to suppress him." Matsui Munanobu of Toe Futama Castle mentioned the accident at his neighbor's house and couldn't help but sigh with regret, "Now he has fled to the lower city to seek refuge, and he still thinks about fighting day and night.
Return to Inui Castle and let the Amano family return to the name of the Imagawa clan."
"Your Highness, when will the troops be ordered to quell the rebellion?" Asahina Tainou drank another bottle of wine, then touched his mouth and looked at Imagawa Yoshimoto eagerly, "The earlier we put down the civil strife, the earlier we can start from the Hojo family.
We will seize the opportunity to return to Hedong."
"I am willing to serve as a vanguard and avenge the death of my former lord." Okabe's son stepped out of the line and said sincerely that he wished he could send his troops to Yuanjiang now.
"Please hand over the vanguard to me! You have overstepped your bounds. Don't be surprised if Sakyo enters His Highness." Seeing this, Matsui Sonobu also knelt forward.
For a time, the crowd of those who wanted to fight became very excited. They were all passionate warriors, but at this time, who was willing to stand behind others?
Taiyuan Xuezhai glanced at Imagawa Yoshimoto slightly uneasily. Although he and Imagawa Yoshimoto had made an agreement before, asking him to wait until the Imagawa family had been sorted out for a while before sending troops to the far river, but considering that Imagawa Yoshimoto must be full of thoughts now
He wanted to grow his family as soon as possible so that he could marry a beautiful woman - if he complied with the military sentiment and agreed to send troops immediately, Taiyuan Xuezhai would not be able to refute. He also did not expect that Asahina Taino's casual conversation would bring the rhythm of the meeting to this point.
To the extent. He had just been busy thinking about how to streamline and shrink finances, and without paying attention, he had already reached the point where he was riding a tiger and was unable to get off.
"It is better to send out troops after the autumn harvest. Only after the preparations are complete, we can accomplish it in one go. There is no need to rush."
To Taiyuan Xuezai's surprise, Imagawa Yoshimoto took the initiative to stop the momentum of asking for a fight, and then calmed down everyone's dissatisfaction with his words of comfort.
After the meeting, all the important ministers dispersed and returned to their territory. After seeing everyone off, Imagawa Yoshimoto quietly turned around and left. It seemed that he was not in a good mood. Taiyuan Xuezai followed him all the way to the castle tower and found Imagawa Yoshimoto on the table
There were a few books of Japanese songs spread out that had not been read much, and people were standing by the table, playing Cuju in a muffled voice.
"Why don't you rush to send troops?" Taiyuan Xuezhai leaned on the door frame and fiddled with the rosary beads in his hand, "Is there a time when my disciple is sensible?"
"Teacher, didn't you tell me not to rush to send troops?" Imagawa Yoshimoto replied listlessly without raising his head.
"You were thinking about the beauty and wanted to send troops as soon as possible. Why did you back out again? You also said that you would wait until after the autumn harvest... oh——" Taiyuan Xuezhai said, but he suddenly understood, and he showed a happy expression with a smile on his face.
With a bit of a teasing smile, "I heard that you went to the farmland when you went out for a walk in the city yesterday afternoon. Could it be that Chengfang, you kid, is feeling pity again..."
"Old man, you are so annoying!" Imagawa Yoshimoto glared at Taiyuan Xuezhai, kicked Taiyuan Xuezhai angrily, and Taiyuan Xuezhai was so frightened that he staggered out of the room. Imagawa Yoshimoto then walked quickly
Follow up and close the door in front of you, "You can approve the official documents yourself today!"
"Haha...Chengfang, you brat..." Taiyuan Xuezhai, who was kicked out, was not angry at all. He returned to his room happily, sat down on the tatami, and slowly stroked his crotch with his hand.
The dilapidated box that had been treasured for many years whispered softly:
"You brat."
Author's note: School has started and I will update every two days from now on. Please forgive me!
