Under Yumiya's coercion, Miyoshi Izo had no choice but to give up her intention to resist and was captured. She looked at Asama Mountain, and the last hope for a paradise in her heart was finally extinguished.
There is no paradise in this world, only cruel reality.
The most important means of production in agricultural society is land, land that can be cultivated.
The population that the land can carry is limited. Before the introduction of new high-yielding crops, the eighteen Han provinces at the core of the Celestial Dynasty could accommodate a population of about 80 million to 100 million.
As the upper class continues to annex land, the people at the bottom are gradually suffocated. There is only one way to resolve the conflict, and that is to kill.
Unbearable uprisings, ruthless suppression, and even subsequent invasions by foreign invaders. It will only be over when the population drops to less than ten and land conflicts are fully alleviated.
Enough land has been vacated and sufficient means of production have been provided. As long as the ruling class, frightened by the war, is wise enough to fear the common people and not dare to exploit them too much, a prosperous age will come.
This is the cycle of the Chinese Empire in the agricultural era, but Japan did not have such good luck.
In the tradition of the Wu family, the victor can only deal with the defeated by reducing the title, changing the title, expropriating it, etc. The vacated territory must still be given to the meritorious ministers with rewards.
They would not kill their serfs, which were part of their property. The people were still imprisoned on the land and exploited by the new Wu family lords.
The contradiction between population and land has not been alleviated. The island country's strict hierarchical system and extreme suppression of human nature have allowed the ruling class of the Wu family to firmly grasp the land through layers of enfeoffments.
The numb farmers are willing to be squeezed, and the grassroots small lords with land management rights cannot be purged, and can only move towards a more tragic involution.
Japan's Kanto and Kansai provinces are about the size of the two provinces of Han Dynasty, but the land is relatively barren and supports tens of millions of people. The war not only did not cause the population to decline, but encouraged births and increased even more.
As the population increased, the quality of life that limited supplies could provide became increasingly poor. In the end, even the highest-level rulers only had the luxury of a bowl of white rice.
Years of war, scarcity of supplies, expanding population, and human desires that have been suppressed to the limit. This is the darkest troubled world, where you can't even see your fingers.
The paradise in Miyoshi Isan's heart could never appear in this era. She was forced to wake up from her dream and had to face reality.
———
Miyoshi Isan was not the only one who lamented the uncertainty of the troubled times. Ashikaga Castle's Nagao Tocho also ushered in the long-awaited Uesugi Constitution.
The two have not been apart for many years, and now that they see each other again, it makes them sigh with sadness when they think about it.
In the Ashikaga Castle Castle, Nagao Commander Kenmasa Uesugi ascended the throne and bowed down to pay homage.
"My lord, I'm very sorry. It was me who caused you trouble and hindered your work."
When she saw Kenmasa Uesugi's white hair and withered look, she couldn't help but feel sad.
This noble man was once very high-spirited and had first ascended the throne of the family governor, vowing to unify the Guandong Plain. Now his family business has declined and heirs have been cut off. In order to take revenge, he has entrusted his family name to an outsider.
Nagao was crying, but Uesugi Kenmasa looked at it with a clear mind and said softly.
"Dang Ji, please get up.
I don't blame you, but I want to be grateful to you. If it weren't for your actions, I would have thought that no one in the Guandong Plain would have remembered me."
The long tail should be bowed long.
"You are the master I serve. This is a fact that no one can change."
Uesugi Kenmasa smiled and said lonelyly.
"The current Governor of the Yamauchi Uesugi Family is His Highness Teru Uesugi. You should not disobey her for my sake.
From today on, you must serve your new master with all your heart. This will be good for you and the Nagao family of Ashikaga Castle."
Changwei was stunned for a moment, then she asked.
"Are you really willing to give up your family fortune? Give everything from the Yamauchi Uesugi family to the Fuchu Nagao family?"
Uesugi Kenmasa said with a wry smile.
"I am willing to do so, so what if I am not willing to do so? You and I both know very well that it is the instinct of the Wu family to rely on the strong.
The retainers don't care who the governor of the Yamauchi Uesugi family is or whether he has my bloodline. What they care about is whether the new governor is strong and can protect their family business.
Terutora Uesugi is very strong, so I put my hope in her. I have nothing left, but the Hojo family cannot step on my back to become the new overlord of Kanto. This is my bottom line.
The bloodline of the Yamauchi Uesugi family was severed, and the family name was given away. I gave everything just to bring down the Hojo family and let Hojo Ujiyasu taste my pain and feel the same as me."
The exhaustion and hatred in Uesugi Kenmasa's words made Nagao Toucha tremble.
Her uncomfortable look actually made Uesugi Kenmasa feel warm in his heart, and he said sincerely.
"Nagahime, you are different from me. The Nagao family of Ashikaga Castle still has a future. You are of the Nagao lineage and were originally a relative of Uesugi Teruhora, so you can be her right-hand man.
Promise me that you will serve this new master with all your heart in the future, stop thinking about me, and keep the Nagao family of Ashikaga Castle alive."
When Nagao saw Kenmasa Uesugi's sincere words, he couldn't help but choked up.
"I understand, thank you, Master. But, how are you doing in Echigo?"
Uesugi Kenmasa smiled.
"Uesugi Teruhora is a smart man.
I gave everything to her. If she doesn't know how to treat me favorably, how can she convince the families in Kanto?
Even if she is pretending, she will pretend to be a loving mother and a filial daughter. You don't have to worry about my safety and life.
However, this time the young Hojo girl who went north to Numata Castle was adopted by her as her adopted daughter. I am afraid that she will not kill all the Hojo family in the future, as I wish."
Uesugi Kenmasa was unwilling to do so, but she really had no choice.
Changwei pondered for a long time and asked.
"My lord, don't you have the slightest idea of making a comeback?"
Kensei Uesugi paused and said.
"If someone asks, I will definitely answer no. But in front of you, I don't want to lie.
It's not that I don't want to, it's just that I can't do it.
During the Battle of Kawagoe, General Kanto and our two Uesugi families joined forces to besiege the Hojo family.
At that time, I already felt that something was wrong, so I obtained a letter of seal from His Highness Ashikaga Haruji, the general of Kanto, and prepared to contact the Echigo Kingdom to send troops to suppress the Hojo family.
But then the situation collapsed too quickly and was completely out of my control.
The retainers of Hirai Castle surrendered to the castle, killing my child. I contacted all parties in Numata Castle. The two Nagao families, the two Nagano families, including the Numata family themselves, were all in secret communication with the Hojo family.
I had no choice but to leave Ueno and go to Echigo, never to come back. No one wanted me, a failed household supervisor, to come back and affect their good life behind closed doors.
Ashikaga Haruji died mysteriously in Sagami Country, and her seal book in my hand has lost its use.
The new Kanto shogun Ashikaga Yoshiji even appointed Hojo Ujiyasu as the head of the Kamakura Ashikaga family, replacing the position of the Yamauchi Uesugi family.
I had nothing in Echigo, and I could not vent my hatred.
After much deliberation, the name of the Yamauchi-Uesugi family was of some use, so I adopted Teruhora Uesugi as my adopted daughter, and this is how the Yamauchi-Uesugi family returned to the Kanto Plain today."