Chapter 27 29. Don’t Lose a Good Minister for a While

To be honest, Xiaoping Tai knew the three major seasons of war in Japan's Warring States Period, and they were all regular and patterned. After the spring plowing is over, if there is no harvest, you usually have to go out to grab it once. It is the consensus of all the famous people in the world to go out and grab a handful of wheat after the summer harvest, and to grab a handful of rice after the autumn harvest.

This thing doesn't mean that you can't fight the daimyo if you don't want to. If you don't want to fight, the retainers and ashigaru farmers will force you to fight. If the productivity is not high enough, you will starve to death if you don't fight others. I'll take care of myself first so that I can have enough to eat. The most simple rule of survival for everyone is to die of Taoist friends and not to die of poor Taoists. Anyway, if you don't rob, you will starve to death. Although you may die if you rob, but referring to the casualty rate in the Japanese war, it is more likely that if you rob, you will be able to have enough food and clothing this year.

So if you look at those wars, as long as they are not protracted confrontations, ordinary wars are either in May or September. There are absolutely no exceptions. One summer harvest and one autumn harvest, there is nothing wrong with it.

And what's ridiculous is that more than 80% of the wars are actually fought over a ditch, a well, or a relatively fertile tidal flat for decades. A person may even die in battle. His father died on the same day by the same river, and his grandfather also died on the same day and in the same place.

So there is wisdom in saying that Japan’s Warring States Period was all about village warfare, and that’s right. It is true that many of the so-called joint war parties only have a thousand men in total, and the number of hand-to-hand combat may not exceed 200. This ubiquitous reality can please the wise people of heaven.

Since the Onin Civilization Chaos in Japan, continuous wars have swept across the country. Despite the fact that the Yamana clan and the Hosokawa clan each had their own friends and companions at the beginning, hundreds of thousands of people gathered outside Kyoto to come and go. As mentioned above, many of the early battles were indeed quite small, and more of them were group fights.

But things are different now. After decades of violent or not violent annexation wars, powerful daimyo have basically appeared in each territorial country. Even the Ise Kingdom and Yue China, known as small warring states, have gradually transformed from the coexistence of powerful powers into a situation where two tigers are fighting or a tripartite confrontation.

The powerful Nizi clan even served as the governor of the Eleven Kingdoms of Yin and Yang (no less than one-sixth of the famous sects in the temple). For example, the Otomo clan will soon pacify Kitakyushu and serve as the Kyushu expedition. The Takeda clan will also serve as the governor. For example, the Shimazu clan, a father and son of three generations, shouldered the responsibility of guardian of the three kingdoms of Satsuma Ohsumi and Hyuga.

Almost all daimyo began to transform from the guardian daimyo of the shogunate to the daimyo of the Warring States Period, and began to directly control everything in their own territories. Eliminate the old loose feudal dependence system and replace it with a new, more centralized model.

In this regard, Yamauchi Yoshiharu also followed the trend. Most of the Yamauchi retainers began to gather in Fuzhong City to serve together (this was the most important part in the separation of soldiers and peasants, and also the order for retainers to gather and live). This also resulted in Fuzhong City having thousands of standing ashigaru and samurai all year round. If you are attacked, you can immediately form an army to fight back.

On the other hand, the Yamauchi family relied on the status of the Ashikaga Shogun clan (a clan, not a clan), and such a noble family character to suppress the power of the temple community within their territory, and all the local tycoons were officialized. Further control the lower class peasants into the hands of the daimyo.

The entire territory has become a low-speed war machine, and everyone must obey the orders of Yamauchi Yoshiharu. Even the Hosokawa Spring Palace, who entered the country together with the old Hosokawa clan, only had the right to make suggestions and information. The prestige and power of the daimyo increased unprecedentedly.

At the same time, Yamauchi Yoshiharu had no other bad habits except for marrying many young wives. There are almost no extravagant hobbies. The money he gained from plundering the people and merchants was used to arm his own army. Tea ceremony, waka, haiku, and painting were all things Yamauchi Yoshiharu learned in Kyoto, but he never indulged in these extracurricular activities that cost money to hold.

Even his son Yamauchi Yoshikatsu would be moved for 200 kan, and he would not throw away the faded old clothes he wore. The whole family was willing to be thrifty. There is quite a bit of an image in which other people’s treasures are tea utensils and famous swords, while mine are five hundred loyal and brave samurai. (Don’t say that I copied the old turtle Tokugawa Ieyasu. Those daimyo who are reluctant to spend money on their own efforts will not be happy in the end. Even the Shimazu family did not build gorgeous gates, but kept their money. The anecdote about the favor of the samurai. That is to say, the rise of tea ceremony activities later made it seem that everyone was keen on this kind of money-making activity. In fact, it was used as an excuse to hold small group gatherings to get to know people and discuss things.)

However, as the lowest-ranking samurai with a salary of fifteen guan and a salary of fifteen guan, Xiaoheita felt that it would be perfect if he could make a good salted fish every day. What do these major world events have to do with Xiao Pingtai? How can he compare with those big guys who can stir up trouble in three or five days after traveling through time.

Some people even wiped out an army of 450 million in a blink of an eye (this number is probably a clerical error by an author, but the level of care is really not worth mentioning), and there are also some time-traveling bosses who get a few small tycoons to force them casually. You can get 50,000 guan (I'm talking about you, the male protagonist is Akechi so-and-so). It only costs 10,000 guan to build a Sakamoto Castle. How can you, a few rich people with thousands of dan, come up with 50,000 guan? If you drag the whole family to sell them in the red light district, they will not be able to make the money even after three lifetimes of selling them.

Xiaoping Tai cursed various "big guys" and returned to Zixiaoji Zhai in Fuzhong City with Koichiro. Xiao Pingtai even pretended to say that this big house was given to our Zixiaolu family by our lord back then. It was big and strong.

Although it is not Kobayata's own, men are somewhat vain, right? It is rare to bring a friend home, so at least he wants to look good on the surface.

Uncle Tsunayoshi happened to be back, so he invited Koichiro to dinner. As for the more than 50 people bought, I am sorry, I can't support them. Except for a man with a pair of children, all of them were sent to Jinshan to work. When the season settles down, they will be allowed to write letters back to find their families to redeem them.

The three who stayed behind were a father in his early thirties with a thirteen-year-old son and an eight-year-old daughter. As for his wife, she was separated by the Hojo army when they fled, and no one knew who she was sold to.

The man was called Shinroku and was assigned by Kobayata to return to the riverside village. Someone was needed to clean and take care of the house there. There were also some fields in front of and behind the house, and some things could be grown, not only enough for Shinroku himself to eat, but also enough to send some to the city. (It is also convenient for him to see his children regularly.) The little boy is called Aji, and he is just the right age to be Koyata's attendant. The little girl is called Kono, and she is sent directly to the wives of his uncle to be a maid. After all, the youngest wife was robbed and did not bring a maid.

Koyata thought to himself, I am also a person with an attendant who leads the horse and carries straw sandals. Aji, if you work hard, you may be a good Toyotomi Hideyoshi in thirty years, hehehe.

Anyway, I can feed the whole family by myself. It is impossible to support a retainer with a salary of 30 kanwen. It is not a big deal to support a retainer who does not need to be paid. Bringing Aji home and placing him in the long house where the servants live is also a good place for him.

As for Koichiro and Koyata, after having dinner with Uncle Tsunayoshi, they stayed at Koyata's house for two more days. Then they were ready to leave. Although Koyata felt that Koichiro was actually quite reliable, he certainly could not support a retainer, so he wanted to introduce him to Tsunayoshi. But after a few days, Tsunayoshi didn't mean to do that.

The three of them actually sat down and talked. When Koichiro described the battle of Kamiryu River, he was clear and well-organized. When he talked about the way to make money with Kobayata, he also had some unique insights.

Even Tsunayoshi's uncle thought that Koichiro's words were very good, and he even clapped his hands from time to time. However, Tsunayoshi's uncle never mentioned the words to keep Koichiro, and Kobayata couldn't make the decision for him.

So Kobayata finally gave Koichiro 20 kanwen as capital, and jokingly said to him: "Koichiro, if you become successful in the future, I will go to you for help."

Koichiro also smiled and said: "When you become successful in the Yamauchi family in the future, I will come to serve you immediately, you can't break your promise."

"It's a deal!" The two smiled at each other, and after saying goodbye to each other, Kobayata stuffed a letter into Koichiro's hand and said goodbye.

After a few days on the road, Xiaoyilang finally remembered to open the letter. Inside was a letter written by Xiao Pingtai after his desire to travel through time broke out, asking him to seek refuge with Kinoshita Tokichiro in Nakamura Township, Aichi County (at this time, he was probably just a low-ranking infantryman).

Xiaoyilang scratched his head, feeling a little confused. He thought to himself: Kinoshita Tokichiro is my elder brother from the branch family, why should I seek refuge with him?

(Very lame, I kneel down to apologize!)

There are more than 130,000 manuscripts in stock. As long as I can maintain the current ranking, there will definitely be five chapters next Tuesday. In addition, today is the Chinese Valentine's Day, I am very sorry, it is very likely that this chapter will only have more than 3,000 words.