In the first month of the third year of Eiroku, officials from the Kasugayama Castle gathered to celebrate the most important festival of the year. At the Zhengdan court meeting, Kiragi announced the shogunate's reward to Uesugi Teruhora with great enthusiasm. Ashikaga is another one of the four high-ranking samurai families. In the family, his official position ranks fourth after the governor and Murakami Yoshikiyo. Murakami Yoshikiyo was already the fourth major general of the Sakonoe three decades ago.
In addition, the person who was promoted to a high-ranking official was Namioka Tōfō. Because he was born in the public minister system, his official position was promoted very quickly this time. He was directly promoted from the fifth-ranked attendant to the fourth-ranked Ukon. Major General Wei became the fourth retainer to obtain the four-position format. From the perspective of the retainer group, apart from the shogunate, there was no rival to the Ashikaga family.
Mogami Yoshimitsu's official position was also announced, and as expected, he was awarded the hereditary service position of Dewa Tenten, and the imperial court gave him the right of five Ukyo doctors. Although the imperial court had some indiscriminate treatment of Ukyo doctors and the official position was seriously devalued, but Having this title is much better than not having one. The effects of a penniless wealthy family gaining Dr. Ukyo and his Dewa Question are completely different things. The former is still a penniless wealthy family, while the latter can use this name to rule the people of the country.
Mogami Yoshimitsu has been very happy in the past few months. Although Kasugayama is not half as high as Mount Kazuoka in Dewa Province, Kasugayama Castle is bigger than he imagined. It is bigger than all the cities in Dewa Country. The entire mountain is covered by this It is shrouded in a majestic city, and the five-story castle is unique in Kanto. Mogami Yoshimitsu can call Kasugayama Castle the most majestic city in the world without any politeness.
Here for the first time he understood the difference between earth fortresses, stone walls and city walls. For the first time he saw arrows and sculls with a composite structure of earth, wood and stone. For the first time he saw the changing of the guard and the strict handover process of warriors on duty. Every time there was a change, The posts required signatures and paintings, and the novel buildings and neat and tall walls made him see for the first time that a fortified city could be built like this.
What surprised him most was the huge city under Kasugayama Castle. He had never been to Kyoto and didn't know what the so-called city looked like, but when he first set foot on the land of Naoejin Port, he was struck by this. The bustling traffic and people shocked me deeply. Naojiangjin Port has dozens of large and small piers, and thousands of ships of different sizes are moored in them.
The entire coast of Naoetsu is surrounded by this large port. The long journey from the port to Kasugayama Castle is lined with countless towns. The astonishing speed of urbanization opened Mogami Yoshimitsu's eyes. He just A simple calculation can easily lead to the conclusion that the total number of towns in all the cities and ports in Dewa Province is not as large as that of Naoetsu.
Only later did he learn that Naoejin was not just one town, but was seamlessly connected to Kasugayama Castle Town, forming a super urban agglomeration extending from the lower reaches of Sekikawa River to Naoetsu. In terms of urban area, it surpassed Sakai Town and Rakuchu. It is comparable to Kyoto Town. The city area is approximately equivalent to the combined size of Sakamoto Town, Katsuda Town, and Otsu Town. There are more than 200,000 permanent residents living in the city.
The urban agglomeration is very vast and grand, but because the geographical location is too remote, it cannot have the strong appeal of Sakai Town, Kyoto Town, and Sakamoto Town. The economic level is also much worse than these relatively more mature cities. It is only a relatively secondary city. The first-level Dongguo maritime transportation hub configuration has improved its status many times compared to its previous status as just one of several Hokuriku ports.
It is said that the ships stopped in the port are business travelers from Kyushu, Saigoku, Kinai, Hokuriku, Yuo, and even Kanto. Benefiting from the favorable stimulus of the Kiragi period, which abolished customs duties and cut exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes, business travelers from various places Everyone likes to berth in this emerging port, and many bulk cargoes are scheduled to be traded and transferred here.
All legitimate business activities will be protected by the Kira family's force, and there is no need to pay any compensation to Kira Zeuai. The Kira navy will also maintain the maritime traffic safety of Hokuriku and Tohoku for free. Ships traveling on this route frequently You will encounter free escorts from the Kira navy during patrols, and you will also receive free rescue when encountering a shipwreck.
The Kira family's good reputation ensures that free trade can get huge support here. Biwaya is the general agent that monopolizes Hokuriku and Yuyo. All business travelers who want to travel on this route will be Biwaya's customers. I heard that In Shimotsu, a Niigata Town is being built that is no less large than Naoetsu. That Niigata Town has quietly gathered a permanent population of 50,000, and may catch up with Naoetsu's status in another ten years.
Mogami Yoshimitsu somewhat understands why Echigo is so developed. It is a territorial country with a permanent population of nearly 800,000. The number of business travelers who stay briefly in Echigo every day is stable between 70,000 and 100,000. It also has vast farmland. and more hard-working farmers, but he still didn't understand how he achieved this, and what kind of legend the man who created an Echigo miracle in less than ten years would be.
Here he met several people of the same age who had a good relationship with him. They were Nagano Yaguru, the lord of Ueno Kunitaka Castle, Nobuzada Kobata, the lord of Kunamine Castle, and the slightly older lord of Wada Castle, Wada Yasushige, and Anzaka Castle lord An. Naka Tadashi, this group of young people wandered outside Kasugayama Castle all day long to hunt hawks, and they did not forget to take their hounds to catch prey on heavy snowy days. Mogami Yoshimitsu met them while hunting hawks.
When meeting the same young samurai in the wilderness, they can't help but become companions. In addition, people of the same age can always find similar topics to talk about, especially most of them are lively and active young people. They talk about eagle hunting, martial arts and brag about the battles they have participated in. , slowly attracted Yoshimitsu Mogami to discuss it, and from their mouths Yoshimitsu Mogami learned many legendary stories about the generals in the family.
For example, Saito Nobunobu, who is also known as the Ghost King and is also known as Zhong Kui, not only bravely champions the three armies but also has an astonishing ability to command troops. Another example is Kakizaki Keie, the strongest general in the seven counties of Echigo in the previous generation. Believing not to be too willing to give in, the two joined forces in Echichu. Kaga used the ghosts and cries that he had always killed. As many as ten thousand people died directly and indirectly at the hands of the two. The Echigo cavalry led by the two was called invincible. Black Dragoon.
Another example is the unparalleled military strategy of Uesugi Terutora, the Dragon of Echigo. He has not suffered a single defeat in the fifteen years since he launched his army. He is regarded as the undefeated god of the Northern Army and is a samurai worshiped by countless samurai throughout the Kira family. He set an example. In addition, Yukitaka Masada's military, intellectual, and political strategies were considered the top generals of the Eastern Kingdom.
In his hands, the 17,000-strong Shinano Nationalist Army became as powerful as the Eastern Kingdom's first-class army. It was able to crush the same number of Takeda Army elites to the point where they couldn't breathe. If it weren't for Takeda Nobushige, he would have been able to compete with Sanada. A heroic figure worthy of Yukitaka, maybe Kai's kingdom has been easily broken by Yukitaka Sanada.
As well as Murakami Yoshikiyo, who lost twice in a row to Takeda Shingen and brought serious disasters to the Takeda family. This Shinano general's military strategy is very high. Not long after joining the Kira family's account, he took on the front line of attacking the Takeda family. , withstood the fierce attacks of the Takeda Army in the two battles of Kawanakajima, showing the world that he was not only good at attacking but also good at defending.
Of course, they also brag about the martial prowess of the Ueno people. Nagano Yimasa's military strategy is no less than that of Murakami Yoshikiyo, and is even better in terms of intelligence and strategy. Ueizumi Hidetsuna's military bravery can be compared with Kakizaki Keie and Saito Asanobu. On a par with each other, infantry warfare may be even better. The only difference is that the military strategy of the unified army is still far inferior.
In addition, there are also the strongest generals of the younger generation who have to be mentioned, Takigawa Tokimasu, known as the Four Heavenly Kings of Kira, Shima Tokikatsu, Honjo Shigenaga, Nagasaka Nobumasa, as well as Watanabe Moritsuna, Naga who has not been assigned a number. Osadaharu, Honda Masashige and others. Obata Nobusada also boasted that he was as brave as the following people, and said that Nagano Yaguru had the military ingenuity to win without going to the island, etc.
Mogami Yoshimitsu was very interested in these new partners, and took the initiative to mention the bravery and wisdom of several samurai in Dewa Kingdom. However, there were too few celebrities in Dewa Kingdom, and most of the samurai were ordinary people. Compared with the generals, the stars were brighter. The people of Echigo, Shinano, and Ueno were still far behind. Of course, they also talked about the most legendary person, and the person who everyone admired and admired, Ashikaga Kamisaburo Yoshitoki.
His legendary stories were compiled into stories by monkey musicians and were widely circulated among the people, from Uao in the north to Kyushu in the south, from high-ranking nobles to common people at dawn. Everyone as old as an octogenarian and as young as a three-foot-old child knows his name. His life energy is called his. His career of more than ten years is more bizarre than that of Minamoto Yoshitsune. His martial arts is higher than that of Minamoto Yoritomo. He has experienced dozens of large and small battles in more than ten years since he entered Luo at the age of nine without ever being defeated. And he has repeatedly staged shocking reversals in which he defeated the large with the small and the weak defeated the strong. His military strategy, bravery, wisdom and political strategy are all at the top level in the world.
What’s even more rare is that he loves Kyoto culture. He received a standard minister-style education since he was a child. He has a standard Kyoto accent. He wears hunting clothes and a black hat and holds a bat fan. He is also handsome, knowledgeable and talented, just like the Hikaru Genji recorded in "The Tale of Genji". , the perfect man template for countless girls.
It is said that many young women in Echigo were fascinated by Kira Yoshitoki's story, but it seemed that the person involved had no idea it would have such a big impact. Mogami Yoshimitsu found it interesting and started chatting with them. It took a few people to figure out that Mogami Yoshimitsu's identity was actually the newly minted family elder. They immediately stopped playing and worshiped Mogami Yoshimitsu, who was very disappointed.
Several young people said that they had not expected his identity, thinking that he was the heir apparent of an ordinary samurai family in Echigo who was out hunting with his horsemen. They were not native samurai from Echigo. Echigo samurai are now branched out in several territories. All the generals in the country would only gather at Kasugayama Castle to celebrate the festival in the first month of every year, so so far they have not been able to recognize all the samurai families of Echigo. I am really sorry for mistaking Mogami Yoshimitsu.
Because of the special identity of Mogami Yoshimitsu, these few partners who were very likely to become close friends ended up being nothing. Since ancient times, it has been said that there is a distinction between superiority and inferiority. He can really be called a tall, rich and handsome man, and he always receives the envious looks of countless people when walking on the streets of Kasugayama Castle.
However, they were still far behind in front of the real nobles, and could not safely maintain the calmness and skill before. What they feared was not Mogami Yoshimitsu himself, but the order of the martial arts of this era, and the origin of the order of the martial arts could be traced back further.
The court rules of the early Heian period, Nara period, and Asuka period.
The feudal system was not an original creation of the samurai family. What Minamoto Yoritomo did was to suddenly elevate the status of the samurai from the emperor and the minister's lackey to a noble class that could truly be compared with the public family. The feudal system changed from the tribal clan system. It was the Asuka Period.
After experiencing great reforms and introducing the advanced and perfect Tang Empire culture, this country, which had just emerged from the clan and tribal system, seemed to have stepped into the model of the Tang Dynasty.
In fact, this is not the case. The remnants of the clan and tribal system still remain. In order to appease the leaders of the big clans in various places, Emperor Tenmu of the Asuka Period initially set up the eight-colored surnames to be enfeoffed as rewards. The royal family was regarded as the real person, and the leaders of the big clans in various places were regarded as courtiers.
, Su Ni, Ji Cun, and smaller tribes have the surnames Taoist, Chen, Lian, and Daozhi.
Later, during the Nara period, the imperial court became increasingly powerful, and the eight-colored surname system was gradually abolished. Until the early Heian period, the four major courtier surname systems of Genpei and Fujitachi were gradually formed, with the surnames of courtiers as the main ones. Among them, the courtiers of the two Genpei families were descended from the imperial family, and the Fuji family came from
A direct descendant of Kamazu, the Nakatoshi who controlled the government, the Tachibana family has a wide range of origins, mainly the emperor's lucky ministers.
After experiencing the prosperous and splendid Heian period, the civilization of Kyoto has been able to keep up with the first-line level of the Central Plains dynasty. However, after leaving Kyoto, it is still the era of barbaric and ignorant clans and tribes. That is why the public minister Shimo Xiangyuan mentioned in "The Tale of Genji" appeared.
Kunai is the exile of losers in political struggles, just like Fujiwara Manatsu in the Yakoko Incident.
It was only after the Southern and Northern Dynasties that we completely got rid of the shadow of clan tribalism. The Genpei era was actually a cake-sharing act for the emerging aristocratic group to challenge the old aristocratic group. The noble race of the Genji, which has been highly praised by martial arts families all over the world for hundreds of years, is actually to safeguard their interests.
As the supreme leader, Taira Kiyomori was unwilling to do it, so he was abandoned by the samurai family and ended up being exterminated. Minamoto Yoritomo was willing to do it, so he became the general who conquered the barbarians. The same is true for Ashikaga Takauji.
Nagano Yago pulled the reluctant Obata Nobusada away, and a friendship that was destined to be fruitless ended prematurely. Mogami Yoshimitsu returned to Kasugayama Castle with some regrets. When he walked to the mountainside and looked at the evening that was getting darker,
Thousands of lights have been quietly lit in the bustling city at the foot of the mountain, and the bright lights illuminate the dim night. Only at this moment do you realize how powerful Echigo is.
Looking at the brightly lit night scene, and occasionally recalling the sound of firecrackers, Mogami Yoshimitsu hesitated and said: "How on earth did His Highness Kōkata turn this small port on the border of Hokuriku into the world in just a few years?"
What about the numerous maritime transportation hubs? It is astonishing to say that there are 200,000 non-agricultural population in this territory alone, which is almost half of the total population of Hazen. However, Echigo has always suppressed this amazing news and kept silent.
To make a fortune, what is His Highness’s ambition?”
ps: Thanks to the book friend for the really hard-to-use reward.
