"These famous losers have been fighting for hundreds of years, but they haven't found a reason. They only try their best to increase taxes. The six publics, four citizens, seven publics and three citizens are constantly increasing, and the middle and lower class Wu families have already been miserable.
Hojo Ujiyasu really grasped their sore spot, no wonder they desperately wanted to resist, and surrendered and rebelled again whenever they had the chance."
Of course, the Kanto strategy with Yoshigan's participation would not be like Terutora Uesugi who only cared about killing. He ordered Momochi Santafu to collect a large amount of intelligence on the Kanto Plain.
The execution office of Daxiong Chaoxiu's family seemed to have tasted the benefits of the previous dispute over buying and grabbing grain, and began to study this information to win the admiration of the master.
This also provided another angle for Uesugi Teruhora and Shiba Yoshigan to have a more comprehensive understanding of the disputes in the Kanto Plain.
With the defeat of the Ryogamisugi family, the new Kanto general Ashikaga Yoshiji devoted himself to making a living with the Hojo family. Hojo Ujiyasu had already occupied a dominant position in the Kanto plain, and each family surrendered one after another.
And she is not satisfied with this kind of surrender in terms of title, she wants to turn this advantage into the strength of the Hojo family and truly lead the Kanto samurai family within its sphere of influence.
The Kanto samurai have been fighting for hundreds of years, and those who survive are not good ones. They have discovered Hojo Ujiyasu's intentions.
In the past, the Kanto Shoguns, the Yamauchi-Uesugi family, the Ogidani-Uesugi family, and other parties fought in chaos. Whoever won the battle would fly the banner of that family, and how to live their small lives behind closed doors.
This practice of changing the King's flag at the top of the city obviously couldn't fool Hojo Ujiyasu. She really started to deal with these capricious Kanto samurai families.
Starting from the core territory of Hojo in Izu and Sagami states, Hojo Ujiyasu continued to improve the new internal affairs system and gradually introduced new policies to the Musashi Kingdom within his sphere of influence.
Hojo Ujiyasu's method is very simple, that is, the upper class leads the nationalization, and the lower class makes more profits.
For the time being, her policy is only within Musashi, targeting powerful military families such as Ota and Narita from upper-class families, using territorialization to weaken their control over their own territories.
As for the lower-class warriors such as the village servants and other lower-class warriors, they used the tax system of lowering land taxes, improving house-dividing money, and suspending money to win over them.
The Hojo family's four public servants and six common people were a unique act of kindness among Kanto samurai families. This benevolent policy alone was very popular among the middle and lower classes.
Household money is a poll tax anchored by houses, and hanging money is a temporary additional tax. The systematization of these two taxes makes the lower-level Ji warriors even more grateful.
After paying taxes, the middle- and lower-class Wu families will no longer face the inexplicable increase in levies again and again, the despair of having to pay new taxes even though they have already paid taxes.
The improvement of the tax system has at least alleviated half of the tax pressure on the servants in the hinterlands directly under the Hojo family. Of course they will support the Hojo family.
Hojo Ujiyasu knew very well that the famous families in Kanto looked down on the recent outsiders and pretended to be Ise girls with the name Hojo.
But the middle- and lower-class samurai families don't care. They have been exploited and harmed in the hundreds of years of war. They are the group of people who want stability most, and they are the ones the Hojo family has been wooing.
Therefore, it is a false proposition that the Hojo family is unpopular in the Kanto Plain.
Although most of the upper-class samurai families dislike the Hojo family and are afraid of their infiltration into their territory, among the middle and lower classes, there are quite a few Hime warriors who are close to the Hojo family.
This also led to a phenomenon, that is, the family governor was against the Hojo family, and the retainers group forced the family governor to support the Hojo family. Once the two sides could not reach an agreement, civil strife would break out.
The Numata family is an example.
The family governor supported the Uesugi family, and the young master was supported by the retainers to support the Hojo family. Then the two sides fought and civil strife broke out.
The Numata retainers would rather ask Hojo Ujiyasu for an heir and let the heir of the Hojo family take the title of Numata Miao as successor, rather than give in.
From this we can see how effective Hojo Ujiyasu's benevolent government was in wining over the middle and lower classes.
Yiyin said worriedly.
"Even if we help Numata Kenyasu regain control of the Numata family, how long can she control the Numata family?
We cannot place our hopes on this crazy family superintendent who killed two women in a row. Otherwise, sooner or later, the Numata family will be in chaos."
Teruhora Uesugi nodded.
"I understand, but we don't have time.
Akita's Kanto strategy is on the line and has to be launched. Even if Numata Kenyasu is a pig, I must give her a hand now.
Let’s wait until the dust of the Autumn Queen’s War is settled before we talk about anything else. The Numata family’s affairs must be properly resolved sooner or later.
Now, I would like you to meet Numata Kenyasu first and calm her down."
Yiyin expressed its approval.
"You're right, that's all we can do for now. Where is she?"
"Waiting outside the government hall, taking the third daughter Numata Kuniken with me."
Yiyin stood up and said.
"Then let's go to the government hall together and give the fugitive governor some peace of mind."
Teruhora Uesugi stood up and said with a smile.
"The humble and trustworthy man is wise."
———
While the Numata family was in turmoil, Terutora Uesugi and Yoshihiro Shiba were worried about whether Echigo Kingdom's access to Ueno Kingdom would be stable in the future.
In Azuma County, west of Numata County in Ueno Province, Sanada Nobushige was released as a chess piece by Yoshigan Shiba.
She has already stretched her arms and run wild, trying to seize this golden opportunity of the Kanto Raiders and climb to a higher position.
Azuma County is divided into east and west parts with Iwaki Castle as its core, with a total of four towns and two villages.
Nishi-Azuma has Naganohara Town, Kusatsu Town, and Tsumagoi Village, Higashi-Azuma has Nakanojo Town, Higashi-Azuma Town, and Takayama Village.
Among them, the Nakanojo Basin in Nakanojo Town and the Azuma River coastal plain in Higashi Azuma Town are the most prosperous.
At this time, in the Naganohara Town of Nishi Agatsuma, a council meeting was about to be held in Feather Castle to decide the future of the Umino clan.
Feather Castle is located in Naganohara Town in the western part of Azuma County, and is the connection point between the two towns and one village in Nishi Agatsuma.
Connecting to Kusatsu Town in the northwest, you can go directly to Iiyama in Hokushin via the Kusatsu Dosan Road, to Fushi, and then to Matsushiro Sanada Nobunshige.
The southwest is connected to Tsumagoi Village, and through Otsusa you can directly reach Matsuo Ancient Castle, which is Sanada Township where the Sanada family is located.
To the east of Naganohara Town, along the mountain valley of the Azuma River, is Iwaki Castle. To the east of Iwaki Castle, is the second town and first village of Higashi Azuma.
Over the past hundreds of years, the Shino clan has immigrated here from the mountainous areas of Toshin and Hokushin, and their descendants have spread throughout the Nishi-Azuma region.
This place is close to the Shinano Mountains, and the land is barren and life is poor. The Nishi Ueno samurai family was unwilling to migrate and stopped at the plains along the Azuma River in Higashi Azuma.
As a result, the Shino clan from the Shinon Mountains took over the Nishi-Azuma area.
Among the three Shino clans who immigrated to Azuma County, the Umino family branch is the most prosperous. Descendants of the Umino family, the Hao and Kamara families, have been fighting for the leadership of the Nishi-Azuma area for many years.
Today, in the name of the head of the Umino clan, Umino Totsuna, the Umio family summoned the local Umino branch relatives to come to Feiwei City to hold a ceremony for the Umio family to inherit the name of Umino.
Outside Yuwei Castle, Yukishige, the governor of the Kamahara clan, who had been fighting with the Yuwei family for many years, pointed to the dilapidated village not far away and smiled at Yukiyuki Sanada, who was coming with him.
"Fortunately, you come to see it. With this shabby place, Feather City dares to seize the title of Umino and call himself the head of the Shino clan.
Do you think it’s funny or not?”
Yukiyuki Sanada smiled calmly.
"You are right. This small town is indeed in need of repairs."
She only talked about the destruction of the city, but didn't mention the Yuwei family, because she didn't want to express her position.
Yukishige Kamahara felt a little dissatisfied. This girl from the Sanada family spoke impeccably, and Masayuki Sanada had trained her well.
