When he first entered, Matsuda Kenhide did not see Zhao Ran's face clearly in the interview hall of Hayakawa's residence. In fact, except for Kumamoto Kazuki, all the family members, samurai and priests who came to visit could not see clearly.
From the moment they got to Geta, they crawled on the ground and crawled in. Their foreheads basically never left the ground. They could only see a vague outline from the corner of their eyes - Zhao Taidian was sitting on the table in front of him.
after.
The person who spoke on behalf of Zhao Taidian was a Taoist priest named Zhou. After a long speech, Kazuma Kumamoto, who was given the honorary treatment at the front, translated. He basically asked them to work hard to reform the garrison in Kanto.
Then prove yourself.
Zhou Daochang also announced that Kazukuma Kumamoto will serve as the commander of the Kanto garrison, Ujizawa, the former Hojo family member, will serve as the commanding officer, and the remaining 1,000 households of each battalion will be served by the samurai and priests present. Some priests will serve as 1,000 households, and a corresponding officer will be assigned.
A samurai serves as a tester of a thousand households. Some samurai serve as a tester of a thousand households, and a priest is assigned to serve as a tester of a thousand households.
Matsuda Kenhide was appointed to Senhu, the third battalion of the Kanto Garrison Army, and his partner was a minor priest named Kimura. Kimura was Kwon Nei in the original shrine system, two ranks lower than Kumamoto Kazuma.
Throughout the whole process, Matsuda Kenhide didn't think too much. He was just surrendering to the enemy in order to survive. This process also made Matsuda Kenhide very ashamed and frustrated. The reason why he didn't dare to raise his head partly stemmed from this.
After Zhou Daozhang announced the appointment, he handed a thick stack of letters of appointment to Kumamoto Kazuma. Kumamoto Kazuma asked everyone to sit up and distributed them to everyone one by one, two copies per person. A clerk came in and gave them pen and ink for them to write before the appointment.
Sign the petition.
Everyone here knows some literacy. Although they don’t understand the language of the Ming Dynasty, the words are almost exactly the same, using Chinese characters. Matsuda Kenhide glanced at the letter of appointment and felt much better. With this letter of appointment in hand,
It showed that they were not temporary, but permanent. With their background, they were officially recognized. So he solemnly wrote his name on the signature line and pressed his fingerprints.
After signing the letters of appointment, they were handed over to Kazuma Kumamoto. Everyone thought it was over. Unexpectedly, Kazuma Kumamoto solemnly held the collected letters of appointment and placed them respectfully on Zhao Taidian's desk.
Kumamoto knelt down on the side of the table, opened the letter of appointment, and handed it to Zhao Taidian, who picked up a pen and started to sign the letter of appointment.
Seeing this scene, everyone's blood surged instantly, their faces turned red, and they stared dumbly at Zhao Taidian on the desk, all in disbelief - Zhao Taidian wanted to recognize his retainer!
After Zhao Taiden signed a document, Kumamoto Kazukuma read out a person's name, and the person whose name was read came to the case to receive the letter of appointment. When he read Matsuda Kenhide's name, his mind was still blank, and he was at a loss.
Subconsciously, he knelt down and buried his head deeply on the ground.
Kumamoto Kazuma reminded: "Xianxiu, raise your head and connect."
Matsuda Kenhide quickly raised his head and saw Zhao Taidian taking one of the signed letters of appointment and handing it to him. He took it at a loss and held it in front of his chest. Suddenly he saw Zhao Taidian reaching out again, and Matsuda Kenhide quickly imitated the person in front of him.
He held his hand up and followed Zhao Taidian to shake it.
Kumamoto Kazuma translated Zhao Taidian's words: "My lord, please serve the Ming Dynasty and the Kanto garrison."
Matsuda Kenhide nodded: "Yes, I will." After saying that, he buried his head deeply, his forehead touched the floor for a long time, and added: "Serve His Excellency Taizhengdian!" Then he gave up his position.
Returning to the hall, Matsuda Kenhide pressed the letter of appointment tightly to his heart, and suddenly he couldn't help crying. Not only he cried, but all those who had received the letter of appointment cried, crying with joy. At this moment, Matsuda Kenhide
There is only one thought in my mind: From now on, I, Matsuda Kenhide, will be the retainer of the Zhao family!
The next day, Matsuda Kenhide, the newly appointed Senhu of the Third Battalion of the Kanto Garrison Army, came to the base of the wall. Also coming with him was Kimura, the test Sentou. They were ordered to select their men. Matsuda Kenhide mainly selected sergeants, and Kimura
The main task is to select priests. Under the new garrison system, warriors and priests will form the backbone of the army and will no longer be separated and used separately.
A battalion of the Kanto Garrison Army has five teams, each team has 100 people, and the whole battalion has more than 500 people. Matsuda Kenhide mainly selects among his familiar old subordinates. Of course, he also pays attention to recruiting samurai. Every time he selects a person, he must
The other party swore an oath to be loyal to the Ming Dynasty and Zhao Taidian. Those who were unwilling to swear would continue to be prisoners and were to be sent to mines. Only those who had sworn the oath could join the garrison.
Among the samurai and priests, not many are willing to swear an oath, about one-third, and ordinary ashigaru are more common. Seven or eight out of ten are willing to swear an oath. Soldiers can easily be gathered, but the samurai and the backbone of officers are
It was difficult to find a priest, so it took two days of hard work to set up the third battalion.
The Kanto garrison did not have time to rest and practice. They had just pulled up twenty battalions and were ordered to march to Edo. Before departure, Kumamoto Kazuma summoned thousands of households in each battalion and tried thousands of households. He loudly told these garrison troops
Officer: "Can you bring the garrison to Edo intact? This is the first battle of our garrison. Only if this first battle is qualified can we be qualified to fight the second battle. As your lord's retainers, we must not
It's embarrassing for you. After three days, the garrison must be brought to Edo Castle. If any battalion is scattered or gone, you can commit seppuku. For this reason, I will give you ten quotas for each battalion and the quota for attrition.
.But these ten places must not be taken away, there is only one way to reduce the number of people, beheading!"
According to the order, Matsuda Kenhide's third battalion set off behind the second battalion, two moments apart from the second battalion. This was to ensure that each battalion leader could easily identify who he belonged to after running away. Kumamoto Ichi
Before setting off, Xiong also added a military order: Any deserter found at the head of another camp can be beheaded immediately, and after the beheading, he will be rewarded with a thousand coins!
Matsuda Kenhide announced these military disciplines before setting off, and then said seriously: "Gentlemen, I don't want to kill anyone, and please don't force me to kill anyone, please!"
Matsuda Kenhide didn't want to kill anyone, but the third battalion was still beheaded five times. It wasn't Matsuda who did it, but Chito Kimura's. The mountain ghosts he summoned killed five ashigaru who tried to escape, and took them off.
He took his head off, and then said sincerely to Matsuda Kenhide: "Senhu-sama, as a retainer of His Excellency Taidian, you cannot be soft-hearted. Being soft-hearted to a few people is to be cruel to the entire battalion."
Matsuda Kenhide accepted Kimura's euphemistic criticism with shame: "I remember, thanks to Kimura-kun this time, please remind Kimura-kun more in the future."
The Kanto garrison arrived at Edo Castle on time on the third day. The city gate had long been broken by the Ming army, but the Ming army had not yet entered the city. Kumamoto Kazuma summoned the garrison officers and said: "Gentlemen, our first battle is very soon.
All goes well, next is the second battle, why didn’t the Ming army enter the city? They are testing our garrison troops, whether we can become an outstanding garrison soldier depends on this second battle."