On the afternoon of June 14, after lunch, Asahina Taihiro set off in a hurry again, heading towards Takake Castle in the northeast. Before leaving Chiri Castle, Yu Qiuping boarded the north gate of Chiri Castle. The north gate had collapsed due to disrepair.
Half of the people in the surrounding castle towns even put their goods on the north gate. Not all cities in Japan have gate towers like Chinese cities, and this collapsed north gate does not have one.
So he could only stand on the wall of the north gate and stand on tiptoe to cross the castle tower in the center of the city and barely take a look at the barracks in the south of the city.
Suddenly, a touch of joy flashed across his face, and his eyes brightened up. On the roof of the dormitory in the center of the barracks, dozens of people were using the posture of stacking Arhats to lift a person up to a height where he could see the North City Gate.
place. As slaves, they were not qualified to see Yu Qiuping off and could only watch Yu Qiuping leave in this way. Yu Qiuping took a closer look and saw that the person standing on the top of the Arhat pile was none other than Gomaezaki Nakahide. The latter was excited after seeing Yu Qiuping.
He waved his hands and then shouted a few words to the people below.
However, before Yu Qiuping could wave goodbye to them, the pile of arhats underneath seemed to gradually shake due to the commotion. In a flash, Omaezaki Nakahide was shaken off the pile of arhats. Yu Qiuping was amused.
Straight music.
"Boy, what are you laughing at? Let's go!" Taehyung Asahina, who had already reached the city gate, shouted to Yu Qiuping. Yu Qiuping waved his hand in the distance again, then got on his horse and left.
After the sun was approaching the west mountain, a group of people rushed to the foot of Takake Castle. The guard of Takake Castle was Imagawa Ieya's old Uden Nagateru, and Asahina Taehyung frowned when he mentioned it.
"What's wrong? Brother, is it someone from the Okabe family again?" asked Yu Qiupei, who was sitting behind Asahina Yasuhiro.
"That's not true, Udono-sama..." Asahina Taehyung scratched his hair, "It's a bit difficult to deal with."
"You actually called him "sir"? Yu Qiuping's eyes widened in surprise, "Don't you call everyone older than you uncle?"
"Um..." Asahina Taehyung shook his head in embarrassment, "This gentleman very... really doesn't like... doesn't like dealing with other people. He has that dead face all day long. He usually doesn't talk to people more than three sentences per sentence.
He usually doesn't speak more than ten words. He has no contact with either the Okabe family or the Asahina family. He just concentrates on his official duties."
"Such an exaggeration!" Yu Qiuping laughed, "Then you still dare to run to Daguaicheng."
"Well, he doesn't really like to meddle in other people's business." Taehyung Asahina explained, "There seems to be no fighting in Tagua City recently, so it's not considered a front line. I didn't break any rules when I came here, so I guess he won't pay attention to me."
Just as Asahina Taihei expected, after the group arrived, Uden Nagateru politely said "welcome" out of respect for the Asahina family, and continued to inspect the military camp without even holding a banquet, leaving Asahina to
Taehyung and others made their own arrangements. Asahina Taehyung changed his usual domineering style and very low-key chose an inn in the castle town outside Takake Castle, obviously not wanting to get in trouble with Uden Nagateru.
"Early the next morning, we will go shopping around the barrel room." Asahina Taehyung was happily introducing his plan to everyone around the table, dancing and pointing to the military map spread on the table, "If the conditions
With permission, I’m going to take a look at Narumi City…”
Just as they were chatting happily, an Imagawa family soldier with the Erbiki family's flag on his back suddenly came in.
"My lords, I'm sorry to bother you, but I'm here on the orders of Udono-sama." The soldier saluted and bowed again to Asahina Taiheng, "My lord said, if Mr. Asahina still wants to continue to Narumi Castle and Da As for Gaocheng, it’s best to forget it.”
"Why is this? Although these two cities are within Owari territory, they are controlled by our Imagawa family." Asahina Taiheng asked in confusion.
"Not long ago, the Oda family sent troops to briefly surround Narumi Castle and Odaka Castle, and built Danxia Village, Zenshoji Village and Nakajima Village under Narumi Castle. They built Jiujin Village and Marune Village under Dagao Castle. With this The five small villages have blocked the grain roads between the two cities. Now the troops are required to escort the grain and grass into the city. There are also many Oda troops around, so it is better to ask you to be careful." After the soldier said these words respectfully, he said to Asahina Taehyung asked, "Do you have any other orders, sir?"
"No, you can go back and tell your elders that I know about it, thank you very much." After saying that, he waved his hand and sent him away.
"Go, why don't you go and take a look at the head office from a distance?" Asahina Taehyung waved his hand dissatisfied, "What's wrong, are you scared?"
"There are troops of the Oda family over there." Yu Qiuping became a little panicked when he thought of the powerful generals of the Oda family. "What should I do if I encounter them?"
"It doesn't matter if you meet us," Asahina Taehyung snorted disdainfully, "With the dozen of us cavalry, the ordinary Ashigaru can't catch up. If you want to catch our Oda family, you must eliminate at least dozens of cavalry. They There are probably more than a hundred cavalry in the whole family. How could they send a quarter just to catch us? Don’t they leave cavalry in other places for investigation?” The more Asahina Yasuhiro said, the more he felt that he made sense, “Even if we encounter a dozen The cavalry, with my ability, there is nothing I can't defeat!"
"That's right, Young Master!" "Aren't we afraid of those Owari guys?" Several other samurai followers heard the words and shouted, but only Yu Qiupei and Kondo Yasuo looked worried.
"But I can't ride a horse," Yu Qiuping said with some fear, "What will happen if I can't run away?"
"You kid, why are you so afraid of danger? You're too cowardly!" Taehyung Asahina glared at him, "Forget it, it's really troublesome not to be able to ride a horse, then you and Kangzhuang will be there at Oehazama Find a village to stay and wait for us, and we will take you with us when we come back." He rolled up the map and put it in his arms. Seeing how casually he treated important things, Yu Qiuping was glad that he didn't fill it all The address paper was given to him for safekeeping, but he placed it at the inn in Dagua City.
Early the next morning, just after breakfast, Asahina Taiheng and his party hurriedly rode out of Takake Castle. After the group dropped Yu Qiupei and Kondo Yasuo in a small village near Okezama, they He ran towards Narumi Castle again. Ame Qiupei Qian warned Asahina Taehyung to be careful, but the latter obviously didn't take it to heart.
Yu Qiuping and Kondo Yasuo stayed at a farmer's house for a while. The enthusiastic hostess made a fairly sumptuous lunch for the two of them. There were several bowls of millet and two pickled cucumbers. This was not enough for an ordinary farmer's family. It was already very difficult. Feeling guilty, Yu Qiuping wanted to give the hostess more money, but the hostess refused to accept it.
The farmer's family has lived here in Owari for several generations. In addition to the mistress and the man, there are also two little girls. One is five years old and the other is seven years old. The mistress is already twenty-six this year, although she is not beautiful.
, but Yu Qiuping always felt that she looked more comfortable than those wealthy women in Junfu City who were thickly rouged, sickly, and dressed in fancy clothes.
"Hey, we have been fighting for years, and we still don't know what the end is," the hostess complained while watching the two children eating rice. "We have been fighting here for decades. We have been catching young men and collecting rent every year.
Let’s not let anyone live.”
"Nuo, adults, look," the hostess pointed to the mostly deserted paddy field outside the window, "originally, it was a place where dozens of families in our village farmed together. As a result, twenty people have escaped so far.
There are only a few families left, and we are the only ones still farming here."
"Why are you all leaving your hometown? Where have you fled to?" Yu Qiuping asked doubtfully.
"Hey, don't mention it. They probably all fled to Sanhe Mainland. But life is not easy in the Mainland." The hostess took a mouthful of food with a sad face, "Saburo's family next door originally only had three boys, and they were all taken away.
The Oda family was captured and taken away, leaving only an old woman and her two daughters-in-law. Later, all three boys died in the battle, and the old woman ran away with her two daughters-in-law and a grandson."
"My father-in-law was also captured by the Imagawa family to be a young man, and he never came back. Fortunately, my husband's right leg is somewhat disabled, and the military men of the Oda family and Imagawa family looked down upon us, so they let us go.
.”
The so-called capture of young men means that when a certain family's army sends out troops, if the ashiqing who is responsible for carrying grain and other logistical work is not enough, they will randomly capture men from the passing territory. This situation is particularly common in small forces like the Oda family. It originally occupied three
The Oda family, with a territory of more than 100,000 koku, can mobilize more than 9,000 ashigaru from the territory according to military service, of which 6,000 are responsible for baggage. However, the Oda family's continuous wars for decades have left a serious shortage of adult men. In order to maintain 3,000 soldiers
The number of soldiers had to be temporarily recruited from the border villages.
"Every year, most of the harvest is taxed. Now the Imagawa family is doing better, but the rent collected by the Oda family was not very heavy before." The hostess sighed again, "Life is not easy.
I haven’t bought any new clothes for my children in several years. The second child can wear the leftovers of the eldest daughter, but my eldest daughter wears clothes that are one size smaller.”
"It's okay, good days will come," Yu Qiuping comforted him. At the same time, he quietly stuffed a few copper coins into the little girl's hand and made a silent gesture to her. "When the Imagawa family kills Owari, here
There will be no more wars."
"Thank you, sir," the hostess said with a smile because of her beautiful vision for the future. "Please eat more."