In the early morning of October 12th, in the lobby of Sunpu Castle Castle.
Before Imagawa Yoshimoto arrived, Yu Qiupei was keenly aware that there was a middle-aged man sitting next to Iio Renryu sitting opposite. From the look on Asahina Taehyung's glare at him, it was not difficult to guess that this was betrayal.
Nakayasu Fujita of the Asahina family passed away.
Yu Qiuping looked at Okabe Motobu and others sitting there triumphantly, and couldn't help but smile.
Imagawa Yoshimoto had just arrived, and before Iio Renryu asked Fujita Nakayasu to speak, Asahina Taehiro himself jumped out of the queue, knelt down facing Imakawa Yoshimoto, and kowtowed three times.
"The Asahina family has betrayed the trust of the main hall, and I hope the main hall will punish them!" Asahina Taiheng's words made the people of the Okabe faction at a loss. Yesterday, they had prepared various ways to refute the Asahina family's sophistry, but
Asahina Taehyung admitted his mistake right after he got married. What the hell is that?
"Oh? Asahina, please continue." Imagawa Yoshimoto raised his eyebrows and asked.
"I looked through the files yesterday and found that the Asahina family did reclaim 20,000 koku of land. I did not report it because of my busy schedule. I feel deeply ashamed. What Iio-sama said is true," Asahina Taiheng said.
"Can Asahina-sama get away with such a big matter just by saying he is busy?" Okabe Motonobu asked accusingly.
"Okabe-sama is right." Yu Qiuping immediately added, "Such behavior of the Asahina family cannot be tolerated."
Yu Qiuping's words once again made everyone present confused. What does this mean? Does it mean to switch sides before the battle? However, Okabe Motonobu glanced at Asahina Taehyung and saw no surprise on the latter's face, and immediately understood that this was
Double act. Yu Qiupei was not surprised at all when he saw Asahina Taehyung secretly laughing, and secretly scolded this person for his poor acting skills.
"What do you think Yuqiu should do with the Asahina family?" Imagawa Yoshimoto seemed to have seen the clues and asked with a smile.
"Reporting to the main hall, the Asahina family's actions have had a bad impact and set a bad example for the entire Toe River and even the lords of the Imagawa family. It is no longer enough to punish the Asahina family." Yu Qiuping pretended to be relaxed and said, "I have the courage to ask the family governor to send someone to the main hall.
The inspection team will conduct a thorough investigation to see if there is any underreporting of the amount of land inspected by the lords of the Three Kingdoms of Junyuan. Those who do so will have their excess land confiscated."
Yu Qiuping's seemingly relaxed words suddenly caused a stir in the audience.
As expected, although people from Asahina's group decisively came out to support Yu Qiupei, the group that originally remained neutral stood up to obstruct the inspection. They used various reasons to waste people and money, cause conflicts, and give opportunities to outsiders.
The Asahina family suddenly fell into a predicament of being besieged on all sides. The conservative old Chens also fell silent at this moment and no longer supported Yu Qiuping. This was far from what Yu Qiuping expected.
"Sir Yuqiu's words are a bit too bold." Naohei Ii criticized, "Sir Yuqiu is new here, so I'm afraid he doesn't understand how much manpower and material resources it takes to inspect a land, and how many contradictions it can easily trigger among the leaders and the people. Such recklessness
Propose a nationwide inspection!" These words imply that Yu Qiuping is a ignorant boy, so his words are naturally unconvincing.
"Sama Yuqiu is dedicated to serving the country, but Ii-sama is obstructing everything. Isn't it a little inconvenient?" Sena Shiyi counterattacked.
Everyone was arguing word by word, but it was obvious that the voices of the opponents were stronger and more numerous. Almost all the retainers except Asahina and others were criticizing Yu Qiupei's land inspection policy.
A situation occurred that Yu Qiuping expected, and everyone was frightened.
Yu Qiuping looked at Sena Shijun at a loss, asking for help from the latter. However, Sena Shijun just smiled and told Yu Qiuping not to worry, which confused Yu Qiuping even more. Sena Shijun
Jun then glanced to the right, and Yu Qiuping looked there, and saw Imagawa Yoshimoto smiling and looking at the people below who came out to oppose the inspection.
The retainers noticed one after another that Imagawa Yoshimoto was looking at them without saying a word, and they all stopped their discussion. As the discussion became quieter and quieter, the last few people stopped talking.
"It seems that you don't want to inspect the land." Imagawa Yoshimoto said playfully. "But someone deliberately concealed the land?"
"How dare you?" Okabe Gennobu leaned over and said, "It's just that inspecting the land consumes a lot of manpower and material resources, and it can easily cause dissatisfaction among the people in the territory. I hope the governor of the family will think twice."
"Oh? Does the Okabe family mean that the extra acre of land has not been hidden?" Imagawa Yoshimoto asked.
"I can't guarantee this..." A few drops of cold sweat broke out on Okabe Motonobu's forehead, "Maybe at home..."
"Perhaps you have neglected it because of your busy schedule. This is also human nature." Sena Ujitoshi answered, which was exactly the same as the explanation given by Asahina Yasuhiro. If Okabe Gennobu responded at this moment, it would be equivalent to peace.
Asahina Taehyung is tied together and can no longer attack Asahina Taehyung. But if he refuses to agree, he may face prosecution.
In desperation, Okabe Motobu had no choice but to reply: "That's what Sena-sama said."
"There is no way around this. You are all the pillars of the country, so naturally you cannot do everything yourself." Imagawa Yoshimoto said with a smile, "It is normal that some land in the territory has not been counted. Do you agree?"
Imagawa Yoshimoto's words can be said to be a joke. From the standpoint of speaking for the retainers, he is actually asking everyone to admit that they have concealed the land. But at this time, if he does not agree, it means that he is not afraid of the inspection of the home. If
All the retainers opposed it together as they did just now, and indeed the governor had nothing to do. But at this time, who can guarantee that the people around him will be of the same mind as him?
As a result, the retainers confessed their crimes one after another, all agreed with Imagawa Yoshimoto's words, and waited for the punishment that was bound to come.
"However, land inspection is indeed a waste of people and money." Imagawa Yoshimoto changed the subject, and everyone suddenly raised their heads, feeling that things had turned around. "It would be better if each family goes back to check the files and return the excess land. I won't do much.
I'm interfering." Imagawa Yoshimoto took this kind of measure. He did not require forced land inspection, but asked each retainer to spit out a piece of fat. This is a bit similar. When bargaining, you must first give a very low price.
price, and then force the other party to make a deal at a moderate price.
The retainers obeyed the orders of Imagawa Yoshimoto's carrot and stick policy, and did not arouse too much dissatisfaction. After all, Imagawa Yoshimoto finally compromised with them. Everyone knew that although all the hidden land would not be handed over,
But you have to spit out at least half of it. Whoever turns in too little will be in trouble if Imagawa Yoshimoto catches him as a bad example.
"The Asahina family took the initiative to admit their mistakes, so they will not be held accountable too much. Just return the excess land." However, the Asahina family, which was the target of public criticism, still had to bleed hard. However, the family head or retainers were not held accountable, and the cancellation was cancelled.
The status of the elder of the Bi family is already a kind of forgiveness.
"Thank you very much, House Governor!" Asahina Taehyung hurriedly thanked him, "The Asahina family will never forget their kindness and continue to dedicate their loyalty to the Imagawa family!"
After everything ended successfully, Yu Qiuping discovered that the battle between the two factions seemed to be controlled by Imagawa Yoshimoto. Both factions suffered losses. Imagawa Yoshimoto reaped the benefits, greatly strengthening his family's strength and weakening his retainers. He
The proposal was actually a step forward for Imagawa Yoshimoto's plan. In return, the Asahina family did not receive any further investigation. Part of the land discovered was classified as directly under the jurisdiction of Imagawa Yoshimoto, and some was sealed to Imagawa.
Yoshimoto's Hatamoto samurai, as the new lord, monitors various local lords.
After Asahina Taitomo and others rushed back to Sunfu, they found that the matter was resolved in an acceptable way. They thanked Yu Qiupei in person, but the latter was not happy. His own action plan did not achieve the desired effect at all.
Instead, he became a villain for once and offended his colleagues.
"Is it because I take the authority of the family governor too seriously and think that the family governor is a one-and-done existence, just like the emperor of China?" Yu Qiuping thought afterward.
In fact, in most families in Japan, the governor does not have arbitrary rights. Powerful retainers will form a strong restriction on the master, and the governor will not be able to execute anything that the retainers jointly oppose. Otherwise, it is very likely that the retainers will
Support another heir. The reason why the family governor can take charge of the overall situation largely comes from his own authority. The family governor's direct jurisdiction will not be much greater than that of his retainers, and the checks and balances between them are very subtle. If the family governor acts against the will, he will be defeated by his retainers.
After opposition, after the governor loses his authority, powerful officials will evade the governor and even further usurp power. For example, the Asai family's joint meeting of important ministers holds great power. Saito Michizan, Ukita Naoie and others have successfully expelled
The master's family successfully usurped power.
This current situation is similar to the feudal hierarchy in the European Middle Ages.
Five days later, Fujita Nakayasu was found hanging himself in Yinma Castle. There was no official explanation.
Yu Qiuping couldn't understand this situation at all. He felt like a pawn on a political chessboard, being played around with applause.
Who is playing chess? What is the purpose?
Is it really still too tender?
Almost at the same time, the Imagawa family was in the headfu group base in Sunfu Castle. Imagawa Yoshimoto looked at the information sent from various places, silent and frowning.
"My lord, what's the problem?" the ninja leader asked in a low voice.
"It's hard to say." Imagawa Yoshimoto was silent for a while and sighed, "The traitor has not shown his face for a long time. I thought he would definitely show his tail this time."
"Continue to strengthen surveillance on those people on the list I gave you." Imagawa Yoshimoto said in a deep voice.
After giving the order, Imagawa Yoshimoto was about to get up and leave. Suddenly, he seemed to remember something.
"By the way, let's take a look to see if there are any merchant ships that have been shipwrecked near the coastline of our territory this year."
The life experience of that boy Yuqiu seems unusual.