The old man Matsudaira fixed the letter and sent it with four Wakatoshi: Kitagawa Toshiyuki, Yoshimoto Kaemon, Matsudaira Takaki, and Matsudaira Junzan - a total of five people, sitting around in the meeting room.
Matsudaira Sadanobu has never been the kind of person who likes to talk nonsense.
After all the Wakainians arrived, Matsudaira Sadanobu directly handed a piece of letter paper to them and asked them to take turns reading it.
The four young postmen all frowned after reading the contents written on this piece of paper.
Beichuan was the last person to read this letter.
After Beichuan put down the letter, his brows were so tight that he could pinch a fly to death and said in a deep voice:
"The current situation in the north...is even worse than it appears."
That piece of paper was sent back from the distant Matsumae Clan at great speed.
Matsumae Domain - the northernmost domain in Japan.
The total koku of Matsumae Domain - that is, the total grain output in one year is only 10,000 koku, which is not even as high as Ogata's hometown, Hirose Domain.
Although Hirose Domain, Ogata's hometown, is only a small domain as big as a sesame bean, the total stone height of Hirose Domain is 30,000 stone, which is three times that of Matsumae Domain.
It's just that - although the Matsumae Domain is not a very wealthy and powerful domain, its status is no worse than any other domain due to its unique geographical location.
Because it is the northernmost vassal state in Japan, Matsumae Domain can be said to be the northern gate of Japan.
If the Lucia Kingdom moves south, or if the Ezo people in Ezo land revolt again, the Matsumae Domain will be the first to be attacked.
Since the frequency of expeditions sent by the Lucia Kingdom to Ezo has become more frequent in recent years, the shogunate began to send more surveillance to the north to guard against the Lucia Kingdom's army.
So far, 5,000 troops have gathered in Matsumae Domain.
The letter that Wakatoshi read just now was sent by Masaya Inamori, the general who is currently leading the 5,000 troops in the Matsumae Domain to monitor and guard against the Lucia Kingdom.
Inamori was transferred away from Butterfly Island by Matsudaira Sadanobu in the spring of this year and transferred to Matsumae Domain to take charge.
Inamori also deserves the trust of Matsudaira Sadanobu. In the past few months, he has been meticulously performing his duties, closely monitoring all the movements of Lucia Country, and regularly sending messages to Edo to report on the latest situation in the north.
.
"Now that everyone has read what is written in the letter." Matsudaira Sadanobu said expressionlessly, "Now let's express our opinions."
“How do you think we should deal with the current chaos in Ezo?”
This latest letter sent back from Inamori tells two things in very short sentences.
The first thing: Lucia Kingdom sent more and more expeditions to Ezo. By the end of September, their scouts had discovered Lucia Kingdom expedition teams at the northernmost border of Matsumae Domain.
The second thing: The surrender of Ezo who was entrenched in the "Red Moon Fortress" failed again.
"Unexpectedly, an expedition team from the Lucia Kingdom has already appeared at the northern border of the Matsumae Domain..." Yoshimoto, who usually always shows a "peacemaker" face, rarely had a gloomy face, "This is really not a good thing.
News..."
"We are just sending an expedition team now, and in a few years we may send troops directly." Beichuan sneered a few times, "The Lucians are not good people, they are quite warlike, and they are also very fond of the land.
greedy."
"...Should we try to negotiate with Lucia Country?" Matsudaira Takaki, who was sitting across from Kitagawa, hesitated.
Matsudaira Takaki is the weakest among the four Wakanagi.
This personality is the opposite of Beichuan, so the two often put forward completely different opinions.
As expected - as soon as Matsudaira Takaki finished speaking, Kitagawa immediately spoke up:
"What we should do now is not to negotiate with the Lucians, but to actively prepare for war."
"Strengthen the defense of the north to prepare for emergencies."
"A hundred years ago, the Qing Dynasty on the other side of the ocean also relied on its victory on the battlefield to successfully sign the Treaty of Nerchinsk with the Lucians, preventing the Lucians from moving south."
"If we don't conquer the Lucians and just go to negotiate with them dryly, I don't think it will be of much use."
As soon as Kitagawa finished speaking, Matsudaira Sadanobu, who had been silent just now, finally spoke out abruptly:
"I agree with Kitagawa's point of view."
"If Lucia was the kind of country that didn't crave land, it wouldn't have started a war with the Qing Dynasty a hundred years ago."
"Rather than negotiating with the Lucians, what we should do is to actively prepare for war, strengthen the defense of the north, and guard against the invasion of the Lucians."
"only--"
Matsudaira Sadanobu suddenly changed the subject.
"Rather than actively preparing for war and guarding against the Lucians, I think there is one thing that we need to do immediately."
As soon as Matsudaira Sadanobu said this, all the people present showed curiosity.
After everyone focused their curious and doubtful eyes on Matsudaira Sadanobu, Matsudaira Sadanobu said word by word:
"Our top priority now should be to completely wipe out the Ezo who are entrenched in the Red Moon Fortress."
When he said this sentence just now, Matsudaira Sadanobu's tone was always calm.
Obviously, what he just said contained words like "complete annihilation" that are enough to make people shudder.
There was no surprise - after Matsudaira Sadanobu finished speaking, the expressions of the four Wakanagi headed by Kitagawa changed one after another.
"Sir Lao Zhong." Beichuan said solemnly, "Do you mean... to use troops against the 'Red Moon Fortress'?"
"Didn't you just read the latest letter from Inamori?" Matsudaira Sadanobu's tone was still neither sad nor happy, "The Ezos of the 'Red Moon Fortress' have refused our surrender again."
"How many times has this been rejected?"
"I don't have any patience anymore."
When Matsudaira Sadanobu dispatched Inamori Masaya to the north, he not only put Inamori in charge of monitoring the Lucians, but also put Inamori in charge of recruiting and surrendering Ezo who were entrenched in the "Red Moon Fortress".
As Matsudaira Sadanobu said just now, he really couldn't remember how many times he had surrendered the Ezos in the "Red Moon Fortress".
In addition, as Matsudaira Sadanobu said in another sentence just now - he has no patience.
The stubbornness of the Ezo people entrenched in the "Red Moon Fortress" made Matsudaira Sadanobu very dissatisfied.
"The 'Red Moon Fortress' is located on a battleground for military strategists."
Matsudaira Sadanobu continued.
"As the relationship with Lucia Country becomes increasingly tense, we must control the 'Red Moon Fortress' no matter what."
"Since the Ezo people in the 'Red Moon Fortress' are still unwilling to listen to our orders, then we can only resort to force."
The four Ruonians looked at each other in confusion.
In the end, it was Beichuan who spoke first:
"...I support Mr. Lao Zhong's proposition."
Beichuan looked serious.
"The location of the 'Red Moon Fortress' is really important."
"We must not let it fall into the hands of the Lucians."
"Even if you have to rob it, you must grab the 'Red Moon Fortress'!"
"...Loonaka-sama." Matsudaira Takaki said slowly after hesitating for a while, "Don't talk about military matters lightly."
"I also agree that we must control the 'Red Moon Fortress'."
"But I don't think it's yet to the point where we have to use the military."
"What's more, the Ezo people who are entrenched in the 'Red Moon Fortress' possess firearms and have tough temperaments."
"If you use troops against them, you have to think twice!"
"Takahi, I understand what you mean." Matsudaira Sadanobu said softly.
Because three of the five people present had the last name Matsudaira, for the sake of convenience, Matsudaira Sadanobu called Matsudaira Takaki and Matsudaira Junzan by their first names when they were both present.
"Of course I know that the Ezo people in the 'Red Moon Fortress' are not easy to deal with."
"But I think this battle still has to be fought."
"The reason why I want to use troops against the 'Red Moon Fortress' is not just because I want to seize this battleground for military strategists before Lucia launches a formal invasion of our country."
"I have another purpose."
"I want to use the conquest of the 'Red Moon Fortress' to shock those Ezo people in Ezo who still have two minds."
"Everyone, you have probably not forgotten last year's 'Rebellion of Cunasi Lemenasse', right?"
"Of course I won't forget it." As soon as Matsudaira Sadanobu finished speaking, Kitagawa immediately answered.
The Rebellion of Kunasili Menasi - a turmoil that broke out in Ezo last year, that is, in the first year of Kansei.
A large number of Ezo launched an unrest in Kunasi Limenasi to oppose the oppression of them by the shogunate.
After the turmoil broke out, the shogunate spent a lot of effort to finally suppress it.
"The coveting of Ezo Land that Lucia has shown in recent years has reminded me."
Matsudaira Sadanobu said softly.
"We have always ruled Ezo in name only."
"To us, Ezo Land is essentially the same as a foreign country."
"If we had stronger control over Ezo, we wouldn't have allowed Lucia to send expeditions to Ezo so unscrupulously."
"I plan to officially start the development of Ezo Land now."
"Gradually strengthen control over the Ezo lands."
"If we want to strengthen our control over the Ezo lands, it is necessary to intimidate those Ezo who are unwilling to obey our shogunate."
"It is very appropriate to attack the stubborn and stubborn Ezo people who are entrenched in the 'Red Moon Fortress'."
"As long as we annihilate the Ezo in the 'Red Moon Fortress' with the force of thunder, we will definitely have the effect of killing the chickens to scare the monkeys."
"Let other Ezo see the consequences of disobeying our shogunate."
The four Ruonianji listened carefully.
Then they all reacted differently.
Kitagawa and Matsudaira Junshan nodded slightly.
Gibbon looked confused.
Matsudaira Takaki looked solemn, not knowing what he was thinking.
"...Loonaka-sama." Matsudaira Takahiro was silent for a moment and then asked, "Then how many people do you think is appropriate if we want to use troops against the Red Moon Fortress?"
Matsudaira Sadanobu raised one finger.
"10000."
As soon as Matsudaira Sadanobu said this, the four Wakaniji showed different expressions.
"10,000?" Matsudaira Junzan's reaction was the most exciting. "Lord Naka, please forgive me, the total number of Ezos in the 'Red Moon Fortress' is only a thousand! Isn't it too exaggerated to send out 10,000 troops?
some?"
"It costs a lot to dispatch an army of 10,000 people!"
Before Matsudaira Junzan became Wakatanagi, it had been engaged in commissioning and commissioning for a long time.
The so-called appointment and execution can be understood as the minister in charge of finance.
Perhaps it is because he has been engaged in commissioning for a long time that Matsudaira Junzan is often very excited when it comes to money-related political affairs.
"I know." Matsudaira Sadanobu's face still showed no expression at all, "So let the feudal clans in Mutsu and Dewa...especially Sendai clan and Aizu clan contribute more to the security of our country's northern gate.
.”
Mutsu and Dewa - the two regions closest to Ezo. Often collectively referred to as "Ou region" or "Tohoku region"
There are 31 vassal states in Ou and Ou.
Among these 31 vassal states, only 2 can be called powerful vassals: Aizu Domain and Sendai Domain.
Judging from paper data, the strongest one is the Sendai Domain with a total stone height of nearly 630,000 koku.
But in fact, the strongest one was the Aizu clan.
The Aizu clan is a close clan daimyo, and their feudal lord is also named "Matsuhira". He is a relative of the shogun, and is responsible for guarding against the foreign daimyo in the Ou area.
Although the total stone height is only 230,000 koku, due to folk customs and other reasons, in terms of military strength, there are only a handful of vassal states in Japan that can compete with the Aizu Domain.
Moreover, the Aizu clan was also famously loyal to the shogunate.
The successive feudal lords of the Aizu Domain were the pillars of the shogunate, and the Aizu Domain was therefore known as the "pillar of the shogunate".
If an order is sent to the Aizu Domain, asking them to assist in sending troops to the "Red Moon Fortress", the lord of the Aizu Domain will definitely use all the power of the domain to assist the shogunate without hesitation.
As for the other great vassal in the Ou region: Sendai Domain, it was actually a foreign daimyo, that is, a domain that did not have a very close relationship with the shogunate.
Although the Sendai Domain is a gaijin daimyo, among all the gaijin daimyo, it is the more obedient one. It is completely different from the gaijin daimyo like the Satsuma clan and the Choshu clan who have been defying the shogunate for many years.
If the feudal lord of the Sendai clan was given an order asking him to send troops to help, he would definitely not dare to disobey.
Although the head of the Sendai Domain has nearly 630,000 koku, its military strength is not very strong.
However, with the Sendai clan's ability, it should still be possible to gather an army of 12,000 people to support the battle.
"If we let these vassal states in the north also contribute, it shouldn't be difficult to increase the number of troops currently stationed in the north to 10,000, right?"
Hearing what Matsudaira Sadanobu said, Matsudaira Junshan pursed his lips and said no more.
Let the vassal states headed by Aizu and Sendai help out, and they will naturally be responsible for supplying the troops they send.
In other words, the shogunate could freely use the troops sent by the daimyo of the Ou region without spending a penny.
Therefore, as Matsudaira Sadanobu just said, if the daimyo of the Ou region send troops to help, it will not be difficult to gather an army of 10,000 troops in Ezo.
"...Loonaka-sama." The speaker was Matsudaira Takaki again, "Sending troops... is of great importance. I think we should report it to the General and ask him to make a decision."
"Of course." Matsudaira Sadanobu nodded without thinking, "I never thought about making a decision to attack Ezo within one day today."
"I plan to report it to the General this afternoon."
"Please put forward your thoughts, General, and let the General make a decision as soon as possible."
…
…
10 days later——
November 26, the second year of Kanzheng (1790 AD).
If you want to go to Dewa and Mutsu, the fastest way is naturally to walk through the streets of Oshu.
The so-called Oshu Kaido is a traffic artery starting from Edo and ending at Shirakawa in Mutsu.
For Ogata, it doesn't matter whether he goes to Deyu or Mutsu - anyway, these two places are unfamiliar to him.
The same is true for Atachi. He doesn't even know a single friend in these two places.
Since these two places are no different in Ogata's eyes, when deciding whether to go to Dewa or Mutsu before leaving, Ogata chose to go to Mutsu without hesitation - there is an Oshu street to Mutsu.
It's walkable and much more convenient.
Not to mention Ogata's physical fitness.
Although A-Machi is a girl, she has received complete training in ninjutsu.
Although she was the last among the ninjas of the same period, she was still a kunoichi. In terms of physical fitness, she was only better than some samurai.
Because both of them are people with very good physical fitness, their steps are not slow at all.
As the two of them went north, the climate became colder and colder.
On the 6th day after setting off, the two of them saw snow.
The further north you go, the more snow there is.
As of today, the snow under their feet is so thick that if they step on it, their entire soles will sink into it.
On the way north, in addition to the temperature, Ogata and Amachi also felt a very obvious change.
That's the change in folk customs.
The Ou region is currently one of the least developed regions in Japan.
The worse the economy of a place, the worse the public security is. When he took Amachi to Mutsu with him, Ogata realized deeply: Although this sentence is somewhat absolute, it actually makes some sense.
…
…
"Hey! Samurai!"
A dirty ronin with a bald head drew his sword in his hand and shouted to Ogata in an arrogant tone.
"Are you practicing as a warrior? You are so extravagant! You are practicing as a warrior and you even bring a woman with you!"
Although the weather became colder and colder as he continued to move north, Ogata's clothes were still very thin due to the influence of his "vital force".
I just put on an extra piece of clothing under the feather fabric, a thicker scarf, a pair of deerskin boots that can walk in the snow, and a snow-proof hat on my head.
Ogata pushed the hat on his head up slightly, moved his eyes, and looked at the group of people blocking him.
The group of people blocking him and Atachi totaled 9 people.
Without exception, these nine people were all dirty. Their clothes had not been washed for an unknown period of time. If the mud on their bodies was rubbed off, it would feel like it would turn into a ball of mud as big as a child's fist.
While all of them were dirty, they were also all armed.
These nine people all had knives on their waists.
Some people fight with knives, and there are differences in both sides.
Some only have knives.
Some only have wakizashi.
"It's a ronin again..." Atachi, who was standing behind Ogata, muttered in a helpless tone.
She and Ogata were both on their way just now.
Then these nine ronin suddenly ran out of the trees on the roadside in front of them, blocking their way.
Then the bald ronin standing at the front began to mock Ogata for taking a woman to train as a warrior.
"I'm not training as a warrior." Ogata said in a calm tone, "It's just that because of some things, I have to go to Mutsu with my wife."
"Are you here to steal money too?"
"Oh? You know it very well." The bald ronin sneered a few times, "But besides money, we also want something else."
After saying that, the bald ronin turned his attention to Omachi, who was standing next to Ogata. A bit of greed flashed in his eyes.
"Originally we only wanted your money."
"But now that I take a closer look, your wife is pretty good-looking."
"Be good and keep your money and your wife!"
"But don't worry, we won't take your wife away, we will also kill your wife."
"We're only borrowing it for a few days."
"I'll return it to you in a few days."
After quietly listening to the words of the bald ronin, Ogata let out a silent sigh.
He had heard this kind of thing too many times recently.
Ogata's right hand holds a long wooden stick that can help him on his way.
After he let out this sigh——
brake!
Ogata suddenly waved the long wooden stick in his hand and drew a circle on the snow with himself as the center.
The nine ronin, headed by the bald ronin, cast doubtful glances at Ogata.
"Hey! What are you doing?" Baldhead asked.
"This is my...attack range." Ogata threw aside the long wooden stick in his hand, "I will not leave this circle, nor will I take the initiative to chase you."
"But my personal cultivation is not good enough to sacrifice my head and hands to people who want to harm me and my wife."
"Okay. You choose."
"It's about leaving obediently."
"Or...step into the circle?"
After saying that, Ogata slowly lowered his body weight.
*******
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Yesterday’s defense went well!
By the time I got home, it was already too late, so I only had 5,700 words today. I’ll think about it tomorrow and see if I can add more.