Chapter 160 2. Returning to Jiangji After Years Away

There is no need for Kobayata to worry about the new territory of Shinano. Kobayata only needs to hand over to Isshiki Miyanobuchi who is still in Yamanouchi.

This old Isshiki is not the kind of person who bullies others with his power. He has both the arrogance and tolerance unique to the old aristocracy. He is proud of his family name of Isshiki, but he is also happy to see new talents emerging in the Yamanouchi family. The territory is expanding and it is necessary to promote the samurai with Yamanouchi skills. Kobayata was born in the third generation of military service and is a regular Yamanouchi person. It is easy for him to be accepted by the Yamanouchi samurai group. (This is the point! If Kobayata is an outsider, it will be difficult for him to be accepted by the Yamanouchi samurai group. This cannot be said to be a limitation. It can only be said that due to the limitations of the times, people from the same hometown have the same pronunciation, culture and customs, and it is easier to unite into a group.)

After a lot of earnest teachings, the old man in his fifties took his retainers to Ina Iida Castle, and also went with Hosokawa Saijo, who served as the governor of Takato Castle. Seeing that his father was alive and well, he left a few foot soldiers and a large amount of military supplies and returned with peace of mind. Now that he has been transferred to the castle of Inaji Castle, it is convenient for him to go out to support at any time.

In this way, Kobayata is the highest-ranking and most powerful samurai in the entire Ejiri territory of more than 20,000 kanmon, and no one will hinder him. Although other hatamoto samurai sent to Ejiri, including Uncle Tsunara, also have the intention of monitoring Kobayata's words and deeds, Kobayata is not going to rebel. They just need to be a competent yori.

According to convention, Uncle Tsunara must also leave his family, including his pregnant wife, in Yamanouchi Fuchu Castle. Kobayata has no family, so there is no hostage. However, if he gets married and is sent abroad in the future, it is possible that he will often get along in different places.

This hostage system is neither good nor bad. Those who want to rebel have no fear of having their own mothers, wives, and children killed as hostages (a certain Kiso Yoshimasa, whose mother and son were all killed as hostages, but he still wanted to rebel), and those who don't want to rebel will not have second thoughts as long as their whole family follows him. (a certain Shimizu Muneharu, who would never surrender)

Anyway, because of this disgusting convention, Kobayakawa is very reluctant to see his uncle Tsunayoshi, who is very likely to have a child in his old age (40 years old is almost qualified to be considered as having a child in his old age, after all, it is the Warring States Period). The heroic figure of a brave general who killed people without blinking an eye on the battlefield is no longer seen, and he is full of childish attitude.

The girl was robbed by him back then, and I don't know if he accepted his fate or what. He has lived a good life in Yamanouchi for the past two years, and has grown from a chubby little girl to a big girl. She serves Uncle Tsunayoshi at home peacefully, and has successfully given birth to a child for Uncle Tsunayoshi. Now, seeing that the father of the child in her belly was going on a long journey, and that he might be gone for a year or two, she couldn't stop crying.

The team finally set off, and Uncle Tsunayoshi, who was not paying attention to anything else, walked at the end of the team. Xiao Pingtai didn't have the heart to interrupt him and look back. Tsk tsk tsk! The old tree is in spring, no! The old tree is blooming. No! Anyway, the old tree has sprouted new buds. My heart was very moved, and I couldn't bear to watch it.

So Xiao Pingtai had to talk to several other hatamoto. The Iwase father and son had a family background in learning, and they had some experience in arranging the marching and formation of foot soldiers. Moreover, the father and son were familiar with all kinds of ways to fight a bad battle, and they were quite capable. Ogasawara Nagamasa was proficient in archery, horse riding, spears and sticks. Even if he was wearing armor, he could still walk fast. He could shoot arrows with both hands on the horse, gallop and shoot, and was heroic. Kanai Meigoro was taciturn on the outside, but brave and courageous on the inside. And he would answer any question, and his answer would hit the mark. With his great sword skills, he must be a man of many talents.

As for the instructions given by Yamanouchi Yoshiharu before Kobayata set out, they were all to protect the territory and the people, encourage agriculture and mulberry planting, and nourish the people. These were all things that feudal bureaucrats should do as a matter of course, and Kobayata understood them all. He also had the idea of ​​serving as an official and benefiting the people.

Returning to Ejiri Castle again, things have changed and the traces of the war have completely disappeared. Whether it is the earthen walls surrounding the city or the dams blocking the river, they have all disappeared, and the streets around the city must have been renovated recently. There are also checkpoints and station stations set up around the city, and teams of foot soldiers patrolling along the way.

The castle town and trading port of Ejiri have also recovered from the war, and are even better than before. Thanks to the fact that the Yamanouchi area produces the cheapest candles in the entire East (the supply is still quite sufficient), it has become a key product exported by the Yamanouchi family to the outside world, driving the prosperity of Ejiri, an important port in the Yamanouchi territory.

Merchants carrying wood wax on packhorses from Ina Street transported them to Ejiri in the south almost non-stop from the beginning of spring to the beginning of snow. Various local specialties from the Shinano Mountains arrived in Ejiri through this prosperous street and were sold to all corners of the country. It also brought a steady stream of income and crowds to the Yamanouchi family.

Horses, rice, wheat, dried fish, seafood, bamboo and wood, which were originally exported, were even more abundant on the ships traveling to and from the port due to the smooth trade routes. Every moment a ship docked, and every moment a ship cast off its moorings and collected anchors.

The users of the merchants directly gestured at the port, and the dyes, wine, paper, charcoal, and groceries imported from distant countries to Ejiri filled the warehouses of the port. The popular goods were quickly sold out, and the ship owners and merchants then pulled the specialties of Yamanouchi back to distant countries to seek wealth thousands of miles away.

The merchants who had purchased goods directed the porters to carry various scarce materials, and the sound of "Hey, hey, hey" came one after another. Everywhere was prosperous and prosperous, it was truly a piece of pure land in the chaotic world of the Warring States Period.

The 200 to 300 people of Koyata (in addition to the samurai, there were more than 100 foot soldiers that Koyata himself, his uncle Tsunayoshi, and the hatamoto samurai under his command who had to recruit to expand production and maintain, as well as dozens of porters who carried luggage and supplies) could not be concealed. As soon as they entered the territory of Ejiri, someone with agile legs and feet reported the news of Koyata's coming to take office back to Ejiri, a full day faster than Koyata's group.

With such ample time to prepare, they could naturally come up with some tricks. The magistrate in Ejiri town quickly sent someone to welcome Koyata and his party into the town. The foot soldiers arranged a long house and dispersed to rest.

The samurai had some other plans, because Ejiri had long heard that the new castle lord of the main family was the famous Aekoji Dansho-dono, and they had been waiting for Koyata to come, calculating the travel time.

Koyata was not a hypocritical bureaucrat on the surface. Although he had principles, he could also understand human feelings. So he happily accepted the invitation to a banquet from the merchants in the castle town and the people of Ejiri Province.