Chapter 333 23. Takeda Chibei's First Appearance

The issue of the samurai reserve fund was temporarily put on hold. After all, the amount of the reserve fund was not enough, and there was no way for Xiao Pingtai to "squander" it directly. It could be dealt with after two years when the financial resources were sufficient.

Xiao Pingtai was concerned about the cannon casting problem in Hamamatsu. After learning that it was still a mud mold casting cannon, he restrained his mouth and proposed an iron mold casting cannon, and quietly waited for their results.

On the other hand, he went to the construction site every day to see that the construction progress was still very good. The way Den'emon touched those woods was more lustful than touching his wife. Every day, in addition to staring at the craftsmen working, he just looked at the pile of wood with shining eyes.

In addition, after knowing clearly that Xiao Pingtai had abundant financial resources, he dared to ask for Korean red pine. Xiao Pingtai wanted to go up and slap him twice in the face. Korean red pine? Why don't you want Sicilian yew? Why don't you want Indian fragrant teak? Where can I buy it for you?

Denuemon now not only has no resentment for being invited (tied up), but also thinks that Kobayata is a scapegoat, hoping to use Kobayata to achieve his life goal of building a perfect wooden house.

Kobayata just agreed casually, but he took it seriously and asked Kobayata every day where the Korean red pine was? How big is the material? How many beams can it make? Can I get more?

Finally, he could only ask for help from Zuzaemon, but Zuzaemon also threw up his hands and said that there was no way. Not only was there no way, but it was not easy to find a piece of Korean red pine.

Was there official trade between Korea and Japan at this time? Of course there was. Korea issued a literary license to the Tsushima clan, allowing them to trade several ships every year. This is also the reason why the Tsushima clan, although the country is small and the people are poor, can have thousands of soldiers.

Of course, there are many people who secretly trade with Korea, and there are also many Koreans who smuggle themselves. But smuggling is all about concealment. Generally, the main imports are tiger skin, leopard skin, sea otter skin, ginseng, and other light and expensive things.

Wood? It's not cheap, but it's too big. It's better to transport some iron ingots and farm tools, which will make more profit. Merchants value profit, and they must maximize their profits. Who would bother to transport wood? There are too few.

So Xiao Pingtai simply hid himself on the grounds of being busy with official duties. After all, the autumn harvest is coming soon, which is normal. Xiao Pingtai, the Kanjo Bugyo, has a lot of official duties to deal with.

Although Hei Liu is busy from dawn to dusk all day long, his state is completely different from when he was the director of the women's textile factory. He is full of energy. He commanded dozens of people in the Kanjo Bugyo Office in a tight and orderly manner, which greatly reduced Xiao Pingtai's workload.

Now Xiao Pingtai put Hei Liu in the Bugyo Office and just listened to the report every day. When it comes to the abacus business, Hei Liu is probably the best in the whole mountain. After all, he was a business talent who had received education in the feudal guild system in the Middle Ages, and he was one of the best among them.

Seeing that the rice in Totomi Province had already begun to be harvested and dried, and the rice in Shinano Province was also drooping lower and lower, it was time to put down the sickle.

We have to mention the good Kai Basin again. The terrain of the basin is relatively heat-retaining, so Takeda Harunobu's rice matured about ten days earlier than Shinano.

What would Takeda Harunobu do after harvesting the rice? He must go out to cause trouble!

He first led 6,000 Kai people all the way to Kawanakajima, and the Shinano people and Suruga people also mobilized one after another and prepared to join him. The goal was of course to grab the rice and other food in Kawanakajima.

Takanari Masayasu was not afraid at all. He immediately hit the bronze bell, beat the drum, the conch shell whistled, and the flag fluttered. He pulled up more than 5,000 people and dared to fight with Takeda Harunobu in Kaizu Plain. More than 5,000 people and 6,000 people fought for more than three days, successfully protecting the 100,000 stones of rice and beans and wheat in Kawanakajima.

When Takeda Harunobu's reinforcements of more than 10,000 arrived, Uesugi Terutora, who was only 70 kilometers away from Iiyama, also rushed over with more than 5,000 people. In this situation, Yamanouchi Yoshikatsu must not be absent. Takanari Masahiro's envoys had just arrived in the morning, and in the afternoon, Yamanouchi's hatamoto's 1,000 riders rushed out.

Yamanouchi Yoshikatsu didn't want to disturb the agricultural harvest in his direct territory at all. He was very cruel. He ordered Kiso Yoshimasa to send 1,200, Ogasawara Nagatoki to send 1,500, and Ina's Kunihiro to send another 800. When they had 4,500 people, they went to Kaizu to rush to the rescue.

At this time, Takeda Harunobu's 16,000 people were constantly pressing the control range of the Takanari coalition forces. Through the huge advantage in numbers, they tried to completely surround Kaizu Castle and invade Kawanakajima behind Kaizu to seize the 100,000 stones of grain.

Fortunately, Yamanouchi Yoshikatsu did not mobilize the territory, but first pulled the standing soldiers and appeared in Kaizu with the banner of the Shinano Guardian.

When Takeda Harunobu saw the Yamauchi army coming to support with flying flags, he was afraid that the Yamauchi army was coming to encourage the three armies. Before the situation became unclear, Takeda Harunobu was still a conservative and prudent general, and temporarily suspended the siege of Kaizu Castle.

Not only did it enable the more than 9,000 coalition forces of Takanari and Uesugi to advance to the front position and set up outposts outside the city, but it also opened a path for the subsequent reinforcements of the Yamauchi army to arrive.

When Takeda Harunobu found out the situation the next day, 4,500 Yamauchi troops had gathered. Takanari Masayasu also recovered from the grievance of being beaten into the city. While continuing to ask for help from his eldest nephew in Echigo, he worked harder to mobilize the people in the territory to grab food.

Takeda Harunobu also knew that he had missed an opportunity, but he was not in a hurry. He drove all the Kuzuo people of the former Murakami clan as the vanguard and attacked the coalition forces fiercely. Anyway, the people who died were not his own, so he didn't feel sorry.

As if to show off his muscles, Takeda Harunobu also gathered a troop of more than 300 people, led by his younger brother Norimichi Nobufusa, and they fired round after round. They were already able to compete with the Yamauchi troop, showing that they were very wealthy.

On the other hand, another force armed by his eldest son Takeda Yoshinobu and Iito Toramasa in Suruga using Suruga Gold Mountain and the dried fish industry is also very eye-catching.

The Ka army, which is famous for its brave and durable infantry that dares to fight and fight, actually has a cavalry unit with Kai samurai as its core and Suruga and Shinano as its members. Although the number is not large, only 200 cavalry. But Takeda Jun's learning ability is impressive.

Takeda Harunobu was indeed a far-sighted daimyo, and he implemented every measure that could enhance his military strength.

The most outrageous thing is that in order to show off his wealth, Takeda Harunobu rarely painted the armor of the soldiers under Takeda Yoshinobu and Iitomi Homasa. Not only are all the samurai warriors wearing red armor, but even the ashigaru's armor and trunks are painted with vermilion lacquer.

The infantry and cavalry could not mix with the 800-man troops, but they showed a uniform momentum.

Xiao Pingtai, who was raising food and grass to supply the army in the rear, heard the news from the front line and blurted it out subconsciously.

Takeda Akabi!