After leaving the barracks, it was still early in the day, so Imagawa Yoshimoto decided to take his guards and ride out of the city for a walk. It was midsummer, and the scorching sun made my body hot. I was already sweating profusely before I even walked far. In the past hot summer days, Imagawa Yoshimoto would hide in the pavilion of the temple and refused to come out. He could take a bath three times a day. However, the farmers in the fields outside Imagawakan are not as leisurely as Imagawa Yoshimoto. Every one of them is deeply bent over, working among the crops.
"It's so hot and stuffy. What a horrible weather. Don't you want to take a rest?" Imagawa Yoshimoto rode his horse to a field bank and asked a dark-skinned old farmer. The old man was naked from the waist up, sweat was running down his back, and the burlap pants he was wearing were soaked through.
"So that the samurai master will know." After the old man hurriedly knelt down to salute, he found that the samurai was quite easy-going, so he propped his hoe upside down, supported his waist to catch his breath, and said to Imagawa Yoshimoto, "It's hot, so the sunlight will be enough. "If the weather is dull, it means it's going to rain. If there's sunshine and rain, this year's harvest will be good, so how can we say the weather is bad?"
"Why are you still asked to come out to work?" Imagawa Yoshimoto looked at the old man carefully and found that his beard and hair were all gray, and many of his teeth were missing.
"Both sons were recruited, but they are gone. One died in Mikawa with the samurai master a few years ago, and the other died in Kamabahara a few months ago, and the bones were not found." The old man talked about the death of his two children, But he didn't seem to show too much emotion, "But I have to live this life. The two children's dolls are still pointed at me to support them. My eldest son's children are now in the fields and can help me with some work."
"I'm very sorry..." Imagawa Yoshimoto's expression darkened when he heard this.
"What's the point? Isn't it like this? Who's family doesn't have a lot of dead people? My father and my younger brother also died in the draft." The old man stretched his muscles and sighed, "Let's Suruga. Yes, there haven't been many wars in decades. If the warriors in that war-torn village passed by, all the crops would be robbed."
As the old man spoke, he pointed to a deserted field in the far northeast near the official road. Several small figures could be vaguely seen kneeling in the soil, trying to find some surviving crops. "There, Fukushima was there before. Our samurai masters passed by when they were escaping and trampled so many crops that Chiyo's mother-in-law's harvest this year is almost gone. The family of five doesn't know how they're going to survive."
"Didn't the Imagawa family provide pensions and compensation?"
"Is there a pension? Is there any compensation? Is there any family in the world that will pay it? At least the Imagawa family will be exempted from some rent in the lean years, which is already not easy..." The old man was open-minded, laughed a few times happily, and held his hands gently. The rice ears are growing gratifyingly, "but the pension is not enough. We have several mouths to eat in our family. The widowed daughter-in-law is also sick, and the pension money has long been used to buy medicine."
"Thank God, Suruga fought that battle. If the war breaks out now, a wave of civilians will be recruited..." The old man held the hoe and looked at his grandson who was still busy weeding not far away, "I don't have a boy in my family. If the harvest is over, I guess that child will have to be expropriated. I can't take care of such a large area by myself. If the autumn harvest is delayed, the debts owed this year will not be repaid, and there will be no food to eat, and this winter will be difficult. It’s better…”
After saying this, the old man, who had not rested for long, confessed his crime to Imagawa Yoshimoto, continued to bend his already aging waist, and started working in the fields. Imagawa Yoshimoto got on his horse and looked at the countless farmers in the vast fields who were doing their best to make a living. Then he looked at the clothes he was wearing - even the most ordinary one, it was still better than the best clothes of these farmers. Countless times. He looked at the mottled calluses on the old man's hands, then at his own white hands, and sighed slightly.
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In the early morning of June 15th, the fifth year of Tenmon (1536), in the Imagawakan castle tower, the elders and important officials of the Imagawa clan gathered together. This was the first official evaluation meeting held after Imagawa Yoshimoto succeeded to the throne. Imagawa Yoshimoto himself sat in the main seat, Taiyuan Xuezai, as the regent's housekeeper, sat on the side, and Shougui Ni watched the meeting behind the screen.
On the left side of Imagawa Yoshimoto, sat Asahina Taino, Miura Ujimitsu, Reizumi Mikazu, Ogasawara Haruyoshi, Uden Nagamochi, Abe Nobuyoshi, Kamahara Mitsuru, Katsutsu Masasu, Ichinomiya Muneru; and On the right side, sit Okabe Oyatsuna, Sena Ujisada, Sekiguchi Ujiroku, Matsui Sadamune, Anhara Tadayo, Ogikiyoshi, Yuhi Anchu, Hasegawa Motonaga, and Shinno Oyane. In addition to them, there are also the direct ministers of Hatamoto sitting further down: Matsui Munanobu, Yamada Keitaka, Asai Masatoshi, Makiyama Nazuo, Umeyama Ujigao and others. The above people are all the important ministers who still follow the Imagawa clan.
Everyone bowed to Imagawa Yoshimoto as the family governor according to etiquette, and reported the situation in the area one by one. Due to the impact of the war, except for Umeshima Kaneyama, which is under the jurisdiction of the Abe family, which can provide a normal surplus, the finances of the other families are somewhat tight, and the situation is not optimistic. Taiyuan Xuezhai scribbled on the paper while thinking hard about the next countermeasures. Imagawa Yoshimoto was a little more relaxed. After everyone finished reporting, he took the lead in starting a lively chat and complained about the wine bottle placed on Asahina Taino's desk that he had seen earlier.
"Asahina Binchu, do you even have to drink at the evaluation meeting?" Imagawa Yoshimoto pretended to be dissatisfied and asked with a smile.
"Haha, it's your first time to participate in the evaluation, no wonder you don't know. Back then, Lord Sounun made great contributions and was given the grace of 'walking up to the palace' by my old lord. But after I made great contributions, I asked my old lord for it." The privilege of bringing wine to the palace." Asahina Taino said while drinking a glass of wine. The colleagues around him were obviously used to his unique style, and no one showed any abnormality.
"It's a pity that the descendants of Lord Soun are ungrateful." Lengquan Weihe Lengsheng continued. As the diplomatic monk of the Imagawa family, he has visited Odawara Castle many times to maintain contact with the Hojo family. Now he is the most indignant.
"The Hojo family betrayed their trust even before the body of the late master was cold. Fortunately, the late master visited Odawara Castle for a month before his death, but such friendship was just a waste of time." Okabe Otsuna was also filled with hatred. The Hojo family's light-speed break of the alliance after Imagawa Ujiteru's death will only make future generations feel that Imagawa Ujiteru's series of efforts to consolidate Shunsei's alliance were in vain, and will inevitably ridicule and belittle Imagawa Ujiteru - this is As Imagawa Ujiteru's most trusted confidant, Okabe Oyatsuna could not tolerate this under any circumstances.
"The Fuji family and the Katsurayama family are not equally favored. Now that the Hojo family has come, they have turned against each other." The next person to speak was Ogikiyo. His territory is on the west bank of the Fuji River, which is different from the Shunhoku and Hojo families controlled by the Takeda family. Controlling the Hedong Capital, it has always been under the greatest defense pressure, but it has never complained, but remains loyal to the Imagawa clan. Based on his status, he is indeed the most qualified to condemn the wealthy families of Hedong who lead to the Hojo family.
However, Imagawa Yoshimoto knew that some wealthy families, including the Fuji family, did not want to defect to the Hojo family, but were forced by the situation. When the situation was in crisis, Fuji Nobutada turned to Imagawa Yoshimoto and surrendered to the Hojo family only after receiving permission. He also secretly maintained contact with the Imagawa family. Of course, in a crowded environment like the evaluation meeting, it was absolutely impossible to express his feelings for Fuji Nobutada, and he could only be temporarily wronged.
"Even if the Hojo family is extremely ambitious, they still care about the friendship between their ancestors." Shiroku Sekiguchi spoke slowly, as if to ease everyone's mood, "In any case, we will never cross the Fuji River west to enter the Imagawakan again." .”
"Is that because they don't want to? It's obviously just because the Takeda family is restraining Shunbei. They are worried that once they advance westward and the Takeda family enters from the north, the east side of the river they get will be lost. If the Takeda family is transferred from the border, the Hojo family will I will call Xiao Xiao the next day." Okabe Okabe's attitude towards the Hojo family was obviously extremely bad.
"The father and son of Osawa in Horie Castle are loyal people. When Mr. Osawa returned that day, I thought he would fall to the side of the rebels. Unexpectedly, he actually raised an army and revolted. He fought hard to defend the city for dozens of days without losing the city." Mingjisada also didn't want to see everyone's attitudes gradually intensify, so he changed the topic and brought up the situation in Yuejiang. He was full of praise for Osawa Moto and Osawa Moto, "Now that the governor of the family has returned, then Imagawa Yoshima Knowing that our army was approaching, we had to shrink our troops and deploy our defenses eastward. The pressure on Horie City dropped sharply. A few days ago, Horie City even sent ninja communications to us."
"The Amano Atsugi Mamoru (Amano Keiguki) of the branch of the Amano family is also good. Last month, he responded to our call for action against the Toe wealthy family and tried to seize Inui Castle from the rebellious Amano Keitai. It almost succeeded, but unfortunately Imagawa Yoshima sent troops in time to suppress him." Matsui Munanobu of Toe Futama Castle mentioned the accident at his neighbor's house and couldn't help but sigh with regret, "Now he has fled to the lower city to seek refuge, and he still thinks about fighting day and night. Return to Inui Castle and let the Amano family return to the name of the Imagawa clan."
"Your Highness, when will the troops be ordered to quell the rebellion?" Asahina Tainou drank another bottle of wine, then touched his mouth and looked at Imagawa Yoshimoto eagerly, "The sooner the civil strife is put down, the sooner we can start from the Hojo family. We will seize back Hedong."
"I am willing to serve as a vanguard and avenge the former lord." Okabe's protoss stepped out of the queue, saying sincerely that he wished he could send troops to Yuanjiang now.
"Please hand over the vanguard to me! You have overstepped your bounds. Don't be surprised if Sakyo enters His Highness." Upon seeing this, Matsui Sonobu also knelt forward.
For a time, the crowd of warriors was excited. They are all passionate warriors, and at this time, no one is willing to stand behind others.
Taiyuan Xue Zhai glanced at Imagawa Yoshimoto slightly uneasily. Although he and Imagawa Yoshimoto had made an agreement before, asking him to wait until the Imagawa family had been sorted out for a while before sending troops to the distant river, but considering that Imagawa Yoshimoto must be thinking about growing the family quickly so that he can marry a beautiful woman - if he complies now With military morale, he agreed to send troops immediately, and Taiyuan Xuezhai could not resist. He also didn't expect that Asahina Tenno's casual chat would bring the pace of the meeting to such an extent. He had just been busy thinking about how to streamline and shrink finances, and without paying attention, he had already reached the point where he was riding a tiger and was unable to get off.
"It is better to send out troops after the autumn harvest. Only after the preparations are complete can we accomplish it in one go. There is no need to rush."
To Taiyuan Xue Zhai's surprise, Imagawa Yoshimoto actually stepped forward to stop the momentum of the fight, and then calmed down everyone's dissatisfaction with his words of comfort.
After the meeting, all the important ministers dispersed and returned to their territories. After seeing everyone off, Imagawa Yoshimoto quietly turned around and left. He seemed to be in a bad mood. Taiyuan Xuezai followed him all the way to the castle tower and found that Yoshimoto Imagawa had several books of Japanese songs that he had not read much spread out on the table. He was standing by the table, playing Cuju in a muffled voice.
"Why don't you rush to send troops?" Taiyuan Xuezhai leaned on the door frame and fiddled with the rosary beads in his hand, "Is there a time when my disciple is sensible?"
"Teacher, didn't you tell me not to rush to send troops?" Imagawa Yoshimoto replied listlessly without raising his head.
"You were thinking about the beauty and wanted to send troops as soon as possible. Why did you back out again? You also said that you would wait until after the autumn harvest... Oh -" Taiyuan Xuezhai said, but he suddenly understood, and showed a happy and happy expression. With a bit of a teasing smile, "I heard that you went to the farmland when you went out for a walk in the city yesterday afternoon. Could it be that Chengfang, you kid, is feeling pity again..."
"Old man, you are so annoying!" Imagawa Yoshimoto glared at Taiyuan Xuezhai, kicked Taiyuan Xuezhai angrily, and Taiyuan Xuezhai was so frightened that he staggered out of the room. Imagawa Yoshimoto followed quickly and closed the door in front of him, "You can approve the official document yourself today!"
"Haha...Chengfang, you brat..." Taiyuan Xuezhai, who was kicked out, was not angry at all. He returned to his room happily, sat down on the tatami, and slowly stroked his crotch with his hand. The dilapidated box that had been treasured for many years whispered softly:
"You brat."
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Author's note: School has started, and I will update every two days from now on. Please forgive me!
