On January 16, the twelfth year of Tianwen (1543), the group set out again. Originally, they planned to go on foot, but now they had to add a purchased ox cart to the team - because Mrs. Sanjo's feet had a lot of blisters after yesterday's mountain road, and she couldn't walk at all. Mrs. Sanjo was sitting in the bullock cart at the moment, gritting her teeth tightly and enduring the pain without saying a word.
There were a few soft noises coming from the side of the bullock cart, and after a moment the curtain was opened - it was Ginkgo. Mrs. Sanjo immediately turned away, and was already thinking about what words to use to counter Ginkgo's upcoming teasing.
Unexpectedly, Ginkgo did not speak, but instead took out the needle.
"It's been burned on the fire, don't worry, it's clean." Ginkgo sat down opposite Mrs. Sanjo, and then stretched out her hand straightforwardly, "Here, bring your feet over and help you pop the blisters. It will heal quickly. Sister The maid brought from Kyoto doesn’t look like she’s capable of doing such menial work, so we have to come from the mountains.”
Mrs. Sanjo was stunned for a moment, pursed her lips and said nothing.
·
At this time, the bullock cart was outside.
"I didn't expect Ginkgo to do this?" Imagawa Yoshimoto couldn't help but sigh, thinking of his wife who would sleep in every day and not do any work.
"When I was a child, my father was away at war all the time. After giving birth to us, my mother never cared about the children. She was the eldest sister who took care of us brothers and sisters." Takeda Harunobu recalled his childhood years, but rarely showed a gentle smile. , "We love to run wildly all over the mountains and plains, and we don't have a pair of decent shoes. We often go barefoot. It's a common occurrence to get blisters. My sister comes to help us deal with them. Not to mention small things like blisters, Most of the food we eat, the clothes we wear, and the gadgets we play with are made by my sister.”
"I only know that her cooking is delicious." Imagawa Yoshimoto thought of the roast chicken meal Ginkgo made after he and Ginkgo were chased in the woods - that was the only meal that Imagawa Yoshimoto thought was good enough for him who hated chicken. After swallowing the chicken, "Seeing how laid-back and lazy she is on weekdays, I thought she wouldn't worry about this."
"Maybe it's because we worked too hard when we were younger, and my sister is getting lazy now. She wants to make up for all the hardships she suffered when she was young." Takeda Harunobu speculated on Ginkgo's thoughts, and then smiled, "That's true." Brother-in-law, you have suffered a big loss and cannot enjoy the service of your sister."
"That's good." Imagawa Yoshimoto shook his head and took advantage of the wind blowing the door curtain to look at Ginkgo's serious back, "I don't want her to work hard all day long, so it would be nice to be able to be lazy leisurely."
"You just dote on your sister too much. My sister is really lucky to have a husband like Wu Lang."
·
At noon on January 18, the twelfth year of Tenmon (1543), a group of people arrived at the castle town of Nakono Castle. The prosperity of the castle town shocked people like Imagawa Yoshimoto who were used to Imagawadate castle town. There was an endless stream of merchants coming and going, and the castle town was full of vendors setting up stalls, and there were many large caravans passing by. No wonder Imagawa Yoshimoto and others were not investigated much along the way, because for Owari, such a flow of people was normal. But that's all.
"Chengfang, how do you think this Furuno Castle compares to Imagawa Pavilion?" Taiyuan Xuezhai looked at the street scene and asked thoughtfully.
"Excluding sea trade, the prosperity of Furuno Castle is higher than that of Imagawakan." Imagawa Yoshimoto answered candidly, and then frowned, "How did you do it? Owari has been fighting for many years, and the geography is not as critical as Suruga. How can there be so many merchants?”
"I didn't encounter many tax collection customs along the way. I only saw a few when I entered Owari, and they were guarding the mountain castle. After entering Oda Tansheng's territory, there were only one or two." Taiyuan Xuezai The natural answer is, "With less tariffs, there will naturally be more trade."
"If there is no tariff, no matter how prosperous the territory is, what use will it have to the daimyo?" Takeda Harunobu snorted coldly, "It will just enrich these unruly people."
"Making people live a good life is a supreme merit, why should we care about these?" Imagawa Yoshimoto almost blurted out his retort, but he immediately realized what kind of words Takeda Harunobu would use to retort——
"If you don't collect tariffs, the Wu family will have no income and cannot raise troops. If the enemy comes over, they will be defeated. Then isn't your prosperous and rich castle town just for the enemy to hunt and plunder? This is to let the people live. Have a good life?"
Sure enough, what Takeda Harunobu said was exactly as Imagawa Yoshimoto imagined, and the latter could only smile bitterly and shake his head.
"No, no, don't underestimate the benefits of a prosperous territory." Taiyuan Xuezhai on the side was fiddling with his rosary quickly, clinking like an abacus, "If you don't collect tariffs, there will be more merchants. The more prosperous the business will be. , the greater the population, which in turn promotes the development of commerce and gradually gathers huge manpower. With these manpower, there is no need to worry about soldiers and labor. The Oda family can set up several caravans to engage in business. With such a large There is no need to worry about making money in the market. Isn’t this much more than that little tariff? And with such a large population and so much demand, the prices of various materials have naturally dropped. The Oda family’s own purchase of food, ordnance, and building materials will be cheaper than It’s much cheaper elsewhere.”
"You're right, I will reform when I get back." Takeda Harunobu ambitiously gave a high-five, but then he ran into trouble again, "But Kai is not a very easy place to get around, and it is not a major transportation road. The abolishment of the checkpoint will also attract people." If a few people don't come, we might end up leaving."
"Suruga is fine." Imagawa Yoshimoto was thinking about how to reduce the level of obstacles due to Suruga's geographical location, but suddenly he was stunned - he clearly remembered that before Imagawa Yoshima's death, he asked Imagawa Yoshimoto to imitate his comprehensive reforms - —Including the abolition of customs offices. However, at that time Imagawa Yoshima only practiced it for just over a year and saw no results. Therefore, everyone in the Imagawa family did not pay attention to this traitor's deviant behavior - but they did not expect that his ideas actually had merit. Where?
"What's wrong?" Takeda Harunobu noticed Imagawa Yoshimoto's expression and squinted his eyes to look at him seriously, "What have you thought of? Do you also want to reform like this?"
"Uh..." Imagawa Yoshimoto wanted to agree, but he suddenly remembered Imakawa Yoshima's last instruction before his death - never reveal a word that Imagawa Yoshimoto heard from Imagawa Yoshima. So, he just shook his head and prevaricated, "Go back and take a look at the situation. At least the success of Furuno City is still valuable for reference."
"It is said that these reforms were proposed by Oda Danmasa's eldest son. I forgot his name." Taiyuan Xuezhai muttered and casually mentioned, "Oda Danmasa originally had the mentality to try it out. , I didn’t expect the effect to be good, so I implemented it on a large scale within the territory.”
"What?" Takeda Harunobu was shocked. "Really? Master Oda Yoshi? That big fool Owari? Isn't he only a few years old? Is this news credible, Master Yukisai? What did you say specifically?"
"Oh, it seems that the nickname is indeed Master Ji." Taiyuan Xuezhai scratched his head, as if he was dissatisfied with his memory, and then looked at Amano Jingtoku, who was beside him, "Quan Bingwei, it's you You heard about it in the market this morning, right? What did you say specifically?"
"Master Tuhara asked about it. I don't know the details." Amano Keide shook his head, "Master Tuhara went out for reconnaissance and is not in the team for the time being."
"Oh..." Takeda Harunobu licked his lips, seeming a little regretful, but he didn't ask any more questions, but muttered to himself: "I didn't expect that 'Owari fool' to have such ability?"
"Haha, those who really think he is a fool must be the 'big fool' themselves." Taiyuan Xuezhai burst out laughing after hearing this, "Only those who are deviant will be called 'fools', but this kind of people deserve the most Be alert. He is either a madman or a genius, but he will never be a fool. How can a truly ordinary fool have such a great reputation? Even the people of Kai have heard about it."
"He must be an interesting person." Imagawa Yoshimoto stretched out comfortably, "I wonder if I will have a chance to meet him."
·
After having lunch in the castle town of Furuno Castle, we continued heading northwest. But not far after walking, the sun was just setting in the west, and Takeda Harunobu decided to rest one night in Nakamura Township, Aichi County before leaving.
"How long has it been?" Takeda Hironobu glanced at the still early sky, and couldn't help but criticize his lord's decision, "My lord, weren't you always on the road in a hurry, why did you suddenly think of taking a rest at this time? After all, we It’s not safe for you or at home outside Guxuan, so it’s better to end your trip and go back early.”
"Madam's foot hurts badly. Let's rest early today and let her take care of herself." Takeda Harunobu looked back at the oxcart, and then whispered to Takeda Hironobu beside him.
"I can't tell that you still have some conscience." Ginkgo said sarcastically, "Why haven't I seen you caring about my siblings before? It's been hurting for more than a day."
"There are always some things that men cannot say out loud. Even if they think about it in their hearts, their awkward self-esteem will still prevent them from conveying their thoughts." Imagawa Yoshimoto hugged Ginkgo's shoulders and excused Takeda Harunobu, "It's all wrong. Don’t point out the solution.”
"Sir, your mouth seems to be covered with honey. You can say anything sweet?" Ginkgo rolled her eyes at Imagawa Yoshimoto, obviously very dissatisfied with the protection between men, "Whatever, if you rest early, I can go to make up for it earlier." Get some sleep, it’s up to you.”
Therefore, the group of people found a hotel with the best conditions in Nakamura Township - saying that the conditions are the best is only relative - the dungeon of the Imagawa family castle tower.
