On August 11, the twelfth year of Tianwen (1543), the next stop of the private visit in Weifu was Sanhe.
Suruga and Toe, and Imagawa Yoshimoto had already turned around a lot, and naturally their next destination was Mikawa Country. Suruga has been the territory of the Imagawa clan for hundreds of years; although Enjie has changed hands several times, it is still inextricably linked to the Imagawa clan, and now nearly half of the territory is controlled by the Imagawa clan's descendants.
Mikawa is different. It has nothing to do with the Imagawa family since ancient times. It began to try to conquer it during the Imagawa clan era. It was not until the Imagawa Yoshimoto era that it finally established partial rule over Higashi Mikawa and established an alliance with the Matsudaira family in Nishi Mikawa. . It can be said that the Imagawa family has a relatively limited understanding of Mikawa's intelligence, and has never issued a law against Mikawa. It is necessary to conduct field investigations.
Of course, Imagawa Yoshimoto may just feel that Suruga Enji is tired of playing and wants to go somewhere else. Therefore, Imagawa Yoshimoto, Ginkgo, Sena Ujitoshi, Nakono Ujitoyo, and Hayasaka Nao continued their private visit incognito and went to Mikawa for inspection.
Of course, with the experience of encountering the rebellion of the Okuhira and Kanuma families in Toe and the rebellion of the Matsudaira branch in Mikawa last time, Imagawa Yoshimoto has no trust in the people of Mikawa and is very concerned about his own security. Heart. Not only did Tsuchi Atonsune lead a group of ninjas to guard the area, but Ohara Masumi and Yamada Keitaka stationed at Mikawa Yoshida Castle also received instructions to assist the guards.
·
On the evening of August 12, the twelfth year of Astronomy (1543), a village southeast of Okazaki Castle.
"It's so desolate here." Ginkgo sat sideways on the horse and looked listlessly at the equally listless Arata beside the surrounding fields. "Not even as good as Kai..."
"Suruga has not experienced war and chaos for many generations, so he is much better than Enjie who has to fight a war every three to five years. Mikawa has been fighting almost every day for more than a hundred years, so it is normal to be like this." Na Furuno Ujitoyo pointed at the barren fields with his horsewhip, "No one is cultivating such good fields. The nearby residents must have fled long ago. Today is Oda fighting Matsudaira, every day Matsudaira is fighting Imagawa, and the day after tomorrow it is Imagawa fighting Oda, if nothing goes wrong, there will be a civil war in Matsudaira, and the wealthy families of Higashi Mikawa will attack each other..."
"No matter who loses or wins, burning, killing and looting are inevitable. In the end, the injured are the common people." Toshi Sena sighed, got off his horse and looked at the weeds in the field.
"The past few years have been relatively peaceful. People who fled may come back one after another." Imagawa Yoshimoto looked around, but he noticed that there seemed to be some smoke from cooking in the village in the distance. "There seems to be still some smoke there." There is a place there, go and have a look."
·
A group of people rode horses to the edge of the village. The sporadic frolicking and chatter on the streets finally made the village a little lively. In a village with dozens of households, only about ten households live in it, and the others may have fled. Not far from the village, there is a small dry field with traces of farming.
"I remember." Imagawa Yoshimoto gradually recalled the surrounding geography, looked to the southeast, and then turned back to look at his feet, looking a little lonely: "Last year, when the Oda family marched into Azozaka to fight with us, they should have They passed through this area south of Okazaki Castle, arresting people along the way and committing all kinds of crimes. The Oda family burned down villages and villages of houses and robbed a large number of people. The villages here may have been destroyed at that time... It was me Did you cause the war by yourself..."
"No wonder there are no people..." Sena Toshiya sighed again, and then did not forget to comfort Imagawa Yoshimoto: "But Your Highness, there is no need to blame yourself. After all, the Imagawa family assisted the Matsudaira family in defending their territory, and the Oda family was the one who invaded. On the one hand, we can’t be blamed for this.”
"This is just an excuse to escape...I feel bad after all." Imagawa Yoshimoto curled his lips and looked away from the village in front of him, instead looking towards the entrance of the village. On the way here, you can vaguely see a dangling figure. When I walked in, I realized it was an elderly lady. She was limping along with a cane, carrying a load of firewood on her back that was almost higher than her head. Every step she took seemed to have exhausted her entire life's strength.
Just when Imagawa Yoshimoto was wondering if she would fall, his worries became reality. The old lady suddenly tilted her body and fell heavily to the ground, scattering the firewood on her back all over the ground. Imagawa Yoshimoto frowned instinctively, fearing that the old lady's body would not be able to withstand such a shock, but her body was much stronger than expected. After a few moments of relief, he struggled to get up. The first thing he did was not to check whether he had fallen or not. Instead, he went to pick up firewood on the ground. As a result, he lost his balance and fell again.
"Old man, let me do it." Upon seeing this, Imagawa Yoshimoto hurriedly stepped forward to help the old man up. Ginkgo also followed, helping the old lady pick up the firewood back into the basket, and then put the basket on his shoulders.
"Thank you, thank you..." The old lady gasped and hurriedly thanked the young couple in front of her.
Imagawa Yoshimoto was stunned.
This old lady's face has been ravaged by wind and frost, making her look extremely old, but the outline of her eyebrows and her voice are very much like her mother, Shou Guini. Although Imagawa Yoshimoto knew that his mother would never be in such an embarrassing situation, as long as he imagined that his mother would end up in such a difficult situation, Imagawa Yoshimoto would feel sad in his heart. The feeling of compassion can no longer be stopped.
"At your age, you should take good care of your health and stop doing such physical work." Imagawa Yoshimoto carefully checked whether there was anything wrong with the old lady's body, and helped her move forward slowly, " Where do you live? I will help you go back."
"Thank you, young man. I live at the entrance of the village." The old lady pointed to a thatched house not far away with a trembling finger. At the same time, she said with a cheerful smile: "How about not doing menial work? There are two children at home. Waiting for dinner."
"Then there's no need to go up the mountain to cut firewood." Imagawa Yoshimoto said matter-of-factly: "Can't we just make some handmade fabrics and sell them for money?"
Hearing this, the old lady became happy again, turned her head and looked at Imagawa Yoshimoto's face and fingers, then looked at his and Ginkgo's clothes, and said with a smile: "Young man must have a well-to-do family, he doesn't understand the hardships of our poor families. Ah. In this poor village, no one has spare money to buy handmade fabrics. They even lack basic necessities... There is not even much "money", and everyone is exchanging things for other things. The folks in the village saw me as a pitiful old woman and would give me some grain in exchange for firewood. "
"It's true that I don't eat minced meat anymore..." Imagawa Yoshimoto lowered his head in shame and quietly winked at Hayasaka Nao. Having been a master and servant for many years, Hayasaka Nao naturally understood it - she was going to tell the accompanying ninja to buy some food and deliver it to the old lady's house later.
All the way back to the old lady's house, you can hear the sound of two children playing in the distance. The two children were about three or four years old. They were dressed in rags and looked disheveled, but they still seemed to have a lot of energy.
"My two grandsons." When the old lady saw her grandsons, a smile immediately appeared on her face, and she called the children to say hello to Imagawa Yoshimoto, "These young men are kind-hearted people. They helped grandma back. Come on. Invite them to come in and sit down. There is no tea, so we can only serve some water and chaff."
"Is it convenient?" Imagawa Yoshimoto was afraid that the old lady would use the little food left to entertain him, so he was a little reluctant.
"Damn it, young man, just don't mind that my family is broken." The old lady was very hospitable and blocked the steps of Imagawa Yoshimoto. "After all, I have helped an old man like me so much, and I don't give travelers a rest, so I feel bad. Ah...how can Sanhe people do such a mean and unkind thing?"
"In this case, being respectful is worse than obeying orders." Imagawa Yoshimoto then responded and motioned to Hayasaka Nao to tie the horse to the tree at the door.
Entering the house, Imagawa Yoshimoto found that the thatched house was larger than expected - although it was still small, based on the living standards of the people of Mikawa, it was still a bit too big for three people.
Seemingly sensing Imagawa Yoshimoto's doubts, the old lady smiled bitterly and said, "There used to be 7 people in the family, including 2 sons and their mothers. Last year during the war, Owari wiped out the entire village. All four members of the family were taken away, and I was the only one left to escape by hiding behind the stove with my two grandchildren in my arms..."
"I'm very sorry..." Imagawa Yoshimoto obviously didn't expect that he would uncover such painful memories of the old lady.
"It's okay, it's okay. They are usually kind-hearted people. Buddha will bless them and they will definitely come back." But the old lady shook her head repeatedly as if she didn't care and continued to maintain the smile on her lips, "Fu Da You are lucky... they will come back... Before they come back, I, the old woman, have to look after their grandson for them..."
The optimism of the old man in front of her made Imagawa Yoshimoto speechless for a moment - even though she suffered such a tragedy of family destruction and death, she never gave up hope in life, and so did her two grandchildren... These people have been destroyed over and over again in decades of war. The Sanhe people are struggling to live like weeds. This kind of resilience and unyieldingness is probably incomparable to the Suruga people who live a peaceful life.
·
The old lady was preparing simple meals at home, but Sena Shitoshi wanted to go to the fields behind to see the crops.
"I feel like there's something wrong with the way they sow seeds. It's different from that of Suruga Enie, so I was wondering if I could help optimize it..." Sena Toshi has changed his nature as a workaholic, and no small problem can escape him. Eyes, "I saw it accidentally just now, so..."
"Ah, young man, if you go to the fields in the back, be careful. There are many bandits. We usually hide there." The old lady heard the discussion in the living room from the kitchen. Finally, he warned loudly, "But they also know that we poor people can't grab anything, so they won't embarrass us. But you guys are so well-dressed, and the items on your body look valuable, so be careful not to be targeted." !」
Imagawa Yoshimoto then nodded to Hayasaka Nao, who walked out of the room knowingly and signaled the ninjas waiting in the dark to follow Imagawa Yoshimoto, Sena Ujitoshi and others to the rice fields to guard the surroundings.
"That old lady... looks a bit like my mother inexplicably. She looks good and has a good voice." After walking far away, Ginkgo quietly spoke to Imagawa Yoshimoto. Imagawa Yoshimoto nodded slightly but did not answer.
"You think so too?" Ginkgo saw what Imagawa Yoshimoto was thinking, "No wonder he was so considerate just now."
"Yeah... talk to the old man more when I go back." Imagawa Yoshimoto pursed his lips, but after all, he still didn't say what was in his heart - because his mother Shouguini would definitely not be like an ordinary person. Like an old mother, she warned her son gently and kindly. Talking to that old lady, it was as if Imagawa Yoshimoto could imagine - if he had not been born into a samurai family, if his mother did not have to become a "Shou Guini", then how would she greet him.
On the other side, Sena Ujitoshi had rolled up his trouser legs ably, stepped his white feet into the muddy water without hesitation, and bent down to carefully observe the situation of the rice transplanting. Imagawa Yoshimoto glanced at the muddy water and immediately frowned, carefully controlling his shoes to step on the dry and hard field ridges to avoid the wet mud. Ginkgo rolled her eyes at Yoshimoto Imagawa angrily, and pushed him to push him off the field, but Yoshimoto Imagawa jumped back lightly as his agility was maxed out.
"How are you doing? Do you have any questions?" Imagawa Yoshimoto lowered his head and asked Sena Ujitoshi.
"Hmm..." Just as Sena Shitoshi was thinking about his words, a shout suddenly came from the distance——
"Your Highness! It's not good!"
Everyone was stunned when they heard the sound, and turned around in unison. Tsuchi Atonsune and the surrounding ninjas also emerged from their hiding places, pulling out kunai and preparing to protect Imagawa Yoshimoto.
"What's wrong?" Imagawa Yoshimoto looked at the ninja who was running towards him while yelling.
"A group of robbers are robbing His Highness of the horse tied to that house!" the ninja replied anxiously.
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Chapter 246 Table of Contents (6) Free reading.
