Yamazaki Hiroyuki and Matsunaga Hide slowly walked into the Numata Residence Hall under the guidance of two gentlemen.
Where he saw it, two men were sitting in the hall, one on the left and the other on the right, looking at him with curious eyes.
"Kyogoku's retainer Yamazaki Sahei (Matsunagahiko Rokuro)" At this point, Matsunaga and Nagahide stopped at the same time because they didn't know how to address each other.
As if he saw the embarrassment of Matsunagahide and others, the muscular man quickly said, "Numata Echinaka Shomitsu Kane, this is Numata Miyauchi Shaosuke of the same family."
"It turns out that Numata Echu Shoden is in person. I have heard about your name for a long time. Today we have taken the liberty of visiting you. Please don't take offense at Echu Shoden!"
Matsunagahide performed enough etiquette to make Numata Mitsukane, who was sitting at the head of the table, feel particularly comfortable.
The Wakasa Numata family moved from Ueno, and they received a lot of cold treatment along the way. When had they ever encountered such "courtesy", and it was from a famous family like the Kyogoku family. In Wakasa, even the Matsugiya family, which could only lead a few villages, did not take the Numata family seriously. Now Matsunagahide and others put themselves on the same level and gave them enough respect and face. This made Numata Mitsukane had a very good impression of Matsunaga and Hide.
"I was quite surprised when I heard that you two came to visit me just now. My family has been here for nearly a hundred years, and we have not had any contact with you during this period. I wonder why you two are here today?" Numata Mitsukane is an impatient person and asked There was no beating around the bush to test the purpose of Matsunaga's visit.
Numata Mitsukane was so direct, but Matsunagahide and others found another topic.
"To be honest, I came here for food." Matsuzuki Nagahide pondered for a moment, and then continued, "I came to Takashima County to buy food on the Lord's order, but there was no trace of the food merchant. In Xiongchuan I met a businessman from Kohama Port, Sun Rokuro, by chance near the village. According to him, all the merchants who passed by during this period were attacked by bandits and all their goods were robbed."
"When I visited various villages in Xiongchuan Township, I learned from the villagers that the bandits mentioned by these merchants are actually members of the Numata family. I wonder if what I said is correct?"
After Matsunagahide finished speaking, a trace of panic flashed across the face of Numata Mitsukane, who was sitting on the table. Before Numata Mitsukane could answer, Numata Mitsukazu who was standing next to him quickly said, "Matsunaga-sama, let's not talk about whether it is our Numata family who robbed the merchants. Even if it is, this is Wakasa territory, and it is not our turn to come." Will the Kyogoku family intervene?"
Obviously, Numata Mitsuwa mistakenly believed that Matsunagahide and his two men were here to investigate.
Seeing that Numata Mitsukazu had misunderstood, Matsunaga Hide quickly added, "The Palace Master has misunderstood. I don't care who the merchants were robbed, let alone what happened in Kumagawa Township recently."
"My mission is to purchase food, so if the Numata family has food, I am willing to buy it. If the Numata family is willing to help, then there will be a generous reward in the future!"
"Although I live in Wakasa, I have heard about Omi's affairs. In recent years, I have only heard that the harvest in the Asai family has been poor, while Sakata County and other places have had abundant harvests. Why do the Kyogoku family need to buy additional food?"
"Besides, the identities of the two retainers of the Kyogoku family are just one-sided words, so what proof is there?"
Matsunaga and Yamazaki Hiroyuki had no idea that things would become so complicated before they came. They brought nothing with them except a few strings of money. As for proving their identity, Matsunaga Hide and Yamazaki Hiroyuki could only stare, helpless.
Seeing that Matsunagahide and Matsunaga Hide didn't respond for a long time, Numata Mitsuwa sneered, then put away the cypress fan in his hand, and said with an indifferent expression, "It's best for you two to leave on your own. If not, don't blame me for being rude." Got it!"
"Hmph!" Yamazaki Hiroka suddenly stood up from the ground, "You are just sitting in a well in a remote place in this poor country and watching the sky. You will definitely suffer the same shame as today!"
"Lord Matsunaga, let's go!"
Mad, after all, he is a samurai of the Kyogoku family. "Condescending" to come here to meet the head of the Numata family is already giving him enough face. Moreover, I have lowered my attitude so low, yet the other party still refuses to give me face. This is unbearable.
As a samurai, Yamazaki Hiroyuki said that he also has dignity.
Seeing the two members of the Yamazaki Hiro family leaving angrily, Numata Mitsukane became a little anxious, "Jiro, even if our family doesn't have any extra food to sell to them, we can just tell them the truth. Why should we be so rude and drive them away?"
"Although the Kyogoku family can't control our Wakasa affairs, they are neighbors after all. We may have to deal with the Kyogoku family in the future. Today, the Kyogoku family did something so extreme and offended the Kyogoku family for nothing. It's really not worth the gain. Ah!" Numata Mitsukane said with a regretful tone.
Numata Mitsukane shook his head, looked at Numata Mitsukane and said, "Brother, as I just said, there is no harvest failure in the Kyogoku family territory. Why would the other party purchase additional grain?"
"Besides, the current territory of the Kyogoku family is in the Sakata County area, and Mino is to the east. No matter how difficult it is, you can still buy grain from the Minami Omi Rokkaku family. Why would you send people to Wakasa instead of looking far away?"
"To get from Sakata County to Wakasa, you need to pass through the territory of the Asai family, and the Kyogoku family and the Asai family are at odds with each other. How to transport the grain purchased from Wakasa back to Sakata County? Isn't the risk involved very high?"
"All the signs are unusual, and combined with the recent war in Sakata County, I speculate that the two people just now may not be retainers of the Kyogoku family, but samurai of the Shinsho family!" Numata Mitsuwa said with a solemn expression.
"A samurai from the new dealer?" Numata Mitsukane was a little confused.
"That's right!" Mitsukazu Numata nodded, "It is reported that the Shinjo Castle, the headquarters of the Shinzo family, was captured by the Takashima family. The Taya clan under the Asai family sent troops again and began to march towards the remaining territories of the Shinzo clan."
"At this time, the new banker family is gathering troops to encircle the city, so it naturally needs a lot of food. And the new banker family is about to be destroyed. If our family sells food to the new banker family, and the Takashima family or the Tianya family find out about it afterwards, wouldn't it also offend Gao? Two powerful enemies of Dao County?"
"With the Matsumiya family to the west and Tagaya Takashima to the east, wouldn't it be even more difficult to be caught between Wakasa and Omi?"
Numata Mitsuwa raised a finger and waved it in front of Numata Mitsukane's eyes, then raised another finger and said, "Of course, there is another possibility."
"What's possible?" Numata Mitsukane felt as if a cat was scratching his paws, and he wished Numata Mitsukane could immediately explain the whole story.
Numata Mitsuwa slowly opened the cypress fan and flapped it twice, bringing in a ray of cool breeze. "Another possibility is that the Shinzo family asked for help from the Kyogoku family in order to resist the attack from the Tagaya family and the Takashima family, and the Kyogoku family's reinforcements have already arrived. Takashima County.”
"The Kyogoku family has just arrived in Takashima County, and the new village has lost its base of Xinzhuang City, so there is no way to sustain food and they are in urgent need of food to survive. The situation in Takashima County is critical now, so it is natural to send people back to Sakata County to transport food. It’s impossible, so the Kyogoku family sent people to find me!”
"If it's as you said, wouldn't our move today offend the Kyogoku family again?" Numata Mitsukane still didn't understand.
"Speaking of which, I have to explain to my brother an idea I just had." Numata Mitsukazu smiled at Numata Mitsukane, and then
