Outside Jinbang City.
A new ranch was built, with dozens of war horses kept in it. These were war horses that Asai Ryomasa had previously purchased from the Shinano and Ogasawara family at a huge cost, but now they were cheaper than the Kyogoku family.
Omi is mostly plains, so the importance of cavalry is self-evident.
Although the number of war horses is only a few dozen, if used properly, they are no less than thousands of elite ashigaru.
Standing in the stands and watching the warriors trying to tame their horses, Kyogoku Takamasa shook his head repeatedly.
"This is the manpower you carefully selected from your family?"
Hearing Kyogoku Takamasa's question, Uesaka Munanobu on the side said helplessly, "Young Omi, there are many samurai in the family who are not good at horses."
"Although these warriors have been carefully selected, their riding skills are quite average. If they can barely ride a horse, they are already among the best!"
During the Kamakura period, riding a horse was the standard for samurai.
In those days, it was a shame for a samurai not to be able to ride a horse.
But at that time, warriors were the main force in combat, so the big bosses of all parties naturally focused on cultivating warriors.
But after Muromachi, with the rapid development of the samurai class and the large number of ashigaru on the battlefield, they gradually replaced the samurai as the main force in combat. Moreover, Omi does not produce horses, and many samurai have never seen a war horse in their lives, let alone ride a horse.
"If that's the case, then why did Asai Ryomasa spend a lot of money and trouble to purchase these war horses from Shinano?"
Tsunachika Ubita, who was beside Uesaka Munanobu, quickly replied: "The Asai family has many warriors with excellent riding skills, but most of them were killed in the battle of Otani Castle."
"Who's the best rider on the team today?"
"There are no good riders!"
"Then in our land north of Omi, is there no one who can ride a horse?" Kyogoku Takamasa couldn't believe it.
The current situation is as if the Kyogoku family has a bunch of nuclear weapons but doesn't know how to use them. It's like a clever woman cannot make a meal without rice.
"The head of the Isono family, Tanba Isono, and the head of the Amomori family, Yabei Amamori, are both excellent horsemen. However, my lord said that the horse riding team is only selected from members of the family, so these two were not included in the selection!"
The cavalry team was the trump card prepared by Kyogoku Takamasa, and it was natural that it should be placed in the hands of his direct descendants.
The Isono clan and the Amamori clan are currently only subordinates of the Asai family, and they have recently joined the Asai family. Kyogoku Takamasa does not dare to hand over the cavalry team to their hands.
"If there is no one, then look for us again!"
"The cavalry team is the most important thing for our family, and we would rather have less manpower than more people! If the family's warriors cannot choose anyone, they can spread their targets to ordinary people. Whether they are farmers, businessmen, or humble businessmen, as long as there are people who are good at horses, our family will not hesitate to do so. promoted!"
"Besides, I still don't believe that I spent a lot of money to recruit people from the horse-producing areas around Omi. I, the Kyogoku family, can't even build a horse riding team!"
...
He returned home with a depressed look on his face. As soon as he sat down, Higuchi Naofusa walked in with a stack of documents.
"Lord, what you ordered me to do has now been completed!"
"These are the lists of miners recruited, a total of 453 people. According to the Lord's order, mining of the copper mine in Yamazaki Mountain has begun, and exploration of the copper mine in Tucang Mountain has also begun!"
"These are swordsmiths and armor makers recruited from within the territory, a total of sixty-two people. Although we have the manpower, we still lack funds and raw materials. In addition, the lord still needs to decide where to open the workshop!"
After hearing Higuchi Naofusa's words, Kyogoku Takamasa lowered his head and thought for a while, and then replied: "Two days ago, Sankimori came and gave a lot of gifts, including one thousand kan Yongle money. This money will be used for Let’s open an armor-making workshop and a weapons workshop.”
"As for the location, let's decide on Kunyou Village!"
Kunitomo Village is quite famous in the history of the Warring States Period. The most important thing is that there are a large number of craftsmen here and the iron cannons produced here.
Kunitomo Village prospered because of iron cannons, but now that iron cannons have not been introduced to RB, it is still just an ordinary village. However, Kyogoku Takamasa just took advantage of the opportunity of opening the workshop to make arrangements in advance. Once the iron cannons are introduced, they can start manufacturing them immediately.
Iron cannon, that is a big killer!
"My lord is indeed very wise. I also think that this is the best place to open a workshop!"
"And among the craftsmen recruited from Omi this time, there is a man named Kunito Yubei, who is from Kunitomo Village. This man has superb blacksmithing skills and is famous far and wide! If we can get this man's help, the workshop we open will surely be great. It will get twice the result with half the effort!”
Kunibei?
Kyogoku Takamasa had some impressions of this person. He remembered that in history, Ashikaga Yoshiharu asked Hosokawa Harumoto to make iron cannons. It was Kunitomo Heibei who was the first to successfully imitate and presented two iron cannons to the shogunate. After that, Kunitomo Village's iron cannons Manufacturing begins to reach its peak.
"Tell Kuni Yuhei that our family can grant him the position of blacksmith, specializing in making weapons and equipment!"
"ha!"
Higuchi Naofusa paused, and then continued, "In addition, the recruitment work for Ashigaru has been successfully completed. A thousand young and strong men have now gathered in Imahama City, waiting for the Lord to give orders."
"Give these young men to Tsunachika Kaiboku and order them to be trained well. These will be the main combat forces of our family in the future!"
"ha!"
Higuchi Naofusa left the main hall after handing over his orders, and soon Yamaoka Inuhachiro, Endo Kyouyo, Mitsui Torakaka and others also came together.
"Lord, when do we leave?"
Mitsui Takatora said with high spirits.
Kyogoku Takamasa had previously said that he would take them to Ise to do something big. These days, everyone was working hard and waiting for Kyogoku Takamasa to issue the order.
Kyogoku Takamasa said calmly, "Are you ready with the manpower?"
"Lord, don't worry. They are all wild samurai and ronin recruited from Omi and surrounding areas. There are more than a hundred people in total!"
"In addition, the villain has also called a few familiar people among the Koga ninjas, who will surely come in handy when the time comes!" Inuhachiro Yamaoka also added with a smile.
Seeing that everyone was ready, Kyogoku Takamasa nodded quickly and said: "In that case, we will set off in three days!"
"Remember, this operation must be kept secret, and no word can be revealed to the outside world. Anyone who violates this will be punished with death!"
"ha!"
...
Although Kyogoku Takamasa did not say what he would do next, some people still noticed something unusual.
"Your Highness, is there going to be a war?"
Mrs. Sanjo sat next to Kyogoku Takamasa in Kyogoku Takamasa's house. She carefully filled a spoonful of rice for Kyogoku Takamasa and asked worriedly.
Kyogoku Takamasa looked puzzled and said, "Why did Madam say this?"
"His Highness spent the whole day wiping his saber yesterday. I guess there must have been a war, right?"
"We can't talk about the war, but there are some small things that need to be dealt with!" Kyogoku Takamasa did not intend to tell Mrs. Sanjo the action plan.
Mrs. Sanjo obviously did not believe what Kyogoku Takamasa said, "If it is a small matter, you can let the retainers handle it. Even if His Highness needs to personally take action, naturally the matter is of great importance!"
"Madam is smart and can hide nothing from you!"
"But this matter is a family secret, so it's better that Madam doesn't know about it."
Mrs. Sanjo felt that Kyogoku Takamasa was a little impatient, so she wisely stopped asking further questions.
However, Mrs. Sanjo also felt a little aggrieved, "I am just worried about Your Highness, why would Your Highness be so cruel to me?"
"..."
Am I cruel?
Kyogoku Takamasa suddenly felt confused!
