Zhitian silver mine.
Chigusa Masatada rushed here as quickly as possible with more than a thousand troops of his own.
In Chigusa Masatada's opinion, if the Umeto family had really planned ahead, it would definitely not be as simple as robbing the merchant travellers. It was very likely that the other party would attack their own silver mines.
Due to the awkward geographical location of the Zhitian Silver Mine, Chigusa Masataka has always regarded the safety of the Zhitian Silver Mine as particularly important.
This place is close to the territory of the Umehu family. If it is attacked by the Umehu family, it will not be easy to take it back.
"Lord!"
"My detective discovered the Umehu family's troops less than three miles east, and they are looting Xiaoliang Village!"
Chigusa Masatada suddenly cursed: "Damn Umedo Takami, he didn't even spare the village!"
"Immediately move towards Xiaoliang Village. We must not let the Ume family ride on our head to show off their power!"
Chigusa Masatada was so angry that he vomited blood, and Umedo Takami on the other side was also furious.
After searching Enfukuji Temple, the goods that had been lost by the Umeto family were not found at all. Seeing that his trip was about to be in vain, how could Umedo Takami be willing to do so.
After all, the troops have been sent out, and the Chigusa family can't just give up easily, so it's better to just get a big one!
So Umedo Takami immediately ordered the march towards the Zhitian Silver Mine, and all the villages he passed along the way were looted.
The farmers were poor, and they couldn't get much if they grabbed anything, but the population itself could be traded.
Since the Umehu family sent troops without any warning, the farmers in the villages near Zhitian Township were completely unprepared. Two villages in a row were taken over by Umehu Takami.
These plundered people were either brought to do hard labor in the Ume family territory, or sold to other areas with relatively poor populations.
Historically, Nagao Kagetora of Echigo often did this kind of thing, and it was indeed a good way to make a fortune!
"Lord, the Sengusa family has sent out troops. The enemy's front line has arrived at the Zhida Silver Mine. The person leading the troops is Hitachisuke Sengusa!" Just as Umedo Takami was commanding the Ashigaru to tie the captured people together with ropes At this time, a samurai quickly walked to Umedo Takami's side.
Umedo Takami's eyes narrowed, "It came so fast!"
"Chigusa Masataka personally took action. It seems that this battle is inevitable!"
"How many people are there on the other side?"
The samurai continued to answer: "The enemy's front line has about four to five hundred people, but according to the information from our detectives, the Chigusa family is still mobilizing troops!"
"When will our reinforcements arrive?"
"It's expected to be in three hours!"
The territory of the Umehu family only has eight or nine townships and more than forty villages, which is roughly equivalent to the size of a small village in the Celestial Dynasty.
They say they are going to fight, but it is actually similar to a dispute breaking out in the countryside and getting people into a fight.
"Send a team of Ashigaru to send these captured people back first, while the others will set up formations and wait for reinforcements!"
"Ouch!"
...
The war between the Chigusa family and the Umeto family is about to break out.
Behind the scenes, Kyogoku Takamasa and others also quietly arrived at the hiding spot discussed in advance.
"Lord, the troops of the Umeto family have set up formations in Korya Village, not far east of the Jiden Silver Mine. People from the Chigusa family have also arrived. Now the two sides are in a confrontation stage!" Seeing Kyogoku Takamasa coming, he stayed behind. Tsutsui Shunren, who was observing the situation here, quickly spoke.
Kyogoku Takamasa calmly took out a rice ball from his arms, and then slowly opened the leaves wrapping the rice ball.
"Don't worry, wait until they start fighting first!"
"Has the situation of the Zhitian Silver Mine been investigated?"
Yamaoka Inuhachiro on the side quickly replied: "The young man Shicai and a few other ninjas have sneaked into the Zhitian Silver Mine. There are only a few samurai and a dozen ashigaru left behind in the silver mine. The rest have been killed by Chigusa Hitachisuke." It was taken."
"In addition, in addition to the piles of silver ore in the warehouse of Zhitian Silver Mine, there are also many small silver coins that have been smelted!"
"Preliminary estimate is that there are at least nearly a thousand pieces!"
Hearing Yamaoka Inuhachiro's words, Kyogoku Takamasa suddenly showed a satisfied smile.
All this planning was finally not in vain!
According to Omi's market conditions, a small piece of silver (10 taels, about 160 grams) is roughly equivalent to 2-4 guan of money, mainly depending on the purity of the silver.
However, even if it is silver of average purity, hundreds of pieces can be worth one or two thousand guan.
"Has everything been sold?"
"Before the Umeto family arrived at Enfukuji Temple, I had already taken the opportunity to sell everything to the exchange, making a total profit of 2529 kan and 272 wen!"
Because they were eager to sell, this batch of goods worth 3,000 pounds was directly sold at a low price.
However, this is a business without capital, and the Kyogoku family is purely making a profit.
"The money is too heavy for us to carry, so I hired a fleet of vehicles to take the things back to Omi first."
"Lord Matsunaga also returned to Omi with the car."
Junren Tsutsui continued to add.
"very good!"
Kyogoku Takamasa nodded, "This way we can concentrate on dealing with the situation at hand."
"Inuhachiro, continue to keep an eye on Xiaoliang Village. If a fight breaks out over there, report it immediately!"
"ha!"
...
Although Chigusa Masataka arrived at Xiaoliang Village, he was not in a hurry to launch an attack.
Firstly, the Chigusa family did not have the upper hand in military strength, and secondly, he was worried that the Umeto family still had a backup plan.
"This Umedo Takami didn't come early or late, but he provoked my family at this time. Do you think the Rokkaku family was behind this?"'
Chigusa Masatada had to be careful, the Rokkaku family in Omi next door was the real boss.
Although Rokkaku Sadayori failed to intervene in the Kinai situation, the strength of the Rokkaku family is still not comparable to that of the Chigusa family. He was very worried at the moment. The Umeto family was just sent by Rokkaku Sadeyori to attack the front line. The real killer move was the Rokkaku family hidden behind.
"What do you mean, my lord, to just leave the Umeto family alone?" Inoue Masakichi said, looking at Chigusa Masatada.
Chigusa Masatada nodded, then shook his head, "In any case, it's better to be careful!"
"Report!"
"My lord, the head of the Umehu family has sent someone to make an appointment with my lord on the battlefield!"
A warrior strode in from outside.
Chigusa Masatada and Inoue Masakichi looked at each other, and then said: "I will personally meet Umeto Takami for a while to see what kind of medicine is sold in the gourd of the Umedo family!"
After calling a few close men and leading Inoue Masakichi and others, Chigusa Masatada rode out of the formation on horseback.
In the open space in the center of the battlefield, Umedo Takami was walking towards here with several samurai.
Soon, the two met.
"Tosa Mamoru, what are your intentions when you raise troops to invade our territory, rob nearby merchants, attack temples, and cause chaos in the countryside!"
As soon as he saw Umedo Takami, Chigusa Masatada immediately stepped forward to question him.
Hearing Chigusa Masatada's words, Umedo Takami was stunned.
Shouldn't these be my lines?
Seeing that the opponent was going to beat him up, Umedo Takami immediately quit, "This is unreasonable!"
"I would also like to ask, what is the purpose of your Sengusa family samurai disguised as bandits in our territory and attacked our caravan?"
"Nonsense!" Chigusa Masatada was angry.
"In the past two years, my family just didn't want to start a war. If you really think that I am afraid of you, I won't do it!"
"It doesn't matter if the Rokkaku family is behind you, this is Ise, not Omi!"
Not to be outdone, Umehu Takami said, "It's just a mere Chigusa family. There's no need for the Rokkakudou to take action. Our Umehu family will definitely fight with you today!"
If we can't agree, let's fight!
