The side hall of Kyogokukan.
A middle-aged man wearing ordinary casual clothes was sitting in the center of the hall. Although he deliberately maintained a calm posture, his eyes still showed a little nervousness.
As a run-down samurai who is over middle-aged but has achieved nothing, Yokota Takamatsu is occasionally confused because he can't see any way out in himself.
This time he joined the Kyogoku family just to give it a try, and his identity has not been officially recognized by the master family. He is currently just training as an archer.
But what Yokota Takamatsu didn't expect was that just three days after joining the Kyogoku family, he would be received by the famous Omi Yasha Saburo Kyogoku Takamasa. This made Yokota Takamatsu feel flattered, and at the same time Yokota Takamatsu's heart was burning again. A spark of hope arose.
Perhaps this time joining the Kyogoku family will be a turning point in his life.
At the same time, Kyogoku Takamasa, who was sitting in the main seat of the side hall, was also seriously examining Yokota Takamatsu in front of him.
Kyogoku Takamasa was also surprised by the addition of one of the "Five Ministers" of the Takeda family in history.
When he learned the words Yokota and Takamatsu from Tsunayika Kaiboku and Kiyosuna Kasahara during the evaluation just now, Kyogoku Takamasa couldn't believe his ears.
A feeling of happiness that a piece of pie in the sky just happened to fall on my head suddenly emerged.
So as soon as the evaluation was over, Kyogoku Takamasa immediately sent someone to the school grounds to call Yokota Takamatsu.
Kyogoku Takamasa must meet such a talent well, otherwise, if he neglects him and Yokota Takamatsu flies away again, wouldn't he regret it to death?
After all, Yokota Takamatsu has just joined the Kyogoku family, and there is no sense of belonging yet. It is very common to change jobs.
"Are you Yokota Bichushou?"
After staring at Yokota and Takamatsu for a long time, Kyogoku Takamasa finally spoke.
Seeing that Kyogoku Takamasa finally started talking, Yokota Takamatsu also breathed a sigh of relief and quickly replied, "That's right!"
"Is Bitchu Mamoru from Omi?"
"Yes, I lived in Omi-Koga County in my previous life, and I served in the Rokkaku family with my father before. However, after my father passed away last year, my salary was too low to support the family, so I ran away from home to find another way out."
"I originally planned to go to Tokaido, but when I passed by Imama Castle, I accidentally saw the recruitment notice posted in the castle town, so I volunteered to apply. Fortunately, I was taken seriously by Kasahara-sama and Kaihoku-sama, and they were entrusted with the important task of training archers. .”
Kyogoku Takamasa nodded slightly, which was consistent with the historical description of Yokota Takamatsu.
Although Yokota Takamatsu ranked among Takeda's top five ministers in history, he was not from Kai or Shinano, but from Omi. He served as an official for the Rokkaku family in the early days, and later went to Kai to join the Takeda family in Kai, and shined brightly when the Takeda family attacked Shinano.
However, when Takeda Shingen and Murakami Yoshikiyo were fighting, they encountered a "stone collapse" and the Takeda family was defeated. Yokota Takamatsu served as the palace army to cover Takeda Shingen's retreat, but unfortunately died in the battle.
This was Kyogoku Takamasa's luck. If Kasahara Kiyosuna and others had not posted a recruitment notice in the castle town, Yokota Takamatsu would have followed the historical trajectory and went to Kai to become a Takeda retainer.
This is a real talent, and it would be a pity to miss it. Fortunately, destiny is in Kyogoku, and the protagonist's halo is NB!
"I have learned about Bichushu's archery skills and tactics from Zen'emon and Matasaburo. To be praised by both of them naturally proves that Bichushu is a real person."
"But the defense of Bichu can be a good horse?"
Kyogoku Takamasa also asked casually. After all, Yokota Takamatsu was an important minister of the Takeda family in history. What if he was a big boss?
However, it is a pity that Yokota Takamatsu shook his head and said, "I have been poor since I was young. Although I have the intention to buy a war horse, I have no chance."
"That's quite a pity."
However, Kyogoku Takamasa didn't have high expectations, he just sighed and felt relieved.
Then Kyogoku Takamasa looked at Yokota Takamatsu solemnly and said: "My family has always been committed to discovering talents. I am not very happy that Nakamori Imabi can serve as an official in our family."
"In this case, I will accept your duty as the archer of our family and be fully responsible for the training of our archers. From now on, the archers of our family will also be under your command!"
"As for your annual salary, let's set it at 100 koku for the time being! In addition, the retainer's house under construction in Imahama Castle Ninomaru will also give you a house. After the construction is completed, you can settle down with your family. During this period, you will temporarily live in Kasahara lives with Saburo, he is alone and has no family."
"I wonder what Beizhong Shou's intention is?"
Hearing Kyogoku Takamasa's words, Yokota Takamatsu nodded without sadness or joy, and then solemnly replied: "Thank you, lord!"
Although I am not particularly satisfied with the 100 stone annual salary, it is already good to get such a salary when I first arrived. It is at least several times better than when I was at the Rokkaku family. I will have no problem supporting my family, and Kyogoku Takamasa also arranged accommodation for me. question.
More importantly, Kyogoku Takamasa promised that he would be able to command the Kyogoku family's archers in the future, which was already an important task entrusted to him.
"This is a letter of appointment. I will ask for more advice from the guardian of Bizhong in the future."
"I don't dare. I must be self-restrained and loyal to the public. Lord, please rest assured!"
Yokota Takamatsu left after taking over the certificate of appointment from Kyogoku Takamasa. Just as Kyogoku Takamasa was about to get up and return to his residence, Yoneda Sonrokuro suddenly walked in from outside.
"Sakyo entered the palace and finally found you." Yoneda Sonrokuro said breathlessly.
Kyogoku Takamasa motioned Yoneda Sonrokuro to take a seat, and then asked in confusion: "But what happened?"
"Exactly!"
"Just now, several businessmen found the villain and claimed that their goods had been robbed. They hope that I can recover the goods for them."
"That's unreasonable!"
Upon hearing Yoneda Sonrokuro's words, Kyogoku Takamasa immediately became angry, "There are still people in my family who dare to commit such plunder. Do they really think they have a long life?"
"But knowing the place where the caravan was robbed, I immediately asked Mimasaku to go and destroy this group of bandits."
Yoneda Sonrokuro waved his hand quickly and said: "Sakyo enters the palace, the place where these merchants were robbed is on Lake Biwa."
"These businessmen are all businessmen from Takashima County. They came to Imahama Castle by boat from Takashima County yesterday, transporting materials for the Kunitomo Village to produce weapons. However, this morning they encountered water on the lake in Imahama Castle. The thieves looted and the cargo of several ships was robbed.”
"And these goods were purchased by the villain on his behalf, and the deposit has been paid in advance. Now that the goods have been robbed, the merchants are looking for the villain to make trouble, hoping to help them recover their losses. The villain can only come to Sakyo to enter the palace!"
"Water pirate?"
Kyogoku Takamasa suddenly lost his temper.
As a large lake that occupies nearly one-third of Omi's territory, Lake Biwa not only facilitates business in the Omi area, but it is also subject to attacks by water thieves.
Although the number of these water thieves is not large, they are very hidden. Some are even fishermen in coastal areas. They usually fish, but when necessary they gather together to rob passing ships, causing many merchant ships and ferries to suffer.
Although Kyogoku Takamasa knew about the hidden dangers of Lake Biwa before, the Kyogoku family's territory at that time was only Sakata County and had not reached the current situation of dominating Kitaomi, so he did not take it to heart.
However, the sudden occurrence of pirates robbing merchant ships forced Kyogoku Takamasa to pay attention.
If left alone, the Kyogoku family's trade will suffer great losses.
