The Self-Cultivation of Warring States Warriors

Page 26

This doesn't even include the 500 troops who arrived earlier to help stabilize the situation.

The Matsunaga brothers were merely one wing of the Miyoshi family.

Miyoshi Nagayoshi, who currently resides in Akutagawa Yamashiro, exerted only a slight effort, yet possessed the power to deliver a crushing blow.

The influx of visitors also brought some political news to the isolated Tanba region. The most important of these was the news that Ashikaga Yoshito, the current Shogun of the Muromachi Shogunate, had changed his name to Ashikaga Yoshiteru.

It is said that this "Lord Gongfang" changed his name because he made a solemn vow to "punish the Sanhao family and restore their former authority."

This matter can be considered either a big deal or a small deal.

During Miyoshi Nagayoshi's campaign against Hosokawa Harumoto, the Ashikaga clan's attitude remained ambiguous, somewhat like observing from the sidelines. However, as Miyoshi continued to achieve victories and became the new ruler of the Kinai region, the Ashikaga clan gradually began to lean towards Hosokawa Harumoto.

At the end of last year, the Miyoshi Army occupied Kyoto, and Ashikaga Yoshito and Hosokawa Harumoto fled to Kuchiki-dani in Omi Province. Under the protection of the Rokkaku family, they maintained a "government-in-exile." The relationship between the two sides became awkward, but they had not completely broken off relations yet and still maintained some communication in private.

This year, Ashikaga Yoshito changed his name to Yoshiteru and publicly stated that he would punish the Miyoshi family, thus cutting off any possibility of continued peace.

However, they have now moved to the Rokkaku family's territory. The Rokkaku family controls most of Omi and can mobilize more than 20,000 troops. They are not so easy to bully.

Since Miyoshi Nagayoshi couldn't immediately beat Ashikaga Yoshiteru, he openly seized the royal lands directly under the shogunate and announced that he would confiscate the houses and lands left in Kyoto by the exiles.

This led some loyalists who were reluctant to part with their possessions to abandon their esteemed Lord Kubo and return to Kyoto, where they submitted to the Miyoshi clan.

Those who remained loyal to Ashikaga Yoshiteru had their houses and land confiscated. They then became staunch supporters of the anti-Three Good Samaritan movement.

After acquiring the shogunate's land for imperial supplies and the assets of its loyal retainers, Miyoshi Nagayoshi made a small fortune, but his diplomatic situation deteriorated significantly. Many daimyo denounced him as a traitor, and there were subtle indications that they were forming an encirclement around him.

Of course, everyone knows in their hearts that no one really cares whether the traitors are traitors or not. The core reason for forming the encirclement network is that the Sanhao family has been aggressively expanding everywhere in recent years, causing panic among the neighbors.

Some say that Miyoshi Nagayoshi is planning to install a commoner of the Ashikaga clan, known as "Awa Kubo," as shogun to replace Ashikaga Yoshiteru. However, the samurai of Settsu and Yamashiro are not very familiar with the specifics of the situation.

……

Watching the drama unfold always brings joy.

However, it didn't actually have a particularly significant direct relationship with the entire Tanba area.

The biggest change might be that the local lords of the three northern districts who used the excuse of serving the shogunate and disobeyed the orders of Matsunaga Nagayori, the "acting head of the Naito family, the guardian deity," would need to find a new reason.

After all, the Miyoshi family might not give the shogunate any face in the future.

The Hatano family of Taki District and the Akai family of Hikami District, who were already enemies of the Miyoshi family, now shout praises of the shogunate's wisdom, but that's all they do; they continue to live their lives as before.

Funai District, which was actually under the rule of Matsunaga Nagayori, was busy with conscription.

It would be too shameful to fight a war solely with reinforcements brought in from outside.

Twelve acting officials have now been appointed to oversee all military and political affairs under their jurisdiction, including conscription.

This year, Matsunaga Nagayori implemented some reforms, resetting the tax quotas for each village, but military service has not been adjusted much and is still being carried out according to the previous method.

Noguchi Township has a total of thirteen villages. Each village still appoints a person in charge to form a team of 10 to 20 people and serve as the "group leader". Then they come together to form a reserve team.

The difference from before is that the person in charge of the reserve team is not a samurai who is temporarily hired, but the acting governor Matsunaga Magoroku.

Matsunaga Sunroku has been stationed in Noguchi Township for almost half a year and has a good understanding of the situation in each village, so he will not be easily deceived.

Although he did not specify military service for every villager, he announced early on that if any village sent soldiers of poor quality, the village's taxes would be thoroughly investigated next year.

Shinzaburo Kubo was not in charge of military service in Kubo Village, but was appointed as Matsunaga Magoro's "vice-general" and was required to be ready to serve as "meidai" (a high-ranking official) if necessary.

Shingoro is currently in charge of managing Kubo Village. However, the young boy is only ten years old, too young to go to the battlefield. Meanwhile, his father, Kinbei, still walks unsteadily and is a heavy drinker. Therefore, Shingoro has assigned Kumakichi and Hashisuke to oversee the village.

They felt immense pressure.

The Naito family, the guardians of the village, had not been involved in many battles in the past, and the villagers of Kubo often relied on the monks of Kofuku-ji Temple to plead for exemption from military service by paying a small sum of money. Therefore, no one was particularly enthusiastic about buying weapons or practicing martial arts.

Now that Shinzaburo has become a samurai and serves as a member of the "Doshinshu" under the magistrate, it is certainly no longer appropriate for him to let his fellow villagers lead the way in evading military service.

But wouldn't it be even more embarrassing if the team that's brought out is of poor quality?

Kubomura used to own two complete outfits, but now Shinzaburo wants to wear one himself, so the other one was temporarily lent to his new attendant, the monk Jōjō, since he could barely fit into it.

There are none left in the village.

Fortunately, we managed to salvage a few items from the corpses after repelling the samurai attack last time. However, they were all damaged to varying degrees and needed repair, and their dimensions also needed to be adjusted.

However, there were no skilled craftsmen to be found in the village.

Kumakichi and Hashisuke, fearing something might be amiss, consulted with Shinzaburo.

After much deliberation, Shinzaburo took the ten silver coins he had received as a reward last time, along with some money and goods from the cellar. He then led a few villagers, carrying the broken samurai armor, to the Monzencho area next to Kofuku-ji Temple, where he went to a armor shop to inquire about repairs from a craftsman.

The craftsman's face darkened when he heard it was for repairs rather than an order. Seeing that the items were all badly damaged and old, he couldn't help but roll his eyes several times. But then, upon seeing Shinzaburo's face clearly, he suddenly remembered something and quickly kowtowed in apology.

However, one can kowtow, but one cannot do business at a loss.

The craftsman gestured and said that the total repair cost would be forty kan.

Shinzaburo firmly stated that anything above twenty kan was out of the question.

After some haggling, the craftsman hesitated for a moment and said that twenty kan would be fine, but it would only be a makeshift repair, and he couldn't use the best materials or expect it to be restored to its full performance.

Shinzaburo thought that since the main purpose was to decorate the storefront, he agreed and handed the five damaged pieces to the craftsman for repair.

Then he thought, since he was already here, he might as well take out another ten strings of cash and go to the weapon shop next door to buy ten proper two-and-a-half-long spears. He also persuaded the shopkeeper to give him six of the cheapest bows and two hundred and seventy arrows as a gift.

The craftsman also said that it's best to figure out who the clothes are for before making repairs, so that adjustments can be made accordingly.

Shinzaburo had already planned it out, letting Kumakichi and Hashisuke each choose a suitable pair, and assigning each of the other three young men who accompanied him a pair that he had previously found agreeable.

Long spears and bows were provided to all those who participated in military service.

Of course, this money wasn't given away for free; it was lent to them, but interest-free.

This kind of thing is called "御贷具足" (yōkaku-gozu), which was a popular practice in this era.

However, it was usually the lord who lent weapons and armor to his subjects.

While Shinzaburo was entitled to a share of Kubo Village's money and grain, he was not strictly speaking the lord of Kubo Village.

He can only be described as the lord of the "Gokurakuji Territory", because it is clearly stated in the text that he is "a person in charge of the duties".

But in reality, his status and power in the village were so great that calling him a lord wouldn't be a problem.

When they got home, Jinbingwei's father, who was already drunk, suddenly woke up when he heard from some ear that a lot of money had been spent. After asking why, he complained bitterly.

Shinzaburo Kubo retorted, "You originally planned to use 100 kan to obtain samurai status and obtain a position. I am now a samurai with a good position, and the cost to date is far less than 100 kan."

Upon hearing this, Old Man Jin Bingwei thought about it for a moment and agreed that it made sense. He then turned his anger into a smile, leaned on his cane, and went to drink two more cups.

050 Drawing a cake to satisfy hunger

For this conscription, Matsunaga Sunroku deliberately left the "military service contract" for Kubo Village blank, allowing Shinzaburo to fill it in as he pleased, as a sign of preferential treatment.

However, Shinzaburo did not intend to underreport his military service; instead, he deliberately boasted of his martial prowess, so he reported the number of "five men with full armor, five men with long spears, and six men with bows."

Matsunaga Sunroku took a look and exclaimed in amazement, "Such weaponry is truly magnificent! How wonderful it would be if every village under my jurisdiction had such equipment!"

Then, he added with doubt, "I also lived in Kubo Village for a while, and I didn't see the villagers being that enthusiastic about fighting..."

Shinzaburo frankly told the other party, "This is a 'royal loan kit' that I purchased and then provided to the villagers."

Matsunaga Sonroku was taken aback, then clapped his hands in praise and said, "Such diligence in official duties is truly a model for a samurai."

Shinzaburo smiled without saying a word, thinking to himself that he had also considered it, but what he was considering was not convenient to say for the time being.

……

In mid-April, Matsunaga Nagayori, along with his left and right flanks and 3,300 men from Yamashiro and Settsu, set off westward, deploying his forces at the border of Funai and Taki districts, with his sword aimed at the Hatano family's territory.

He then ordered his subordinate officials to mobilize the corresponding troops, first assembling them at Yagi Castle, and then joining them at the front lines.

Now that there are acting officials in each township, the peasant soldiers from more than a hundred villages no longer rush to the city in a chaotic mess to report to the temporary person in charge.

Instead, they first formed a reserve force of about two hundred people at the acting official's place, and then acted in units of the reserve force.

The assembly point for Noguchi Township was set in that nameless little town that was still under construction.

Although Matsunaga Magoroku claimed that he planned to name it "Noguchi Castle" in the future.

Thirteen villages were involved, and a total of about 140 combat soldiers and 70 to 80 support personnel were mobilized.

Perhaps because they had felt the "warmth" of the new system in recent months, the peasant soldiers from various villages were not as lazy and disorganized as before during this gathering; on the contrary, they all seemed quite motivated.

However, the problem is that the way this fighting spirit is displayed is a bit strange.

When Matsunaga Magoro personally counted the number of people, nothing unusual happened.

However, when he went to the toilet, the peasant soldiers started rolling their eyes at each other and arguing.

First, the people of Shimizu Village were attacked by a mob. They said that their friend, Hachiro, betrayed his friend for personal gain, became a samurai, received a reward, and was listed as a "comrade-in-arms," ​​while forcing others to pay more taxes and provisions.

Actually, Shimizu Hachirozusa had a bit of a bad reputation, and few villagers dared to speak ill of him to his face. However, this time he was assigned by Matsunaga Magoro to transport the next batch of castle building materials and was not present.

Even though I was not present, the people of Qingshui Village were unconvinced and stubbornly insisted that Lord Balang Zuo had merely reformed and shut down the gambling den. Was gambling a good thing? The real culprits were those poor, destitute villages that had informed on us to the magistrate.

This shift in firepower was relatively successful.

Led by Takeda Village, four villages that had received a small reduction in money and grain for their informant service were surrounded and berated: "You're incompetent yourselves, yet you drag others down with you! You're happy to get a little leftovers from the samurai lord, aren't you?"

Most of the people in those four villages were simple and timid, and dared not easily talk back. But recently, having benefited from the situation, some of them boldly retorted: "You were the ones who were wrong to evade taxes first. Lord Sun reduced our taxes, which shows that he is fair!"

There was also Maruyama Village, where they had previously resisted the magistrate but were suppressed by Hachiroza of Shimizu Village through a combination of coercion and persuasion. The people from their village remained silent, only staring fiercely at the people from Shimizu Village, seemingly still harboring resentment.

When Shinzaburo Kubo arrived with his entourage and the peasant soldiers of Kubo Village, this chaotic scene greeted him.

He thought to himself, "Just as I thought," and immediately gave the order for the group to line up and march past in a grand manner, like a military parade.

At the very front was Shinzaburo Kubo, this "giant," riding a horse, exuding an imposing and awe-inspiring presence.

On either side followed the burly and robust Ooi Shigeie and the imposing monk Jōjō, both with leopard-like heads and piercing eyes, looking menacing.

Next, five fully equipped spearmen stood in a row, heads held high, proudly displaying their new equipment.

Then came five lightly armed spearmen, who, though unarmored, also raised their two-and-a-half-long spears high.

The last six people were divided into two rows, each carrying a wooden bow and two bags of arrows.

Although there were fewer than twenty people, Shinzaburo Kubo had specifically instructed them beforehand and had even conducted a simple rehearsal. His emphasis on boasting at this moment would certainly project a certain imposing presence.

When people from other villages saw this, they gradually forgot about the argument and looked over with surprise and envy.

Someone muttered, "Judging by this, I thought they were some high-ranking official's retainers or vassals!"

Kubo Shinzaburo, with his exceptionally sharp hearing, laughed heartily upon hearing this and declared with great enthusiasm, "Once I become a 'master,' what difficulty will it be for the villagers of Kubo Village to obtain the status of a hatamoto or bajira?"

When some people say these words, it's incredibly arrogant and shameless.

But some people speak of it with lofty ambitions and boundless aspirations.

The villagers nearby knew a little about Shinzaburo Kubo's situation. His current smug and triumphant demeanor was quite convincing.

Moreover, starting with Kinbei's father, both father and son were kind to others and did not attract much hatred like Hachiroza from Shimizu Village or Kozaemon from Takeda Village.

As a result, many people immediately came forward to flatter and fawn over him.

An older man said in a teasing tone, "Sir Shinzaburo, the villagers of Kubo Village are certainly closest to you, but the other people in Noguchi Village are all our own people too!"

Upon hearing this, Shinzaburo Kubo smiled again and said generously, "My strength is limited right now, so I can only take care of Kubo Village for now. I will definitely help you when I have the opportunity in the future. Besides—"

He drew out a syllable, deliberately waiting for most people to pay attention, before continuing, "Right now, Tanba Naito has the Miyoshi family behind him. This month, they casually dispatched 3,500 troops—what a huge move! With this powerful backer, are you afraid you won't have opportunities in the future?"

……

Shinzaburo's words made most of the peasant soldiers temporarily put aside their past grievances and dream about the future together.

Of course, we can only say that we've put it aside for now.

Unless they can achieve results together and become partners who share cake, this thorn will never be removed.

Drawing a picture of a cake to satisfy hunger is just a last resort; only eating a real cake can truly fill one's stomach.

But no matter what, the peasant soldiers of Kubo Village were all arrogant and overbearing.

At the same time, they were also filled with desire for "promotion".

The five unarmored "long-handled" soldiers looked at the "five fully armed men" in front of them with envy, practically drooling. The "six archers," on the other hand, were hoping that next time they would be wielding even more advanced two-and-a-half-long spears.

When Matsunaga Sonroku returned from the restroom, a reminder from one of his attendants revealed what had just happened. He was stunned for a moment before realizing what had occurred, then quickly ran over, grasped Shinzaburo's hand, pulled him to a secluded spot, bowed deeply in gratitude, and said, "I only considered fostering mutual hostility among the villages to prevent them from uniting against the magistrate. I didn't consider the possibility of excessive hostility leading to conflict. Thank you so much for your help today!"

Shinzaburo Kubo smiled reservedly and said what was on his mind: "If the argument gets too heated and they start fighting on the front lines, that would be terrible. I'm just worried about that."

At the same time, he had an even more heartfelt thought in his heart, but he couldn't bring himself to say it.

That is—did you wash your hands after you went to the toilet?

051 The Great Operation to Destroy Karita