The first day of the Iron Cannon Contest ended at the beginning of the unitary time. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 More than 200 self-recommended contestants were trained in groups of 16 and each shot 10 times. Finally, after a one-day competition, three hits were set as the promotion conditions, and 54 people who met this condition were screened.

Next, there is a day off to allow the players to take a break, maintain their equipment, and prepare ammunition.

The tie is also struggling with problems related to the iron cannon competition.

The original arrangement of "the Southern Barbarians swept Fusang", although it can also have a propaganda effect, it may also have many side effects. If the plot is changed to "The nameless iron gunner has the help of the master and defeats the invincible foreigner with difficulty", it will definitely be more deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

The problem was that the Hirate family didn't have any retainers who were particularly good at this skill, and even with a new type of iron cannon with rifling, it would be difficult to win the final victory. It is even more unreliable to hand it over to outsiders, because well-known masters are either inherited from the family genre or taught by a certain famous family, and there are too many involvements behind it and it is difficult to control.

But the young man named "Tian Fu Jingcheng" who came out today seems to be very good at iron cannons, and he looks very poor, not like he has a backstage. So this person made Fan Xiu feel that he could use it.

The athletes are gearing up and ready for the upcoming competition; At the same time, the bigwigs only care about the political interests behind them, completely ignoring the spirit of competition. This kind of thing is not uncommon in human history.

Fan Xiu has no psychological pressure on this, his only concern is that the time is too short to reach a deep cooperation with this person.

It is enough to subdue a person by force and not dare to resist. But using reason or interest to persuade a person to act with you may not be enough time in one day.

When watching the game during the day, Tsuyoshi had already secretly assigned the task of investigating intelligence, and Hattori Hidean was also going well. It didn't take much effort to find a few friends and villagers of the target person on the same day, and obtained enough information by pouring alcohol, bribing, and coercion.

Tian Fu Jingcheng is the head of the village of Omi Province Tian Fu Village. The Miao character of "Tianfu" is also derived from the name of the village. The Tian Fu family has been in charge of this small village of more than 100 households for decades, and has always worked for the Hexagonal family. However, since Oda Kamiraku, the Rokkaku family could not withstand the attack and turned to Koga to fight guerrillas, and most of Omi fell into the hands of the Oda family. As the head of the old village, Tian Fu's family was not retained for some reason and lost its original status.

Since then, Tafu Kesumi has been stationed in Kyoto, sometimes doing some work as a bodyguard. Before coming to participate in the iron cannon competition this time, he had already helped several commercial houses run errands.

It is said that this man was not wealthy, and only carried an iron cannon with no replacement equipment. He carried the iron cannon with him day and night to study, and when he slept and bathed, he had to rest beside it, as if it were a part of his body, which is why his archery skills were so exquisite.

With this information alone, it's not that he can't get in touch with him, but he still wants to be a little more steady, figure out what kind of situation this person is in, and what his demands are, so as to prescribe the right medicine.

With this in mind, Fan Xiu sent people to Tianfu Village to collect information, while he himself wandered around the courtyard and waited for the results.

The location is still the same Rinzai temple where the house has been staying for a month, but the traffic is much less than at the end of the year. The hirate can now occupy a courtyard on its own, without having to share the view with other pilgrims. The pair of children of the Chiwei family brought over by him, the sister and brother were finally able to pull them out and let them go.

Fan Xiu can see now that the boy named "Tiger Chiyo" is holding a branch and gesturing incessantly, and he is still chanting words. Looking at his posture, he obviously hasn't learned formal swordsmanship, but his strength is not bad for an eight-year-old child.

The girl named "Ah Ju" seemed to be preoccupied, standing quietly under the big tree in the middle of the yard, bowing her head slightly, contemplative, not knowing what she was thinking.

I don't know what happened to Akao Kiyotsuna. Hirate Hohide thinks that his words are 70% sure of convincing Asai Nagamasa, and Asai Nagamasa is also 70% likely to persuade many retainers. But if the two are superimposed, the result is less than half of the probability, and it is still five or five.

If things go well, Asai and Oda will temporarily enter another honeymoon period, and Akao Kiyotsuna's power will be restored somewhat, and even if he can't get his position back, it's always okay to be a consultant. In that case, the two children in front of them will be able to return to their previous beautiful lives.

However, if he ultimately fails, Akao Kiyotsuna's situation will be very bad, and although his life is not in danger, he is likely to be placed under house arrest for the reason that he is still dishonest despite claiming to be retiring. And the future of these sisters and brothers will also become very difficult, and they can only count on Fanxiu to take care of them.

Judging from the fact that Akao Kiyotsuna didn't say anything explicitly, but let his children hide in the box, the situation of the Akao family is estimated to be quite serious, maybe his eldest son did not inherit the family business at all, but was forcibly left behind.

Just when the tie was distracted, the girl Ah Ju had already noticed his appearance, and then blushed, pinched the corners of her skirt, probed the lotus flower with small broken steps, and moved to her.

"Prisoner, you're back......"

Just like the scene that happened every day before, I took the initiative to come and say hello. In other words, this Aju girl looks like a reserved and shy lady, but she can always do bold things. For example, when you come forward to talk to you, such as claiming that you have an "old friendship" with a man, such as saying something like "Jia Yan will entrust me to you this time".

Of course, I understand the meaning of it very well, but I don't have time to respond for the time being.

He nodded immediately and asked casually, "How is Miss Aju today?" ”

"Thank you for your attention, everything is fine." The girl quietly raised her head and replied softly.

"That's good."

At the moment, Fan Xiu doesn't have much heart to talk to her. Although he saw the adoration and admiration in the girl's eyes, his heart was also dark.

However, after only being silent for a moment, Ah Ju took the initiative to find a topic and said: "I heard from the guards today that you went to watch the iron cannon competition of the 'Imperial Trial'!" ”

"Ah, indeed." Fan Xiu replied casually, feeling a little too cold before adding, "There is a Omi man named Tian Fu Jingcheng, who was not famous before, but his grades are good today, do you know this person?" ”

said this casually, and didn't expect to get a reply, but when the girl Aju heard this, she tilted her little head to meditate.

After a while, she spoke:

"If I'm not mistaken, this person is the son of the head of the village of Tianfu Village, right?"

Fan Xiu was slightly stunned, do you really know each other?

But on second thought, Akao Kiyotsuna is the identity of Zaisuke in the Asai family, in charge of diplomacy and pacifying the people. Although Tafu Village is a hexagonal village, it is not far from the territory of Asai, and it is not surprising that the Akao family knows this person, and maybe they also know some hidden news.

So Fan Xiu tentatively asked, "Miss Aju, are you familiar with this person?" ”

"It's not familiar to Lord Pingshou, it's just that this person's mother is a relative of the Akawei family, so there are some contacts." The girl Ah Ju looked up at Fan Xiu, quickly lowered her head, and replied with a crimson face, "Do you want to investigate this person?" ”

Hearing this, Fan Xiu smiled slightly, and said, "I can't talk about the investigation...... But after all, he is an iron cannon expert, and if he knows more information, he may be able to use it. ”

"Yes!" The girl's face was overjoyed, and she was excited that she could help the Tarashi lord, and told her what she knew:

"An elder once told me that the ancestor of the Tian Fu family was originally an ashigaru, and he was appointed as the head of the village by Rokkaku more than 50 years ago, and was responsible for supervising the village's tribute and service."

"Hmm......" Fan Xiu nodded, which was consistent with the information he had found earlier, "And then?" Has anything changed recently? ”

"I heard that the area was burgled by the Oda family...... No, it's a raider. The girl noticed that she had made a mistake, and quickly looked up at Honhide's expression, but she didn't see a different color, so she continued, "Oda Danmasa has appointed Sakuma-sama as the acting officer. The Tafu family did not resist with Rokkaku, but expressed their allegiance to Sakuma-sama, but only ...... Not accepted. Tatsuke Village was taken under the direct jurisdiction of Sakuma-sama. ”

"That's it......"

"My father wanted to help, but the Akao family couldn't do it at the time. Tian Fu Jingcheng is the eldest son in the family, and there are two minor younger brothers below, and his father was seriously injured in his early years and had difficulty moving, so he must have been burdened by the whole family! ”

After hearing these words, Fan Xiu roughly understood this person's situation.

Sakuma Nobumori is really not particular about doing things, and the wealthy people who took the initiative to take refuge in him have not been blocked. In this way, although many direct territories are obtained, for a period of time, the grasp of the grassroots level will be very weak, and the combat effectiveness of the conscripts will also be greatly affected.

But this also gives an opportunity, and now to help this person, isn't it a blessing in disguise?

So Fan Xiu then asked, "Miss Aju, can you go with me to visit Tian Fu Jingcheng?" ”

"Ah...... Yes? When the girl heard this, her face suddenly turned extremely red, as if she had drunk two catties of liquor in an instant, "This ...... That one...... Words to see relatives...... How do you introduce identity relationships......

Fanxiu thought about it, and it was indeed not suitable for a martial arts lady who had not left the cabinet to show up. It's better to-

"Well, Fang Cai's words are retracted. So how about letting your brother Tora Chiyo come forward? Although he is not in the first place, he is still a little samurai after all. Can the other party recognize it? ”

"Huh?" The girl was stunned for a while for Fan Xiu to change her words so quickly, and it took a long time before she reacted, quickly sat up straight, and replied, "Tiger Chiyo met him two years ago, so they should be able to recognize each other." ”

When she said this, she tried her best to be calm and calm, but in her tone, she could hear a hint of trembling.

The trembling contains an emotion of both peace of mind and regret.