The night in Kishiwada Castle is always very lively.

There were hundreds of samurai families living in the city, from the Hirate clan to the heads of the security teams and the scribes of the offices. There are more than 1,000 merchants, artists, and craftsmen living in the castle town.

There are also visitors who come for political purposes, or tourists who simply want to visit, and rent the lodging in the neighborhood.

Since ancient times, men's interests have been relatively simple, and they are satisfied with the presence of liquor stores, casinos, and whale houses. The consumption demand for fashion and entertainment appliances by the nobles' daughters, heirs, and waiters has created a very prosperous retail market.

Dress ties, silk and satin, pearl tortoiseshell, dressing powder, gold and silver jewelry, pen, ink, paper and inkstone, tables, chairs and benches, ceramic lacquerware, tea and wine, seasonal fruits and vegetables, seafood and aquatic products, flavors, molasses snacks, bamboo dolls...... Including all kinds of Nanban gadgets, as long as the small goods that have appeared in Fuso, you can basically find them here.

Of the five main streets, the northernmost street is dedicated to this kind of business. When it gets dark, the shops will hang lanterns high to attract customers for the night tour.

The streets are packed, and many small shops are only five feet or even three feet wide, and they sell dim sum or ornaments for less than ten cents. It is often made up of a small family, one of whom is at the door to pick up customers, the other is working hard to give birth in the back, and the children are not touching the ground.

When all kinds of lights shine together, the rhythmic shouting is endless, and the smell of various foods and spices comes to the nose, this atmosphere full of fireworks always makes it easier for people to fall for businessmen and subconsciously give generously. Although it is only a short distance of one or two thousand steps, it often makes tourists linger and can't finish it in a few hours.

Interestingly, the liquor shops, casinos, and whale houses are mostly concentrated in the southernmost part of the town, which is also lit up day and night, but the atmosphere is very different, full of drunken and smelly men, and fierce patrolmen, all you can hear is discordant sounds.

In the middle of the street, near the inner city to the west, there is a place for "auctions", a yamen of the "Metropolitan Police Department", a place for collecting "stamp duty", and a small temple of the Rinzai sect, which is relatively solemn. Wealthy businessmen used to buy a house in the neighborhood as their headquarters, which was used for account summarization, internal meetings and large negotiations, so as to show their status.

In the east, there is an officially recognized "craftsman's house", which is personally seated by Kano Eitoku and Hasegawa, and is a holy place in the hearts of art practitioners all over the world.

The town is on the east side of the castle and surrounds the Kumano street.

To the west of the city is the harbor.

Originally, under the rule of Miyoshi, the port was not connected to the city. But in the era of ties, after two expansions, it is now a complete unit.

Compared to the first-class prosperity of Fuso, the harbor of Kishiwada Castle is much inferior, and the throughput is only a fraction of that of Kaisaki.

Commodity trading has its own set of operating rules, and it is impossible to be affected by external human factors in the short term, and the gradual change of circulation routes often takes ten years to see the clues.

Many of the big businessmen who were kind to the Heite family moved to this neighborhood with their families, but the warehouse remained in Kaimachi.

The port of Kishiwada Castle was more of a military and political task. There is almost no such thing as a situation in Kaimachi where you have to work overnight because you don't have time to unload the goods, but out of precaution, the lighting is still maintained day and night.

Occasionally, when there is an important matter, it is normal for a ship to depart or enter the port overnight, and there is a castle between the port and the town, so I don't have to worry about disturbing the common people.

……

As a lord on the island of Shikoku, the Tokawa Depositor couldn't be more familiar with the Ataka boat.

But today's feeling is a little strange.

According to the arrangement of the Prime Minister of the Peace, thousands of soldiers were like facing the enemy, and each of them received the necessary luggage and dry rations, and at night, relying on the dim lighting provided by torches and lanterns, they boarded the ship from the pier, and the whole process was watched by Mitsuhiko Tarao's people, and they did not even dare to make more noise, let alone exchange ears.

Occasionally, a nervous person stumbled and fell into the river, but the sailor on call was cleanly fished up, taken to rest for a while, and then sent up.

The black pressure is a mess, and I don't know if it's really all saved.

The fleet is lined up in a long column, and there is no edge to be seen, and Shihe Deposit Insurance judged from experience that there should be close to a hundred ships, and all of them are the size of the Ataku ship, which is quite a large naval army.

According to the grouping arrangement, each ship only carried 40 to 50 soldiers in addition to the sailors who operated it, which was about one-third of the upper capacity, so that the passengers would not feel crowded at all, and at least they would have a place to sit and rest calmly.

Tokawa Kubo, Miyoshi Yasunaga, and Asano Nagayoshi, each with a few servants and attendants, boarded the largest battleship, which was not only spacious but also in excellent condition, with tatami mats and bedding, a stove for burning fire, many large barrels of fresh water for drinking and washing, and a special food storage room, which was more like a pleasure ship than a battleship.

The movement began in the evening, and in a short time the boat in front of it was full, but it did not set sail, but it tossed and turned in the area of the dock to continue to stop, and it did not seem to be ready to sail overnight.

There are bold retainers, who want to secretly come over to inquire about the news and ask what is important about this operation, but Shihe Depository can only answer expressionlessly: "We don't know, and we don't dare to ask." ”

Actually, that's what he really said.

It is said that he crossed the sea to Enoe, supported Tokugawa, and resisted Takeda.

When it sounds, it's weird.

As everyone knows, Lieutenant General Heisate, the prime minister, ordered Honda Tadakatsu of the Tokugawa family to lead 5,000 men north to participate in the campaign against Uesugi. Why are thousands of people now sent to Yuanjiang to fill the holes?

You directly asked the Tokugawa family to honestly guard at home with all their might, can't the Shikoku people of Ten Rivers and Miyoshi go to Hokuriku with horses? Do you have to tear down the east wall for the west wall, and then tear down the west wall for the north wall?

How much logistics and supplies are wasted......

Well, this may be out of political considerations, so you don't think too much about it, and it is just a normal military task, but what is the point of not letting the soldiers sleep in the middle of the night and rushing to the ship in a hurry? What is the reason why everyone got on the ship with their hands and feet, and did not set off, and let them stay on the deck and cabin for most of the night?

Could it be that he wants to carry out a surprise attack on Takeda Katsuyori?

How can a thousand-strong army make a surprise attack on a three- or four-day sea journey? Takeda is neither stupid nor blind, and he also has a naval army, so even if there are not many ships, it's okay to play a warning role, right?

What's more, he didn't receive any orders about "surprise attack" and "concealment" at all.

The note handed over by Lieutenant General Hirate Prime Minister Mitsuhiko Tarao only had a very simple three-line text written on it: "Please go to Enoe according to the arrangement; The purpose is kept secret for the time being, and it will be naturally visible at that time; Please burn it immediately after reading it, and please do not discuss the matter publicly. ”

Then Mitsuhiko Dorao took the little note back with care, gave him a knowing look, and left.

Tokawa was a traditional samurai who admired the way of the bow and horse, and he was uncomfortable with this kind of trickery.

Miyoshi Yasunaga kept comforting him and said: "With the old man's understanding of the style of the Prime Minister and Lieutenant General, there must be some special plan to be implemented, and it will not be unfavorable to us." ”

Asano Nagayoshi patted his chest and said, "I dare to take my head and promise that this time is definitely a good thing, and it can't be bad!" Although there are many soldiers and generals under the command of the lord, most of them are not accustomed to water, so we must have made a special arrangement after full consideration for the warriors of Awa and Sanuki to board the ship. ”

Shihe Depository could only force himself to relax.

His current status is very special, his territory is under the nose of the Prime Minister of the Equal, but he has not become a cronie, it is easy to think crankily, but he does not dare to think crankily.

After thousands of troops had boarded the ship one by one, midnight was approaching, and it was about ugly time. The lights in the harbor were still high, and the fleet was still moving, but they did not risk setting off overnight, but they counted the sequence, adjusted the formation, and were told to "wait quietly".

After about two hours, when the sky was a little lighter, the fleet gave the order, shook the oars, shook the pulp, and staggered to the south.

Although these ships are all based on the Ataka boats, according to the "advanced ideas" of Vice Admiral Hisho, they have added sails as much as possible on the basis of conditions permitting, and they do not rely entirely on human drive, and the speed has increased slightly. For this purpose, it was not hesitated to reduce part of the armor.

Shihe Depository noticed that there were several legendary "Nanban large-barreled ironclad ships" escorting around. The pointed bottom, the huge sails, and the narrow hull are very different from the Fuso technique, and it seems to have a different kind of beauty.

On the first day, we headed south along the coastal route, which happened to be downwind, and arrived at Shirahama Port in Minamikii in the evening. To add a little here, stay overnight, but do not allow ordinary creeps to disembark and land. The next day, we set out early in the morning, and after six or seven hours, we arrived at Kumano Sea, which was still the old rule.

On the way, it seems that I came across a merchant ship team, and as a result, the Nanban big ship of the flat family detained all the other party, and I don't know what the purpose was.

This is repeated, on the third day to Shima, and on the fourth day to Kosai, it is already in the territory of Yuanjiang, and the speed is indeed countless times faster than taking the land route.

But the soldiers were still instructed to "stand by and not to disembark without permission."

Ten Rivers felt that he had vaguely guessed the intentions of the Prime Minister of the Lot, but he was not sure yet.