Due to the need for Yu Qiuping to recuperate, the group is scheduled to rest here in Tushan for a few days, and start their return journey on November 20. And Uchiha Aooka also needs time to return to their small cottage to relocate his subordinates and their families.

There are a total of 18 ninjas under Uchiha Aooka, including 2 upper ninjas, 4 middle ninjas, and 12 lower ninjas. These are his loyal subordinates for many years, willing to carry the title of "traitor" and go into exile with him.

And so many people, the amount they want a year is only 50.

"50 runs?" Yu Qiuping was startled when he heard Uchiha Aooka's request. He is very light for each of his constants, and the cost of a year is close to 10 times. And the number of samurai under his command is more than that. These dozen ninjas, in Yu Qiuping's opinion, are all technical spies with a very high level of professionalism, how can they be cheaper than ordinary ashigaru?

"I'm really sorry," Uchiha Aooka looked a little ashamed when he saw Yu Qiuping's surprised look. He whispered in a deep voice: "The subordinates below have been down for a long time, and their families need to settle down, so they may have asked for a little more settlement fee. ”

"Huh?" Yu Qiuping had a black question mark on his face, "I mean... Do you just need that little money? You 18 people, you need 200 a year. ”

As soon as Yu Qiuping's words fell, Uchiha Aooka was really stunned. Of course, he didn't know that Yu Qiuping had already made a lot of money by tying up tickets and frying grain, and if he converted grain into money, he already had more than 15,000 assets in his hands. He originally thought that Yu Qiuping, as a newcomer to the 8,000 stone small lord, was estimated to have a deposit of several hundred yuan. This practice of throwing out 200 guan without blinking an eye made Uchiha Aooka shocked.

"Your Highness, you don't know," Uchiha Aooka said in a low voice, "Hiring ninjas is basically at this price, and I already have a lot more to ask for." ”

Yu Qiuping had only heard about the embarrassing living conditions of Japanese ninjas before, but he didn't know that it had reached such a severe level. They are all doing the task of going deep into the enemy territory and licking the blood with knives, and it will be very difficult to make a living with just such a small amount of money.

"It's too little," Yu Qiuping shook his head persistently, "It's difficult for your family to maintain a normal life with this money, not to mention that your mission is so dangerous, it is inevitable that there will be three long and two short, and you can't just be given such a small amount of money." ”

"Your Highness," Uchiha Aooka was a little moved, but still said in a low voice, "There is no merit in the bottom." ”

"Don't be so tough, it's not just Qinggang's business," Yu Qiuping sighed and said, "Your subordinates were born and died with you, even if they and you can endure hardships, don't they want their families to be able to eat and dress warmly?" ”

Uchiha Aooka was stunned for a moment, his eyes flickered, and he didn't say much, but bowed deeply.

"Then it's decided," Yu Qiuping said as he patted the shoulder of Sanada Masayuki, who was riding behind him on his right, "When the time comes, you will listen to this Sanada-sama, and he will be in charge of your work." ”

Uchiha Aooka followed Yu Qiuping's hand and looked at the young man who had not yet grown a full beard, and his eyes couldn't help but be a little surprised.

"Don't underestimate him," Yu Qiuping smiled, "He's not just a child!" ”

"No, Your Highness has misunderstood," Uchiha Aooka shook his head, "The duty of a ninja is to obey the instructions of his employer, even if it is really a child under his command, there will be no complaints. ”

"Just such a young man can win the trust of His Highness, it must be extraordinary." Uchiha Aaoka added.

"Then let him talk to you." Yu Qiuping looked at Sanada Masayuki.

"Uchiha-sama," Sanada Masayuki picked up, "your task won't be serious for the time being. Basically, it is to investigate the movements of the main wealthy families of Ximino and Zhongmino, so as to provide us with sufficient warning time. ”

"Understood." Uchiha Aooka nodded.

"Also, keep an eye on the prices in the markets around Mino, even if you pass them on to Your Highness," Sanada said. He looked at Uchiha Aooka and thought he would ask a question about this very strange order, but the latter still had a straight face and just nodded yes.

"Don't you ask why?" Masayuki Sanada asked suspiciously.

"No need," Uchiha Aooka bowed his head and said, "Ninjas just need to obey orders." If Sanada-sama hadn't taken the initiative to say it, he wouldn't have asked more. ”

Sanada Masayuki frowned, shook his head, and said, "Although it is a little offensive, I may not agree with this concept of your lordship." ”

Uchiha Aooka's gloomy face still didn't have much expression, and he raised his head to stare into Sanada Masayuki's eyes and said, "This has always been the practice of our hired ninjas. What the Lord does not want us to know, we will never take the initiative to participate in. ”

"But you have to know," said the young Sanada Masayuki, "if you want to perform a mission well, you must not only understand the actions of the mission, but also understand the purpose of the mission. If the purpose of the task is not well understood, the executor may adopt the wrong execution method or lack sufficient execution power when performing the task. ”

"Oh?" Yu Qiuping was also a little curious, "Kibei, if you go on, I want to hear it too." ”

"Let's take an analogy," Sanada Masayuki said after thinking for a while, "If Uchiha-sama is assigned by His Highness to complete two missions, the actions required by the missions will be to guard a certain traffic artery for enemy troops passing by. ”

"At first glance, the two missions may seem exactly the same, but if the purpose of the mission is different, the actions to be taken by adults are also very different." Sanada Masayuki continued, "If His Highness assigns a mission, the purpose is to guard against a small group of enemies who may come to sneak attack. Then the adults will definitely scatter the ninjas in the hidden areas in the shadows to prevent the enemies who come to sneak up on them. Then find an opportunity to report the information to His Highness and carry out an ambush. ”

"But if the purpose of Your Highness's mission is to find out the specific movements of the large number of enemy forces that will surely be killed from this road. Then Uchiha-sama should disperse the ninjas to various heights with a wide field of vision, in order to understand the specific situation of the enemy's number, establishment, equipment, etc., as much as possible, and then report to His Highness. ”

Therefore, even if the action requirements of the task are the same, if the purpose of the task assigner is different, the performer will be required to take different responses. If the purpose of the mission is not well understood, and only mechanically, the fighter may be lost. When Sanada Masayuki said this, Yu Qiuhei and Uchiha Aooka both suddenly realized.

"So, what I want to tell you is the purpose of the price monitoring mission," Sanada said with a smile, "and it's not a big deal." It's just that our family's own caravans, which often have to go back and forth between the two countries to do business, need a price reference. So adults don't need to be enemies. ”

Uchiha Aooka bowed slightly, and then bowed his hand respectfully.

"Sanada-sama is a great talent," Uchiha Aooka said in a low voice, "I'm convinced." ”

·

Due to a hand injury, Akihei was unable to ride too fast, so the group was delayed in the Suzuka Mountains for a long time, and only entered the plain area of Ise on November 25. And because Maeda Keiji also had to go back to Owari along the way, he went on the road with Yu Qiupei and his party.

At night, Yu Qiuping couldn't sleep at night, worried that he would roll around and disturb Kaede Imagawa's rest, so he walked out of the room lightly and came to the corridor of the hotel. Through the hazy moonlight and the lanterns of the inn, Yu Qiuping could vaguely see that on the fence of the corridor, a big man was sitting in the shape of a man - it was Maeda Keiji himself.

His body can be called a tiger's back. He is almost as tall as Yu Qiuping, and in this era, he is already an absolute tall person. And he is much stronger than Yu Qiuping, and the muscles in both arms can almost tear through his clothes.

"Keiji, why didn't you sleep?" Yu Qiuping walked up to Keiji Maeda, propped his hands on the railing, and spoke casually.

"I'm thinking about how to make money." Keiji Maeda sighed, shook his head, and said.

"Money? You run out of money? Yu Qiuping asked with a smile.

"Yes, it's all thrown in the whale house," Keiji Maeda grumbled as he looked at Yu Qiuping, "Your Highness Momiji, it's all your fault for this matter!" ”

"Blame me?" Yu Qiuping spread his hands and said, "Why do you blame me?" ”

"I've asked Brother Fidelity," Keiji Maeda shouted dissatisfiedly, "It was you who gave him 500 wen as prostitution money, so he dared to throw 500 wen so rampantly in the whale house!" I was afraid of losing face, but I threw away all my savings to barely settle down! Now, if I hadn't eaten with you guys these days, I would have been living on the streets! ”

"Hey, can I be blamed for this?" Yu Qiuping laughed and said, "I have no money and I have to go out to prostitute!" ”

"What, this is not a big whale house, who usually spends so much money? And from time to time you give money to your subordinates! And, I could have taken that money away! It was all to rush over to save you, so I hurried over! Keiji Maeda shouted dissatisfied, "Speaking of which! I was the first to notice that the local ninja leader might be plotting against you! You owe me a lifesaver! ”

"Shh Yu Qiuping hurriedly made a silent gesture, "My wife is still sleeping, be quiet." ”

"Well," Keiji Maeda hurriedly closed his voice when he saw this, "I can't see it, you are really a good man who takes care of the family." ”

"That's," Yu Qiuping laughed, "We have a good relationship as a husband and wife." ”

"What a weirdo," Keiji Maeda scratched his head, held the cigarette gun in his mouth, tilted his head and looked at Yu Qiuping, "Good to his wife, good to the people, good to his subordinates, and the reputation of kindness and trustworthiness has spread all over this area..."

"What's wrong? What's weird? Yu Qiuping asked suspiciously.

"The strange thing is..."Keiji Maeda frowned and muttered to himself, "A good person like you should have been unable to get along in this troubled world for a long time, how did you get better and better?" ”

This question made Yu Qiuping stunned, and he didn't know what to say.

"Well, let's not talk about these things for now," Keiji Maeda took a puff of cigarette gun and spit out clouds of smoke, "Well, I'm also your savior, can you see if you should help me solve my financial problems?" ”

"Well, this is nature, and the grace of saving lives is unforgettable," Yu Qiuping nodded, "How much does Keiji need, count me as a subsidy for your losses." ”

"Well, it's better to teach people to fish than to teach them to fish," Keiji Maeda said with a smile, "If you give me a sum of money, I will still squander it, you might as well find me an errand!" ”

"Errand?" Yu Qiuping was stunned and said, "Aren't you the adopted son of the Maeda family's governor, the Maeda family's territory in Wasteland City is yours, where do you need an errand?" ”

"How boring it is to stay in the territory and be a little lord, besides, he doesn't want to see me, he thinks I'm too noisy, and he doesn't let me stay next to him to annoy him." Keiji Maeda laughed and said, "Why don't you hire me as a retainer first and go to the border northwest of Owari to fight." When my father retires, I'll go back and inherit the territory. ”

"It's not impossible, I can give you a light identity." Yu Qiuping pondered for a moment and agreed, "It's just that Qingji, why do you suddenly want to be my retainer?" ”

"Well, you can think," Keiji Maeda laughed, "I want to figure out why you can't get along." ”