On the afternoon of June 14th, after lunch, Asahina Taehyung set off again in a hurry, heading for the northeastern city of Kakeke. Yu Qiuping boarded the north gate of Zhili Castle before leaving Zhili Castle. Half of the north gate had collapsed due to disrepair, and some of the people in the surrounding castle towns even put their goods on the north gate. Not all cities in Japan have gatehouses like Chinese cities, and this collapsed north gate does not.

So he had to stand on the battlements of the north gate and stand on tiptoe to get past the castle tower in the center of the city and barely glance at the barracks in the south of the city.

Suddenly, a flash of joy flashed across his face, and his eyes brightened. I saw that on the roof of the dormitory in the center of the barracks, dozens of people were sending a person to a place where the north gate could be seen at a high level in the posture of stacking arhats. As slaves, they are not qualified to see them off, so they can only watch Yu Qiuping leave in this way. Yu Qiuping looked at it, and it was Mimasaki Nakahide standing on the top of the arhat pile, who waved his hand excitedly when he saw Yu Qiuping, and then shouted a few words to the people below.

However, before Yu Qiuping could wave goodbye to them, the arhat pile below seemed to be gradually shaking because of the commotion, and in a flash, Mizenzaki Nakahide shook off the arhat pile. Amused Yuqiu Pingping.

"Boy, what are you laughing at! Let's go! Asahina Taehyung, who had already walked to the gate of the city, shouted at Yu Qiuping. Yu Qiuping waved his hand far away from there, and then got on his horse and left.

After the sun was already approaching the western mountain, the group rushed to the foot of the city. The guardian of the castle is the chief of the Imagawa family, and he frowned when he mentioned it to Bina Taiheng.

"What's wrong? Big brother, isn't it from the Okabe family again? Woo Chohei, who was sitting behind Taehyung Asahina, asked.

"That's not it, Uden-sama he...", scratching his hair at Hina, "it's a little tricky." ”

"You actually call him an adult?" Yu Qiuping's eyes widened in surprise, "Don't you call everyone who is older than you uncle?" ”

"Uhh I don't like it very much... I don't like to deal with others, I have that dead face all day long, and I usually don't talk to people more than three sentences, and each sentence generally doesn't exceed ten words. Whether it's the Okabe family or the Asahina family, he doesn't have any connection. Just buried in official business. ”

"That's an exaggeration!" Yu Qiuping laughed, "Then you dare to run to the city." ”

"Well, he's not very nosy." Asahina Taehyung explained, "It doesn't seem like there has been much fighting in the city lately, so it's not a frontline. I didn't break any rules when I came, and I guess he won't pay attention to me. ”

As Asahina Taihyung expected, after the group arrived, the Uden Nagasho just said "welcome" courtesyally out of respect for the Asahina family, and continued to inspect the military camp without even setting up a banquet, and let Asahina Taiheng and others arrange it themselves. Asahina Taehyung changed his usual high-flying and domineering style, and chose a post station in the town outside the castle in a very low-key manner, obviously not wanting to touch the mold of the pelican hall Changzhao.

"The next morning, we'll go to the barrel room." Asahina Taehyung happily gathered around the table with everyone to introduce his plan, dancing and pointing to the military map spread out on the table, "If the conditions allow, take a look at Narumi Castle..."

Just as they were chatting happily, a soldier of the Imagawa family with two two tattoos on his back suddenly came in.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm bothered, I'm here on the orders of Lord Pelican." After the soldier saluted, he bowed again to Asahina Taehyung, "My lord said that if Asahina Gongi still wants to continue to Narumi Castle and Dataka Castle, it is better to forget it. ”

Why is that? Although these two castles are in the territory of Owari, they are both controlled by our Imagawa family. Asahina Taehyung asked puzzled.

"Not long ago, the Oda family sent troops to briefly surround Narumi Castle and Odaka Castle, and built Tange, Zenshoji Temple, and Nakajima Castle under Narumi Castle. Under Odaka Castle, the Washizu and Marune Fortresses were built. These five small calamities were used to block the grain routes of the two cities. Now the army is required to escort the grain and grass into the city, and there are many Oda troops around, so it is better to be careful. After the soldier had said these words respectfully, he asked Asahina Taehyung, "Do you have any other commands?" ”

"No, you go back and tell your family that my son knows, thank you." With that, he waved him away in disappointment.

"Then or we... Don't go to Narumi? Yu Qiuping tentatively suggested.

"Go, why don't you go, take a look at the head office from afar?" Chao Bina Taehyung waved his hand dissatisfiedly, "What's the matter, are you scared?" ”

"There's the Oda family's troops over there," Yu Qiuping not only panicked a little when he thought of the Oda family's cloud-like fierce general, "What should I do if I encounter it?" ”

"It doesn't matter if you do," Asahina Taehyung snorted disdainfully, "We have a dozen cavalry, and ordinary ashigaru can't catch up at all." If you want to capture our Oda family, you must at least eliminate a few dozen cavalry. Their whole family is estimated to be more than a hundred cavalry, how can they send a quarter of them to capture us? Aren't there cavalry scouts left elsewhere? The more Asahina Taehyung spoke, the more he felt that he was reasonable, "Even if you meet a dozen cavalrymen, with the skills of this son, there is nothing that you can't beat!" ”

"That's it, Childe said it well!" "We're afraid those Owari guys won't make it?" Several other samurai retinues shouted when they heard this, but only Yu Qiuhei and Kondo Yasuso looked worried.

"But I don't know how to ride a horse," Yu Qiuping said with some fear, "What if I can't run away then?" ”

"You kid, why are you so afraid of danger? It's too cowardly! Askina Taehyung glared at him, "Forget it, it's really troublesome not to be able to ride a horse, then you and Kangzhuang will find a village in the barrel sagama to stay and wait for us, and we'll take you away when we come back." He rolled up the map and carried it in his arms. Seeing that he was so casual with important things, Yu Qiuping was glad that he did not hand over the paper full of addresses to him for safekeeping, but put it in the post station of the city by himself.

Early the next morning, just after breakfast, Asahina Taehyung and his party hurriedly rode away from the castle. After the group threw down Akihei and Yasuso Kondo in a small village near the barrel saga, they ran again in the direction of Narumi Castle. Yuqiu Heiqian told Asahina Taehyung to be careful, but the latter apparently didn't take it to heart.

Yu Qiuhei and Kondo Yasuso stayed at a farmer's house for a while. The enthusiastic hostess made a fairly hearty lunch for the two of them. There were several bowls of small rice, and two cucumbers in sauce. This is not easy for an ordinary farmer. Yu Qiuping felt guilty and wanted to give the hostess a little more money, but the hostess refused to accept it.

The farmer's family has lived here in Owari for several generations, and there are two little girls in the family, in addition to the hostess and the man. One is five years old, the other is seven years old, and the hostess is twenty-six years old this year, although she can't be considered beautiful, but Yu Qiuping always feels that she looks more comfortable than those wealthy women in Junfu City who are smeared with thick rouge powder, sick, and dressed in fancy clothes.

"Eh, I've been fighting for years, and I don't know what size is," the hostess complained while watching the two children eat small rice, "It's been fighting here for decades, catching strong men every year, collecting rent, and letting that one not live." ”

"No, look, my lords," the hostess pointed to the half-barren paddy field outside the window, "Originally, it was a place where dozens of families in our village farmed together. As a result, more than 20 families have fled so far, and only a few of us are still farming here. ”

"Why should you leave your homeland? Where did they flee? Yu Qiuping asked suspiciously.

"Eh, don't mention it, I guess they all fled to the interior of the Three Rivers. But life in the mainland is not easy either. The hostess took a sip of food with a sad face, "Saburo and their family next door, there were only three boys, and they were all arrested by the Oda family, and there was an old woman with two daughters-in-law left in the family. Later, when all three boys were killed in battle, the old woman ran away with her two daughters-in-law and a grandson. ”

"My father-in-law was also arrested by the Imagawa family as a strong man back then, and he never returned. Fortunately, my husband's right leg is a little disabled, and the soldiers of the Oda family and the Imagawa family don't like it, so they let us go. ”

The so-called arrest of strong men means that when a certain family's army sends troops, the logistics work such as carrying grain and grass is not enough, so they will randomly catch men from the territory they pass by. This situation is especially common in small forces such as the Oda family. The Oda family, which originally occupied more than 300,000 koku territory, could mobilize more than 9,000 ashigaru from their territory according to military service, of which 6,000 were responsible for baggage. However, the Oda family's decades of continuous warfare left a serious shortage of adult men, and in order to maintain the number of 3,000 soldiers, they had to temporarily pull strong men from the border villages.

"Every year, most of the CD is collected from taxes. Now the Imagawa family is better, and the rent collected by the Oda family in the past was not ordinarily heavy. The hostess sighed again, "Life is not good, I haven't added a new dress to my child for several years." The second child can wear the rest of the eldest child, but my eldest daughter wears all the clothes that are one size smaller. ”

"It's okay, good days will come," Yu Qiuping comforted, and at the same time quietly stuffed a few copper coins into the little girl's hand, and made a silent gesture to her, "When the Imagawa family has laid down Owari, there will be no more war here." ”

"Thank you, my lord," said the hostess with a smile as she envisioned the future, "please eat more." ”