After Yu Qiupei left the mansion of Tetori Castle, Honda Tadashi and the others immediately greeted him.

"Your Highness, how is it?" One of the guards asked anxiously.

"The talk fell apart." Yu Qiuping quickly spit out these words, "We originally wanted to use the appeal of His Highness Hatakeyama to call on the wealthy clan of Hanoi to attack the Miyoshi family with us. However, His Highness Hatakeyama insisted on entering Hanoi by himself, and we could not accept it, and neither could the lordship. ”

"This old immortal!" Another of Yu Qiuping's guards rebuked very indignantly: "With a stinky shelf, living in the past, I don't know anything about current affairs, do you think that the Hatakeyama family is still the third leader?" I really don't know what to do. ”

"That's right, a fool who doesn't know what to do." Yu Qiuping replied with a smile, "Let's go, go back." ”

But aren't I, the half-soldier, and the long government, all fools who don't know what to do?

Yu Qiuping and his party slowly left Tetori Castle, but they didn't notice that on the top of the fourth floor of the Tetori Castle Castle, there was a middle-aged man with vicissitudes of life, who had been holding on to the railing, watching them leave.

·

When Yu Thu Binh returned from Hanoi and found that the deployment of the Miyoshi family had changed. Most of the troops left behind in Hanoi were massed in the areas of Gao An County, Da County County, and Shichuan County, which were much farther south than the original deployment.

"What does that mean?" Yu Qiuping was a little puzzled by the change in the deployment of the Miyoshi family, but he still relied on changing clothes to cross the blockade line. After he walked into the territory of Ruojiang County, he immediately understood the reason for the change of deployment of the Miyoshi family - on Ruojiang City, the red leaf flag was flying high.

"An Cheng, how did you do it?" After Yu Qiuping and the guards entered Wakae Castle, Fukushima Yasunari immediately brought people over to greet him.

"Returning to Your Highness. After receiving the news from you, the Miyoshi Army in the Wakae area was limited, Takenaka-sama immediately made a battle plan and launched an attack. The Miyoshi family didn't expect us to attack so quickly, as soon as the reinforcements arrived in the area of Gao'an County, we had already defeated Ruojiang City with a total of more than 48,000 stones of territory in Ruojiang County and Hanoi County! ”

"Do you have enough people?" Yu Qiuping was a little surprised, "Less than 800 soldiers can do so many things?" ”

"No, Lord Takenaka also sent out all the more than 1,200 soldiers who were still training, and followed the main force to blempty under the leadership of Naka-so, Katsumasa, and Youdong. The defenders didn't know that they were all new soldiers, they were all dressed in tatters, and they were all holding inferior products such as bamboo guns, thinking that they were all as elite as the platoon below, so they abandoned the city and fled. ”

"That's a good move! Bravado! Ha ha! It also trains in battle to make those recruits adapt to the battlefield! Yu Qiuping smiled with satisfaction when he heard this, "Nearly 50,000 stone territories have been knocked down, which is really a bumper harvest." As a result, nearly half of the territory of Hanoi is under our control. ”

"But Your Highness, the reinforcements of the Miyoshi family have also sped up because of the fall of Wakae." Fukushima Yasunari said with some concern, "According to the intelligence, Miyoshi Yixing and Miyoshi have rushed back to Hanoi and Ho Quan the day before yesterday, and the total number of Miyoshi troops in front of us may have exceeded 14,000 people. ”

"So much!" Yu Qiuping's face changed when he heard this. In the region, due to its dense population, the daimyo generally had more mobilization capacity than elsewhere. At present, Kawachi and Izumi are controlled by the Miyoshi family, and the total amount is about 260,000 koku, but it can gather an army of 14,000 people.

"And there is no way to solve the problem of grain and grass." Fukushima Yasunari shook his head and said, "For this operation, we used a lot of military rations, and we also recruited a lot of hungry people as auxiliaries, and we also consumed a lot of food. At most, we can ensure that the residents of Tokiwabi and Maple Leaf Castle will last until mid-November. ”

"Lord Takenaka originally wanted to plunder the grain and grass of the Miyoshi family after the autumn harvest in Hanoi County and Ruojiang County, but when he beat it, he found that the grain and grass had already been transported back to Gaoya Castle." When Fukushima Yasunari mentioned this, his expression became even lower, "Your Highness, think of a way, otherwise we will starve ourselves if we don't wait for the Miyoshi family to call." In order to defend Wakae Castle, we have now pulled almost all of the entire army of Changpanbei here, and the training of recruits is also carried out here in Wakae Castle. But the food had to be transported from Maple Mountain Castle, and countless grains were consumed on the road every day. ”

"I know, I'll go back to Maple Mountain City, the money for Yoshibei and the Mitsubishi caravan should be coming soon, I'll think of a way." Yu Qiuping nodded towards Fukushima Yasunari, and then instructed again, "The guards of Wakae Castle will be handed over to you and Charlie." If you feel you have the strength to spare, you can build a few fortifications around the perimeter as defensive auxiliaries. ”

Speaking of this, Yu Qiuping suddenly had some doubts, and asked again: "You brought the whole army here, who will guard Maple Mountain City?" ”

"Your Highness, don't worry. Sanada-sama said that since Honganji Temple and the Miyoshi family were in a state of hostility, the Miyoshi Army in the Settsu area north of Maple Leaf Castle had all gathered near Arioka Castle to guard Ishiyama Imperial Castle, and Maple Mountain Castle was not in danger. Fukushima replied confidently.

"That'll do." After Yu Qiuping nodded, he was about to turn around and leave, when he suddenly remembered something, and smiled easily: "By the way, An Cheng, you can arrange it, Thompson wants to get together for a drink with everyone." ”

"Huh?" Fukushima Yasunari was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and then the corners of his mouth also flashed with a relieved smile: "Foreigner brother?" That's great. ”

·

After Yu Qiuping hurried back to Maple Mountain Castle, Sena Clan Yoshii and the military industry division, caravan, acting officer, judge backbone and a large amount of money also arrived at Maple Mountain Castle. According to him, the second group of relocated family members is estimated to have also been on the road, and that route is organized by Kaede Imagawa.

"You've come just in time." Yu Qiuping finally waited for his iron rooster, "I'll give you all the accounts related to food, house repair, armament manufacturing, and training, and you can calculate for me whether our money is enough!" ”

After arranging for Sena to settle accounts immediately, Yu Qiuping also sent the deputy officials and judges to the territory, taking charge of taxes and laws respectively. The affairs of the officials in the peacetime era were all in charge of Naoe Tadahei, but he was not there now, and Yu Qiuping had to take it on his own. And the judges and the formulation of the laws of the new territory, Yu Qiuping handed over all to Amano Jingde.

Most of the territories that the acting officials and judges were stationed in were the 120,000 stone territories in Yu Qiuping's hands that originally belonged to the direct jurisdiction of the Miyoshi family. The other half of the territory is under the control of the wealthy clans of Hanoi. Yu Qiuping didn't dare to touch them for the time being, because these wealthy families were all closely related to the Miyoshi family. In case they threaten their territory, those wealthy clans unite to launch a fight, echoing the attack of the Miyoshi family, then everything will be over for the Yuqiu family.

After all this work was completed, it was already October 25th, and the conclusion reached by Sena Yoshi's settlement was not optimistic.

"Momiji, although the Mitsubishi caravan does have strong assets, but now that it has entered the loan repayment period, there are not too many funds that can be withdrawn." Sena Shiyi took the thick stack of ledgers in his hand, and said to Yu Qiuping with a low face: "Now the purchase of military rations is the first priority, followed by the purchase of building materials for the residents to spend the winter, and then the money for training and ordnance manufacturing in Tokiwan. ”

"The grain is okay, this year's region has a bumper harvest, and the grain in Sakai Town is not too expensive. However, if you want to build a house for so many people to spend the winter, the cost of building materials will be nearly 100,000 yuan, even if it is the most conservative estimate. The cost of the sufficiency, spear, short sword, and especially the iron cannon required by Chang Pan Bei added up to 70,000 yuan, not counting the cost of training. Moreover, Maple Mountain Castle was seriously damaged due to the fire, and the cost of repairs is conservatively estimated to be 40,000 yuan. ”

"And the funds that the Mitsubishi caravan can mobilize at the moment are only 220,000 yuan. At most, 10,000 yuan can be squeezed out to buy grain, and at the current price, it can buy enough food for more than 50,000 people to eat for about 40 days. ”

"Forty days?" Yu Qiuping pinched his fingers and calculated, "The current military rations can still support until mid-November... That is, barely able to survive until the end of this year. But what about next year, what about next year? ”

"Momiji, I definitely advise you not to waste the Mitsubishi caravan's funds like this." When Sena Shiyi heard that Yu Qiuping planned to put all the money into production, he couldn't help but get anxious: "The Mitsubishi caravan is a chicken that can place orders, and these working funds have been earned hard in the past five or six years. But if Momiji spends them all at this moment, it will not help to kill the chicken and get the eggs, and the Mitsubishi caravan will have to start again from scratch five or six years ago! After that, Yuqiu's family couldn't maintain it at all! What's more, we have just come to, where we are unfamiliar with our lives, and we need more funds to squeeze into the market, so how can we draw all the liquidity at this time! ”

Yu Qiuping knew that what Sena said made sense, but at this moment, he had no choice. If you don't spend money on food, everyone will starve to death. If it weren't for the money to repair the houses, I don't know how many of the more than 50,000 hungry people would be able to survive the harsh winter. If you don't spend money on training and manufacturing armaments, then Changpanbei will not be able to fight at all, and he will not be able to survive in this place of four wars.

"If the skin doesn't exist, the hair will be attached?" Yu Qiuping sighed and shook his head helplessly, "If the Yuqiu family can't keep this Maple Mountain City, what's the use of asking for so much money?" ”

"Momiji!" Sena Shiyi's eyes were so anxious that he almost quarreled with Yu Qiuping, "After so many years of hard work, do you plan to bury it in one go?" If this Maple Mountain Castle is not guarded, it will not be guarded, and we will have a big deal to go back to Owari! ”

"If you fail the mission and go back to Owari, you may never be trusted again. Moreover, His Royal Highness Shibata, Senpai Senpai, and His Highness Sakuma have already obtained a fief of more than 100,000 koku, and if I return to Owari at this moment, I will only be left with those 70,000 koku, and I will no longer be able to compete with them. Yu Qiuping shook his head resolutely, and said in a deep voice: "What's more, I promised the tens of thousands of people in Maple Mountain City, as long as the Yuqiu family is still there, I will protect Maple Mountain City, how can I not believe my words?" ”

Just when Yu Qiuhei and Sena Yoshiyoshi were arguing, Ryuko suddenly came in and reported: "Your Highness, several merchants from Sakai Town and Ishiyama Town have visited!" ”