After getting the "affirmative" reply from the Tsukawa family, the envoys of Spo Quanzhen and Pig to Quanyi left the Tsugawa family satisfied, as for the civil strife of the Spo family, Tsugawa Soji did not take it to heart for the time being, after all, at such a juncture as spring ploughing, as long as Pig to Quanyi and Spo Quanzhen are not fools, then they can't fight. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

Now, the focus of the Tsugawa family is still on the development and construction of the territory.

However, although he was not worried that the Spo family would really fight, Tsugawa Soji still ordered Iwaki Jiro to closely monitor the every move of both Inogo Kanyi and Spo Kanma, so that when something unexpected happened, the Tsugawa family could grasp the movement as soon as possible.

Since the Onodera family was destroyed by the Tsugawa family, and most of the retainers took refuge in the Tsugawa family, it has been valued by Tsugawa Soji.

Although Hachibai Daowei was still very young at this time, Tsugawa Soji attached great importance to Hachibai Daowei, a retainer who was not well known but had both ability and integrity. At present, the management of the entire Pinglu County and Xiongsheng County is basically handed over to the two families of Babai Daowei and Tufei.

The southern part of Hirako-gun and the eastern part of Okatsu-gun are on the edge of the Tsugawa family's domain, with the Mutsu Kasai family on the right and the Oshu Otaki family to the south. Originally, although the Onodera family occupied these territories, the actual degree of development was not high, and although the territory was large, there were not many stone towers.

Ever since the Tsukawa family took control of Yukatsu-gun and Heishika-gun, Tsugawa Soji has vigorously developed such "barren" areas.

Yagi Castle, Masuda Castle, Yuzawa Castle, and Matsuoka Castle are located in the eastern part of Yukatsu-gun, and the terrain is high in the east and low in the west due to the Ou Mountains and the Yokote Basin. Such plains are large in area and have a large population, but the stone height is only 7,000 stones.

At the behest of Soji Tsugawa, the lords and generations of Matsuoka Castle, Yuzawa Castle and other places were developing around this area in an orderly manner.

Yagi Castle is a small castle located between Yokote Castle and Yuzawa Castle. Now, the small city is about to be demolished. For a small castle like Yagi Castle, Tsugawa Soji has ordered the demolition of all parts of the territory one by one. The existence of these small castles is useless to the Tsugawa family, not only restricting the development of the territory, but also sharing a part of the Tsugawa family's ashigaru to garrison, which can be described as useless.

After the demolition of these small castles, the resulting stone and timber were used to strengthen the remaining castles. In the entire Pinglu County and Yusheng County, Tsugawa Soji only retained the castle where the Hachibai Road and other retainers were located, and the rest of the castles had basically been ordered to be demolished, and Yagi Castle was already the last castle that had not been demolished.

At this time, the lord of Yakakukan Castle, Hachikawa Michiwei, was standing outside Yagi Castle and watching the demolition of Yagi Castle.

"Lord Shimizu, how long does it take for Yagi Castle to be demolished?" After looking at it for a while, Hachibai Daowei turned his head and said to Shimizu Naoko, the lord of Yuzawa Castle beside him.

After Hachibai Dao finished speaking, Shimizu Naojin hurriedly replied, "Lord Hachibai, although the scale of Yagi Castle is not large, since most of the labor force in our vicinity has been mobilized to build the aqueduct, I am afraid that the entire demolition work will have to last for several days. After speaking, Qing Shui looked at Babai Daowei worriedly.

Fortunately, after listening to Shimizu's words, Babai Daowei didn't show anything, but continued, "Spring ploughing is coming soon, so as long as it can be finished before spring ploughing." ”

"Also. How is the construction of the aqueduct progressing? Babai Daowei licked his lips, which were already a little dry, and continued.

Qing Shui didn't dare to slack off, and hurriedly replied, "The entire aqueduct is divided into three sections. The first section is from Matsuoka Castle to Yuzawa Castle, the second section is from Yuzawa Castle to Yokote Castle, and the third section is from Yuzawa Castle to Inaniwa Castle. ”

"The first section of the aqueduct was completed last month, and the third section is now almost dug to Daoting City, which is expected to be completed by the end of the month. It's just that this second section, due to the long distance and the need to bypass several mountains, is progressing very slowly. If nothing else, it will be four or five months before it is completed. After speaking, Shimizu Masayoshi also showed a deep worry on his face.

After listening to Qing Shui's words, Babai Daowei first frowned, and then his face changed.

"The lord stipulated that we had to complete the tasks before the spring planting, and the aqueduct was dug again in June last year. It's been almost 10 months now, and the lord has high hopes for this aqueduct, if it can't be dug on time, we won't be able to explain it. Babai Daowei said helplessly.

In order to develop this vast area in the southern part of Pyeonglu County and the eastern part of Xiongseong-gun, the first thing to solve was the problem of irrigation. Even though the entire Okatsu-gun and Heika-gun are supplied with water by the Omono River, most of the tributaries of the Otomu River are concentrated on the west side of the Otomu River, and there is no river running through the eastern side of Yuzawa Castle.

In view of the previous success in digging an aqueduct at Mt. Shimonono, Soharu Tsugawa ordered Hachibado to start diverting water from the Omono River in order to mobilize the nearby people. If the aqueduct is successfully constructed, it is expected that a large area of southern Pyonglu and eastern Hungseung will be able to reclaim 20,000 koku of land within three years. This is only a conservative estimate, and if there is a constant influx of immigrants (which is extremely unlikely), even 30,000 stone is not a problem.

However, the problem facing Babai Daowei and Shimizu is that it will take at least several months for the aqueduct to be fully completed. And Tsugawa Soji's regulations were to be completed before spring plowing (mid-April), which made Hachibai Daowei a headache.

"The second section of the aqueduct seems to be in charge of the soil man, right?" Babai Daowei raised his head and asked.

"Hah!" Shimizu Masakachi nodded and said, "It's indeed Lord Tohi who is in charge." ”

"Hmm....." Babai Daowei groaned for a moment, then gritted his teeth, and said with determination, "Judging from our current labor situation and time, we will not be able to complete the aqueduct before spring ploughing. ”

"However, when the time comes, we can speed up the schedule and shorten the construction period as much as possible. At that time, even if the lord makes a punishment, it will be reduced a lot. Hachibai Dao said for the strong man's broken wrist, "Ordered Yamauchi Takamitsu and Kurosawa Yorito of Yokote Castle (the former retainers of the Yokote family, who defected to the Tsugawa family after the death of Yokote Mitsumori in the Second Battle of Tsugawa Castle, and is now the garrison of Yokote Castle. Mobilize the nearby lords to dig an aqueduct from Yokote Castle at the same time as Tohi-sama. ”

In addition, he sent a message to Kokai of Zang Ritsuji Temple in Kanazawa Hachimangu Shrine, asking him to mobilize the believers of Hachimangu Shrine to cooperate with Yamauchi Takamitsu and the others to build an aqueduct. If both sides are excavated at the same time, the time should be cut in half. ”

"In addition, after this year's spring ploughing is completed, land reclamation will begin at places where aqueducts have already been dug such as Matsuoka Castle and Yuzawa Castle. Concentrate the labor of all the people in the territory and develop it as soon as possible. ”

"Since we didn't finish the task of building the aqueduct, we have to do our best to make up for it elsewhere." After speaking, Babai Dao closed his eyes for resignation. And Qing Shui Zhiqin on the side also nodded helplessly, and at present, he can only do what Babai Daowei said.