After Asadachi finished saying some of his own opinions on 'righteousness', he took Kita to the Oteemon Gate of Sannomaru in Kawagoe Castle. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info Asadaki also stopped at this time.

In the commercial town of Kawagoe Castle, warehouses made of blackboard walls stand side by side. And the porters on the ox carts and rickshaws were busy unloading.

Merchants, coachmen, porters, fish sellers, and young women from all over the world mingle with the bustling crowds, making the town full of life.

"Many of these people are still green cocoons, are they from the later generations of Vietnam?" After seeing that many porters had unloaded the goods, he asked Chaoding.

"Echigo is one of the production areas of green cocoon. In Echigo, we're growing green sprouts in Uonuma-gun, and many of them are sent to the upper part (near Kyoto). Asadaki looked at the commercial town of Kawagoe Castle, which had developed and prospered with great difficulty.

Cyanis is also a cocoon. Cranberry is a plant that is the raw material for making the famous Echigo cloth.

"It seems that the yield of Echigo is really quite a lot." Kita sighed heartily.

"The trade is also one of the important sources of funding for the Uesugi family's finances." Asada pointed to the merchant who was selling with the folding fan in his hand and said, "The Uesugi family collects the gold (transaction tax) from the Qingqi merchants, and it is at least 50,000 kan per year. The pre-aisle (port tax) collected from the ship carrying the green cocoon is 40,000 per year. The amount is huge. I had to collect the gold from all over the Kanto, and Shinagawa Minato had only recently completed it, and the Ise family's pirates were so impatient that they couldn't transport and sell the cocoons by sea. "Chaoding felt that it was a pity to lose the sea transport.

"Indeed."

"In addition—" Asada paused first, and then said, "Echigo Ryunu also has mines such as Ueda Silver Mountain and Takane Gold Mountain. I sometimes wonder if it weren't for this rich land, even if there were no Kan-sama, would the people of Echigo would have persisted in pursuing the ideal of righteousness. ”

The abundance of Echigo continued until modern times.

After the Meiji Restoration, the coast of the Sea of Japan fell behind because it did not keep up with the pace of modern industrialization, and there was a significant economic gap between it and the Pacific side. Until then, however, the Sea of Japan side had a clear economic advantage due to the fertile land for farming.

"Although Lord Buzhian is known as a righteous general without selfish desires, the reason why his strength is strong is that he relies on the strong economic support of Qingjiao and Jinshan Yinshan, which is also an indisputable fact." Chao Ding said with a sigh.

In other words, if there is no economic interest, righteousness will be reduced to empty talk······ Kita gradually learns something about humility that is not well known.

"I guess so." Chao Ding nodded.

"If you want to do righteous deeds, you can't obliterate the role of profit. Profit-seeking is not a despicable thing. It is important not to be blinded by interests. The so-called profit is only a means, not an end. As long as you remember this, you will be able to straighten your spine and survive in your own way. ”

“······” Kita was silent.

Neither of them said anything, just stared at the captured sky without a trace of cloud. A moment later—

"It's time to go back to the city."

"Okay." Kita dispelled the doubts in his heart today, and followed Asada's very calmly to return to Honmaru.

Chaoding has always been helpful, and Qianxin also wants to see that one day she can govern the country with 'righteousness'.

In the evening of that day, instead of spending the night with the woman he had married, Asada went to Kita's room. And Kita doesn't object, she has long wanted to become the side room of the court, but there has been no suitable opportunity.

At noon the next day, at the same time as Asaki Nakita was his side room, there was also news from Sagami. Okabe Motonobu, Asahina Taichao and others conquered more than a dozen castles of the Houhojo family along the way, and the Hojo clan had no intention of rescuing Tamashi Castle, Misaki Castle and other important towns.

"My lord, the Ise family seems to be at the end of the road, and once the entire territory of Kamakura County is in the hands of the family, then the Ise clan of Miura County can be isolated on land." Ota Shimasa was not worried about the Hojo clan government secretly sending reinforcements.

"If the Ise clan is unable to divide troops to help in this battle, its demise is just around the corner." Asadachi was not prepared to let the Go-Hojo family keep their family name, and they were originally from Kyoto, and they dared to call themselves 'Hojo' in the Kanto region. Such a family must be exterminated, otherwise this wind will not stop and the future will be endless.

With the 5,000 Uesugi troops of Okabe Motonobu, Asahina Taichao, and Anazawa Toshimitsu conquering Oniwa Castle, Otani Castle, Ishinomaki Castle, and Iide Castle around Jade Rope Castle, the 1,000 troops of Asahina Shinoki were left in Ebina Castle in case the Hojo clan came to aid Tamaki Castle. The retainers of the Tamasho Hojo family, Ota Saemon, Tanaka Misaku, Fujisawa Harimaru, Iide Soldier, Yokoyama Uemon, and Yukata Danmasa were also taken one after another, killed in battle, and committed suicide. And Hojo Yasumoto, who was guarding Huaidao Castle, directly abandoned the city with ten cronies and samurai and fled to Odawara Castle.

Since the daughter of the Hojo clan, the Hojo clan's Shirumabu Nanqu and his son Hojo Shun left Jade Rope Castle, its garrison has been served by the mansion Fang Fan. However, the Uesugi army, which surrounded Jade Rope Castle, was not in a hurry to attack the castle. Okabe Motonobu first sent troops to demolish all the samurai residences and Ashigaru Nagaya under the castle, and also sent Asahina Tai to Sugimoto Castle, Anazawa Toshimitsu to Nagao Castle, Yamagami Teruhisa to Muraoka Castle, and Okabe Motonobu himself to Otani Castle.

After seeing that Okabe Motoshin had transformed the branch of the Tamaki Hojo family into a tool to surround the castle and cut off the grain route, he repeatedly sent the dead to Odawara Castle to ask for the assistance of the Hojo clan.

The Hojo clan of Misaki Castle could only watch the Jade Rope Castle being surrounded by regiments in Misaki Castle, and the only more than 600 troops under his jurisdiction could not even improve the defense within the territory, let alone enter Kamakura County to rescue the Jade Rope people such as the mansion and the house.

After the Hojo clan saw that the power of the court had gradually grown and could not be easily shaken, he even gave up his intention to submit to the soft court. He first asked the high monk of Kai Province, Kuaikawa Shaoki, to meet with Asada, hoping that he could persuade Asadachi to stop the attack on Hojoryo and the two families could reach peace.

However, the Hojo clan did not expect the reaction of the court to be cold, and directly rejected his request for peace. The meaning of the court is very simple, when the Ogiya Uesugi family was attacked by the Go-Hojo family, the Gohojo family didn't expect the situation of the Ogiya Uesugi family at the beginning, so at this moment, the Uesugi family doesn't need to take into account the feelings of the Go-Hojo family.

On August 21, the Hojo clan still managed to send the letter into the Jade Rope Castle, the letter was not long, and its content was: "There is no need to wait for backup. ”

This letter completely shows the attitude of the Hojo clan dignitaries to abandon Jade Rope Castle. Although there were still more than 500 defenders in the city, his sisters Nanqu and Hojo Shun, who were most concerned about the Hojo clan, had withdrawn into Odawara Castle, so there were no people and things in Tamasujo Castle that he cared about.

The house also understands that there is no point in continuing to persevere. In addition, the Hojo clan has decided to abandon Jade Rope Castle and the Jade Rope People, so it is better to negotiate with the Uesugi army about the conditions for opening the castle now.

As a result, Zhai Fang shot Yawen into the camp of the Uesugi army outside the castle, asking for permission for the defenders to surrender the castle. Okabe Motonobu and the others did not dare to make a decision on their own, and immediately sent Yabun, who was complicated by the house, to Kawagoe Castle to ask the court to decide.

Considering that the Jade Rope People were the most important and often meritorious sons of the Hou Hojo family, it was necessary to use this siege to destroy the prestige and martial name of the Hou Hojo family, so that the Kanto region would not have the Miao character 'Hojo' from now on.

Soon, Okabe Motonobu decisively rejected the defenders' request to surrender after asking for advice. Thus, the brutal starvation began. Asadachi also felt that it was not enough for 5,000 troops to surround Jade Rope Castle, so he ordered Namba Tian Kenji, Saito Toshizo, and Yamada Naotari to lead 4,000 Shangshu soldiers into Sagami to assist. After that, Kamakurakan was garrisoned by Toshizo Saito with 1,000 troops, and Sumiyoshi Castle was garrisoned by Naokada Yamada with 1,000 troops.

Not only did the Uesugi army occupy Kamakurakan and Sumiyoshi Castle and block the roads, but Kenji Namba also led 2,000 troops to occupy and block the roads in Asahinakan and Itami Castle, the branch cities in the eastern part of Tamasho Castle. In this way, Jade Rope Castle was completely besieged, and even the connection between Miura County was completely cut off.

Okabe Motonobu felt that it was not thorough enough, so he asked his subordinate Okabe Tadajiro to lead 500 troops along the coast of Kamakurakan and Gotenbekokan to prevent any foreign ammunition, grain and grass from being transported into Tamasho Castle.

In order to show that he had not given up Jade Rope Castle, the Hojo clan sent Hojo Yasumoto with 500 reinforcements to rescue Jade Rope Castle. However, before the reinforcements could see Tamasho Castle, they were discovered by Asahina Shinji, who was staying at Ebina Castle, and was attacked by the Uesugi army near Masto Castle. The commander of the Hojo Army, Hojo Yasumoto, was captured, and a total of 100 miscellaneous soldiers and ashigaru were captured, and the rest fled back to Odawara Castle.