Actually, Wise Kogoro didn't plan to go to Kanto, although for some reason, Shibata Katsuie, who had never been very familiar with him, made an invitation to him, but he didn't intend to accept it, considering the strange climate of Tohoku -- Wise Kogoro had never been to Ueno, but he had spent his previous life in Gunma Prefecture, Ueno's later body, which was a place with thunderstorms in summer and autumn, and it was particularly dry and cold in winter, so it was not a good place to travel.

But since it's Takenomiya's invitation from Hataro, it doesn't matter if you go.

In the heart of wise Kogoro, the weight of Shibata Katsuya is not comparable to Takenomiya Hataro, who saved his life.

[Well, that's it. 】……

In the blink of an eye, it was November, and after Kitada Nobuyi and Uesugi Keitora completed the transfer of sovereignty to Echigo, Akechi Kogoro also embarked on a trip south.

Narumi and the others led the army back to Azuchi Castle, and Akechi Kogoro specially wrote a letter to Akechi Samasuke, who was still staying in Azuchi Castle to do business, asking him to help settle these new colleagues.

Wise Kogoro only took one entourage to set off, and Yamazaki Makuichi was very worried about this, if he encountered a bandit, could he protect the safety of Wise Kogoro alone?

In this regard, Wise Kogoro feels indifferent, not to mention that over the years, there has been Takeda Shingen in the past, and Shibata Katsuya in the back, two martial arts factions who advocate absolute power, have almost incorporated the forces of the people of Ueno, and the bandits have all gone to serve as soldiers, as for the ordinary petty thieves, they don't need Yamazaki Maku to make a move, and they can easily settle it themselves.

I would like to make a special mention here. The Wise Master and Servant did not go with Sakuma Morimasa's men, who had left a month earlier when the treaty was signed. I heard that it was Shibata Katsuie's condition that worsened again, and Sakuma Morimasa, who had always regarded him as a father, naturally couldn't wait. I went back to Ueno first.

Autumn is the rainy season in Ueno, but luckily, before entering Maebashi Castle, Akechi Kogoro didn't encounter any rain.

Ueno, where wise Kogoro has never set foot in it, is the country of Higashiyamado in the northeastern part of Kanto.

To the north is Mutsu Province (Aizu area), Echigo Province, to the west is Shinano Province, to the east is Shimono Province, and to the south is Musashi Province. The Echigo Mountains to the north. Surrounded by Mt. Shirane and Mt. Asama in the west and Mt. Myogi in the south, more than 70% of the area is mountainous, and the southeast spreads along the Kanto Plain.

There are famous peaks in the country, such as Mt. Haruna and Mt. Akagi (mentioning these two mountains, it is easy to think of "Initial D"), which are not suitable for agriculture. There are also not many fields in the plain part. The Tone River, which flows through the Chubu of the country, forms a border with Musashi. The surrounding mountains create a typical inland climate, with large temperature differences between cold and summer, and thunder and lightning and strong winds. The climate is harsh.

After the Shibata Katsuie came to Kanto, out of the need to defend the Hojo family, they did not set up a feudal office in Hesitation, but moved to Ueno. At first, it was in Covered Bridge Castle, but later, due to economic considerations, the feudal office was moved from Covered Bridge Castle to the newly renovated Maebashi Castle.

Maebashi Castle is the south-central part of Ueno-Gunma Street. A castle in the northwestern part of the Kanto region.

It is also the location of the Ueno Domain, which is interesting. Most of the castle and castle towns are located in Sita County, while others come from Gunma and Saba Counties. In other words, a city, sandwiched between three counties.

When he came to the castle, Wise Kogoro handed the name card to the guards guarding the castle and asked him to convey it to his superiors.

The wise master and servant were dressed ordinarily, and they didn't look like big people, and the guards originally didn't intend to pay attention to them, but when he saw a bill of ten taels of silver sandwiched under the name card, his originally cold expression immediately had feelings.

Ten taels of silver is close to a year's worth of silver.

[A little money, the adults took it and bought some wine to drink, and when I turned around to see Lord Sakuma, I have another offer.] 】

The words in front were okay, but as soon as the name of Sakuma Morimasa was mentioned in the back, the guards suddenly broke out in a cold sweat.

These two guys, who are dressed ordinarily and even a little shabby, not only do they pay ten taels of silver when they make a casual move, but they even know [Pig Warrior], it seems that they are really not ordinary people, where do they dare to make things difficult?

When the guards took the name card and hurriedly went to report it, Yamazaki Makuichi couldn't understand it.

[Lord, why don't you just report the name of Lord Sakuma, why do you come up first and give money? ] 】

[Hades is good, the little ghost is difficult, if you can't pass this level, you won't be able to see Sakuma, besides, if we are dressed like this, people won't believe our identity, we have to give money first, study hard, boy! ] 】

[These days, I really have to use money everywhere, what I saw in "My Wife Mirror", the samurai's style of not seeking fame and fortune is all gone. 】

Seeing Yamazaki Makuichi shaking his head and looking worried about the decline of the world, Wise Kogoro smiled and said:

[In the Kamakura period, everyone was very poor, and the only money they had was taken by the government, so even if they wanted to use it, they had no money to use...... By the way, when it comes to entering the door without money, it reminds me of a past incident. 】

[What's the matter?] 】

Makuichi Yamazaki came to be interested......

That was when Akechi Kogoro first returned from Kansai, on the eve of Oda Nobunaga's establishment of the shogunate.

Wise Kogoro went to visit Tokugawa Ieyasu one day.

Although the Tokugawa family was not yet a wealthy family, the house was quite spacious, and from the outside, there was only four or five bungalows in the wall, and there were only four or five bungalows inside.

How did you leave so much open space? Is it difficult to keep Ieyasu Kawa wanting to keep planting cacti?

(Makuichi Yamazaki: My lord, what is a cactus?)

Wise Kogoro: Shut up and listen to me! ）

Wise Kogoro thought about it and said in his heart:

[I see, the group of Mikawa samurai under Tokugawa Ieyasu are all martial arts maniacs who like to dance with knives and guns, and this family naturally has a wide martial arts arena and other spaces. 】

Wise Kogoro knocked on the door and asked to see him, and the porter of the servant looked at Wise Kogoro carefully for a while, and saw that he had no retinue and was dressed in ordinary clothes, at most a medium samurai, so he spoke with a Mikawa accent and said slowly:

[This adult, I'm sorry, my family has something to do today, I don't see any outsiders, please go back. 】

Although Tokugawa Ieyasu [debuted] much earlier than Akechi Kogoro and is much more famous than Akechi Kogoro, but when it comes to influence in the Gyeonggi area, the latter is a head higher than Tokugawa Ieyasu, after all, Tokugawa Ieyasu usually operates in other places, so even he is very polite to Akechi Kogoro of his children and nephews, even if the latter is ordered to behead his son, he can still meet with a smile.

But right now, Tokugawa Ieyasu himself hasn't seen it yet, and he has been rewarded by his servants for a closed door, which is really unlucky!

Wise Kogoro aura:

[I said this, how do you know that your family refuses to see me? 】

The porter said lazily:

[My family has already commanded, these days, except for the people of the Oda family and the subordinates of the Tokugawa family, the rest of the people have not been seen. 】

Wise Kogoro said:

[In that case, I'm from the Oda family, why don't I see it? ] 】

The servant glanced at Wise Kogoro again, as if he felt that although the latter looked very energetic, he didn't look like a [nobleman] no matter how he looked at it, so he shook his head and said:

[No kidding, I don't believe it!] If you're messing around like that, I'm not welcome. 】

In fact, he is quite polite, and the Tokugawa retainers that Wise Kogoro knows are almost all rough people who don't know much politeness, and occasionally there is a man like Ishikawa Shumasa or Ii Naomasa, who is only rough and literate.

[You're welcome? What are you doing? 】

[What for?] Hmph, don't think I don't know what you people think, you all think that we Mikawa people are countrymen and have never seen the world...... Hmph, if you're still so identical to find trouble, I'll let you see how we Trois-Rivières do things. 】

There was both the smell of gunpowder and contempt in the spirit, as if to say:

[What's the origin of your little brother, my family will invite you? 】

Even if Wise Kogoro had a good temper, he was annoyed by him, and said angrily:

[If you don't inform me, I'll go in by myself!] 】

Holding the iron branch fence of the gate in his hand and shaking it vigorously, the unthinkable happened--the iron branch with the thickness of his fingers was bent inward.

This hand was beyond the expectations of the servant, this kind of ability, I'm afraid it's really not an ordinary person, and ...... If this thing is really broken, I am afraid that I will have to bear the responsibility, so I hurriedly changed my appearance and said:

【Little Brother...... Oh no, adults don't have to be angry, I'll inform you, but whether you see it or not, it depends on my family. 】

[Why are you talking so much nonsense! Just go! 】

After a while, the porter came out alone, and said:

[I'm really sorry, I didn't expect it to be a wise adult...... Wise Lord, my lord, please come in. You go straight from the stone path on the right, and then turn a corner to the left, there is a hidden wooden door, you push the door and go in, my lord is practicing in the dojo. I'm going to keep watch over the door, so I won't lead you. 】

As he spoke, he opened the fence and let Wise Kogoro in.

Even so, he was unwilling to lead the way to Asenchi Kogoro, and he didn't mean to be ashamed to apologize at all.

Wise Kogoro was still angry, and said in his heart:

[This Tokugawa Ieyasu is such a big shelf, when he was in Kai, he said it nicely, and he wanted to have a deep relationship with me, and today I came to ask to see him, but he didn't come to pick me up, and even the porter looked rude...... Hmph, it's rude to be a bunch of rednecks! 】……

[Aha, lord, I really didn't expect that the people of Sanhe, whether they are masters or servants, don't seem to be willing to give you too much face. 】

[Heh, this is also true, I killed Tokugawa Ieyasu's son, and I have already made the people of Mikawa hate me and gnash my teeth, and when I was in Kai, the Hachiman Battle Flag (which everyone knows as the plaster flag) that represents the symbol of Japan was also taken away from the hands of the Mikawa people, and if they have no opinion on me, even I won't believe it......] (To be continued.) )