The chance encounter with Kako was just a small episode, and the main purpose of Soji Tsugawa was to meet Ogasawara Nobutoki, who was located in Ninomaru. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

Ninomaru in Ueno Castle is an "office area" scattered around several small courtyards and yashiki of various sizes, all of which were used as offices for the retainers in charge of the Tsugawa family's internal affairs. In a small courtyard in the middle, Ogasawara Shinto, the Tsugawa family's economic commissioner, was discussing something with a few young samurai with a sad face.

In the middle of the discussion, Ogasawara Shintoki suddenly stood up and said loudly, "I've seen the lord!"

Hearing that it was Soji Tsugawa coming, several young samurai beside Ogasawara Shintoki hurriedly stood up and said loudly, "I've seen the lord!" ”

"Hmm." Soji Tsugawa smiled and nodded, motioned for Ogasawara Shintoki and the others to sit down, and then found a place to sit down, and said slowly, "Shintoshi, what are you discussing here?" ”

Ogasawara quickly replied, "My lord, we are discussing an incident that happened yesterday. ”

"What?" Soji Tsugawa asked curiously.

Ogasawara Shintoki looked at the samurai beside him in embarrassment, but as Ogasawara Shintoki's gaze moved, several samurai beside him turned their heads to the side, pretending not to see it.

Ogasawara shone secretly scolded in his heart, "Unrighteous anger", and then said to Tsugawa Soji, "My lord, here's the thing..."

"Yesterday, the Yamaguchi people of Mt. Moriyoshi sent a message to say that the number of merchants who have come and gone in the area of Mt. Moriyoshi and Mt. Ohiro has suddenly increased, which is also a good thing for the Yamaguchi people, but most of these merchants are businessmen who hold the "business regulations" issued by their own families, so Abe Enta was also a little overwhelmed for a while. Ogasawara said slowly.

The Yamaguchi people, as a "dark chess" set up by Tsugawa Soji, have been stationed in the area of Mt. Moriyoshi for a long time, which is the main road directly from Akita County to Senhoku County. However, after Abe Enta led troops to rescue Tsugawa Castle last time, the relationship between the Yamaguchi people and the Tsugawa family was revealed.

The trade order was a kind of "business order" issued by the Tsugawa family, and merchants who held the trade order were free to trade within the Tsugawa family's territory and enjoy partial tariff reductions, which was also a strategy of Tsugawa Soji to attract merchants to the Tsugawa family.

But. If, as Ogasawara had just said, a large number of merchants suddenly traveled to the area around Moriyoshiyama, it would be quite unusual. You must know that the area around Mt. Senji is high and forested, and the roads are tortuous and difficult to navigate, which is really not conducive to the passage of caravans. In the past, although a small number of caravans passed through here, they were all traveling merchants, but there were very few.

But now that a large number of businessmen are passing through here, is there something unusual happening?

Thinking of this, Soji Tsugawa hurriedly said to Ogasawara's letter, "Is there a specific number of caravans in Abe's letter?" ”

"Yes." Ogasawara Shintoki said loudly, "According to the statistics of the Guyamaguchi people in the past few days, dozens of caravans have passed through here. And the number is constantly increasing. ”

"Strange ......" Soji Tsugawa rolled his eyes and said in confusion, "In the area of Mt. Moriyoshi, there are very few caravans in a year, how can there be so many caravans all of a sudden?" ”

As he was talking, a man dressed as a samurai walked in from outside the door and said loudly to Ogasawara Shintoki, "Ogasawara-sama, the matter has been clarified. ”

Ogasawara Shintoki hurriedly said happily, "Okay! ”

"Come, Yilong, come and see the lord!" Ogasawara Shintoki hurriedly pointed at Soji Tsugawa and said to the samurai.

This samurai, called Asama Yoshitaka, was the son of a small wealthy clan in Kawabe Prefecture, and was valued by Ogasawara Nobutoki and recruited into the Tsugawa family's internal affairs retainers, and is currently in charge of assisting Ogasawara Nobutoki in some of the Tsugawa family's internal affairs like the rest of the samurai.

Hearing that the famous Tsugawa Soharu was right in front of him, Asama Yoshitaka hurriedly came to Tsugawa Soji and bowed, and said excitedly, "In Asama Yoshitaka in Shimokawabe County, I've seen the main hall!" ”

"Hmm." Soji Tsugawa nodded and said to Asama Yoshitaka, "Asama Yoshitaka, right?" Tell me about what you've found. ”

"Hah!"

Asama Yoshitaka hurriedly replied, "The main hall, according to the investigation below, has finally found out the reason why the merchants passed through Mt. Moriyoshi on a large scale. ”

"Let's talk about it." Soji Tsugawa said calmly.

Yoshitaka Asama continued, "There are two reasons for this. “

"Before I explain it, please allow me to explain to the main hall the trade situation in the former Hago region." Asama Yoshitaka said slowly.

Seeing that Tsugawa Soji didn't show anything unusual, Asama Yoshitaka continued, "The previous Yugo region, such as Senhoku-gun, or merchants from the Hazen region. To get to Akita or the Tsugaru area further north, there are three ways to go. ”

"One is through maritime trade; the second is to take the Yuri-gun-Minato-Akita-gun land route; The third is to detour from the shores of Lake Tazawa in Senhoku-gun to the territory of the Shibo family in Shiba County, and go north to the Mutsu area. Asama Yoshitaka said slowly, "Originally, the business routes of the merchants were roughly these three trade routes, but at present, these three trade routes are not available. ”

"Oh?" Soji Tsugawa and Shintoki Ogasawara and others were full of puzzlement on their faces.

"Why is that?" Ogasawara Shintoki on the side couldn't help but ask.

Asama Yoshitaka hurriedly replied, "Let's take the land route first, because of the battle between the family and the Hiyama Andong family, the merchants are reluctant to risk offending the family to go to the territory of the Hiyama Andong family to trade. ”

"In terms of sea routes, due to the destruction of the Minato clan and the heavy losses suffered by the Hiyama Yasuto clan in the last battle of the Akita Valley, the pirate forces along the coast of the entire Yugo region suddenly became rampant. Half a month ago, a caravan from Echigo was plundered by several bands of pirates near Minato Castle, and the entire caravan of 74 people was killed by pirates, and the ships and goods were also looted. ”

"After this incident, many merchants did not dare to go by sea." Asama Yoshitaka continued, "As for the route to the Shiba Prefecture, since the southern family has implemented a road blockade of the Sibo family, all the roads from the north of the Sibo family territory have been blocked, so the merchants cannot pass through here. ”

"In addition, the news that the Yamaguchi people are the strength of their own family has already spread in the territory, so the merchants passed through the area of Mt. Senyoshi in groups." After Yoshitaka Asama finished speaking, he set his sights on Soji Tsugawa.

After listening to Asama Yoshitaka's words, Tsugawa Soji and others understood.

"In this way, the merchants were forced to go to the area of Mt. Senji." Ogasawara said.

Soji Tsugawa nodded and said, "It seems that the preparation of the naval army is urgent, and I was talking to Saigo Muzao about it last time." ”

"Lord, is the family going to start preparing for the water army?" Ogasawara said excitedly.

Soji Tsugawa nodded and said, "Exactly." ”

"Whether from the perspective of military or domestic affairs, it is imperative for the family to build a naval army. Take this incident as an example, it was because there were no sailors in the family that the pirates in the coastal area were so rampant that the merchants were forced to take a detour from the area of Mt. Senyoshi. Soharu Tsugawa said indignantly, "In the long run, if the merchants are dissatisfied and don't want to come to my Tsugawa family again, won't the family lose a lot?" ”

After listening to Tsugawa Soji's words, Ogasawara Shintoki also agreed, "That's true." For now, all the businessmen need is to provide them with a good trading environment. ”

Soharu Tsukawa's worries are also not unreasonable. If it goes on like this for a long time, then the cost of the merchants will inevitably increase, and this is also a kind of torture for the merchants, if these merchants can't stand it, and then they don't come to trade with the Tsugawa family, then the loss of the Tsugawa family will be great.