Although the Tsugawa family now has nearly 700,000 koku, the population is relatively small.

Previously, there were only 35,424 farming households in the Tsugawa family, with a population of 253844. , the young and middle-aged population (16-35 years old) is only about 20,000 people, which can be described as a vast and sparsely populated area.

In Murayama and Mojo Prefecture, although there are less than 300,000 people in Shigao, there are indeed 24,233 farming households with a population of 197825. It has to be said that the Yamagata Basin is indeed a fertile place. The area of Murayama and Mogami is only one-tenth of the size of the three prefectures of Tsugawa Iehago, Mutsu, and Rikunaka, but there are nearly 300,000 in Ishitaka, while the total number of Mutsu, Rikunaka, and Hago is only 400,000, a difference of only 100,000 koku.

And the population difference is only a few tens of thousands, which makes Tsugawa Soji suddenly dissatisfied with the territory of the Tsugawa family.

"My lord, Murayama County is rich in timber and has many mines, although it is only a small mine, but the output is also considerable. Murayama County is full of rivers and plains, and the land is fertile and easy to cultivate, making it an important land for grain production. After the family obtained the territory of Murayama and Mogami and the second county, not only the population and stone height have been greatly improved, but more importantly, the strength of the family is now the most powerful daimyo in the entire Higashiyama Road! ”

"With a little more governance, the family will be able to easily unify the land of Ou and regain the strength of the Fujiwara clan in the past!" Ogasawara couldn't help but let out a sigh of admiration when he said this.

The Fujiwara clan refers to the Oshu Fujiwara clan, which dominated the Tohoku region during the Heian period before the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate!

At that time, the Fujiwara clan controlled the northern and central parts of the Ou region, and it was a powerful force that could be compared to the Hei clan and the Genji clan. During the Battle of Genpei, the famous general Minamoto Yoshitsune defected to the Oshu Fujiwara clan.

The Oshu Fujiwara clan, also known as the Hiraizumi Fujiwara clan. During the first year of Kanji (1087 AD) - the 5th year of Bunji (1189 AD), the Northeast was divided, and he was known as the "King of the North".

The Oshu Fujiwara family was passed down to the third generation, and when the lord Fujiwara Hidehiro was in its heyday. Due to the discovery of placer gold mines in many places in Mutsu and Dewa, the Oshu Fujiwara family became the richest man in RB at that time by monopolizing the production of placer gold.

With the support of huge financial resources, Fujiwara Hidehiro exerted his instinct to "get rich" and carried out large-scale renovation and expansion of his base in Hiraizumi Castle, which made Hiraizumi Castle gain the reputation of "Little Kyoto" at that time, second only to Heiankyo.

Politically, Fujiwara Hidehiro inherited the official positions of "Shogun of the Castle Prefecture" and "Mutsu Okumori" given by the imperial court for life, and appointed the lords of the Tohoku region in the name of these official positions, and all the forces in the entire Okuwa region gathered around Fujiwara Hidehiro. Fujiwara Hidehiro also gradually transformed the two countries of Mutsu and Dewa into the private domain of the Fujiwara family, and he is a veritable "king of the north".

If the Tsugawa family can also be in the two places together, it will only be more NB than the Oshu Fujiwara clan back then, because this era has not yet produced a force that can be compared with the Genpei family!

"The strength of the family today is indeed as stable as Mount Tai in the Ou region and even the Higashiyama Road, but the strength of the family is still not enough to look at the whole world. Therefore, in addition to expanding the territory and enhancing the strength of the family, it is equally important to develop the existing territory of the family! ”

"The reclamation of Xintian needs to be strengthened! The civil strife of the Mutsu Ita clan plunged the entire country into great turmoil, and the farmers of the country suffered greatly, so the family was able to recruit refugees and even send people to various parts of the country to promote their farming systems and policies, so as to increase the population of the territory. ”

"Hah!"

......

The three-day banquet was said to be a long time, and it passed quickly. Before the retainers returned, Tsugawa Soji also held another evaluation to reward the retainers who had made meritorious contributions to the pacification of Tsugaru Ichikuchi and the Hazen strategy last time.

"Are you still having a good time at this banquet?" As soon as he sat down, Tsugawa Soji spoke to the retainers in the hall who were still unsatisfied.

"Thank you for your kindness!" The retainers were naturally quite satisfied, and they all looked at Tsugawa Soji with a grateful look.

After a period of greetings, Soji Tsugawa said, "Today's assessment is mainly two things! ”

"The first thing must have been waiting for a long time, right? That's right, that's to reward the retainers who pacified Tsugaru and participated in the Hazen raiders! Under the expectant gaze of a retainer, Tsugawa Soji picked up a piece of paper densely covered with words, and then continued, "Tsugaru Ichikazu, Iwaki Jiro, Nozawa Yokuro, and Abe Enta have contributed a lot, and each of them has been given a sword and 1,000 pieces of money!" Encouragement! ”

"Thank you, my lord!" The three Iwaki Jiro, who were at the back of the seat, were also flattered when they heard that Soji Tsugawa had rewarded themselves and others as soon as they came.

No matter what time it is, the status of ninjas and bandits is undoubtedly extremely low, and it can be said that only in the Tsugawa family, people from backgrounds like Jiro Iwaki and Enta Abe may be so reused!

However, it stands to reason that according to the performance of the three of them last time, the reward of 1,000 is still a little less. It's not that Tsugawa Soji is stingy, the main thing is that he has to take into account the emotions of his retainers more or less. Otherwise, a few ninjas and bandits have received more rewards than our samurai, so wouldn't it be a great loss for us to fight the battlefield?

However, the three of Iwaki Jiro are also quite satisfied with this, after all, all three of them have now obtained the status of samurai, and this alone is enough for the three of them to work for Tsugawa Soji. You must know that in other forces, the status of ninja is not even as good as that of a samurai, let alone something as unattainable as a samurai.

"Togo Yoshisuke sealed Ishikawa Castle with 5,000 stones, and served as the Thirteen Minato, and was fully responsible for the trade between Tsugaru and Ezo."

"Miki Naoxiang transferred to Yamagata Castle Zhixing 10,000 stones, and Kawakami Zhongjing transferred to Nakano Castle Zhiyuki 6,000 stones. Gamo Jiuqing was promoted to the general of the family and gave 500 stones to Zhixing in Birichi. ”

“......”

Soon, the rewards for the retainers were announced. The retainers who received the reward naturally smiled, while some of the retainers who did not receive the reward or received little received secretly held their breath, looking forward to the next time they could also make a splash.

"The second thing is that the family's little surname Shibei has also reached the time for the Yuan Uniform. Mitsuhisa, what do you think? With that, Soji Tsugawa set his eyes on Akechi Mitsuhisa on the side.

Akechi Mitsuhisa hurriedly replied, "Thank you for your kindness, Shibei lost his father since he was a child, and he followed him to the land of Okuwa, and he has no relatives except for him. Every time I think of this, I feel that I have a lot of debts to the Ten Soldiers, and I was busy with government affairs before and forgot about the Ten Soldiers' Guards, if it wasn't for today's lord to mention, it would be really a dereliction of duty to be an uncle in the next. ”

"Ten Guards!" Hearing Akechi Mitsuhisa's words, Soji Tsugawa nodded, and then turned around and shouted.

The wise ten guards, who had already been prepared, suddenly walked out from behind with their heads held high. When the wise Shibei came to the hall and stood still, Tsugawa Soji said, "Wise and Tsugawa are in the same vein, and the Shibei family is also regarded as a nephew, and today's Yuanfu is really a great joy!" ”

"You are here to testify, and don't forget the gifts while watching the ceremony!" Soji Tsugawa suddenly started a joke, which caused the retainers to burst into laughter.

After saying that, Tsugawa Soji turned his head and looked at the wise Shibei with an expectant face, and then said, "The Yuan Dress Ceremony will be carried out later, and the Rong family will ..........."