Sakai is Sakai Town, the most prosperous city in Japan, and the level of prosperity is not comparable to that of Kyoto. Almost all the shops in the market are still open, and the crowds are still bustling. However, if you look closely, you will see that the severe disaster is still inevitably affecting the area.

Although the business in the store is still going on, neither the buyers nor the sellers can see the excited and happy expressions on their faces, and everyone in the bargaining is worried, as if some disaster is coming.

Although the sun here is no different from Kyoto, the advantage of being close to the sea has somewhat alleviated people's psychological anxiety, and the direction of the wind coming from the south in summer has indeed given some support. Everyone seems to be holding on, waiting for something, but what are they waiting for?

I walked slowly down the street with the Gamo clan, looking at all this in front of us, I don't know how he felt at the moment, but at least I was worried. The second conquest of Kyushu is about to begin, and there will be no problems with the base camp and logistics base.

The event in Kyoto had little to do with me, and after the first few days of excitement, I left, and Oda Nobunaga secretly ordered me to mobilize the Shikoku forces to use troops against Kyushu again. However, although it is a "first-class secret", I don't have much hope, and my heart is half cold when I look at the matter of changing Araki Murashige, Oda Nobunaga has not yet won the world, but the shortcomings of a huge bureaucratic system have gradually been revealed.

I changed my strategy about the war in Kyushu this time, and from the last defeat I realized a serious problem: the people's hearts and minds are the key to whether or not they can gain a foothold in Kyushu! In the previous conquest of Kyushu by foreign forces, it was not that there was no strong and invincible force, but it still failed without exception, why? It's that the local people don't recognize their existence.

After thinking about it repeatedly, the responsibility for the last fiasco is still on me, and I am a little carried away by the arrogance of the big victory! I didn't notice that every "grassroots" in Kyushu had been incited by Shimazu to hate me as an outsider; Every woman, young and old, became a pair of eyes staring at me; Every peasant is willing to destroy his family and relieve his suffering. Although my name is righteous and righteous, it is not as good as the four seas!

On the day that Oda Nobunaga's army crossed the border into Omi, Takenaka Hanbei also set foot on the land of Kyushu, leading not only the Shikoku Corps that had been taken over from the Gamo clan, but also a large amount of food and various supplies gathered in Shikoku. This war has actually begun, but it is filled with invisible gunsmoke, and in front of Oda Nobunaga, I have achieved maximum autonomy, and I will use a simmer to slowly and slowly fry this thick steak in Kyushu! So what I said about Ikeda Tsuneko about the lack of food was really honest.

The Gamo clan and I are still dressed as samurai attire, but that's all, the barely gorgeous costumes are not conspicuous in places like Sakai Town, and they belong to the rank of a general in the Zhuxing family. Although there are many people who know me in this place, how many people can see the essence of people after removing the dazzling armor and the car? Like the grocery store owner who asked me for business, he must have seen me before.

"Your Highness, this level is not bad!" Gamo said to me as his eyes continued to stare at the market. "It is even a miracle that we have been able to maintain this level in a year of great calamity. Not only has there been no famine so far, but there is still a huge deal, and the future should not be too worrying! ”

"It wouldn't be difficult to stabilize the situation, but ...... Things are not so simple right now! I let out a long sigh as I looked at the frowning brows of the pedestrians on the street. The war in Kyushu is about to start, and this time you can't feed the war with war, tens of thousands of soldiers are not a small number to eat horses and feed, once there is any mistake, I can't afford to lose this person. There is no doubt that this famine will spread beyond the scope of, and it is impossible for the lord to let us pass easily, and I don't know how far it will go! ”

"You just have to rest assured, 200,000 stone of grain has been piled up at the dock of Shikoku!" The Gamo clan immediately assured me that he had arrived from Shikoku only yesterday. "Although the fleet has already sailed to Kyushu with Lord Takenaka, and a lot of transport ships have taken it together, but we can also recruit fishing boats from Awa, Sangi and other places, and there won't be too many problems with transportation!"

"It's better not to be so fast, the grain can land in Sakai Town in half a month!" After a moment's thought, I shook my head slowly.

"Oh?" The Gamo clan was stunned when he heard this, and his feet were a little slower, but he immediately hurried two steps and followed.

"Although you are the son-in-law of the lord, when it comes to understanding his old man, you may not be as good as me!" Unrelated people were vaguely isolated from the invisible cordon, and there was no possibility of eavesdropping around, but since it was mentioned by Oda Nobunaga, my voice was instinctively lowered. "If this batch of grain arrives in Kyoto in the morning, then we will receive an order from the lord to increase the weight in the afternoon, even if we are well prepared, we will not be able to resist such a change. This year's famine is already a foregone conclusion, and now everyone just needs to control it and not produce **** and not provoke civil unrest. Coupled with the big actions of the lord, maybe there will be anything next year, so let's circle your own fence yard first! ”

"It's going to be next year...... I didn't think about it! The Gamo clan nodded thoughtfully, apparently understanding my concerns. …… His Highness is very worried, and there may be problems even this year. Now that the matter of changing the Araki Village is full of turmoil in the city, it is not ruled out that someone may take the opportunity to make waves. Now the lord's military strength is not a problem, and what he is most afraid of is that there are religious forces who use natural disasters to deceive people's minds! ”

"It's not impossible!" I frowned and nodded, a wave of anxiety drifting through my heart. This matter has always bothered me, but there is no suitable occasion for me to speak out, and religious forces are still deeply rooted in the whole society of Japan, and the slightest carelessness can offend many people. Besides, my attitude has always been to adopt a policy of both softness and restriction, and excessive actions may also affect those who originally supported me.

"Your Highness!" The Gamo clan suddenly stood on his feet and gave me a gentle tug. "Sakai Town can also shrink properly, as long as the technique is done properly, there will be no big problems!" As he spoke, he pointed forward.

Following the direction he pointed, I saw a grain store with a sign at the door that indicated that japonica rice was 720 wen and brown rice was 550 wen, and each person was limited to one bucket at a time. There were three customers with pockets on their shoulders waiting to buy, and the guy was weighing rice for a man, muttering something but not too urgent, let alone queuing up to buy it.

"It seems that the residents of Sakai Town still have enough food in their hands, so as long as people's hearts are not shaken, there will be no problem!" I understood what he meant, and felt a pang of relief. "After handing over 200,000 stones to the lord, how much reserve do we have?" I asked, moving on.

"There are about 500,000 stone left, but in another month, the fleet that bought grain from North Korea should come back!"

"Excellent! Every 10 days, 30,000 koku and 10,000 koku are transported to Sakaimachi, so stop for the rest! "I had already allocated a batch of grain to Keiji Maeda before the Eastern Crusade, and the problem of Tamba had already been solved by the Yoshitomo in Miyazu from the San'in Prefectures.

As we talked, we slowly approached the edge of the business district, and after that street we reached the port area, and the Nanban residential area was the next block to the south. It is at this corner where you can see the three most important neighborhoods of Sakai Town that a tall three-story building stands with a huge plaque on the lintel that reads "Rikukan". This is not only my autonomous management organization in Sakai Town, but also has the nature of a logistics exchange.

"Your Highness has worked hard, everyone is waiting for you!" Imai Munehisa stood at the door and bowed to the ground, his chubby face smiling like a Maitreya Buddha. Although I didn't make the rally too formal this time, he waited outside the gate with four other people.

"Without your support, I wouldn't be where I am now, just these few steps are nothing!" I smiled and nodded to him, and looked over his shoulder to see that there were still two dozen people waiting in the lobby of the room.

This is a business meeting that I convened to raise various supplies and manpower to support the war situation in Kyushu and stabilize the situation in. In fact, I could have met them in my house, or even had a grand tea party, but that would have attracted the attention of others.

"Your Highness has invited all the merchants of Sakai Town, do you know about this?"

"I know, it's to discuss things related to food!"

"It turned out to be ......"

The following words are not easy to say, but after passing through the layers one by one, I don't know what will become in the end, and what I am most afraid of in this situation is the generation of rumors, because it will make the situation unknown where it will develop. This is not the same as the rumors of the definite war, when it is completely possible to counter rumors, and at most it is just to muddy the waters. Now, once this happens, no matter how much chaos arises, it will be extremely bad for me.

After much thought, I took this approach, as the largest investor, to inspect my own property, and in the process, I met with other investors and managers "by the way" to express my condolences for their hard work. Of course, if there is something "accidental" to talk about in business, it will be inevitable and very normal.

"In just three years, you have achieved such results, and you are really indispensable!" After roughly looking through the balances of the various accounts, I went with the others to a reception room on the top floor and sat down. Business is doing well, but that's not the focus of my visit today.

"Without the foresight, wisdom and wisdom of His Royal Highness Yushu, how could we be in the situation we have today!" Kanai Munehisa immediately complimented, and the others echoed suit. Because Tsuda Muneyoshi went to North Korea with Mitsui Takafuku, and several other heavyweights were not there, he became the main spokesperson.

"Actually, I'm ashamed to say that I've been leading troops around the country for the past few years, and I haven't fulfilled much of my responsibility to guard!" Seeing that the atmosphere in front of me is good, I want to try to guide their train of thought. "If you have any difficulties, you can also talk to me today!"