In May of the eighth year of Tensho (1580), I led my army into the territory of Mino, and it is funny to say that among all the troops, I was the earliest and fastest to move. At this time, Oda Nobunaga's steps had just stepped out of Azuchi; Tokugawa Ieyasu sharpens his knife in Hamamatsu's lair; Shibata Katsuie had just crossed the border into Kaga territory and stopped; It was only me who crossed the whole of and entered Mino.

Mino is the place where the Plain meets the Koshin Mountain Province, and the west is still a scene of fertile fields, and the east is already a lofty mountain. A certain celebrity seems to have said something like "where the world is useful", which seems to have some truth.

However, this year seems to be a bit of a special case, and several major "granaries" in are all in crisis, and Mino does not seem to be much better.

From the beginning of the year to the present, not a single rain has fallen in the land of, and the fertile fields have turned into red land. The fields that should have been full of life are now only cracked and hardened lumps, and the scattered and dead seedlings have turned into a deep purple-black, which is absolutely impossible to distinguish without looking closely.

It's really ...... to have to fight in such a year

"Re-treatment, there won't be any problems, right?" Looking at a man with yellow muscles and thin muscles digging wild vegetables on the side of the road, I felt as if I had pressed a 10,000-pound boulder in my heart. "How did Shikoku arrange when you came, and will you be able to mobilize food in the autumn?" Maybe a little dazzled, I seemed to see the man starving.

"The lord doesn't need to worry too much, there will be no mistake with His Highness Gamo there!" Takenaka Hanbei listened to my words and muttered for a moment, but the answer was still relieved. "There has not been such a drought in the Shikoku region this year, and there should be a slight surplus in food self-sufficiency. The order of the lord has been announced before, and the grain of the wealthy families is collected according to the stone height of the land. If our own people tighten it tighter, we should be able to squeeze out 500,000 koku of grain, and the famine in Tanba, Izumi and Kii should not become out of control! ”

"You've all done a great job, it's been a great job!" I nodded, and suddenly saw his red hands that had been strangled by the horse's reins, and then I suddenly realized that we were walking in his hometown. "But that's not enough, we need to do more!" I had to be tough and keep putting more pressure on him.

"Lord, do you have any other plans?" Takenaka Hanbei was a little surprised, no matter how I was, I couldn't be the "savior" of the world.

"See?" I raised my horsewhip and pointed around, and the miserable sight almost brought tears to my eyes, but it was much better than Yamachi, Hanoi, Omi, and other places. "Even if it rains tonight, the autumn yield will be at most half of what it would normally be, and although it is not yet possible to estimate the extent of it, a major famine is a foregone conclusion. It's just that a lot of things will happen this year, starting with the crusade against the Takeda family, one after another, and I can't stop if I want to. We can't just think about the problem from the perspective of famine relief, things are not so simple, we must be prepared to deal with major events! Seeing him open his mouth, I hurriedly added, "Don't ask me what is going to happen, and don't ask me what I plan to do, because I don't know or say what I'm going to do!" ”

"The lord is really simple, and the minister actually feels it but can't say it clearly!" He listened to my words and wanted to laugh, but the smile stiffened on his face when he looked around. "Mobilization is not something that can be solved simply in our own territory, but must be raised through commercial channels. Therefore, if the lord has any plans, please order them as soon as possible, and his subordinates should start as soon as possible! ”

"Then ...... Let's use commercial means! "After a moment of hesitation, I finally made a decision, a decision driven by instinct." Inform Sadatsu to go to Kanto and Kyushu to buy grain at any cost; asked the fleets of wealthy merchants such as Tsuda, Imai, and Sueyoshi to go to Korea and Liuqiu to buy grain; At least another 1 million stone will be raised, and then all of them will be transported to Awaji! ”

“1…… 1,000,000 stones! He was taken aback by the number and was a little overwhelmed.

"1 million stones plus 500,000 stones, a total of 1.5 million stones, this number is a lot less, but it is not too much!" This number didn't make me feel very bold, but rather a feeling of emptiness in my heart. "If it's really the same as we estimate, this food is not enough to save everyone, but it is possible to buy something for ourselves!"

"Yes, my subordinates will do it!" After confirming that I wasn't joking, Takenaka Hanbei replied solemnly. "If this world is managed by the lord, the situation in the world may be better!" Then he sighed.

"Don't attack the Takeda family because of drought and famine? If it were me to make the decision, I'm afraid it wouldn't be any different from the lord! I shook my head and smiled bitterly, thinking that this was a helpless choice. When something happens, we have only one choice, or no choice, to do it as well as we can! …… How's the Matsunaga show? "My question is a bit jumpy, but it is indeed derived from the emotion just now.

This guy Matsunaga Shu is really acting unexpectedly, and no one is afraid that he will be able to accurately grasp his pulse. 10 days ago, Oda Nobunaga personally summoned him and announced that he would lead the 20,000-strong army to Settsu to stabilize the situation. But he just did the opposite of what you thought, and with tears in his eyes, he agreed gratefully, and swore that he would never give up going to the soup and die.

If it's a pretentious gesture, it's clumsy, if it's a true feeling, it's incredible, what is he going to do? Oda Nobunaga and I both thought about it. Fortunately, the plans were all decided before, so let him perform first!

"There are three pieces of information about him in one day, but I really can't see anything abnormal!" The half-guard of Takenaka moved closer to me, but the other guards gathered around him moved away from me. "When Matsunaga arrived in Settsu, he did not gather all his forces in his own hands, but instead sent them out to assist in the defense of the original pass. You must know that these are all soldiers and horses of some wealthy families, if he really wants to rebel, this will not only disperse his forces, but also have the possibility of leaking news! No matter how he was before, the minister still couldn't see anything different about him this time. ”

"The absence of the difference is probably the biggest difference, this person...... Hum! I didn't know how to describe it, so I snorted helplessly but angrily.

"The lord doesn't have to worry about it, the arrangements for him are quite perfect!" After a while, the discussion could not come to a conclusion, so the half-guard of Takenaka looked ahead and changed the topic. "I didn't expect that it would be less than ten years since Shingen Takeda died. The Takeda family, which made people all over the world look at it, has come to an end, but the prosperity and decline of the world are also common, and with their last splendor, they have just achieved the prestige of the lord! ”

"It is to achieve the prestige of the loyal young master, this must not be mistaken!" I waved my horsewhip and corrected solemnly.

"His Royal Highness Zhong Nayan is in the position of general, and there is no one to fight for, but the lord is afraid that he will not be idle!" Takenaka Hanbei didn't pay much attention to it, probably seeing me as "great modesty" again. "However, His Royal Highness Naka-Nayan is still not well-known, and the current Mino and Owari Corps are generally regarded as mixed mixed troops. This time, the lord walked with His Royal Highness Zhong Nayan, but I am afraid that the eyes of the world will focus more on the lord! ”

"That's exactly what I'm worried about, and the 'lieutenant' that the lord hopes for shouldn't be like this!" Looking at the troop in front of me, I frowned even deeper. Although there were only 8,000 men who accompanied me in the battle this time, the combat effectiveness was definitely higher than the 20,000 men of Oda Nobutada. "The reason why the lord sent me here is that there is absolutely no room for loss, but stealing the limelight is definitely not a good thing. Now I'm worried that the Takeda family is dead but not stiff, and there are really a few desperate fights, and I really can't get out! ”

"I'm afraid this situation will definitely happen, and you can't hide if you want to!" After saying this, he fell into deep thought, loosened the reins and walked forward by the warhorse.

I didn't rush him, I was thinking about it myself.

What did Oda Nobunaga mean by calling me to be Oda Nobutada's lieutenant, I'm afraid it's not as simple as "securing"! To be honest, my relationship with Oda Nobutada can only be talked about as stable, and it is far from being reassured. However, it is not surprising that Oda Nobutada has a smooth and friendly relationship with the commanders of all the major forces, with the exception of the relatively weak Niwa Nagahide.

At present, the people who seem to be his confidants are actually two people, Tsutsui Shunkei and Ando Mamoru, and even occasionally let them go to their shogunate for a short time to participate in the planning of some things. Let such a person be the head boss of the future Oda regime? It seems very inappropriate, and they are just a middle-aged person. So let me and one or two other people be in charge of the center? But in this way, I seem to be a little too strong in the local area.

This kind of problem is a difficult equation for me to solve, and Oda and his son can't get around it in the end, so I privately think that this is a kind of temptation, an attempt, and I can only take one step at a time.

"Lord!" The half-guard of Takenaka suddenly raised his head, opened his mouth and hesitated. "Wechen has thought of a way here, but I don't know if it's ......."

"It's okay, let's discuss it later!" I knew he wasn't sure he was going to be sure, but it's better to have an idea than not to have an idea.

"That's ......"

"Lord!" Before he could finish his sentence, a loud shout suddenly came from the front, and this time it was Shinhachiro who rode his horse from the front.

Originally, the armor cavalry was not used in this dispatch, so Shinhachiro should not have come out, but when he heard that it was such a major event as the conquest of Takeda, he naturally would not be able to sit still. After a lot of jumping up and down, I finally had to take him out, and I was kind of temporarily loaned back to my guard camp to listen to.

"My lord, His Royal Highness Zhong Nayan has sent a representative to pick you up!" He took the reins of the horse and stepped out of the way, and sure enough, I saw Mamoru Ando with a smile on his face.

"How dare you work His Royal Highness Ando......" I quickly exchanged glances with the Takenaka half-guard, and immediately led the horse to meet him.