In the eighth year of Yongroku, in late April.

Kamiokande Castle.

After reaching an agreement with his sister Xiaolu's family, Li Xiao led his army to triumphantly return to Kamioka Castle from the front line of Nabeyama Castle.

Li Xiao's expedition this time was originally a famous division, and without losing a single soldier, he subdued his sister Xiaolu, and the Uchijima family Hida was the two powerful wealthy families in China.

Among them, the sister Xiaolu family is also recognized by the imperial court as the national secretary of the Hida country, and the public family is the Yulin family, which is more noble than the Daimyo of the Hida country.

But this time, he was challenged by Li Xiao, a retainer of the Takeda family, and finally had to give in, and he lost face for a while.

The loss of the reputation of the sister Xiaolu family is still secondary, but it is more mainly the loss of strength.

After the loss of Nabeyama Castle, which Sister Xiaoji Ryori tried his best to capture and would rather bear the infamy, it not only meant a decrease in the territory, but also the location of Nabeyama Castle, together with Gaotang Castle, was like two nails nailed into the front of Sister Xiaolu's house.

In this way, Nabeyama City not only held the passage from Sister Xiaolu's house to Shengang City for Li Xiao, but also disgusted Sister Xiaolu.

After more than a year of planning, the castle town of Kamiokanda Castle has become quite large-scale, because of the order issued by Li Xiao to sell salt and grain, so many merchants have moved here, and various derivative industries have also joined.

With a population of nearly 3,000 people, Kamioka Town has gradually replaced the original Sakurato Castle and has become the center of the entire Hida Kingdom.

Li Xiao's army was lined up in a tight marching column, slowly advancing from outside the town, the sound of straw shoes rubbing the ground, and the three spears like a forest were erected high, showing a mighty momentum.

When Li Xiao's army entered the castle town of Kamioka Castle, they were cheered and surrounded by people on both sides, many of them were local people of Hida, and more were family members of Kamioka Bei.

When they saw their loved ones return safely, they all burst into tears and waved vigorously.

However, because of the strict military orders, even if the ashigaru in the ranks heard someone shouting their names, they did not dare to leave halfway, and they could not even watch from the sidelines.

Li Xiao sat on the war horse, saw this scene, nodded slightly, and thought: Dao Shengmeng is really a general, Shengang is so disciplined, it can be used in the future, this is my Li Xiao's team to fight the world. I don't know if in the future, when he leads this army to Luo under the banner of the Takeda family, he will be able to see the scene of the people welcoming him. But no matter what, the people here all support me Li Xiao.

Li Xiao sat on top of the black forging and thought so ambitiously.

After entering the city, Li Xiao ordered the disbandment of the army on the spot, and the ashigaru people of Kamioka were all cheering.

Li Xiao re-entered the castle tower of Kamioka Bei, and he summoned the Great Treasury Chang'an to discuss the matter.

At present, Chang'an is Li Xiao's Kamioka Town, and Shengang Yinshan is in charge, and he controls most of Li Xiao's financial power, and is now second only to Shima Shengmeng among Li Xiao's retainers.

In addition to the Great Treasury Chang'an, there was also a young man in his early twenties kneeling beside him.

Dazang Chang'an glanced at this person, obviously not understanding his identity, but Dazang Chang'an was not without questions.

Li Xiao pointed to the person who was sitting at the foot of the Great Tibetan Chang'an, and said, "Chang'an, this person is my newly recruited retainer, Masuda Nagamori from Owari Nakajima County. ”

After listening to Li Xiao's words, the young man knelt down to Chang'an and said, "Meet Lord Dazang." ”

The Great Treasury Chang'an nodded reservedly in return for the gift.

Li Xiao looked at Masuda Nagamori in his eyes, and said in his heart, he didn't expect that Yokotani Yushige would move so quickly and find the person he designated in one fell swoop.

To be able to get the contribution of this famous internal minister, Masuda Changsheng, Li Xiao is still very happy and unexpected.

Masuda Nagamori was the third seat in the history of the Toyotomi Five Commissions, and was awarded the 220,000 stone of Yamajo Castle in Yamato Province, and was mainly responsible for its civil engineering duties.

According to his origin, it is speculated that his father was just a land servant with an ordinary background, not to mention any family character, and it was not until the first year of Tensho (1573) that he became a samurai of 300 koku in the Oda family.

And when Yokotani Yukishige found Masuda Nagamori, he was plowing the fields in Masuda Village, Owari Province's own family, and when he heard that someone wanted to recruit him as a samurai, and that he was also a famous Takeda family, he immediately put down his hoe without saying a word, and agreed.

So it was under Li Xiao that he became a retainer.

Li Xiao first said to the treasurer Chang'an: "I summoned you this time to clarify the current finances of the family, and you can talk to me and this Lord Masuda in detail." ”

The Great Treasury Chang'an sighed, and then said a few treasures about the current finances in Li Xiao's territory.

The first is the tribute of the New Year in the territory.

At present, Li Xiao's territory under the direct jurisdiction of Li Xiao is nearly 23,000 stones, and the three retainers under his command, the city lord of Sarucang City, Yanya Qiuzhen, 4,000 stones, the city lord of Gaotang City, Hirose Zongcheng, 1,800 stones, and the new Nabeyama City lord of Nabeyama Castle, who belongs to Li Xiao's side, 1,500 stones.

Then there is the income of Kamioka Castle Castle and the town of Joshita, a large part of which is obtained from the circulation and trading of salt and grain.

Then Chang'an explained last year's fiscal revenue and expenditure to Li Xiao in detail.

Later, the Great Treasurer Chang'an said: "After the expansion of the flag reserve, the family's finances have been stretched to the limit, and there is no spare finance to maintain. ”

Li Xiaoyan said: "I understand that this matter has long been expected by me."

"I beg your pardon for saying that your majesty has always opposed the expansion of Kamioka by the lord, and there is no surplus treasury at present, which means that we do not have any financial resources to cope with superfluous changes, and your majesty has also conceived several measures to stimulate the commercial development of castle towns, but there is no financial support, but it has to be postponed for the time being." ”

Li Xiaoyan said: "I understand your difficulties, in fact, I still want you to pay again, this time the Nabeyama family belongs to the family, and its strategic location is very important to Kamiokanda City, and it is our bridgehead in Hida to monitor the sister Xiaolu family." I also plan to contribute a sum of money to build Nabeyama Castle for the Nabeyama family as a frontier to defend against the sister Xiaolu family. ”

Listening to Li Xiaozhi's words, Dazang Chang'an's face changed drastically, and he said like a miser: "Returning to the lord, this is simply impossible, to be honest, the family's finances have reached a very critical situation, and they can't even get the military rations they need for the next battle." And this time to increase the construction of Nabeyama City, the subordinates are really powerless. ”

Li Xiao nodded and said, "I have already understood this matter, and I will write a letter to Lord Yuguan, and His Royal Highness will ask for instructions." The former Lord of the Imperial Pavilion has replied to me that he will subsidize my 500 army funds. ”

"Five hundred?" Dazang Chang'an breathed a sigh of relief and said, "It's only enough to last for a while, but fundamentally it's not enough. ”

Li Xiao said with a smile: "I haven't finished speaking, in addition to Lord Gokan, His Royal Highness Katsuyori also funded me with two thousand guan, and Lord Sanada Yidezhai also heard about my predicament and sent five hundred guan." That's a total of 3,000 times. ”

Speaking of this, Li Xiao couldn't help but sigh, when he wrote a letter to Takeda Shinxuan, Takeda Katsuyori would be Hida, and the situation that Yuezhong himself might be attacked by all sides explained that the purpose was to ask for money, soldiers and food.

Compared to Takeda Shingen's slamming the door, he only gave a mere 500 kan, Takeda Katsuyori really didn't say anything about himself, and he allocated 2,000 kan in one go, and Sanada Yutaka probably heard Takeda Katsuyori talk about his difficulties, and I don't know what the purpose was, he actually lent himself 500 kan.

Thinking of this, Li Xiao couldn't help but feel a little ashamed of Takeda Katsuyori, the marriage between Takeda Katsuyori and the Yuanshan family was about to get married, and he also got so much money from him, which made Li Xiao a little ashamed.

However, the reaction of Dazang Chang'an was overjoyed, because the entry of this money did make Li Xiao's finances tight and delayed for a while.

Dazang Chang'an made a quick calculation and reported to Li Xiaoyu: "My lord, with these three thousand yuan, if you use it carefully, you can at least last until next year." ”

Li Xiao listened to the report of the Great Tibetan Chang'an, nodded and said, "That's fine." ”

After speaking, Li Xiao looked at Masuda Changsheng and said: "Masuda, this time to build Nabeyama City, you will be responsible for this matter as the construction of the city, is there a problem?" ”

Masuda Nagamori was taken aback, and hurriedly bowed and said: "When His Majesty first came to our house, he was entrusted with such a heavy task by the lord, and his Majesty felt the burden of responsibility, but if it was delivered by the lord, His Majesty would definitely complete it." ”

After Li Xiao heard Masuda Changsheng's words, he smiled and said: "It's just building a city, and I can't mention anything to complete it, if the building of the city is handled properly, I will have another reward." ”

Li Xiao glanced at Masuda Changsheng, this person is still in the investigation period at the moment, and he will definitely use it as his important practice in the future.

Then Li Xiao motioned for Masuda Nagamori to step back.

What Li Xiao and Dazang Chang'an are going to talk about next is not something that this new retainer can hear.

Li Xiao first asked the Great Tibetan Chang'an: "Has the mining of Shengang Silver Mountain reached saturation?" If you have a way, I can recruit more miners and increase the amount of mining. ”

As for the matter of Shengang Yinshan, it has always been the top secret of Li Xiao's family, and only a few cronies and retainers such as Shima Katsuto, Honda Masanobu, and Dazang Chang'an can know about it.

Dazang Chang'an thought for a while and said: "Lord, after more than a year of operation, the mining volume of Shengang Silver Mountain has approached the maximum, although there is still room for further mining, but because of the limitation of ore veins, there is not much spare power. ”

Li Xiao shook his head when he heard what Dazang Chang'an said, he was looking for Dazang Chang'an this time, hoping that Shengang Yinshan could give him a little more surprise.

Speaking of war, fighting is fighting money, without financial support, no matter how capable Li Xiao is, he is powerless.

The Great Treasurer Chang'an said: "Shengang Silver Mountain is indeed a rare good mine, and the stone saw Silver Mountain back then, and according to the current mining rate, the mineral reserves of Shengang Silver Mountain are supported for more than 50 years without any problem, but it is urgent to dig out the mining volume of these decades within two or three years, which is not something that can be done by manpower." ”

Li Xiao nodded, he also understood that Dazang Chang'an was telling the truth.

Li Xiao continued to ask: "Chang'an, as a commissioner, you also know your family's current predicament, can you have a way to expand your financial resources to solve this urgent need." ”

Dazang Chang'an thought about it and put forward several more plans.

After Li Xiao listened carefully, the plans mentioned by Dazang Chang'an were very conceived, but either the start-up capital required was too large, or the operation cycle was too long, so it was useless for Li Xiao at the moment.

Seeing Li Xiao's dissatisfaction, Dazang Chang'an could only keep racking his brains.

Just when he was about to have no plan, suddenly Dazang Changan slapped his thigh and asked, "Lord, do you know Guiyun Jinshan?" ”

Li Xiao listened to the words of Dazang Chang'an, and immediately understood what he was thinking.

Guiyun Gold Mountain is located in Guiyun Mountain, and Guiyun Mountain is the territory of the Inner Island family.

And the main city of the Uchijima family is Yuncheng, which is being built on this mountain.

Next, the Great Treasure Chang'an told Li Xiao about Guiyun Jinshan, in his suggestion, Guiyun Mountain Jinshan of the Inner Island family is undoubtedly a big mine, if it is mined by his method, it will definitely become the second mine in Li Xiaoling's territory that is not inferior to Shengang Yinshan!

Li Xiao thought of the important surname of the mine, and couldn't help but light up his eyes.

A Shengang Silver Mountain not only supports his Shengang and the two reserve teams of the snake tail for him, but also wealthy, this is a big golden finger, and for Li Xiao, the Shengang Silver Mountain is equivalent to the existence of tens of thousands of stone high Zhixing.

If he can snatch Guiyunshan Jinshan in his hands again, he will now expand the capital dilemma caused by the expansion of the flag, and all this will be solved.

Faced with the suggestion of the Great Tibetan Chang'an, Li Xiao was really moved.

The Great Treasury Chang'an is clearly trying to persuade Li Xiao to snatch Guiyun Jinshan from the mouth of the inner island!

Li Xiao thought about it for a while, and immediately summoned Shima Katsu and Honda Masanobu to discuss the feasible surnames of this matter.

After Shima Katsu and Honda Masanobu entered the castle tower, the Great Treasury Chang'an re-discussed the matter that Fang had just discussed with Li Xiao.

Shima Katsu Meng, after hearing this, Honda Masashi was also moved, and was obviously attracted by Guiyun Jinshan.

Dao Shengmeng first said: "If you want to seize Guiyun Jinshan, you must snatch it from the hands of the Inner Island family, and we have the truth to send troops now." ”

The truth is that for sending troops.

After Li Xiao captured the pot mountain castle of Sister Xiaolu's family, Sister Xiaolu Lianglai was very unwilling afterwards, and directly stated to Takeda Shinxuan, saying that Li Xiao would fight without declaring a war and send troops to attack the Hao clan, which was really not what the commander of the Hida Etsu Central Army should do.

And Li Xiao had already responded, pulled the topic away, and countered that the Uchijima family, who was worthy of the wealthy family, had no reason to send troops and favored the matter of his sister Xiaolu's family.

At that time, this was just a superficial rip-off, and everyone knew which side Takeda Shinxuan was favoring, but Li Xiao also made a show to show that he didn't care about the loss, and gave people an explanation.

And the Uchijima family ignored Li Xiao's reprimand, anyway, they had enough confidence not to take Li Xiao, or even the Takeda family in their eyes.

As a Hida family, it is not unreasonable for the Uchijima family to take such a tough stance, because they have real hole cards.

Honda Masanobu said to Li Xiaoyan: "My lord, even though we have an excuse to send troops to the Uchijima family, if we are not very sure, we do not have the strength to capture the Uchijima family. This is not as easy as capturing Nabeyama Castle, even if we send all the Kamioka Bei, Snake Tail Bei, and Qibenbei Bei, we can't capture Guiyun City. ”

Honda is righteous, Li Xiao understands.

The Uchijima family's home castle is Kumojo, which is famous all over the world as a fortified castle, and as one of the strongest mountain castles in the entire Hida.

(To be continued)