In the seventh year of Yonglu, in July.

In response to Uesugi Kenshin's fifth expedition to Kawanakajima, Takeda Shingenqin led a large army from the main castle to the Honjo Kisakikan.

The Takeda family put on a decisive battle posture, and in addition to letting Li Xiao stay in Hida, the Hida expeditionary army of Takeda Shingenmei Yama Prefecture Masakai quickly reached a collegial agreement with the sister Koji family and the Uchijima family.

Not only that, Takeda Shingen also transferred back the Ueno [***] regiment of Takeda Katsuyori and Naito Masatoyo, who was conducting the second raid on Kurakano Castle, a branch of Minowa Castle in Ueno Province.

Takeda Shingen's Hida and Ueno's two legions joined up with his main army at Shiozaki Castle, south of Kawanaka Island, to prepare for a decisive battle at Uesugi Kennobu.

After receiving an order from Takeda Shingen, Yama Prefecture Masakei suspended the siege of Sakurato Castle and sent an envoy to make peace with his sister Koji Yoshiyori.

The sister Koji family has obviously learned from secret channels that Uesugi Kenshin has made his fifth trip to Kawanakajima, and the whole city, regardless of the samurai, Ashigaru looks like he is in a desperate situation.

Even his sister Koji Lianglai was glad that he had been blessed by the gods.

And the generals of the Takeda family were very frustrated when they saw that the victory was about to come, and they actually gave up like this, especially when Kiso Yoshimasa saw that his Kiso people had paid the price of nearly half of the casualties, and seeing that the victory was in sight, he actually gave up like this, and immediately ...... directly Straight gorgeous fell ill.

Knowing that the Takeda family was anxious to withdraw from the army, Sister Koji Yoshiri, a master negotiator, recovered all the original losses on the battlefield at the negotiation table.

After the discussion of the three families, the sister Xiaolu family and the Uchijima family only surrendered on the surface, but did not cede any territory.

At the end of the negotiations, the sister Koji Yoshiyori immediately handed over a petition to the Takeda family, saying that he would surrender, the two families would cease fighting, and handed over two insignificant hostages, and after the Takeda family accepted the hostages, Yama Prefecture Masakai ordered the siege to be withdrawn, and the Hida expeditionary army withdrew to the Takeda family's territory.

And the original betrayal of the sister Xiaolu family and surrendered to the Takeda family, the lord of Gaotang Castle, Hirose Sojo, was classified by Takeda Shingen into Li Xiao's matching.

At the same time, out of the loss of the Kiso family's troops, Takeda Shingen gave the Kiso family 1,000 kan as compensation.

Kamiokan-no-cho.

It was already dawn in the morning, and the owner of the izakaya, Takakuro, squinted his eyes and yawned, walked to the store and opened the door.

As soon as the door opened, a man was found standing in front of the store with his hands on his chest.

Gui Jiulang was suddenly startled and took a step back, only then did he see clearly that the man was dressed as a samurai, with a katana pinned to his waist, but he was a little sloppy in his dress, although the other party's appearance looked only in his twenties, but there was a bit of vicissitudes in his expression.

"I'm sorry to keep you waiting outside the door." Kikuro immediately made a very respectful appearance.

The other party nodded in response to Guikuro's greeting, strode into the room, put the katana on the table, and then said, "The boss brings the wine." ”

Guikuro was naturally very happy to see that there was business to do as soon as he opened the door, so he hurriedly went inside and took the wine and the glass, put them on the samurai's table, and then respectfully asked, "Excuse me, my lord, what else do you need to drink?" Our restaurant is famous for its Ome sake, and many samurai adults in Kamiokanda Castle like to eat it. ”

The other party waved his hand, signaling that he didn't need it, and then poured himself a drink and poured himself a drink.

Seeing that the other party was behaving strangely, Gui Jiulang didn't ask too much, returned to the account table in the back, and scrubbed the dishes.

In the izakaya, only Kikuro and the samurai who drank alcohol were exceptionally quiet.

Gui Jiulang was busy with his own affairs, while peeking at the other party, this samurai drank quickly, as if there was something unhappy in his heart, and then borrowed wine to relieve the unhappiness in his chest, and then it was a bottle to the bottom, and the other party's face was a little tired, and at this time there was also a trace of ruddy.

After the samurai finished drinking, he regained some of his spirit and asked aloud, "Boss, where is this place?" ”

Kikuro smiled and said, "This is Kamioka no Machi. ”

"Kamiokan no Machi, I don't seem to have heard of it?"

Gui Jiulang nodded, and instead asked, "My lord, it should be someone from outside, right, it seems to be from Mikawa with an accent?" ”

The samurai nodded and said, "Boss, you're right. ”

"It's the Samurai of the Three Rivers!" Kikuro secretly confirmed his judgment, he had been running an izakaya for many years and had seen many samurai from Mikawa Province.

Mikawa is a brave and good fighter, so many Mikawa samurai behave very roughly, but the samurai in front of him doesn't seem to have that fierce meaning, although he is a little difficult to get close to when he speaks, his temper is undoubtedly much gentler.

Guikuro said with a smile: "This is really a coincidence, the villain used to help his brother take care of the izakaya under Iida Castle in Shinano Province for nine years, so he has seen a lot of merchants from Mikawa, and Your Excellency's accent, the villain can hear it as soon as he hears it." ”

"It turned out to be Iida Castle, well, then why did you come to this remote Hida to open an izakaya? And the question I just asked, you haven't answered yet. ”

Guikuro smiled and said: "My lord, please let the villain talk about it one by one, the adult is far away in Mikawa, so he doesn't know about the situation of Hida, this Kamioka Castle and this Kamioka Town were just built by Lord Li Xiao of the Takeda family last year and this year, respectively, so it's not surprising that adults don't know." ”

"And the villain's brother is in Iida Castle, and I heard that this Kamioka town was newly built, and the lord of the city, Li Xiao, made a promise to the merchants, any store opened in Kamioka Castle, and the first year of shop rent and tax is exempt, the villain's brother and villain both feel that this is a place to make money, so the villain came here and helped the brother open an izakaya again."

The warrior nodded, and said, "That's right, obviously the boss has a good business here." ”

Gui Jiulang was surprised and asked, "How does Your Excellency know?" ”

The samurai explained: "It's very simple, I came to this castle town in the morning, and I found you a tavern in the morning, and given the size of this castle town, there are at least two or three thousand people, so the boss's business will certainly not be bad." Otherwise, you won't have a smile on your face. ”

Gui Jiulang nodded and said: "What the adults said before is right, but the villain is in business, and he must greet the guests with a smile all day long, my lord, how can you see the villain's true mood from the villain's smiling face?" ”

The samurai also showed a hint of a smile, and said: "Yes, a smiling face can be disguised, but when a person just wakes up from sleep, his expression at that moment will not deceive people, when the boss opened the door, I saw that although the boss was sleepy, his face was contented." If business is bad, it is not like this. ”

When Gui Jiulang heard what the other party said, he was obviously in a good mood, and nodded with a smile and said, "You are right, there are many samurai living in the city, thanks to their patronage, the business of this shop is good, and these samurai are very well-behaved and never disturb the people. This is what reassures the villain. ”

The warrior nodded: "The samurai can abide by his own rules, except for himself, naturally this city lord has skills." As for this Master Li Xiao, when I was in Mikawa, I had already heard of his name for bravery, and he was a figure that even Echigo's Huihu Gong could not help, but I didn't expect that he was not only a famous general, but also governed this castle town so well. ”

Hearing that this warrior admired Li Xiao so much, Gui Jiulang asked, "Then dare to ask this lord, is he here to join the Takeda family?" But it's a pity that Your Excellency seems to have missed the opportunity, at the beginning of the year, the lord of the city, recruiting standing ready, many ronins with martial arts came from all over the world to vote. Now it seems that there is none. ”

The other party showed a wry smile on his face and said, "That's not the case, I'm just passing by." ”

Seeing that the other party suddenly stopped talking, Guikuro seemed to fall into some kind of contemplation, and felt very curious, thinking: How can this samurai-sama, at such a young age, have so many things on his mind, it seems that he has just encountered something very unhappy.

By the way, Samurai Mikawa, I heard that Mikawa had a lot of trouble at this time last year, and it was easy to calm down at the beginning of the year, is it because of that incident?

Thinking of this, Gui Jiulang couldn't suppress his curiosity, and asked out loud: "My lord, I just came out of Sanhe, and I heard that the Pure Land True Sect there made a lot of trouble, and it also launched a rebellion, how is it now?" ”

Hearing Guijiulang's question, the samurai raised his head, and his eyes revealed a fierce color, Guijiuro was suddenly startled, and quickly lowered his head.

At this time, the first guests came from outside the izakaya, and several ashigaru walked into the izakaya.

Gui Jiulang breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, hurriedly ran to the door of the store, and said with a smile: "A few people are here, the villain has already prepared green plums and wine, please taste a few of them." ”

These ashigari laughed, and one of them said: "Boss Guijiu, hurry up and drink, I've been practicing for a long time today, and now my mouth is like a fire." ”

With these ashigaru people, many more guests came to this izakaya one after another.

The noisy words in the shop came to the samurai's ears one after another, but he did not look up, his ears echoed, the sound of iron cannons roaring in the land of Mikawa, the scene of the misery of the same clan.

Countless brothers who belonged to the same family and fought side by side, but because of their different beliefs, they killed each other, and countless people fell.

The samurai closed his eyes and muttered in a low voice, "Lord Minegaya, my lord, he has reneged on his previous agreement. Tsuchiya-sama, this is the lord you guarded with your life, your blood is in vain, it's not worth it. ”

Thinking of this samurai, I felt that I couldn't help it, and I almost burst into tears.

Realizing that he was about to lose his temper, he secretly said to himself, the Samurai of the Three Rivers would rather shed blood than tears, and tears are a manifestation of cowardice that cannot face himself.

Thinking of this, the warrior suddenly smashed the wine bottle and saucer on the table with his fist, and his right hand was immediately cut by splinters, and blood flowed.

Stimulated by such a sharp pain, the samurai stopped crying, stood up in the astonished gaze of everyone, and strode out of the izakaya after leaving the wine money on the table and the money to compensate for the damage to the drinking utensils.

The samurai put his katana back in his waist and walked out into the street, where the streets of Kamioka no Town were already bustling with people.

If, according to the previous izakaya owner, this Kamioka town has only been newly built for half a year, then the prosperity seen in front of you is really unbelievable, is it really only half a year?

The samurai walked out into the street and watched the pedestrians hurrying by, and the samurai with a solemn expression calmly walked by the street under the awe-inspiring eyes of the crowd.

On the contrary, he felt a little lonely in his heart, the world is so big, there is no place for him, this time he is running away from the master's house, which is equivalent to an abandoned minister, and he will no longer be tolerated by the lord, what is the first wise man of the Matsudaira family, such a name has nothing to do with him.

Now he's just a lost dog.

The Mikawa Matsudaira family was just a thing of the past for him, but fortunately, the name of the Honke family had been inherited by his brother Masashige, and after Mikawa had always been in the past, it finally returned to the lord of Sammatsuna. In this way, he can travel around alone, increase his knowledge, and if he can, go to another house, and then continue to spend the rest of his life with unfulfilled promises.

Then the warrior thought again.

"Yahachiro, Yahachiro, how can you give up on yourself, Lord Matsudaira, since he is untrustworthy, it proves that he is not a worthy Mingjun. In these troubled times in these countries, with my wisdom and strategy, why worry that there is no place to show it. ”

The samurai was wandering, he was going to go to Oyama Gobo, the base camp of Kaga Honganji, but at this moment he suddenly reversed his previous decision.

The samurai thought to himself that today, Imagawa has fallen, and the three good masters of are unknown, and now the most promising ones to seize this world are Echigo Uesugi, Sagami's Hojo, Kai's Takeda, and China's Mori.

Since you are a samurai, you should follow the trend and do something big.

Kai no Takeda.

Thinking of this, the samurai couldn't help but stop and look up at Kamioka Castle, which was towering over the hill and looked down on the castle town, and in an instant he made the most important decision of his life.

Kamiokande Castle castle tower.

Li Xiao had just finished meeting with the city lord of Takado Castle, Hirose Zongcheng, who was assigned to him.

Hirose Zongcheng's mood, Li Xiao can be described as very apprehensive.

As a betrayer who betrayed his sister Xiaolu's family, the other party seemed very uneasy, and now as soon as the Takeda family's Hida expeditionary army withdrew from Hida, for Hirose Zongcheng, the only force that can be relied on in Hida at the moment is this Lord Li Xiao.

Because he was afraid that his sister Xiaolu's family would liquidate his betrayal, as soon as Hirose Zongcheng learned that he was assigned to Li Xiao, he hurried to Kamioka Castle to show his loyalty to Li Xiao and hugged his thighs.

In fact, it was also in exchange for Li Xiao's support.

Li Xiao didn't say anything about this new match, this Gaotang City City Lord Hirose Zongcheng is actually the owner of a small cottage, with nearly 100 people.

However, Li Xiao still comforted Hirose Zongcheng, and in the future, his Gaotang City would be Li Xiao's first line of defense against his sister's family.

After accepting the hostages of Hirose Zongcheng, Li Xiao comforted the other party with kind words, wrote a bunch of blank checks, and only after getting Li Xiao's assurance did Hirose Zongcheng leave satisfied.

Li Xiao couldn't be idle for a moment, just sent away Hirose Zongcheng, and then he was going to inspect the school outside the city, and he had newly formed a standing training.

At this moment, the samurai outside the door came to report that there was a samurai from Mikawa who wanted to leave the Shiben family.

Li Xiaoben didn't care about this, but when he heard that he was from Mikawa, he thought to himself that wasn't the territory of the old Tokugawa turtle? I heard that the previous paragraph has always made him miserable.

This thought only flashed through his mind, and when Li Xiao asked the name of the warrior, he was immediately stunned.

"What's his name? Do you repeat again? Li Xiao asked again.

"He said his name was Honda Yahachiro Masanobu."

Li Xiao was finally not calm at this moment, since the future Tokugawa Shogunate's first internal minister, Okubo Chang'an, came to his subordinates to do chores, even the future Tokugawa Ieyasu's first think tank also went to Kamioka Castle to ask for a job.

(To be continued)