On March 23, dozens of samurai wearing hats trekked along a mountain road in Shinano Kono-gun, and a thick mist drifted from the top of the mountain in the distance, which was Shinano's famous weather phenomenon "reverse fog", which is a unique climatic feature in Shinano and even in the whole world.

The ordinary fog is a valley fog rising from the mountainside, and the temperature of the convection between the cold air on the mountain and the hot air on the low mountain is inversely increased, and the warm and humid air in the air condenses into fine water droplets to form a fog in the suspended air, and then gradually obscures the entire mountain.

The reverse fog is a dense fog formed from the mountain beam, along the ridge slope along the mountain beam has a level of downward eyes, from a distance it looks like a white wave from the sky straight down, from the mountain peak nearly half of the thick fog is covered, forming a natural protective shield, this is the location of the stone castle and the stone castle.

The team walked and stopped, crossing one mountain beam after another, and the misty mountain peak was gradually lost as far and away from Xiaoyi County, and it was getting late, and the group of dozens complained in a small monastery outside a village.

Eating stiff rice balls hot in piping hot pumpkin soup has become popular in the last two years, and Echigo's high-quality pumpkins are privately trafficked to the Takeda family through Kita-Shinano for half the price of the same weight of rice, making it extra sweet.

People have gradually accepted the radiation of food culture from Echigo, for example, dozens of samurai in this line wear fur coats, and the popular clothing styles of Echigo always flow into Shinano at the fastest speed, and there is really no better choice than leather clothing to keep warm in winter.

The fatigue of the day's walk gradually dissipated, and the samurai went to bed early, except for two middle-aged samurai sitting in front of the fire in a daze.

"Did you hear that, brother? The travelers on the road were discussing the news coming from Echigo. The piercing Izuura Isei failed in his assassination. There is also a long-tailed Jinghu who is also vulgar and making a comeback. Pacify the news of civil unrest. The stout middle-aged man said indignantly: "We didn't even know about it! I don't know what the hell is going on in the main hall! ”

Another middle-aged man with a long beard smiled bitterly: "I expected all this for a long time......"

The stout middle-aged man asked, "What did my brother expect?" ”

"It's not a new thing to penetrate the ninja's movements, more than half a month ago, Echigo suddenly pacified the Echichu Ichizong riots, and there is also a spring ...... Masanobu Takasaka's activity is enough to explain the problem! The long-haired middle-aged man smiled bitterly: "Now that I'm lucky, have I arrived at this field?" ”

Yazawa Yoritsuna hurriedly persuaded: "Brother, don't say that!" Shinano can't do without you, and without your hard work, the Takeda family would not have been able to lay down half of Shinano anyway! My Sanada family is the first samurai family of Shinano people! ”

"Huh! The lord doesn't think so, didn't Lai Gang find that the status of his family is declining more and more? Sanada Yutaka smiled helplessly, but the bitterness at the corner of his mouth could not be concealed.

"Are you still holding a grudge against the cause of that failure?" Yazawa Yoshitsuna said indignantly: "But that's not my brother's fault! Thorough did not notice Kira Akabei's abnormal movements. Caused us to fail miserably......"

"The genealogy elders of the retainers group will not think so, and the members of the lord's family will not think so, and the lord may also doubt me Xinglong, right?" Sanada Yutaka's smile is less free and confident than before, and there is a lot of pain and helplessness.

Since the defeat of the Kawanakajima battle two years ago, the development momentum of the Takeda family began to decline, and the Sanada family has been irrepressibly victorious and declining, and the Shinano people have scattered around the Sanada family, and the pressure from Echigo has made him have to be careful every day.

Shortly after the end of the battle on that occasion. At the post-war evaluation meeting of the Washizaki Pavilion, Takeda Harunobu resisted the anger of the retainers who were embarrassed by the defeat. chose to give up the responsibility for the failure of the Sanada family, but the indifference of his colleagues and the reduction of Takeda Harunobu's credibility were inevitable.

"It's still the family that didn't seize the opportunity! If only the night raid last year had been more carefully prepared, and the information had been fully obtained, everything would have been better! Sanada Yutaka was still concerned about the failure of last year's surprise attack on Susu Guijo, which exhausted the last bit of hope for a counterattack, and also made Takeda Nobuyoshi return to Kai disappointed, and the Sanada family's status plummeted, not only losing the tax and military service autonomy that Takeda Harunobu personally promised, but also facing a lot of criticism from his colleagues and Shinano in the country.

Yoritsuna Yazawa comforted: "However, this time the main hall's plan still failed!" ”

"The family knew it was going to fail."

"What? Brother already knew? ”

Sanada Yutaka said slowly: "It's true that the lord is good at adjusting, but when it comes to the means of adjustment, it is a little worse than the family, Echigo is now run by the Kira family like an iron bucket, and he has been recuperating for nearly two years without action, and his patience is far more than that of the lord, and from this point alone, we can know that this operation is going to fail." ”

"Yes! Last year, the lord was still using troops to go to the wilderness, and the laborers went to the west to fight a joint battle without loss or profit, and snatched a little supply from the farmers in the castle town and the countryside. Yoritsuna Yazawa said with a mocking face.

This battle had nothing to do with the Sanada family, and their family was defined as the "flag head of the countrymen in Kokushi-gun", that is, he was told to stay in Sanada Township honestly and not go anywhere, and while nailing the offensive direction in the direction of Echigo, he also nailed himself to this piece of land and could not move.

As a result, this Ueno invasion took a long time without a city, and after calculating the loss of personnel and the pressure of grain and grass supply along the way, he also lost a lot of money, wantonly robbing the townspeople and farmers in Ueno of the last rations, this time not only formed a mortal enmity with the people of Nishiueno, but also forced the peasants to hate the Takeda Army even more, and the next invasion war was only afraid that it would be more difficult.

Listening to his brother's complaints, Sanada Yutaka smiled slightly: "Contacting Yuezhong has always been a clever move to flank the Echigo army, but now it is used in the most undesirable time, the Echigo army has not moved and has no flaws, and the foundation of cultivation for two years is extremely stable, where is an assassination, a pinch can shake?" Unless you are lucky enough to kill Kira Yoshitoki or Nagao Keitor, then the other person will definitely be annoyed and angry, which is still not good for my Takeda family! ”

"Unless you kill Nagao Jinghu and Kira Yoshitoki in one go. And then it happened to break through Kasuga Mountain Castle all the time. Took Kira and Nagao's retainers in a nest...... "At this time, the night is getting darker. The small temple seemed extraordinarily quiet, and Yazawa Yoritsuna carefully looked at the samurai in the distance who were sleepy, and then continued to taunt: "Is it just that this is possible? That's probably what the main hall's pet companion Kasuga Tiger Tsunade thinks, right? What a guy with only an ass and no head! ”

"His current name is Takasaka Danmasasaki Tadashi Masanasanobu, the adopted son of the son-in-law of Kasaka Chikuzen Shou Zongzhong."

"Yes, yes, yes! It's this Takasaka Dan Masanobu Tadashi! Yazawa Yoritsuna smiled contemptuously: "Speaking of which, his official name is the same as his brother!" Last year, his old father-in-law, Kasaka Chikuzen Mamori Muneshige, was forced into seclusion to make room for him, and at the beginning of this year, because the speed of promotion was not enough, he ran to the main hall to report his father-in-law Nai Tong Kira's family, and finally his father-in-law was executed. The Kasaka clan fell into his hands......"

Sanada Yutaka frowned tightly when he heard this, and scolded: "Where did you hear this? Listen to such baseless rumors less! Do you know that talking nonsense kills people? ”

"I heard about it from a friend in Saku-gun......"

Sanada Yutaka felt that there must be something wrong with this, and after thinking carefully for a moment, he said: "No matter who you heard from someone's mouth, you will rarely hear this kind of gossip in the future, let alone go around to say it, now Takasaka Dan is a celebrity in front of the main hall, the fastest promotion in the minister, and our status is not as good as before, so we must be careful in everything!" ”

"Yes! Be! Yazawa Yoritsuna's face turned blue with fright, and he nodded sheepishly.

The two were silent for a long time and did not speak. After a while, the flames in the fire pit gradually became smaller, and Sanada Yutaka picked up a few pieces of firewood and threw them into the fire. Picking up a branch and fiddling with the charcoal fire at random, he suddenly turned his head and asked, "Your friend of Saku-gun, can't it be the Great Bear Bizen Mamoru or Joori Fuyu?" ”

Yazawa Yoritsuna was stunned for a moment, and asked strangely, "Huh?" How did the brother know? ”

"Of course I know, and I also know that nine times out of ten, the two of them were sent by Echigo." Sanada Yutaka warned: "In the future, you should have less dealings with them, and be careful of touching things that you shouldn't touch!" ”

"What? Brother means they have a problem? Yazawa Yoritsuna was bluffed and almost jumped up, knowing that his brother didn't like to laugh, and his words rarely missed, so he hurriedly suggested: "Then let's report to the main hall immediately!" ”

Sanada Yutaka smiled bitterly and shook his head: "Didn't you just say how the main hall treats the family, and with the current situation of the main family, it is difficult to protect itself, how do you think the character of the main hall will view the report of the family?" ”

"Brother means...... Won't the Great Hall believe us? ”

"Almost! It is possible that you will not believe it, and you may also suspect the intentions of your family, have you never suspected the intentions of these two Echigo traitors? Of course, there is suspicion, but this suspicion does not need me to wait for the retainers to speak, everyone doubts the two of them, then the safer they are.

Two untrustworthy Echigo traitor samurai can't make waves at all, whether they are dead or not, they can only be closely attached to the authority of the lord, if they always try their best to be loyal, they will naturally be promoted and reused if they make more achievements, if they are found to be dead, what is the difficulty of executing them? "Sanada Yutaka is too familiar with Takeda Harunobu's character, and now he has been able to find out his father-in-law's personality and way of doing things, and it is his habit to be cautious and cautious to keep his back hand as a countermeasure.

Echigo's two deaths are not a problem at all in Takeda Harunobu's opinion, they are simply ants who want to pinch to death, and what really gives him a headache is a family of Kai, and the elders of the genealogy family, this group of people are all senior, capable, well-connected, and high-status representatives, and they are also relatives who hold each other, and they will blow up a nest when they touch one.

Sometimes these families and genealogies say a word, which is more effective than him, a genuine family governor, and the authority of the family governor has been seriously suppressed by this group of families and genealogy, so Takeda Harunobu can't wait to promote Yukitomi Takasaka Masanobu, Naito Masatyo, Baba Nobuharu and others.

At the beginning, his father Takeda Shinhu was such a powerful figure, and he was kicked out of Kai by a group of people and genealogies because of killing the spectrum generation, and was exiled to Suruga for retirement, and now he is also facing this problem, and the high-flying Itagaki Nobufang has only been dead for three years, and Takeda Harunobu did something to his sister-in-law Itagaki Shinken, and as a result, he was immediately boycotted by a sect and a spectrum generation.

In the end, he still succeeded in killing Itagaki Shinken, but that time he still offended a sect and the genealogy, and since then his actions as the governor of the family have never gone smoothly, two years ago, a big defeat on Kawanakajima was almost pushed by a gate and the genealogy to Takeda Harunobu to promote and reuse the Kasuga Tiger Tsunade, Baba Nobuharu, and Naito Masatoyo, forcing him to make a compromise, promising to satisfy the appetite of the sect and the genealogy with more occupations and knowledge and deeds.

Sanada Yutaka, who knows the inside story well, repeatedly admonished: "The lord is still having a headache with the contradiction of one family and one generation, and the promotion and reuse of those people at this time is a signal, and you must remember not to mention their bad words in front of outsiders in the future, understand?" ”

"Understood! Please rest assured, brother! Yazawa Yoritsuna hesitated and said, "Echigo sent so many people to persuade his brother to join the Kira family, didn't my brother ever be moved?" With his brother's ability, he can take half of Shinano for the Kira family in a backhand, right? Isn't the status of my Sanada family still secured? ”

"You don't understand!" Sanada Yutaka shook his head and sighed: "The family can't move and dare not move now, Toupo has been monitoring the actions of the family, once the surrender of Echigo does not say the safety of the family and the Sanada family, even Taro, Jiro, and Goro, who are far away in Kai, will also die because of this......"

"Is it just for that reason?"

"Of course not, the Takeda family's merits have been repaid by the lord with a favor, but how should I repay the grace of knowing it? If this family betrays the Takeda family, how should the world view my Sanada family? Although I am fortunate to have betrayed countless martial artists in my life, I am not a person who forgets his righteousness, and the Wuwei Palace sent a few envoys to try to omit his own family? No way! Sanada Yutaka's tone was very resolute, which reminded Yasawa Yoritsuna of the allusion to abandoning the Jiyan Jin family pattern flag and replacing it with six coins.

"Liulian Qian is the Six Money, which is the ferry capital for crossing the Santu River, symbolizing that the samurai of my Sanada family have the consciousness of death!" Many years ago, a passage from the young Sanada Yutaka before saying goodbye to Yoritsuna Yazawa and fleeing to Ueno came back to mind.

"The samurai who forgets their righteousness will be ridiculed, especially the one who once said that the Wuweidian hated the betrayer the most......" Yazawa Yoritsuna slapped his head and exclaimed: "Oh! I finally figured it out! No wonder the envoys of the Kira family are all unknown samurai, is it to test the strength of the family's will? ”

"Do you understand?" Sanada Yutaka shook his head and smiled: "That Wuweiden is not in a hurry to deal with Shinano's affairs, if the family is really stupid and jumps out to rebel, but it will have to face the attack of the angry Takeda army, and then lose the territory of Sanada Township, and then lose Taro, Jiro, and Goro They fled to Echigo in a panic to survive, and their families, territories, and family names were lost, so what is the meaning of this life!" ”

Yoritsuna Yazawa sighed in agreement: "Yes! My Sanada family can't do such a thing! ”

"The lord must still be planning the next adjustment, I have to prepare, go back and write a strategy and give it to the lord, maybe I can earn a good impression for my Sanada family...... Go to bed early! We're on our way tomorrow! (To be continued......)