In July of the 22nd year of Astronomy, two typhoons hit Kanto in succession, and many fishing boats that did not have time to return to the port became the first sacrifice of the typhoon, and a terrible storm mixed with thunderstorms and terrible cumulonimbus clouds obscured the entire sky, and a terrible disaster was quietly brewing.

This coincides with the arrival of the most important rainy season of the year, with June to August being the rainiest flood season, and this year the situation is even worse.

Kamakura was hit by Otsuna, and the fierce sea water poured into the Tone River and the Arakawa River, raising the river several meters higher, and the swelling water broke through the embankment and spread wantonly, and when people woke up, the disaster was irrepressible.

Kanto seems to have turned into a huge powder keg, a huge crisis is triggered at this moment, a rare storm suddenly hits, for a time Kanto is stormy, the river is surging, and the terrible flood is surging out with huge destructive power, you can imagine what a catastrophe this will usher in.

The ferocious flood seemed to be a giant beast, wantonly breaking down those imsolid dikes, countless rice fields and cottages were washed away, and many villagers were swept away by the merciless flood while still asleep.

The major territories of Sagami, Musashi, Anbo, Kami, and Shimoshi were severely affected, and countless houses were destroyed in the storm, and the people of Kanto could only sigh at the terrible sky. Fortunately, the raging typhoon gradually reduced to an ordinary storm by the end of July. But the floods are not over. On the contrary, there is a tendency to intensify.

For Hojo Shiyasu, this year is really not going well, since the beginning of the year there was an earthquake, thousands of houses were knocked down, and many more even if they did not collapse they became dangerous houses, and the repair cost alone gave the Hojo family a headache for nearly half a year, although the life and death of civilians had nothing to do with him, the lord of the country, but the lord of the country did not care about the people's power in the event of a natural disaster. It is easy to cause a larger-scale man-made disaster, either a drop in the soil or a collective escape, and the current situation of the Hojo family is absolutely unable to withstand the double blow of natural and man-made disasters.

As the richest area in the Kanto region, the total population of Musashi Province has plummeted from more than 500,000 a few years ago to just over 300,000.

"Could it be that even the gods and Buddhas have given up on my Hojo family?" Standing on the castle tower of Koetsu Castle, Hojo Shiyasu looked out over the boundless ocean of the country, the Tone River that originally fed the land of Kanto. At this time, this mother river of Kanto is like a hideous dragon, wantonly destroying everything in front of it. The flood submerged all the land around the river, and countless people were swept up in the flood and disappeared.

The gloomy sky, the torrential rain is like a pour, the water lines connecting the heavens and the earth are like a spear that goes straight to the sky, Hojo Shiyasu closed his eyes painfully, he is already very tired, since the beginning of July to the present, he only sleeps two or three hours a day, and the non-stop flood control and disaster relief has not stopped for a moment, even if the iron people have been fighting for more than a month, they can't support it, but he can't fall yet, the Hojo family behind him needs his support, and it's not the time for him to fall.

Hojo Shiyasu rested on the pillar for a while, the cold wind mixed with the wet and heavy breath blowing on his face, making him wake up again, and forced himself to cheer up and instructed the retainers behind him: "We can't stop the disaster relief if the flood is not enough, and we will continue to work hard to gather the people of Musashi Province." ”

Thousands of people are missing in Musashi alone, no less than 6,000 houses have been destroyed, tens of thousands of people have been displaced and have to pack up and flee their homes, and the Kai Takeda clan has also been affected, and thousands of people who are rushing to repair the Hachioji passage are helpless in the face of this sudden disaster, and the sudden mudslide swallows up hundreds of lives, including several retainers of the Takeda family.

The Futabuki River and the Kamanai River flooded at the same time, causing huge losses to Kai, thousands of houses were destroyed, hundreds of people were swept away by the flood, and frequent flooding also caused a huge burden on the Kusakikan, and many houses were destroyed in the storm, which made Takeda Harunobu's face ugly.

The Chikuma River also caused nearly 100 missing people and hundreds of houses to be lost in Kita-Shinano, and the Shinano River, Agano River, and Sekigawa also had an emergency flood situation in Echigo's Shinano River, Agano River, and Seki River, and the fragile embankments collapsed under the banter of the flood peaks, causing more than 200 dead and missing people to rush into farmland and villages, and nearly 1,000 houses collapsed.

In this once-in-a-century stormy weather disaster, the Kira family dispatched a large number of ships to rescue the trapped civilians, and did not hesitate to work day and night to set up temporary settlements for the homeless, and after learning that Echigo could provide a safe place to live, the number of refugees from Kanto, Ueno, and Shinano was as high as 20,000 at one time, which brought a huge test to the Kira family's logistics.

Since the beginning of August, the continuous rain has not diminished, and the lords of the country in various places have been relieved to organize their efforts to fight the flood and provide relief, and all the samurai, including the daimyo, have put aside their positions and gone to the front line of the disaster to participate in the disaster relief work, and Hojo Tsusunari has not left the river fortifications of the Tone River since the beginning of the month.

There were many samurai like him in the Kanto region, who curled up in tents under the river embankment every day to sleep, and before dawn they started a new flood control work, all they could do was move the victims to the high slopes, organize people to dig earth and rocks to block the broken embankments, and then pray to the gods and Buddhas to take care of the land and the farmers.

Until the end of August, the sun shone brightly after a long time, and throughout the following September, the Kanto region will usher in the most important autumn harvest season of the year, and the grain production in various parts of Echigo will be reduced due to different disasters, but fortunately, Joetsu, where the Uesugi family is located, is generally good, and the river embankment in the Sekigawa area has just been strengthened at the beginning of the year, and the villagers and the victims have spontaneously organized patrols for twelve hours a day, and finally managed to minimize the damage in Joetsu.

Nagao had a good harvest this year, although the fertility effect was not yet optimal because of the organic fertilizer that had just been used. Establish land fertility by means of territorial land inspection. In turn, more standardized planting techniques and nutritional supplementation combined with fertilizers are adopted. At the same time, because the embankment in Joetsu is the most intact and the least affected by the flooding, it is expected that there will be a good harvest after the statistics are released.

The total number of Chuetsu and Shimoetsu is less than 20,000 kokzhiling, because the effect of the flood has weakened the effect of increasing production, but it is expected to increase production by between one and two percent, and the grain production statistics of Joetsu Xintian and Shin Grain Experimental Area have not yet been released, but the new farming and fertilizer popularization and promotion that Echigo has piloted alone have brought income to many territories, in the words of Minoru Honjo. This is truly a remarkable achievement.

Although the breakthrough in fertilizer has only been accepted by some people, the overall trend is to develop in a good direction, and it is expected that in the coming years, 350,000 people in Echigo will be able to get rid of hunger, and it will not be too far off for Echigo's people to live a good life.

The grain production statistics have not yet come out, and the large-scale increase in grain production has given the Nagao family great confidence, and at the same time, it has also changed the attitude of many people towards the Kira family, and more than seventy percent of the people in Echigo have changed from the original neutral attitude to friendliness, who does not want to make their lives more comfortable, with the advanced agricultural technology brought by the Kira family. They will ask for barren hats.

Kira Yoshitoki didn't think it was a big deal, but he saw a bunch of ragged peasants sitting on the shore of the Uono River supporting each other and resting. Looking at the cloudy eyes of the old people flashing with the desire to survive, and the dirty little faces of the children with their unique innocence and hope for the future, he seemed to understand what people yearn for in this chaotic era.

"Peace, tranquility, and an end to troubled times?" On the way back, he never forgot the happiness on the faces of those children when they held the soup cakes, the sincere emotions when the family of five knelt down in gratitude when they received the food given by the Kira family, and the appearance of the wooden middle-aged man who was both frightened and excited when he learned his identity echoed in his mind.

Dressed as a samurai of Hime, the tiger girl danced in the courtyard, and it can be seen from her skillful movements that her spear skills have improved greatly in the past six months, although her master Kakizaki Keike is far away in Shinano and cannot guide her in her practice, but with her excellent understanding and talent, she can still improve her marksmanship to this level by self-study, and it is only slightly worse than when she first arrived in Kira Yoshi, Echigo half a year ago.

Half an hour later, Toro Ji came out of the bathroom, her long hair was pulled up high, and when she saw Kira Yoshitoki sitting under the porch frowning and pondering, she asked, "What's wrong with Your Highness?" Is there something on your mind? ”

"Well, I'm thinking about what it means to be alive."

"What is the meaning of being alive? How did you come up with this? Tiger Ji sat beside him, arranging her hair and thinking: "There is hope in life, as long as you survive, there will be an endless future, and if there is a future, there will be hope, this is probably the meaning of life." ”

"Hope...... Is it? Kira Yoshitoki woke up and said: "Yes, many people can't figure out the meaning of life in their lives, but this does not affect their vision of a better future, this is the power of hope, just like the family of five, although they are poor and uprooted from their homeland, they have never given up hope, this is the original intention of survival." ”

Because there will be expectations in life, the future is full of uncertainty, and human beings have been struggling to survive in the face of wild adversity since ancient times, and the belief in survival has been passed on from generation to generation, as long as they live one day they will realize their dreams, and there are endless possibilities in the future, and these possibilities will have the opportunity to realize their dreams.

"It's time to go back."

"Hmmm! Tiger Ji also misses her mother and brother. ”

On September 12th, after the traditional festival of Chongyang Ascension, more than 2,200 people from the Kira family set off to return to Kasuga Mountain Castle, and this imperial palace will be managed by the Nagao family, as expected, the Ueda Nagao family in Sakado Castle did not have any abnormal reaction from beginning to end, not only did there be no abnormal reaction, Princess Aya, who lived in Sakado Castle, also met with Toraki on the Uono River.

Princess Aya is a dignified and elegant lady, about twenty-five or six years old, but about one meter five or six tall, it is said that among their brothers and sisters in the Long Tail family, only Long Tail Jinghu is the shortest, even the oldest Long Tail Qingjing is more than one meter six, Long Tail Weijing and Long Tail Jingkang are both in their early seventies, and their mother Tiger Yuzen is said to be a very tall woman.

"Is it Tiger Queen?" Princess Aya, who was wearing a gown, had a headband wrapped around her head and a shawl, covering her long hair, which was the standard attire of a samurai lady when she went out, if it wasn't for this time to see the sister of a mother's sibling, she would also wear a hat to cover her entire cheeks, with a layer of green veil to cover it, and outsiders couldn't see the inside at all.

"Sister-sama!" Tiger Ji pounced on her in three steps and two steps, and saw her relatives again, she had countless grievances and endless words to say, when she was young, her sister used to hold her and play with her, and then her sister married away from home, she was only alone, her childhood life was always gray, it seemed that there would be danger at every moment, and war and chaos were the only memories of her childhood.

"Tiger Ji has grown so big that I can't even recognize it! Come over here and let my sister take a look at you. Princess Aya hugged the tiger queen and looked at it, compared her height, and found that the height of the tiger queen was already as high as the bridge of her nose, and said in surprise: "The tiger queen is so tall, she will definitely surpass the height of the tiger chiyo!" ”

The two sisters chatted endlessly on the boat, Kira Yoshishi and the little boy in gorgeous clothes stared at each other, the little boy's skin was fair and slightly detained, his eyes were big but he looked sick and seemed to have no energy, and he began to cough lightly after standing for a while, and seemed to be very uncomfortable.

The little boy's coughing attracted the attention of the sisters, Princess Aya squatted down and patted the little boy's back to calm him, and Tiger Ji squatted down and asked curiously, "Is this Kunimatsu?" What a smart and handsome child. ”

Princess Aya nodded with a smile and said to the little boy, "Kunimatsu, this is your aunt, call your aunt quickly." ”

"Hello aunt!" Kunimatsu is a very smart child, and when he saw Kira Yoshi, he suddenly shouted, "Hello uncle! ”

"Ahh Kunimatsu is good! Kira Yoshitoki touched the back of his head and smirked, "What a good boy." ”

"Oops! Your Highness! Hu Ji was taken aback, and suddenly her face was dyed red, from the white beauty to the root of her ears, and she sneered: "What are you talking nonsense!" This will bring trouble to the concubine's body! ”

"Hey, hey, hey......" was glanced at by Tiger Ji, and Kira could only laugh a few times and pretend to be stupid. (To be continued......)