After the farce with the Harada family is over, Masarashi is preparing for the upcoming Ouchi family's strategy of the Niko family, while burying his head in the government affairs of the territory.

After more than two months of reconstruction, the new castle of Kishigaku Castle has been renovated, and Masara has also moved in with all his family members and the people of the lord's mansion. Like the design of Notakayama, Kishidake Castle was also designed as an inner and outer maru.

Uchimaru was the main residence of the governor and was surrounded by a four-meter-high wall. It is divided into two sections. When you enter the mansion through a gate-like gate guarded by Ashigaru, the first thing you see is a large garden with a variety of flowers and weeds in the center. On the right side of the garden are dozens of brick houses built along the perimeter wall. These houses were some of the storehouses of the lord's mansion and the dwellings of the people. On the left side of the garden, there is a corridor of wooden pillars. This corridor leads all the way to the second gate of the lord's residence.

This gate is also guarded. Normally, the gatekeepers here are none other than the Xiao surname of Masahiro or the apprentices of the Luo Dojo.

After passing through the second gate, you will enter the second courtyard.

The area of the second yard is much larger than the area of the first yard in front. In the very middle of the courtyard is a small lake, and in the pond is a large pavilion with wooden pillars. Two small pavilions made of burnt bricks lead to the middle of the lake. The lake is surrounded by guardrails and passages made of burnt bricks. A natural mountain spring is embedded in the rocks at one end of the small lake, and there is also a pavilion built next to a large tree.

The garden is full of flowers and trees. A variety of brick houses are scattered throughout the garden. A brick and timber corridor connects the rooms.

Masahiro's apartment is a two-story brick and timber building on the highest hillside in the courtyard. Standing on the platform on the second floor, Masara could see the entire situation near the foot of Kishigaku Castle.

Nimaru is still under reconstruction, and according to the design, to the right of Nimaru is dozens of large warehouses for stockpiling various supplies, as well as some barracks for soldiers defending the city. On the left are the offices of the government office and the council hall. The castle wall of Nimaru is mainly made of stones, supplemented by burned bricks, and is seven meters high and three meters wide. It is mainly used to place artillery and facilitate the shooting of iron cannons and bows and arrows. The gates are five meters high and four meters wide, and are made of copper and iron.

Underground waterways were laid throughout the city and covered with burnt bricks and cement. Some of the usual domestic wastewater flows directly into the fields through these waterways. This structure was also commonly used in the houses of the retainers outside the city. In addition to this, there are some small ditches that are used to drain rainwater. At the same time, most of the buildings are made of burnt bricks and cement, which makes the whole city look neat and beautiful.

It can be said that in order to rebuild this residential city. Almost all the craftsmen in the realm were dispatched.

On this day, Masato was having fun in the garden with his wives and concubines. Xiao Tang Wanmaru will be full moon in the blink of an eye. But I still like to sleep so much. Every time Masa-ra plans to have a parent-child activity, this little guy is sleeping out of his hands, so that Masa-liang has no chance to tease his son. According to Ju Ji and others, it is that Lord Fujun and Xiao Tang Wang Maru are very unmatched.

When I was talking to my wives and concubines, there was a sudden commotion from outside. Masara immediately sent people to check what was going on. The small surname Murakami Takeshi soon came back to report. It turned out that during the construction of the altar in the outer city square, the foundation could not be built no matter what, and no matter how many large stones were placed, it collapsed. In order to ensure the smooth progress of the project, the craftsmen are discussing the use of human pillars, and they are preparing to ask the lord of the castle for approval to use them. And the people who got the news gathered around. Some people couldn't bear it, so they made a fuss.

It is said that the use of human pillars is said to have been used in ancient times to bury living people in the ground or under water in order to pray for the success of the construction of castles, bridges, embankments, and other difficult projects.

After learning that he was about to use the cruel method of human pillars, Masara immediately rushed to the construction site.

I saw Masahiro and his party go straight to an altar under construction. At this time, a large number of lords had gathered in front. in the crowd. A man in a strange costume pointed to a young woman dressed in white and tied to a stone pillar.

"Stop!" I saw that the original kind smile on Zhengliang's face was gone, replaced by an angry and hideous one: "What are you doing?" "How could a politician from later generations tolerate such a cruel thing?

"Tell the lord of the city" The craftsman in charge of the project saw that the lord of the castle had come in person, and immediately knelt on the ground and said, "The shrine has been unable to lay the foundation for a long time, and it must be because the gods below are asking for tribute. According to the old rules. A maiden must be offered to the gods, tied to a stone pillar and buried under the foundations of the city in order to receive the permission of the gods. Otherwise, the altar will not be built. The grass people were about to ask the lord of the city to use the human pillar, and the little girl volunteered to be a tribute to the human pillar. ”

When Masarashi heard the man's words, he lifted the hem of his clothes and came to the center of the foundation, only to see that the girl tied to the pillar was no more than fourteen or fifteen years old, with beautiful eyebrows and long hair hanging down to her slender waist.

As the number of onlookers grew, everyone thought that the little girl was dead, because it was a tradition that had been passed down since ancient times: once the foundation of a city or altar could not be built, it was necessary to pay tribute to the gods of the earth.

"What's your name? Child," Masarashi asked the girl who seemed to be very calm.

I saw that the girl smiled at Masahiro: "My name is Sakura." A year ago, our family almost starved to death when we came to Hizen to escape the famine, but if it weren't for your great kindness to let us settle down in Songpu County, and now we have moved here and acquired a lot of land and beautiful houses, our family would have starved to death. The girl said this, and in the crowd of onlookers, a woman who was clearly the girl's mother couldn't help but cry.

Zhengliang's voice was a little choked at this time: "You were used as a sacrifice, don't you hate it in your heart?" ”

The girl named Sakurako replied firmly, "In the past, our family was saved because of your help. I should be grateful. If the sacrifice really worked, what do I have to regret? ”

After hearing this, Zhengliang's eyes dimmed, and the vigorous momentum seemed to disappear all at once.

I saw him take out a note from his arms and ask Murakami Takeyoshi to bring him a brush. Write on it the four big words "million hearts". It was handed over to the craftsmen: "It is a great loss for the country to let the people be the pillars of the people." It is the lord's mission to protect the people, and the precious lives of the people cannot be ignored! Please sacrifice this in place of this woman! Let her go right away! As soon as the words fell, a few cloaked people stepped forward to rescue the little girl.

Seeing the girl being rescued, the people on the scene immediately cheered! They all surrounded Zhengliang and kowtowed to thank him.

"Instead, the words were carved into stone and buried in the land," Masaro continued.

So the craftsman had these words carved on a stone and buried under the stone wall. The size of the stone is roughly six feet long and two feet wide. Written on the stone are the words "One Million One Heart". But if you look closely, the word "hundred" is missing a vertical drawing. It can be read as "one day"; "Wan" is simplified, and it is deliberately separated to write "one force"; The word "heart" is missing. Masarashi deliberately wrote it as "one day, one force, one heart", and since "one" means "same" in Japanese, "one million one heart" can be understood as the same day, one force, and one heart. Everyone is united, and we can do whatever is difficult. That's what the so-called million hearts mean.

Shortly after the incident, another day, Masarashi and several people inspected the construction of the town in the town outside the castle.

"Help! Don't! "That's when it happened. A woman's cry for help came from the back of a small cabin in front. Masato immediately walked over with all the retainers.

I saw a teenage guy leading two of his subordinates to force a folk girl into a corner, and was about to do the beast thing.

"Stop!" Masahiro shouted. Then he motioned to the retainers to take the three men down. and rescued the maiden.

"Humph! Do you know who I am? The young man who was beaten up shouted, "I am the son of Ni's Shuangjiang." ”

Zhengliangcai didn't bother to care who this person was, so he directly sent these people to the prison cell, and asked them to wait for the security of Anyue City to be dealt with according to the laws of the territory. Then he went on his rounds.

Originally, this was the end of the matter.,In the evening.,Kosuke reported an incident to Masa-ra.,Much to the displeasure of Masa-ra.。

It turned out that the father of the boy who was caught in the morning was indeed Nishi Shuangjiang. And this Nishi Shuangjiang is a Noh theater craftsman, and recently became a subordinate of Onishi Kuniji, who likes Noh theater. This guy thinks that the head of his family is an important minister of the Luo family, and he is usually not prestigious. led to his son as well.

"Leave this person to Onishi Kuniji," Masarashi said lightly. Hidden in the plainness is the great anger of Masashi.

Kuniharu Onishi was quick to react. On the second day, he personally interrogated the father and son of Nishi Shuangjiang, and first chased and released Nishi Shuangjiang, and the son of Nishi Shuangjiang was also sentenced to five years of slave servitude. After dealing with the matter of Nishi Shuangjiang father and son, Onishi Kuniji knelt down in sweat outside the gate of the meeting hall where Zhengliang dealt with political affairs.

For the plea of Onishi Kuniji. Masato made him kneel outside for more than an hour before summoning him.

"Nani Shuangjiang goes directly to the west of Songpu County, as a farmer, you can only be a farmer forever. "Let's go to the farm," said Masa-ra, "and let his son learn some principles of life in the process of building roads." ”

"Yes, yes" even though it's December. But Onishi Kuniji was still sweating profusely. Even the clothes were wet.

"You've been too busy lately, so let's do it, it just so happens that there haven't been too many things about material management recently, so I'll leave the matter of material management in the territory to you in the future, and I'll hand over your original position to Kosuke" Masato still punished Onishi Kuniji after the most reluctance. As a minister in charge of monitoring the movements of the territory's army and retainers, such a thing happened in his own family. This is intolerable. Therefore, Masashi decided to put Kosuke in charge of the command of the Black Hawk, responsible for monitoring the retainers and the army in the territory, and carrying out special tasks during wartime. Onishi Kuniji became the management and distribution of materials in the warehouse, and at the same time served as the security of Kishigaku Castle.

Kosuke is a bit insidious and treacherous, and he is only loyal to Masato, and all the rest of the retainers do not sell it, which is just right for the leadership of Black Hawk.

"Yes, yes" Onishi Kuniji's eyes were dead.

"Do it well, it will be useful to you," Masahiro's tone was significantly soothed. For this old minister who has been by his side since he started, Zhengliang still values it very much.

"Yes, Your Highness" felt the hope conveyed by Masayo, and Onishi Kuniji's eyes finally regained some light.

In this way, because of the fact that his subordinates were flying and domineering, Masato changed the responsibilities of Kosuke and Onishi Kuniji, of course, he did not demote Onishi Kuniji's position because of this, and he was still one of the only two generals in the Luo family.

After dealing with this matter, Masato sensed a crisis from Onishi Kuniji, is there such a situation in the families of the rest of the retainers? What about the enforcement of the laws of the realm? In this regard, Zhengliang had doubts. So he appointed Aoyama Nobumoto and the Egawa clan to be the civil and legal officials, and with the token given by Masayo, he was responsible for patrolling around the territory, and was responsible for secretly inspecting the family situation of the retainers in various places and the implementation of the territorial degree. Once an abnormality is found, you can request appropriate assistance from the nearest standing team with the token, and then explain it to Zhengliang, and Zhengliang will make the final judgment.

In this way, Aoyama Nobumoto and the Egawa clan are equivalent to the Chincha and the Imperial History, with the right to monitor the retainers and the wealthy clan, and even have the right to report directly to Masashi. is also the surveillance of retainers and wealthy families, and the responsibilities of the two are different from those of Black Hawk. Black Hawk's concern is whether the retainers and the Hao clan have the intention of rebelling, and the concern of the two of them is whether the retainers' clansmen and the Hao clan have obeyed the territorial laws and acted in accordance with the territorial laws.

When Masato made up for the loopholes in the management of the territory because of this incident, Kizo Shigetada, after obtaining Masayo's consent, publicized the two things that Masayo had dealt with in the territory, and molded Masayo into a great lord who was benevolent and loved the people, righteous and unbiased, and just.

After the people in the Luo family's territory knew these two realities, they had a stronger sense of support for Zhengliang. And those retainers and wealthy families saw the fate of the Great West Kingdom, and they also strengthened the education and restraint of their own families. The security environment in the territory has been greatly improved, and the people of the territory have lived and worked more peacefully.

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