The continuous autumn rain has been falling for half a month, which makes the atmosphere in Odawara City a little bleak, and encountering such continuous rain is undoubtedly a bad news for a situation like the Warring States Period that is still relying on the sky to eat. At this time, in the castle tower assessment room of Odawara Castle, the retainers of the Hojo family and the Hojo clan were frowning.

"My lord, according to the situation reported by the heads of the villages, if the rain does not stop, I am afraid that this year's harvest will all be lost." A retainer who appeared to be in charge of internal affairs was holding the file in his hand and explaining the situation to the Hojo clan: "The continuous rain has already reduced this year's grain production, and if it continues like this, I am afraid that even the autumn harvest will be delayed, and even if we go to harvest in the rain, there is no way to store the recovered grain if it cannot be dried in the sun." If this continues, even if our Hojo family adopts the agricultural tax of four princes and six people, there will be a famine in the territory. ”

"If there is a famine, the territory will be unstable, and those bald donkeys of the Sect will definitely not let go of the opportunity to engage in the first place!" When the other retainer heard that there might be a famine, the expression on his face suddenly became worried, obviously he really didn't have a good impression of the bald donkeys of the sect who were actually committing adultery in the name of the Buddha.

Hearing the speeches of the two retainers, the Hojo clan frowned, but there was no joy or anger on his face, he rubbed the beard on his chin and asked the Hojo Phantom on the side: "Phantom An, how long is there enough food in Odawara Castle?" "As the lord of the Hojo clan, although he was worried about the famine in the domain and had always been one, he was more concerned about how long the grain storage in Odawara Castle could last.

After a few whispered conversations with the storehouse in charge of material reserves on the same side, Hojo Phantom Nunnery replied to the Hojo clan: "My lord, the food in the city is still enough to support three months, and because I had to prepare for the battle with the Uesugi family, there was a batch of grain in the castle reserves in various parts of the territory, which should be enough to support one to two months. It's just that if there is no grain to be harvested during the autumn harvest, this grain alone ......"

Hojo Han'an didn't finish his words, but everyone in the assessment room understood what he meant, and without the autumn grain as a supplement, these reserves alone would not be able to support the next grain harvest. Thinking of this, the Hojo clan looked a little helpless, and said to Hojo Phantom An: "Phantom An, how much money can the family use now, and if you buy grain, can you guarantee that it will support the next grain harvest?" ”

"In normal times, it can indeed support the next grain harvest by purchasing grain." Faced with the question of the Hojo clan, the expression on Hojo Phantom's face became very tangled, and his brows were furrowed into a pimple: "But recently, the autumn rain has continued, and the roads in the collar have become slippery and muddy, coupled with the influence of wind and waves at sea, so far, the business travel in the collar has been reduced by three percent this month than usual." Grain prices are soaring, and if there is no way to guarantee the autumn harvest, even if you buy grain, it will be difficult to ensure that the grain in the collar will support the next grain harvest. ”

Hojo Tsunade suddenly said in disbelief: "Is the matter already so serious?" Although there has been an estimate of the severity of the situation, such a large-scale reduction in business travel is really beyond Hojo Tsuna's estimate: "Even if the road is difficult to travel on a rainy day, how can the business travel be reduced by 30% so much, isn't there still a sea route?" ”

Hojo Phantom smiled bitterly and explained to the Hojo clan: "My lord, in fact, it is the merchant travelers from the sea that have decreased. Although the business travel by land has been affected, in fact, it is only the delay of the journey and the wetting of some goods, in fact, the impact is not serious, and it is within the normal range. It's just that for some reason, the number of merchant ships arriving in Hong Kong in the past half a month has decreased by more than forty percent compared with usual, so that no one dares to take this sea trade route to Odawara Castle. ”

"How so! Could it be that there are pirates plundering this trade route, and why is there a decrease of more than 40% of merchant ships? The Hojo clan was furious, apparently so angry and worried about the decline of merchant ships that he lost his temper with his younger brother Hojo Han-an.

"The Lord is angry, in fact, the decline in merchant ships has nothing to do with pirates." He smiled bitterly and explained to the Hojo clan: "In fact, the reduction of merchant ships is also related to this heavy rain, and it is actually okay on land, just continuous rain, but the sea is already high and turbulent, and it is difficult for ordinary merchant ships to reach Odawara Castle through the barrier of wind and waves in the face of this kind of weather." In particular, I heard rumors ......"

Hojo Phantom Nunnery was a little eager to speak, and seemed to be a little unable to hold whether he should take such an occasion when he heard the rumors, after all, what he heard was only unconfirmed rumors in the market. If it's just the nonsense of the countrymen, and I take it seriously, it will undoubtedly add to the laughing stock of the Hojo family. However, Hojo Phantom An's hesitation summoned the dissatisfaction of the Hojo clan again: "Phantom An, if you have anything to say, just say it, what do you want!" ”

"Yes, my lord." Seeing that the Hojo clan said this, Hojo Phantom Nunnery no longer hesitated, so he could only sort out the rumors he heard and say it: "I heard the sailors on the merchant ships who arrived in Hong Kong say that in addition to the wind and waves outside Sagami Bay, some merchant ships also saw youkai in the wind and waves, and many merchant ships were overturned by this monster. And those who capsized merchant ships had surviving sailors, who said they had encountered a yellow dragon. ”

"Huanglong? Monster? Hojo Tsuna's face also changed, for youkai, in this era, it is still a topic of secrecy. Hearing Hojo Phantom's words, the atmosphere in the entire assessment room also seemed a little silent, and finally after the Hojo clan hesitated for a moment, he decided to deal with the matter in front of him first: "Phantom An, you arrange it as soon as possible, first find a way to stabilize the hearts of the people in the territory, and tell the village heads of each village that the Hojo family will not care about everyone's life or death, and if the grain harvest fails, the field rent tax can be appropriately reduced, at least everyone will be guaranteed to have a bite to eat." It also prepares them for floods and waterlogging, and is sure to avoid flooding. ”

Reducing taxes to stabilize the people's minds in the year of famine is something that any normal lord would do, and only those lords who are extremely poor and extravagant will not care about the life or death of the people in the year of disaster. Hojo Phantom was not surprised by the Hojo clan's arrangement, but he still looked at the Hojo clan, waiting for his order, he knew that his brother would definitely not have only this one order.

"In addition, you take out a sum of money from the treasury of Odawara Castle and find a way to buy a batch of grain, and you must ensure that Odawara Castle can have enough grain storage." Speaking of this, the Hojo clan also felt that he might be a little difficult to be a strong man, so after changing his tone, he said to Hojo Phantom An: "Forget it, you can still buy as much as you can, even if you don't buy enough food, I won't blame you." ”

"Brother, don't worry, I will do my best to buy food." Hojo Phantom Nunnery did not call the lord of the Hojo clan at this time, but changed to a closer title to show his heart. The expression on Hojo's face was also a little relieved, at least at this time, his younger brother was still reliable. The Hojo clan quickly restrained his emotions again, as a lord, he should show majesty in front of his subordinates at all times, he adjusted his emotions and continued to say to Hojo Han, "Regarding the merchant ships coming from the sea, you can send a reliable commissioner to count them, and reduce some business taxes according to their losses, and keep these merchants anyway. Otherwise, even if we survive this year of calamity, no merchants will want to come to Odawara Castle, and our Hojo family will decline. ”

"Yes, my lord. But I think this matter can be handed over to the young master to do, the young master is now in charge, he is also very talented in receiving people and things, and being in charge of this matter is also a kind of exercise for him. At the same time, as the young master of our Hojo family, being personally responsible for this matter will also make those businessmen feel valued, and the effect will be better. After thinking about it for a while, Hojo Phantom made his own suggestion to Hojo Clan, wanting to give Hojo Clan Yasu a chance to exercise, so that he would not stay in the castle tower all day and become more infatuated with the Chiba lady.

The Hojo clan apparently thought of the same thing, and the Hojo clan was undoubtedly extremely dissatisfied with his son's obsession with the rescued Mrs. Chiba these days. If it weren't for the fact that Nana Hashimoto didn't seem to have a simple background, and Hojo Shiyasu had always maintained her, Hojo Shitsuna would have taken action a long time ago. At this time, Hojo Phantom Ann proposed to let Hojo Clan Kang be in charge of some things to distract him, which undoubtedly hit the heart of Hojo Clan's Tsuna, so he happily agreed with Hojo Phantom An's opinion.

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Dressed in a robe, Hojo returned to Odawara Castle a little tired, and after untying the robe and handing it to the attendants, he took the dry towel from the maid and wiped the rain off his body.

"This damn weather, if it continues like this, Odawara Castle will be soaked in water." Hojo looked at the continuous rain lines flowing down the eaves, and his face was full of sorrow. He has also heard about the problems caused by the continuous rainfall recently, although the Hojo clan did not arrange for him to be in charge of too many specific affairs, but as the young head of the Hojo family, the Hojo clan still has some understanding of the plight in his own territory.

Just when Hojo Shiyasu was complaining, an attendant suddenly ran over and whispered something to Hojo Shiyasu, Hojo Shiyasu's face suddenly changed, looking very strange, but he quickly looked at the attendant and asked, "Where is that person now?" Has she ever met Lady Chiba? ”

"Not yet, I'll put it in a reception room." The attendant lowered his head and reported to the Hojo clan, he also saw his young master's thoughts about that Mrs. Chiba, so he whispered: "If the young master doesn't want her to see Mrs. Chiba, I can arrange for someone to dispose of her, this matter is guaranteed to be unaware, and Mrs. Chiba will ...... when the time comes."

"Shut up!" Hojo Yasu looked at the attendant with anger on his face, and rebuked him: "How dare you have such a thought, when did the samurai of my Hojo family become so unbearable!" Although Hojo Shiyasu may not have a longing for Nanami Hashimoto in his heart, but let him really do this kind of thing, Hojo Shiyasu will not really do it.

Seeing Hojo's reprimand, the attendant hurriedly lowered his head and knelt on the ground, not daring to say anything more.

Looking at the attendant kneeling on the ground, Hojo Shiyasu finally calmed down his anger, and after a while of silence, he asked the attendant: "You go and tell the person who came first, just say that Mrs. Chiba is pregnant now, and it is not convenient to meet guests, let her stay for a while, and wait for us to send someone to inform Mrs. Chiba before arranging for her to meet Mrs. Chiba, understand?" ”

"The villain understands, please rest assured, young master." Seeing that Hojo Shiyasu did not punish him, the attendant hurriedly kowtowed on the ground and carefully wrote down Hojo Shiyasu's order.

Looking at the attendant who led the order, the expression on Hojo's face changed for a while, but in the end, he still sighed, as if he had unloaded some burden, and walked towards the room where Nanami Hashimoto was.

Standing at the door of the room where Nanami Hashimoto was, in addition to Xiao Ju, the maid who was arranged by Hojo Shiyasu to serve Nanami Hashimoto before, there was also a young attendant who was guarding here with a sword. This attendant was arranged by Hojo Phantom An, on the one hand, some small chrysanthemums are inconvenient to do heavy work and can be arranged to do this attendant, and on the other hand, it is also a kind of surveillance of Nanami Hashimoto.

Hojo Shiyasu looked at the attendant, although he was a little dissatisfied with his uncle's arrangement, but he also understood that if his uncle didn't arrange someone to monitor, his father would also arrange someone to come and monitor, and for someone like Nanami Hashimoto, surveillance was also appropriate. After Koju saluted the attendant, the Hojo clan nodded at Koju and motioned for her to open the door.

Walking into the room where Nanami Hashimoto was, Hojo Shiyasu looked at Nanami Hashimoto who was leaning on the cushion and reading the book at this time, a trace of tenderness flashed in his eyes, but soon he covered up his eyes before Nana Hashimoto found out, looked at Nanami Hashimoto who raised his head and greeted: "Mrs. Chiba." ”

"It turned out to be Mr. Shi Kang, please sit down, the little girl is inconvenient, so she won't stand up to greet Mr." Nana Hashimoto has long been aware of the very good idea that Hojo Shiyasu thinks he is hiding, as a girl idol, she has already seen too many eyes like Hojo Shikang at the handshake party, but she doesn't care too much about it, after all, she is still sending people under the fence, as long as Hojo Shikang does not do anything rude, there is no need for her to be angry about this kind of thing.