I have lived in the city for a long time, and I don't know the change of seasons. Jingzhen led Tsuruko, Nagasaka Nobumasa, and Mibuchi Tengren out of Kyoto's Mihara Gate, only to see that the green trees and red flowers when they entered the city were gone, replaced by fiery maple leaves and golden ears of wheat, and suddenly realized that summer was going to autumn, and he had left Izumo for more than three months.

The four of them traveled north, planning to cross Omi and Mino and enter Shinano, and then from Shinano to Kai and Echigo.

After deciding on the title of master and slave, Jingzhen also summoned Nagasaka Nobumasa and Mibuchi Tengyuan separately on the eve of his departure, and 1510 informed himself of his actual situation and ambition of "going down". The two became: Nagasaka Nobumasa was not afraid, and he was eager to try; Although Sanyuan Tengyuan was apprehensive at first, he quickly strengthened his confidence to do so, but the unconditional support embodied in Jingzhen's heart was touched.

Therefore, the four of them decided to use the "Ash Blowing Method" and "Nanban Blowing" to exchange a large amount of start-up capital at one time, and by the way, try to gather a few available talents, and finally return to Izumo to achieve great things.

It's easier said than done. The Echigo Nagao clan and the Kai Takeda clan both possessed large gold and silver deposits, and the importance of these two cross-generational technologies was self-evident as it was theoretically feasible to greatly increase their gold and silver output and strengthen their overall national power.

However, the puppet is not guilty and is guilty. In the face of the Warring States daimyo, who is accustomed to relying on the strong to bully the weak and take the plunder, the direct exchange is not as ridiculous as a three-year-old child holding gold to pass the market. As a weak person, Jingzhen can only try to maneuver between the strong of all parties, fully mobilize the contradictions, and form a delicate balance, so as to complete the transaction and protect herself. However, this matter is like a high-altitude tightrope juggling, and the slightest mistake will definitely break the bones, so it is necessary to be cautious and consider the long-term.

Leaving the trading problems behind them, Jingzhen and the three boys and girls enjoyed a happy wild time. All four of them came from extraordinary backgrounds, grew up in the backyard of the boudoir, and left their homeland for the first time to walk far away. The mountains, rivers and waterfalls, flowers and trees, temples and pavilions, and villages and farmlands along the way all made the four of them curious.

In addition to the freshness of traveling, there are naturally and all kinds of problems and accidents along the way. Fortunately, the group of people had extraordinary force, complete armor, abundant pockets and full of resourcefulness, but they also opened roads in the mountains and built bridges near the water, and successfully passed the crises everywhere.

Prosperity makes friends, adversity tries them. Under the danger of the four of them, their relationship also heated up rapidly.

Jingzhen's identity is the eldest, and he is the oldest, wise and brave, and naturally takes care of the three of them everywhere like a brother, so that Nagasaka Nobumasa and Mibuchi Tengren also gradually develop their sense of omnipotent dependence, and slowly change their words to call them brothers.

Nobumasa Nagasaka has strong martial arts and a strong personality. As soon as it comes to martial arts, I get carried away, and I have seen Hunter Xin Xi on the road many times to invite him to fight, if it weren't for the fact that his kung fu is not weak, and he is mediated by Zhen, plus the four people who are unwilling to delve into the obvious background of the four people, they have already died many times. But in addition to martial arts, it can find another way and hit it when a few people are at a loss, which can be regarded as another kind of impatience.

At first glance, Sanyuan Tengyuan is not as good as Jingzhen and Wu but believes in politics, but there are also personal commendables. Or family inheritance (note 1), or family history, Teng Yuan is not only proficient in the Gao family culture, with tea ceremony, songs, and Chinese poetry attainments, he has impressed many monks and priests who practice in temples on the way, and has exchanged a lot of opportunities for the four of them to stay in the hotel, and has an inexplicable affinity, and can often talk happily and harmoniously with all kinds of people who meet for the first time.

As for the crane, it is even more funny, next year's youngest but since childhood's personality jumps out of the spicy, not like a traditional woman at all, and is not shy to be ridiculed as a sister-in-law by Xinzheng and Teng Yuan, and it is really a way to greet the three of them to eat and weave, so that Xinzheng and Teng Yuan gradually change their appearance and respect them.

However, there is more to the world than meets the eye. As the teenagers left the affluent Kinai and entered the country of Mino, their hearts gradually became heavier. Mino has about 540,000 stones, and more than two-thirds of the total territory is a vast fertile soil moistened by the irrigation of the Kiso River, and it is rich in paper, pottery, crystal, lime and many other special products, and is one of the most powerful countries in the world with both agricultural and commercial growth. In the imagination of the four of them, this place should be densely populated and prosperous, even if it is not as prosperous as Kyoto, and the only sights of the vegetable farmers, the skinny hungry dogs, and the caravan with thin horses during the few days of the trip are hard to describe.

The laughter gradually subsided, and finally it was Sanyuan Teng who asked,

"Brother, we have never left Kyoto, and we are ignorant of the world. Only if you have traveled far and wide, can you know that the world is like this? ”

Jingzhen smiled bitterly and shook her head, "This is also my first time traveling far away, and I have only set foot in Izumo and Wakasa more than you before. ”

"However, as far as I can see, this scene of Mino is already less than the above, and it is much more than the bottom."

"You only saw that the people here were hungry, but they didn't notice that the fields along the way had not been abandoned, the villages were still green and strong, and there were still business trips, which showed that the people in the country could still hold on and not leave their homes."

"Look at what I've seen in the country of Wakasa. In the middle of summer, the fields are full of weeds and no grass seedlings, the villages are either empty or only the elderly, and the young and strong people in the country are either forcibly requisitioned and killed in the fighting, or flee to neighboring countries, or fall into the grass. The whole country is like a hell on earth, and usually pedestrians and business travelers are all detoured from afar. ”

Looking at the surprised expressions of several people, Jing Zhen continued,

What is even more regrettable is that since the Onin Rebellion, several generations of generals have lost their power and majesty, and the capital of Kyoto has fallen and broken down many times. Looking at the world, there are many cases like Mino and Wakasa. ”

"Are the countries guarding and guarding the generations indifferent to it? As the leader of a country's samurai and bearing the name of guardianship, shouldn't he take it for granted that he should protect one side? Nagasaka Nobumasa couldn't help but interject and asked.

Jingzhen was embarrassed and politely "hehe" twice,

"His Royal Highness the General is still the pillar of the world's martial arts, it has still been abolished several times, and now it is just a clay puppet that lives in a temple and cannot be more than a hundred miles, and how good can the protection of all parties under it be?"

"There are sixty-six countries in the world, and you can try to calculate them, such as Fengzen, Zhoufang, Kai, Suruga, Sagami, etc., and the guardians can still maintain their real power, but they also have to use military force to maintain their status; In the middle such as the main family, Echigo, Mino and other places, the guardian is either expelled or furnished, and the real power has fallen into the hands of the guardian, who is not justified and can only rely on force to rule; As for the following, such as Wakasa, Yasaki, Shinano, and Iriki, they have been divided by local wealthy families, it can be said that you sing and I will appear, and the people are even more like grass and mustard dogs, and life and death are all out of their minds! ”

"Haha, you little noble man, you still have some pity on us, it's really rare!"

Just when the four of them were worried about the country and couldn't help themselves, a rough voice came from above. A big man then jumped down from under a tree above his head to stand still, causing the four to be shocked.

After Jing Zhen, who had already encountered several cuts, stood in a triangle and protected the crane in the middle, twenty or thirty wild men in tattered clothes and armed with harpoons and hoes also stood up from the grass and surrounded the four of them.

Note 1: Mibuchi Teng is set as the second son of Mibuchi Haruto, and his father, brother, and younger brother are all famous cultural people and vertical families during the Warring States Period.

Father Mibuchi Haru has been introduced in the previous chapter (Chapter 14), so I will not repeat it.

Brother Mibuchi Tengying is also very famous in history, as the shogunate to the public, Mibuchi Tengying at first served the "sword general" Ashikaga Yoshiaki, and after Ashikaga Yoshiaki died, he asked Oda Nobunaga for help and supported Ashikaga Yoshiaki. After Ashikaga Yoshiaki and Oda Nobunaga were opposed, Mibuchi Tengei continued to be loyal to Ashikaga Yoshiaki and was the main player in planning and instigating Nobunaga's siege network. After the defeat of Ashikaga Yoshiaki, Mibuchi Tengei was ordered by Oda Nobunaga to cut himself the following year.

Brother Hosokawa Fujitaka also mentioned earlier, the famous military generals and cultural people of the Warring States period, there are also a number of two or five boys, in the benefactor Ashikaga Yoshiaki and Oda Nobunaga confrontation, in-laws Akechi Mitsuhide and Yushiba Hideyoshi confrontation, the old lord Toyotomi and Tokugawa Ieyasu confrontation, many times changed positions and bet successfully, preserved and strengthened the family business, it is said that when the Eastern and Western armies were fighting, Hosokawa Fujitaka in the Eastern Army was also secretly colluded with many generals of the Western Army, and only with 500 defenders in the Tabeki City area resisted the 15,000 siege army for nearly 100 days, He contributed to the final victory of the Eastern Army.

Therefore, the family will mediate and form gangs, which may really be genetic. However, speaking of which, although the monks and cultural people at that time did not hold real power like military generals, they were still very courteous when they walked around the forces, and they were able to speak well, so they were indeed good material for diplomacy.