As an important minister inside and outside the Takeda clan, Itagaki Nobukata could be said to have a lot of affairs, but after hearing the news of the improvement of the mining method from the imperial merchants, he still put aside the matter at hand and hurried home to meet with Jingzhen.

He was just over forty, with thick black eyebrows, piercing eyes, and towering cheeks, when he was in the prime of life, not only active in the various battlefields of the Takeda clan in the name of a brave general, but also proficient in arithmetic, agriculture, mining and other technologies, and deeply assisted the Takeda clan leader Takeda Shintora in internal affairs. Therefore, although he did not wear armor today, the posture of the dragon and the tiger when he turned to the lobby made a burst of golden iron horse qi rush to his face.

After glancing at Jing Zhen, Itagaki Nobukata slowly spoke:

"At the Shimotagaki Suruga Trustworthy Party, I was overjoyed to hear that Your Excellency had improved the mining method, so I rushed here for a while. Where did you come from? ”

Jing Zhen gave a deep salute and said, "I've seen Suruga Mamoru Lord." In Shimo-Niko Jingzhen, he is a side branch of the Sasaki Kyogoku clan, and is now entrusted by His Royal Highness Kyogoku Nakaku Shosuke (Kyogoku Takayoshi) to manage the caravan at home. Some time ago, I accidentally obtained a mining technique, which can increase the output of the mine by three or four percent. At this point, I heard that your family has a lot of minerals, and I admired the wisdom and martial arts of Dr. Sakyo (Takeda Shintora), and I had a special intention to offer this technique. ”

Itagaki Nobukata originally just came for a while with the attitude of believing it or not, and he was ready to return disappointed. In his imagination, it is already a great result to be able to increase the output by half of the output, and the three or four percent mentioned by Jing Zhen is no longer a surprise, it is simply a fright, which is equivalent to the Takeda clan will increase the height of sixty or seventy thousand stones out of thin air. (Note 1). However, he was about to get up to inquire about the matter, and one of the entourages had already gone out to bow first, and the halberd pointed to Jing Zhendao:

"His Royal Highness Suruga Shou Mingjian, please quickly take down this nonsense-ridden liar!"

Ignoring the man's shouting, Jingzhen continued to face Itagaki Nobukata, waiting for him to open his mouth to make a decision.

"That's enough, Uemon!"

Itagaki Nobukata stopped the man's follow-up questioning, and said politely to Jingzhen:

"There are actually as many as three or four percent, and His Royal Highness Jingzhen is admirable, and he is convinced of it. It's just that His Royal Highness Husuke, who is in charge of his family's gold diggers, has always been quite proud, and he actually questioned and provoked just now, which is really quite rude. ”

"Uemon, don't apologize to His Royal Highness Jingzhen yet!"

The questioning man was about forty years old, dark-skinned, short, rude and cunning. At the moment, he only looked at the void with a blank face, as if he had not heard the instructions of Itagaki Shinfang asking him to apologize.

Seeing Itagaki Nobukata's sincere attitude, Jingzhen just sneered in her heart. From the name of Itagaki Nobukata, it can be seen that the person who questioned it was named Ichijoemon Daifu Torasuke, who was probably from the Kai Ichijo clan, a branch of the Takeda clan (Note 2). Given that he was born in the Takeda clan and was in charge of an important team, most of his status in the Takeda clan was not low, and at the same time, he came together with Itagaki Nobukata and had a casual attitude, so it can be seen that his personal relationship with him must be good. This praise and disapproval, praise and rebuke must be a double reed that the two discussed in advance, aiming to determine the truth or falsehood of what Jingzhen said.

Sure enough, seeing a tiger suke, he didn't buy it, and Itagaki Nobukata didn't put pressure on his family status, but instead smiled awkwardly at Jingzhen:

"His Royal Highness Ichihusuke has relied on himself to be in charge of gold mining for many years and is well versed in the art of mining, and he has always been empty at home. Because he can't understand the art of mining, he often can't really convince him, and I hope that His Royal Highness Jingzhen can show his hand a little and kill the arrogance of this rammed goods! ”

That tiger also added fuel to the fire, and took the opportunity to squeeze and said:

"His Royal Highness Suruga Shou should not be deceived, he has been in charge of the gold diggers for nearly ten years, and he does not dare to boast of his mastery of mining and metallurgy, but it can also be called a slight success. The firewood gold and placer gold we mine (Note 3), the gold content of which has its own fixed amount, even if there is a loss during smelting, it is never as much as three or four percent. Therefore, if this kid can reduce the loss by one and a half percent, we can also promise the sentence 'There are people outside the people, and there are mountains outside the mountains', but it is not reasonable to say that the output will be increased by three or four percent, what else can it be if it is not a liar! ”

"If this kid can really practice what he says, he will take off the head of the man and give it to him as a drowning weapon!"

Although she had expected the investigation and trust harvesting link, Jingzhen still didn't expect that mining would be so important to the Takeda clan, so that the two important ministers in the family could not hesitate to perform hard, which made him laugh. But in order to show nature, Jingzhen still deliberately made a look of humiliation and shame, and made a gesture of getting up and parting:

"In the lower distance of thousands of mountains, sincere dedication, just for the family to be able to form a good relationship with the Kai Takeda clan, but unexpectedly was suspicious, shameful to the lintel. Now, there is no shame here, and I hope that Lord Suruga will allow him to retire! ”

"Hey, His Royal Highness Jingzhen stays! I am convinced of the secret techniques spoken by His Royal Highness Jingzhen, so how can I talk about suspicion? ”

"His Royal Highness Mamoru Suruga is the elder of the Takeda clan, and he assists Dr. Sakyo in commanding the civil and military affairs, harmonizing the inside and outside, and represents the authority of the Takeda clan and exercises the will of Dr. Sakyo in every word and deed. Now His Majesty despises and humiliates guests from afar, but His Royal Highness Suruga Mamoru can't stop it, is this the hospitality of the Takeda clan or the way of Doctor Sakyo? ”

"How dare the kid be so presumptuous!"

"Youemon, you stop me, and immediately apologize to His Royal Highness Jingzhen!"

Two roars came one after the other, different from the previous time, at this time Itagaki Nobukata was obviously angry, stared at a tiger suke, and forced him to reluctantly salute and apologize:

"You shouldn't be disrespectful, questioning and offending His Royal Highness Jingzhen, and I ask you to forgive me. But the secret technique that His Highness said is still hard to believe. ”

Jing Zhen was also deliberately angry, so as to invite you into the urn and want to capture the old indulgence, when she saw a tiger to help me obey the soft, she immediately got off the donkey down the slope, stopped, and eased her attitude and said:

"Well, His Highness doesn't have to be like that. After all, it was unbelievable that the family had this operation for the first time, and it took many trials to put their minds at ease, so it was natural for His Royal Highness Mamoru Suruga and His Highness Ichijo to have concerns. ”

"It's just that as a famous martial artist, he was questioned and humiliated in the end, and he could only sacrifice his life to wash away his innocence. If you can prove that the secret art is worthy of the name, I wonder what His Royal Highness Suruga Mamoru should do? There is no need to mention the joke that His Highness picks his own head, and there is no need for such a big night pot below! ”

Itagaki Nobukata saw that Jingzhen was serious, and he also said word by word with a correct attitude:

"Three to four percent don't need to be mentioned, two percent! As long as His Royal Highness Jingzhen can effectively increase the output of the mine by 20%, the general will personally apologize and give a thousand gold as a reward; If it does not reach two percent, His Royal Highness Jingzhen will naturally be able to escape the death penalty, and it will be difficult to escape the living crime. ”

"If it's only 20%, isn't it that I didn't tell the truth before, so I will limit it to 30%, and if it doesn't reach 30%, I will be disposed of! In addition, after the Shimomo Niko clan is the dignified Sasaki Kyogoku clan, the "four positions" are famous, far from being humiliated by a daughter, and you have to add money! “

"Good! If there are really thirty percent, His Royal Highness Jingzhen will become the most honored guest of our Kai Takeda clan! I will personally receive the lord of the Pavilion (referring to Takeda Shintora, because he is the retainers of the Etsugasaki Pavilion, so the ministers of the family also call him the hall master) in person, and I will not hesitate to reward and fully meet the needs of His Royal Highness Jingzhen!

"It's a deal!"

Note 1: Assuming that Takeda Quanling produces 200 kilograms of gold per year (equivalent to half of the production of the Sado gold mine during the Edo shogunate), 13,333 pieces of the famous "Koshu Gold" (15g/piece) can be minted, and according to the conversion of 1 piece of "Koshu Gold" = 10 taels of silver = 10 pieces of copper coins = 15 koku rice, then the gold mine income of the Takeda clan is about 200,000 kokugao. This value must be obviously on the large side, but the novel is artistic processing after all, please understand.

Note 2: The Kai Ichijo clan, the Itagaki clan and the Takeda clan are of the same lineage, and the common ancestor Takeda Nobuyoshi (who is also the founder of the Kai Takeda clan) and Minamoto Yoritomo and Kiso Yoshinaka are known as the three pillars of the Eastern Kingdom Genji. His three sons were named Ichijo Tadadayi (named after Ichijo-go, Yamanashi-gun), Kanesin Itagaki (named after Itagaki-go, Yamanashi-gun), and Ishiwa Nobumitsu (named after Ishiwa-sang, Yatsushiro-gun, later renamed Takeda Nobumitsu), and founded the Kai Ichijo clan, the Itagaki clan, and inherited the Kai Takeda clan, respectively.

Ichijo Toranosuke belongs to the overhead character, and according to the historical fact that Takeda Harunobu later arranged for his son Ichijo Noboru to inherit the Kai Ichijo clan, he was set as the adoptive father of Ichijo Shinryu.

Note 3: The so-called gold mine is the gold element wrapped in the rock. When the surrounding rock weathers, the gold is exposed and discovered. Due to the transport and enrichment of weathered rocks by water currents, there are often a large number of completely exposed gold sand (also known as placer gold) in the rivers around the gold mine, or gold nuggets that are exposed and semi-wrapped by rocks (also known as chaijin). Therefore, during the Warring States period, Japan found gold by finding placer gold or chai gold in a river and then swimming up the river to find gold mines. Therefore, the illustration of the event of the exploration and discovery of gold in "Nobunaga's Ambition" is a man picking up gold sand from the river.