Chapter 99 23. Suddenly, He Devoted Himself to His Duty

The matter was done, and Xiao Pingtai could not change the course of history, so he had to cheer up and return home.

Xiao Pingtai rode a horse, and Aji held the rope, holding a grass stem of unknown species from nowhere. He hummed a song in his unique Japanese with a wild accent, which seemed to be some kind of farm music, and Xiao Pingtai sounded a little familiar.

Xiao Pingtai was still thinking about things, so he asked Aji casually: "Aji, let me ask you, if one day your father has saved some money after farming for 20 years and bought a small piece of paddy field by the river from a local farmer. This paddy field is separated from the original piece of land your family has, will you work hard to save money to buy the middle piece of land?"

Aji heard Xiao Pingtai's question, "But my family has no land and no money." Aji turned around and looked at Xiao Pingtai in confusion.

"If, if you understand? Just pretend that your family has, do you understand what I mean?" Xiao Pingtai looked at Aji's silly look and was furious.

Aji tilted his head and thought for a while, "I understand."

"Then think about my question." Xiao Pingtai asked Aji.

"If my family has two plots of land, my father should find a way to connect the land together." Aji thought about it and answered not too sure.

Xiao Pingtai listened, "Well, the ignorant kid who grew up in the valley knows to connect the two separate plots of land together. Ejiri separated Mikawa and Suruga of Imagawa Yoshimoto, which is like a bone stuck in the throat and a thorn in the back for Imagawa Yoshimoto. This knot that cannot be untied will explode sooner or later."

This Yamanouchi Yoshiharu was sure that Imagawa Yoshimoto could not beat Kira Yoshiyao to death before he gave in. In the current situation, he should bear the bitter fruit himself.

Thinking about it all the way, Xiao Pingtai and several followers returned to Yamanouchi safely.

Xiao Pingtai's return did not cause any sensation. Yamanouchi Fuchu Town, which had never seen the southern barbarians, was sensational because of Tatsuzo's arrival.

Every day, the wives took the opportunity to visit Tatsuzo during the tea party, just like visiting a pet, touching and pinching him, and marveling at his chestnut-red hair. It was like a kindergarten kid going to the zoo and reaching out to touch a sika deer, and marveling at it.

"Ah! So pretty!"

"Wow! So cute!"

"Eh! So strange!"

Anyway, visiting Tatsuzo was almost the same as visiting small animals in the zoo.

Yamanouchi Yoshiharu had heard about it in the city, and came to Zixiaoji's house to see the Western scene. He also ordered someone to bring soap to wash Tatsuzo's hair, and found that it was really chestnut red. He even pulled out a hair to see what was different.

However, this craze passed in three or five days. Yamanouchi Yoshiharu and Yamanouchi Yoshikatsu were still more concerned about the iron cannon and the marriage with the Uesugi family.

During the time when Kobayata was away, the craftsmen also made five iron cannon samples, and the important samurai of the Yamanouchi family watched the iron cannon drill in the training ground in the city.

The weather was sunny and windy, which was the best for the use of iron cannons. Several foot soldiers who had been operating iron cannons in the hatamoto were selected to conduct shooting experiments with the old iron cannons owned by Yamanouchi Yoshiharu, the new iron cannons made by the craftsmen, and the samples that Kobayata had just bought.

As expected, for a single iron cannon, the roar when it is fired is terrifying. If you stand next to the iron cannon, you will be scared to death just by hearing the explosion when it is fired.

However, we can only laugh at the accuracy of the iron cannon beyond 100 meters. It is a bit interesting when it reaches 80 meters. At 50 meters, it can hit three or four out of ten. At 30 meters, except for the small problem that the foot shot becomes the leg shot, the leg shot becomes the chest shot, the chest shot becomes the head shot, and the head shot drifts, it can basically hit the target.

Just now was a test of shooting distance and effective killing. Then, they used a scarecrow in armor to test the power of the iron cannon. The cheap and crude domaru and hakamaki of the foot soldiers could make a hole in it, and the various armour of the samurai could not effectively protect it. The killing power was indeed considerable at a distance of thirty to fifty meters. It can almost be said that if you stick to it, you will die, and if you touch it, you will die.

Yamanouchi Yoshiharu and Yamanouchi Yoshikatsu were very satisfied with the actual iron cannon drill on the spot, and asked their craftsmen to combine iron cannon samples from various places and choose a design that can hit more than a hundred meters and can effectively kill at thirty to fifty meters. The key point is that the length of the iron cannon should not be too long, because the soldiers are not tall enough and cannot carry a long and heavy iron cannon on a long march. In addition, if the gun body and barrel are too long, it will be difficult for the foot soldiers to operate, and the firepower density on the battlefield will decrease.

After arranging some matters that he needed to personally undertake as the general magistrate of the iron cannon, Kobayata was finally able to take a break from his busy schedule and rest for a few days.

After two days of waiting at home, Kobayata finally remembered that he had something to do. He had a 500-kan-mon land in Uchida County, Yamanouchi. Uncle Tsunayoshi had already gone to see it for him in advance. There was nothing much to say, just two ordinary villages near the river.

Now that he had the land and the land passed down from generation to generation, Kobayata was now officially responsible for the feudal military obligations of the Middle Ages. He had to provide twelve standing foot soldiers and mobilize a total of 132 troops in wartime.

Kobayata was very hesitant about the twelve standing foot soldiers. Should he help them arm themselves with iron cannon foot soldiers at his own expense or just follow the old ways and get a few bow foot soldiers and long-tie foot soldiers. If he wanted to get iron cannon foot soldiers, the cost would not be small, mainly in line with the trend of the times.

Bow foot soldiers were also an important means of supplementing firepower. Compared with iron cannons, they were more reliable. As far as Kobayata knew, most of the standing foot soldiers provided by Yamanouchi retainers were bow foot soldiers.

Kobayata thought about it, weighed the wallet and the pros and cons, and finally decided to raise iron cannon foot soldiers.

The foot soldiers could not be recruited at the moment, and it was his uncle Tsunayoshi who suggested that he go to Kita-shin to recruit a few refugees with families. Recruiting men to be foot soldiers, and their wives and children are not hostages, but to let them fight in a distant place with peace of mind. Your wife and children will be raised by me, and you don't have to worry.

Kobayata thought about it, it's okay. In the Warring States period, the national strength was a direct reflection of the national strength. One more person in the territory was one less person to farm. Although there were language inconveniences or loyalty issues in getting people from other places to serve as soldiers, it was better than consuming the population of one's own country.

In addition, Yamanouchi Yoshiharu also sent people to inspect the 5,000 kan of Hachioji that nominally belonged to Kobayata, but Uesugi Terutora was not stupid. He would not release the eagle until he saw the rabbit, and he would not completely hand it over to the Yamanouchi family until the marriage was completed.

So now they are just selecting powerful retainers to transfer or become deputy officials to ensure that this land can be completely transformed into the territory of the Yamanouchi clan in the near future.

So Xiao Pingtai found that there are really a lot of things to do. After finally finishing the war, he is still busy day and night.

Happy National Day everyone!