Chapter 88

In the early morning, after spending the night at Chiboku Fort, Masahiro's army set off on their journey home once again.

Yesterday afternoon, Masahiro, accompanied by his general Tsuda Masaharu and the military inspector Rō Shisuke, inspected the Third Standing Ashigaru Unit. Although Tsuda Masaharu was usually a bit unreliable, in the training of the ashigaru, he had fully adopted Masahiro's methods, training the entire Third Unit to be well-organized and disciplined. Of course, for the sake of confidentiality, the place where the ashigaru were trained was strictly protected, and other personnel were strictly prohibited from approaching.

Last night, Masahiro also received the latest news about Nakao Fort, delivered by a fast horse. The 200 koku of rice from the Kusako family had already arrived. Masahiro ordered the rice to be stored at Nakao Fort, mainly to prepare for the upcoming major battle. The fast horse that delivered the message was specifically assigned by Masahiro to Nakao Fort. Currently, the domain had three small ponies: one for Masahiro's exclusive use, one stationed at Nakao Fort, and the last one stationed at Nogata Village. These two ponies were mainly used for transmitting urgent intelligence and were fed by designated personnel. In the future, as the number of horses in the domain increased, Masahiro planned to establish a small cavalry unit and also teach all the scouts how to ride horses, which would greatly speed up the transmission of intelligence.

Last night, a heavy rain fell, and in the morning, the large road in the fields still had puddles that had not yet dispersed. The hooves of the small ponies splashed up a series of water droplets as they stepped into the puddles. Looking at the surrounding land being cultivated, Masahiro occasionally stopped to inspect the fields on-site. Due to the sight of various castle lords gathering their people to welcome the lord yesterday, the domain construction had temporarily stopped. Masahiro immediately arranged for personnel to notify the domain to stop such welcoming ceremonies. At this time, the liberated people gradually came to the fields, some tending to their own fields, and others participating in the domain-organized paid labor, cultivating the land and digging irrigation channels. Seeing Masahiro arrive, they gathered and bowed to the lord. Everyone felt elated, amazed that the high-ranking lord had actually come to the fields.

Thus, walking and stopping, they finally arrived near the former Tashiro Fort by noon. The original Tashiro Fort had been dismantled and replaced by a town several times larger. Hearing the news, Kōsuke hurriedly came to greet Masahiro. Masahiro waved his hand, indicating no need for formalities, and then asked, "How is the road from the mountain to the lord's residence being widened?"

"Your Highness, there are currently 71 slaves responsible for widening the road, and it is expected to be completed by the middle of next month," Kōsuke said. According to Masahiro's arrangements, 25 first-unit standing ashigaru were stationed here, temporarily led by Kōsuke, responsible for guarding the domain slaves who were widening the road.

"71? How did the number of slaves increase so much all of a sudden?" Masahiro clearly remembered that in mid-May, the domain had fewer than 50 slaves.

"This is what I was about to report. Recently, nearby powerful families have been sending spies to infiltrate the domain through small mountain paths at the edge of the domain, attempting to gather information. However, they were quickly discovered and reported by the people. So far, with the cooperation of the people, 26 spies have been captured, sent by the Chōkura, Taku, Myōkō, Sashi, Kusako, and Akasaka families," Kōsuke immediately reported.

"Hisss," Masahiro felt cold sweat on his back, not expecting so many powerful families to be paying attention to him. This was not a good thing.

"The intelligence gathered from the interrogations has been summarized and given to Tadajirō. When Your Highness returns to the residence, Tadajirō will personally report to you. At the same time, the newly discovered mountain paths have been sealed or monitored," Kōsuke continued, "Hehe, those guys have no idea how powerful the people's war initiated by Your Highness is. The domain is now like a ferocious beast, and the spies entering the domain are all reported and captured by the people, and they can no longer leave. It seems that the various families will soon dare not send spies in so easily."

"After completing the road widening on the mountain, continue to be responsible for widening and reinforcing the main military roads in the domain," Masahiro said firmly. Masahiro was pained at the moment. 26 people, each requiring a reward of 5 koku of mixed grains to the people who reported them, which immediately consumed 130 koku of mixed grains. Initiating a people's war had its costs.

"Yes, Your Highness," hearing Masahiro's voice as if gritting his teeth, Kōsuke immediately bowed to accept the order. "Also, Your Highness, we captured a ninja the day before yesterday."

"Hmm?" Masahiro was taken aback. To be honest, Masahiro had never seen a real ninja before. It was said that at this time, ninjas were very powerful, with the most famous being Mochizuki Sandayū, Hattori Hanzō, and Fūma Kotarō. Now, suddenly hearing that a ninja had been captured, Masahiro was immediately very interested.

"It was like this. The ninja was trying to gather information about the fall of the Kogane family, but was recognized by the people. In the end, he was captured under the attack of the ashigaru led by Tsuda and the people," seeing Masahiro's great interest, Kōsuke immediately raised his voice, "But the ninja seemed unwilling to harm ordinary people, although his hidden weapons were very powerful, he was eventually captured without resistance."

"Did you get any information from him?" Masahiro asked. He was becoming more and more interested in this strange ninja, who would not harm the people and was willing to be captured? Truly, there was nothing in the world that was not strange.

"I used all the torture methods Your Highness taught me, but the ninja only revealed that he came from the Yamahebi group and his name is Ichinō," Kōsuke seemed ashamed of not obtaining useful information.

"Hisss," Masahiro shivered. If Masahiro understood correctly, Kōsuke had used some of the "Ten Great Tortures of the Qing Dynasty" that Masahiro had taught him. For someone to reveal so little information under such torture, he was indeed a tough man.

Yamahebi group? Ichinō? Kogane family? Masahiro immediately thought of an important piece of information and immediately ordered, "Bring that ninja here."

"Yes, Your Highness," Kōsuke accepted the order and left.

Soon, a thin young man with a body full of wounds was carried to Masahiro. Looking at the ten bloody and mangled fingers, Masahiro shivered again. Masahiro now suspected that Kōsuke was trying to instill the fear he had felt when Masahiro interrogated him into these slaves. After all, here, finding pleasure in others' pain was Kōsuke's character.

"There's no point in wasting any more effort. I will not reveal any more information," the ninja lying on the ground said with his eyes tightly closed, disdainfully. After being tortured for two days, he still had the strength to speak? Indeed, a small body could hide a strong spirit.

Masahiro looked at the face of the ninja in front of him for nearly a minute and finally said, "Is Ichinō a relative of yours?"

Hearing Masahiro's words, the ninja's eyes suddenly opened, and he looked up at Masahiro, asking, "Who are you? How do you know him? He... where is he now?"

Seeing the ninja's reaction, Masahiro's heart first skipped a beat. Indeed, he had some skills, able to identify directions by sound. This also confirmed his original suspicions. "Hehe, he is now a squad leader of the domain's ashigaru."

"Hmph, don't think you can deceive me. I won't be so easily fooled," although Masahiro's words had momentarily disturbed his mind, the ninja quickly recovered.

"Whether I am deceiving you or not will be known in time. Kōsuke, take good care of him. Also, notify Ichinō and tell him his relative has come," Masahiro waved his hand and ordered, "If you wish to see Ichinō, please do not leave easily." Masahiro was worried that if he released the ninja, he would leave without a word.

"Yes, Your Highness," Kōsuke immediately had the already puzzled ninja carried away.

Hehe, the heavens are helping the Rō family. At this time, a ninja was sent, and looking at the gradually departing ninja, Masahiro felt a sense of satisfaction.

After lunch, after giving detailed instructions to Kōsuke about what to pay attention to, Masahiro set off on his journey home again. Masahiro did not take the secret path from the original Tashiro Fort to the Nogata Village lord's residence, as it was being widened by a large group of slaves and was difficult to pass quickly. Therefore, Masahiro chose the main road between the original Tashiro family and Nogata Village, which had been widened by nearly twice its original width after Kōsuke's management. According to Masahiro's original requirements for Tōgō Heijirō, a wide road connecting the main forts was to be established. Along the way, the people saw the lord's flag and knelt on the ground to bow.

After nearly half an hour of travel, following the newly built forest road, passing through a forest, they entered an open area, and Nogata Village finally came into view. This was where Masahiro rose to power. Looking into the distance from his horse, Nogata Village seemed to have expanded several times. At the edge of the distant forest, some people were cutting down trees, while others were processing the trees and transporting them to the village to build wooden houses.

Loyal Tadajirō, leading the fourth ashigaru unit that was not on duty, all bowed to Masahiro, "Your Highness."

Masahiro waved his hand, indicating they could rise, and then said to Tadajirō, who was kneeling in front of his horse, "Let's go, we'll talk while walking."

Tadajirō immediately got up and respectfully led Masahiro's horse. If there was one vassal in the Rō family who most looked forward to seeing Masahiro, it was Tadajirō. During this time, Tadajirō had to be responsible for the daily training of the fourth ashigaru unit and the defense of the domain, as well as constantly monitoring the movements at Yunoshiro Fort. In addition, he had to be responsible for the daily affairs of Nogata Village and the lord's residence. After all, the lord's residence was where his future lady was, and he could not afford to be negligent. Thus, he ran up and down the mountain several times a day, tiring Tadajirō so much that his shiny bald head was almost smoking.

"Your Highness, with the help of the oxen, the speed of land reclamation has greatly increased. The wasteland to the southwest of Nogata Village has been almost completely reclaimed, and further in, it will enter the forest," Tadajirō reported while walking.

Hearing this, Masahiro was very surprised. Although the five oxen captured had been placed here, he did not expect the reclamation to progress so quickly, reaching the edge of the forest. After all, that place was already very close to where he had fought the wild boar herd.

"According to Your Highness's requirements, the next direction for reclamation is to the south, where there is more wasteland," Tadajirō continued, "Nogata Village currently has nearly 1,000 people, and the village is continuously expanding. According to Your Highness's original requirements, the people's houses are being built at designated locations." Hearing Tadajirō's words, Masahiro also looked up at the houses in the distance, and indeed, they were orderly and built according to his original requirements.

At this moment, the surrounding people had already noticed Masahiro's group and stopped their work, gathering on both sides of the road. This was the root of the Rō family's rise. Although many new immigrants from other places had joined later, under the influence of the original residents, they all began to worship Rō Masahiro. It was no exaggeration to say that here were the most loyal subjects of Rō Masahiro, even fanatical believers. Riding on his horse, looking at the people gathered on both sides of the road, cheering loudly, Masahiro suddenly felt a sense of happiness, a sense of being relied upon and worshiped.

The 40 cape-wearing warriors were also emotionally moved. After being away from home for nearly a month, they could finally see their families today. Masahiro also noticed the mood changes of these intermediate samurai and immediately announced a day off for the cape-wearing warriors, with a gathering at the camp next to the lord's residence the next day. As for the 20 lower-ranking samurai, since none of them had families here, they could only continue to guard Masahiro.

Upon learning of Masahiro's decision to give them a day off, the excited crowd immediately burst into cheers, and the cape-wearing warriors immediately ran to their families on the side of the road, many hugging each other, creating a touching scene.

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(PS: Dear readers, don't leave in a hurry after reading. Even if you don't have a vote, add it to your bookshelf. I beg on my knees. My principle is that even if I flop, I will write more than 1.5 million words, flopping spectacularly! Enjoy writing, enjoy loneliness.)

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