Chapter 6

Xiaoming stood at the classroom door, took a deep breath, and firmly gripped the secret letter from his mother.

However, with this escapism, the preparations for the move are not getting done.

July 5, 1551 (Tensho 18)

■Sagami Province, Ashigara Lower District, Hojo Genan Kuno Residence

Today, by chance, is the day when the Hojo family surrendered to the monkeys in Tensho 18. Well, it's not really related. It has already been half a year since I was taken in by Grandpa Genan. But what a grandpa he is. I understand that he gets up early because he's old, but he wakes up with the sunrise and wakes me up to clean the main hall and split firewood. Once that's done, it's morning practice! After that, breakfast is a bowl of brown rice with wild herbs in the miso soup (soybean miso is mainly for wartime use), taro, pickled plums, and at most some sardines or anchovies. It's luxurious compared to the common people, but still. Grandpa is a master of horseback riding and archery, and since the Hojo family originally came from the Ise family, which specialized in court etiquette, he has a wide range of cultural knowledge, including waka poetry, renga, tea ceremony, garden design, and one-act plays. Moreover, he is dexterous and a master of saddle and stirrup making, known as "Saddle-Striking Genan." Occasionally, I get to see him work on them.

However, the training is strict. Grandpa's children, Chodai, Tsunashige, and Nagasuke, grin and encourage me, saying, "We also endured this treatment, so you should try your best," but they can't help me. How strong is this grandpa? Moreover, he even has a six-year-old daughter at this age. I believe this girl is supposed to marry Yoshichika of the Setagaya Kira family. There is also a princess who is supposed to become the wife of Ujimasa's son, who was originally supposed to become Uesugi Saburo Kagehisa, but since she hasn't been born yet, she must be born later. What a prolific family! Even Mori Motonari created his ninth son, Kōhakusai, at the age of seventy, so it's possible with this grandpa.

Now, I need to study, learn etiquette, and martial arts, but since I know the disasters that will come to the Kanto region, I can't just sit and watch. As the saying goes, "To see righteousness and not act is to lack courage." First, I need to prepare for famine caused by poor harvests and drought. A system is needed to plant and store relief crops on abandoned farmland.

The most promising relief crop is the potato, but it has just arrived in Europe or not yet, and hasn't reached Asia, so it's not an option. The same goes for corn and sweet potatoes. Considering that sweet potatoes were introduced to China from the Philippines in 1594, they might be available in Southeast Asia. The most certain option is New Zealand, where they are believed to have been introduced from South America in the 10th century, but I can't go there. I might be able to get them from Portuguese or Spanish merchants, so I could ask the merchants at the harbors of Kofu, Shinagawa, and Edo. This shows how difficult this era is.

If that's the case, I can only rely on traditional relief crops like millet, barnyard grass, foxtail millet, corn, and buckwheat. I can also produce and store a large amount of taro stems. I need to produce a lot of salt, so I'll start with a coastal salt field and then switch to a flowing salt field, where seawater is poured onto bamboo to evaporate, which should yield good results.

Ideally, the tax system should change from 40% public and 60% private to 40% public, 50% private, and 10% for public welfare. If one-tenth of the annual tax is stored in a public granary and released during a famine, it should be possible to provide relief. This was done in ancient Japan and China, and during the Edo period, it was revived as a seven-part reserve fund and community granary. I think it's possible with the Hojo family's tax system. After all, corrupt officials are punished through a suggestion box, which is a more advanced system than the Edo shogunate. I can't help but admire them, even though they are my enemies.

Reclaiming Musashino can be done by using displaced people from various places as garrison soldiers, which would not cost much and would eventually pay off. If I were to create a waterway, I would make it a full concrete structure with a depth and width that would allow for boat transportation and log rafting, which could also be used as a large moat to defend against threats from the north.

If I create a village on the south side of the waterway and build it in a fortress-like manner, it would allow for evacuation before an attack. I can also build concrete walls, and although they won't have rebar, the bamboo-reinforced concrete bridges built by the National Railways during the Pacific War are still standing strong after sixty years, showing their durability.

Concrete itself can be made. If limestone is produced from Oume, Okutama, and Hidaka, the Hojo family won't neglect the Sannomiya family, but they might take action to make it their own territory. It's a difficult choice between public and family happiness.

The strategy I had planned for the Hojo war can't be implemented in this situation. I don't want to waste my talents, and although Grandpa Genan is strict, he's a good person. Lord Ujimasa is a good lord who cares about the people, as I read in the records.

The eldest son, Shinjiro, is a kind person, but he dies young. I don't know the cause, so I can't do anything. The second son, Matsuchidomaru (Ujimasa), looks down on me. He is indeed the fourth-generation lord who destroyed the Hojo family. Well, it's fine now, but I'm worried about what will happen if he becomes the heir.

The third son, Fujikichimaru (Ujiteru), is a surprise. He is the Hojo family's greatest rival and enemy, but he is a great person. When Ujimasa said, "Try to stay quiet and not get killed," Fujikichimaru replied, "I know how kind Grandpa Genan is, and I can visit you from time to time." He is a well-rounded person and could be a good friend if he weren't an enemy.

The fourth son, Otachidomaru (Ujikuni), is deceptively cunning. He is incredibly cunning. He is nine years old, but if you combine his age with his previous life, he has lived as long as Grandpa Genan. I won't be fooled by his act. After all, he assassinated his adoptive brother, Tomonobu, after his adoptive father died.

The fifth son, Takechidomaru (Ujikuni), is a naive child, but he will become a hostage of the Imagawa and live next to Matsudaira Takechidomaru (Tokugawa Ieyasu). They are supposed to become friends, maybe because they have the same childhood name.

The eldest daughter, Ayahime, marries Imagawa Ujishige and is called Hayakawa. After Imagawa Yoshimoto's death, she is passed around like a traveling performer and is even expelled from her family to avoid offending the Takeda. She is a beautiful but unfortunate woman.

The second daughter, Machihime, marries Hojo Tsunaharu, known as Kihachiman, and is called Shinko-in. She is blessed with children.

The third daughter, Myohime, is a pitiful person. She is eight years old, but she marries Chiba Masatane, the 25th head of the Chiba family in Shimousa. However, her husband is assassinated at the age of seventeen, and she becomes a widow. She disappears from history, so she might have died at the same time. But in 1557, she would be fourteen, which is a middle school student in modern terms. Although marriage was early in this era, it still feels sad.

Well, as a custom of the Warring States period, there's nothing I can do, and I can only encourage them to do their best. It's strange, though, that when I go to Odawara Castle with Grandpa Genan, I get along well with the odd-numbered group, Shinjiro, Fujikichimaru, and Takechidomaru, but I hardly see the even-numbered group.

The princesses are kind, and the feeling of enmity towards the Hojo family wavers. Especially Myohime, who tries hard to take care of me, makes me feel very warm. It's not because she's a lolicon, it's a paternal love. I'm not a lolicon!

Ujimasa and Ujikuni always say mean things to me, and although I don't want to fight with Shinjiro, Fujikichimaru, and Takechidomaru, I often feel like saying, "Bring it on, Ujimasa and Ujikuni."

Moreover, Matsuda Masahide's son, Masahide, is a nasty person. He looks down on me just because he is the son of the chief vassal. I know he will betray the Hojo to the monkeys in thirty-nine years, so I look at him suspiciously. It's partly my fault, but he mocks me with Ujimasa, which makes me angry.

Anyway, I need to focus on advancing science and technology.

For making saltpeter, I am using the geothermal heat of Hakone to keep the saltpeter pits warm and conducting verification experiments by digging holes at the hearth. This idea came from a conversation with Grandpa Genan. He is a great listener. The researcher's curiosity to be the first to make artificial saltpeter in Japan overcame the need for secrecy.

When I told Grandpa that saltpeter can be obtained from the floors of stables and old houses and from toilets, his surprise was priceless.

"Well, Yoshiro, can you really make saltpeter as you say?"

"Yes, by mixing silkworm droppings, foxtail millet husks, and urine, the bed can be made in about five years."

"Hmm, five years. I might not be alive then."

No, that's not true. You will live to be ninety-seven.

"Production can start in the second year and continue annually thereafter."

"Then let's try it. The problem is that I need to give a sample of gunpowder to the lord of the main castle. Is there any good way to do it?"

Hmm, I'll tell you that method. I need Lord Ujimasa and Grandpa's cooperation to make artificial saltpeter, which I can't do at home.

"Then, by taking soil from the floors of stables, old houses, and toilets and processing it, gunpowder can be made."

"Hmm, is that true?"

"I learned it."

"Yoshiro, do you remember that?"

"Yes, I remember."

"Good, let's start making it tomorrow."

"Yes."

Oh, I'm being used again!

Grandpa is too good. Maybe I'm the fool.

So, I mobilized the servants and stable hands to collect a large amount of black soil from the floors of stables and old houses, put it in large barrels, added water, and extracted the calcium nitrate in the water solution. I heated the solution in a large pot and poured it into a bucket with wood ash, which produced a high-concentration potassium nitrate solution. After filtering and boiling it to dryness, I obtained crude potassium nitrate. Lord Ujimasa and Grandpa nodded vigorously as they watched the process.

Grandpa asked sharply, "Hmm, this is amazing. But how long does it take to get it again after the first time?" Lord Ujimasa said, "If we can produce gunpowder domestically, there's nothing better," but he looked at me with the eyes of a hawk hunting prey. I thought I might be eliminated to keep the secret, but since there has been no danger in the past few months, I guess I'm safe, but I'm still worried.

May 20, 1551 (Tensho 20)

■Sagami Province, Ashigara Lower District, Odawara Castle

On the day Yoshiro made the gunpowder, a meeting was held in Odawara Castle between Hojo Ujimasa, Hojo Ujikuni, and Hojo Genan.

"Genan, the child from Sannomiya is indeed a prodigy as rumored," Hojo Ujikuni said while drinking.

"Indeed, it's amazing that he can put into practice what he has heard once, but I feel there's more to it."

"Is he still hiding his talents?"

"Regardless, from today's gunpowder alone, it's clear that Yoshiro cannot be sent elsewhere, let alone returned to Katsunuma."

"Indeed, I see his talent. Letting him go would not benefit the Hojo family."

"Then, we must forcefully bring him into the family as a son-in-law."

"Sannomiya might betray us, but we should still keep him."

"Better to keep him than to destroy the family."

"I will continue to rely on you, Genan."

"Leave it to me, Sakyoden."