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The round-faced samurai named "Hosono Hayatosuke" seemed to be in a good mood and didn't put on any airs. He sat on the straw mat, waved for the two to rise and then smiled before asking, "Kinbei, the village chief of Kubo Village, is that you? Is there anything you need from me?"
Old Man Jin Bingwei stood up, stepped forward, and bowed, saying, "Reporting to you, sir, I accidentally injured my back just now, and I am in great pain. I'm afraid I won't be able to fight tomorrow. Please arrange for these dozen or so men from our village to stay and guard the camp!"
Upon hearing this, the round-faced samurai's expression immediately turned serious. He slapped the table in front of him and frowned, saying, "How dare you! How dare you, a mere commoner, interfere with the Naito family's troop deployment, the deputy governor of Tanba?"
Old Man Jin Bingwei remained calm and explained with his head bowed, "I was just worried that if I went into battle injured, I might do more harm than good." He then handed over a small silver coin shaped like a seashell.
Shinzaburo could see clearly that the thing was a "specialty" of the Iwami Silver Mine in the west. It was well-made and extremely pure. Each small piece weighed four sen and three fen and could generally be exchanged for one kan and two hundred bad coins or three hundred Yongle coins.
(At that time, there were many different opinions on the exchange rate between gold and silver and copper coins, and it was difficult to determine. This book mainly uses the Mori family's "Ginzan no Sosho Takatsuji" as its reference.)
I never expected that Old Man Jinbingwei would be so generous for such an illusory "Bodhisattva's dream".
Upon seeing the silver, the round-faced samurai named "Hosono Hayato-suke" immediately brightened up. After examining it for a moment, he flicked his sleeve and discreetly stuffed it into his pocket, then shook his head and said, "You old codger, how could you injure your back in the middle of battle? That's really unacceptable! In that case, to avoid delaying things, none of you from Kubo Village will go on the expedition tomorrow. Stay in the camp and help guard the remaining supplies! The one in charge of guarding the area tomorrow... is my brother-in-law, Hattori Sake Brewer. You'll all be under his command. I'll go and inform him in a bit... Alright, that's all, you can go now!"
Old Man Jinbingwei bowed deeply, repeatedly saying "Forgive me" and "Thank you," before leading Shinzaburo out backwards.
As soon as I stepped out of the tent, I heard mocking words behind me: "What a bunch of cowards, Kubo Village! They're just a bunch of remnants who don't even dare to go up and fight... But how come they're so rich..."
I wasn't really paying attention to what they were saying next.
In short, the money was paid and the matter was resolved.
Shinzaburo sighed, "Isn't it said that if there are vacancies in the military, you only need to spend three or five hundred mon to bribe someone? Today, however, it cost me a small silver coin."
Old Man Jinbingwei shook his head and said, "That's different. Military service vacancies are too common, half the villages have them, everyone knows it can't be investigated too deeply. If we volunteer to stay in the barracks, it could be a major issue that shakes morale, and it won't be easy to explain."
Shinzaburo couldn't help but ask again, "What if my dream last night was wrong? Wouldn't this little silver coin have been wasted?"
Jinbingwei's father immediately widened his eyes and angrily retorted, "Nonsense! The Immovable King himself appeared in my dream, how could he refuse?"
Shinzaburo was speechless.
Meanwhile, Jin Bingwei's father, filled with trepidation, clasped his hands together and confessed to the air, "My unfilial son was ignorant and spoke in jest. Your Excellency is magnanimous and will certainly not hold this brat against you..."
009 Our army has truly been defeated.
Early the next morning, more than two hundred samurai and nearly two thousand peasant soldiers from the Naito family set off to fight, supposedly to wipe out a small number of "defeated enemy soldiers".
A samurai named Hattori Sake Brewer was left behind to guard the remaining supplies in the camp with several dozen men.
With the help of "money power," Kubomura and his group were all replaced and assigned to the remaining positions.
Most people are clueless about this and just follow the crowd.
After all, life in Kubo Village was relatively comfortable, and they didn't expect to go to the battlefield to plunder and supplement their income. For everyone, staying in the camp without having to fight was quite good.
Only Old Man Jinbingwei felt that he had made a very correct and important decision, and was quite proud and excited, but he had to suppress his emotions and not express them, pretending that nothing had happened.
Shinzaburo's feelings were somewhat complicated.
His main concern was that if the Naito family won the battle smoothly without encountering any danger, would his fabricated story of "the Bodhisattva appearing in a dream" be suspected by his father, Kinbei?
Once superstition is involved, it becomes very difficult to explain clearly.
If, in the future, the interpretation of "Bodhisattva's dream" is reversed and "demonic bewitchment" is taken, then we might have to perform some kind of exorcism or purification ritual, which would be terrible.
So, while the samurai lord who stayed behind drank his fill and went to catch up on sleep, and the other peasant soldiers squatted on the ground chatting and gossiping, only Shinzaburo stared in the direction the "army" had set off, worried about how the war would unfold.
Then... he didn't have to wait too long.
It would take about three hours.
……
Around noon, someone shouted outside the empty military camp, "Our army has been defeated! Our army has been defeated!"
Shinzaburo rushed to the door and saw a dozen or so people fleeing in a disheveled state.
The leader appeared fairly robust, with no signs of wear and tear, and was likely a respectable man in his daily life. However, his hair was disheveled, his face was covered in blood, and he seemed to have discarded his armor and weapons, wearing only a close-fitting cloth garment with several cuts. He no longer looked like a respectable person at all.
Upon closer inspection, it was clear that this was indeed the round-faced samurai named "Hosono Hayatosuke."
That is, the captain of the temporary backup team I was in yesterday.
They were leading their troops out in triumph this morning, but now they've returned looking like drowned rats.
Upon seeing this, Shinzaburo quickly bowed and stepped forward cautiously to inquire, "Lord Hosono Hayato, what's going on? Is the battle not going well?"
"Not just not going well!" The round-faced samurai named Hosono Hayato exhaled a few breaths, shook his head, and sighed mournfully, "Alas! I thought we could wipe out a defeated army with superior numbers, but the enemy soldiers were unstoppable. My lord unfortunately perished, and the army suffered more than half its losses. We've lost everything... Never mind, I don't know if there are any pursuers behind us. I'm here to tell my brother-in-law to run away. Since you're lucky enough to have survived, you'd better hurry up and get out of here too!"
Judging from the other party's appearance, it seems they have forgotten about the bribery and power-for-money deal from last night.
Shinzaburo was quite surprised by what the round-faced samurai said.
Not only did they lose, but Tanba, the head of the Naito family, was also killed.
This perfectly matches the prediction made in the so-called "Bodhisattva's dream," so there's no need to worry about how to explain it.
however……
What should we do now?
As they were talking, the peasant soldiers of Kubo Village heard the commotion and came out of their tents to gather together.
No one had any ideas, and they just stared at the "second name" of Jin Bingwei's father.
Shinzaburo quickly approached and said, "The war is now beyond saving, and we should also consider how to save our lives."
“That’s right.” Old Man Jinbingwei nodded and made a decision without hesitation: “Hurry home! Our Kubo Village is a remote valley, not in the same direction as the Naito family’s Yagi Castle. Even if the enemy army comes after us, they won’t go that way!”
“But…” Shinzaburo pointed, “There’s a samurai lord over there. Shouldn’t he be in charge of the soldiers left behind at the camp? What if he sees us running away…”
"What are you thinking?" Old Man Jin Bingwei scoffed. "They'll only run away faster and earlier! They don't have time to care about us. Look, they've already run away, haven't they?"
Shinzaburo looked in the direction of the sound and saw that the "Hattori Sake Brewer," who was in charge of leaving behind the camp, had already left the camp with the round-faced samurai named "Hosono Hayatosuke," who had just escaped, and was running towards the southeast.
They were probably planning to escape back to Yagi Castle.
They were followed by a number of armed followers.
The other soldiers had already scattered in different directions.
Then it'll be fine.
With the samurai lords all running away, who has the mind to investigate the responsibilities of the peasant soldiers?
Shinzaburo clapped his hands and said, "Then let's quickly pack our things and head back to Kubo Village! Let's set off now, and if we walk fast, we should be there before dark. Once we're back in the village, we'll be safe!"
Jin Bingwei's father nodded solemnly.
The others then followed the orders and acted accordingly.
But a moment later, another villager suddenly remembered something, exclaimed "Ah!", pointed to a corner of the military camp, and shouted excitedly, "That's a rice granary over there! I peeked through it this morning when I went to the restroom, and there were at least several hundred pounds of rice inside! And some of it was polished white rice that was shining brightly! Now that the warriors are all gone, we can break open the granary door, and no one will care..."
These words made many people's eyes light up, and they were reluctant to leave, stopping in their tracks to stare at Old Man Jin Bingwei.
"Fool! What a fool!" Old Man Jinbingwei glared at him fiercely, spat on the ground, and said, "If we found a gold or silver vault, that would be more likely. We don't have any carriages or oxcarts now, how much rice can we carry? If someone is willing to carry fifty catties of rice on their back, I won't stop them, but if they die of exhaustion in the wilderness halfway there, that's their own fault!"
These words were reasonable and persuasive, but they dampened the enthusiasm of the crowd.
So, without further ado, they packed their belongings and headed towards Kubo Village.
There were a couple who walked a few dozen steps, but couldn't bear to leave. They turned back, used the axes they had used to chop wood a few days earlier to split open the rice granary, each filled a cloth bag with a large handful of refined white rice, and then jogged to catch up.
Although they were panting heavily and their faces were flushed, making one wonder if they had enough strength to run back to Kubo Village, the two men were tightly clutching the cloth bag to their chests and chuckling foolishly.
010 Like eunuchs exchanging brothel experiences
Shinzaburo, along with Kinbei and the villagers, eventually escaped back to Kubo Village.
Although they saw billowing smoke along the way, suggesting a large enemy force was moving out, it was clear that they were heading towards Yagi Castle, the residence of the Naito family, the guardians of Tanba, in a different direction.
It seems that Kubo Village's group consisted of only twenty peasant soldiers, with only two wearing armor. Even if they were all killed, it wouldn't be considered a great achievement.
Who would bother chasing after them?
Including the two guys who turned back at the last minute and each took a few kilograms of rice, they all got home safely.
This made the other dozen or so people regret their actions, muttering to themselves that they shouldn't have listened to "Yi Ming" so much, and that they should have brought some back with them at the time.
However, he dared not say it to Kim Bing-wei's father's face.
In any case, after returning to the village, they waited anxiously for a long time, but neither the Naito family sent anyone out to post notices to appease the people, nor did they see the enemy taking advantage of their victory to plunder everywhere.
For the time being, they had completely returned to the small-farm life of staying at home, as if they were people in a paradise, isolated from the hustle and bustle of the outside world, unaware of the Han Dynasty, let alone the Wei and Jin Dynasties.
More than half a month later, on the fifth day of the tenth lunar month when the weather turned cold, a small caravan of merchants passed by during the "five-day fair" held by many nearby villages every season. Only then did the people of Kubo Village roughly learn about the ins and outs of the last battle.
This caravan belonged to the large trading company "Hibiya" in Sakai Town. The leader was a young man under thirty years old with a rather cheerful baby face. He was called "Uozumi Hikoshiro". He had some connections with Kinbei's father, so he was happy to share some current affairs information.
According to him, the incident was originally caused by Miyoshi Nagayoshi, who controlled Settsu, Awa, Sanuki and other places, who supported a Hosokawa family collateral branch named "Hosokawa Ujitsuna" and raised tens of thousands of troops to attack Hosokawa Harumoto, the actual controller of the shogunate.
Logically speaking, the main battlefield should be in the Kyoto area.
However, Hosokawa Harumoto, as a typical "high-ranking nobleman," didn't have many directly subordinate troops; his strengths lay only in his reputation and connections. Faced with the Miyoshi clan's large army, he swallowed his pride and won over the Hatano and Akai clans of Tanba, as well as some smaller surrounding forces, for their support.
As a result, the center of the conflict became Tanba Province.
As mentioned earlier, the position of governor of Tanba Province had long been held concurrently by the Hosokawa main family. The Naito family, as the deputy governor, had never had a good relationship with their superior.
It's generally difficult for the top leader and the second-in-command—even if they're just nominally the top leader and the second-in-command—to maintain a good relationship.
So, based on the principle of "I will help anyone who causes trouble for the Hosokawa family", the Naito family joined the Miyoshi side.
Of course, their fighting strength was just enough to make up the numbers; they weren't really needed for any real battles.
At first, things went smoothly. The Miyoshi clan's army performed exceptionally well, defeating the combined forces of Hosokawa, Hatano, Akai, and many other smaller factions in open battle, and then advancing to besiege several of their important strongholds in Tanba Province.
For some time, the Naito family had been guarding their flank outposts, avoiding direct engagement with the enemy. Later, seeing the Miyoshi family's growing power and influence, they became envious and, wanting to seize some credit, rashly launched a pursuit of the remaining enemy forces. However, they were unexpectedly routed by Miyoshi Masayasu, who was on Hosokawa Harumoto's side.
Even Tanba's guardian deity, Naito Kunisada, was killed on the spot.
When Miyoshi learned of this, he was also very surprised. He was worried about the morale of his troops and the safety of his flanks, so he had no choice but to abandon the siege and slowly retreat cautiously.
Therefore, this attack on Hosokawa Harumoto, the shogunate's deputy, can only be described as a tactical victory, but a strategic failure.
The two sides maintained a stalemate characterized by mutual distrust and antagonism.
Of course, for the villagers of Kubo Village, such "major world affairs" are not something they need to worry about.
What everyone is more concerned about is who will take over as the guardian of Tanba after the death of Lord Naito Kunisada.
From the perspective of the common people, if the lord is too weak and cannot withstand external covetousness, that would certainly be bad. But if the lord is too powerful and oppresses the peasants, that wouldn't be much better either.
Regarding this matter, this is what the baby-faced caravan leader, Uozumi Hikoshiro, said—
Our Lord Naito Kunisada, the Protector-General, has a son, but he is only five years old. These are turbulent times, and it would be inappropriate for a five-year-old to succeed him. Furthermore, Naito Kunisada has a cousin and a son-in-law, both in their prime. It is said that Yagi Castle is currently discussing who should be the suitable regent.
Of course, being called "assistant in government" is actually equivalent to taking over the position of head of the family.
Given the chaotic atmosphere of the Warring States period, even if that five-year-old child grows up in the future, who would be willing to hand over the power with both hands?
The villagers of Kubo Village discussed the topic briefly, but quickly lost interest. Only a few idle men with a lot of idle chatter kept talking about it.
Although it involves their own interests, ultimately no one has any say. Empty talk and discussion are like a group of eunuchs exchanging experiences of visiting brothels—what's the point?
In fact, Shinzaburo was quite enthusiastic about "eunuchs exchanging brothel experiences" in his previous life. However, at this moment, he finds the people of Kubo Village to be of such poor skill level that they can't compare to the talented and eloquent users on Zhihu, so he's too lazy to participate in such low-level discussions.
……
In contrast, what disappointed Kinbei the most was that the member of the Naito family who had promised him 100 kan of silver to help him resolve his samurai status seemed to have unfortunately died in battle along with the head of the family, Naito Kunisada.
Of course, despite the disappointment, there was nothing that could be done. The only consolation was that most of the money hadn't been given to them yet; all the initial investment in building relationships had been wasted.
Therefore, the matter of maintaining a samurai identity can only be considered in the long run.
There was no clue about that matter for the time being. At present, the highest priority of Jinbingwei's father's schedule was to go to Guangfu Temple to carry out a grand "vow-fulfilling" ceremony.
This was because, after hearing the whole story from the baby-faced Uozumi Hikoshiro, he became convinced of the existence of "Fudo Myoo appearing in a dream." Moreover, he was very grateful that his family had escaped a calamity because of it.
Since we have the protection of Acala, the revival of our family will naturally follow. Why rush it?
On second thought, how could the venerable Acala, the Immovable King, be so high and mighty, busy with countless affairs of state, only remind you in a dream and not others?
That must be because I was very devout when I offered incense and kowtowed at Guangfu Temple before!
In that case, we should worship with even greater sincerity in the future.
Of course, there's no rush to set off immediately, since you'll definitely need to give gifts to the monks when you go to the temple.
The gift, of course, is Kubo Village's long-standing specialty—candied chestnuts.
The chestnuts harvested in early autumn have already had their spiky shells removed, dried, and stored in a cool, shady place for later use.
On the fifth day of the tenth month, the caravan leader, who was also the baby-faced Uozumi Hikoshiro, arrived as scheduled, bringing with him the materials that Kinbei's father had ordered.
The main ingredients are twenty catties of brown sugar and three dou of monk's wine, then a small bag each of tea powder and refined salt, and also a portion of each of seasonings such as perilla, Sichuan pepper, and ginger. All in all, the price is three strings and six hundred cash.