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Three Rivers Butterfly Chapter 391 Shocked to Death

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    Summer is gradually ending and autumn is getting thicker. Niigata Town in the north of Echigo has also begun to turn from warm to cold. The temperature difference between day and night is gradually widening. The cold current from the northern sea is constantly eroding the warm coastline. This season is the last time in Echigo.  During the important harvest season, tens of thousands of farmers wearing straw hats waved sickles in the fields to harvest grains, with deep joy on their faces, which was a tribute to the harvest.  . Matsui Nobuyuki stood on the terrace of the castle tower and looked at the golden rice fields swaying in the wind on the edge of the river in the distance. The pride in his heart was indescribable. It has been nearly a year since he was promoted to Niigata Town, and under the transformation of Nitta  After a lot of hard work, the five newly added polders have also produced rich harvests this year. Nowadays, Echigo has too much grain to finish. As soon as the autumn harvest is over, the old grain will be transported to Tohoku and Hokuriku and sold in exchange for golden copper coins.  and various raw materials.  Li Ding walked over with three steps, and when he saw the satisfied look, he smiled and joked: "Xin Sanlang can't get enough of this wheat wave all day long. If you really want to see it, why don't you ask me to take you to the field to have a look, to save you the trouble?"  Thinking about it day and night is always unsettling. "Seeing his brother-in-law coming, Matsui Nobuyuki smiled sheepishly. Both of them had two majestic mustaches. The Kira family's too young attitude will always make the villagers angry.  They have some sense of distrust. The simple and honest villagers always feel that they can't do things with their words. Therefore, in addition to acting prudently, it has become a necessary means for the executive officer to make himself appear as mature as possible.  Matsui Nobuyuki smiled and shook his head: "I'm not worried about this year's good year. I'm just thinking about when we can open up all the new fields on the Echigo Plains. The faster the new fields are developed, the better we will be."  Life will be better in the future.¡± Niigata Town has greatly improved from the dirty environment when it was built a few years ago. The newly built three-story Niigata Castle stands at the mouth of the Shinano River and the Agano River, towering.  The embankments block the Taotao River on both sides. Rows of young willows are planted under the embankments, and a thick layer of alfalfa is spread all over the embankments. This high-quality pasture with deep roots has a great demand for nourishment of the rivers.  , planting on the embankment can not only stabilize the embankment but also increase the yield of alfalfa. Several horse farms near Niigata were established with the support of forage provided near two long rivers.  Li Ding admired the beautiful scenery of autumn and said calmly: "This can't be rushed. The river defense project needs to be inspected and renovated every year. Several Shinbori Rivers leading to the dry stream have just been completed, and the saline-alkali sand dug from the dry stream still needs to be repaired.  Transport it to the river and spread it into the watercourse, flush it with river water for a few years, and then use dredging boats to dig up the silt to become a good natural fertilizer. Such a large new field in the Echigo plains and so many ditches and ponds will definitely make you think twice in ten years.  If it can be completed in ten years, we should be calm and do it little by little. "The Echigo Plain is second only to the Kanto Plain, and even larger than the Lake Biwa Plain. It is just because it is so remote and uninhabited that no one has paid attention to it for more than a thousand years.  Even the local native Shimotsu people don't think there are any benefits to such a dense network of rivers and large plains. The cold current from the Japan Sea blows to Echigo, and the cold sea breeze mixed with a fishy and salty smell makes Echigo the most beautiful place in summer all year round.  When it's hot, it won't exceed 27 or 8 degrees Celsius, and you may not encounter a summer with a high temperature of 30 degrees Celsius once in a hundred years.  At the end of autumn, cold winds are raging, followed by heavy snowfalls. Although the scenery in the north is beautiful, it greatly affects the development of agriculture. In fact, the biggest problem Echigo faces is not the development of new fields, but the increasing pressure on fertilizer supply. Not to mention  Joetsu and Chugotsu are highly developed agricultural areas. There are dozens of large and small breeding farms within a hundred kilometers of Niigata Town alone, as well as horse farms run by the Kira family, etc. So much land has not yet been developed.  It is better to build a breeding farm and increase profits.  So many cows and horses can only produce so much manure in a day. Even if you include the manure produced by people, it is not much more. The fertilizer collected through high-temperature composting is also very limited and cannot support the increasing number of new fields. So this year  In the initial major appraisal, the appraisal manager Hosokawa Fujitaka proposed steps suitable for slowing down the development of new fields.  The population of Echigo has just exceeded 700,000, including more than 180,000 minors under the age of 15, and more than 100,000 people under the age of five. At first glance, the data does not seem to have much specialness, which indicates that since Kiragi's current trend towards Echigo  Since then, 100,000 people have been born, and nearly 30,000 people have died during the same period, of which one-third was lost due to war.  The population of 700,000 seems quite large, but after excluding the old, weak, sick, women and children, the remaining strong men are less than 300,000. The ages of these people are scattered between 15 and 55 years old. They are the core of every family.  The main economic supporter and the main labor force in the family symbolizes the standard of whether a family is rich or not. The Kira family has a total of 25,000 permanent members who are unwilling to expand because they do not want to break this population red line. Once the number of military personnel exceeds 10% of the existing strong labor force,  One, it will affect the economy and agricultural production.  The more soldiers are recruited, the more the quality of the soldiers will decline, and the time, energy and financial resources it takes to train these soldiers will increase.The bigger the number, and these soldiers may not be able to be smoothly converted into elite standing troops. More than half of them will die on the battlefield. Once the soldiers die, the pension will be a huge financial pressure.  Nowadays, Echigo uses troops everywhere, and every time he uses troops, he has to give a reward to the soldiers so that they are willing to fight. Otherwise, it will be a war with no profit and risk death. The samurai and ashigaru have no intention to fight. They have to calculate after the war.  Merits are calculated as merit, and the dead and injured need medical care, cremation, pensions and other expenses. Although there is no need to worry about food, money is definitely not enough to pay for it.  Fortunately, the gold and silver reserves in Echigo are abundant, and the Sado Ginzan is still kept under absolute secrecy and is not known to anyone, such as the Nanyue Mine, which is rich in lead ore and copper ore, and the Narumi Gold Mountain, which is rich in gold and silver. The output of gold, silver, copper and lead  The rich Iide Mine, which mainly produces gold, silver, and lead, and the Hashidate Mine, have been discovered one after another. The large amount of gold, silver, and copper output can bring a net profit of 800,000 guan to the Kira family every year. This is still a serious lack of technical experience and manpower.  , making the data when production has not reached its peak, one can imagine what the situation will be like after full development.  Without the support of this wealth, how could Kira Yoshitoki dare to repeatedly offer huge bounties, let alone make the wealth of the Kira family's samurai famous in Kanto. For example, the Hojo family's samurai once commented sourly: "Where are they?"  It's a war, and we obviously use real money to win each victory. If we had so much money, we could still win big battles." Looking at the sunset on the horizon, the farmers still did not stop their work in the dusk.  In such a good season, we have to harvest grain day and night. The fear is that a storm will come at some time and delay the drying and threshing time. If one step is delayed, the subsequent steps will also be delayed. If it is delayed by half a month, it may be  It's going to snow.  Matsui Nobuyuki glanced at him and said nonchalantly: "It is said that the Ming Dynasty's efforts to encircle and suppress Japanese pirates have increased. Wang Wufeng took his fleet back to the East China Sea, but I don't know how long he can last." "As early as the beginning of last year.  So I went back. I heard from my family that Wang Wufeng wanted to surrender. It was said that he was killed by General Qi.  When Wang Zhizhi expressed the hope that he would return to the imperial court, Wang Wufeng actually believed it and took the fleet back. " Seeing that Li Ding's expression was normal and his words seemed to be disapproving of Wang Zhi's performance, Matsui Nobuzhi was convinced.  He breathed a sigh of relief and said: "The Lord hates this Captain Wufeng very much. He said that he colluded with a group of scum from the Western Kingdom and Kyushu warriors to cause trouble along the coast of the Ming Dynasty, so that the shogunate's survey and tribute tribute was forced to be interrupted. This person is an evil thief from the Ming Dynasty.  Li Jieye." Li Ding raised his eyebrows with a strange expression, and said with a half-smile, "Oh? The Lord of Zhenfu intends to ban the Japanese pirates and restore the old relationship with the Ming Dynasty?" "Uh! You can't say this nonsense, this is the shogunate.  It is the duty of His Highness, but we, the ministers, must not talk nonsense." Matsui Nobuyuki was so shocked that he was sweating and hurriedly shut his mouth.  He was afraid of his sharp-tongued brother-in-law, who often made some deviant remarks that made him very distressed. However, Li Ding didn't care about their rules and said disapprovingly: "The Lord of the town has nothing to hide when he wants to win the world."  , In our Ming Dynasty, there is a saying that princes and generals should be kind. When the world is in chaos, heroes will always emerge. The prince of the town will definitely be such a great hero, and he must be such a great hero. " "  Hey! Please be careful what you say! Your Majesty has never said this. Although the Ming Dynasty and our country are not the same, our Lord is the royal family of His Highness.  The loyal ministers and generals who are well-known in the shogunate will never do anything disobedient and evil. What Wen Ju just said must not be spread. If others misunderstand the Lord's thoughts, there will be big trouble! "  Li Ding saw Matsui Nobuyuki's panicked look, and thought he had understood what he was thinking, so he said triumphantly: "I don't care about the extraordinary things done by the town government. I can't say whether I can do the decapitation thing, just like me."  Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty once asked Mr. Ji Yulin and got the strategy of "building high walls, hoarding grain, and slowing down the throne", thus determining the prosperity of the Ming Dynasty for two hundred years. The master of Zhenfu must be familiar with this principle if he is proficient in Chinese studies.  I must be slow to become the king!¡±¡­ The rustling autumn wind blows into Echigo with a bit of damp coolness. Autumn is the busiest season in Echigo, and it is also the busiest harvest season in Naoetsu Town. Traveling to and from Shimotsu Niigata  There is an endless stream of caravans coming and going from the town, Uonuma Tokaichi Town, and Kariba Kashiwazaki Port. Echigo's rice, soybeans, potatoes, corn and other crops are transported to the main logistics distribution center in Echigo through them.  Farmers in Naoetsu Town put on thick autumn clothes and long johns while walking around. With the rise of several textile towns that started construction in Naoetsu Town last year, the residents of Echigo were the first to enjoy thick and warm autumn clothes, and they were widely planted in Echigo  The green ramie was harvested and processed into thick clothes here, and the relatively wealthy townspeople began to wear fashionable leatherIn fact, fur clothes have always existed. Among the goods transported from the Northeast to Kinai every year, fur is the most common gift. Takeda Shingen once gave bearskin as the main gift to the shogunate.  The textile industry was the most profitable business in the Middle Ages. It should be noted that the major countries that will dominate the world in the future have experienced rapid development of the textile industry. Even without advanced textile machines, they can still create huge commercial value with a sufficient idle labor force. This is  I just saw it when I saw a little bit of Kiragi.  There are a large number of women and elderly people in Echigo. They can only serve as the family's secondary labor force and help with some work during the busy farming season. However, the busy farming season only lasts for a few months, and there is a lot of time left for them to just find something to do.  Some villages were organized by the Su Lao underground people to weave rattan baskets and straw hats, some planted fruit trees on the mountains, and some organized people to hunt in the mountains, kill the prey, steal the meat, eat it secretly, and sell the furs.  In recent years, the prosperity and development of Echigo has attracted many tourists from all over the world to travel here. Some smart farmers have started a business as guides. They can earn some money by accompanying the wealthy travelers throughout the trip. If they serve well, they can still make money.  After getting a huge reward, the nonsense of evacuating and rebuilding the village gradually disappeared with the arrival of various visitors, because they found a good business to make money.  The gradual increase in visitors has brought a fortune to villages everywhere. Farmers rely on their ancestral skills to attract customers with wooden crafts, animal skins, and strange stones, or they open a few shops and cook food to attract people. Some villages with a population of tens of thousands  Large villages are gradually taking on the function of small towns, and underground people from all over the place have built many vacant rooms for rent. As long as they pay a small amount of land money every month, they can stay here for three months to half a year. This method is also well-known.  Said to experience life in Echigo.  On a spring day, the grand hall of the mountain castle was solemn and solemn. The hall was filled with samurai from the Three Kingdoms of Etsushin. Today, the first major appraisal of the Echigo autumn harvest period was held. In addition to the samurai who were away on war and those who couldn't get away, the samurai from the Three Kingdoms  The samurai in the army were basically all here, and the meeting was held from midnight to noon, and after lunch it was held until the evening. As the territory of the Three Kingdoms increased, the amount of government affairs accumulated also increased geometrically, so this big review lasted until  It's not even over until dark.  Hosokawa Fujitaka rubbed his swollen head and said in a hoarse voice: "This year's autumn harvest is in great shape, but there are still big problems. As the shortage of farmers' fertilizers further widens, the growth of Echigo's stone height has entered a bottleneck.  In this period, the output of further expansion of the breeding farms is far from enough to meet the needs of the fields. In the future, if the related chickens, ducks, pigs and sheep consumed are almost saturated, it will be difficult to digest if more are put into the market, and overgrazing will also cause many future  The developed land has become barren, so I suggest that the development of new fields be suspended and the current state be maintained. New fields will be developed when the population further increases and the consumption of related resources increases. " No matter in any era, food and population are developed.  A hard indicator of the level is that a country is based on its people, and food is its first priority for the people. People know etiquette when they have enough food and clothing. Only when they have enough food and clothing can they know honor and disgrace.  Echigo now faces adjustments after eating enough. Some wealthy townspeople and farmers have higher demands. It has become a reality that chickens, ducks, pigs and sheep occasionally come to the dining table, even if ordinary people occasionally go to a noodle shop to eat a portion.  The "Mountain Whale Meat" Saozi Noodles are also not surprising.  Kira Yoshishi was very concerned about this issue and asked: "How is the implementation of the decree in Ueno and Shinano? When can we promote the breeding industry?" Matsui Yuxian bowed unhurriedly and said: "The implementation of the decree is very smooth.  , the population of Ueno country has recovered to more than 250,000, and the population of Shinano currently under our control is more than 200,000. However, there are still certain risks in the promotion of related breeding industries. My intention is to start with agriculture to improve their lives.  , and we will follow up on the relevant expansion policies after the farmers have enough food and clothing.¡± ¡°Yes! The basic statistics of the developable farmland in the two countries are now in progress. According to the current situation,  There is limited new land that can be developed between the two countries. According to the current control of Shinano Country's territory, it is estimated that 23,000 towns can be developed, and Ueno Country is expected to be able to develop 15,000 towns. The topography of the two places is relatively complex.  Developing the above stone will be an extremely long process. "How long will it take?" "Fifty years or even longer!" The samurai from Ueno and Shinano couldn't help but take a breath.  He repeated with an expression of disbelief: "Fifty years? How could it be so long! Didn't Echigo go from 400,000 to 2 million koku in just three years? Isn't it possible that Hosokawa War Department was just kidding us old guys?  Right?" The two warriors also showed similar expressions, saying in their hearts, please don't coax us to tell the truth, but Hosokawa Fujitaka did not show the expected expression, and said seriously: "I am not deceiving you, I believe.  How is the topography of Nobo and Ueno?You must have lived in both countries and you know that although Shinano Country is mountainous and hilly, which affects the development of new fields, it is slightly better because it is a large area. Ueno Country is not big and faces interlocking hills, which is really difficult.  Echigo is a large place with large plains, so there are such high stone heights.  " Now the samurai of both countries were dumbfounded. The people of Shinano country dared to compete with Echigo for territory, but Ueno country did not have the confidence. Although Echigo has many mountains, it has more plains. The Echigo plains can almost cover it.  As for the Musashi Plains, I heard that the Echigo Plains were only half developed and then stopped. How many stones would it cost to fully develop the plains? Honjo Minoru thought for a while and asked: "Then please let me know if it will be within five years or ten years."  How many new fields can be developed within this year? How many stone heights can the two countries increase during this period through improved varieties and standardized farming?  " Hosokawa Fujitaka patiently explained: "There are no relevant plans for the time being, and we cannot give Mimasaku an accurate figure. Judging from the current situation, it is no problem to open up one-fifth of the total wasteland in new fields within five years.  , at most it will double within ten years, two-thirds should be completed within twenty years, three-quarters within thirty years, and it should be almost completely developed within fifty years. As for Shigao, it is really difficult to estimate, because of the climate of the two places.  The rain conditions are very different from those in Echigo, and even the times of spring sowing and autumn harvest are different, so there may be large errors.  " There is no doubt that the professionalism pursued by the chief of the Kira family is unquestionable. Both the high-ranking Kira Yoshitoki and the hundreds of samurai in the hall are very convinced of the data he reported. He single-handedly led the agricultural reform of Echigo.  , he played an important role in the title of Two Million Stones, and he also played an important role in the glory of Omi Sakamoto. There are many professions in the internal affairs department that he is not proficient in. He is truly the most capable official in the Eastern Kingdom.  "Echigo's autumn harvest is about half complete. Based on half of the grain income from previous autumn harvests and the grain income situation in various places, I drew a trend chart and roughly calculated that the stone height in Echigo will be between 2.8 million koku and 2.90 koku.  Between ten thousand stones, for the first time since the cultivation of crops such as potatoes and corn, which seriously consumes fertility, has been stopped, stone heights have increased significantly. As Hyobuden said, before the population expands further, it may be difficult to have more in the next few years.  of stone high growth.  "When Matsui Yu was idle, his deputy Mitsui Takayasu took a chart and posted it on the pillars on both sides. Although most of the samurai in the hall couldn't understand this kind of thing, they couldn't help but cheered and applauded. I didn't know that this was probably what happened.  It doesn¡¯t matter if you don¡¯t understand what it means, it¡¯s just that it¡¯s very powerful. Echigo is the one who can come up with new tricks quickly. They, the big bosses of the Eastern Kingdom, don¡¯t care what tricks you pursue as official tricks, as long as you have a lot of grain in your pocket, that¡¯s it.  Okay. While the samurai were praising enthusiastically, a ninja quietly approached Mochizuki Yoshinaga, who was half-covering his face. His movements were very light and he quickly crouched towards a snake. Such careful movements.  Still attracting the attention of most of the warriors present, the ninja stayed beside Mochizuki Yoshinaga for a moment and then hurried away. Such a strange action aroused the curiosity of many people. Mochizuki Yoshinaga coughed, bowed and said respectfully:  "Your Majesty, I have received the latest news about the Imagawa family. Two months ago, on July 19th, a battle broke out at Okehazama between the Imagawa family's army and the army in Owari Province. During this battle, the Imagawa army's main formation was attacked. Three thousand soldiers were killed.  More than half of the Imagawa army died in the battle, and the great assistant of the Imagawa administration died in the battle in Tanakuping, Okezama. The remnants of the Imagawa army returned to Sunfu.  " Not to mention that the people of Shinano Province who were close to Suruga were astonished. Even the people of Ueno Province were so surprised that they left their seats one after another. Hosokawa Fujitaka, Matsui Yukan and others from Kyoto couldn't help but change their expressions, and whispered: "Na  Ni?  Did Daisuke Imagawa Harubu die in battle?  Thishow is this possible?  "The prestige of the Suruga Imagawa clan is well known throughout the world. Even old farmers with little information know that the current shogunate has a powerful relative, the Imagawa clan. Imagawa Nori has made great contributions to Ashikaga Takauji. The second son of Norma, Imagawa Sadyo, served as a Kyushu detective.  It is titled that the shogunate pacified Kyushu and shocked the Western Kingdom, and made great contributions to the unification of the Southern and Northern Dynasties. From then on, the Imagawa family's prestige spread far and wide. During the Onin Rebellion, the general of the Eastern Army, Hosokawa Katsumoto, tried to win over the Suruga Imagawa family.  Ise Kitagawa, the adopted daughter of Ise Sadachika, the deacon of the political office, married Imagawa Yoshitada as the royal wife, so Ise Sounan Sorui served as the acting elder of the Imagawa family tree, the first of its kind in the Sagami Hojo line.  Yoshimoto and his son have dominated the Tokaido for nearly eighty years, but they have failed in this small Owari barrel. It is really sad! Yoshitoki Kira stood up and looked at the side outside the Ohiro Room with deep eyes.  In the sky, the scenery of Chunyue Mountain under the setting sun is very beautiful. Unfortunately, the beautiful scenery will eventually end, but it is a scene of cool breeze and strong autumn atmosphere, and everything is desolate. I sighed for a long time and murmured to myself: "Tongzhajian Tongzhajian  Imagawa Harubu is dead!  Is things finally going to change?  Yonglu, Yonglu, the one who protects the world and takes care of the family, and who is always blessed!  The sky is broken and the building is about to collapse. How can we protect our family?  "(To be continued.)
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