In the first month of the third year of Eiroku, officials from the Kasugayama Castle gathered to celebrate the most important festival of the year. At the Zhengdan court meeting, Kiragi announced the shogunate's reward to Uesugi Teruhora with great enthusiasm. Ashikaga is another high-ranking samurai family. His official position in the family ranks fourth after the governor and Murakami Yoshikiyo. Murakami Yoshikiyo was already the fourth major general of the Sakon Guard thirty years ago. In addition, the person who was promoted to a high-ranking official was Namioka T¨f¨. Because he was born in the public minister system, his official position was promoted very quickly this time. He was directly promoted from the fifth-ranked attendant to the fourth-ranked Ukon. Major General Wei became the fourth retainer to obtain the four-position format. From the perspective of the retainer group, apart from the shogunate, there was no rival to the Ashikaga family. Mogami Yoshimitsu's official position was also announced, and as expected, he was given the hereditary service position of Dewa Tankai, and the imperial court gave him the right of five Ukyo doctors. Although the imperial court had some indiscriminate treatment of Ukyo doctors and the official position was seriously devalued, but Having this name is much better than not having one. The effect of a penniless wealthy family getting Dr. Ukyo and his Dewa Question are completely different. The former is still a penniless wealthy family, while the latter can use this name to rule the people of the country. Mogami Yoshimitsu has been very happy in the past few months. Although Kasugayama is not half as high as Mount Takaoka in Dewa Province, Kasugayama Castle is bigger than he imagined. It is bigger than all the cities in Dewa Country. The entire mountain is covered by this It is shrouded in a majestic city, and the five-story castle is unique in Kanto. Mogami Yoshimitsu can call Kasugayama Castle the most majestic city in the world without any politeness. Here for the first time he understood the difference between earthen ramparts, stone walls and city walls. It was the first time I saw an arrow scull with a composite structure of earth, wood and stone, and it was the first time I saw the changing of the guard and the strict handover process of the samurai on duty. Every change of guard required signatures and paintings. The novel buildings and neat and tall walls made him see for the first time that a fortified city could be built like this. What surprised him the most was the huge city under Kasugayama Castle. He had never been to Kyoto and didn¡¯t know what the so-called city looked like, but when he first set foot on the land of Naoejin Port, he was struck by this. The bustling traffic and people shocked me deeply. Naojiangjin Port has dozens of large and small piers, in which thousands of ships of different sizes are moored. The entire coast of Naoetsu is surrounded by this large port. The long journey from the port to Kasugayama Castle is lined with countless towns and cities. The astonishing speed of urbanization was an eye-opener for Mogami Yoshimitsu. He could easily draw a conclusion just by doing some silent calculations. The sum of all the cities and towns in Dewa Country was not as large as that of Naoetsu. Only later did he learn that Naoejin was not just one town, but was seamlessly connected to Kasugayama Castle Town, forming a super urban agglomeration extending from the lower reaches of Sekikawa River to Naoetsu. In terms of urban area, it exceeded Sakai Town and Rakakachu. It is comparable to Kyoto Town. The city's area is roughly equivalent to the combined size of Sakamoto, Kenda, and Otsu, and there are more than 200,000 permanent residents living in the city. The urban agglomeration is very vast and grand, but because the geographical location is too remote, it cannot have the strong appeal of Sakai Town, Kyonomachi, and Sakamoto Town. The economic level is also much worse than these relatively more mature cities. It is only a relatively secondary city. The first-level Dongguo maritime transportation hub configuration has improved countless times compared to its previous status as just one of several Hokuriku ports. It is said that the ships suspended in the port are business travelers from Kyushu, Saikuni, Kinai, Hokuriku, Yuao, and even Kanto. Benefiting from the favorable stimulus from the abolition of customs duties and the cutting of exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes during the Kiragi period, business travelers from all over the world like to dock at this emerging port, and many bulk goods are scheduled to be traded here for transshipment. "All legitimate business activities will be protected by the Kira family's force, and there is no need to pay any compensation to Kira Zeuai. The Kira Navy will also maintain the maritime traffic safety of Hokuriku and Tohoku for free. Ships traveling on this route often encounter free escorts from the Kira navy during patrols, and receive free rescue when encountering shipwrecks. Kirajia¡¯s good reputation ensures that free trade can get huge support here. Biwaya is the general agent that monopolizes Hokuriku and Yuyo. All business travelers who want to travel on this route will be Biwaya's customers. It is said that a Niigata town is being built in Shimotsu that is no less than Naoetsu. That Niigata town The town has quietly gathered a permanent population of 50,000 people, and perhaps in another ten years it will catch up with Naoetsu Town's status. Mogami Yoshimitsu somewhat understands why Echigo is so developed. It is a territorial country with a permanent population of nearly 800,000. The number of business travelers who stay briefly in Echigo every day is stable between 70,000 and 100,000. It also has vast farmland. and more hard-working farmers, but he still didn't understand how he achieved this, and what kind of legend the man who created an Echigo miracle in less than ten years would be. Here he met several peopleThey have a good relationship with peers. They are Nagano Yaguru, the lord of Ueno Kunitaka Castle, Nobuzada Kobata, the lord of Kunamine Castle, and the slightly older Wada Castle lord, Wada Yashige, and Anaka Tadanari, the lord of Anaka Castle. These young people People wandered outside Kasugayama Castle all day long to hunt hawks, and they did not forget to take their hounds to catch prey on heavy snowy days. Mogami Yoshimitsu met their group while hunting hawks. When meeting the same young samurai in the wilderness, they can't help but become companions. In addition, people of the same age can always find similar topics to talk about, especially most of them are lively and active young people. They talk about eagle hunting, martial arts and brag about the battles they have participated in. , slowly seduced Mogami Yoshimitsu to discuss, and from their mouths Mogami Yoshimitsu learned many legendary stories about the generals in the family. For example, Saito Nobunobu, who is also known as the Ghost King and is also known as Zhong Kui, not only bravely champions the three armies but also possesses amazing troop command skills. Another example is Kakizaki Keie, the strongest general in the seven Echigo prefectures of the previous generation. His martial arts and troop command skills are on par with Saito Chao Believing not to be too willing to give in, the two teamed up to kill the ghosts and gods who had always been killed in Echu and Kaga. Directly and indirectly, as many as ten thousand people died at the hands of the two. The Echigo cavalry led by the two was called invincible. Black Dragoon. Another example is the unparalleled military strategy of Uesugi Teruhu, the Dragon of Echigo, who has not suffered a single defeat in the fifteen years since he launched his army. The God of the Northern Army who is always victorious and undefeated is also a samurai model worshiped by countless samurai throughout the Kira family. In addition, Yukitaka Masada's military, intellectual, and political strategies are considered to be the top generals of the Eastern Kingdom. In his hands, the 17,000-strong Shinano Nationalist Army became comparable to the first-class army of the Eastern Kingdom. It was able to crush the same number of Takeda Army elites to the point where they could hardly breathe. If it weren't for Takeda Nobushige, he would have been able to compete with Sanada. A heroic figure worthy of Yukitaka, maybe Kai's national gate has been easily broken by Yukitaka Sanada. As well as Murakami Yoshikiyo, who lost twice in a row to Takeda Shingen and brought serious disaster to the Takeda family. This general of Shinano has a very high level of military strategy. Not long after joining the Kira family, he took on the front line of attacking the Takeda family. , withstood the fierce attacks of the Takeda Army in the two battles of Kawanakajima, showing the world that he was not only good at attacking but also good at defending. Of course, they also boasted about the bravery of the Ueno people. Nagano Yimasa's military strategy is no less than that of Murakami Yoshikiyo, and even better in terms of intelligence and strategy. Kamiizumi Hidetsuna's military bravery can be compared with Kakizaki Keie and Saito Asanobu, and may be even better in foot combat. Maybe, the only difference is that the military strategy of the unified army will still be far inferior. In addition, there are also the strongest generals of the younger generation who have to be mentioned, including Takigawa Tokimasu, Shima Tokikatsu, Honjo Shigenaga, and Nagasaka Nobumasa, known as the Four Heavenly Kings of Kira, as well as Watanabe Moritsuna and Nagasaka who have not been assigned numbers. Osadaharu, Honda Masashige and others. Obata Nobusada also boasted that he was as brave as the others behind him, and said that Nagano Yaguru had the military ingenuity to win without leaving the island, etc. Mogami Yoshimitsu was very interested in these new partners, and took the initiative to mention the bravery and wisdom of several samurai in Dewa Kingdom. However, there were too few celebrities in Dewa Kingdom, and most of the samurai were ordinary people. Compared with the generals, the stars were brighter. The people of Echigo, Shinano, and Ueno are still far behind. Of course, they also talked about the most legendary person, and the person who everyone admired and admired, Ashikaga Kamisaburo Yoshitoki. His legendary stories were compiled into stories by monkey musicians and were widely circulated among the people, from Uao in the north to Kyushu in the south, from the high-ranking nobles to the common people at dawn. Everyone as old as an octant or as young as a child knows his name and his energy in life. His life of more than ten years is more bizarre than Minamoto Yoshitsune. His martial arts is higher than that of Minamoto Yoritomo. He has experienced dozens of large and small battles for more than ten years since he entered Luoyang at the age of nine without ever being defeated. He has also staged shocking reversals many times, in which he defeated the strong with the small and the weak. His bravery, wisdom and political strategy are all at the top level in the world. What's even more rare is that he loves Kyoto culture. He received a standard public education since he was a child. He has a standard Kyoto accent. He wears hunting clothes and a black hat and holds a bat fan. He is also handsome, knowledgeable and talented, just like the Hikaru Genji recorded in "The Tale of Genji". , the perfect man template for countless girls. It is said that many young women in Echigo were fascinated by Kira Yoshitoki's story, but it seemed that the person involved had no idea it would have such a big impact. Mogami Yoshimitsu found it interesting and started chatting with them. It took a few people to figure out that Mogami Yoshimitsu's identity turned out to be the newly minted family elder. They immediately stopped playing and worshiped Mogami Yoshimitsu, who was very disappointed. Several young people said that they had not expected his identity, thinking that he was the heir of an ordinary samurai family in Echigo who came to hunt with his horsemen. They were not native samurai of Echigo. The samurai of Echigo are now divided into several territories. All the generals in the country only gather at Kasugayama Castle to celebrate the festival in the first month of every year, so so far they have not been able to recognize all the samurai families in Echigo. I am really sorry for mistaking Mogami Yoshimitsu. Because of the special status of Mogami Yoshimitsu, these few friends who were very likely to become close friends ended up being nothing. Since ancient times, it has been said that there are two kinds of superiority and inferiority, and this group of young people from Ueno CountryIn the eyes of ordinary samurai, a man can really be called tall, rich and handsome. Walking on the streets of Kasugayama Castle, he always receives the envious looks of countless people. However, they were still far behind in front of the real nobles, and could not safely maintain their previous calmness and sophistication. What they feared was not Mogami Yoshimitsu himself, but the order of the samurai family of this era, and the origin of the order of the samurai family could be traced back further. The court rules of the early Heian period, Nara period, and Asuka period. The feudal system was not unique to the samurai family. What Minamoto Yoritomo did was to suddenly elevate the status of the samurai from the lackeys of the emperor and ministers to a noble class that could truly be compared with the public family. The feudal system was transformed from the tribal clan system. It was the Asuka Period. After experiencing great reforms and introducing the advanced and perfect Tang Empire culture, this country, which had just emerged from the clan and tribal system, seemed to have stepped into the model of the Tang Dynasty. In fact, this is not the case. The remnants of the clan and tribal system still remain. In order to appease the leaders of the big clans in various places, Emperor Tenmu of the Asuka Period initially set up the eight-colored surnames to be enfeoffed as rewards. The royal family was regarded as the real person, and the leaders of the big clans in various places were regarded as courtiers. , Su Ni, Ji Cun, and smaller tribes have the surnames Taoist, Chen, Lian, and Daozhi. Later, during the Nara period, the imperial court became increasingly powerful, and the eight-colored surname system was gradually abolished. Until the early Heian period, the four major courtier surname systems of Genpei and Fujitachi were gradually formed, with courtiers as the main surnames. Among them, the two Genpei families were descended from courtiers, and the Fuji family came from A direct descendant of Kamazu, the Nakatoshi who controlled the government, the Tachibana family has a wide range of origins, mainly the emperor's lucky ministers. After experiencing the prosperous and splendid Heian period, the civilization of Kyoto has been able to keep up with the first-line level of the Central Plains dynasty. However, outside of Kyoto, it is still the era of barbaric and ignorant clans and tribes. That is why the public minister Shimo Xiangyuan mentioned in "The Tale of Genji" appeared. Kunai is the exile of losers in political struggles, just like Fujiwara Manatsu in the Yakoko Incident. It was only after the Southern and Northern Dynasties that we completely got rid of the shadow of clan tribalism. The Genpei era was actually a cake-sharing act for the emerging aristocratic group to challenge the old aristocratic group. The noble race of the Genji, which has been highly praised by martial arts families all over the world for hundreds of years, is actually to safeguard their interests. The supreme leader, Taira Kiyomori was unwilling to do it, so he was abandoned by the samurai family and ended up being exterminated. Minamoto Yoritomo was willing to do it, so he became the general who conquered the barbarians, and the same was true for Ashikaga Takauji. Nagano Yago pulled the reluctant Obata Nobusada away, and a friendship that was destined to be fruitless ended prematurely. Mogami Yoshimitsu returned to Kasugayama Castle with some regrets. When he walked to the mountainside and looked at the evening that was getting darker, Thousands of lights have been quietly lit in the bustling city at the foot of the mountain, and the bright lights illuminate the dim night. Only at this moment do you realize how powerful Echigo is. Looking at the brightly lit night scene and the sound of firecrackers that occasionally reminded him of it, Mogami Yoshimitsu hesitated and said: "How on earth did His Highness K¨kata turn this small port on the border of Hokuriku into the world in just a few years?" What about the numerous maritime transportation hubs? The non-agricultural population of this territory alone is 200,000, which is astonishing, almost half of the total population of Hazen. However, Echigo has been covering up this amazing news. Great fortune, what is His Highness¡¯s ambition?¡± ps: Thank you book friend for your generous reward.