Warring States Survival Guide

Chapter 67 is like being stuck in a quagmire!

The next morning, after Yuanye got up, good news came. The Matsudaira family had given up the attack and retreated along the Kasuga River after burning the camp. Not long after, Oda Nobunaga also issued an order to return to Naguno Castle.

Finally, the Battle of Higashitsuno was over. In name, the Matsudaira clan was repelled and the enemy general was shot dead. The result seemed acceptable, but in fact it was a great defeat. Not only did a group of people return home in disgrace, but Oda Nobunaga might also be blamed by the old-school retainers.

Of course, this had little to do with Harano. How Oda Nobunaga was scolded had nothing to do with him. It was just that he could not return to Takeuchi-sho to continue his soy sauce business for the time being, and he needed to stay in Furuno Castle for a while - he was a doctor who was paid, and he had to wait until the wounded were almost healed before he could leave.

Fortunately, Oda Nobunaga attached great importance to these men and tried his best to provide all the conditions that would help them recover. Not only did he set aside a small area for the wounded to implement strict hygiene measures, he also assigned more than ten maids to help the wounded cook and wash clothes. He even designated a small courtyard for Yuanye, but it was not known whether it was lent to him temporarily or given to him directly.

However, Oda Nobunaga never showed up again, and neither did his close attendants such as Maeda Toshiie, as if they had simply disappeared.

Yuanye didn't care about all this and just did his job as a "medical practitioner". Two days later, an unknown warrior came to visit him and brought him a horse, a good horse at that. It was nearly 1.4 meters tall at the shoulder, with thick legs and a very strong physique. According to the standards of later generations, it was still a dwarf horse, but in Japan, it was indeed a first-class horse.

"It's a stallion, and it's quite big. No wonder it has such a strong physique!" Aman bent down and glanced under the horse's belly, and immediately sighed.

You wild child, really makes people...

Yuanye quickly grabbed her collar and lifted her up, fearing that she would cause a scandal of sexually harassing horses, but he patted the fat horse's butt, feeling that the horse was worth at least 40 kan, and he was very satisfied - no wonder Japanese samurai loved war so much, it was true that war fortunes were easy to make, and this trip was not too hard, he got 140 kan, which was almost as much as he earned from selling soy sauce in a month.

Ah Man was also very happy. According to Yuan Ye's character, he had this big horse, and the calico mare would definitely belong to her and Ah Qing in the future. He couldn't help but pat the horse's butt with satisfaction and asked curiously, "Who was that guy who just came? Why did he give you such a big horse for free?"

"He's a retainer of Hirate Masahide, and he said it's a thank-you gift!" Yuanye waved his hand to signal Aqing that he could lead the horse to the stable, and then explained the general situation to Aman.

Well, there's actually not much to explain. As the patriarch of Oda Danmasatada's family and the teacher of the new head of the family, Hirate Masahide didn't have much to say to a "wandering samurai". He just sent his retainers to present a thank-you gift to thank him for his active participation in the "Battle of Higashitsuno", and that was it.

Perhaps Hirate Masahide knew the process of the "Battle of Higashitsuno" and was aware that Oda Nobunaga's invitation to dinner had failed and Harano did not receive any reward, so he hurried to make amends so as not to disappoint the meritorious official.

Ah Man suddenly realized what was going on and exclaimed, "So he was just cleaning up the big fool's ass. The old guy is really sophisticated and much better than the greenhorn like the big fool!"

After she finished speaking, she glanced at Yuan Ye again and said meaningfully, "It's true that an old man in the family is like a treasure. You should really listen to the old people at home more and not act arbitrarily. Only in this way can you live a better life!"

Yuan Ye understood. There were no outsiders here, so he didn't need to pretend. He just glanced at her and said unhappily, "Don't be so sarcastic. Do we have any elderly people in our family?"

"I am very old!"

"You're old as hell! I'm seven or eight years older than you!"

"What's the point of being seven or eight years older!" Ah Man said directly, and then with a melancholy expression, "I can tell from your expression that you haven't suffered much since you were a child, but I have suffered a lot... If you really count it, I should be seven or eight years older than you!"

After she said this, Yuan Ye was stunned for a moment, and said sadly: "I suffered a lot when I was a child, but you just don't know it."

"Tell us about the hardships you experienced as a child." Aman became curious.

“Let’s not talk about it, let’s not talk about it!” Yuanye didn’t want to compare who had a more miserable childhood. He felt that he had an 80% chance of not being able to compare - he was just often abused at home when he was a child, which is quite miserable in modern times, but not worth mentioning in ancient times. However, A-man’s entire family died, and the word “miserable” was written in human lives. He had no confidence that he could compare.

He quickly changed the subject and asked her seriously, "What's the situation outside now?"

"Not good, now it's even worse than before." Aman gloated, "The Tadashi Tadashi said he defeated the Matsudaira clan, but the truth is that they can't hide it from anyone. Oda Nobunaga, the big fool, lost face again this time. Now people are talking about it and making up all kinds of jokes about him. I guess those local nobles will not take him seriously anymore."

"Is that so..." Yuan Ye pondered for a moment and thought that this was normal. After all, he was a little unsure now. He suspected that he had traveled to a strange parallel time and space. He lost a lot of confidence in Oda Nobunaga. Oda Nobunaga clearly unified Owari Province in history, but now he was beaten to a pulp, and Owari did not show any signs of unification. It was very strange and inconsistent with history. It was impossible not to doubt him.

He pondered for a while and then asked, "Where is Oda Nobunaga? What is he doing now?"

"I don't know. I haven't heard of him showing up in the past two days. He must be hiding at home pretending to be dead!" Ah Man said, and then asked, "Do you want me to sneak into his house and see what he is doing?"

"That's not necessary. It's not worth it to cause trouble." Yuanye just asked casually. If she didn't know, then she didn't know. It wouldn't have much impact. After thinking for a while, he instructed Ah Man, "You have nothing to do these few days, go look for bean cakes. It would be best if you could find one or two merchants who can provide a long-term and stable supply of bean cakes, and then see where you can get high-quality sulfur and alkali soil."

Let Oda Nobunaga worry about his own affairs. Even if Harano wanted to take care of it, he couldn't. He should just worry about his own business and try to find suppliers of raw materials for the future.

"It's a piece of cake. Leave it to me! If I can't find the Furuno City Town, I'll go to Atsuta again!" Aman patted his chest and agreed. He was also very concerned about Yuanye's soy sauce business. After chatting with him for a few more words, he turned around and went out to work.

Yuanye also turned around and went back to the house, ready to think about other ways to make money and start doing it when he got home this time.

…………

During the day, Yuanye managed his makeshift hospital and took care of his business. At night, he continued to run his "night school" and taught Aman, Aqing, Yayoi and others to read. Five or six days passed quickly in this half-busy and half-idle manner, and the injuries of the wounded generally stabilized. After all, they were all lightly injured, and most of them would not die even if they were left aside.

Yuanye felt that his mission was basically completed, and was ready to tell Oda Nobunaga and go back, but before he left the house, he heard bursts of conch shell sounds coming from the temple. The sounds were very short, and seemed to be the sounds of conch shells urgently summoning important ministers for a meeting.

He suddenly had a bad feeling in his heart and felt that he might not be able to leave for a while.

Sure enough, not long after, Ah Man came running over like the wind, his head and face covered in sweat, and shouted from a distance: "Oh no, oh no, someone is attacking us again!"

Yuanye asked hurriedly, "Who is calling? Is the Matsudaira family making a comeback?"

"It's not the Matsudaira family, it's the Sasaki family... It's not the Sasaki family either, it's the Kiyosu Oda family that's attacking!" Aman wiped the sweat off his face, and felt that he was going to go home in vain. He sighed, "The Kiyosu Oda family suddenly sent out troops and took down the two castles of Matsuba and Fukada in one day. One of the castle guards was captured, and the other fled to an unknown place. Now the Oda Danmasatada family is in a bit of a mess."

"Let's talk inside!" Yuanye quickly pulled her inside, found a map, and asked her, "Where are Matsuba and Fukada? Isn't the Kiyosu Oda family the main family of the Dan Masatada family? Why did they suddenly take action?"

Aman glanced at the map, poked at the northwest of Arashi Castle and said, "Probably here, there are two small towns, but Matsuba Castle controls Matsubaguchi, and Fukada Castle controls Sanbongi. They are two important checkpoints."

After a pause, she added, "It's still unclear why the Kiyosu Oda Clan suddenly took action. They probably saw that the big fool had just inherited the family headship and suffered a defeat, and people's hearts were unstable, so they wanted to take advantage of the opportunity. Moreover, this time they did not send troops in the name of the Kiyosu Oda Clan, but under the banner of the Owari Shugo Sasaki Clan. Strictly speaking, it can't be considered a sneak attack by the main family on the branch family."

Yuanye looked at the map carefully and found that the locations of Matsuba and Fukada were very critical. If they went further south, they could split the territory of the Danzheng family in half at any time, or at least cut off the land transportation lines between Shimazu and Atsuta, reducing the economic strength of the Danzheng family by half.

It seems that this battle is inevitable...

This is really a turbulent time. I don’t even have time to do business and make some money. It’s really killing me!
He sighed deeply, and Ah Man came back after hearing the news. He was very thirsty, so he picked up his tea bowl and saw that there was still a little tea left in it. He drank it up in two gulps, wiped his mouth, and asked, "What should we do now?"

She also wanted to go home and make soy sauce, but they ended up fighting again.

"I don't know either. I'd better be prepared to leave Owari for refuge at any time, and then see what Oda Danmasatada's family will do!" Yuanye sighed again. It has only been more than a hundred days since he fell into trouble, and the war in Owari has already started. The scale of the war is getting bigger and bigger. He really has no good solution - if he is given a year, he will be able to advance and retreat freely, but it has been more than three months since he adapted to the environment. He has no time to do anything, which makes him somewhat helpless.

Until this moment, he, a modern man who was born into peace and stability, finally understood how precious peace and stability are!

Once the war starts, you lose all freedom of action, as if you were stuck in a quagmire!
(End of this chapter)