I am practicing in the Nianghua Warring States Period

It seems they've sensed the world is getting worse by the day, at least for them, it's like Wang Xiaoer's New Year, each year getting worse than the last. I don't know if they're trying to figure out who's better before the fall of the Ashikaga shogunate, but the moment they meet, they start discussing their social status.

They quarreled for two days and two nights.

Even after being stationed there for a day, the two of them didn't launch a surprise attack or kill anyone to steal treasure. They were all respectable people, and even if they had fallen to this point, they couldn't kill their fellow disciples. The expressions they looked at each other were like seeing a roommate's dogecoin. They cursed each other, but at the end of the day, they were all brothers. In such an atmosphere—

The two of them didn't agree on anything.

"Huh..." After two days and two nights of arguing, the third day began. The flags were still flying, the acrobatics were still going on, and the drums and music were still playing outside. But!

After arguing for two days, Yoshigane Sasaki realized that his opponent might be living a worse life than himself: "I am now under the command of Nobuhime Oda."

"?" Seeing that the other party finally spoke a reasonable word after two days, Kira Yoshiaki was silent for a moment and said, "I am now a disciple of the Imagawa family."

"So, the Oda Danmasatada family is a retainer of my retainer's retainer." With a sneer, Sasaki Yoshikane said, "The Imagawa family is your retainer, right?"

"...He's not really a retainer, but his status is much lower than mine." Kira Yoshiaki sighed. "This whole Tōkaidō is ours, but all I have now is a mere Tojo Castle. Even with that, Imagawa Yoshimoto isn't going to let me go."

silence.

"Oda Nobuhime said that she wanted you to leave Imagawa." Sasaki Yoshigane suddenly laughed out loud and said with emotion: "She will protect you from now on."

Chapter 139 Who is more respectable to be a dog?

"Tui!" Kira Yoshiaki snorted fiercely. "Who the hell is she? To me, she's just a geisha! If I die at the hands of Imagawa Yoshimoto now, I'll be dying at the hands of my own family. If I die at her hands, wouldn't it be like jumping from one frying pan into another? And I'll be ridiculed once more?"

"..." This Shiba Yoshigane sounded very unhappy, but there was nothing he could do. This was the implementation situation, and it was also a case of being overthrown by the lower class.

I am the one who was forced to clean toilets in the company.

Kira Yoshiaki was the one who was overthrown by his relatives.

"We are both from the most prestigious families. Why should we lead horses for the Imagawa family? And why should we pay homage to a mere official?" Kira Yoshiaki cursed. "Why don't you and I join forces today, storm Kiyosu Castle, and seize the throne!"

"..."You're crazy, I'm not. Shiba Yoshigane thought, how many dishes did you have to drink so much? "Her Highness Sanniang Xinji has been very kind to me. She avenged my father..."

"It's all the Oda family's fault. The people of the Oda family rebelled against your father! The people of the Oda family avenged you. Do you think this is reasonable?" Kira Yoshiaki rolled his eyes.

"Then let's be frank—do you know someone called Beidou Xinwei?"

"I know. It's a pretty outrageous story." Suddenly, Kira Yoshiaki laughed and said, "That story about a fourteen-year-old swordsman is just ridiculous. It's all so exaggerated, just the fantasies of ordinary people. There's nothing much to say. And there's also the story about him shattering nine teacups in all directions in the blink of an eye. And killing dozens of people in one battle. Isn't that just bullshit?"

"..." Shiba Yoshigane was silent for a moment, then said, "Then, what if what I say is true?"

"Huh?" Kira Yoshiaki was stunned for a moment, then frowned: "Don't be ridiculous..."

"I swear by Hachiman Daibosatsu, I'm not joking." Sasaki Yoshigane sighed and looked at the other party. "Such people do exist in the world. I saw with my own eyes how she attacked Qingzhou Castle and led her retainers. She single-handedly killed so many people. This one person is worth a thousand troops! And that's not all. This man's skills are extremely skilled. Many local leaders and people in the country are subservient to him. Sigh... I won't say much. If you want a sneak attack, we two are not enough to fill his teeth alone."

"..." Kira Yoshiaki was silent for a moment, then said: "Then, what about the Imagawa family?"

"? Hmm?" This time, Yoshitaka Sasaki found the conversation a bit interesting. "The Imagawa family? The Imagawa family and my family have a deep grudge! My grandfather was captured by the Imagawa villain using despicable tactics, and died in depression! Otherwise, our Sasaki family wouldn't have ended up like this..."

"Let me ask you, we're both living under someone else's roof. Do you think it's better to be a retainer of the Oda family or the Imagawa family? We're all from the same family! As long as we win military merit, becoming a retainer of the other party is not impossible. If the Imagawa clan goes to Kyoto, won't we still be the daimyo of the military guards?"

"..."

This time there was real silence.

The genes instantly activated—yes, being a dog was inevitable. It had always been a dog, no shivers. But the question was who could be a relatively respectable dog, and that was the real question.

"For ordinary Wu clans, it's not shameful to submit to a strong man. For us, the Wuwei clan, if we submit to a strong man, we must also submit to a respectable strong man." Sasaki Yoshigane instantly finalized the main theme of his speech, slapping his thigh and grabbing the hand of his fellow relative in front of him: "You and I swear, if we raise an army, we will advance and retreat together!"

"Advance and retreat together!"

The two most famous families, with a total of less than 300 people, shook hands with each other and swore an oath, agreeing to advance and retreat together.

Anyway, the task given by Oda Nobuhime was to get Kira Yoshiaki to leave the Imagawa family.

But in the end, the two families argued for two days and two nights over the issue of family background. In the end, they reached a consensus on the matter of attacking the Oda family together. Even though Oda Nobuhime offered a higher price, the Oda family preferred to serve as a dog for the stronger one who seemed to be the stronger one at the moment.

"But what should we do next?" After Shiba Yoshigane and Kira Yoshiaki high-fived and swore an oath, Shiba Yoshigane backed off before their hands parted. "Let's make it clear first: if I were to face Hokuto Nobuo alone, I might not be able to defeat him."

"No matter how strong he is, he is just a human being. He..."

"I doubt, I doubt it very much, that this Beidou Xinwei... is a ghost, or perhaps he's practicing the evil magic of the Ming Dynasty. Or maybe... he's practicing the true magic of the Ming Dynasty?" Sasaki Yoshigane quickly presented facts and examples. "I saw him pull out the blood arrow from his body with my own eyes, and his armor seemed to heal itself. The most mysterious thing about his swordsmanship is that it seems that with one strike, the entire area three feet wide and ten feet long in front of him will be attacked."

New Year's Greetings Sword Technique, aoe damage, especially for attacking small city gates, has very real high damage.

"I saw it with my own eyes. He split the city gate open!"

"...?" Kira Yoshiaki was also a little amazed after hearing this: "Is he really a swordsman? ...Not just some vulgar boast?"

"I told you I saw it with my own eyes."

"Okay, leave these to the Imagawa family." Kira Yoshiaki muttered, but he actually knew the answer.

A little over a year ago, nearly two years ago, Okabe Motonobu, a general of the Imagawa clan, led his defeated troops past his home. He even came to comfort the troops—a volunteer force of 1500 men, driven to flight by a mere 800 men. At the time, Kira Yoshiaki was actually quite disdainful of the so-called "general," Okabe Motonobu: "That's it?"

But now that I think about it, what they were talking about was a "ghost god" on the battlefield, and it seemed to be Beidou Xinwei. Could it be... that all this is really true?

"I plan to suggest that the Imagawa family take the water route." Kira Yoshiaki signaled his men to bring a map.

It's like something an elementary school student would draw. The place names are mostly correct, but the topography and everything else is mostly wrong! It barely has a rough outline, but that's not the fault of those who don't have satellite maps.

"Depart from Mikawa, when the sea is calm, bypass everything! - Raid Tsushima Port!" Suddenly revealing a wicked smile, Kira Yoshiaki said: "Tsushima Port has a prosperous trade, and the soldiers will fight to the death to attack here!"

That means you can plunder afterwards.

"This is the right time! The Oda family is not good at naval battles, otherwise they wouldn't be unable to capture a small Ichiejima Hattori family. This is the right place! - The Ichiejima Hattori family has always been at odds with the Oda family! As long as they are mobilized, the Imagawa family army will naturally be able to capture this place with half the effort! This is the right people! - You only need to act as a backup, and I only need to be the vanguard, so that we can take the first credit! When the time comes, we will both have contributed to the capture of the Oda family! - Don't forget, the Ichiejima Hattori family is related to the main family!"

"Oh, yes, Ichie Island!" Sasaki Yoshikane also realized this and immediately got excited. "We can definitely take it! - How about this, you and I will personally rush to see Lord Imagawa Yoshimoto! If you offer this plan, you will definitely be appreciated! I also have connections with Ichie Island! I can also act as an insider in Kiyosu Castle!"

"..." You want a share of the credit? But... your presence might also mean the plan is more feasible: "That's great! We'll go there quickly!"

The time was February 22, 1552.

On that day, Beidou Xinwei took over Shijiang Island. However, considering that there was no internet or mobile phones in this era, and the shameful nature of the whole thing, everyone kept it secret for the time being.

...The lack of information is fatal.

Chapter 140 Even a thief company must learn advanced foreign technology

The new official took office with three major actions: he captured Kanie Cheng, and then handed Hokuto Nobuyoshi directly to Oda Nobuhime. Mission accomplished, you can play with it yourself.

Just like an old father who bought a toy for his daughter.

Beidou Xinwei kept the other city, Shijiangdao, which he had obtained by deception, for himself to play with.

It's like a father who buys a toy for his daughter, only to find out she doesn't like it, so he has to keep it for himself. This PS5 is clearly the one my one-year-old daughter clamored to buy, but she doesn't want to play with it. What can I do? I have to use it myself.

In order to expand the Oda clan's positive influence in neighboring countries, vigorously develop the economic belt around Ichie Island, Tsushima Port, and Atsuta Port, and improve the quality of life of local people, General Kitado Nobuyoshi convened the first enlarged meeting of the Hokuto clan's Political Bureau and personally inspected the political, economic, and livelihood work of Ichie Island. During the meeting, General Kitado Nobuyoshi stated:

"That's it?"

I took a real-life observation of Ichie Island, which is across the river from Tsushima Port. The river separates several small islands and finally flows into Ise Bay.

Later, this area was largely leveled by land reclamation. As Japan's largest industrial region, it enjoyed exceptional maritime transport, even during the Warring States period. Its natural deepwater harbor provided a constant flow of merchant ships to the port of Tsushima across the way.

The Imperial Palace of Ichie Island was built on the highest point of the island, and Beidou Xinwei could at least see the scenery of Ichie Island - to be honest, it was not too big.

"How can a thousand people fit into such a tiny space?" Beidou Xinwei was puzzled by the idea of ​​a fortress on such a small island. It looked to be about 15,000 square meters, the size of two football fields. Over a thousand people on the island were involved in production, work, labor, eating, drinking, defecating, and sleeping all in one place.

"Your Highness, you don't know." As his old boss across the sea, Hotta Michikō had to come over to see if his old rival was truly dead. Hotta Michikō, the head of Tsushima Port, followed behind Hokuto Nobuyuki, introducing everything on the island: "This place is not only a place for battle... Look, to the east is the Honganji Temple of the Hokke sect, and Yozenji Temple."

"Hmm?" Beidou Xinwei finally understood something he hadn't understood for a long time after landing on the island. "There's a temple to the east? Such a large place, yet they've allocated a third of the territory for a temple?"

"Yes, this is what Honganji is doing. However, this place can not only accommodate a thousand people, but in wartime, we can even recruit three thousand people to this island." Horita Michikō was quite emotional. He and Beidou Nobuyuki stood on the top of the small island city and admired the river view. "There are many islands here. Tanakajima is our island. On the nearby Okiejima, we have a fortress with thirty people stationed there. Everyone is fighting for the surrounding islands. I didn't expect that they would all be conquered this time."

There are nine small islands scattered around the islands, all of which are under the jurisdiction of Ichie Island and are under the jurisdiction of Honganji Temple. Nagashima is made up of seven islands of different sizes, with a Nagashima Castle built on them, which is directly under the jurisdiction of Honganji Temple.

"Twenty years ago, the lord wanted to attack this island. However, the Honganji clan's constant grain shipments and naval harassment were constant. As this island was isolated in the river, the navy was weak, making it impossible to siege the city. This island and many smaller ones gathered more than 3,000 people at the time. Sigh..." Thinking about it gave him a headache. Hotta Michikū shook his head and said, "I never thought... that His Highness Hokuto would cut off the source of the trouble and capture Ichie Island in one fell swoop. He directly found Hattori Tomosada's vital point... It was truly unbelievable. It still seems like a dream."

"Yeah, it's a bit simple."

Beidou Xinwei also felt a little emotional, as Oda Nobuhime attacked Nagashima Castle in history.

After the conquest, the island's monks, families, and followers, who resisted for a long time, killed Oda Nobuhime's brothers, and frequently plundered. Oda Nobuhime spared no one and burned down Nagashima Castle, killing more than 20,000 monks and followers.

This number should be over 20,000, including those on all the surrounding small islands—Changdao City is just a general term. This time, Beidou Xinwei was the first to capture Shijiang Island, and few people there died, which can be considered a meritorious deed.

"I don't think the people here can be trusted." Beidou Xinwei brought the army to the island, and the army has suppressed all the population on the island.

What was impossible to conquer militarily was surprisingly easy politically. Under Hattori Tomosada's life-threatening order not to resist, Hokuto Nobuo's team quickly took over and surrendered.

"How about that?" Beidou Xinwei thought for a long time and made a gesture, "Chop them all off."

"!!!" Hotta Michikū had never seen such a bunch of people before, and was immediately shocked and said, "Your Highness... this, killing prisoners is an ominous sign. What's more, these people are just fence-sitters, all pirates, and may not be very loyal to his Hattori family. In fact... many of them have some connection with my Hotta family. I am willing to convey Your Highness's desire to recruit talents. Please calm down, Your Highness, please don't..."

"What are you afraid of? I didn't say to kill them all." Beidou Xinwei shook his head.

He brought his people to Ichijiang Island and was deeply moved by the sight of this place.

A group of retainers following behind were even more amazed - why did the boss kill thousands of captives at every turn?

In the palace on Ichie Island, Beidou Xinwei's retainers knelt on the tatami and dared not speak.

"Killing prisoners is unlucky, of course I know. But these islanders are called sailors, but they're actually pirates... They're so fickle, how can I rest assured?" Beidou Xinwei said, looking at the bound captives kneeling on the ground outside the palace. Some women, who were not tied up, trembled while holding their children, and these people were responsible for shedding tears.

Many soldiers held weapons in their hands, and these people were responsible for keeping silent.

"However, I do have an excellent retainer in this area, which can just solve the loyalty problem of the pirates. By the way, there is an old saying in Ming Dynasty, called 'foreign monks can chant sutras'. Simply put, it means that stones from other mountains can be used to polish jade." As the beautiful young man spoke, he pulled up the most conspicuous one from among the retainers.

He has blond hair, blue eyes, and wears southern barbarian clothes, but wears a samurai sword (and a European half-handed sword) on his waist.

The most important thing is that this is a very beautiful female southern barbarian.

In fact, this female barbarian was also quite surprised by the barbarian clothing she was wearing. This female barbarian was Nioh (1) Wilhelmina Lilith.

Wilhelmina ascended to nobility in the far East because she "believed" her boss, Beidou Xinwei, was a secret Catholic. So, she felt no psychological burden in accepting the title of nobility bestowed upon her by a Catholic lord. Britain? What the hell are nations, states, and nation-states? I don't understand! That was four centuries later. After ascending to nobility, she had always wanted to do the things of nobility.

Chapter 141: The British Training Method of the Men's Beauty, Hajimalu

For example, clothing, food, shelter, and transportation! Clothing had to be luxurious, right? According to her thinking, she should wear the most fashionable European styles: the ultra-luxurious chastokor (long, reaching the knees), the slightly shorter baste, or the half-length kuylot. The overall style was more like a gorgeous flared dress—of course, for war, Wilhelmina had no choice but to choose a woman wearing men's finery. It was almost like an early, pre-Rococo period finery, with soft lines, a soft, elegant, and courteous look.

However, Beidou Xinwei does not see it that way.

He ordered the tailor to tailor a three-piece suit for Wilhelmina, just as he had intended. At first glance, the suit was quite striking, but a closer look revealed that every line had been straightened, the cuffs no longer wide-open but fitted, and the neckline, no longer rounded, had a collar. Superfluous embellishments were minimal, creating a simple and practical look that exuded a sophisticated and handsome air. Crucially, even the woman's figure was taken into account.

Simply put, it's a slim-fitting women's suit. In winter, add a fur coat.

"Let me introduce you. This is my 'foreign monk'—don't be fooled by her southern barbarian origins. I've sailed more miles and visited more countries than anyone else here." Beidou Xinwei immediately concluded, "This is my foreign teacher. This person will be responsible for the upcoming naval training and the overall ideological framework for transforming pirates into naval forces."

Beidou Xinwei gestured to Wilhelmina: "Come on, introduce yourself."

"Main achievement." After several months of studying Japanese, Wilhelmina had to admit she was a truly impressive language learner. She'd basically achieved fluent oral communication, the only issue being her accent. But that didn't matter. Warring States Japan's accents were like those of all ancient societies. Without established communication, there were no established standards. Without these standards, everyone was a "stinking outsider," so a mix of accents was normal. "Mina-san, you're so impatient. Watasi 'Wilhelmina Lilith', you must die. Yelu died bitterly, and the dog hit me with gas."

Everyone present thought about this for about half a second, but they all understood.

"Wilhelmina Lilith is not a good name, so you can just call me Lilith. From now on, I will serve as a naval instructor. I will be building the Oda clan navy here, overseeing shipbuilding and training them in combat. Rest assured, I have five years of experience as a pilot and eighteen years as a sailor." Born in the slums, Wilhelmina, like all veteran sailors of her time, had been working as a laborer on board ships at the age of seven or eight. She smiled brightly and introduced herself to everyone present: "My lord just said, 'One can polish jade with stones from other mountains,' but I believe my training methods may be a bit more brutal. Your 'jade' won't be easy to carve under my 'stone.' Well, all my captives."

Wilhelmina clapped her hands.

Suddenly his tone became high-pitched.

"Everyone, stand up! Stand still!" After leaving the palace, Wilhelmina, with Beidou Xinwei's tacit approval, began to select, or rather...eliminate, the captives kneeling on the ground outside the palace.

"Hokuto Army, stand guard along the imperial palace—" With the sound of armor leaves trembling, the soldiers maintaining law and order withdrew and stood guard around the area.

"Come on, everyone, tie your hands." Wilhelmina clapped her hands and beat the rhythm as she shouted to the captives in her accented training chant: "Do you hear my beat? After 20 beats, everyone find their own team. Five people in a group, and then I will eliminate them based on the number of team members. I just counted, there are 360 ​​women, and 172 people who look like children. There are 546 adult and elderly men in total - I only want 500 people, and I don't want the remaining 46. You can select them at will. 360 women will be rewarded to 360 men. As for the children, whoever's family they belong to must try their best to survive. Okay, let's start:"

Wilhelmina began to beat the rhythm in her hands, and the surrounding Beidou soldiers used the tips of their spears to point at the prisoners who were almost packed together.

"Come closer to me! Quick, everyone from Mingze's family come here!——"

"Tomobe family, everyone come here quickly!——"

Finally, after a flurry of mobilization, women fled frantically, clutching their children. Some children, abandoned in the middle of the arena, cried, only to be kicked to the perimeter by men. Family groups, or even gangs, gathered frantically. A fight ensued among the bound hands and feet. Some, attempting to free themselves, were killed by Wilhelmina's precise, close-range cannon fire.

"Bang!" After the earth-shaking roar of the cannon, Wilhelmina looked at the people who were either stunned or continuing to fight and said with a smile: "Don't break my rules, or you will die immediately - hurry, continue!"

There is a reason why British pirates were able to become the leaders of European pirates.

Wilhelmina's excellent pirate...naval experience! She brought a ray of Western light to the distant East.

Soon, dozens of people who were not sociable or had conflicts of interest were beaten to death.

"Alright, as we just said, let's start distributing the women and children!" Wilhelmina clapped her hands and began distributing other people's wives and children in public. This was a pretext to create tension, driving a new nail into the hearts of the pirates, who were probably not united to begin with. "Those of you who stayed behind have passed the test. I am your new captain! Those who disobey orders will be flogged! Drunkenness, fighting, and stealing will be punished by being locked up like dogs! Those who escape or rebel will be tied up and thrown into the sea to feed the sharks! Disband today!"

The whole process went smoothly, and then all the ropes on the prisoners' hands were untied.

Everyone is free.

However, he has already bound himself.