I am practicing in the Nianghua Warring States Period

Chapter 167 Strong Declaration!

"...My lord, was this guy bitten by a dog?" He looked at Takenaka Hanbei with suspicion.

The beautiful girl A Xiu looked at the confused Takenaka Hanbei with a confused look on her face.

"No, it seems I'm too surprised to see you." Beidou Xinwei shook his head slightly.

"This... Lord?!" Takenaka Hanbei looked at Ah Xiu and asked tremblingly, "Why are you here? Why... are you wearing women's clothes?!"

"... Kono Baga, iron me!!!" Ah Xiu grew up in the slums. Her career basically focused on the development of the bottom of society, and she was in a state of waiting to get rich economically. If anyone dared to provoke her, the first thing she would do was to fight back! Otherwise, the weak persimmon in the slums would be the first to die! "I wear whatever I like, it's none of your business! - What are you calling my Lord? Are you stupid?"

"Ah Xiu, don't be too anxious." Beidou Xinwei patted Ah Xiu's shoulder, glanced at Takenaka Hanbei, and said to Ah Xiu in a deep voice: "I have some bad news and some good news for you... First of all, you have to be strong. Your father just died not long ago."

Ah Xiu was stunned for a moment, her brows furrowed, and she looked extremely painful. She looked at Beidou Xinwei and asked word by word, "So, what's the bad news?"

Hokuto Nobui & Takenaka Hanbei: "..."

"Don't tell me my father left me a debt of several strings of cash! We agreed that the grace of raising a child is not as good as the grace of giving birth to a child. I was the one who raised me, but he didn't raise me for a single day! People I haven't met are as good as dead. There are so many relatives in this world that I haven't met. Theoretically, eight hundred years ago, I was a family with the Emperor." Ah Xiu presented facts, gave examples, and rationally analyzed the understanding of genetic inheritance in human genetics and human sociology: "Now the Emperor is as poor as a cuckold and can only rely on selling palace maids and selling his own paintings to make money! Do I still have to support the Emperor? - So, don't put the debt of my dead father, whom I have never met, on me."

"Stop, stop." Beidou Xinwei tried to calm the other party down. "I said that the death of your 'dead father', whom you've never met, is a bad thing."

"? This is clearly a good thing, right?"

"Okay, your family's affairs are quite complicated. Let me tell you—" Beidou Xinwei pointed at Takenaka Hanbei and said, "Your dead father was done by your twin brother...who has the same father and mother as you."

"What? Is our family so powerful?" Ah Xiu's eyes widened, and she quickly waved her hands at Beidou Xinwei: "Let me make it clear first, although my last name is Saito, you know my character. I'm completely, completely different from that old bastard Saito Michizo! It doesn't matter! I won't do anything to overthrow my superiors!"

"This..." Beidou Xinwei looked at Takenaka Hanbei, whose mouth was getting bigger and bigger, but seemed to understand the situation, and pressed Saito Yoshihide's shoulder with a smile.

He pressed the beautiful girl into his seat and said, "It's not up to you. Come, sit here first."

"My lord? Don't be like this...there are outsiders watching us." Ah Xiu seemed a little shy, her body a little stiff, and she struggled a little.

"Stop talking nonsense." He pushed the other person to sit down. Beidou Xinwei was not a real male protagonist in Japanese literary works. It was impossible for him to have direct relations with his woman in front of outsiders. After pressing Saito Yoshihide to his side, Beidou Xinwei said to Takenaka Hanbei; "Come, take a look, this is Saito Yoshitatsu's twin sister, Saito Yoshihide. She is just a wandering girl."

"...Is this... true?" Takenaka Hanbei forced himself to calm down. After a second of silence, he took a deep breath and said, "You're not trying to blackmail our family just by finding someone who looks like you, are you?"

"I have no reason to threaten your Saito family—I'm just telling you. One of your heirs is with me. The princess you married to me will soon give birth to a grandson of the Saito family. Everyone in your family pledges allegiance to a traitor who murdered his father and committed treason—and I have a 'clean' heir. I've investigated Saito Yoshihide's background. Saito Dosan, in order to pave the way for Saito Yoshitatsu, felt that twins would be unsuitable for the succession, so he simply abandoned them among the common people."

This example is roughly equivalent to saying that Mongolia's legitimate claim lies in Inner Mongolia, which is just one of my provinces. You're less important to me than even Lianliao, so please don't be so self-indulgent. However... the claim is mine.

"Well, sir, please go back." Beidou Xinwei made a gesture of invitation: "If you are unhappy in the future, you can come to my Oda family."

————————————————————

Takenaka Hanbei walked away, looking back every few steps, as if he couldn't understand what was going on in the world. However, there were indeed cases where two siblings looked exactly the same.

With the last bit of "loyalty" in his heart, Takenaka Hanbei reported his work to Saito Yoshitatsu, a man in the military camp who had just killed his father.

"Please, my lord, shield your men." Takenaka Hanbei knelt in the tent and said with a serious face, "I have important military information to report."

"Everyone around here is my trusted confidant, so why not speak up?" Saito Yoshitatsu had an expression that said, "I trust people I employ, and I won't employ people I don't trust."

In reality, he cursed inwardly: Are you kidding me? How can I trust you? Let's have a one-on-one fight? Do you think I don't know the swordsmanship you learned from Tsukahara Bokuden? What if you want an extreme one-on-one? What if he looks weak, but is actually a berserker?

"But there's no harm in talking."

"..." Takenaka Hanbei knew the other party didn't trust him, but he could still do it under his boss's guise. Since you don't trust me, there's no need for me to hide for you. "I went to Hokuto Nobuo's army and explained my purpose. They said they had a copy of the former lord's "Letter of Relinquishment," carried by a soldier who had escaped the siege. It said: The former lord ceded Mino Province to Oda Nobuhime."

"Nonsense, how is it possible!" Saito Yoshitatsu's handsome face instantly turned red with anger. He wanted to say: How could a father give up his life's foundation to others?

But if you think about it...it seems like this father was stabbed to death by his own hands. He had already launched a spectacular betrayal against his own father; it's only natural that he would use the "Gorgeous Spear of Piercing My Son" deathrattle? Considering his father's "even if he dies, he must die in the ground" personality...it's not completely impossible.

"The Oda family is delusional and just forged the imperial edict." Saito Yoshitatsu knew that even if it was true, he would have to say it was fake! The truth was not important, his attitude was important: "Hokuto Nobuyuki is so disappointing! Besides, Saito Dosan is not my biological father at all! My biological father is Toki Yoriie!"

Saito Dosan was 1.3 meters tall and had a look that made him look miserable even to his friends.

Like Ah Xiu, Saito Yoshitatsu was 1.70 meters tall, but he was heading towards 1.80 meters! He was definitely one of the tallest men in the Japanese Warring States Period! He was also extremely handsome - it was normal to feel that he was not Saito Dosan's son.

But the problem is that Saito Yoshitatsu's mother is called Fukayoshino. Her father is tall and her mother is tall too. His mother is only 1.7 meters tall.

"I have another story: When I was at the Beidou army, I saw a woman who looked exactly like my lord, from height to appearance to voice and even movements. After careful questioning, I learned that she was a retainer of Beidou Nobuyoshi, named Saito Yoshihide. She was my lord's twin sister, and the previous lord, Dosan, had to clear the way for my lord, so she had to be abandoned among the people... Ah!"

"Nonsense! Nonsense! How is that possible?" Saito Yoshitatsu rushed forward and kicked Takenaka Hanbei, smashing the large rosary in his hand into his face. If it weren't for the retainers who stopped him, he might have drawn his sword: "You fellow, you are spreading rumors and misleading the people! Come on, kick him out! Kick him out of the tent!"

Chapter 168: A ghost of the Imagawa family lingers over Mino and Owari

Saito Yoshitatsu reluctantly retreated due to force majeure. Before leaving, as was customary, he burned all visible valuables in and around the castle town of Daiko Castle, leading his army back. He stationed troops in Kana, Hakuri, and other counties. The Oda family officially severed its ties and connections with the area around Daiko Castle and other parts of Mino.

Saito Yoshitatsu reluctantly gave up, as the current chaotic situation forced him to return to defend Inabayama Castle. He also sent an envoy to Imagawa Yoshimoto, proposing a joint attack on the Oda clan. He didn't care about the Oda clan's downfall; with the Imagawa and Saito clans bordering each other, Saito Yoshitatsu's life would be in jeopardy.

Anyway, if I don’t cause trouble for Oda Nobuhime today, I won’t be able to live like this!

After the two armies withdrew their troops, this phase of military operations was declared over. Next came the postwar aftermath and political maneuvering—a period of negotiation unique to Japan's Warring States period.

All the local tyrants surrounding Daheng City came to pay their respects. In reality, the surrounding landlords already knew about this. Landowners in Japan were the oppressed class, as land ownership was firmly controlled by feudal lords, and land could not be bought or sold. Therefore, these so-called "landlords" were middlemen who rented out these territories. Samurai who sought to rule their territories mostly had to deal with these native "landlords."

If you're powerful enough, like someone like Hokuto Nobuyuki, who can kill anyone you want, you naturally don't need to consider the feelings of these "landlords." However, if the local samurai lose their power, the local landlords will suddenly become powerful families. The powerful families will then become the Kokuminshu, and the Kokuminshu may even become a situation like the Kaga Minren, where local landlords will unite with religious forces to become the masters.

However, the landowners along the border between the two countries were known as local tyrants! They faced the prospect of being taxed by both rival powers. If they had to pay both, their lives would be utterly ruined. Therefore, landowners along the border often negotiated with the daimyo of both countries to pay tribute simultaneously, but the amount would be halved. This was known in Japanese as "half-hand."

"Greetings to His Highness Beidou Xinwei." Dozens of local leaders had come to pay their respects to Beidou Xinwei, and he dismissed them all. They were a group of middle-aged and elderly men, ranging in age from forty to sixty. Most dressed like ordinary peasants, save for the katana at their waists. Some of the more experienced among them had already begun to tremble the moment they entered the room.

"Is everyone here? Then get up, I won't be polite with you. I will investigate how much the Saito family charged you, and I won't ask for more. The tax will be reduced by half." Beidou Xinwei pretended to be a busy man, but in fact he was indeed busy with official duties.

"Come, let me introduce this person to you. Some of you have seen him, some have not, but it doesn't matter. Look carefully at this face--" Beidou Xinwei pointed to Ah Xiu, who was kneeling beside him, but with an unreal look in her eyes.

"Does this person's appearance remind many of you of someone? Yes, this person's name is Saito Yoshihide, Saito Yoshitatsu's biological sister. Theoretically speaking, she is the one who should legally inherit the Saito family. Don't tell me that women can't be princess daimyo. The emperor has several women, and my master is also a woman." Beidou Xinwei pointed at A Xiu beside him and continued, "Don't worry, you are not disloyal, on the contrary, you are truly loyal subjects. The person you will pay tribute to next is not me, but Saito Yoshihide, the real owner of Mino. She will live in Daheng City for a long time. That's it. If you have any questions, you can ask the real heir of the Saito family."

Beidou Xinwei is unwilling to continue the conflict with Mino, but he must take the leading position in the inevitable conflict with Mino.

Oda Nobuhime was not a god, and her eyes could not see that far - Beidou Nobuo could see a little, but it was blurry.

He remembered that Imagawa Yoshimoto would go to Kyoto quietly, and if nothing unexpected happened, he would have almost stabbed Oda Nobuhime to death quietly - it was only because Oda Nobuhime was lucky that she turned the tables, otherwise, not only would Honnoji Temple have been built twenty years earlier, but Imagawa Yoshimoto's historical height would not have been so low.

Beware of the gap between the barrel and the slit! Understand the gap between the barrel and create the gap between the barrel and the slit.

----------------------

"How do you feel?" After a group of local real leaders knelt down to pay homage to Saito Yoshihide, a strange expression never left Saito Yoshihide's face.

"I don't feel anything." The handsome boy pinched his face, which seemed very unreal. "How did I manage to make a living just by relying on my face? Actually, I am quite confident in my face..."

"puff……"

"You, what are you laughing at!" Besides Ah Xiu's impressively three-dimensional beauty, the lingering sense of heroism and vitality between her brows was also crucial. A blush crossed her pretty face. "Hey, don't laugh! Seriously, when I was in the slums, after I turned 10, a bunch of older men were staring at me! At 10, I'd stab the first person who dared to do something bad to me (beep!) with a white knife in his mouth, and a red knife out! I'm very confident in this face!"

"Well... that's true." The final preparations are being carried out in Daheng City, where a team of thousands of people will be stationed all year round.

Ah Xiu will not stay here for a long time, and her contribution is not worthy of enjoying a city - no matter how much she likes beautiful subordinates, she cannot let them be rocket cadres, otherwise the ordinary warriors nearby will become jealous and their morale will be dispersed, and it will be difficult to lead the team.

"But I never knew I could make so much money just by looking good... Even when I was at my lowest point, I never planned to become a prostitute." A prostitute is a prostitute. Ah Xiu glanced at Beidou Xinwei beside him and said, "But I never thought I'd have a twin brother with the same face as mine... That Saito Yoshitatsu looks exactly like me? Doesn't that mean he's a 'second chair'?"

"Well... quite the opposite. I sent someone to investigate." Beidou Xinwei shrugged and said, "That guy and your father, Saito Dosan, are low-ranking samurai and country bumpkins... Don't be angry. That's a compliment. Country bumpkins aren't as disgusting and filthy as high-ranking samurai. They don't like gays. Saito Dosan doesn't like them, and neither does Saito Yoshitatsu. Plus, it might be because he's too handsome, or because he had some psychological trauma from his childhood. Your brother, Saito Yoshitatsu, really hates gays, and he's pretty much the same as me in that regard."

"Um...will it be because I look like my brother that you will not be so fond of me in the future?" Suddenly, a fierce word hit Beidou Xinwei's waist.

"? Why did you use the word 'favor'?" Beidou Xinwei was stunned. Did he raise the flag inadvertently?

"Why else? Why are you being so nice to me? How about this, just like what we said when we first met. I don't want to give you all of Mino. I just want you to give me a staff dormitory so I can live a life of idleness and food. How about that? From what I know about you, that "Declaration of Relinquishment" is definitely fake, but if I write one for you myself, wouldn't that make the fake come true?"

"...Come on, it's too early to do this now. Think about it carefully. I heard that the Imagawa in the south have reached a truce agreement. If the Imagawa turns around, we will all be losers."

Chapter 169 What is this brand new play?

Wait! Look!

Retainer No. 004, Saito·Hidechiyo·Yoshihide

Retainer No. 001, (Chiaki) Kikyo.

Something seems to be magically different... Oh, look! Their skills have awakened!

Dang Dang Dang!

From now on, you can use A-Xiu and Kikyo's joint skill, Ancestral Spirit. This skill is a combination of A-Xiu's Nioh attribute and Kikyo's Miko attribute. Because they are both close friends, their skills have evolved together.

Come on, keep exploring. See what kind of skill evolution paths can be created by combining the skills of each retainer!

When he went to bed that night, Beidou Xinwei thought he was actually dreaming.

The system suddenly issued a prompt for skill fusion, just like a Pokémon was about to level up.

Suddenly, I heard such a voice. When people wake up, it is really difficult to remember clearly what happened in the dream. I can only vaguely remember a general idea. This skill Beidou Xinwei thought he was dreaming——

But this morning, Beidou Xinwei gently helped the ladies up. The ladies needed to rest, but Beidou Xinwei felt refreshed after a few help.

"Yawn... How did you sleep last night?" Oda Nobuhime yawned. The other girls could take a good nap, but she was the backbone of the Oda family and she couldn't be lazy.

But you can go crazy.

"Very good." Beidou Xinwei looked at the other party who was yawning and said, "The war in Mino has come to an end for the time being, but we still have to be on guard. The Saito family has suffered a sudden change today, and the conflict with the main family will inevitably intensify in the future. A good iron must be forged with its own strength! The contest with the Saito family is indeed a contest. But as for the Imagawa family, we..."

"Alas... the Imagawa family..." This feeling is like hearing that North Korea is going to fight South Korea. I'm definitely not at a disadvantage! But I heard that the United States is also involved... Then life might be a little more difficult: "The Imagawa family is indeed difficult to deal with, but fortunately, the relationship between Koshu, Shoshu and the Imagawa family is not good..."

"It's hard to say." Beidou Xinwei shook his head and said, "The relationship between the three families has been on and off. When they are unable to do anything to each other, I think they will stop fighting or even form an alliance. In fact, I find it strange that these three families are fighting. The Takeda family is now concentrating on conquering Shinano, and they have achieved considerable success. But they have already run into the dragon girl in Echigo. She is decisive and ruthless, and is said to have the style of a benevolent and righteous general. The Yuezhou cavalry, which comes and goes like the wind, has caused a serious psychological impact on the local monkeys in the Koshu mountains. Takeda Shingen has also been building a cavalry unit recently, and it is doing quite well."

"I've heard a little about this..." Oda Nobuhime frowned, her face filled with the pain of township-run enterprises struggling to develop and survive amidst the struggle. "So strong! I want cavalry, too! I want it too! - Avi, let's form a group too..."

"The real need is not cavalry, but the proper use of tactics. In fact, I don't think highly of the large-scale application of this kind of cavalry, and Japan does not have such a demand." The movement speed of a group of dragoons did increase, but a large-scale cavalry charge was out of the question.

...Except for the Dragon Girl of Echigo, this woman is so weird.

"The Yuezhou cavalry had a huge impact on the Takeda family. The Takeda family is wealthy and powerful. Takeda Shingen himself would probably be trembling with fear at how much gold they spent. Other families don't have such wasteful spending methods to build an army in such a short time." Beidou Xinwei shrugged and said helplessly to the township enterprise owner, "The Hojo of Sōshū have been attacking Kanto for generations. All the frictions have been minor. If the Imagawa family can reach peace with the Hojo and Takeda... then it will be our turn."

"Yes, let's strengthen our armaments and see if we can build an army strong enough to resist Imagawa."

"That's what I just said—Japan doesn't have the soil for large-scale cavalry. Similarly, there's no soil for large-scale military operations." Beidou Xinwei was confident about this. "Especially Tōkaidō! The terrain is narrow. I believe if Imagawa Yoshimoto dares to attack Kyoto, even with an army of tens of thousands, I can stop him single-handedly! If I lead a thousand men, taking Imagawa Yoshimoto's head would be as easy as taking something from a candy bag."

A disdainful smile crossed Oda Nobuhime's lips, and she clapped her hands. "Okay, you're awesome, you're awesome—tsk, you're bragging to the heavens. I don't want to talk to you about this."

As Oda Nobuhime spoke, she took out a letter.

"Avi, I call you by your nickname every day, and everyone calls you Your Highness when we meet—whose Highness are you, anyway?"

"The Oda family?"

"Who's asking you that? Where are you, the Hokuto family, from? Go back and look through the family tree. If you have one, write it down. If you don't, make one up." Oda Nobuhime threw a Japanese memorial in Hokuto Nobuyoshi's face. "You really don't care about your ancestors' legacy. Are you from the Minamoto clan or the Taira clan?"

"..." Beidou Xinwei was stunned. Wasn't the system designed? So he thought for a long time: "What do you think?"

"How should I know?" The beautiful girl snorted unhappily, "Go back and make up your own stories about your family...ah, go check it out!"

"...Oda clan, is it considered Taira or Minamoto?"

"Genji," Oda Nobuhime answered without hesitation. "Our family has a long and rich history! We are descendants of the Genji clan—the same clan as the Shogun!"

Oda Nobuhime, who was still a township enterprise, claimed to be in line with international brands. When she decided to become an international brand herself and to suppress the Shogun family, the one she had once attached herself to, she did the same thing as now - she unhesitatingly claimed to be a member of the Taira clan.

"Oh... I see." Beidou Xinwei looked at the other party's appearance and nodded and said, "Okay, I'll follow Genji too."

"How casual." Just like our family, Oda Nobuhime didn't care. "Go back and write it up, and give it to me when you're done—and think of a title for the official position yourself! You have the right now—"

During the Warring States Period in Japan, it had become fashionable to make up names of official titles. The so-called official titles were called "Echigo-no-kami" and "Sagami-no-kami".

"It's not good for a samurai like you to not have an official position from the court. If you have time, go to Kyoto and ask for an official position yourself... and ask for one for me too."

The dagger is revealed when the plot is completed.

"Can you help me run an errand?" Oda Nobuhime smiled and pulled out a heavy little bag from the side. "Here are 50 small danjin (small gold) to ask for an official position for me! I want the court to appoint me as the guardian of Owari! You are very elegant, and those masters in Kyoto will definitely not turn you away. There should be no war for the time being, so please help me go to the capital to ask for an official position."

Chapter 170 You're taking advantage of me? I'm you...

Ever since Oda Nobuhime discovered that Beidou Nobuyuki was useful, she'd often used him to death! The consequence was that... as a lord, even after knowing Beidou Nobuyuki's strengths and weaknesses, she might not be able to understand her own strengths and weaknesses - often because Beidou Nobuyuki was too outstanding, she was beaten to death by her subordinates.

But it still works great!

For example, under the influence of Beidou Nobuo's skill, [Internal Affairs], the [Rakuza Raku City] has visibly prospered the entire Oda clan... the coastal areas. Large areas like Atsuta and Tsushima Ports, Kiyosu Castle, and Nakono Castle have seen a sharp increase in economic activity under the derivation of the levy policy. Most importantly, Oda Nobuhime's control over these two cash cows, Tsushima and Atsuta Ports, has essentially reached official control.

It was equivalent to changing from the chieftain system to the system of "reform of chieftains and officialdom". After the control was strengthened, Oda Nobuhime had been sleeping with money for a long time.

She even added a new family crest, from the ancestral Oda papaya crest to another...

Yongle Tongbao.

Yes, it's the Yongle Tong Bao of the Ming Empire. It's the most valuable and widely circulated currency in all of Japan! Gold is minted in different places, so the weight varies. But the Yongle Tong Bao of our Ming Dynasty is equivalent to the US dollar of this era. In fact, if the people of the Ming or Song dynasties traveled back in time, they could easily make all of East and Southeast Asia pay for their national finances by simply overissuing currency. But... well... perhaps the knowledge of copper and the monetary system at the time wasn't enough for these scholars to have the brains and skills to do so.

In any case, Oda Nobuhime has now fallen into the physical sense of money. Oda Nobuhime, who appears in Yongle Tongbao, asked Beidou Nobumi to go and solve her official position problem. She gave 50 small gold coins.

Send away beggars.