Mount & Blade: Warband in the Sengoku period of Japan

What happened on the battlefield afterward was basically none of Chen Daoyuan's business, as he was still in a daze.

After the military council concluded, Shiba Tsugaku personally commanded the siege of Numamiya Inner Castle.

The samurai with the horse seal and battle flag from yesterday has been confirmed to be Nanbu Harumasa, the head of the Nanbu family, but he probably can't do anything about it now. Although he ultimately gained the upper hand against Chen Daoyuan yesterday, the fierce battle over the past day has basically wiped out all of the Nanbu family's main force stationed in Iwate.

When the Shiba army regrouped and launched an attack, Numamiya Castle offered only symbolic resistance. Once the castle gates were broken open with manganese steel axes, the castle surrendered.

Last night, Nanbu Harumasa led the few remaining troops in the castle to retreat to the territory of the Ministry of Revenue in the north, leaving only one hundred foot soldiers to guard it.

From this point on, the Shiba family officially took control of the entire Oku-chū region.

After returning to the capital in triumph, Chen Daoyuan went back to Toriyazaki Castle.

Nobuko did not return with them to her residence in Toriyazaki Castle, but instead went directly back to Takasui-dera Castle to await her marriage after that night.

Chen Daoyuan summoned Bei Xin'ai and told this only subordinate strategist about his interactions with Xinzi, wanting to know how he and Xinzi had inexplicably fallen in love.

To be honest, when he heard about Kita Shin'ai's plan, he did intend to create some subtle ambiguity in his interactions with Shinko.

Before his transmigration, Chen Daoyuan was also a seasoned player in the dating scene; he just hadn't gotten married yet, and he wasn't some virgin or a clueless straight man.

Before the formal offensive could even begin, they immediately switched from basic attacks to their ultimate skill, leaving him quite confused.

After listening to Chen Daoyuan's description, Kita Shin'ai rolled her eyes to the sky: "Lord Daoyuan, exchanging hair and wakizashi (shoulder samurai) is the most steadfast ceremony of betrothal between samurai and samurai women in Japan. As for before... the Imperial Palace has already arranged for Nobuko-hime to live in your castle, which means that a marriage alliance with you has already been arranged. Otherwise, how could a princess just leave the Imperial Palace and live elsewhere so easily?"

"I see." Chen Daoyuan finally understood. The views on love held by people in the Warring States period were naturally different from those of modern people. What he considered ordinary ambiguity before a formal offensive was, in the context of life in the Warring States period, already a major move.

But speaking of which, Sonjiro-dono, what's with that disdainful look you're giving me?

Therefore, all the subsequent relocation and handover of Toriyazaki Castle and Mikabori, the construction of the castle in Iwate County, the preparations for Chen Daoyuan's wedding, and a series of other tasks all fell to Lord Kita Nobuai, who had just celebrated his birthday and was 18 years old according to the Japanese age reckoning.

Young people should exercise more.

Chen Daoyuan then retreated into his room and read books for several more days.

These past few days, Chen Daoyuan has mainly been researching how to work in the chemical industry.

As a country with volcanoes, Japan is rich in ferrous sulfate and sulfur. Logically speaking, whether it is the dry distillation of ferrous sulfate or the use of sulfur in the lead chamber process, the production of sulfuric acid should be very simple.

But if only it were that simple. Dry distillation of ferrous sulfate requires high-quality refractory materials, and the lead chamber reaction requires the addition of saltpeter.

Japan does not produce saltpeter, and Chen Daoyuan did not want to clean latrines, so the lead chamber method was rejected first.

As for refractory materials, that's much simpler. Compared to the alkaline refractory materials needed for blast furnaces, local kaolin is sufficient to serve as the reaction vessel for the dry distillation of ferrous sulfate.

This time, Chen Daoyuan directly selected a site in Iwate County to open a kiln. He first fired several kilns of kaolin porcelain jars, then broke these jars into pieces and mixed them into the new material to make large vats. He then coated the inner walls of these large vats with a mixture of wood tar and tobacco ash, and sent them into the kiln for high-temperature firing.

In this way, the green vitriol reactor that meets the requirements of that technical manual is obtained.

However, Chen Daoyuan did not rush to start sulfuric acid chemical industry, but instead started firing bricks in kilns.

Under the influence of the Little Ice Age, the weather in the treacherous Tohoku region of Japan won't stay pleasant forever. According to information provided by the craftsmen, after the first frost in mid-to-late October, the temperature in the Oshu region will drop sharply. Although the Kitakami River Valley won't turn into a snow country like the coastlines due to the barrier of the Kitakami Mountains and the Ou Mountains, the dry and cold temperature is enough to freeze water instantly.

Therefore, Chen Daoyuan needed bricks to ward off the cold.

Another important thing is to inherit the fine tradition of time travelers from previous generations: making cement.

Chen Daoyuan knows a little about cement making, but not much. The ROTC course, specifically the military engineering manual, mentions how to use local materials to urgently construct roads, airports, and fortifications.

However, books are books, and engineering is engineering. Chen Daoyuan could only experiment again and again. Fortunately, the local area was rich in high-quality limestone and kaolin, so he could experiment as much as he wanted. After more than a dozen kilns of experimentation, he finally found the right ratio and produced suitable clinker cement using 3.3 parts limestone and 1 part kaolin.

The ground clinker cement needs a retarder, which is not difficult. Japan is full of hot springs, and where there are hot springs, there is natural gypsum. Mount Iwate in the center of the Shizukuishi Basin is known as the Tohoku Fuji. It is a huge extinct volcano surrounded by hot springs. Just send people to scrape "hot spring frost". This stuff is natural gypsum and alum crystals. After drying and grinding it, it is added to the clinker cement, and the most primitive "Roman cement" is obtained.

While Chen Daoyuan was experimenting and trying to recall the details of the engineering manual, a respectable "city" quickly rose from the ground within a month.

The city is located not far from the confluence of the Kitakami River, Shizukuishi River, and Nakatsu River. There was originally a fort here, built by the Nanbu clan, called Furai-kakan.

Chen Daoyuan simply changed the strange name, and with a wave of his hand, named it Xinyuqian City.

The entire Spo family naturally had no objections to the name change proposal, and the old man Spo Quanga was particularly satisfied when he came to visit.

However, the veteran generals and ministers of the Shiba clan had some reservations about the layout of the city.

Chen Daoyuan certainly wouldn't build a castle tower; instead, he constructed a defensive fortification using cement bricks... well, it was basically a large bunker.

Sorry, ROTC's engineering manual can only help Chen Daoyuan this far.

The main building of Shingozen Castle was a single-story brick and concrete building covering an area of ​​300 square meters. Four three-story arrow towers were added to the four corners of the roof. A wall with a perimeter of 200 rooms and a height of more than one room was built around it with cement bricks. The main castle was about 5000 square meters in size, and two-story arrow towers were also built at several bends in the wall.

Outside the wall was a moat, not very deep, but because it was right next to the Nakatsu River, it was not a dry moat, but a moat with water diverted from the river.

Spahicauer mainly disliked the building because he thought it was too ugly and didn't fit the aesthetic standards of the Warring States period.

Actually, it doesn't fit modern aesthetics either. This small courtyard with its high walls and machine gun turret... The key issue is that the main house doesn't have many windows due to construction issues. If you put barbed wire on the top of the walls and install a few searchlights, wouldn't it look like a prison?

At least it's safe, and the brick and stone structure provides excellent insulation, making the newlyweds who moved into the house after their wedding at the end of October feel very warm.

In fact, there were not many changes in their daily life after marriage. Every morning, Chen Daoyuan and Xinzi would still practice together. However, Xinyuqian Castle was spacious enough, or rather, empty. Apart from the couple and their maids and guards, there was no one else in this large fortress. Therefore, their practice area was set up in the empty main hall.

Speaking of maids, Yi Xia was probably the happiest after Chen Daoyuan's marriage. Half a year ago, Yi Xia was an unnoticed village beauty in a remote mountain village. After following Chen Daoyuan, she has now turned her life around and become the chief steward of the Sibo family in the city. The young girl was overjoyed.

Since the young village girl started following Chen Daoyuan, she has been well-fed, clothed, and housed every day, if not living a life of luxury. Her skin has become much fairer, and she has grown taller. Wearing a decent kimono, she has also developed a certain air of elegance.

The afternoons are the time for handling domestic affairs.

After the Frost's Descent, winter arrives quickly. It's freezing cold outside with howling winds, so there's not much to do. The main task is to help the residents keep warm.

Despite the onset of winter, the brick kilns and charcoal kilns did not all cease operation. After the completion of Shingozen Castle, the brick kilns operated for another month to fire all the clay materials stockpiled before winter. The surplus bricks were naturally distributed to the residents of Iwate County.

However, these bricks were not enough to renovate all the houses in the county; they could only be used to help those struggling with old and dilapidated houses first. The remaining bricks were then distributed to ordinary households, not for building walls, but for building hearths.

After traveling to this era, Chen Daoyuan realized that the Japanese-style buildings with a hearth in the center of the main room, as depicted in anime and movies, only gradually became popular during the Edo period. In modern houses, people rely on braziers or even stoves to keep warm in winter.

As for what to burn in the fire pit, it was naturally charcoal.

Before winter, Chen Daoyuan also organized the residents to go up the mountain to cut down trees and stockpile a large amount of timber, which was then burned into charcoal directly in the kiln.

These things seem simple, but they are all technological benefits created by Chen Daoyuan. The manganese steel axes used to chop down the city gates were used for logging on a regular basis. Various transportation tools, thanks to the engineering manuals that Chen Daoyuan recalled, have evolved into modern pulley systems.

Don't underestimate this seemingly insignificant technological improvement. In the past, logging, transporting timber, and charcoal making were all major projects for ordinary residents in the villages of the county. Now, thanks to manganese steel axes, pulley systems, and water-powered charcoal kilns, a month-long mobilization before winter was enough to gather enough supplies for the dozen or so villages in the county to get through the winter.

For Chen Daoyuan, these were merely trivial matters, but for these common people at the bottom of society, they were already rare acts of benevolence. Not long after Xinyu City was built, Chen Daoyuan, the lord, had already gained a good reputation among the people.

This positive reputation translated into improved mobilization capabilities the following spring. As the weather began to warm up in March and preparations were underway for spring planting, the farmers accepted some of Chen Daoyuan's strange instructions.

For example, when the ground just began to thaw, Chen Daoyuan organized a team of laborers to dig up some black stones on the western mountain. At the same time, he also had Kita Shin'ai organize a lot of people nearby to dig up strange black mud in the ditches and swamps of Iwate County using strange tools.