The name of the great swordsman begins in Okehazama.

Inside the assessment room of Kiyosu Castle, Oda Nobunaga acknowledged the merits of his generals.

Shinsuke had little expectation because his merits and demerits balanced out, but near the end, Nobunaga specifically asked him to sit in front of him.

"From this day forth, I bestow upon you the name 'Chōkei,' may your martial prowess bring celebration of victory to the Oda clan. The 'Chō' in your name is taken from mine!"

Shin-chan paused slightly, "Changqing? Miyoshi Changqing? That half-finished Tianxiaren? Sounds pretty good..."

Congratulations erupted from his colleagues in the evaluation room, and Monkey looked on with envy.

"Mori Nagayoshi..."

"A good name."

"Our lord treats him very well."

However, Shinsuke suddenly remembered a name—"Mori Yoshikatsu," the name he earned in history for his victory at Okehazama.

Changqing mechanically expressed his gratitude, but his mind was in complete chaos.

After the assessment was completed, Changqing walked home silently.

A voice came from behind; it was Hideyoshi.

"Fujikichiro."

"Today, I owe everything to your guidance, sir!" Hideyoshi bowed deeply. "Without you, I, Kinoshita Hideyoshi, would never be where I am today."

Logically, he should have only begun to distinguish himself in "Sunomata Castle". But now he has already obtained the Chigyo. Although fifty koku is not much now, in a few years, with his cleverness, he may have more than a thousand koku after taking over Mino.

And then there's Maeda Toshiie. Historically, he wasn't forgiven by Nobunaga after the Battle of Okehazama, but because of his own actions, he's now returned to the Oda clan ahead of schedule. History is changing rapidly; who knows if beheading a powerful clan leader this time will cause other changes?

"Lord Mori!" Hideyoshi gently reminded Nagayoshi when he saw him lost in thought.

"Is there anything else?"

"I have another request. I have a younger brother, and I would like him to serve under you first..."

Kinoshita Hidenaga? He was Toyotomi Hideyoshi's right-hand man in history, a man of both literary and military prowess. It wouldn't be bad to get such a capable minister for free.

But Hideyoshi hadn't finished speaking, "I... I want to wait until I am more capable before taking care of my younger brother..."

"Redeem it?" Changqing interrupted him. "With your knowledge and actions, plus the rice you've helped with, shouldn't that be enough to support your whole family?"

"I...I have others I want to recruit!"

Others? They were nothing more than his childhood friends, neighbors, and the like.

"If you won't return it, I'll just take it!"

"Well... I'll wait until I've achieved some new merit before considering it!"

Changqing didn't expect the monkey to have this plan, and didn't want to force him. Since he was a businessman, he might as well talk business with him.

"Well then, you can redeem it later, for this price!"

Hideyoshi was dumbfounded. "Five hundred koku?" He immediately shook his head, his inherent small-merchant nature instantly showing. "One hundred koku, that's the most I can do! I don't even know how far I can go in this chaotic world!"

Changqing never really intended to detain Xiuchang. Monkey might become an enemy in the future, so there was no need to keep one of his brothers by his side.

"Then exchange them for your future retainers!" As he spoke, many names flashed through his mind, the first being Takenaka Shigeharu.

This man is still a retainer of the Saito family. He seized Inabayama Castle because he was dissatisfied with Saito Tatsuoki's incompetence. Nobunaga once offered him half of Mino Province to recruit him, but unexpectedly, he returned the castle to Tatsuoki.

The monkey hesitated for a moment, then agreed.

After bidding farewell to Hideyoshi, Nagayoshi wandered aimlessly through the castle town.

In the market, merchants hawked goods from the southern barbarians transported from Sakai Port, farmers sold their newly harvested wheat, and the clanging of hammers echoed from the blacksmith's shop.

A child clumsily bumped into Changqing's arms.

"I'm sorry, sir!" The child's mother rushed over and bowed repeatedly, pulling her child along.

In this era, a samurai could kill a civilian if he was unhappy, and anyone who offered to pay compensation was considered to have a conscience.

Changqing waved for them to leave and continued walking home.

The monkey did remind him.

Recruit retainers? But where to find them?

The Owari Mori clan was considered a prestigious family, but they had fallen on hard times. A salary of 500 koku was considered average in the Oda clan, enough to recruit a few ronin retainers, but he couldn't even remember where those famous retainers who hadn't yet risen to prominence were.

Perhaps we could select from commoners? Five hundred bushels of grain can't support a few excellent retainers, but it's not difficult to support some loyal private soldiers.

Yes, that's what we'll do! Open a training center! Train professional soldiers!

Early the next morning.

The judging room of Kiyosu Castle's keep was empty, with only a few servants wiping sword racks in a corner. Nobunaga sat cross-legged in the main seat, toying with a Nanban musket in his hand.

Nagayoshi was on duty today and knelt behind Nobunaga. Seeing that Nobunaga was in a good mood, he said, "My lord, I have a request."

"explain."

"I intend to establish a dojo in Kiyosu Castle."

Nobunaga stopped what he was doing. "A dojo?"

"My lord, you are wise. The training ground I envision is not a place for ordinary samurai children to practice swordsmanship. Rather, it is specifically for selecting lower-ranking samurai."

Nobunaga placed the short gun on his lap, looking quite interested.

"Nowadays, each household conscripts peasant soldiers, who serve as soldiers in times of war and as farmers in times of peace. However, without long-term training, these soldiers will eventually become an elite force. I wish to recruit my own retainers in the name of this dojo."

"With 500 shi of grain, how many people can you support?"

"At first, there were only twenty or thirty people," Nagayoshi said frankly. "But the dojo can be open to the public. Any townsman or ronin who wants to learn martial arts can come here to train, only needing to pay a small fee or grain. The best among them will be selected and supported so that they can focus on martial arts. In this way, we can not only train usable soldiers, but also spread our martial arts reputation among the people and attract more talents to join the Oda clan."

"interesting."

Nobunaga's reaction was accurate. Asking further, "Are you even capable of doing this?" would only have earned him dislike.

……

Obtaining the license is only the first step.

Chokei's administrative post was located in a village in the southwest of Owari, near Ise Bay, not far from Nagashima Castle, and his annual tribute was about 500 koku.

Location was a problem. Kiyosu Castle was a commercially developed area, and land prices in the castle town were exorbitant. Nagayoshi found an abandoned lumberyard on the edge of the town. The original owner was a merchant who had moved his family to Sakai Port when Imagawa Yoshimoto attacked. The site was large enough, with existing wooden sheds that could be converted into a training ground, and several dilapidated houses in the backyard that could be repaired and made habitable.

"My lord, this place... is far too dilapidated." The speaker was Kinoshita Hidenaga, who had been a retainer of Nagayoshi for less than an hour.

"Dilapidated is better." Changqing stepped on the creaking wooden floor. "It's cheap and big enough. Koichiro, go find some craftsmen and build the training ground first. It doesn't need to be fancy, but it has to be sturdy. Raise the walls by ten feet, and make the gate heavy."

"yes!"

"Also," Changqing pulled a scroll of sketches from his pocket, "build two rows of longhouses on either side of the training ground, each capable of housing six people. After repairing the dilapidated houses in the backyard, they can serve as residences for instructors and outstanding individuals."

Xiu Chang unfolded the sketch, his eyes lighting up: "This layout...I've never seen anything like it before. A training ground in the middle, living quarters on both sides, and a small drill ground at the back. Where did you learn this, Master?"

"I came up with it myself," Changqing said vaguely. This layout actually referenced the prototype of later military camps, emphasizing functional zoning and collective living, which was conducive to cultivating team spirit.

The craftsman they found was Genta, the head of a famous carpentry group in Kiyosu. After inspecting the site and the requirements, Genta stroked his beard and estimated: "Timber, labor... the whole thing will cost at least fifty kan."

Changqing calculated his available funds, which amounted to about eighty strings of cash. He set aside thirty strings for subsequent operations and recruitment costs, which would be barely enough.

"Hideyoshi! Starting tomorrow, you will stay here to oversee the construction, and while you're at it, help me find some strong and healthy individuals. Tell them that once the dojo is completed, anyone I can keep will be rewarded with one hundred coins!"

"yes!"