Uchiha's personal opinion

After a long while, the daimyo coldly asked, "And how much gold coins are there that everyone is scrambling to exchange?"

All the officials lowered their heads and remained silent.

Speaking out at this point would make them easy targets, so they naturally prefer to pretend to be deaf and dumb.

"The local gold reserves of 15 billion taels have now been completely depleted..."

The daimyo let out a sinister chuckle: "I wonder if it's because you gentlemen are all incredibly wealthy or if every citizen of the Land of Water is worth billions..."

The nobles and officials remained silent.

"...You are a high-ranking official in charge of the gold shop, shouldn't you come up with some reason to explain yourself?"

The daimyo's gaze fell upon the kneeling noble officials.

"Your Highness... It is said that there are shogunate personnel in various places carrying out concentrated exodus, which is why..."

The official answered tremblingly.

"How much gold coins will the shogunate have to pay out in the local areas?"

"Da Ming asked through gritted teeth."

"..."

The high-ranking official remained silent.

"Fifty billion taels, right?"

Da Ming sneered twice, "And then there's another 10 billion?"

The hall remained deathly silent.

"...the Grand Minister of the Treasury."

After a long while, the daimyo finally said quietly, "Let's allocate 30 billion taels from the national treasury for the redemption!"

"As ordered!"

Having learned his lesson the hard way, the Grand Chancellor dared not say another word and immediately knelt down to accept the order.

"...The extra 10 billion is intended to appease the people, and I hope that you will not interfere."

The daimyo coldly said, "Otherwise, before the shogunate's ninja army arrives, all your families' businesses in various places will be completely destroyed by the rioters!"

After saying this, the daimyo waved his sleeve and returned to the rear hall.

……

But Uchiha Tokumitsu was not about to let the unrest in the Land of Water be quelled so easily.

Not only were the gold coins redeemed, but the riots also led to shortages of supplies in various prefectures.

With the withdrawal of shogunate merchants once again, the circulation of goods in the Land of Water was paralyzed. No matter whether they had money or not, ordinary people could not buy the goods they wanted!

As a result, when the daimyo's national treasury funds were being transported to the treasuries of various prefectures, the unrest not only failed to subside but intensified.

At this point, there was no longer any need for shogunate spies to fan the flames.

The people of the Water Kingdom who had already started their uprising had already begun to imagine what the "nobles' conspiracy" was all about.

"What?! The gold transport carts that His Highness sent to the county town are empty?!"

"What?! The county's granaries are empty?!"

"What?! The nobles have taken all the money and grain?!"

Just as the "money riots" in the county town were subsiding, "rice riots" broke out in the countryside.

Various rumors, both true and false, spread rampantly throughout the Land of Water. With their credibility shattered, the local guardians were already doing their utmost to maintain the most basic order in the county towns, let alone refute the rumors and quell the unrest in the countryside.

Just after the 20 billion gold was redeemed, the 10 billion allocated by the daimyo to the local area did not last long before it was all withdrawn by the frenzied people of the Land of Water. With the gold shops in various counties empty, the unrest intensified further.

Then, bandits rose up, cut off transportation, stormed the manor, and committed massacres.

……

"Your Highness, things have come to this point, please deploy the ninja army!"

Inside the daimyo's palace, the Grand Minister of State made a suggestion to the daimyo.

"With Kirigakure's forces stationed elsewhere and the Shogunate posing a threat nearby... if we were to deploy the ninja army at this time..."

Seeing that the daimyo's expression remained indifferent, the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs asked a question.

"Hesitation when a decision is needed will inevitably lead to chaos!"

The Grand Minister of State shouted, "If we sit idly by and watch this situation develop, the collapse of the entire country may only be a matter of a day or two! By then, it will be too late to regret it!"

The assembled officials nodded in agreement, deeply agreeing.

In the rhetoric of the Land of Water and even among the nobles of various great nations, the so-called "mobilizing the ninja army" means summoning ninjas to various places to quell rebellions by force.

This was also the last trump card of the ninja nobles.

When the unrest among the peasants cannot be quelled by samurai and the imperial army, the ninja forces mobilized from the ninja villages will unleash a bloodbath like a razor, annihilating all the sources of unrest.

However, the resulting killings could reduce a country's population by more than half in a very short period of time.

However, this has nothing to do with the nobles.

After all, in their eyes, the peasants were like the most vigorous weeds; nourished by blood, they would surely grow into even more obedient and docile subjects in just ten years.

"Your Highness, the Hidden Mist Ninja Army cannot remain in the Land of Lightning any longer!"

At the opportune moment, Konoe Atsushi stepped forward and said, "While the domestic unrest certainly needs to be quelled, the threat from the shogunate is also imminent. We must recall all the ninja troops as soon as possible to defend against the shogunate's invasion!"

At this moment, the shogunate still had three ironclad warships stranded off the coast of the Daimyo Prefecture, which terrified all the nobles.

"What you say makes sense, Lord Atsushi. Then I'll trouble you to make the trip."

"It is a gentle and respectful name," Da Ming said.

As for what the Grand Minister of State said, he did not respond directly, but instead took out a seal and placed it on the table in front of him.

The assembled officials breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this.

A great and holy ruler who governs all people would naturally not issue an order to kill his own subjects.

However, if the nobles act on their own, sometimes even the daimyo may not be able to control them.

Of course, this was also a tacit understanding between the daimyo and the nobles.

After the court session ends, the Grand Minister of State will take the seal from the table and issue a mission to quell the rebellion to the ninja village. The daimyo will then appropriately express shock after the massacre in the Land of Water and punish the Grand Minister of State for the unauthorized killing by deducting his salary. The matter will then be concluded by the daimyo punishing himself with three cups of wine.

"Your Highness! Something terrible has happened!"

The noble official from the gold trade, whom the emperor hated most, stumbled in once again.

"What has caused such a loss of composure!"

The Grand Minister immediately rebuked him loudly.

"Your Highness..."

The nobleman swallowed hard, and said tremblingly, "The Shogunate... the Shogunate's warships are here again..."

The nobles and officials looked at each other in bewilderment, while the magistrate's face was as black as the bottom of an old pot.

"...Another judgment to pay out the outstanding amount?"

The Grand Chancellor pressed his hand to his chest and said with difficulty.

"Yes, yes..."

The high-ranking official in the gold trade answered in a low voice, "This time it's 50 billion taels..."

"...Grand Minister of Finance, you decide what to do!"

With that one sentence, Da Ming turned and left.

The Grand Chancellor bowed from afar with a wry smile.

The Grand Minister of State quickly stepped forward and took the seal that had been "dropped" from the daimyo's name.

"Gentlemen, things have come to this point, so I no longer need to feign compassion..."

The Grand Minister addressed the assembled nobles and officials, saying, "If there are no objections, then we shall deploy the ninja army!"

"That's absolutely right!"

I second that!

The assembled officials all nodded in agreement.

"Lord Atsushi, then I'll trouble you to proceed to the front lines of the Land of Lightning as soon as possible..."

The Grand Minister of State said to Atsushi Konoe, "The number of ninja troops stationed in the Daimyo's prefecture and Kirigakure is still insufficient. They are not enough to quell the rebellion across the country while resisting the invasion of the Shogunate. Please ask His Excellency the Mizukage to expedite the withdrawal of troops to reinforce the area!"

"I obey your command!"

Konoe Atsushi bowed to the Grand Minister of State who held the seal of office.

Chapter 269 On the Eve of the Great Battle

Just as the daimyo's messenger ship thought it was being discreetly sailed away towards the Land of Lightning, the shogunate's ironclad warships patrolling the waters off the Kinki region immediately relayed the intelligence back to the shogunate's headquarters, Fubuki Castle.

"Order all units to begin combat readiness mobilization!"

Upon receiving the intelligence, Uchiha Tokumitsu immediately ordered, "Send two detachments from each of the northern and eastern border defense forces to provide support, and also transfer the entire Disciplinary Battalion!"

"As ordered!"

At Uchiha Tokumitsu's command, the entire shogunate, which had been preparing for this for a long time with a relaxed exterior but a tense interior, sprang into action.

Orders were quickly relayed to various ninja garrisons by messenger ninjas. Under the command of the prepared Jonin, ninja armies swiftly and secretly marched to the eastern coast of the Land of Fire to lie in wait for further orders.

Even Hanzo of the Salamander, who was far away in the Land of Rain and watching the war between Iwagakure and Sunagakure, once again received a mercenary contract sent by Uchiha Tokumitsu.

"...Is the target still the Land of Water this time?"

Instead of immediately reviewing the mercenary contract, Hanzo the Salamander asked directly.

"Yes, Mr. Hanzo."

The shogunate envoy replied, "This time, the target is still Kirigakure."