Owari Yumeki Golden Day.

As the two were discussing, Akechi Mitsuhide returned on horseback. He said he'd take his horse, but wondered how much it would cost. Shichibei was about to boast, displaying his small-time businessman nature, but he held back and asked Mitsuhide for forty kan. Pure cost price, just slightly above Takeda's selling price.

It's not expensive, really not expensive.

Mitsuhide nodded repeatedly. After so many years in the martial world, how could he not know the price of a fine horse? A horse like this in Ichijo Valley would cost fifty kan. Shichibei only wanted forty kan, which was truly a friendly price.

"Please send someone with me to collect the money." Of course, Akechi Mitsuhide couldn't possibly be carrying forty kan of copper coins.

Forty strings of cash weighs approximately 160 catties, and it would be difficult for a person to carry that much money out of the house. Unless it was gold, but who would carry such a large piece of gold out of the house for no reason? Back in the day, when Yamauchi Kazutoyo came to buy horses, he would pay a deposit and settle the balance separately.

"Okay, please wait a moment." Shichibei turned around and pointed to a waiter, telling him to run to Rissei-ji Temple.

Once the servants caught up, Mitsuhide bowed to Shichibei again. Putting everything else aside, this man was indeed genuinely humble and polite in public; no wonder even the missionary Freud described Mitsuhide as a refined gentleman. He was cultured, well-mannered, and tall and handsome.

A handsome man in his forties, if he is successful in his career, is indeed quite popular.

After seeing the men and horses off, Shichibei glanced at the sky; there probably wasn't much business left. He invited Yamauchi Kazutoyo to go out for drinks at a tavern. At home, the side dishes were sardines; at least a tavern would have some other dishes. Without a partner to prepare meals, that's what it's like for a bachelor at home.

Working from six in the morning to six in the evening, I have no time to buy groceries and cook for myself. I'm exhausted from all the work. When I want to eat, I can only eat what's readily available.

The tavern was full of acquaintances of Yamauchi Kazutoyo, who had risen through the ranks from foot soldier. Nobunaga's regular foot soldier troop consisted mostly of bachelors who had no food at home, so they had no choice but to eat out. Eating out didn't cost much anyway, and they could also chat and boast with familiar faces.

The longhouses Nobunaga provided for his foot soldiers were really just for sleeping. Wanting to cook? There wasn't even a doma (kitchen), making it impossible to use a fire.

To live in a grand mansion, you have to work hard to kill people for Nobunaga. The more people you kill, the better your treatment; that's why Yamauchi Kazutoyo lives in a private room. Kill a few more people, and you'll be able to live in a mansion with a garden.

With so many acquaintances around, the conversation got a bit wild, and everyone was talking about Nobunaga and Yoshiaki's upcoming falconry hunt. Some said they had been chosen to go on guard duty, while others said they were responsible for sounding the gongs and drums beforehand to drive the animals out for Nobunaga and Yoshiaki to shoot.

"What are you in charge of?" Shichibei picked up the dry ladle in front of him; it tasted alright.

Dried gourd is a type of gourd plant that is cut into sections, then dried and boiled. It's eaten as a cold dish with vinegar and sprinkled with sesame seeds. It's a type of dried vegetable, neither particularly delicious nor unpalatable.

"Me? I'm in charge of guarding the shogunate." Yamauchi Kazutoyo was eating pickled taro stems.

Next door, Daming has preserved fruits and drinks with wine, and here Xiao Rizu has sardines and pickles and drinks with wine. Please bring in the peanuts soon, it would be great to fry a handful of peanuts.

“That makes sense.” Shichibei thought to himself, “Isn’t that what Yamauchi Kazutoyo does?”

In peacetime, they guarded the gates for Nobunaga; in wartime, they protected the shogunate for Nobunaga. That's what the standing foot soldiers did—they followed the daimyo into battle.

No wonder when Shichibei wanted a piece of pork, Yamauchi Kazutoyo said it depended on Nobunaga's wishes. He stayed by Nobunaga's side entirely according to Nobunaga's will.

The power of a daimyo was also to oversee the distribution of spoils after a hunt. Sometimes, even organizing large-scale hunts was a power reserved exclusively for the daimyo. For example, Tokugawa Ieyasu ordered the establishment of a hunting ground in Kasumigaura, Hitachi Province, exclusively for his use in hunting geese. Others were prohibited from hunting in that area, let alone obtaining geese.

They were chatting happily when someone came over to greet them, asking what Shichibei was in charge of. This question stumped Shichibei; Nobunaga hadn't sent anyone to inform him. He figured they wouldn't be needed, since Shichibei was a complete novice, his bow and arrow skills were mediocre at best.

But the words just didn't make it through. It would have been fine if we hadn't discussed this, but as soon as we did, Nobunaga's notice arrived. Shichibei was responsible for accompanying the wine, music, and maids, and accompanying the large-scale falconry hunting teams, providing services to Nobunaga and Yoshiaki.

Indeed, Shichibei is quite adept at this kind of work. Back in the night of Sunomata Castle, Shichibei delivered courtesans and sake to Hachisuka Koroku of Ushiko Village to encourage them to properly cut the planks and piece together the logs.

Alright, let's get started.

Spring has truly arrived, and the weather is pleasant. Normally, hunting isn't done in spring, but that's a Confucian belief that spring is mating season, and the mother animals are pregnant, so killing them is considered unlucky. However, Confucianism isn't yet prevalent in Japan, so Nobunaga can hold his hunt whenever he wants.

He only had to talk the talk, but Shichibei had to mobilize all sorts of businesses in the castle town to make tens of thousands of rice balls. To ensure they didn't spoil, they also had to be stuffed with pickled plums.

This was actually part of the pre-war preparations. With several thousand regular troops suddenly mobilized, either the women, children and the elderly in the city had to be mobilized to cook rice and make rice balls, or a large amount of temporary procurement had to be made within the city.

One of the advantages of attracting a large number of merchants to the city is that there are many cooking pots and stoves, which makes it easy to quickly cook rice and prepare one or two days' worth of military rations for the soldiers to go on the expedition.

Japan is such a tiny place; if you travel fast, it only takes three or four days to get from Gifu to Kyoto. Prepare enough rice balls for two days, and you'll be halfway there in Otsu, Hunan. Need something to eat when you get to Otsu? Just buy some in the castle town.

After buying the gold and resting for a night, they packed some rations and headed straight for Kyoto. The entire army didn't even need logistics personnel or pack animals; a few strong men carrying some gold would suffice.

Of course, this is for short-term operations. If it were a large-scale expedition, deep into enemy territory, a large amount of logistical supplies would still need to be prepared, and farmers would need to be mobilized as logistical personnel.

Nobunaga ordered Shichibei to gather tens of thousands of rice balls outside the castle, which could be considered as giving Shichibei some early training.

Before dawn, Nobunaga and Ashikaga Yoshiaki prepared rice balls and distributed a day's worth of rations to each soldier. Then, they swaggered off into the hunting grounds in the mountains north of Mino.

Because he had business to attend to, Shichibei called Takenaka Hanbei back, who had been on leave for over a month, and told him to act according to the circumstances. Nobunaga's hunting trip would only last a few days, but the exact duration was uncertain.

So Shichibei served in the troop, while Takenaka Hanbei waited in Gifu. If someone came back to ask for rice balls, they would buy them immediately and send them over. If no one came back to ask for them, they would wait.

It's just takeout!

Upon arriving at the hunting grounds at noon, the task of setting up the camp was handled by the military magistrate. The military magistrates of the Oda clan were either Sakuma Nobumori or Niwa Nagahide, though Nobunaga could also personally oversee the arrangements. However, as Nobunaga's forces grew larger, he began delegating such tasks to his subordinates.

At the Battle of Anegawa, Nobunaga confidently embraced Gamo Fushihide, declaring, "Watch how your father defeats the enemy!" Then, the Oda army below was routed by Isono Kazumasa, scattering eleven squads in one fell swoop, a disgrace to their leader. If this battle isn't fictionalized, then it's certain that Nobunaga had already ceased actual combat troop deployments before the Battle of Anegawa.

He only needed to command the legion commanders and generals; how to arrange the troops and fight the battles was up to his subordinates.

Shichibei was only responsible for bringing the rice balls wrapped in bamboo leaves to the scene, and then he began arranging a banquet for Nobunaga and Yoshiaki. The food and drink were prepared in advance in the castle, all cold dishes packed in food boxes; whether one could stomach the food or not was up to the individual.

"Shichibei." Nobunaga saw Shichibei setting up camp and beckoned to him.

"My lord."

How do I look in this outfit?

"Huh?" Seeing Nobunaga dressed up in such a flamboyant manner, Shichibei was momentarily at a loss for words.

Nobunaga's unusual attire wasn't new, and today he was dressed equally extravagantly, using imported brocade from the Ming Dynasty. Even his bamboo hat was adorned with colorful decorations, as if he feared being outshone by Ashikaga Yoshiaki.

Come to think of it, even his horse was dressed up. Silver noodles (ぎんめん), necklaces (くびぶさ), cloud beads (うず), almond leaves (ぎようよう), etc., none of them are missing.

"It seems to be quite good." Nobunaga was quite pleased with himself upon seeing Shichibei's expression.

"Very magnificent, very impressive." What the hell was Shichibei saying?

You look great all dry.

However, Shichibei felt that Nobunaga seemed too focused on suppressing Ashikaga Yoshiaki. There was no need; simply showing off the strength of his army to Yoshiaki was enough, everything else was trivial. Anyway, Yoshiaki definitely looked down on country folk; no matter how well you dressed, he would still despise them from the bottom of his heart.

Especially considering the Oda clan's humble origins, before Nobuhide's time, they had very little interaction with the Imperial Court and the Shogunate. They were nothing more than nouveau riche bumpkins. Ashikaga Yoshiaki only showed some favor because he relied on Nobunaga now. If Yoshiaki were in Kyoto and ruled the country, I wonder if Nobunaga would even remember his brother, Ashikaga Yoshiteru.

At that time, Nobunaga petitioned Ashikaga Yoshiteru in exchange for the reinstatement of the Owari governorship fee, hoping to be appointed as the Owari governor. Yoshiteru refused the fee and firmly rejected Nobunaga.

Perhaps it is because of this experience that Nobunaga has gone a little too far now.

After quickly organizing his thoughts, Shichibei offered a few words of advice, suggesting that the priority should be demonstrating strength, and that they should put everything else aside for now.

"Hmm..." Nobunaga scratched his head, realizing he had been too attached to appearances after being told that.

"I've gone to distribute the rations." Let Nobunaga think for himself, Shichibei turned and went out to meet with Niwa Nagahide.

The heads and scribes of each unit sent people to collect the rice balls, and Shichibei had to carefully record everything, as Nobunaga would later have to use the annual tribute rice to settle the accounts. Only with clear accounts could reimbursements be processed.

Only Ashikaga Yoshiaki's group of rice balls were delivered by Shichibei himself. Ashikaga Yoshiaki was chatting with Soga no Sukeki, while Wada Koremasa stood beside them, admiring the mountain scenery.

As expected, Ashikaga Yoshiaki complained to his close ministers that Nobunaga was dressed like a fighting cock and was deliberately showing off to them. Of course, Shichibei didn't hear this, and before he could get close to him, Hosokawa Fujitaka came over to take over.

When Wada Koremasa saw Shichibei approaching, he gestured for Ashikaga Yoshiaki to stop talking. Yoshiaki, quick to accept the situation, immediately composed himself. Just like when he arrived at Risseiji Temple that day, he remained calm and aloof, as if nothing had happened.

125. Problems arise right from the start.

Needless to say, both Akechi Mitsuhide and Shibata Katsuie performed exceptionally well in this hunt. However, Akechi Mitsuhide was skilled in archery and horsemanship, while there were few samurai in the Oda army who were proficient in slingshot horsemanship, so Mitsuhide stole the limelight.

Mitsuhide could even draw his bow and shoot arrows at wild boars while on horseback. In a country like Japan, which is not known for being a horse-riding people, the fact that he could have such a skill in horseback archery made Nobunaga look at him with admiration.

He only began to shine after he turned forty and was appreciated. Did Mitsuhide lack talent before forty? Obviously, he did, but unfortunately, he neither encountered a good master nor had the right opportunity.

Greatly impressed, Nobunaga even bestowed his own horse-drawn carriage upon Mitsuhide as a reward for his outstanding performance in the hunt. Since Nobunaga was the organizer of the hunt, accepting such a reward did not require Ashikaga Yoshiaki's permission.

The Oda retainers had no choice but to admit that Mitsuhide was such a tough guy, they just had to go up and compete with him. There was no first in literature and no second in martial arts, Mitsuhide was just tough, and they couldn't beat him, so they couldn't refuse to accept it.

The key point is that Mitsuhide shone brightly, which made Ashikaga Yoshiaki very happy. Although he only had about a hundred retainers (who came from all over the country), his retainers were of high quality. This completely outshone the nouveau riche bumpkins of Owari, and he felt a great sense of victory.

When people are happy, they become much more amiable, making the atmosphere at the camping party quite harmonious.

As for the wild boar that was killed...

Oh, bleed, bleed quickly!

They were drinking and chatting in their camp when Shichibei ran out to see the servants clearing the spoils of war and became furious. Nobunaga hadn't given any instructions on how to handle the game, creating a brief power vacuum, and Shichibei's sudden appearance and shouting only fueled the anger. The servants and family members assumed Shichibei had come with the king's orders and had no doubts, so the power to manage the game fell squarely into his hands.

If we had prepared in advance, pig's blood would be a good thing; some places love to eat pig's blood soup. It's also called pig's blood, I think, anyway, it's something like that. Now that we haven't prepared, we can only try our best to preserve the fresh meat.

Pig offal is fine too, but for things like large intestines, you have to scrub them vigorously with coarse salt. Nowadays, the Japanese have never even tried this; they don't even know how to process it. Even with Shichibei alone, it wouldn't be enough. Let's take the pig's heart out and wash it first.

I initially thought Nobunaga and his men would kill several hundred wild boars, but in the end, including both large and small ones, they only killed about forty. That adds up to at most three medium-sized wild boar herds. It seems the boar problem at the Titonani residence will continue.

"Shichibei, Shichibei, eh?" Maeda Toshiie walked over from the camping site next door.

"What are your orders, lord?" Shichibei was directing his family members to distribute the meat when he heard Maeda Toshiie call out, and immediately jumped up to respond.

"We shot several pheasants, so we roasted them to go with the wine." Maeda Toshiie came to instruct Shichibei to prepare the game, but he didn't expand the scope to include all of them.

"understand."

But before he could give any orders, Shichibei was already doing it. No wonder he hadn't seen anyone near the sake cart ahead. Maeda Toshiie scratched his head, thinking someone had given prior notice. He muttered a few words, picked up two more bottles of sake, and headed back to camp.

Inside the camp, some of the shogunate retainers had already started dancing. Shichibei, along with several maids, were playing the flute or drums, and everyone in the camp was having a good time. No one was paying any attention to what was happening outside the camp; after all, Nobunaga was just showing off his muscles, and Yoshiaki was trying not to be looked down upon by Nobunaga.

Let's keep an eye on our wild boars. Actually, there are also deer, pheasants, and rabbits, but we haven't seen any bears yet. If there were bears, the hunt might have been much more intense.

However, in the hunting grounds north of Mount Gifu, which are close to human activity areas, only wild boars roam freely. Bears are more intelligent and are less likely to overlap excessively with human living areas.

However, in later Meiji-era Hokkaido, there were news reports of giant bears hunting humans. But that was because humans rapidly encroached on the bears' territory, and the bears couldn't adapt, leading to fierce confrontations. In Gifu, where humans have been active for hundreds of years, under normal circumstances, bears would have long since retreated and reduced their contact with humans.

It's a pity Japan doesn't have any leopards or anything. Even an isolated island like Taiwan has leopards, but Japan doesn't. If they did, we could see one today.

While I was daydreaming, the warriors' families had already scalded the pheasants, removed their feathers, and cleaned them. Compared to wild boars, they were much more skilled at handling small mammals and birds.

This is probably related to the fact that the prey hunted by falcons in the long term were mostly small animals. The last time Nobunaga took Tokugawa Nobuyasu hunting, they caught rabbits and pheasants. The rabbits were later skinned and used to make gloves for Tokugawa Nobuyasu.

Now that they were skilled, Shichibei could finally sit down for a while. Otherwise, he would be so anxious, as he couldn't bear to see such a big piece of meat go to waste.

As soon as he sat down, he felt hungry. Seeing his family cutting up a deer leg, Shichibei didn't pretend and cut off a pound of it openly. How to roast it? It's very simple. Take a shovel, wash it clean, light a fire underneath, and roast it.

I still vividly remember the roast meat feast at Luxue Hermitage when I read "Dream of the Red Chamber" before. Salt was of course included, and soy sauce and vinegar were also available. If there were a head of wild garlic, picking it and making a dish with it would be even better.

"So that's why I couldn't find you. Turns out you were hiding here, sneaking a bite of food." Shichibei was just taking his first bite of venison and making his usual slurping noises when Kinoshita Hideyoshi ran over.

Why are you bothering me instead of drinking and watching dancing while you're camping?

"Would you like some too?" Shichibei reached for a pair of chopsticks and handed them to Hideyoshi.

"They're talking inside." Hideyoshi didn't care whether he ate or not; he simply took the chopsticks and whispered to Shichibei.

"Hmm?" Shichibei kept talking, mainly because he needed to flip the food over.

It wasn't a big deal. At the beginning of the spring, the imperial court and the various shrines in Kitayama and Nanzan held a New Year's Prayer Festival. But things were going on in Nanzan and Nara. Matsunaga Hisahide was not only battling the Miyoshi Three, but also opposing forces in Yamato, led by the Tsutsui clan.

On October 10th of last year, Matsunaga Hisahide committed the most heinous crime in the world—burning down the Great Buddha Hall.

It is said that the fire burned off the Buddha's head, causing the entire Matsunaga army to collapse. Many Matsunaga soldiers, fearing terrible punishment and disaster from the gods and Buddhas, chose to flee.