Owari Yumeki Golden Day

Whether it's a brick kiln, a pottery kiln, or a charcoal kiln, as long as the kiln is burning and the chimney is erected, the trees downwind will inevitably die in no time. They are "burned" to death. If you reach out your hand to the hot air escaping from the chimney, it will directly slough you off. The flesh and blood will be instantly melted by the extremely high temperature.

Naturally, in the downwind direction, no matter what kind of tree it is, it will start to die after being burned by this kind of wind for three to five days. If it burns for ten days or half a month, it will basically die.

So is there any benefit? No student knows now.

Shichibei took Yonekura Nobutsugu to ask the charcoal worker, who soon brought out a bowl of wood vinegar. This is a byproduct of wood burning at high temperatures, and it has a slightly pungent, smoky flavor.

What does it do? Mix a few spoonfuls of wood vinegar in a bucket of water and it will act as an insecticide, protecting crops. For agricultural pests, which currently have little resistance to pesticides, it's a deadly strike, effectively killing them instantly.

The key point is that this stuff is harmless to the human body and will not easily leave residues on crops. Even if it is eventually digested, there is no need to worry.

Wood vinegar is also very useful in forestry. Many diseases and pests of pine and fir trees can be controlled or even eliminated by spraying wood vinegar.

In this era without industrial synthetic pesticides, this thing is the most important treasure for farmers and pioneers.

If necessary, you can even mix wood vinegar with water and apply it around the wound to clean and sterilize it. Of course, this will be quite irritating and painful for the injured person. But what's the pain? It can sterilize and save lives, which is something many people would beg for.

I don't recommend it because it's very irritating and is a last resort. In movies, some people use gunpowder to sterilize wounds, but these are all last resorts. Ordinary people should never try them lightly.

By the time the group came down the mountain, holding a handful of fruits dug out of the snow, it was already afternoon.

It would take time to get back to the city, so Yonekura Nobutsugu simply paid for dinner for Shichibei and his colleagues. His family was a samurai family with 450 kan (approximately 100 kan of wealth). In the Edo period, they would have been high-ranking hatamoto, so this little money wouldn't have been a problem. They stayed at the village head's house down the mountain, and all they had was hot rice, hot water, and some pickled radish.

In Kai, such a meal was actually quite good. Most mid- and lower-ranking samurai would be delighted if they could just have a bowl of soup and a dish. Many samurai went out on official duties and had only cold rice for lunch, accompanied by hot water or tea.

Just rice and hot water, so simple, this may be the reason why their family has been able to prosper.

After all, getting a hot meal is a rare thing these days. Luckily, Shichibei wasn't a picky eater; just enough to fill his stomach was enough. A stir-fried water spinach or lettuce would have been perfect. You didn't need to have any meat or wine to go with your meal; just enjoying it was enough.

The village head was quite kind and gave the horses feed and water. Yonekura Nobutsugu wanted to give him money, but he refused to take it. In the end, he only accepted the money for the meal, which he considered a friend.

When they returned to the city, it was already dark. The fifteen Kai warriors actually respectfully sent Shichibei back to Inuyama's residence first, and then said goodbye to Shichibei and went home without saying anything.

Needless to say, their study notes were gathered together and presented to Takeda Nobumasa. Takeda Nobumasa selected two with the best handwriting, tucked them into his chest lining, and went to his brother with a light to drink and read his study notes.

Shichibei hiked up the mountain today, worried about not getting that kind of exercise for too long. When he woke up tomorrow, his calves felt tight and swollen, so he decided to relax in the courtyard. He even asked the servants in the house for hot water to soak his feet. They were all from Owari, so he could become friends for a small sum.

It's true, but these days, it's nice to hear someone from your hometown when you're out and about; at least communication is easy. As for backstabbing when fellow villagers meet, it's not uncommon; it's the same across dynasties. When there aren't any conflicts of interest, chatting with a bunch of Owari people is definitely more enjoyable.

He was relaxing in the courtyard when he saw Kato Nobunaga come back from outside, his face beaming with joy. Oh, so Shichibei naturally had to ask the old senior what good news he had.

Kato Nobunaga didn't hide it from Shichibei, saying he'd finally found a retainer of the Baba family who had brought ten horses from Shinano to his residence. He'd come across them, and after much persuasion, he'd bought them all for five kan each. He'd already brought them back and tethered them to the stables at Inuyama's mansion.

Inuyama House is quite large, more than 1,600 square meters, much larger than the average fortress. Otherwise, Shichibei could walk around and relax in his yard, and the stables could fit nearly a hundred horses.

Oh! Oh, by the way, didn't Inuyama Tessai ride the 100 horses we sold to Nobunaga to Tsutsujizaki-kan? Where are the horses?

Horses? They had all been given away or sold by Inuyama Tessai long ago, leaving only about ten horses.

Speaking of this, Kato Nobunaga was clearly a bit indignant, but the incident had already happened, and no amount of talk would do any good. When Inuyama Tessai fled, Nobunaga demanded that he surrender his gold treasures. To put it bluntly, he could only take the gold and silver that were easily portable, and all other copper coins had to be handed over to Nobunaga as a life-saving payment.

No wonder Nobunaga gave Shichibei over a thousand pounds of copper coins, not even a speck of gold. He probably just took it directly from the gold storage at Inuyama Castle and gave it to Shichibei; Nobunaga hadn't planned to spend his own money.

In other words, if Inuyama Tessai wanted to get his money back after getting a hundred horses from Nobunaga, he would have to sell all the horses.

One hundred horses, even if they were just ordinary pack and riding horses, could still fetch hundreds of kan. Just on food, drink, and entertainment alone, hundreds of kan could last for years. Besides, Takeda Shingen also paid Inuyama Tessai a salary as a guest general, so Inuyama Tessai couldn't even spend all the money.

Kato Nobunaga, who was in a good mood, called out to Shichibei, saying, "Stop looking so sad and have a drink. You can't just shoot that insect Inuyama Tessai."

Likewise, Takeda Shingen was drinking with Takeda Nobumasa. Today, it wasn't Yonekura Nobutsugu who was pouring the wine, but Muto Kihei. Who doesn't have a family? Otherwise, Shingen would have six close associates. They could work day and night shifts, on odd and even days, so they could all be assigned to different positions.

"What is Kawamura Shichibei here for?" After reading today's study notes, Takeda Shingen asked Muto Kihei.

"Buy horses, the more the better." Muto Kihei replied immediately.

In fact, Niwa Nagahide came here not only to form a marriage alliance with the Takeda clan, but also to purchase horses for Nobunaga. Nobunaga was building a post station system in Nakanō, and he needed dozens of horses to fill it.

"Just to buy a horse?" Shingen was indeed a little surprised.

"According to him, that's what he said. I even asked Gorobei to find out."

"That's right, after all, it's the heirloom of the Oda family."

After putting down the wine dish, Takeda Shingen asked Xiaoxing to write a letter to Takasaka Danjo who was in Shinano, asking him to quickly get a hundred suitable pack horses and ride them to Tsutsujizaki-kan.

"So many?" Xin Lian was a little incredulous.

I'm not afraid of being laughed at when I say this, but when he was at Kawanakajima, Shingen deliberately released some horses in order to disrupt the Uesugi army's ranks, hoping that the Uesugi army would become confused and fight for those horses.

How many were released? Five (some say three).

That's a bit stingy, no wonder Xin Lian was surprised.

28. Niwa is puzzled by the sudden change

The Takeda clan had no objection to accepting Inuyama Tessai. Inuyama Tessai had been driven from Owari by Oda Nobunaga, so accepting the enemy of their enemy and using them as a banner for justice was perfectly legitimate.

Just like Kenshin Uesugi dragging Yoshikiyo Murakami and Masayoshi Takanashi to Oku-Shinano to fight, it was reasonable, legal, and legitimate. Murakami and Takanashi had been in the local area for hundreds of years, and it had been "since ancient times."

Similarly, if Takeda Shingen invaded Owari one day, with Inuyama Tessai there, he would surely be able to proclaim that the Takeda family has ruled Owari "since ancient times." Why? Because Inuyama Tessai's family had left Owari hundreds of years ago.

If you're not satisfied, why don't you file a complaint with the United Nations? There's no United Nations. We still have the Muromachi shogunate. The saying "when the poor, they develop together; when the rich, they develop together" has been around since ancient times. Who doesn't?

But marrying into the Oda clan...

The Takeda clan was already in turmoil over this matter, especially Takeda Yoshinobu, who was vehemently opposed to the marriage alliance with the Oda clan. If they formed an alliance with the Oda clan, where would the Imagawa clan be placed?

Humph, Takeda Yoshinobu still doesn't know his father well enough. His father is a man who takes advantage of every opportunity, and he will take advantage of any opportunity, and he will take advantage of it. With the Imagawa family now in such decline, who would believe that his father would not be tempted at all?

The alliance between Takeda and Shun was formed because Takeda was heading towards Shinano, Imagawa was heading towards Owari, and Hojo was heading towards Kanto. Their development directions were different, so they formed an alliance based on reality and common interests.

Times have changed. Takeda's expansion into Shinano has largely ended, and Echigo is no longer viable. Access to Kanto is also inconvenient. Looking at the other warlords, the easiest nearby region to control is Imagawa.

The biggest rule of the Japanese Warring States period is to sail against the current; if you don't advance, you will retreat.

If you don't fight outward, you will be the one to die. These days, everything is about interests. If you have money, you are the boss. If you don't have money, you can only be poor. Haha.

Whether or not the treaty could be concluded did not depend on Niwa Nagahide, but on Takeda Shingen. If Takeda Shingen refused, Niwa Nagahide and his group would not even reach Tsutsujigasaki-kan and would be stopped at the border.

Now that they have arrived in Kofu and are chatting and laughing with Takeda Shingen, there is no doubt that the smart Takeda people have basically guessed what Takeda Shingen is thinking.

The reason why he was still pretending to negotiate with Niwa Nagahide was just to further observe the reactions of Takeda's retainers.

After all, Takeda Yoshinobu was of noble birth and had served as the young master of Takeda for many years. His mentor was a great retainer like Iitomi Toramasa, and he had the support of the elder Imagawa family in Suruga, so he had a group of supporters in the Takeda family.

If someone really rebelled against Takeda Yoshinobu, it would not be impossible for Kai to go into civil war.

No one wanted to see the civil war in Kai, so it was dragged on. He saw all the anti-Oda forces and then cut the Gordian knot by killing them all. Killing the leaders made it impossible for them to rebel.

Shichibei, unconcerned, began instructing his fifteen students in steaming and boiling various fruits to separate the wax. The cotton thread in the candle's center wasn't hard to find; Japan itself had its own cotton, which could also be spun into cotton thread. Kapok cloth was also quite affordable in Japan and readily available.

A dozen students stirred for hours over a casting pot, finally producing wax. The rest was easy: chisel a columnar groove into the wood, and the two halves joined together to create a candle. Adding a cotton thread in the middle was all that was needed; quick hands were all that was needed.

After all, the wax solidifies quite quickly, and if you are slow, the two petals of the candle may not close.

"Congratulations everyone, this candle is worth eight Yongle Tong Bao coins." Shichibei held up the still rough candle and congratulated a group of students.

"Very good, very good..." A group of students chattered rarely and gathered around to watch.

I made five candles in total. I could only make these waxes from the miscellaneous fruits I brought down from the mountain the day before yesterday.

If the warriors of Kai come to their senses later and use oil presses or other machines to squeeze the seeds of those fruits, the utilization rate can be greatly increased.

If they don't get it? That's what they deserve. Shichibei isn't their biological father, so he doesn't have the obligation to teach them step by step for the rest of their lives.

The premise for saying this is that Shichibei saw Muto Kihei and Yonekura Nobutsugu pulling the millstone to check the crushed fruit seeds and debris.

What we just cooked were the peels and pulp of various fruits. Since the peels and pulp contain oil and wax, it makes no sense that the seeds would not contain them either.

Very good, the class was worthwhile.

Shichibei patted Muto Kibei and Yonekura Nobutsugu on the arm, asking what they were thinking about. Oh, what could he do? Even patting their shoulders was a struggle. They were both at least 5'5", so Shichibei had to look up to speak to them.

Nobutsugu Yonekura immediately answered and said that he didn't know whether the seeds had any practical value.

Ah! That's right. If you can think of exploring the potential value of things you can see and touch in life, you've finally achieved enlightenment and will definitely be a famous figure in the future.

Being praised like that by Shichibei, even the eldest, Nobutsugu Yonekura felt rather embarrassed, lowering his head and scratching the back of his head. He'd received more praise in the past few days than he'd ever heard in his entire life. How could he describe that feeling? For a moment, he felt like Shichibei was even more approachable than his stern father.

In that case, we are half brothers. Please buy me fifty horses.

Shichibei had been waiting for so many days, but now he finally gave up. Firstly, he hadn't seen Niwa Nagahide and Takeda Shingen reach a conclusion, and secondly, spring was almost here, so he had to hurry back to Owari to start his business this year.

After finally waiting for Shichibei to say this, Nobutsugu Yonekura immediately patted his chest and guaranteed, "Fifty horses, right? If you can't get them, I'll let you ride all the horses in my family home without asking for any money."

It's true that at home you rely on your parents, and when you go out you rely on your friends. Good brothers, I'm relying on you all. Shichibei's country Japanese with an Owari accent is really hard to talk to the common people of Kai. If he doesn't rely on Nobutsugu Yonekura, who can he rely on?

Now that he had said this, Shichibei felt much more relieved.

The remaining part of my heart was still lingering because Kai was so poor, so poor that I couldn't even find anything cheap and valuable. There was nothing worth bringing back to Owari, and I couldn't just carry a buckwheat pillow back to Owari.

The Koshu silk and Koshu tsuba, so famous during the Edo period, were now completely gone. Not a single person in Kai cultivated mulberry trees or raised silkworms, whether it was because they simply lacked the technology, capital, or manpower.

Of course, it may also be related to the local poverty and lack of purchasing power.

The development of Koshu silk in another hundred years would be largely due to his ability to reach Edo directly through Hachioji. As the nation's largest consumer market, Edo could absorb any amount of Koshu silk. Currently, Edo was just a military town in southern Musashi, with a population not yet exceeding one million, and naturally lacked purchasing power.

Alas, it was such a waste of time to spend so many days in Kai.

"The Fuji River can connect to the sea. Have you ever thought about opening it up completely?" Today's class was over. After Yonekura Nobutsugu guaranteed the horse, Shichibei started to gossip.

"The Fuji River is one of the three fastest rivers in Japan and is not suitable for navigation." It was a rare opportunity to teach Shichibei something, and Nobutsugu Yonekura was very interested.

The other two rivers are the Kuma River and the Mogami River, which will become cruiser names in the future. Of course, there are not so many opinions now, but the sheer difference in elevation makes shipping difficult.

However, Shichibei remembered that during the Edo period, the Fuji River was used for navigation, but it was not until the construction of railways in the Meiji period that navigation declined. After the completion of the highway after World War II, navigation on the Fuji River was completely abandoned, and only some sections of the river were retained as tourist attractions.

Since most tourists concentrated on the area around Mount Fuji and Lake Kawaguchi, the Fuji River's cruise industry eventually declined. Shichibei had no idea what happened.

"Then can't you build a weir?" Shichibei was just talking nonsense.

"What weir?" Nobutsugu Yonekura subconsciously took out his notebook.

"I haven't walked the entire length of the Fuji River, so don't take it too seriously. Dividing water and building weirs is a practice that's been around since ancient times. They block the water and create an inlet on the dam, so the water is flowing in a straight line, without any danger or waves."

Indeed, Shichibei had not observed along the Fuji River, but the best way to make use of a river with such a high drop was to use water in cascades.

Isn’t the Mississippi River in the United States the best example of cascade development? The Mississippi River, which originally had poor navigability, has become an important inland shipping route in the United States thanks to cascade development.

Moreover, the Mississippi River in the United States and the Fuji River have similarities, because the flood season of the Mississippi River is the hurricane season of the Caribbean Sea. Once a hurricane blows, the runoff of the Mississippi River will increase dramatically.

The same is true for the Fuji River. Once the summer rainstorm period comes and a typhoon blows, the runoff of the Fuji River will increase several times, and even the water surface will expand three to five times.

The brief rainy season places very high demands on the design of cascade dams throughout the entire basin. Furthermore, it requires precise calculation of flow rates during both wet and dry seasons throughout the basin, and the availability of multi-year data.

No wonder the Fuji River was opened to navigation only during the Edo period, when the city could concentrate its efforts on major projects. It would have been difficult to achieve this with the Takeda clan's current strength.

Even if Takeda Shingen captured Suruga Province and wanted to control the upstream and downstream of the Fuji River, he would not have the capital to do so.

"Let's go and have a look tomorrow?" After recording the details, Nobuyuki Yonekura stuffed it into his lining and immediately extended an invitation.

Since Niwa Nagahide hadn't reached an agreement with Takeda Shingen yet, Shichibei wouldn't leave easily. Fuji River was only a short distance from Tsutsujizaki-kan, and it would take less than an hour to get there by horseback.

"Huh?" Shichibei was actually not very happy. The horse was about to be in his hands, why was he running away?

"Thank you very much!" Nobutsugu Yonekura put on an extremely happy expression, mounted his horse and ran away.

Hey, kid, don’t give me a chance, I will make you drink the foot washing water of me, Kawamura Shichibei Nagakichi.

………………

Inside the city, Takeda Shingen was incredulous. Kawamura Shichibei could even control floods? Impossible! He was a horseman, a bit of a businessman, so it was only natural that he had a keen eye for all sorts of goods.

Neither Takeda Shingen nor Takeda Nobumasa would feel jealous of this. If they were jealous, they would be jealous to death. Kamiizumi Nobutsuna is the sword master, with invincible swordsmanship and spearmanship. Would Shingen be jealous?

Everyone has his or her own strengths.

But this Shichibei, could he also be a skilled hand at politics? How could he have come up with a plan for developing the Fuji River without even having seen it?

The point is that according to Takeda Shingen's own experience in flood control, Shichibei's method is feasible, or at least it seems feasible. Takeda Nobumasa couldn't say anything wrong, after all, his flood control skills were not as good as his brother's.

If the Fuji River could really be navigable to the sea, Kai would immediately prosper. Whether it was Kai's wood, stone, or charcoal, these large items could be transported out immediately and exchanged for food and money.

Why is Shinano's timber more famous than Kai's? It's not because Shinano's timber is superior, but because it can be sold along the Kiso River to Mino, Owari, and Ise. It can also be transported to Totomi Province via the Tenryu River, and then forwarded to Suruga and Kanto.

This is the benefit of water transportation!

Places with water transport quickly prosper. How could Shingen not know this? He knew it all too well. Unfortunately, Kai and Shinano were both mountainous countries, and relying on water transport for development was almost impossible.

"Xiaoyaoxuan, go and help me hold that Gorozuo back." Takeda Shingen really wanted to see a complete plan for the development of the Fuji River.

Shingen had actually been ready to agree to Niwa Nagahide's proposal this afternoon, but the sudden appearance of handmade candles and the Fujikawa development plan made it hard for him to give up.

"What! Marriage with the Oda family is a big deal." Takeda Nobumasa felt that this seemed a bit of a joke.

"Please." Without any explanation, Takeda Shingen directly assigned the task to Takeda Nobumasa.