Volume 2: Thick and Heavy Winds and Clouds Chapter 22: First Evaluation

  Three days after Akayama Nobutomo left, Takeda Katsuyori held the first castle lord evaluation in the great hall of the tenshukaku of Takatō Castle.

  Those who participated in the evaluation included the administrative officials of Kōfu Castle, the surveying officials, and apart from these bureaucrats, there were also several wealthy landowners under the control of the Takeda family near Kōfu Castle. Among these wealthy landowners, the most famous was Sanada Yukimura, known as the "Takeda's Three Arrows".

  Tanba is a Japanese official name, Takeda's three Tanba, referring to the three officials named Tanba no Shō in the Takeda family, namely Tanba no Shō Tsukasa, who escaped, Tanba no Shō Takahashi Masanobu, and attacking Tanba no Shō Sanada Yukitaka. These two are both famous figures in the Takeda family.

  Although Hoko Masatoshi was already over 50 years old, with white hair, his spirit was still very vigorous. Li Xiao remembered that in the Shinchou no Yaobi, this old man's agility was S-class, and he was a rare powerful infantry commander.

  Apart from the local forces of Kōfu, Takeda Katsuyori inherited the Suwa clan, the original lord Suwa Motoshige, and his two sons Suwa Yoritaka and Suwa Yorisada also came from Suwa Province to participate in the assessment.

  Takeda Shingen was over 40 years old, and his two sons, Takeda Katsuchiyo and Takeda Katsuyori, were also nearly 30 years old. In terms of generation, Uesugi Masatora was younger than Takeda Shingen by a few years, but if they really compared generations, even Takeda Shingen's uncle would have to address Uesugi Masatora as "uncle".

  Fortunately, Japan doesn't care about the theory of seniority, as the head of the Takeda family, Takeda Shoryu has the highest authority. Although the power of the Suwa family is no longer what it used to be, people like Suwa Mitsutane are not incompetent either. In this battle on the island of Kawanakajima, those who risked their lives to support Takeda Nobushige's army, carrying the flag of Suwa Daimyōjin and beating the drums of Suwa Taiko, were none other than Suwa Mitsutane and his son Suwa Yoritada.

  The above-mentioned people are the vassals of Takeda Shingen, and they are naturally inferior to those of Uesugi and Hojo. However, among the castle owners of the Takeda family, except for the direct vassals of Takeda Shingen and the vassals of Sanada Yukimura, it is unlikely that any other castle owner can have such a luxurious lineup.

  Moreover, Takeda Shingen also had Yamamoto Kansuke, and we have these two super aces, one on the left and one on the right to assist.

  The evaluation meeting was held, and the content of Li Xiao's first evaluation should have been just a formality. Everyone wasn't familiar with each other, so it was just a chance to meet and get to know each other, chat, drink tea, eat some snacks, and that would be it. Anyway, Takeda Shingen also didn't have much experience as a castle owner, so he wouldn't interfere too much.

  Li Xiao wouldn't have the leisure to worry about that, his biggest concern right now is the decisive battle with Shioka Ichi in three months, a fight that will determine his life or death. Li Xiao was deeply thinking of how to improve his martial skills within these three months, so he looked like he was bored and spacing out, making him the most idle person during the entire evaluation meeting.

  However, Yamamoto Kansuke, the first strategist of the Takeda family who came with Li Xiao, was different. As the former army teacher of Takeda Shingen, his identity and status were greatly different. He undoubtedly occupied the position of the chief vassal. The so-called chief vassal is the No. 1 in the ranking of the vassals, with absolute speaking power.

  Yamamoto Kanetsugu led the proceedings of the meeting, asking in detail about each daimyo's territory, number of vassals, maximum mobilizable troops, stored provisions, and whether they would have difficulty getting through the winter.

  In Li Xiao's eyes, Yamamoto Kanbei was like a loyal and diligent housekeeper, who after inquiring about everything, assigned tasks to each person: purchasing military rations, buying iron cannons, repairing city walls, recruiting ronin, opening up farmland, training soldiers - one thing at a time, all arranged in an orderly manner.

  In fact, in the Japanese Warring States period, similar evaluations or important military discussions were mostly adopted by the Karō-gi system, and the final result was decided by the Daimyō. Of course, there were also many powerful Daimyō who monopolized power, and their vassals only needed to follow orders. Such Daimyō were relatively strong, such as the "Demon King" of the ōtomo family and the "Military God" of the Uesugi family.

  So the matter decided by Yamamoto Kanetsuke, the chief vassal, Toshitsune could only nod in agreement, after all, he was a new castle owner and didn't have much experience handling things, so he had to learn slowly.

  Finally, Yamamoto Kanetsugu's gaze fell on Li Xiao, who was idle. Li Xiao had already planned, and nodded, saying: "As the gun instructor of Shori Kōshi, I am naturally responsible for teaching the young master gun techniques, which is crucial and cannot be delayed in any way."

  Li Xiao gave Takeda Shori a wink after finishing speaking, and the other party immediately understood. The two had actually discussed it in secret beforehand, and when the time came, they could take advantage of learning martial arts or riding horses to run to the castle town below Gao Yuan Castle or go further to Suwa Town, which was larger and more prosperous.

  Additionally, I heard that in the mountainous areas, many wild shops operate hot spring baths, especially in places like Kai Shinshu Onsen which is so developed. So, there are often places along the road that offer hot spring bathing, and these hot springs are all mixed-sex baths.

  Not only that, some hot spring hotels also provide accommodation, which is actually a euphemism for sex activities. Li Xiao had downloaded many such anime on his laptop before, all of which were about the untold stories between the male protagonist and the female owner of the hot spring hotel.

  Everyone has a mind of good color, Takeda Shōryū and Li Xiao are in harmony. Takeda Shōryū heard Li Xiao say this, immediately echoed and said: "Yes, Mr. Yamamoto, I feel that my martial arts skills are still lacking, and I need Li Xiao to point it out."

  Li Xiao listened to Takeda Shori say this and also had a very serious expression, nodding heavily and saying: "Not bad, not bad, your martial arts indeed still lack."

  "No way." Yamamoto Kanosuke bluntly rejected Li Xiao's request.

  Li Xiao almost jumped up after hearing it, what's more hateful than stopping a virgin from going **.

  "Why?" Li Xiao asked gritting her teeth.

  "Here's the thing, winter is approaching and we're short-handed. Li Xiao Jun, as a vassal personally appointed by our lord to oversee the messenger corps, you should take on more responsibility. I'm not opposed to you teaching Gunjiro's shooting techniques, but..."

  "What's the matter?"

  I didn't expect Yamamoto Kosuke to have a bit of a humorous streak, can't he see Li Xiao's furious expression? Yet he still managed to finish speaking so calmly.

  "But for now, you have more pressing matters to attend to. Recently, a group of mountain bandits has appeared near Gaoyuan City and occupied a small fort. With winter approaching soon, I'm worried they'll come down the mountain to plunder and affect the local security, so I hope you can take charge personally and capture this small fort."

  "Hmph, a small matter, Li Xiao said to himself, what's the big deal about a few bandits? Just watch me wipe them out in one day, and then I still have to rush to take a hot spring bath."

  Then Li Xiao asked, "When are we going? How many people will I have, and how many people will they have?"

  Yamamoto Kanetsugu smiled slightly and replied, "Of course the sooner the better. I'll give you ten elite warriors. The enemy's numbers are unclear, but it's just a small fort, how many people can there be?"

  Looking at Yamamoto Kan no Sukui's calm demeanor, Li Xiao couldn't help but feel a little uneasy in her heart.

  And Li Xiao didn't know, at this moment Yamamoto Kanosuke also silently said in his heart, Li Xiao agreed, let me see your true talent, whether you can really bear the praise of Master and Lord Xin Fan.