Chapter Thirty-Five: The Second Appraisal

  Takatori Castle, the large hall of Tenshukaku, this is the second evaluation after Takeda Shingen became the castle owner.

  It's been over a month since the last assessment, and this time the weather has suddenly turned much colder. The scene outside is a vast expanse of white snow. In the large hall where the assessment is being held, braziers have been lit in every corner to warm the crowd, making the temperature relatively warmer than outdoors.

  This time, all of Takeda Shingen's vassals were present.

  As the lord of the castle, Takeda Shingen wore a brand new kimono and held a long sword in his hand, with two close attendants following him, he walked towards the central position of the castle lord with an extraordinary momentum.

  After standing still, Takeda Shingen handed the long sword to his attendants and then swept his wide sleeves back with a flourish of both hands before slowly sitting down. After sitting down, Takeda Shingen's eyes gleamed as he scanned from left to right the retainers facing him, then took out a folding fan from his sleeve and opened it with a whoosh.

  Having been the city master for more than a month, Takeda Shōryū's momentum was still several points more stable than before, but in Li Xiao's eyes, he was still as hasty as ever.

  As the chief retainer of the Takeda clan, Yamamoto Kansuke sat quietly beside Takeda Shingen, clearly showing his different status from other retainers. In fact, no one could question him, having served Takeda Shingen for many years, Yamamoto Kansuke was among the top three in terms of wisdom, political strategy and military strategy in the Takeda clan.

  It's most suitable for him to take on this task.

  Then, sitting in the first row of the home minister's seat were, respectively, the very old head of the Hoshika family, Hoshika Masatoshi, and the former head of the Suwa family, now a Shinto priest at Suwa Shrine, Suwa Mitsutane, and finally, Ri Akira.

  At present, Li Xiao is only a Wu light general-level warrior, but because he serves as the gun technique model for Takeda Shingen, so he also has the qualifications to sit in the first row.

  The remaining vassals of the house, were mostly young people, such as Hoshina Masanao and his brother Hoshina Masatsune from the Hoshina family, and two sons of Tomioka Matabei, Tomioka Tadatomo and Tomioka Tadayuki, except for these, this time's evaluation has one more new face compared to the last time.

  This is Sanada Masayuki, who served as a light general under Takeda Shingen's command. Now, as a new vassal of the house, Sanada Masayuki sat quietly in a relatively rear position among the vassals, listening silently.

  "Greetings, Lord of the City."

  "Uh-huh."

  Takeda Shingen nodded, and the attendants around him indicated that the evaluation had begun. The main content of this evaluation was still hosted by Yamamoto Kansuke on behalf of Takeda Shingen. At present, Lord Shingen is like an emperor who has not yet taken power, a nominal ruler, with actual power held by Yamamoto Kansuke, the chief vassal.

  So when evaluating, Takeda Katsuyori just made a show of himself and then said to Yamamoto Kansuke's decision, good; very good; hard work, Lord Yamamoto. Apart from this, he could only hold the folding fan in his hand and fan himself listlessly.

  First, Yamamoto Kan no Suke summarized the completion of the previous evaluation and decided on rewards and punishments. For example, the last time the procurement of military rations did not meet the standard, the purchase of iron cannons was too expensive, and some were even fined their salary.

  Finally, there was a person who excelled in the evaluation of the task, one of whom was Nishimura Heizo, the former chief of the Kofu town police department, who supervised the repair work of the Kofu castle wall. Because he completed the repair of the Kofu castle wall with thrift and diligence, and had been working diligently for the Takeda family for many years.

  Yamamoto Kansuke was finally promoted and his stipend increased, and he was elevated from the position of ashigaru-taisho to that of ashigaru-daisho.

  Nishimura Heizo, over thirty years old, saw himself promoted to the position of Jumangendai on this day, fulfilling his long-cherished wish, and suddenly showed a tearful expression. Then he expressed his gratitude to Yamamoto-sama and the castle lord for their cultivation, revealing his determination to devote himself to the Takeda family even if it meant going through a mountain of swords or a sea of flames.

  Next, Yamamoto Kan no Suke looked at Li Xiao and said lightly: "Li Xiao has made outstanding contributions to the extermination of mountain bandits, and is specially awarded 100 guan as a reward."

  All the generals looked at Li Xiao with a surprised expression, and this reward of 100 taels was already quite severe. Li Xiao smiled and expressed his gratitude, but in his heart he was not satisfied, secretly calculating how far away it would be before he could be promoted to Grand General again.

  After summarizing the completion of the previous evaluation task, Yamamoto Kanosuke's expression turned serious and he said solemnly: "Now convey the master's instructions."

  "Oh."

  All the vassals bowed their heads, indicating they were ready to listen seriously.

  Yamamoto Kanetsugu said, "My lord, it has been decided that next spring we will attack the province of Kōzuke. Since this castle did not participate in the battle of Sekigahara, its military strength is intact, so it is necessary to have more than 700 soldiers."

  Takeda Shōrei's territory was added to the original Suwa family's land, with a total of about 40,000 koku. There were approximately 280 samurai, and if farmer-soldiers were mobilized, they could muster an army of up to 1,500 men.

  Since it's an expedition to his territory, the necessary defense of this city must be deducted, so mobilizing 700 troops is within the normal range. The military rations are also included in the scope of the city lord's own fundraising.

  Li Xiao remembered that in history, after the Battle of Kawanakajima, the Takeda family launched a campaign against Kōzuke Province the following year. Due to the heavy losses suffered during the Battle of Kawanakajima, they did not mobilize a large army, and it was mainly the Hōjō clan that fought, with the Takeda family only making a feint attack. It wasn't until the third year that the Takeda family formally deployed a relatively large-scale military force.

  But this means that for Takeda Shigeo, it's an opportunity. If the other castle owners of the Takeda army can't come up with a larger force, then the role of Takeda Shigeo's 700 troops will be crucial. If they achieve military merit, it will make Takeda Shingen look at him more highly and gain more weight in the future succession struggle for the Takeda family. On the other hand, if their performance is mediocre, it may disappoint Takeda Shingen.

  It just so happens that this period is in the winter, and many farmers are idle at home, making it a good time to recruit and train them. Therefore, Yamamoto Kanbei is preparing for next year's war by training an army first, so as not to be caught off guard when the time comes.

  Yamamoto Kanbee then issued instructions for preparations, mainly on the collection of military rations and training of soldiers.

  Military rations are managed by Yamamoto Kan no Suke. Yamamoto Kan no Suke suddenly said, "As for training soldiers, it will be led by the Lord of the Castle himself, with Li Xiao assisting the Lord of the Castle."

  Li Xiao was stunned, thinking that there were still Ba Ke Zheng Jun and two elderly family members, Zou Fang and Man Lin, how could he be arranged. However, Yamamoto Kansei didn't give Li Xiao a chance to refute, and assigned him the task in this way.

  It's not like Takeda Shōryū had any actual experience leading troops, so all the training processes would have to be personally overseen by Li Xiao. Thinking of this, Li Xiao couldn't help but curse inwardly, he still needed to hone his martial skills and prepare for a duel with Sagano Ichō, wasn't this just going to distract him?

  Finally, Yamamoto Kanetsugu finished distributing them, and each person in the seat received their own mission.

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  Worked overtime today and posted late. Hmm, saw that someone voted for the book review in the comment section, I'm so happy! Hereby thank you 318518 and RSG123456 two book friends.