Chapter 21: Samurai of the Shimazu Family
Inukai Chujiro put on straw sandals and then took out a rice ball that was already a little rotten from his arms. This was the rice ball he received for his trip as travel expenses. There were six in total, and he ate five of them. He couldn't bear to eat the remaining one.

There was no way. They had stopped providing rice as part of their salary several months ago. They could only eat rice balls when the war broke out, and they were getting smaller and smaller. He hadn't seen a rice ball as big as this one for some time.

Knowing that he couldn't let it go, Inukai Chujiro could only eat it with spring water, and then savored it for a long time before continuing on his way.

Next he was going to Inaya Village, which was originally the land of the Yamada family. Unfortunately, this idiot did not know how to cover His Highness's retreat, but only knew to rush into the enemy camp, causing the greatest casualties in the battle. He was simply a huge idiot. How could a war be fought like this?

The casualties in the wars between daimyo were actually not that great, otherwise, given the frequency with which they waged wars, all the people would have died long ago, and the population would have continued to grow.

In fact, when Yan Xu first saw the history of the island country, he also thought that the other party was a weird one.

There have been battles for supremacy in the Central Plains for generations, and every time there has been a river of blood and countless casualties, but Japan's population has increased despite the war.

Although this was related to the rapid development of all aspects in Japan during that period, the main reason was that the main force in the war in Japan was the samurai.

Although the Ashigaru have the largest number, most of them are not professional soldiers. Their main job is farmers, and they are only called upon to support the cause when war breaks out.

It's just like two gangs of street thugs starting a fight. They call people beforehand and give them money and treat them to a meal afterwards, but few of them actually dare to attack people.

Having never received combat training, lax discipline, and lack of fighting spirit, the foot soldiers mostly act as atmosphere watchers when a war breaks out. Only when they are driven crazy or the daimyo offers enough rewards will they really fight hard.

In most cases, the victory or defeat between two daimyo was decided mainly by samurai, and the so-called taking the head meant the head of a samurai. It was impossible to chop off the head of an ashigaru and give the promotion.

In this situation, the casualties in battles between daimyo basically would not exceed three digits, and only a very small number of battles that could go down in Japanese history could reach four-digit casualties.

For example, the Shimazu family and the Sagara family fought for more than a dozen battles. If the Yamada family and their farmers had not rushed into the group of Sagara family's samurai, the death toll would have been estimated to have just exceeded 100.

Inukai Tadajiro was so impressed by the Yamada family's stupid behavior on the battlefield, so he planned to go to Inaya Village to see if there was any benefit.

However, he did not hold out much hope, because landlords like the Yamada family did not have many people. With so many young and strong people dead, there were probably not many men left. If that didn't work, he could only leave some seeds to contribute to the local population growth.

Inukai Chujiro didn't think there was anything wrong with his idea, and even the person he liked didn't think there was anything wrong with it.

In many places in Japan, it has long been a custom to take one's wife to sleep with him, such as in some remote villages.

It's not that the Japanese like this, it's mainly to improve their bloodline, because most villagers only have this much contact with the same people in their lifetime, and over time, intermarriage will cause problems, so some villages have the habit of borrowing seeds from passing travelers.

Another issue is identity. Forget about being a nobleman like a daimyo, but a samurai lord is also good. If the child is really born, the neighbors will look at him with respect.

When Inukai Chujiro arrived at Inaya Village, the scene before him made him wonder if he had come to the wrong place.

"Flag!" After seeing the flag at the entrance of the village, Inukai Tadashi took a breath of cold air, because not everyone can use the flag. Identity, status, and strength are all indispensable.

For example, the Yamada family, let alone the flag, even the family name is not worthy of being shouted out, so no matter whether he went to the wrong place or the Yamada family's land was occupied by someone, he had to show a proper attitude. Otherwise, if he was rude, his personal life would be in danger, and implicating the Shimazu family would be the most troublesome thing. "Who dares to spy on the territory of the Moroboshi family!" Taro, who was responsible for the patrol, came with ten foot soldiers in a menacing manner.

Although the opponent is a samurai, as the head of the Moroboshi family's foot soldiers, Taro is not afraid of him at all.

Inukai Tadashi first grasped the hilt of the sword cautiously, but soon put it down again, because Taro was wearing armor and carrying a sword, and there were foot soldiers in full armor following him. Inukai Tadashi thought that the other party was a samurai of high status, so he immediately bent down.

"Shimazu family samurai Inuyo Chujiro, I'm sorry to have mistakenly entered this place."

"Well, as a samurai don't be sneaky, just leave if there's nothing wrong." Taro enjoyed Inukai Chujiro's respect, but he also knew that he was not a samurai and didn't dare to go too far, so he gave him a way out.

But Inukai Tadashi didn't want to leave. He never expected that another force would appear here, so he wanted to find out about the situation and made the excuse of wanting to meet the owner of the place. Unexpectedly, he angered Taro.

"Baga! Who are you and what qualifications do you have to meet the master!" Taro drew out the samurai sword from his waist, which made Inukai Chujiro's heart tighten.

What made him nervous was not Taro. Although Taro's strength was not bad, he was only for a ronin. What really made Inukai Chujiro nervous was the knife in Taro's hand.

Many times, to see whether a party is strong or not, you have to look at the details.

For example, these foot soldiers in front of us are fully equipped with weapons and armor, dressed in uniform, and have ruddy complexions. They are obviously full-time foot soldiers, that is, soldiers who do not need to work and only fight. They are the kind of people who really dare to kill people on the battlefield.

Such soldiers may not be very strong, but their morale is high and they dare to fight to the death. If ten spears are stabbed at them at the same time, even a warrior will have to retreat.

The leader should be the head of the Ashigaru, who was actually equipped with a samurai sword of fairly good quality.

Apart from anything else, this financial strength already surpassed that of the Shimazu family, so he hurriedly apologized, but still did not leave.

It was not easy for Taro to drive away a samurai directly, at least before the two sides were not hostile and the other party showed no hostility, so after asking his younger brother to keep an eye on the other party, he went to Moroboshi's house to report.

"A warrior from Shimazu." Yan Xu had just finished his exercise and frowned as he sipped warm water.

As he got to know the surrounding areas, Yan Xu was not afraid of these two daimyos, because they were sworn enemies. Only a fool would come to target him, so it was too late for them to curry favor with him.

Yan Xu was considering whether to take the opportunity to get in touch with the other party. After all, the Shimazu family still had some strength.

"Let Mori Shinobu contact the other party." Yan Xu thought he was not a very smart person, so he decided to let professionals do professional things, and he only needed to wait for his subordinates to report on their work.

After receiving Yan Xu's order, Fujiye disguised himself as a small businessman, took a detour with the goods on his back, and met with Inukai Chujiro in Inaya Village.

In just a few words, Fujiye understood Inukai Chujiro's purpose. After knowing that this was just a coincidence, he quietly passed the message on, and then the owner would make the decision.

(End of this chapter)