Chapter 23 Send a Daughter
Although he didn't know the other party's background, Nomura did not dare to neglect him in order to intimidate Inukai Chujiro. In addition to asking Inukai Chujiro, who was leading the way, to change into decent clothes, he also asked the Shimazu Daimyo for ten foot soldiers.

Because of the shortage of labor, the daimyo actually did not have many standing soldiers under his command. On weekdays, there were only a few dozen people cooperating with the samurai to guard the mountain castle. More foot soldiers would only be summoned in times of war, so ten people were not a few. Not to mention that rice balls had to be prepared when traveling. One more person meant one more portion, which was another expense. In any case, the Shimazu daimyo was quite reluctant.

Before dawn, Nomura led his men all the way to Daogu Village and arrived in the evening of the same day.

After expressing his intention to meet him, Taro reluctantly allowed the other party to stay overnight in Inaya Village, but he could not guarantee whether the adult would be willing to meet him.

After refusing the gift from Nomura, Taro walked out of the village chief's house, whispered a few words to his younger brother Jiro, and hurried to Moroboshi's house to report the matter.

Jiro, who succeeded his brother, hardly concealed his actions and patrolled not far away with the purpose of monitoring Nomura and his group. This made Inukai Tadashi a little angry, because this time he was not representing himself, but the Shimazu family. However, Nomura calmly asked him to observe more details around him instead of causing trouble for the Shimazu family.

Realizing this, Inukai Chujiro hurriedly bowed his head to admit his mistake, and then went to check on those foot soldiers to make sure they didn't cause any trouble.

In fact, those foot soldiers were more honest than Inukai Chujiro imagined.

The treatment of the Shimazu family's regular foot soldiers was not as good as imagined. Not only did they have to save money on food and clothing every day, but their equipment was also quite old. Apart from a bellyband-like belly bag, their only weapon was a bamboo spear wrapped in iron sheet. They were often scolded and beaten by the samurai on weekdays, and they did not have much energy at all. Especially when they saw their colleagues who were also foot soldiers and obviously had better living conditions, they were even more envious and had no intention of provoking them.

When Nomura noticed that four farmers brought food to the two teams of foot soldiers, he immediately pretended to stand up and take a look. After finding that it was thick porridge and pickles, he nodded secretly. Especially after he found that the two teams of foot soldiers ate separately at different times, he was even more amazed at their discipline and vigilance.

Now Nomura can be sure that these are not a group of pretending to be scammers. From many details, it can be seen that these people come from a powerful force.

Weapons, armor, clothing, food, discipline, these are all details to judge the strength of one side. From these points of view, the Shimazu family is no match for the other side.

As for whether it was fake, Nomura believed in his own eyes. He could see that those foot soldiers had long been accustomed to their current life and were not pretending to be so.

Nomura, who knew what was going on, behaved quite respectfully when he paid a visit the next day, even though he had never heard of the Moroboshi family. It was not until he saw Yan Xu that he realized some unreasonable and strange things.

Nomura had seen people from the Central Plains. Their humble appearance but inner arrogance could not be faked, not to mention their godly stature, which was simply not something that could be produced in a small and poor country like Japan.

Although he didn't know why the nobleman from the Central Plains came here and used the banner and identity of Japan, Nomura did not suspect that the other party was here to invade, because he would not accept it even if it was given for free.

Somehow, Nomura thought of the power struggles and exiles in the Central Plains.

But judging from the other party's posture, it doesn't seem like that.

However, Nomura quickly gave up these speculations because it was not important.

Faced with the golden Buddha and Buddhist scriptures presented by Nomura, Yan Xu casually let someone take them without even looking at them any more. He even responded perfunctorily to the subsequent conversation, made a decision impatiently and sent Nomura away.

This was very impolite, but it was in line with the style of a noble, so Nomura not only didn't care, but became more respectful. Nomura didn't know that Yan Xu was already sweating, because he had a mild social anxiety and didn't like to communicate with people, because it made him feel very uncomfortable, not to mention facing a stranger in a strange world and talking about a strange thing, but his goal was achieved.

Nomura tried to form an alliance with the Moroboshi family, but was rejected as expected. As for marriage, he did not dare to mention it.

If the other party was really a noble from the Central Plains, it would be an insult for him to dare to mention this matter, and he might even bring about a great enemy for the Shimazu family.

However, the Moroboshi family not only gave a sword as a return gift to the Golden Buddha, but was also willing to provide a batch of supplies, which was an unexpected surprise, so he hurried back to the Shimazu family with the things.

Shimazu Daimyo cut three rolls of straw mats in a row with a snowflake in his hand, but he still felt unsatisfied.

"Snowflake, the sword is as its name suggests, the blade is really as sharp as ice and snow, it must be made by a master craftsman." Daimyo Shimazu wiped and maintained it carefully before putting it back into the sheath, then frowned and said to Nomura.

"If I'm not mistaken, this sword is not precious to the Moroboshi family." Daimyo Shimazu said this because the details of the sword were handled very perfunctorily. Except for the blade, the materials used in other places were not particular, and even the polishing of the blade had slight flaws, which was completely opposite to his previous evaluation.

The only reason for this situation is that it is ordinary. Things are too ordinary, so there is no need to make them elaborate.

"I don't know, it's just that the rewards given by the Moroboshi family are very casual." Nomura could certainly see this, but he couldn't say it directly, because what the other party regarded as ordinary casual rewards was quite precious to the Shimazu family, so he could only say it euphemistically.

"It seems that your guess is correct, but I don't know the other party's purpose." Shimazu Daimyo said that Nomura guessed that the other party was from the Central Plains, and his status was probably not low. Only with such a background and status could he do such a thing. Because if it were Shimazu Daimyo, he would not be willing to send a sword of this quality to him casually.

"Nomura, do you think the Shimazu family can marry into the other party?" After realizing the gap between the two sides, Shimazu Daimyo asked this question without giving up.

"My lord, perhaps we can try another way." Nomura didn't dare to let Daimyo Shimazu do whatever he wanted. The Shimazu family was already at a critical juncture. If there were more enemies, they would be doomed.

Shimazu Daimyo also understood that this was unrealistic. The nobles of the Central Plains were so noble that even if they fell into poverty, it was impossible for them to marry a Japanese woman. At least his status and position were not enough to make the other party endure such humiliation.

But he was unwilling to give up, so he planned to follow Nomura's method and send a daughter over first. As for what the daughter would be used for, he didn't care. It would be best if everything that should happen happened, and then a child was born. Even if it was an illegitimate child, he would withstand the pressure and promote the other party to the position of daimyo of the Shimazu family.

"My lord, the leader of the Moroboshi family is extremely tall, like a ghost." Nomura hesitated for a moment and reminded.

Japanese people are short in stature, not to mention women. This must be taken into consideration, otherwise it is easy to get killed.

"This..." After hesitating for a moment, Daimyo Shimazu continued.

"Where's Karakumaru?"

(End of this chapter)