CHAPTER 333: CHAPTER 235: GAINING MERIT

A few days later, Harano received the official letter sent urgently by Ah Man via a small early boat.

In the letter, Ah Man made an exorbitant request, directly asking New Wanjin for twenty sets of contemporary armor and one hundred sets of chest armor as equipped by the Wanjin Army, as well as over a thousand long sabers, over a thousand long spear heads, five hundred strong bows, and more than two hundred short-handled iron cannons.

In addition, she wanted matching military uniforms, boots, and raincoats, as well as gunpowder and provisions. She also stated that once the supplies arrived, she would arrange for some Ainu people to go to New Wanjin Port to sign the "Wanxia Friendship and Trade Agreement," ensuring New Wanjin would not incur a loss.

The requested items were rather numerous; truly calculated, it would require twenty to thirty thousand kan. It was uncertain how long it would take to recover the cost, and it was even likely that further investment would be needed in the future, with a high possibility of all the money going down the drain.

Endo, Maeshima, and others, who were temporarily overseeing miscellaneous affairs at New Wanjin Port, were undecided. Given that it related to Ah Man’s secret operation, they dared not approve it directly and sent it to Matsukura Castle, leaving the decision to Harano himself, even though before the expedition Harano had instructed that any supplies needed by Ah Man should be prioritized immediately.

Harano did not hesitate and signed and stamped the order, instructing New Wanjin Port to provide the supplies in full, telling them to squeeze them out even if they had to, and if not possible, to take them first from the Wanjin Army, also supplementing some other materials.

For example, medicine. He vaguely remembered that during the "Wa people"’s development of Yakushima Island, they had resorted to "poisoned people," that is, exiling some commoners suffering from cholera, epidemic fever, and acute parasitic diseases into Ainu territory, causing diseases to spread through the Ainu Tribe, sharply reducing their population and greatly weakening their resistance.

The Ainu people’s technology was relatively backward, with almost no medical system. Recalling this, Harano decided to help them patch up this vulnerability in passing.

This money was still worth spending, even if only to drive the "Wa people" off Yakushima Island and to separate Yakushima from Japan—no expense was too high.

Moreover, though the population of the Ainu people on Yakushima Island had never been clearly determined (the Ainu themselves couldn’t figure out their numbers), preliminary estimates suggested they exceeded two hundred thousand. This emerging market of two hundred thousand alone would be extremely beneficial to Wanjin’s industry and commerce.

Furthermore, Yakushima Island was extremely rich in mineral resources—coal, iron, silver, copper, gold, and sulfur. For the Wanjin people to mine these themselves was certainly unprofitable, inconvenient, and likely to cause conflict, but future cooperation with the Ainu People in joint mining promised substantial profits.

After approving the "operation funds," Harano also wrote a letter to Ah Man, first acknowledging her efforts and achievements, then reminding her to pace herself—in the next year or two, Wanjin’s development focus was further territorial expansion, with the main target being the Ise Peninsula. Crossing half of Japan to wage a major campaign against the daimyo of Northeast Japan on Yakushima Island was out of the question.

Therefore, the military support Wanjin could provide would be quite limited. For a long time, Ah Man would have to rely on herself, and warfare was perilous; if it truly became dangerous, she should retreat and return at once—her life was the first priority. As for Yakushima Island, Harano would think of some other solution.

This amounted to a private letter written in the capacity of a friend; only Ah Man enjoyed such treatment. For anyone else on such a mission, Harano would likely require them to complete the task even if it meant dying there.

If not, fleeing back would naturally result in military discipline, and a similarly unpleasant fate.

Since becoming a lord, his heart had undeniably grown harder, though whether this counted as growth, he could not say.

Just as he finished handling affairs a thousand miles away, someone came to visit Harano at Matsukura Castle—a small army, numbering over four hundred, with motley equipment, looking very much like bandits in disguise and arousing strong suspicion of an attempted ruse against the city.

Fortunately, their commander was an acquaintance: "Monkey’s Second Generation," Mi Jiulang. This fellow had always mingled around Oda Nobunaga, and had previously greeted Harano alongside Maeda Toshie when Harano disembarked, so Harano naturally knew him.

Still, it was wartime, and Wanjin was a force that paid particular attention to military regulations and procedural rigor. Even with an acquaintance, Harano did not overstep to allow them rest in the city, but had his subordinates assign them a patch of wasteland to set up camp on their own, a location actually quite vulnerable to attack from the Wanjin Army.

This ragtag force felt somewhat aggrieved, believing Harano looked down on them. They made a small commotion, but at Mi Jiulang’s persuasion, they quieted down and went to camp and rest on their own.

According to the procedures Wanjin Army had naturally adopted over the years, guest troops were not allowed to have any threatening power. This was not discrimination against this particular force. As per established procedure for guest armies, however, they were provided with standard supplies—the rations of Wanjin Army were among the best of the time, not like the usual daimyo who just handed out some rice and called it a day. So, upon seeing the rice, flour, and pickled vegetables delivered by the Wanjin Army, those ashigaru who looked like bandits lost much of their resentment.

As commander, Mi Jiulang was of course permitted into the city. He did not bring many household retainers or Lang Faction men, but only accompanied by two stocky, dark-skinned samurai in their forties—these two looked older because of their weatherbeaten faces, but were in fact only thirty-six or thirty-seven years old.

These two men, one named Maeno Nagakane and the other Hosokawa Shigekatsu, were sworn brothers and both natives of the vicinity of Matsukura Castle.

Or rather, they hailed from the confluence of the Kisogawa River and Changliang River—one’s hometown was Matsukura Village, where Matsukura Castle stood; the other was from Honezuka Village, next to Matsukura Village. Both were local kokujin.