Chapter 243: Bamboo Blossoms
A Man quickly wrote Yuan Ye a letter, informing him of her plans and requesting support.
Yuan Ye had no objections. He had been misled by modern information before, truly considering the Ainu people a “nation.” However, upon actually interacting with them, he realized it was nothing of the sort. Getting these tribes to form an alliance was difficult enough; getting them to fight together on the battlefield was even harder.
With their current loose combination, they could at best resist the Kakizaki family’s expansion, or at worst, only slow down their pace. Driving them away was simply impossible.
He pondered for a while and concluded that A Man’s judgment was sound. He told her to send the people over, assuring her that he would make thorough preparations. After sending the letter, he would continue to gather funds.
He had no choice but to gather funds. A major war was imminent. The Wanjin Army needed to expand, aiming to increase its field force to five thousand men. Simultaneously, the Wanjin Navy could not stop building ships to protect trade, nor could it halt personnel recruitment and training. The military expenses alone were nearly bankrupting Wanjin’s finances.
Weapons, armor, vehicles, horses, clothing, food, and grain and forage supplies needed for military operations—all of it cost money. There was no room for savings, nor could he afford to cut corners.
Now, they were also engaged in economic warfare with the Daimyo on the Ise Peninsula, acquiring a large quantity of temporarily unneeded items at high prices. Only after selling a substantial amount of land did their cash flow slightly improve, but fiscal pressure remained significant.
The most critical issue was that he looked around and found no targets to plunder and recoup his losses, leaving him to endure the hardship alone.
Of course, they did manage to seize some spoils. While Yuan Ye led the Wanjin Army on an expedition, the Wanjin Navy was not idle. They actively cleared scattered water bandits along the Wanjin-Kanto-Northeast shipping routes, yielding some spoils of war. However, these scattered water bandits were mostly insignificant, part-time fishermen and part-time pirates, all poor wretches, so they didn’t acquire much money.
In any case, they would just have to endure. Wars in novels were depicted as effortless, with commanders issuing orders and hundreds of thousands of troops marching out. But in reality, war was an extremely complex undertaking, a comprehensive test of a nation’s overall strength that could drive a normal person to their death.
For the next two months, he spent his time gathering funds and overseeing preparations for war, or drafting tactical plans and making various contingency plans with military officers.
Everything was proceeding smoothly. A Qing, the temporary Director of Ceremonial of the Eastern Depot, came to report on the situation inside and outside Wanjin. Casually, she mentioned, “It is reported that bamboo has flowered in Suzuka and Kawachi Counties of Ise Province, causing some unrest among the local populace.”
Yuan Ye, who was stamping and signing documents while listening, looked up in surprise. “Oh, bamboo has flowered on the Ise Peninsula? Is it only in these two counties? All types of bamboo?”
A Qing paused, flipped through the intelligence summary, and said with slight surprise, “The news that has come back so far… yes, only the Life Preservation Style members who went to these two locations have reported this news.”
Yuan Ye fell into thought.
Widespread bamboo flowering was a rare occurrence. Bamboo was a peculiar plant.
Bamboo was actually a type of grass, a woody grass. It was said to have existed since the age of dinosaurs—components of bamboo’s ancestor were detected in dinosaur dung fossils. The reason bamboo evolved a growth rate thirty to forty times faster than other plants, growing one to two meters in a day and rapidly producing silica, was reportedly to prevent herbivorous dinosaurs from eating its young shoots.
Furthermore, its reproduction was also interesting. It often flowered and fruited only once every few decades or even centuries, and the timing was uncertain, occurring in spring, summer, autumn, or winter. There were even historical records of bamboo flowering and fruiting consecutively for generations within two to three years.
Simply put, bamboo seemed to predict disasters. It could determine through some mysterious means whether the coming year would be difficult and if there was a risk of collective extinction. If so, it would decisively flower and fruit, scattering seeds everywhere to ensure the species’ survival through sudden natural disasters, or even consecutive natural disasters, until the living environment improved.
At the same time, bamboo, as a species that had survived for tens of millions of years without being eliminated by nature, had even become stronger. Its inherent resistance to natural disasters was very high; it was unfazed by ordinary typhoons.
Therefore, bamboo flowering usually signaled a great disaster.
Ancient people, through their long agricultural lives, had also vaguely discovered this. After bamboo flowered, there would often be some natural disaster, either flood or drought. It was usually accompanied by plagues and rat infestations, leading them to regard “bamboo flowering” as a great ill omen.
Of course, plagues and rat infestations were not considered natural disasters predicted by bamboo. It was speculated that when bamboo flowered and fruited, producing a large amount of bamboo rice, the food supply for small animals like rats suddenly became abundant, allowing them to multiply greatly. This led to a sudden seven to eightfold increase in the rat population three to five months after bamboo flowering. However, with the disappearance of bamboo rice and nothing to eat, they were forced to invade human territories to find food and drink, thus causing widespread rat infestations and plagues.
However, the ancients did not understand these details and attributed everything to bamboo flowering. In reality, it was indeed related to bamboo flowering.
Bamboo flowering was not timed. Even with natural succession, such as when bamboo rhizomes aged and their nutrient storage capacity declined, requiring the bamboo forest to naturally renew itself, this flowering had some regularity. However, the time difference was considerable, usually with an error of several years or even a decade. The variety and area affected would not be too extensive. If large areas of various bamboo species flowered consecutively, it was highly likely that the bamboo judged that it would face a disaster it could not withstand and believed it was in danger of extinction.
Then…
Was it a coincidence that there would be a major natural disaster at the end of this year or early next year, such as Mount Jinshan flooding the Ise Peninsula, or no rain in October causing the earth to crack? Or was it because he had instructed Wanjin to desperately acquire beneficial birds and insects on the Ise Peninsula?
If it was the latter, was bamboo, a plant, truly so sentient? Could it foresee an insect plague, specifically targeting crops like rice, buckwheat, and beans?
However, speaking of which, bamboo was indeed a member of the grass family, a close relative of rice and wheat…
Yuan Ye’s thoughts wandered, his mind racing. He couldn’t quite figure out if the “bamboo flowering” incident was related to him. He had been secretly harming the Daimyo and Local Lords on the Ise Peninsula, who were unaware of his actions, yet the bamboo had discovered it first. At first glance, it seemed somewhat fantastical.
But, regardless of the situation, this was good news for him. After all, he wasn’t entirely confident in the success of the schemes he had devised.
If he spent a large sum of money and effort for a year with no results, he would still have to confront thirteen counties with the strength of just one, or even several provinces. That would be foolish, and it would be better to spend all that money on the Wanjin Army.
Now, he felt more confident. The signs had appeared. He estimated that by the end of the year or early next year, the Daimyo on the Ise Peninsula would face difficulties. It would be unlikely for them to gather and gang up on him, or even drive him into the sea with full force. At the very least, they would be severely weakened, and their mobilization capacity would decrease significantly.
Conversely, this foolish plant, bamboo, had flowered without giving any prior warning. This could very well alert the local Daimyo and Local Lords, greatly diminishing the effectiveness of his schemes.
However, even if they were now prepared, production would inevitably decrease. Their strength would still suffer a considerable loss, which should not significantly impact future landing operations.
Yuan Ye stood there, lost in thought, his expression shifting, his brows furrowing and relaxing. A Qing, though accustomed to this, was still puzzled, not knowing where his mind had drifted off to this time.
She didn’t care whether the bamboo flowered or not. She only saw that Yuan Ye had been working day and night recently, constantly worrying about tactical training or staring at financial statements with a frown. She felt a pang of concern. Her small ears twitched. Hearing no one nearby, she leaned forward, reached out, and gently smoothed Yuan Ye’s furrowed brow, asking softly, “What’s wrong?”
Yuan Ye snapped back to attention, took her small hand, and pulled her down to sit beside him. He smiled and said, “Nothing, I just thought of something…”
Well, A Qing was definitely over sixteen. He had also sent A Man, that noisy third wheel, to Ezo Island to live as a wild person. Some things naturally happened, and their relationship had progressed further.
The two of them had become a couple. A Qing was still a bit shy as Yuan Ye gently embraced her. She displayed all her learned skills, her small ears twitching rapidly again, confirming that no one would suddenly knock on the office door. Only then did she relax slightly, leaning her head on his shoulder and saying softly, “You don’t have to work so hard. We… are already very good.”
The current life was one of abundance, peace, and tranquility, a beauty A Qing had never dared to dream of. If they could have one more… or a few more children, she felt that living this way for a lifetime would be the ultimate happiness in this world. At most, if there was an opportunity in the future to avenge her parents and the entire village, she would have no other desires in this life.
Therefore, she felt it was enough. They had almost everything they needed. Yuan Ye didn’t need to plot to expand their territory, cross the sea to the Ise Peninsula to fight and kill. The two of them… well, plus Inu-hime, the three of them… ah, and A Man who ate with them, the four of them living together for a lifetime would be sufficient.
Yuan Ye was taken aback, then smiled and shook his head. “It won’t do. In this era, it’s either advance or retreat. If we don’t advance, we won’t be able to preserve our current life.”
The Japanese Warring States period was like raising gu worms, a bloody battlefield. Some things couldn’t be avoided just because you wanted to. If you don’t eat others, others will want to eat you! It was like when he was hiding in Takeuchi Manor before. No one provoked him, and he hadn’t provoked anyone. He was just making a little money and living a slightly better life, and the Owari Local Lords started coveting him.
In this era, only by devouring others could one strengthen oneself. There were no good people among the Daimyo and Samurai; they were all poisonous snakes, scorpions, centipedes, and toads. If he didn’t train himself into a crab and pinch them all to death, there would be no way out.
At the very least, as a human being, one should have the ability to resist when danger looms, at least possess the strength to fight back with dignity.
Moreover, in life, one must have aspirations. He still had his plans. With such an opportunity, he had to do something. He couldn’t just live a happy little life.
A Qing couldn’t fully understand his words, but she knew Yuan Ye was speaking the truth. She could only raise her hand again to rub Yuan Ye’s brow and say softly, “Then don’t work too hard.”
“It’s not hard.”
Yuan Ye truly didn’t feel it was hard. Being able to marry A Qing made his transmigration worthwhile, even if it was a misfortune. In modern times, his qualifications were average. After graduating from university, he would be just another cog in the machine, not destined for great things.
A Qing was not a talkative person. Even though she dared to take a bullet for Yuan Ye, her words were not particularly sweet. Hearing this, she didn’t say anything more and leaned against him. Yuan Ye also enjoyed this quiet affection, letting his mind go blank and resting for a while.
It wasn’t until he heard footsteps in the corridor outside that A Qing suddenly turned gracefully and knelt back opposite Yuan Ye. Yuan Ye also felt a little guilty and quickly returned to the main topic, saying to her, “Give an order for the Life Preservation Style personnel operating in the Ise Province area to report the situation of bamboo forest flowering in a timely manner and investigate whether the local Local Lords are taking any disaster preparedness measures. If so, ascertain the detailed situation of their disaster preparedness.”
Afterward, he picked up his brush and began writing a written order, requiring the civil affairs department to increase the collection of grains from the Kanto and Northeast regions. Wanjin’s reserve grain standard line for disaster preparedness also needed to be raised, to prevent a situation where, after occupying the Ise Peninsula, the disaster was worse than expected, leaving them without food.
Incidentally, he also issued a military order, granting another set of casualty quotas, demanding that the Wanjin Army accelerate recruitment and new recruit training, and complete preparations for war as quickly as possible.
Then, he could only wait. He would see after the autumn harvest.
In any case, he was determined to land on the Ise Peninsula. He hoped the bamboo wouldn’t cause him too much trouble!
