Arc 1 â Eight Year of Eiroku Era, Fateful Encounter with Lord Nobunaga
Year 1565, Early August
The result of the trial harvest was excellent.
Even the villagers, who were frightened at the dishâs appearance at first, were rushing to the dish after knowing its taste. It seemed like a feast to the villagers since sweet corn and pumpkin were vegetables with a sweet taste. However, it wasnât only a trial harvest this  time, but they also had to present this harvest to Nobunaga. It was necessary for them to regain back Nobunagaâs trust by presenting the yield to him ahead of time since they didnât present enough yield until now.
âDo I have to go to the lord wearing that difficult to move formal dressâŠâ
This time, the presented vegetables to Nobunaga were sweet potato, pumpkin, sweet corn and tomato. Although the sweet potato wasnât in the time to harvest it, but it wouldnât be bad to let Nobunaga taste itâs trial harvest. So she thought that it was fine to add it to the offering. Unlike the trial harvest, the pumpkin would be sun-dried first and the sweet corn and tomato would be harvested in the morning of that day.
Those vegetables would be placed on a large (hand?)made cart. It would be pulled by a cow originally but they couldnât lose the only village cow as a cow was a splendid workforce for farming.
âKanezou-san, Tagosaku-san, thank youâ
Shizuko called out to the two person who would pulling out the cart in exchange for the cow. They raised a thumb in reply to Shizukoâs call. The one who taught that hand sign was of course Shizuko but unexpectedly the villagers (especially the men) liked it.
Shizuko walked in the same pace with them as they finished their preparation to pull the cart. For the most part, Mori Yoshinari already conveyed the matter regarding her visit to Nobunaga. However, Shizuko felt considerably afraid because of the answer at that time was âIâm looking forward to itâ.
âI want someone to change my placeâŠâ
She turned toward Kanezou and Tagosaku while saying so but they splendidly averted their gaze. She looked up to the clear sky after unintentionally sighing.
âIt looks like it will be hot again todayâ
She muttered just a few words when she saw the cloudless blue sky.
It took many hours to enter the castle town, received the permit to enter the castle after explaining things to the castleâs gatekeeper, finished various preparations and changed to formal dress, waiting at the empty audience chamber for about 10 to 20 minutes, and Nobunaga finally appeared.
âI wish to talk about showing the harvest result todayâ
Shizuko who lowered her head to Nobunaga simply informed so.
âShow me the result. So raise your faceâ
Shizuko raised her face in response to those words. And she said
âFor todayâs matter we shall be showing the harvest result, please enjoy the dish made from the harvested cropsâ
âA dish⊠you sayâ
âYes, pleaseâ
She sent an eye signal to the nearby person to get them to carry the offered crops and a dish made from those crops. Shizuko didnât miss the moment when Nobunaga reacted slightly at the dish.
ïŒNobunaga loves rare things. He is a person who has a flexible mindset, enough to understand a globe while being a person of this period. So he will be interested in a never before seen dish⊠or he should be.ïŒ
âLet me explain thisâ
After having lowered her head once again, Shizuko began to talk while touching the harvest piled up in front of her.
âThere are three samples for todayâs presented harvest. The first one is pumpkin, the second one is corn, and the third one is tomato. The last is sweet potato which is not in harvest time yet but I wish that you do some test sampling so I can add it to the offeringâ
âHow should I say it⊠this is full of things I have never seen beforeâ
The surrounding war chiefs who saw the offering made a commotion. However, that commotion died quickly when Nobunaga raised a hand.
âYou may continueâ
âYes. And then about the dish⊠first of all, the pumpkin and the deer meat are cooked in miso[1], the corn is boiled, Onigiri made from sweet potato and miso[2], and please eat the tomato while only sprinkling it with salt.â
âHou~⊠this corn you said, is tinged with a color close to glittering gold. But I will eat the pumpkin first.â
He took it with chopsticks and put it in his mouth as he said so. Shizuko thought âIs it really fine eating that without doing poison tasting first?â but Nobunaga seemed like he was unconcerned about such a matter. Shizuko waited for Nobunagaâs next words while thinking that perhaps the poison tasting was already done beforehand.
He chewed it normally but that Nobunaga, who suddenly stopped, put down his chopstick. His face seemed slightly surprised. Shizuko, who had somes weat running down her cheek, and the surrounding retainers were naturally flustered.
Hideyoshi, who hurriedly misunderstood that the dish was poisoned, was stopped by someoneâs voice right before he grabbed Shizuko. Of course, the owner of that voice was Nobunaga. He looked at Shizuko with a serious expression unlike just now.
âMi-Milord? That isâŠ?â
âThis food, I have never tasted food with this kind of texture until now. And yet, this foodâs taste when being chewed is truly nice. It is also able to produce a slight sweet taste. Delicious, truly deliciousâ
Nobunaga said so while smiling. The retainers, who understood that the poisoning was a misunderstanding, patted their chests out of relief after looking at Nobunagaâs expression.
After that, Nobunaga ate the dish in silence. Nobunaga was said to be indifferent regarding his meal but he ate it because he might be curious about the new foodâs taste. Nobunaga turned toward Shizuko after slowly putting down the chopstick.
âIt was certainly delicious. And it must be an abundant harvest if you  were able to present it with only this much of a portionâ
Shizuko patted her chest out of relief at Nobunaga who spoke while smiling.
âHoweverâŠâ
But that was only for an instant. Nobunaga, who changed his expression quickly, asked Shizuko while glaring at her.
âWhat is the reason for you not choosing rice? Rice is different than other crops in that rice is an important supply item. You arenât trying to produce it too looking at your state. Tell me about your reason. Donât tell me, the reason why you do that is because of this rare food?
In the Sengoku Period, the reason why there were many wars that broke out in winter was because of farmers finishing the farmwork for producing rice during that time. Since rice was an important supply for war, unlike vegetables. And the means to secure a lot of rice was more important than the war.
ââŠLet me explain the reason behind this to my esteemed lord and also his retainers.â
âI donât mind. Speak.â
Shizuko stared at Nobunaga after lowering her head once and said, âI consider it is necessary for the sake of my esteemed lord to accomplish the unification and building of a ărich country, strong armyă nation.â
âDid you say rich country, strong army?â
Shizuko gave a small nod at Nobunagaâs word.
âIt means improving the economic industry and strengthening the army my esteemed lordâ
However, Shizuko continued further, her words after saying the sentence she just said with a bit of stress.
âThere is no country that is able to become a  ărich country, strong armyă as far as I know.â
Nobunagaâs expression changed for an instant. According to Shizukoâs story, it meant that no daimyo , not even the shogun couldnât do ărich country, strong armyă yet depended on the way he interpreted it. In short, Nobunaga was included in that too. Naturally, the retainerâs expression also changed but Nobunaga stopped them by hand before they were able to say anything.
âYou may continueâ
ââŠLet me explain myself beforehand, I have no plan to make a fool of my esteemed lord, not in the least. But, it doesnât change that what I just said was true.â
âI donât mind. But, from the way you say it, you have a plan to fulfill that ărich country, strong armyă thing, right?
Shizuko felt that there would be no mercy if she had no answer judging from the sharp gaze pointed at her by Nobunaga when he asked her the question. A sweat-drop unintentionally streamed down her cheek at his vigor, but Shizuko braced herself as if she was driving away her fear.
âWithin ărich country, strong armyă is a powerful army which can be realized with doing military system reformation by reinforcing the armaments. However, regarding the rich country⊠to sum it up, it is necessary to devise a plan to strengthen our national power.â
This chapter is scrapped from readlightnovel.org
ââŠ.â
âTodayâs presented and eaten crops can be cultivated even in barren land. Furthermore, we can cultivate it with almost no time and effort. In other words, it is possible that it can be cultivated along with the riceâ
Cultivating the rice couldnât be excluded because it was the cornerstone. However, if they cultivated nothing but rice, the farmer would lose their food when there was a bad harvest. Therefore, the crops that could grow even in the barren land became essential.
ïŒEspecially, sweet potatoâs have a high reproductivity ability,  they will grow even in the barren land unless there is a mistake in procedure. Therefore, it is relatively easy to be raised by a beginner. There is a reason that sweet potatoes was cultivated extensively as a measure for famines since the Edo PeriodïŒ
Moreover, the sweet potato which used by Shizuko wasnât the hereditary one in these days but the one which had undergone selective breeding from modern science. Sweet potato, pumpkin, tomato, sweet corn and sugarcane were quite resistant toward pest and disease and there was no worry that they would die unless in rare circumstances.
âIt is also highly nutritious and will reduce the child mortality rate due to malnutrition.â
If the child mortality rate declined, it meant that the labor force for farmwork would increase. There was a difference in the basis of a country where a hundred children were born but only half of them were able to grow up to be an adult compared to a country where ninety percent of the children grew up to be an adult. Rice and vegetables would be produced through the farmwork and about the military force of course,
âBy using effective methods, the yield will be increased. The commonerâs nutrition will be increased as a result. And we can be a rich country by realizing those points. And thus, we can plan for the steadily rising number of children to be used to increase our military force. Thus we able to realize the strong army.â
A dry sound from the folding fan resounded across the room the moment she finished saying that.
âSplendid! I never took farmwork into account that far. I can certainly ascertain your ability.â
Nobunaga said so as he stood up while pointing the folding fan at Shizuko.
Shizuko hurriedly lowered her head because all of the war-chief who saw that lowered their head.
âRaise your head, Shizuko.â
âYes.â
Nobunaga lightly hit Shizuko, who slowly raised her face, at her forehead with the tip of the folding fan. She, who didnât know what that meant, couldnât understand what Nobunagaâs conduct meant at all.
âYour quick-wittedness and your steady spirit to not avert your gaze from me are excellent. Itâs regrettable that you are a woman.â
âHa, haâŠâ
âLet me declare it once again, you are mine. The only time you may leave me is when you dieâ
Nobunaga kept talking while floating a thin smile after removing the folding fan from her head.
âThe thing you should do for me⊠do you understand it?â
Shizuko tightened her expression and nodded strongly at those words.
Nobunagaâs words were unlike before which it had the feeling of âIâll kill you if you betray meâ when they first met. She felt that Nobunaga began to think to genuinely use her as his follower. That was why Nobunaga asked her about things she should do.
ïŒSince I canât go home, I will survive the sengoku periodâŠ!ïŒ
The things she should do meant that it wouldnât do for her not to work as Nobunagaâs retainer. She had to survive the Sengoku period since she didnât know how to return to her time. Moreover, there was no lord other than Nobunaga who thought that a woman could be used as a retainer in this period. Therefore, it could be said that there were no other options for her about how to work for Nobunaga.
Shizuko, who understood it once again, was a bit eager in her heart.
âYoshinari! Gather about fifty farmers.â
âHa!â
âShizuko, Iâm going to attack Mino. Iâll entrust a new territory to you. Create enough productivity to the point that it can sustain Owari by using the gathered villagersâ
âYes sir!â
As she lowered her head, Shizuko thought about history.
ïŒIf I remember rightly, Nobunaga become a daimyo who own two countries, Owari and Mino, two years from now in the tenth year of Eiroku Era (year 1567) âŠ. Since his territory expansion will have a surging wave momentum from there, so until then I have to raise our productivity.ïŒ
The name Sengoku Period was really fitting in this world where there would be a war between fellow countrymen somewhere. However, there were a lot of soldiers, who went to the war, Â who were originally farmers that became provincial samurai. And then, the people who were killed in the war would be connected as it was to the decline of rice productivity.
(Ichijouin Kakukei (Ashikaga Yoshiaki) get closer to Nobunaga in July of the eleventh year of Eiroku Era (Year 1568) and Nobunaga starts to proceeding to the capital⊠that means three years from now huh. Hmm, that means I have  to prepare enough of that at the time of invasion of the Ise huh)
She had to make enough productivity to the extent that it covered up the portion of the farmers who drafted into the war. Shizuko believed that, that issue was the one that she had to tackle.
(Ah, things that I should do are repeating rotated crops cultivation and two crops a year.. We should avoid immediately doing the paddy field and planting the seeds for rice but we have to reform about how to cultivate the seedbed and doing the rice nursery. Â We need to get a rotary tiller[3]Â tool for the checkrow, rotary field weeding machine[4], to harvest the rice by cutting up the tip, and threshing machine to be used for separating the rice from its husk.)
The truth was, she had so many tasks that it could roll her eyes. But more than that, an expectation rose in her heart as she was able to use vast farmlands.