Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!-Chapter 1486 - 1035: Five Years of Plenty—Sukeichiro the Horse Keeper and the Impoverished Peasants of Wa Country

Chapter 1486: Chapter 1035: Five Years of Plenty—Sukeichiro the Horse Keeper and the Impoverished Peasants of Wa Country

"Sukeichiro, come over and have some porridge! ... Haven’t finished feeding the horses yet? Wow! This Jurchen Stallion, it can really eat?"

"Yes, Watanabe Leader. This Jurchen Stallion is very robust, even stronger than the Family Head’s elk-brown stallion! It must weigh a thousand jin, equivalent to ten people. The amount it eats every day is also as much as ten people’s worth, twenty to thirty jin of grass and beans!"

"Buddha! This horse actually weighs a thousand jin? Can eat twenty to thirty jin of grass a day? Tsk tsk, that’s almost twice as much as a Honshu horse, right?"

"Exactly! It’s twice as heavy as a Honshu Kiso Horse, and eats more than twice as much! It can eat twenty to thirty jin of grass a day and drink forty to fifty jin of water. And eating just grass isn’t enough, I also have to feed it at least two jin of dried soybeans or dried peas... The food it gets is even better than the village chief’s! Fortunately, on this outing, I came prepared to raise big horses, and brought enough bean fodder..."

The simple stable, made with timber, dry branches, and leaves, sat by a small glacier convenient for fetching water, and was almost the best structure in the entire camp. A tall Jurchen Stallion and two slightly smaller Yakut snow horses were nestled separately in the warm stable.

The strong Jurchen Stallion occupied the center of the stable and had long demonstrated its stallion prowess, driving the two small snow mares to the corner to monopolize the small feeding stove of the horse breeders. At this moment, it was lowering its head, chewing on a mouthful of soybeans, crunching leisurely. When it saw Watanabe Masumi walking by, it just glanced sideways disdainfully and snorted, then flipped its tail with a "pa" to urge Sukeichiro to continue.

"Wow! This arrogant fellow, look at it provoking me... Buddha! If Murakami hadn’t stopped me, I would definitely have a good ride on you!"

The monk soldier, Watanabe Masumi, licked his lips, greedily looking at this person-tall stallion. He was once a great general of the Shoni Family, and he hailed from the main line of the Ryuzoji Clan, naturally having ridden Kyushu and Kiso horses of Wa Country. However, those small native horses compared to this mighty Jurchen Stallion were like comparing a ten-year-old child to a twenty-year-old adult, the difference was not just a little bit.

"Buddha! The evil Yuan Invasion from two hundred years ago, did they ride such strong horses? Yes, in the Mongolian Invasion Scroll, it was painted, such tall and swift war horses! In it, there was also a difficult resistance and heavy casualties of each Kyushu Martial Family..."

"Phew! Thanks to Buddha’s protection, the divine wind showed its might, burying the evil Yuan Invasion in the blood sea of the Nine Netherworlds! ... And Lord Shoni Clan, it was by virtue of resisting the Yuan Invasion that they were granted the position of Western Governor by the Shogunate, successively becoming the Dazaifu Dazai Shoni, and developing from the Guardian of one country of Higo to the Guardian of the Northern Kyushu’s six countries: Chikuzen, Buzen, Hizen, Higo, Iki, Tsushima!"

"Ah! A true hero should ride a big horse, wield a tachi, slay the evil, and achieve great deeds! Then they could boast about their family name, establish a lasting legacy, suppress local tyrants, and be admired and revered by future generations!"

Thinking of this long-buried history, the monk soldier Watanabe Masumi’s eyes flickered, and an unstoppable yearning and admiration arose in his heart. It seemed that once he decided to leave the monkhood, thoughts of fame, delusions, and greed would uncontrollably emerge from his heart, which had been plain for years. However, thinking of the current head of the Ryuzoji Clan, his own sharp and ruthless younger brother...

"Hachiman Mahasattva bless! Stop, stop!"

Watanabe Masumi pursed his lips, said a low prayer, and shook his head with a bitter smile. Then, he sighed, grabbed two handfuls of soybeans, and amid the Jurchen Stallion’s dissatisfied snort, fed the other two Yakut small mares.

"Ah! The big horse is unattainable, can’t ride it... But even riding such a medium horse is much better than a small horse!"

"Uh..."

Seeing this scene, Sukeichiro, the horse leader, opened his mouth, wanting to say something but dared not speak.

He was an ordinary villager from Ezo land; though he worked hard to become a horse leader with his horse-breeding skills, the gold content of this horse leader was far less than that of a sailor leader like Watanabe Masumi, who could command a group of Korean sailors and decide on merchandise procurement.

The Kaozaki Family, at best, was just a local tyrant with five thousand stones and National Peoples. And this so-called horse leader had no samurai under him; essentially, he was just a veteran horse breeder!

Therefore, in front of the evidently noble-born and backed by Miao Courtyard Watanabe Masumi, Sukeichiro couldn’t lift his head high, scolding or saying anything loudly. After stammering a moment, he had to lower his head and softly remind two sentences.

"Watanabe Leader, although there’s a lot of bean fodder on the boat, the winter here is still long. After it snows, grass will be hard to gather, and the big horse is a bit picky... The precious soybeans and peas should be saved for the big horse first! ... As for the two snow horses, they are used to the snowy climate here and can eat lichens, mosses, and grass roots, so they won’t starve..."

"Hmm?"

Hearing this tactful advice, the monk soldier Watanabe Masumi squinted, his expression serious. He slowly finished feeding two handfuls of soybeans, then affectionately stroked the necks of the two snow horses. The two snow horses also affectionately moved closer, licking Watanabe Masumi’s face and uttered friendly low sounds.

"Ritsu, ritsu!"

"Ha! Truly sentient horses! Indeed, medium horses are better than big horses, and easier to come by..."

The monk soldier Watanabe Masumi happily smiled, then turned his head to glance at the low-bowing horse breeder Sukeichiro. He looked at the other’s respectful smiling face for a moment, uttering a low "Hmm," then withdrew his hand from feeding the horses and asked aloud.

"Sukeichiro, you are very familiar with these Shandan big horses and medium horses? How many years have you been breeding horses before?"

"Uh... Watanabe Leader, I have been following my master in breeding horses since I was twelve, and have been doing it for sixteen years! Initially, I bred Honshu Kiso Horses, then when my master got old and couldn’t breed horses anymore, I took charge of the family head’s few good horses..."

"Wow! Started breeding at twelve, for sixteen years... You are only twenty-eight?"

Hearing this, the monk soldier Watanabe Masumi widened his eyes, looking at Sukeichiro, who was ten years younger but looked equally aged, shaking his head in amazement.

"Buddha! Breeding horses, it seems, is truly a difficult job!"

"Yes! A horse eats and drinks dozens of jin in a day and needs feeding from morning till midnight, staying with them as much as possible. Besides feeding, each day you have to trim their hooves, groom their skin and fur, clean the stable, repeatedly train them in running commands... Those meticulous tasks are endless, never getting a long, uninterrupted sleep, how can one not age quickly?"

Sukeichiro, the horse breeder, smiled, talking about the exhaustion but without a trace of complaint on his face.

"But! No matter how tiring horse breeding is, it can feed the whole family. The leftover old bean fodder during winter and spring can be taken home to make a living... This is so much better than the villagers who eat leaves and grass roots!"

"Ugh! Eating the hard beans meant for horses? Eating leaves and roots, like the rustics of the countryside?..."

Upon hearing this, the Monk Soldier Watanabe Masumi touched his nose, unsure of what to say. He knew Sukeichiro was right, that indeed the country folk have a long tradition of eating leaves, tree bark, roots, and even insects.

That was certainly not because it tasted good, but because the countryside taxes were unbearably high, nearly four to five times those in the Ming Dynasty’s countryside. A tax rate of "half to the lord, half to the people," or "sixty to the lord, forty to the people," or even an actual tax rate of seventy to eighty percent was not uncommon! With few paddy fields and low yield from dry fields and mountain fields, without eating such things one would surely starve, and eating them only postponed starvation or poisoning by a couple of years...

"Alas! Buddha bless!..."

As a former member of the Martial Family, who once collected taxes from the country folk, Monk Soldier Watanabe Masumi lowered his eyes, offered a prayer to Buddha, and changed the subject.

"Sukeichiro, I can see you are good at horse breeding! How much stipend rice do you receive each year for raising horses for the Kaozaki Family?"

"Well, Bodhisattva bless us, and the Family Head is very benevolent! I receive twenty stones a year, plus some hard beans horses don’t like, which is enough to sustain my two younger brothers and me! Sanlang has also found some success and became a retainer samurai, receiving ten stones..."

"Hmm, twenty stones? Is that twenty stones of stipend rice, or twenty stones of land grants?"

"Watanabe Group Leader, you must be joking, right? Me, a horse breeder, getting twenty stones of stipend rice? That’s something only higher-ranking samurai are entitled to..."

"Oh! Twenty stones of land grants, which means eight stones of grain for a forty percent stipend. If one person needs one and a half stones a year, then it’s barely enough for five people to eat...but no, you have three able-bodied men in your family, and there are still parents, wives, and children to feed, how can this little rice be enough?" 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"Uh...Watanabe Group Leader, I haven’t married yet, and my father passed away early. My mother doesn’t eat much...we’ve been saving the money and rice for Sanlang, hoping to find him a good samurai family to marry into! Maitreya Buddha bless!..."

"...I see!..."

Listening to the hardships of these country folk, Monk Soldier Watanabe Masumi blinked slowly, silently contemplating. Then, casting a distant glance at Murakami Kitamichi, who was focused on cooking porridge not far away, he whispered softly.

"Sukeichiro, if you continue to raise horses for the Kaozaki Family, your life will stay the same... But if you come over to care for these Northern Land stallions for the gentlemen at the temple... I could arrange with the great merchant Mori no Kiyoshi to grant you at least five times the stipend rice, forty stones!"

"Ah?! Maitreya Buddha! How...how much?"

"Forty stones of stipend rice, one hundred stones of land grants!"

"Hiss!..."

Upon hearing this unbelievable figure, horse breeder Sukeichiro gasped, rendered speechless. It wasn’t until the Jurchen Stallion bit his hand twice in dissatisfaction after he finished feeding them soybeans that he snapped back to reality, fumbling to pull out one last handful of soybeans.

"Sukeichiro? How about it? As long as you agree to switch, Lord Nobuhiro’s side will be handled naturally by the great merchant Mori no Kiyoshi!"

Monk Soldier Watanabe Masumi smiled serenely, watching the trembling horse breeder Sukeichiro with amusement. Sukeichiro, shivering, finished feeding all the beans before pursing his lips and looking towards the confident Watanabe.

"Watanabe...sir..."

"Hmm?"

"Thanks to Maitreya Buddha, and you!..."

"Hmm..."

"I...I can’t agree..."

"Hmm!"

Monk Soldier Watanabe widened his eyes, staring intently at the horse breeder Sukeichiro. Although initially nervous and trembling, Sukeichiro’s voice grew increasingly firm.

"Maitreya Buddha bless! I need to stay home...I still have an elderly mother, and two younger brothers, under the care of the Family Head...I need to arrange a good samurai family for my brother. The Family Head has already promised! As long as I return alive from this voyage, Murakami-san will help arrange it!"

"A good daughter from a samurai family...ascending from commoner to samurai..."

Monk Soldier Watanabe and his lips for a long time without speaking. For those on the lowest social rung, becoming a samurai in their home region, obtaining the status of a samurai family, truly changed their class and the fate of their descendants! In comparison, working in a foreign place for as much stipend rice would still only make one a horse breeder, remaining a humble commoner until death...

"Buddha bless!...Alright then!..."

Coming to terms with it all, Monk Soldier Watanabe slightly shook his head, making no attempt to persuade further. He reached out, heavily patting Sukeichiro on the shoulder, faintly smiling in response to his somewhat uneasy glance.

"Sukeichiro, you’re done feeding the horses, and Murakami’s venison porridge is ready too! Let’s go grab some meat porridge together! Haha! It’s made with fragrant fine rice from Vietnam; surely you’ve never tasted it before!..."