Chapter II: Prances in Woods
Immediately following the liberation of Takaku from the treacherous Omura, Kiyoshi dispatched Yoritada and his agents across the region to keep the peace; the occupation went smoothly… until Yoritada was captured by an Omura loyalist. Kiyoshi could not afford to lose him, and quickly paid the ransom. However, following the incident, the crack-down on rebellious peasants became more severe and eventually the entire region was pacified.
The first half of 1184 passed with no major event; the fields were planted, a few more homes were built in small new village called Nagasaki, which quickly became a trade hub in the region. However, in June, Kiyoshi discovered that his Master of Ceremonies, Matsura Nobunaka, had been skimming tax revenues for himself; being an honourable and forgiving liege, Kiyoshi only ordered him to repay the embezzled funds. Following this, the remainder of 1184 was quiet, as was the first quarter of 1185.
On the 24th of April, however, Toshikane, son of Akira and Yasha, was born; the celebrations were cut short when Nobunaka was found embezzling funds again; Kiyoshi, done with this traitorous scum, had him executed in September. Kiyoshi then appointed his younger brother, the much more competent and loyal Kakomu, as Master of Ceremonies. The following two years were quiet, though Nagasaki continued to expand, soon becoming the largest town in the region.
In March, 1187, his young daughter Kochou began her studies with a nun in Kiyoshi’s kori; she wasn’t a brilliant student, but she did show her determination and some aptitude. Several months later, Kikuchi Takanao, easily one of the most powerful men on Kyushu, proposed that he and Kiyoshi exchange hostages; seeing this as a good way to build some support for later conquests, he eagerly agreed, and shortly after Akira had left the court, the young Kikuchi Tsunenao arrived. On the 26th of March, 1188, whilst living with the Kikuchi, a second son was born to Akira and his wife, named Kiyoshi in honour of his grandfather.
A few months later, the venerable Taira Kiyomori passed away at the age of seventy-two; he was succeeded by his younger brother, Taira Tadanori; unlike his esteemed elder brother, Tadanori was largely unexceptional. Kiyomori’s son, however, took command of his father’s estates; an utter imbecile and wholly unworthy of his father, rumours spread that the new Daimyo would run about naked in the woods, howling like a wolf in the midst of winter…
Taira Tadanori and his nephew, Munemori the Moron; neither seem particularly competent though...
Shortly after the birth of his latest grandson, Kiyoshi began planning his campaign against the Hizen-Goto clan; controlling Kishima would certainly go a long way towards assuring Hizen would be controlled by his family. However, despite several months of searching, he again found no supporters in his plot.
In September, 1189, Kakomu was caught embezzling funds; however, being Kiyoshi’s brother spared him from any punishment; moreover, any theft he committed was of little importance, considering the great harvest in Takaku that year. The wealth and happiness brought in from that great harvest far outweighed Kakomu’s crime. The remainder of the year was quiet, as the people were content and the court exuberant.
On the 9th of October, 1190, Akira’s third son, Chikamoto, was born in the Kikuchi lands; a few months later, he was sent to Matsura Castle to be raised by his grandfather and his court.
As the past several months had been quiet, and the court inactive, Kiyoshi grew bored. At the behest of his brother, he ordered the expansion of the rice paddies across Sonoki; the project was such a massive endeavour that it marked Kiyoshi as a man of great ambition. However, with a project so grand, problems were certain to emerge; increased demand for labour, lack of supplies, poor infrastructure. All those and more hounded the project. Kiyoshi, however, would not tolerate any delays and poured in additional funds.
During the midst of this project (specifically, the 2nd of May, 1192), Kiyoshi’s second son, Takaai was born in Matsura Castle. Shortly thereafter, Akira returned home, only to immediately be sent off to the Hata clan, which ruled over lands farther to the north of the Matsura domain, to ensure that they would not interfere in Kiyoshi’s plans for Kishima.
The remainder of the year was quiet, with the only notable event being the completion of the rice paddy project; in early January, 1193, Kiyoshi resolved to further improve his realm, ordering the construction of a water mill near the small town of Nagasaki. The project slowly trundled along for the rest of the year, without incident.
The 1194 also proved to be a quiet year for the Matsura clan; the water mill was almost halfway completed, the crops were planted then harvested, and the people were content. Kiyoshi, however, was annoyed at the slow progress made with the water mill, and in May, 1195, ordered Yoritada to begin constructing some samurai mansions near Omura Castle, formally renamed Sunao Castle several years previously (in honour of Kiyoshi’s late father). That same month, a homeless samurai travelling to Matsura Castle to join Kiyoshi’s retinue developed a new archery technique, which soon spread across the ranks of the troops, drastically improving their ranged capabilities.
A depiction of said Samurai Archer
Yoritada was so efficient that the project would be finished a month ahead of schedule; his success allowed several labourers to return to their rice paddies, which resulted in a much larger yield than expected.
On the 23rd of November, 1196, Kiyoshi’s third son, named Sunao after his grandfather, was born; shortly after his birth, the watermill was completed, and Kiyoshi instructed his brother to begin constructing a lumber mill. Several months later, in April, 1197, with the recent completion of the last samurai mansion, Yoritada was instructed to improve and expand the wooden walls around Sunao Castle and the chief towns in Takaku.
One of the mansions built by Yoritada and his men
Shortly after the construction project began, word reached Kiyoshi of the death of Taira Tadanori at the age of fifty-eight; he had been injured during training. His nephew Tomomori took charge of the Taira clan; a brazen warrior, but utterly unschooled in tactics and strategy, some feared that he would ruin his vast domain with wars and mismanagement. Starting in July, 1197, Takaaki would receive an education from one of his father’s samurai retainers; his father hoped that he would be a better student than he, or Tomomori for that matter, had been.
Tomomori, a brave but unskilled commander