Emperor's Armed Forces in the Warring States

Chapter 9 - 1552 Land Reconstruction of Japan, etc.

This will be the beginning of Chapter 9.

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9-1

After New Year's Day in 1552, Eikenni, who had told her ex-husband Shoichi Kamisato about Nobunaga Oda's offer of employment with the India Company, knocked on the door of Ise-Nagashima Ganshoji temple in the afternoon of January 25 after the Hōonkō. Of course, she was not alone, but was accompanied by a good number of followers. As Shoichi (secretly) thought, the current Eikenni was in a far better position than she had ever been. It would have been unthinkable for the leadership at Honganji to allow her to act alone. And why was Eikenni visiting Ise-Nagashima Ganshoji?

"Welcome, Eikenni-sama."

"Don't be so hard on yourself."

"No, not at all. What did you bring?"

"I have brought enough with me. I've personally supervised and prepared it so that it is easy to use."

"You have our gratitude."

A monk from Ganshoji temple in Ise-Nagashima greeted Eikenni with a smile.

Eikenni had come from Honganji in Kyoto as a guest of honor to the celebration of the completion of the repair work on the three rivers of Nōbi led by Ise-Nagashima Ganshoji. Of course, she was not there merely as a guest of honor. Eikenni was, by her own admission, the most knowledgeable person in Honganji about spices, which have recently been in high demand in Japan.

In this world, curry powder and spices were a new commodity brought to Japan by the Imperial forces. However, it would not be wrong to say that the spices used to make them were not imported to Japan at the time of the Imperial forces' arrival. Even though trade between Japan and Southeast Asia gradually became more active, it would have taken some time for spices and curry powder to spread in Japan if only Imperial forces personnel were involved. However, there was an event that greatly facilitated this.

At a Buddhist memorial service at Honganji temple, Eikenni served the soup with spices (as it was a vegetarian dish, only vegetables were used as ingredients). The spice became a topic of conversation when Shōnyo Shonin of the Honganji temple tasted it, and the spice spread among the Honganji monks in Japan. The spice spread to Japanese people other than Honganji monks as well.

However, the combination of spices was quite difficult for Japanese people at that time, and even the so-called "curry powder" had to be made through a trial-and-error process (even Eikenni did not use spices in the first place. After she became a concubine of Shoichi Kamisato, she started to make dishes with spices in soups in accordance with her husband's request, and she herself became fond of cooking and eating dishes with spices and became good at handling them). So, Eikenni, who was originally supposed to be a guest of honor, selected the spices, made curry powder, and brought them to the Ise-Nagashima Ganshoji temple.

"By the way, what kind of people are coming?" Eikenni asked the Ise-Nagashima Ganshoji monk who greeted them.

"From Ise, the eldest son Tomonori-sama will be coming as the representative of the provincial governor, Harutomo Kitabatake-sama. From Mino, the provincial governor, Dōsan Saitō-sama, will visit us in person, and from Owair, the provincial governor, Yoshimune Shiba-sama will visit us. Needless to say, the provincial officials of the three provinces will also be present."

"So many wonderful people. I feel my shoulders stiffening from all the celebrations."

At the monk's words, Eikenni couldn't help but let out her true feelings.

The monk chuckled at her honest comment, then told her with a straight face. "Even if you say so, you will still have to sit with us at the completion celebration."