Japan's Warring States Period: The Rise of the Wakasa Tiger

Chapter 108 Astronomy and Geography

"Land inspection?!" Yizhong shuddered suddenly, thinking: "This is the field he wanted to touch before but didn't dare to touch."

To put it simply, land inspection means measuring and investigating fields (mainly farmland) to determine their area and corresponding harvest, so as to determine the annual tribute and the amount of military service to be borne.

In theory, land inspection can not only clearly determine the specific output of fields within the territory and understand the wealth of retainers, nobles, and countrymen, but also clarify the heavy taxes and levies borne by farmers, which will help to levy taxes accurately. It can be said to be a policy that benefits both the country and the people.

However, in that era, land inspection was not as simple as imagined.

Since many retainers, local forces, and even rich farmers would conceal the size of their farmland and have multiple owners of one piece of land in order to reduce taxes and military service, once the land survey was implemented, it would inevitably lead to dissatisfaction and resistance from these forces, and there were many rebellions and uprisings caused by this in history.

Therefore, even if some daimyo forcibly implemented land surveys, they adopted the more compromising method of "pointed land surveys", that is, retainers or farmers submitted account books with relevant information such as area and harvest volume as the basis for land surveys, so as to avoid local dissatisfaction and resistance. This kind of land survey was obviously inaccurate and incomplete.

Yoshishige knew clearly that the land inspection that Yamamoto Shigeyuki was talking about was definitely not a superficial land inspection policy like "pointing out land inspection". Otherwise, how could he have angered Itomi Masatsune?

"Shigeyuki, tell me what you think," Yoshishige asked.

Yamamoto Shigeyuki seemed to have been prepared. As soon as Yoshishige opened his mouth, he answered fluently: "What I mean by land inspection is definitely not the kind of 'pointing land inspection' implemented in some places. Instead, it means sending land inspection officials to the local area to conduct a detailed investigation of the area and grade of the fields (paddy fields, dry fields, houses). I call it 'rope inspection'."

"Rope into the inspection ground..." Yizhong pondered for a long time and always felt that this word was familiar.

While he was thinking, Yamamoto Shigeyuki continued: "To achieve accurate measurement, we must first unify the weights and measures.

I have initially drawn up a set of standards. In short, one room is six feet and three inches long, one room is four square feet (square feet) is one step, thirty steps is one mu, ten mu is one fang, and ten fangs is one cho.

Next, the paddy fields and dry fields were divided into three categories: upper, middle, and lower. The land inspectors multiplied the measured area by the stone volume (the amount of rice produced in Ichita) to get the final and most accurate stone height. In this process, the unit of masu used for weighing was unified with that of Wakasa or Kyoto.

"Wait a minute." After hearing what Yamamoto Shigeyuki said, he finally remembered: "Isn't this the 'Taikokanchi'?!"

"Taikokanchi?" This time it was Yamamoto Shigeyuki's turn to be confused: "What is Taikokanchi?"

Yizhong then realized that he had said something wrong, and hurriedly said, "It's nothing, don't worry about it, just continue talking."

"Go on?" Yamamoto Shigeyuki was stunned for a moment, "I'm done."

"Are you done?" Yizhong smiled bitterly, "Shouldn't there be 'One Place, One Work'?"

"One place, one work?" Yamamoto Shigeyuki looked at Yoshishige in confusion. Yoshishige then told Yamamoto Shigeyuki a little "idea" that came to his mind:
“Due to wars and historical reasons, there may be several holders and cultivators on a piece of land, which often leads to mutual shirking of responsibility, delays or even refusal to pay the annual tribute.

And as far as I know, some farmers would give up their farming rights by using their land as collateral for loans, and some would even flee because they could not make ends meet. This would also make it impossible to clarify who was the farmer and who should pay the annual tribute and undertake military service.

Therefore, in addition to the two points that Shigeyuki just mentioned, I think that this time the land inspection should also record the names of the farmers in the "land inspection account" based on the village, so that the farmland and the farmers are matched one by one, ensuring their farming rights while also fulfilling their annual tribute and military service. This is what I mean by "one land, one crop."

"You are worthy of being the lord to come up with such an idea. If it can be successfully implemented, the various exorbitant taxes and repeated annual tributes burdening the farmers will be greatly reduced, and the territory will be more stable." Yamamoto Shigeyuki said to Yoshishige with admiration and surprise.

"Not only that, I will also reform the annual tribute system." Yoshishige continued, "Since the land inspection will affect the interests of some retainers and rich farmers, I will appropriately reduce the annual tribute ratio to ensure that the amount they receive remains basically unchanged. In this way, won't it be able to effectively avoid their resistance?"

"Yes, the total stone value will definitely increase after the land inspection. Even if we ensure that the amount the lord gets remains unchanged, we can still ensure that the income of the main family will increase significantly." Yamamoto Shigeyuki nodded in agreement.

"The current annual tribute ratio of our family is 'four public and six civilians'. I plan to reduce it to 'one public and two civilians' or slightly higher after the land inspection is completed. Moreover, I will also require those lords not to levy excessive taxes in addition to the annual tribute. In this way, the burden on the shoulders of the farmers will be much lighter, and the possibility of an uprising in the territory will be reduced accordingly." Yoshishige said confidently.

"It's more than just a reduction. If Your Highness does this, I'm afraid the people of neighboring countries will flock to Wakasa." Yunfeng Longxing was very pleased to see this. He said excitedly: "Your Highness's actions can really be said to be a benevolent policy."

"It is indeed a benevolent policy, but my lord, although what you have done is beneficial to our family and the peasants, it will reduce the opportunities for those powerful families and the people of the country to profit from it. I am worried that they will take the opportunity to collude and distort the policy, incite the uprising, and make our family restless."

Yoshishige was of course aware that the "Tensho Land Reform" implemented by Oda Nobunaga and the "Taiko Land Reform" led by Toyotomi Hideyoshi had caused a certain amount of dissatisfaction and resistance. But Yoshishige knew that he must not throw the baby out with the bathwater just because of potential risks. The sooner the land reform policy was implemented, the better it would be for the Takeda family.

Especially now, Yoshishige's prestige and strength in the family have reached a very high level thanks to two great victories and the merit of going to Kyoto. At this time, the risk of rebellion and uprising caused by carrying out land inspection is the lowest.

"Of course I am aware of the possible risks." Yizhong nodded slightly, but asked in return: "One of the reasons why we inspected the land is to force those who are already rebellious to stand up, right? As the saying goes, first break it and then build it. If we don't take this opportunity to squeeze these sores, they may become bigger tumors in the future."

"Since the lord has made up his mind, then I have nothing to worry about." Yamamoto Shigeyuki bowed slightly and then asked Yoshishige, "If the lord trusts me, can I be the commissioner of this land inspection?"

"Oh, can you climb mountains and work in the fields with your legs?" Yoshishige smiled. "From Tango to Tsuruga, this land survey is a big project. How about this, I'll send Kagawa Morihisa to work with you and be your assistant, what do you think?"

"Thank you, my lord. I will do my best to ensure the smooth completion of the land inspection." Yamamoto Shigeyuki bowed respectfully. This was the first big task he had received since he joined the Takeda family, and he was naturally very excited.

"No, don't 'complete it successfully'," Yoshishige said jokingly, "If you complete it successfully, how can I squeeze out this abscess of Suruga-no-Mori?"

The latest chapters involve economy and domestic affairs, which may be rather boring, so please understand.

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(End of this chapter)