Japan's Sengoku Period: The Sanada Clan's Ambition

Chapter 51 Lord Takeda's debt of gratitude can never be repaid
The Sanada family is indeed very busy now, because their territory has expanded tenfold.

Although the territory directly controlled by the Sanada family was not large, the various affairs within the territory were still piling up.

The first priority is to bring these newly surrendered Shinano residents under the Sanada family's control.

During the Warring States period, it took a long time to absorb the people of a state into becoming their retainers, as this involved many aspects.

A series of measures were implemented, including knowledge and action, military service, family members, and land inspection, but the most important of these were knowledge and action to ensure (the safety of the people under one's jurisdiction) and the establishment of military service.

Ensuring the knowledge and actions of the people is a fundamental condition for gaining their submission, while establishing a military service system is a necessary prerequisite for making the people useful to the Sanada family.

In other words, the Sanada family guaranteed the territory of the local populace, and the local populace had to provide military service for the Sanada family.

This is the earliest superior-subordinate relationship before the "national vassal system," and it is also the first major challenge that the Sanada family is now facing.

Sanada Masayuki himself was just a local lord who had never been a daimyo, so naturally he found dealing with these matters very troublesome.

Of course, even if you haven't eaten pork, you've seen pigs run. Having served under Takeda Shingen, Sanada Masayuki could naturally apply the old Takeda family's methods.

The Takeda clan controlled Shinano for a considerable period of time, and if the Takeda clan's system were copied, it would indeed be plug-and-play.

However, this presents a new problem—Shinano has long suffered under Takeda.

The Takeda clan's military service system was extremely harsh, and they went to great lengths to squeeze out the military potential within their territory.

For example, Takeda Shingen added several additional land taxes on top of the existing annual tribute.

Don't want to pay?
Sure, come and serve in the military for me.

Serving in the military can reduce or exempt these newly added taxes.

what?
You're saying you want to reduce or exempt the existing annual tribute?
Simple, just double your military service.

Simply put, to be exempt from the Takeda clan's new taxes, one must serve in the military. And to be exempt from the existing fixed annual tribute, one must serve additional military service.

You say the conditions are too harsh and you don't want to serve in the military? That's fine too, but you'll have to pay a fine (a huge one). Don't be upset, though; this is a favor from Lord Takeda, and you'll have to repay it!

It is easy to imagine how heavy the military service burden was on the shoulders of the people and samurai within the Takeda clan's territory. The Takeda clan waged war every year, and the heavy military service, day after day for decades, had long since caused great discontent among the retainers and samurai.

If the Sanada clan dared to adopt the military service system of the Takeda clan at this time, even without the Tokugawa or Hojo clans attacking, the local lords of Shinano would immediately launch a rebellion, showing Sanada Masayuki what it meant to be on the grand stage of the Sengoku period.

Inside the Sanada-kan, three miles north of Toshiki Castle.

Sanada Nobuyuki also found it incredible when he learned about the Takeda clan's old system from Sanada Masayuki.

"So, Father, do you have any ideas on how to manage these people?" Nobuyuki Sanada decided to listen to Masayuki Sanada's opinion first.

Sanada Masayuki suddenly felt a headache coming on. These past few days, he had been thinking about these things non-stop, and his mind was a complete mess.

"We do have some initial ideas."

"First of all, the people of the country must live together in a concentrated manner, which will make it easier for the family to manage and monitor them."

“But that would mean we’d have to rebuild the entire city, and Toishi Castle is too small,” Sanada Masayuki sighed.

Dishi City is a mountain city, originally built as a military outpost. The city is not large in scale, but its terrain is strategically important.

After Takeda Shingen defeated Murakami Yoshikiyo, Toishi Castle lost its purpose and was abandoned for a time. Later, when Sanada Yukitaka became the lord of Toishi Castle, he began to renovate it, but it still could not be called a suitable castle.

The Sanada family mostly lived in Sanada-kan, Sanada-go, three ri north of the foot of Toishi Castle (in ancient Japan, one ri was about 3.9 kilometers; for ease of understanding, this book uses the current ri measurement).

However, Sanada Township is located on a mountainside, and its terrain is not flat and its area is not large, so it is not possible to carry out a large-scale "retainer gathering".

Therefore, the situation facing Sanada Masayuki was that the Sanada family had to either build a new castle or move.

However, relocation was impractical, as the Sanada clan's core territory was in a small prefecture, and their other newly acquired territories were not yet stable. "The war between the Hojo and Tokugawa clans is not yet over, so building a castle now is probably not a good idea," Sanada Nobuyuki replied after understanding the situation.

Sanada Masayuki nodded. "That's why it's giving me a headache."

“Let’s put the castle construction aside for now. There’s another matter.” Sanada Masayuki looked at Sanada Nobuyuki. “Shinano is too big. With so many people, we need a military service system that everyone can obey.”

“The old system of Lord Shingen is no longer applicable. Why don’t we use the Sanada family’s system for now?” Sanada Masayuki said hesitantly.

The Sanada clan's military service system was based on the standard of one foot soldier serving for every ten koku of rice. These foot soldiers were then assigned to lower-ranking samurai within the clan to form "one-handed units" (small detachments). The forces of these samurai were then brought together and placed under the unified command of the Sanada clan.

Because the Sanada family had strong control over small prefectures and territories, this military service system was able to fully utilize their combat power, which was a source of pride for the Sanada family.

However, after hearing this, Nobuyuki Sanada immediately poured cold water on Masayuki Sanada's enthusiasm, saying, "The main family's military service is based on a thorough understanding of the territory, so there is no need to worry about subordinates concealing information."

"However, our clan knows very little about these newly acquired territories. If we force the people to provide foot soldiers with the military service of the Sanada clan, I'm afraid the results will be minimal."

Before large-scale land surveys were conducted, even daimyo didn't know much about their own territories (non-direct territories).

Generally, a daimyo's control over their territory falls into three categories:
1. Retainers report: Retainers voluntarily report the status of their territories to the daimyo. The advantage is that the daimyo doesn't have to worry about it, but the disadvantage is that it is easy for them to conceal or falsify information.

2. Sending retainers to visit villages: Dispatch retainers to the villages where the retainers are in charge and to the village heads of the villages (rural cooperatives) to request a list of land parcels. The advantage is that it allows for a relatively clear understanding of the specific land parcels in each area, but the disadvantage is that it makes it easy to find "fake accounts".

Local samurai and Sōmura had their own countermeasures. They would often create a catalog to appease the retainers sent down by the daimyo. The taels of rice recorded in these catalogs were so dubious that it was difficult to tell if they were genuine or fake.

3. Land Survey: This involves measuring the land (Taiko Kanchi). Special personnel were dispatched to conduct the survey, village by village. The advantage was that it provided an accurate picture of the land situation, but the disadvantages were numerous.

First, such meticulous measurements require a great deal of manpower and resources.

Secondly, the daimyo needs to have a high degree of control over the territory, and the retainers and Sōmura must cooperate and not rebel.

Finally, we also need domestic affairs professionals who are skilled in this work.

Without a doubt, the Sanada family does not possess any of the three qualities mentioned above.

"The situation is indeed a bit tricky," Sanada Masayuki said helplessly.

The current situation is that the Sanada family has gained control of Shinano Province.

However, the Sanada family had no knowledge of their territories other than the small prefectures. They had no idea how much rice they owned or how many foot soldiers they could send out.

In this situation, the Sanada family had very little control over these territories, so they could not make the people of the country use the Sanada family's military service system.

This would require establishing a new system.

Sanada Nobuyuki also fell into deep thought. After all, this was not a game like Nobunaga's Ambition, where soldiers could be recruited immediately after a castle was captured.

Reality is often cruel, and this was the first test that Nobuyuki Sanada faced upon arriving in this era.

　Regarding the military service system of the Takeda clan:
　　A strict military service system can maximize the military potential of a territory, mobilize a large number of troops, and gain an advantage in foreign wars.

　　Historically, it was precisely through this military service system that Takeda Shingen was able to defeat Murakami Yoshikiyo (Murakami Yoshikiyo's forces dwindled with each battle, while Takeda Shingen's forces grew with each battle).

　　However, the drawbacks were also obvious. The lowest-ranking farmers were burdened with heavy military service, leading to widespread resentment. Meanwhile, the samurai class would spend a large portion of their income on weapons, equipment, and food due to the mobilization of foot soldiers for military service, thus reducing their own income.

　　If the territory can be continuously expanded, and new territories can be acquired each year and then distributed to retainers, the war machine can continue to operate.

　　However, if a major setback occurs, it can backfire.

　　For example, the Battle of Nagashino, launched by Takeda Katsuyori, caused the Takeda clan to collapse internally. This is one of the reasons why the Oda clan was able to destroy the Takeda clan in just two months.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)