Owari Yumeki Golden Day.

If these senior retainers of Kitabatake who understand the situation are deterred from further remonstrance due to rumors, then those who already wield considerable influence within the household and look down on the nouveau riche Oda clan will become the mainstream.

Once Kitabatake Chikashige and Nagano Gufu become the mainstream, they will strongly advocate for confrontation with Nobunaga. After all, they rely on the Imperial Court for support and believe that Nobunaga is now the successor to the old order and will not slap the Imperial Court in the face.

"Okay! I'll get on it right away!"

After hearing Shichibei's explanation, Takigawa Kazumasu understood. He immediately went to inform his retainers to secretly contact Kizuki Tomomasa and ask him for a small favor.

Assuming Nobunaga defeats Kitabatake, Kizuki Tomomasa might be recognized as a meritorious retainer and reinstatement to the main family. Perhaps Kizuki Tomomasa would be quite willing to do so, given the turbulent Warring States period.

The Kitabatake family argued for several days without reaching a conclusion, and then a rumor appeared openly at the Kiriyama Palace.

Some people claimed with absolute certainty that someone from the Kitabatake clan had made connections with the new Kanrei (chief retainer), hoping to secure a good position within the new Oda Kanrei system. The descriptions were vivid and detailed, though completely vague, only mentioning a senior retainer of the Kitabatake clan. It was precisely because these claims were not explicitly stated that the rumors sounded particularly jarring to Kitabatake Tomonori and Kitabatake Tomofusa.

Compared to Nobunaga's theoretically two million koku of rice, the Kitabatake clan, with only southern Ise, was indeed a negligible small power. It's perfectly normal for some to waver if His Highness the Kanrei were to actually take action against Kitabatake.

What should we do? Should we start a thorough cleaning and tidying up of our home right now?

152. At best, I got Ota.

When they went to pay their respects to Kitabatake Tomofusa, as expected, the group of Kitabatake retainers who had previously suggested that Kitabatake Tomofusa personally go to Kyoto to congratulate Ashikaga Yoshiaki, or at least send a senior retainer to Kyoto, all fell silent.

I can't speak; speaking at a time like this is really dangerous.

There was no need for further discussion. Kitabatake Tomofusa directly rejected the proposal to send someone to congratulate Shogun Ashikaga Yoshiaki and Regent Oda Nobunaga. He stated that the Kitabatake family had never had a precedent of paying respects to the Kanrei (shogun's deputy), and that the Kitabatake family and the Kanrei had never had a subordinate relationship.

As for Shichibei's claim that the shogunate granted the Kitabatake family various guardianship powers, they couldn't find any information on that. If the shogunate could find such information, then they should provide the documents proving the Kitabatake family's submission to the shogunate.

It's obviously impossible. The Imperial Palace has been burned down countless times. The documents from the time of Ashikaga Takauji and Ashikaga Yoshimitsu have long been burned and lost. How could there be any documents left?

Okay.

As everyone expected, Shichibei and Takigawa Kazumasu would fly into a rage and rebuke the Kitabatake clan for their disobedience to the emperor. Shichibei and Takigawa Kazumasu simply nodded to indicate that they understood.

Yes, I know. What more do you want?

The result was exactly what Shichibei and Takigawa Kazumasu wanted; they were too happy to be angry. Shichibei bowed to Kitabatake Tomonori on the way, then got up and left without looking back.

Seeing the two of them like this, the retainers of the Kitabatake clan exchanged bewildered glances. Even Fujikata Asanari opened his mouth, wanting to try and salvage the situation. But what was the point of trying to salvage it now?

Wait to die!

Fortunately, although Kitabatake Tomofusa rejected the Oda army's proposal, he was still operating within the old order, avoiding the drastic measure of simply killing anyone he disliked. He was politely escorted out of the country; if they used this as a pretext to wage war, then the outcome of the imperial court's mediation would be up to them.

Mediation? Do you think the imperial court, which has received a lot of money from Nobunaga, would be willing to mediate?

As expected, when the news of the failed inquiry was reported to Nobunaga, Nobunaga remained calm, even somewhat pleased. He inquired with his attendants and learned that the messenger sent to Ichijodani to request Asakura Yoshikage's journey to Kyoto had also failed.

Not only did Asakura Yoshikage refuse to go to Kyoto, he also refused to offer the shogun his sword as a sign of submission.

To be honest, Asakura Yoshikage really had guts when he did that. He wouldn't even offer a sword; what's the difference between that and rebellion? No wonder Ashikaga Yoshiaki readily agreed to Nobunaga's military action to attack Asakura, directly providing Nobunaga with legitimate political endorsement.

Yoshikage Asakura's decision not to go to Kyoto was understandable; Yoshiaki could understand his sullen resentment. After all, Yoshiaki himself hadn't acted openly in the past, resorting to some underhanded tactics to escape Echizen.

If he doesn't even perform the ritual of wielding a katana to signify submission, then don't blame Yoshiaki for being impolite.

Previously, Yoshiaki had sought help from Asakura Yoshikage, who was his elder brother. Now that Yoshiaki has been appointed shogun, maintaining the face and authority of the Muromachi shogunate is Yoshiaki's top priority in life.

Not offering this sword would anger Yoshiaki even more than secretly punching him three times in real life.

Secretly punching Ashikaga Yoshiaki three times only caused pain to a specific part of Yoshiaki's body. Not publicly presenting a sword to the Muromachi Shogun to express submission and obedience would be tantamount to damaging the reputation of the entire shogunate.

Excellent, excellent, truly excellent. Nobunaga is very satisfied now, having two fearless warriors in the south and north. If they kill Asakura Yoshikage and Kitabatake Tomofusa, he will receive a million koku of land as a reward. At that time, the Oda clan's wealth will expand even further, and the stipends of the hereditary retainers loyal to Nobunaga will become even more abundant.

Nobunaga even praised us.

I don't know if the last incident is truly over, but for the time being, I don't feel any particular reaction from Nobunaga. He's still making arrangements as usual, and there's been no talk of relegating Shichibei to some idle post. Even Murai Sadakatsu and Niwa Nagahide have specifically asked Shichibei how many years' worth of tribute rice Kawamura-ya can secure this year.

The fact that such a lucrative business deal remained unchanged indicates that Nobunaga's favor towards him had not diminished. After all, such a monopolistic business, entirely dependent on the daimyo's personal affection, would not exist without that favor.

With a sigh of relief, Shichibei finally lay down peacefully in the branch inn below Gifu Castle.

Fortunately, Nobunaga hadn't become completely arrogant at this point. Once he had effectively unified the core regions of central Japan and the trend of unifying the country was irreversible, he probably wouldn't listen to any words that didn't suit his taste.

No wonder Zou Ji's persuasive advice to King Qi, Chu Long's persuasive words to the Queen Dowager of Zhao, and Chunyu Kun's astonishing pronouncements are all considered historically significant. These people were incredibly eloquent, capable of changing the minds of their rulers.

That's why they've been remembered for generations; they must have had exceptional skills.

At this time, Takenaka Hanbei, who was building Shogun's Castle for Ashikaga Yoshiaki, also returned to Gifu. After reporting the details of the castle's reconstruction to Nobunaga, Takenaka Hanbei, who had been busy for several months, was given a leave of absence.

Seeing him reminded Shichibei of the Mizuguchi Morisato incident; two-thirds of the year had already passed. Shichibei had only managed to acquire Aochi Shigetsuna, which gave him every right to ask for Mizuguchi Morisato.

I didn't ask for it before because I had offended Nobunaga and didn't dare to speak. Now that Nobunaga doesn't seem too angry, I should be fine if I open my mouth this time.

"It has already been assigned to Gorozusa."

Then, when Shichibei asked again, Nobunaga was slightly surprised. Why hadn't Shichibei mentioned it earlier? He had already casually assigned Mizuguchi Morisato to Niwa Nagahide, because Mizuguchi Morisato had worked quite diligently when he was assigned land in southern Omi. Everyone had been assigned to Omi Province, and Niwa Nagahide couldn't be left out.

"Could it be such a coincidence?" Shichibei asked again, and Nobunaga simply had someone bring out the "Gifu Danshoden Kinshu Shūbun-no-kō" (a document containing the number of kanmoku in Japanese currency) and flipped through a few pages. He saw that "the Mizuguchi Aki no Kami (governor of Mizuguchi and governor of Aki Prefecture), Kurita-gun Nagasuka-mura, has a certain amount of kanmoku in his name, which is hereby given to Rikitanwa Gorozaemon."

Nobunaga even turned the retainer's tent around so that Shichibei could see it clearly.

"You should choose someone else." Nobunaga didn't think that Mizuguchi Morisato was such a formidable figure.

"Let's leave it as is for now." Shichibei initially wanted to have "the three brothers who betrayed Sekigahara," but none of them were there.

I finally managed to get Mizuguchi Morisato, but it turns out he's already been assigned to Niwa Nagahide. I guess I'll just have to wait and see if I can get Ishida Masatsugu, or Todo Torataka. They're both small-time tycoons, with only a few hundred koku of rice. Getting them wouldn't be a big deal, and they'd be easy to deal with.

Jiangbei mainly consists of the Takashima Seven Clan and the Hubei gentry. Abe Sadayoshi's 25,000 koku, Hori Hidemura's 60,000 koku, and Isono Kazumasa's 60,000 koku are not koku that Shichibei can afford.

Nobunaga would assign such powerful and capable retainers to his experienced vassals to accompany him on expeditions to expand the territory. Obi was given to Mitsuhide, Hori to Hideyoshi, and Isono Kazumasa has a different story; in any case, he wouldn't be used as a guard in Shichibei's small pack animal unit.

"Missing? I have all outdated and insufficient supplies." Nobunaga was no small businessman who would haggle.

If he demands something today, he'll give it to you today; if he demands it tomorrow, Nobunaga might have already reassigned people to others. Nobunaga's empire is expanding rapidly, and there's constant movement of retainers, making the situation unstable. Furthermore, Nobunaga greatly admires Akechi Mitsuhide and already intends to gather and organize a samurai corps for him.

Once Mitsuhide begins assembling a retainer group, the remaining few unsuitable members of Omi Province might very well all fall into his lap. After all, powerful figures like Gamo, Goto, and Kondo already have their own masters. To bolster Mitsuhide's ranks, even those incompetent former retainers of the Muromachi Shogunate who could easily be relegated to museum status have been included.

"I also have five thousand kan now." How could Shichibei agree to that? He immediately pleaded poverty.

"Then tell me who you want?" Nobunaga pointed to the list of retainers, meaning that Shichibei could choose whichever one he wanted, and Nobunaga would give him the person directly on the spot.

“Then, then, then…” Shichibei immediately started flipping through the pages.

But all I could see were people like Inokai, Baba, Kimura, and Matsuda—people I'd never even heard of before. They either disappeared in the tides of time, or they were just really bad at it, so bad that they didn't even manage to get a few thousand koku of rice as a hatamoto.

"how?"

"Then we'll have to help him!" Shichibei said anxiously, noticing Ota Gyuichi sitting next to Nobunaga, taking notes for him.

"Huh? Again?" Nobunaga turned to look at Ota Gyuichi, who was also slightly surprised, and asked with some confusion.

"Yes, yes, we need help."

As for the remaining misfits in southern Omi, let Nobunaga distribute them to Mitsuhide. After Mitsuhide conquers Enryaku-ji, he will possess the entire Shiga district, and in order to build up his retainer base, he'll take any and all sorts of people.

"Then go and follow Shichibei." Nobunaga wasn't too reluctant, after all, Ota Gyuichi wasn't the kind of samurai who was very strong.

The Ota family originated from wealthy families in Anshoku Village, Kasugai District; in other words, they were village chiefs. A village with a koku of 200 or 300 koku was considered quite wealthy. However, during the Battle of Dodo, they served as archers and shot a Kishi family foot soldier in Ninomaru with a single arrow, greatly impressing Nobunaga.

So he summoned Ota Gyuichi to his side and made him the bow-wielder. He was on the same rank as those other bow-wielders, conch shell-wielders, and katana-wielders, who carried the bow and arrows for Nobunaga during battles.

To put it bluntly, Ota Gyuichi's political acumen is no match for the aging Takei Yuan. His family is merely descended from village chiefs, capable of leading only a dozen or so men and seven or eight guns. He's neither good at literature nor martial arts—that perfectly describes Ota Gyuichi today. More importantly, Ota Gyuichi has a major flaw.

Forty-two years old!

Yes, Ota is already over forty years old this year. In this day and age, if someone in their forties were to die tomorrow, it wouldn't be considered an untimely death, but rather the normal end of their natural lifespan.

At this age and with this skill level, what do you think Nobunaga wanted him for? If it were just about superb archery skills, the most skilled one, Yoshida Izumo-no-kami, was almost beaten to death by Nobunaga's troops.

Actually, this guy's talent should be writing novels, but unfortunately, in Japan's Sengoku period, that talent was completely useless.

If he had lived in the Edo period, Ota Gyuichi would likely have become a renowned novelist, specializing in writing novels about the Sengoku period of Japan, like "The Eight Kenkenden of Satomi." He would not only have made a fortune but also achieved lasting fame.

Of course, he also went down in history in this world, after all, he wrote "The Chronicle of Nobunaga," and he actually served Nobunaga for three or four years, so he did see some things. This is a primary source of history, but whether it is reliable history is a matter of opinion.

"I hope to continue to assist you in the future." Shichibei bowed to Ota Ushihiro.

Before Nobunaga appointed them as his retainers, the two were both Nobunaga's direct retainers and colleagues. After becoming retainers, although they were no longer lord and vassal, they had a clear superior-subordinate relationship.

"Lord Kawamura." Ota Gyuichi turned around, faced Shichibei, and bowed as well.

He himself certainly didn't want to go from being a loyal retainer to a subordinate, but since Shichibei had asked for it and Nobunaga had agreed, his own wishes were essentially insignificant. Besides, he wasn't stupid; he had served by Nobunaga's side for several years, and those who were truly capable of being promoted to the position of magistrate had all been promoted.

Even Sakai Toshisada, who only joined Nobunaga after conquering Mino, became the Minami Omi District Inspector, while he's still stuck here as Nobunaga's clerk. His future is completely predictable.

So, instead of wasting time with Nobunaga, why not go work for Shichibei? Gaining new territory is unlikely, but saving up for a couple of lifetimes is no problem.

As everyone knows, Shichibei was given a stipend for his service, and aside from other things, it's true that he received a fair share of pay when performing his duties. Shichibei's pay was anything but stingy; after all, he was making money from a monopoly business, so how could he possibly lose money?

Haha.

Following Shichibei was never a bad idea. Nobunaga signed the document on the spot, and after asking Sakuma Nobumori to countersign, Ota Gyuichi packed up his pen, ink, and paper, and with his small bundle in hand, was led by Shichibei back to the branch store of Shimokawa Muraya in Gifu Castle.

153. Annual tribute of 200,000 jin of rice

Now Shichibei has quite a few allies under his command. The Owari faction consists of Shigekatsu Kuwayama, Gyuichi Ota, and Sosuke Kaname; the Mino faction consists of Hanbei Takenaka and Chikakiyo Tsuchida; and the Osho faction consists of Shigetsuna Aochi.

If you put these together, you can probably pull out a "regular army" of about four or five hundred people.

However, Shichibei had no intention of coveting their small number of soldiers. Since they were already at the shop, he figured they should introduce themselves and get to know each other. Ota Gyuichi even asked Shichibei what his duties were at the shop. Shichibei replied, "Nothing much. I can just go home and rest."

Kawamura-ya's daily operations are managed by a team of people. Even when there's no war, Inase Yoshinari is still at the main store in Tsushima. Although most of the retainers and staff are being transferred to transport food for Nobunaga, the business will not stop now that the staff has been expanded.

So, Aochi Shigetsuna is on leave in southern Omi, and Takenaka Hanbei is also on leave at Bodaiyama Castle. As for when they'll return to serve? I don't know the exact date; they'll return when the rice harvest begins in Mino and Owari.

Double pay will still be paid, but you can go home and rest now.

If Nobunaga hadn't been so insistent, Shichibei would never have thought to summon Ota Gyuichi. I wonder if this guy has even started writing "The Chronicles of Nobunaga" yet; he probably hasn't even begun. He's barely started. Nobunaga has just successfully entered Kyoto; the most glorious period of his life has only just begun. The warlords of the previous era aren't even all dead yet.

Having secured a job, Ota Gyuichi returned to his hometown in Kasugai District, Owari Province, to rest. He would return to the Gifu branch office on the day the rice harvest was completed.

Actually, reporting to the Tsushima headquarters would also be fine. The annual tribute rice from Owari is collected at the county offices of each prefecture and then transported to Gifu. This is because Nobunaga had already begun to promote the policy of "retainers living together." Although it was not explicitly stated, everyone had residences under Gifu Castle, and they were all concentrated in Gifu to serve Nobunaga.

The samurai who needed Nobunaga's support for rice were all concentrated in Gifu Castle, and that year's tribute rice would definitely have to be transported to Gifu. Apart from this portion that was directly distributed, there was also a portion that was left in the castle to serve as military rations and famine relief.

The majority of the rest would be transported to Tsushima to be sold in exchange for cash. Whether it was to pay the samurai's stipends or to cover various expenses, including Nobunaga's own, money was essential.

In fact, the time and distance at which most lords could wage war each year were roughly determined after the autumn harvest. After deducting necessary expenses, the remaining grain could sustain them for a few days, and that was enough to mobilize a few men to fight for a few days.

In Gifu, the responsibility for handling the annual tribute rice was to ship and pack it; in Tsushima, it was to store and account for it; and only when it was delivered to Sakai-cho was it for sales and payment collection.

There are three groups of people anyway. Whichever one you think you're good at, you can join.

By the way, the guild from Anozawa and Sakai sent a few servants and men to visit Shichibei. Needless to say, they're here to check on Shichibei's situation. Kawamura-ya owes them 40,000 koku of rice, and with Noo's harvest season approaching, they'll definitely come to see what's going on.