Owari Yumeki Golden Day.

Or to put it more bluntly, seeing that Oda Nobunaga was wealthy and powerful, he directly used Komakiyama Castle to crush Inuyama Castle. Oda Nobukiyo of Inuyama, unable to receive full support from the Saito clan of Mino, was destined for defeat sooner or later.

During the Warring States period, integrity was a major taboo.

Judge Sasaki was right.

If you were a local lord or courtier under Inuyama's command, would you choose the more powerful Oda Nobunaga? If it were Shichibei, he would definitely choose Nobunaga too. Not because of foresight, but simply because of the size of the power structure.

Hearing that Nobunaga had the upper hand, Oda Nobuhisa was pleased and saw Shichibei off. He even gave Shichibei a pair of straw sandals as a parting gift—how simple those days were! Mori Motonari then thanked the Kyoto nobles for their intervention in helping him acquire the left horse head, gifting each of them a sword.

Since the government officials did not need knives, they offered a discount of 500 coins per household.

So it was quite appropriate for Oda Nobui to give Shichibei twenty sen worth of straw sandals. The gift should match the magnitude of the favor. He was a generous man, not one to take advantage of others.

Leaving the castle and returning to the town, Tsushima-cho, as the town in front of the Tsushima Ushito Tenno Shrine, prospered day after day. At this time, the most traded commodity was ceramics produced on the Chita Peninsula, also known as "Tokoname ware".

Even in the Edo period, it remained a renowned local product. It is said that Imagawa Yoshimoto and Oda Nobunaga fought for Ōdaka Castle in order to control the Chita Peninsula. Similarly, Oda Nobuhide's marriage of his daughter to the Saji family and his efforts to win over the Narumi-Yamaguchi family were also aimed at controlling the Chita Peninsula and its ceramic production areas.

That's wonderful, but it's a pity that all three thousand interconnected pottery kilns had owners.

Everything at home was as usual. Although the Kawamura family wasn't a particularly wealthy or powerful household, they still had seven or eight servants and a dozen or so employees. Shichibei didn't need to worry about most of the business. If there was any need to transport goods or people, the family's employees would handle it themselves. Even the accounts didn't require Shichibei's attention; Ai would keep detailed records and lists everything clearly.

Every night, Shichibei would do the final calculations, lock the money and ledgers in the cash box, and the day's operations would be over.

After paying the shipping fee to Ai, Shichibei was about to sit down when someone outside called out if the Kawamura head (Danna) was there. The person looked familiar, so Shichibei stood up to answer.

Something important has happened. The Tsushima clan is holding a meeting. Shichibei is invited to attend.

I checked the date, and something's not right. Today isn't a fourth or a sixth day.

Why hold a market on the fourth day of the month? Because Tsushima maintains the tradition of holding a four-day market or a six-day market, with large markets held on the fourth, sixth, fourteenth, and sixteenth days of the month.

Many places in Japan that were later called Yokkaichi or Rokkaichi (rooms with four days) originated from this. This indicates that these places were once rural market towns and local commercial centers.

Furthermore, Tsushima's Yokkaichi Market is designed to complement Atsuta Market, which is a five- or eight-day market. This allows vendors to easily set up their stalls and travel between markets, making it convenient for them to manage their business wherever they go.

These are habits that have gradually formed over thousands of years and will not change easily. Once they change, not only will merchants be at a loss, but farmers will also be at a loss.

There must be something important going on, so Shichibei had no choice but to go to the town hall for the meeting. Attending the meeting is a right; if you give it up, you won't have that right anymore.

The club was full of familiar faces, including the big businessman Ito we mentioned earlier, as well as branch families of the Ohashi and Tsunekawa families, and business representatives from other industries.

The exact number of people is not entirely certain; it depends entirely on the size of their family businesses. They compete internally with each other, but collectively exclude externally.

The meeting was chaired by Horita Uma, whose father, Horita Michikura, had facilitated a meeting between Oda Nobunaga and Saito Dosan at Shotoku-ji Temple, thus making him well-connected with both sides. In gratitude for the Horita family's efforts, Nobunaga appointed Horita Michikura as one of the magistrates of Tsushima, responsible for relaying information between superiors and subordinates.

The Horita family themselves were "Nigi" of Tsushima Shrine, meaning they were priests under the shrine's chief priest and had considerable influence in Tsushima.

Once everyone was seated, Yuma Horita cleared his throat and began to announce the reason for the sudden gathering. In short, it boiled down to one sentence.

They demanded that the people of Tsushima pay tribute to the officials of Owari Province in exchange for their assistance in protecting their homes.

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately erupted in uproar. What official business could there possibly be in Owari Province? The Owari governor, Shiba Yoshigane, had been captured and released by you, and the Owari governors, Oda Nobutomo and Oda Nobukata, were either dead or had fled.

Nobunaga, you have ruined the entire Owari Shogunate's governorship system. Without the "public authority" of the governors, there is no "public business" of the governors.

The "Tobubetsu" was a temporary tax levied by the Shugo (guardian) and Shugodai (guardian deputies) to cover construction and official business for the shogunate and the imperial court. Without a Shugo's document, the Tsushima people should not have to pay this tax.

In the second year of Eiroku, Oda Nobunaga led 500 soldiers to Kyoto to meet Ashikaga Yoshiteru, seeking the position of governor of Owari Province, but he never heard that the shogun had agreed to it.

Rather than seeking the position of Owari governor, it would be more accurate to say that he went to Kyoto to observe the situation of the Muromachi shogunate and to understand whether the shogunate was on the verge of collapse under the continuous attacks of Miyoshi Nagayoshi.

After all, if it were anyone else, as a citizen of the country, repeatedly killing the deputy governor and exiling the governor would be an extremely heinous and treasonous act. If the shogunate still had any dignity, it would have called on the feudal lords to punish them.

When Nobunaga saw this, he was amazed at how badly the Ashikaga clan had fallen apart, and he happily went home.

Now it's even worse; they've directly overstepped their "public authority" to protect the home and ordered the collection of separate taxes.

Ultimately, even if Nobunaga overstepped his bounds, what could you do about it? All this talk is just a ploy to negotiate a lower price. Five hundred to three hundred, two hundred to one hundred.

But what exactly is this "assistance in protecting the family's affairs"? Shichibei remembers that the Oda family shouldn't be dealing with anything major that would require hundreds or thousands of kan at once.

Horita Uma, who was above, kept banging on the floor. Shichibei listened carefully and finally understood. How could he have forgotten about this? Oda Nobunaga was going to give his sister to the Eagle of Hubei!

4. Originally, it was to send his younger sister to Omi.

No wonder it costs money.

It was less a marriage alliance and more a way to win over the eagle of Hubei. Once the Inuyama Oda clan fell, Nobunaga would focus all his efforts on conquering Mino. Coincidentally, the Asai clan was located on the border of Mino, providing a ready-made ally.

On the other side, Nobunaga's father had already won him over; Toyama Tomohiro was Nobunaga's uncle. Once Nobunaga controlled Owari, he could bring his brother-in-law and uncle along to deal with his beloved nephew.

To win over Azai Nagamasa, a dowry of several thousand kan would likely be required; otherwise, Nagamasa would not agree. After all, Nagamasa had already alienated the Rokkaku clan, and if he were to alienate the Saito clan as well, it would be tantamount to being attacked from two sides, severely restricting his geographical position.

So, how much extra money do the residents of Tsushima have to pay for the building?

Shichibei, too tired to argue, simply said, "Just name your price." This silenced the arguing owners, who had been waiting for this naive young man to ask Horita Uma how much he wanted to levy on short notice.

Especially since I just paid the building tax, and I've already paid a temporary tax, how much is this additional building tax?

Nobunaga didn't bother with land area or capital matters; he simply demanded 500 kan from the Tsushima lords and 500 kan from the Atsuta lords. He also issued an order to collect "danmi" (a unit of rice) from all the landowners under his jurisdiction throughout Owari, with a target of 1,500 kan.

Adding all three together, at least 2,500 kan in cash would be needed to barely bribe Asai Nagamasa.

It's all about mutual benefit; forget about gratitude. Even without this dowry, Azai Nagamasa marrying a daughter of the Asakura family wouldn't have been so bad. Asakura Yoshikage might have given at least two thousand kan as a dowry and even helped Azai Nagamasa secure an official position.

Asai, who came from the Kyogoku clan as a vassal, has only been in power for two generations. His foundation is weak and his reputation is shallow, so he needs the support of the more established Asakura clan.

Five hundred strings of cash, almost double the amount of money I received last time.

The owner of the dried fish stall next to him nudged Shichibei, telling him to ask again if they could make the price less. Shichibei was young, but not stupid. He could be a pioneer once and that was enough. Even the big boss Ito didn't step forward, so why should he?

That guy has dozens of big jackals, he's rich and powerful, ten Shichibei tied up wouldn't be worth a single hair on his waist. He didn't even ask, so why did Shichibei keep opening his mouth?

The entire venue fell silent. Without Shichibei, that hothead, everyone naturally turned their attention to the representatives of the Ohashi, Tsunekawa, and other families, as well as the big boss, Ito.

If you want to resist taxes, you need someone with status to take the lead.

Even without anyone taking the lead, it's still just a matter of applause, unanimous approval, a victorious congress, a united congress, a progressive congress.

Sigh, I haven't made a single penny. I've only been here a few days and I've already lost money twice. This guy is really something. If Kawamura's family continues to operate like this, they'll lose all their capital sooner or later.

The allocation of the building allowance was quickly determined at the meeting. Shichibei's family business was not large, and he was not a major boss with voting rights within the association, so he was allocated less than two kan in total. However, even such a sum of money would take the entire Denma-mono shop eight to ten days to pay.

After the event, one of Horita Uma's attendants approached Shichibei. He had two requests: first, to be exempt from next year's military service pay, as Shichibei would be leading a group to Komakiyama Castle in a few days to transport the dowry for the wedding procession; second, to receive double the pay from Nobunaga for this trip, in addition to the military service burden, because part of the journey might involve crossing enemy territory.

Good grief, they've been waiting for me here.

No wonder Sugaya Nagayori said he had some good business the other day; turns out it was this. This business isn't even that good. Even with Nobunaga's army protecting him, he can't withstand Rokkaku Yoshiharu jumping out to attack and kill people.

As if in response to this, Sugaya Nagayori appeared outside the Kawamura Denma House in Tsushima-cho. He not only relayed Nobunaga's orders again but also inspected the Kawamura family's horses. All twenty-two usable riding and pack horses had to be brought out, ready for Nobunaga's sister's wedding.

"Shichibei, how's business?" Sugaya Nagayori asked, as if they were old friends meeting again.

"Thanks to you." Shichibei could only smile.

Waiving next year's military service fee and allowing me to serve this year makes it seem like I'm getting a huge advantage.

"The document will be delivered to you separately later, so don't delay your schedule." Sitting on the veranda of the inquiring room, Sugaya Nagayori looked around.

The Kawamura family was neither a wealthy household nor did they, like many wealthy townhouses, have a penchant for luxurious decorations, which disappointed Sugaya Nagayori, who had hoped to broaden his horizons.

If you want to see a luxurious mansion, you have to go to the home of Ito, the head of the family. Or you can go to the Horita family; the Horita family are both priests and wealthy people, and their residence is very spacious.

"Yes, ma'am." Ai served tea, and Shichibei pushed it towards Sugaya Nagayori.

"By the way, how did the Tsushima people react to the collection of the 'token-betsu'?" Sugaya Nagayori asked casually.

“This is ‘official business,’ and no one is dissatisfied.” Shichibei said without even closing his eyes.

What can you do if you're dissatisfied? You still have to pay your dues.

"Oh..." Sugaya Nagayori, holding a teacup, smiled meaningfully.

Sugaya Nagayori could easily tell from such a perfunctory answer. However, the two weren't exactly old acquaintances, so a perfunctory response was perfectly normal. It would be incredibly foolish to open up to a stranger you'd only exchanged a few words with. Shichibei's ability to control his tongue was a good habit.

After finishing his tea, Sugaya Nagayori went to visit Ohashi Shigenaga, then returned to Komakiyama with the 500 kan handed over by the Tsushima clan. This time, without a large quantity of lead ingots, there was no need to hire civilian horsemen. The soldiers sent by Nobunaga could easily pull them away themselves.

Watching his departing figure, the men chattered amongst themselves, only now learning that they were going to escort A-Shi to her wedding.

As a princess of Owari Province, regardless of her appearance, rumors circulated that she was a great beauty. Aside from the daughters of Shiba Yoshitomo and Shiba Yoshigane, she was the highest-ranking princess in Owari.

People today often have a vague imagination and longing for those in power, just like the little stories about emperors using golden hoes to till the land and empresses eating persimmons every day.

If Oichi hadn't been born into the Oda Danjo-tada family and hadn't happened to encounter such a prominent figure as Nobunaga, she might not have been hailed as the most beautiful woman of the Sengoku period.

The three wives of the Sengoku period—Kichicho, Nene, and Omatsu—were all women connected to Oda Nobunaga. Without Nobunaga's illustrious story, they would likely have faded into obscurity.

The guys might speculate about how beautiful Princess Oichi must be, but Shichibei thinks otherwise. With my ugly appearance at 1.42 meters tall, I probably wouldn't even be a third-hand princess.

Since they're all things that can't be seen or touched anyway, Shichibei never puts any extra emotion into them; he doesn't care what happens to them.

5. If Hideyoshi can sell, so can I.

Nobunaga's sister's wedding was indeed a grand affair. In addition to the twenty-odd horses from Shichibei's side, forty or fifty horses from the Atsuta no Den (horse-bearer) Kato clan were also brought along. Adding the dozens of horses prepared by the Oda clan themselves, the entire procession stretched out, probably spanning at least two cho (towns) in length.

The guards numbered over five hundred, and the servants, attendants, and samurai who would serve as retainers of Oichi also numbered several hundred. As for the dowry, it was extravagantly over three thousand kan.

Nobunaga clearly knew that 2,500 kan was probably just the average amount. To truly win over Azai Nagamasa, he would need to add a large sum of money.

To be fair, Nobunaga was certainly not stingy when it came to spending money. He perfectly embodied the principle of spending where necessary and saving where appropriate—basically, he squeezed money from the common people, right…?

A decade or so later, the price Uesugi Kagekatsu paid for marrying Takeda Katsuyori's sister was ten thousand taels of gold. It's also said that he bribed Takeda Katsuyori's close aide, Atobe, with two thousand taels of gold—a truly astonishing sum.

As for your question about City?

Sigh, they say one thing and do another. Shichibei still glanced at her with the crowd. It's hard to describe, but she didn't quite fit Shichibei's aesthetic. However, the soldiers and servants around him were all amazed.

Indeed, aside from her prestigious status, her main advantage lay in her fair complexion. Compared to the peasant women commonly seen along the roadside, and even to the daughters of many samurai families in the city, Princess Oichi's skin was remarkably fair.

The Japanese greatly admire a snow-white neck. Whether in depictions of the Heian period or the Edo period, a woman with a snow-white neck is highly praised.

Just like that, Oichi is so pure and bright, without a single mole in sight.

That's good. I reckon Asai Nagamasa would like it, since it fits the current Japanese aesthetic.

The procession began. Besides the Oda clan's men, Ichihashi Nagatoshi, the lord of Fukuzuka Castle in Mino Province on the Asai side, was also in the procession as Nagamasa's liaison and escort. Nobunaga sent his retainers, including Sakuma Nobumori, Shimada Hidemitsu, Sugaya Nagayori, and Fujikatsu Nagakatsu, to see them off and to make negotiations.

The journey would take four days if traveled slowly and two days if traveled quickly. Oda Nobunaga only wanted to get Oichi to Odani Castle as soon as possible to marry Azai Nagamasa, so he naturally chose to travel quickly.

Two powerful daimyo, needing only a day's worth of land for their armies, fought for decades, losing hundreds or thousands of men in the procession... tsk...

It's best not to mention it. At this time, the Asai clan's retainers held a positive attitude towards the marriage alliance with the Oda clan. Previously, Asai Nagamasa had dismissed Hirai Sadateru's daughter, who was also the adopted daughter of Rokkaku Yoshikata. Since Asai Kensei changed his name to Asai Nagamasa, he had effectively broken ties with the Rokkaku clan.

Although they had the Asakura clan behind them, they still needed to find external support to strengthen their rule. The Oda clan's request for an alliance was exactly what the Asai clan wanted.