Owari Yumeki Golden Day.

The transfer from 100,000 koku in Kii Province and Wakayama Province to 230,000 koku in Nakano Province and Gifu Province can be seen as a reward for his years of hard work and recent achievements. Gifu Castle was abolished after his transfer, and barring any unforeseen circumstances, it will be moved south to Kano to build a new castle.

However, with his departure, Ki Province suddenly had more than 200,000 koku of official rank available. Nobunaga of the Kinai region had no intention of establishing any more large domains, and 100,000 koku of rank was already the limit for feudal lords.

"In addition, Oda Kanshichiro was also granted a fief of 90,000 koku at Owari Ohashi."

"Oh..." Shichibei exclaimed. Oda Kanshichiro was Oda Nobushiki, who almost became Shichibei's father-in-law.

Oda Nobushiki was originally a close associate of Oda Nobunaga, serving as his chief retainer for many years and possessing a base salary of 20,000 to 30,000 koku. It's understandable that he would be given 90,000 koku now.

Historically, Oda Nobushiki died in the Honnoji Incident. In this world, he wasn't exactly lucky; earlier, he, along with Tsuda Nobumasa, Hachiya Yoritaka, and others...

Like many others, he was granted a post with 30,000 koku of grain. When chaos erupted, he fled to Kishi and Wada. There, he encountered Oda Nobunaga, who was also fleeing, and became the core of the new ruling elite.

At this moment, the only requirement Nobunaga's central leadership had for personnel was "loyalty."

All other factors came second; so-called loyalty that wasn't absolute meant absolute disloyalty. Naturally, Nobunaga only chose those old men of Owari who had refused to join the rebels even during the previous chaos and who had fled to seek refuge with him.

"So, Owari has 400,000 koku?" Tōdō Takatora asked from the side.

"The retainer of Settsu Takatsuki Takayama has been granted 300,000 koku of land in Nagono, and Ibaraki Nakagawa Sebei has been granted 100,000 koku of land in Inuyama." As expected, the news sent by Saegusa no Morinaka was that the two great lords of Settsu, who were right next to the mountain castle, had been taken away.

"In this way, my lord will directly control one million koku of land in the four provinces of Omi, Yamashiro, Settsu, and Yamato?" Shichibei calculated that Nobunaga was probably planning to control about two million koku of land in the central government.

The capital region was under the control of the emperor, while a branch of the imperial family and its descendants were scattered around the perimeter, with the outer branches placed far away so as not to affect the capital region at all.

"What about Hanoi?"

"Besides the 50,000 koku of Sanhao Xiaoyan Gaowu in Hanoi, there is also the 100,000 koku of Ruojiang."

"A gift of 50,000 koku of rice was presented to Lord Hachiya and bestowed upon Hori Kyutaro (Hidemasa)."

"That makes sense."

"And what about our lord?"

So far, besides being appointed as a Junior Fourth-Rank Official of the Capital Region, Shichibei has only received the 100,000 koku of Iga land grant along with Watanabe Ryo and Goto Mototsugu. Although they are considered part of Shichibei's faction, Shichibei himself has not received a full promotion.

"I don't know..." Saegusa Morinao was only there to deliver messages from the central command; he had no idea about Nobunaga's decision.

"Upon careful calculation, could it be 590,000 koku from the eight districts of Echizen?" Todo Takatora suddenly realized, as Niwa Nagahide was currently pacifying Echizen Province.

"Impossible. The 100,000 koku in the manor are under the jurisdiction of the Danyu Attendant Hall." There was no need for Shichibei to refute it; Kuwayama Shigeharu, who was sitting to the side, refuted it.

"Hmm..." Tōdō Takatora admitted that he was indeed in a hurry and hadn't thought of anything for a moment.

But with so many rewards being bestowed, and Nobunaga of the Kinai region unwilling to establish any more powerful domains, the two or three hundred thousand koku of Kishu were out of reach. If you really think about it that way, Shichibei's direct command was essentially unchanged.

"Don't try to guess what's on my lord's mind." Shichibei wasn't in a hurry; he would get his share eventually, it was just a matter of time.

Besides, the titles bestowed now are fake and don't count. Once the country is unified, Shichibei might actually be granted 500,000 koku in northern Kyushu. Of course, it's also possible he'll be granted titles to Suoh, Nagato, or Toyomae; in any case, he won't be in Izumi.

With Izumi so close to the center of power, not only was Nobunaga himself uneasy, but the future Grand Chancellor who would inherit the Oda clan's throne might also feel uneasy.

Since we've come this far, let's not argue anymore. Everyone, disperse. Shichibei told Todo Takatora to take this seriously and carefully select people to build a large mansion for Sakuma Nobumori.

The next day, Oda's petitions for peace were being sent out like crazy. People were going up to the castle all day to thank Nobunaga and present him with a sword.

It wasn't until evening that news arrived, requesting Shichibei to go to the castle to pay his respects to Nobunaga.

It was Sanada Nobuyuki who arrived; it was probably his turn to be on duty today. Shichibei asked halfway there, "What are your orders, lord? Or have you made some decision?" Sanada Nobuyuki only said that it was probably about the transfer of fiefdom, and that everything would be clear after Shichibei went up to the castle to pay his respects.

Transferred fiefdom? Oh dear, Shichibei paused in surprise. Apart from Nobunaga's Kinai territory and Echizen, where else could they transfer their territory? They couldn't possibly allocate 100,000 koku to Niwa Nagahide elsewhere and then grant Shichibei the entire Echizen region.

The 590,000 koku of grain in the eight districts of Echizen is indeed a crucial passage to block the Hokuriku army from entering the Kinai region. Shichibei has witnessed the treacherousness of Kiyamatake twice. As long as defenses are properly established on the mountain pass, given the current military capabilities of the Japanese army, there will truly be a protracted struggle.

Upon entering the palace, they saw Hori Hidemasa retreating from the castle with a relaxed expression. This fellow was originally the magistrate of Nagahama Castle. Unable to defend against the attack of the Azai army, he could only flee to a small island in Lake Biwa. When Nobunaga launched his counterattack, he rushed to surrender, and to demonstrate his loyalty, he killed thousands of people in Koga. Now he had finally landed safely and received 50,000 koku of Iimori Castle in Kitakawachi.

Upon seeing Shichibei, he offered his congratulations repeatedly, knowing that Shichibei's contributions would earn him at least an additional 100,000 koku. Although he didn't know where the bonus would be, congratulations were certainly the right thing to do.

Oh dear, if we were to move the whole family to Kita-so, it would be better to just control Sakai-cho, which is closer to us.

"Is it too late to send you the last message?" Nobunaga stood on the balcony of the castle tower, a gentle breeze blowing across Lake Biwa after the start of spring.

"My honor, disgrace, wealth, and status depend entirely on Your Majesty's will, and I dare not have any extravagant hopes." One still needs to say the polite words, even an emperor would decline three times.

"Hmph, so you don't want it?" Nobunaga dared to say that, asking Shichibei if he was giving up the subsequent rewards.

"It's entirely up to my lord to decide." I don't want it; are you really not going to reward me?

Although Nobunaga had theoretically granted Shichibei an additional fief of 100,000 koku and promoted him to Junior Fourth Rank, this was not enough to fully reward Shichibei's contributions. If this were to be seen by outsiders, they would think Nobunaga was cruel and ungrateful.

"Take a look for yourself." Sanada Nobushige said, holding out a letter.

"Thank you." Shichibei knelt on the ground, raising his hands high to receive the letter.

It's possible that Echizen Province is truly secure, and Shichibei will have to keep busy wiping out the remnants of the Azai clan. There's been no word lately that Niwa Nagahide has sent Azai Terumasa's head to Azuchi. What are Maeda Toshiie and the other two doing in Kaga? They haven't even managed to besiege the sparsely manned Kitasho Castle yet.

When the long document was unfurled, Shichibei was utterly astonished. Because the document didn't simply state Shichibei's transfer of office, but...

It involves a large-scale relocation of more than 20 people.

Since Shichibei's departure from Owari, all the officers and soldiers assigned to him—including Tsuchida Chikakiyo, Kuwayama Kazuharu, Ota Gyuichi, Sosuke Kakeru, Aochi Shigetsuna, Ogawa Yutada, Akaza Naoie, Kuchiki Motonatsuna, and Ito Hisahisa—were removed from their positions, their duties were doubled, and they were all relocated to Kii Province.

The total amount of land transferred to Ki Province exceeded 200,000 koku, and more than 40 people were transferred to Ki Province. As a result, Ki Province currently has approximately 400,000 koku of land. Apart from the lands of various temples and shrines, as well as local tyrants such as Tsuchibashi Morishige, Yasuda Munenaga, and Horiuchi Ujiyoshi, the rest of the lands are all held by Kawamura Yoriki.

"The official funds for the mountain gate will also be awarded to you. Tomiyama, Tsuchibashi, and the others will also be used for their duties." Nobunaga, seeing Shichibei's true nature, simply gave the instructions in a deep voice.

During the Muromachi Shogunate period, temples had certain feudal obligations to the shogunate. These were known as "Sanmon Kōjin" (temple gate officials), and temple gatekeepers often had to perform certain duties related to the shogunate. It wasn't that just because a temple was granted a fiefdom and one could refuse to serve as a senshi (official in charge of ceremonies), one was completely free of feudal obligations.

For example, in the simplest case, there's a town or neighborhood in front of your temple gate with fixed shops called "Gouken." Assuming each shop can collect two kanmon (a unit of currency) in sales tax annually, the shogunate and the temple gate would share this money proportionally.

Generally, the distribution is 40/60 or 50/50. However, since the actual collection work was handled by the mountain gate, less than half of it ended up in the hands of the shogunate.

But things are different now. Now there's a machine of violence, and the Wu family's power guarantees this income. So, half is half; this money can be considered a fixed income.

Now that Nobunaga has also transferred this money to Shichibei, theoretically, the entire Ki Province, which is all allocated 400,000 koku of land, will be under Shichibei's control. In reality, the entire Daikoku Province has been expanded, but Shichibei's direct control within Daikoku is almost zero; it has all been allocated to the samurai and tera families by Nobunaga.

This arrangement clearly has some deeper meaning.

"My lord, such a great nation is so close to the capital region, I dare not accept it." Shichibei knew very well that the situation of the Oda clan was not as stable as it appeared on the surface.

"Hmph, we'll be going to the Western Country sooner or later, what are you afraid of?" Nobunaga simply raised his hand, indicating that there was no need to think about or worry about this matter.

"..." Damn, Nobunaga is really not pretending anymore. He directly said that he would kick Shichibei to the west.

"That's it!" Nobunaga said nothing more, and Shichibei simply accepted his lord's order.

"I will never forget Your Majesty's grace!" What else could Shichibei say but bow his head in gratitude, indicating that he accepted it?

In this way, Shichibei's political structure became much simpler and clearer: Kishu province had 400,000 people, Izumi province had 150,000 people, Iga province had 100,000 people, Awaji province had 50,000 people, Echizen district had 20,000 people, and Iyo district had 20,000 people. In addition, Shichibei served as the daikan (governor) of major ports and commercial towns such as Tsushima, Sakai, Otsu, Tsuruga, and Anotsu.

The territory included Shichibei's direct control, the shares held by his retainers, and the security of his subordinates. The nominal value was about 800,000 koku, but the actual value, based on Shichibei's abilities, couldn't even compare to 3 million koku.

The true governor of four prefectures and two counties!

After leaving the castle with the letter, Shichibei realized that Nobunaga was paving the way for him to completely organize a "pure-blooded army" in the Kinai region. Shichibei's allies in Omi, Yamashiro, and Echizen had all been removed, and if nothing unexpected happened, the allies of the other feudal lords' army commanders in their respective territories would also have to be removed.

Before ascending the castle, Shichibei had heard that Nobunaga had ordered Oda Nobuharu, who was in charge of the province, to gather all of Nobutada's scattered troops in Nobi and Nosu provinces and send them to Azuchi.

If nothing unexpected happens, Oda Nobunaga will also establish a system of paying tribute to the public with 80,000 bannermen.

Of course, this is just an approximation. Let's say Nobunaga's direct territory had two million koku of land, all truly fertile and productive soil. Even with the weakest mobilization capacity, he could still muster an army of forty thousand. Based on Nobunaga's military service requirements at the time, that's equivalent to seventy to eighty thousand men.

With the war still raging, the 70,000 to 80,000 troops directly under the Central Army were more than capable of ensuring that the main branch of the Oda clan would remain firmly in the top position in all of Japan.

Not to mention that this territory of two million square kilometers contained the two largest handicraft centers in all of Japan at that time, as well as the largest rural grain trading market.

"Very well, very well," Nobunaga immediately adjusted his strategy and began to play a grand game.

After climbing the hundreds of steps from Azuchi Castle to the foot of the mountain, Shichibei began to develop a rough and vague framework for planning the future after Nobunaga.

"The head of the traitor Huizheng has been delivered!" As darkness fell, a messenger on horseback carrying a wooden box galloped to the city gate.

"The head of the traitor Hui Zheng is presented to the Right Prefectural Government!" The shouts continued, filled with excitement and the joy of reporting their victory.

Wow! Shichibei quickly made way, watching as the hundred foot soldiers guarding the gate verified the document opened by Niwa Nagahide and the head in the wooden box, escorting the envoy to Azuchi Tenshu.

As the eldest son of Azai Nagamasa, Terumasa's head was worth at least 10,000 to 20,000 koku. The fact that it was being sent to Azuchi means that Kitasho Castle has already fallen, and Echizen will likely be pacified soon.

The great empire of Echizen—who will it be granted to? It seems Nobunaga's sons won't be moving anytime soon. After all, whoever moves now is bound to cause speculation.

Only in cases like those pre-arranged for the son of the Hashiba family, the head of the Hashiba clan, would the matter be publicly dealt with at this time.

Lady Oichi, who had been pleading with Nobunaga from the castle walls, rushed over upon hearing the news. But what good was her rush? His head was already chopped off; judging by the distance between Kitasaka and Azuchi, Asai Terumasa must have been dead three days ago.

The men of the Asai family will not be spared. Brothers, nephews, and sons will all be killed, and even the hereditary elders and senior retainers of the family will not be spared.

Seeing Lady Oichi weeping as she entered the city, Shichibei considered offering to help her. But she was completely absorbed, oblivious to everything else, focused solely on reaching Azuchi Castle. He doubted she would even respond if he greeted her.

"Stop him! Stop him!" Shichibei was just thinking when he saw Nobunaga's right...

Binanmu Zhenghu shouted at the guards at the gate.

On such a joyous occasion, Nobunaga certainly didn't want Lady Oichi to come before him weeping and wailing. As Nobunaga's right-hand scribe, Kusunoki Masatora would definitely want to stop Lady Oichi from reaching Oda Nobunaga. Crying and commotion at the foot of the castle wouldn't reach the castle tower.

518. Mrs. Oichi's Newlywed Bride

Upon seeing Shichibei, Kusunoki Masatora even greeted him. The draft of the letter to be doubled in value and forwarded to dozens of others was likely drafted by him; he naturally knew Shichibei's standing in Nobunaga's eyes.

With the deaths of Murai Sadakatsu and his son, as well as Nobunaga's temple and shrine magistrate Takei Yuan, at Nijō Palace, most of Nobunaga's trusted aides were gone. This made Kusunoki Masatora and Matsui Tomokane the most reliable veteran aides in Nobunaga's staff.

This is our lord's own sister, the kind who shares the same father and mother. No matter how experienced you are, you can't do this.

Shichibei quickly went up to help her up. Lady Oichi was now a widow, having lost both her husband and son, and she was already wailing.

She arrived in a hurry, followed only by an old maid; her daughters were probably still in their temporary lodgings. To be fair, Lady Oichi was indeed fair-skinned.

At first, Lady Oichi tried to push Shichibei away. After all, she was a widow, and even in Japan, it wouldn't be appropriate for her to be flirting with a strange man in front of outsiders. But when she realized it was Shichibei, she grabbed him.

He pleaded with Shichibei, hoping that Shichibei could speak to Nobunaga and ask him to spare Asai Terumasa.

"Terimatsu's head has arrived..." Who delivered this message to Lady Oichi? Shichibei clearly saw Asai Terumasa's head being carried up to the castle.

"Ah!" Mrs. Oichi screamed in alarm.

He stood up abruptly, took a couple of steps forward, then felt a sudden dizziness and collapsed. Luckily, Shichibei was right beside him and caught him.

"Quickly, quickly, go and fetch a doctor." Shichibei thought to himself that he seemed to have seen this scene before, and more than once.

For example, Yoshitsugu Miyoshi and Princess Ashikaga, or Tatsuoki Saito's son and Princess Ichi... tsk, never mind, I don't have time for that right now.

The maids and servants who had been attending to Lady Oichi caught up and, seeing that she had fainted, rushed to help her. Shichibei then brought a bullock cart to take Lady Oichi home.

To be fair, although Lady Oichi was already thirty-four years old, she looked no different from those twenty-two or twenty-three-year-old samurai noblewomen. [Note 1]

Before, I didn't realize it because of the distance, but now that I'm up close, I instantly understand Asai.

Even though Nagamasa rebelled, he remained devoted to Lady Oichi.