Owari Yumeki Golden Day.

"Kyuan Sōrin." Saegusa Morinaka's answer was excellent.

"Go to the Imperial Palace immediately to report this matter. I will go out of the city to welcome Xiu'an Zonglin." Shichibei gave Ii's sister-in-law a look and then gave the order to Sanegane Morinaka.

"clear."

The two immediately split up. Shichibei summoned Sanada Masaki and, with two hundred of his personal guards, rushed out of Kyoto like a whirlwind. Not long after, Nobunaga learned of this news and immediately appointed Hori Hidemasa, Ikeda Tsuneoki, and Hachiya Yoritaka as envoys to come to Kyoto to prepare for the reception of Ōtomo Sōrin.

He then ordered Sanada Nobuyuki to lead two hundred cavalrymen at breakneck speed out of the capital to pursue Shichibei, in order to welcome Ōtomo, who had come on a "mission".

Zong Lin.

Shichibei, traveling at breakneck speed, encountered Ōtomo Sōrin and his entourage in Takatsuki, Settsu Province. Due to Takayama Shigetomo's transfer of 300,000 koku to Nagoya in Owari Province, Takatsuki Castle was currently without a ruler, guarded by a few castle lords dispatched by Nobunaga. If Settsu were to become entirely directly controlled by the emperor, Takatsuki Castle would inevitably be demolished.

Ōtomo Sōrin didn't find Shichibei's appearance particularly strange. After all, it was Shichibei who sent someone to Bungo to make the final negotiations with him.

Furthermore, he knew that his mere presence in the Kinai region and Kyoto was tantamount to surrendering to Oda Nobunaga. There was nothing more to say or say.

After kowtowing to Oda Nobunaga and establishing their relationship as lord and subject, he then lived as a member of the Grand Chancellor's government.

So Otomo Sōrin didn't talk to Shichibei much, just gave a simple greeting, and then accepted Shichibei's guidance to follow the large group of mounted warriors to Kyoto.

On the way, they ran into Sanada Nobuyuki, who brought gifts from Nobunaga, including two horses, a Tang umbrella, fifty folding fans, and five hundred taels of gold.

Why would Ōtomo Sōrin refuse such a gift? It was simply compensation for his time as a hostage. He would inevitably have to serve Oda Nobunaga and Oda Nobukatsu as a member of the Imperial Guard afterward. What did a few coins matter? Even if Nobunaga offered him 10,000 koku of rice in Yamashiro on the spot, he would accept it.

From the moment he left Bungo Usukiri Castle, his future and fate were entirely in the hands of Oda Nobunaga, to be decided and dealt with by him.

557. Zong Lin carried a ledger

The meeting between Ōtomo Sōrin and Oda Nobunaga went very smoothly. Both were seasoned veterans and already knew the purpose of their trip. What they were doing now was just going through the motions.

In response to Nobunaga's request, the Ōtomo clan made only one condition: that Ōtomo Sōrin come to serve as Oda Nobunaga's retainer, and that Oda Nobunaga appease Ōtomo Sōrin and his retinue of over two hundred people.

As for the Otomo main family, confirming the settlement of one province in Bungo and one district in Bunzen is sufficient; no other requirements are needed. The remaining generals in Chikuzen, if they can hold out until Oda's army lands and are not annihilated by Ryuzoji Masaie's 50,000-strong army, will also assist Oda's landing.

The Ōtomo clan's territory in Chikuzen was later handed over to the Oda clan, and the military commanders who had retreated from Chikuzen and Buzen were settled there using Ōtomo Sōrin's retirement allowance.

Overall, the terms of this peace agreement are acceptable. After all, since Ōtomo Sōrin has come to Kyoto to serve as Nobunaga's retainer, it would be only natural for Nobunaga to host a tea party for him with two or three thousand kan. Now that Ōtomo Sōrin has also brought some attendants, eight thousand kan will suffice.

Back then, Ashikaga Yoshihide's position as Grand Master of the Imperial Palace cost 10,000 kan, so the former Kyushu Tandai, Ōtomo Sōrin, received 8,000 kan, which was an acceptable price.

You mean to secure the territory? That's impossible.

Anyway, they've already paid 8,000 kan to Ōtomo Sōrin to support his entourage. When Ōtomo Sōrin dies, they'll either stay and continue serving Oda Nobunaga, or return to Bungo and join their fellow samurai.

Otomo Yoshitomo approved of the Kawamura navy's advance deployment of personnel to Funai Port and Usuki Port, and also agreed to send Wakabayashi Shigeoki and his son Tomomasa to guide the Oda clan's navy into Beppu Bay and explain the local hydrological conditions to the Oda navy.

Just the other day I was laughing at Ōtomo Yoshitomo for being inferior to Akizuki Tanemura, for not knowing how to sell himself for a good price. Looking at him now, Ōtomo Yoshitomo isn't entirely stupid; he at least has a little bit of sense. Seeing the situation turn against him, he was able to know to kneel and grovel.

With his kneeling, the landing of Oda Nobukatsu in Bungo became much easier. Oda Nobunaga ordered Ōtomo Sōrin to visit Oda Nobukatsu in Azuchi to prepare for the landing. At the same time, he ordered Shichibei to immediately dispatch the Kawamura navy and the Kaisen navy from Sakai to contact the Ōtomo family and arrange the landing in Funai and Usuki.

It was only right that Shichibei should comply.

Since this time it was a genuine sea voyage, Oda Nobunaga also summoned Morimura Haru, the naval commander of Kawamura. Previously, Oda Nobukatsu could travel by land to Yoshida-Koriyama Castle, so Nobunaga simply delegated the water transport to Shichibei. This time, however, Nobukatsu was truly going to travel by boat from Shinobu-machi to Bungo, so Nobunaga had to take it seriously.

Kuroda Kanbei's second son, Kuroda Kumanosuke, was sixteen years old and about to come of age. However, while crossing the sea by boat, a storm arose, and he died instantly. He also took his mother, Tahei Tomonobu's son, with him, so the two could keep each other company on their journey to the afterlife.

Upon learning of Morimura Haru and his faction, Oda Nobunaga granted Awaji Iwaya a fief of 5,000 koku. He then made further promises, adding another 5,000 koku to several islands in the Seto Inland Sea. This made Morimura Haru a "pirate daimyo" on par with Kuki Yoshitaka. From then on, the Kuki family was responsible for the eastern Sea of ​​Japan, while the Mori family was responsible for the western Sea of ​​Japan.

It was Morimura Haru's good fortune that he possessed excellent skills and happened to meet Nobunaga's need, which is why he caught Nobunaga's eye.

Previously, Morimura Haru and Ataka Kiyoyasu had endured hardship to transport the troops from Shikoku to the shore and maintain the logistics for the more than 100,000-strong Mori army, all without Nobunaga even batting an eye. In any case, it was all hard work; without killing, burning, or conquering, how could they possibly receive a higher title?

Now, just because he wants to bring Oda Nobukatsu, this precious treasure, to the island, Nobunaga has already made a grand promise of 5,000 koku of rice. Tsk tsk tsk.

Looking down from heaven to hell, life seems like a sitcom; looking down from hell to heaven, for whom do we toil and strive?

Morimura Haru was naturally overjoyed and offered to personally escort Oda Nobuo's ship. With such a great fortune at stake, Morimura Haru was determined to catch him, even if it meant risking his life.

After sending him away, Nobunaga spoke with Shichibei about the current situation with the Ōtomo clan. He had instructed Shichibei to allocate 8,000 kan to Ōtomo Sōrin based on the annual tribute of rice. To show leniency and benevolence, even though half the year had already passed, Nobunaga still ordered Shichibei to allocate the full year's share.

This is the premise. The reason I mention this is that Nobunaga was thinking about the problems that would arise after the Oda army landed in Kyushu and annihilated Shimazu and Ryuzoji.

As agreed, just as when Amago Katsuhisa brought several hundred of his core followers to pay homage to Nobunaga, Nobunaga promised him the entire province of Izumo, which he later actually granted as his own. Nobunaga had also previously promised to give Ito Yuhei half the province of Hyuga as his vanguard.

What is Hyuga Province's current estimated height?

120,000 shi (a unit of dry measure).

Therefore, Nobunaga promised Ito Yuhei 60,000 koku, but after Ōtomo Sōrin arrived, he revealed a more reliable and somewhat more accurate figure.

The Hyuga territory has a high yield of at least 250,000 koku. Due to the late development of southern Kyushu and the late collapse of the manor economy, coupled with the fragmentation of old powers, even the Shimazu clan, which had transformed from a former guardian to a Sengoku daimyo, had a very limited grasp of the actual situation within their territory.

The most typical example is that the Shimazu clan did not conscript soldiers based on income, but rather on whether they owned two chos (a unit of land measurement) of farmland. Those with more than two chos of land were called "Yuzu-shu" (有足庾), and were required to bring their own armor and weapons to fight. Those without land were called "Muzu-shu" (無足庾), and participated in the war as flag bearers, garrison commanders, or junior soldiers.

Even Shimazu, who was considered to have a strong mobilization ability, couldn't control the actual stone volume, let alone others.

If the Shimazu clan were defeated and the entire Hyuga province were seized, and Oda Nobunaga distributed 60,000 koku to Ito Yuhei according to the promised red seal, what would happen to the remaining 190,000 koku?

You think Nobunaga only asked that? Of course not!

Nobunaga's idea was that he would also promise Ōtomo Sōrin a fief of 100,000 koku in Hyuga Province, and then what? Of course, he would ask Ōtomo Sōrin to provide a more accurate account of the land distribution in Kyushu.

The Shimazu's intentions are still unknown, so we'll leave Satsuma and Ōsumi aside for now. However, Ōtomo Sōrin can be considered the last Kyushu tandai (governor) with real power during the Muromachi shogunate. In fact, he controlled the five provinces of Bungo, Buzen, Chikuzen, Chikugo, and Higo, and had a huge influence over Hyuga and Hizen.

In other words, Ōtomo Sōrin had a very important understanding of the Kyushu region outside of Satsuma and Ōsumi. This understanding was extremely valuable. Otherwise, why would Xiao He have ordered the sealing of books and household registers upon entering Xianyang, and why would Li Shanchang have asked Zhu Yuanzhang to reorganize household registration and land records upon entering Jiankang?

With this account book, the subsequent Great Transfer of Powers across the Nine Provinces would have a better basis and be easier to implement.

In the simplest case, as mentioned earlier, the Hyuga Kingdom in Kyoto only had 120,000 koku of land. Ito Yuhei was born into chaos and had no ability to survey the land. However, the Otomo clan, which had more experience in governing large territories, estimated a more recent figure by conscripting soldiers, using land, and selling annual tribute rice.

In fact, by the early Meiji period, Hyuga's rice yield had already reached 420,000 koku, indicating considerable potential. The current estimated yield is 25...

"Ten thousand" is a rather crude number.

Just like the provinces of Suo and Nagato in history, after the Battle of Sekigahara, which greatly reduced the fiefdoms, Mori Terumoto was granted a fiefdom of 295,000 koku upon entering the province. By the fifth year of Meiji, the combined fiefdoms of these two provinces had reached 1,020,000 koku.

Their true strength is well hidden!

"How much is the initial estimate for Higo Province?" Shichibei didn't pretend and asked first how many koku of rice the territory was scheduled to be allocated to them.

"Five hundred thousand koku." Nobunaga didn't mince words and simply stated the number.

As Shichibei predicted, after Konishi Yukinaga and Kato Kiyomasa entered Higo Province, each of them would receive 200,000, plus the two smaller domains of Hitoyoshi and Amakusa, which would bring the total to about 500,000.

As for the amount of gold, there's only a rough estimate, around 400,000, but the figures are rather inconsistent. However, this Ishigaki was quite capable, so it's reasonable to assume that Nobunaga would transfer the entire country to Shichibei.

"Is Xiu'an Zonglin willing to reveal everything?" Now Shichibei felt that the data that Otomo Zonglin had was indeed of a certain standard, and not just random guessing.

Furthermore, Higo had considerable development potential, reaching approximately 850,000 koku by the end of the Edo period. Within its territory were as many as 1,900...

Lingba Village is a powerful stronghold in the southwest.

"Of course." Nobunaga had obviously already tested the waters and was somewhat confident.

"I wonder what Fujikichiro's attitude is?" Shichibei asked as a precaution.

"You go first." But Nobunaga wasn't fooled. He was smarter than a monkey and insisted on letting Shichibei speak first.

"Then I think it's acceptable." After a moment's thought, Shichibei felt that this deal was still worth doing.

After all, having a ledger in hand means that, putting aside everything else, scraping the entire Kyushu province with money is the minimum. Given the level of Kyushu, a territory of at least 2.2 to 2.3 million koku would yield at least 300,000 to 500,000 kan in scrap money, ensuring that Oda Nobunaga not only fully reimburses his military expenses but also makes a profit.

Why fight a war if there's no profit to be made?

If we use the data from earlier periods when the Kinai region was still in the early Muromachi period, the entire Kyushu region only had 1.2 to 1.3 million koku, which would mean that more than half of the money that could be extracted would be lost.

"Good!" Nobunaga snapped his folding fan shut, clearly indicating that this was the answer he wanted to hear.

Unsurprisingly, Hideyoshi agreed. In a sense, this was Ōtomo Sōrin currying favor with the Oda clan, revealing the last of their most valuable assets as the Kyushu envoy. He was doing his best to secure benefits for the Ōtomo clan in the long run.

Let's exchange it. Let's exchange the ledger that Otomo Sōrin has.

When Shichibei and Hideyoshi discussed this matter, Hideyoshi bluntly stated that the amount of rice in Kyushu was a complete mess, because he had heard that the Hata and Matsuura families in Matsuura District of Hizen Province together had a total of 120,000 koku.

However, within the realm of knowledge in the Kinai region, Hizen only possessed a paltry 300,000 koku. If we deduct the contributions of Hata Chika and Matsuura Shigenobu, and further subtract Arima Harunobu and Ōmura Sumitada, would Ryūzōji Takanobu still have 100,000 koku?

Upon closer examination, Hizen was indeed a mess, with the rice yield definitely exceeding 300,000 koku. When Hideyoshi and Nobunaga discussed this matter, Hideyoshi proactively suggested that Oda Nobunaga conduct a unified land survey first.

Based on the land register provided by Ōtomo Sōrin, the land survey was conducted. A new land survey register belonging to the Oda family was compiled, and then the land was transferred.

Aside from Akizuki Tanemi, who was already promised the three districts of Akizuki and part of Chikugo, the other territories could be gradually adjusted. Only Ōtomo Yoshitomo of Bungo could be relatively stable. But he was certain...

Under the supervision of the Oda clan's deputy officials, the land survey was conducted, and the village records were submitted to the Oda clan.

How much is the Bungo stone tall? This is related to the amount of military service Nobunaga conscripted from him, and the amount of castle construction work he was required to undertake.

At the end, Hideyoshi smiled and asked about the current situation of Ashikaga Satoshimaru, who was temporarily under Ashikaga Princess's command.

"Nonsense, this isn't something I should be involved in..." Shichibei really shouldn't have interfered.

There was no way around it; I couldn't control my groin, and I couldn't stop people whispering in my ear every day. After much whispering, I ended up writing a letter to Oda Nobunaga. We do have some dealings with Ashikaga Yoshihide; you could call us friends.

“His servant is somewhat unwilling.” Hideyoshi wasn’t worried about Shichibei finding out, because Hashiba Hidekatsu had personally written a letter to Nobunaga.

Hidekatsu explicitly stated that his uncles and elders—Hashiba Hidenaga, Hachisuka Masakatsu, Kinoshita Iesada, and Asano Nagamasa—were all high-ranking vassals with fiefs exceeding 10,000 koku. Hachisuka Koroku, in particular, held a fief of 53,000 koku in Harima Ryūno and had already been assimilated into Hideyoshi's household as a chief retainer of the Hashiba family.

What should we do?

It can't be fixed.

Therefore, Hidekatsu Hashiba was very concerned about the 180,000 koku he would receive after being transferred to Kyushu, and he didn't want to give away even a single cent of it if possible.

"I am aware of this matter. In any case, there is no rush. Whether it can be accomplished or not, we can discuss it again." Shichibei knew that Hideyoshi might have some difficulties, so he did not insist.

After Shichibei finished trembling, his intelligence returned to its peak, and his clever little brain started working again. Ashikaga Sasomizumaru himself wasn't happy; it was purely Ashikaga Princess's wishful thinking. Her willingness was useless; she was just a woman. So much so that when Oda Nobunaga executed the powerful retainers of the Miyoshi Yoshitsugu clan, she wasn't even involved.

In Japan's Sengoku period, with very few exceptions, if you weren't a man, you really couldn't move an inch.

"I couldn't be of any help." Hideyoshi himself was in a mess, and suddenly felt a sense of empathy for Shichibei.

He was clearly a big shot, but he was stuck in the mud of a really messy battle, and the lower ranks of Kanesaki Castle were fighting desperately to cover the rear. Yet, somehow, he was swayed by a woman.

"We'll discuss it later." Shichibei simply waved his hand and smiled, not taking it to heart. Ashikaga Satoshimaru, with Ashikaga on his head, would naturally have his fate arranged.

558. Shimazu refuses to surrender and vies for the position of vice commander.

After Ōtomo Yoshitsugu Sōrin surrendered, two other reports came back from Kyushu. Shimai Sōshū of Hakata, Kamiya Sōzan, completely obeyed Shichibei's orders and was willing to join the future Federal Reserve. He not only planned to join forces with Akizuki Tanemi to send the Mōri army ashore, but also indicated that they would stockpile military supplies to support the large army.

Not only that, Kamiya Sōzan also sent someone to communicate with Shichibei, indicating that he was willing to defect to Oda Nobunaga if Oda Nobunaga was willing to pacify Matsuura Shigenobu's territory in Iki Province, Matsuura District, Hizen Province.

This is genuinely good news. Although Akizuki Tanemi has already defected, and it's highly likely that the Ryuzoji army will be thrown into chaos once the battle begins, one is never enough; two would be perfect.

It is said that before retreating from Kanesaki, Tokugawa Ieyasu said to his sworn brother Nobunaga, "In the past, when you fought battles, you would always make advance preparations, causing several powerful lords on the opposing side to defect. This time, you didn't make any preparations at all; it's really not like you."

This silenced Nobunaga, who was then attacked from both sides by Asakura Yoshikage and Azai Nagamasa.

Now, Nobunaga certainly can't afford not to make moves, especially since he's already brought Akizuki Tanemi on board. But if he could have an extra layer of protection, he might...