Owari Yumeki Golden Day.

Nobunaga could provide money, grant peace, and exempt them from all common service, unlike the officials in charge of military service. However, the three lords of Nishi-Mino were obligated to perform military service annually and would send troops to support Nobunaga's campaigns when Nobunaga paid them an equivalent amount of money.

Why were the three men of Nishimino so resistant to sending troops? The reason is quite simple: they were old-fashioned lords whose military strength came from the land. Sending troops would not only consume money and food, but also affect agriculture. Affecting agriculture would affect income, creating a vicious cycle.

For powerful clans like theirs, winning a battle was actually a bad thing. Because if they won and rendered great service, Nobunaga could openly double their territory and then demand a transfer of fiefdoms. For example, if the Inaba clan had 50,000 koku in Mino and Sone, and you were to be granted 100,000 koku in Bungo and Usuki in Kyushu, would you, as Inaba Itetsu, be happy?

It's safe to say that over 90% of them are unwilling.

If they lose, it will be an even worse situation. Those who die are all subjects bound to their families by blood and loyalty; losing even one is a loss. A major defeat would not only severely weaken their own strength but could also attract the covetous eyes of a daimyo, who could find a pretext to attack them.

If you don't even have the strength to resist, you'll only face certain death in the end.

Therefore, the best approach is to guard your own territory. Reign supreme in your own little corner of the world, and even the most powerful figures will be wary of your tough nature and unable to bring themselves to deal with you.

perfect!

Nobunaga insisted that the three families provide military service, even if it meant spending money, to draw up their armies, his aim being to weaken them. Nobunaga could earn more money, but the samurai and foot soldiers of the three families had to be cultivated slowly year after year.

After a few battles with significant losses, these three families will have no choice but to submit. Those who know what's good for them will transfer their fiefdoms, hand over hostages, send their sons, and turn their retainers into a single entity. As for those who don't know what's good for them, well, they'll eventually make a mistake, and once they do, Nobunaga will launch a thunderous attack and wipe them out.

"Aren't they afraid that our lord will launch a full-scale attack?" Shichibei rubbed his chin.

The beard I shaved yesterday has grown a little bit today. It's a bit prickly, and scratching it gives me a strange feeling.

"These three families are closely allied. If they launch a full-scale attack on Ogaki Castle, even 10,000 men would find it difficult to conquer. We also have to guard against reinforcements from the other two families. It's a very difficult situation." Hideyoshi had already inspected the defenses of Ogaki Castle and realized it was indeed a tough nut to crack.

Unfortunately, this city is the throat of Xinong, and nothing can be discussed until it is captured. There is no third option: either pacify or launch a full-scale attack.

If history hadn't changed, Tokugawa Ieyasu would have had to attack either Ōgaki Castle or Ōnozu Castle to march on Kyoto. There were only two main routes available for military operations; there were no alternatives.

"This is indeed troublesome." Shichibei was well aware of the principle that winning hearts and minds is superior to conquering cities.

“However, Ando Iga-no-kami’s son-in-law is a sensible man,” Hideyoshi remarked.

"Takenaka Hanbei?" Shichibei wasn't really sure what kind of guy this was.

His fame in later generations, to the point that he was listed alongside Kuroda Kanbei as one of the "Two Great Heroes of the Land," was most likely due to the influence of his son Takenaka Shigemon's book, "Toyokan."

(Kuroda, well, he was a proper daimyo with 520,000 koku of rice, so he had every right to boast about it. He even became a marquis after the Meiji Restoration.)

Historically, Hideyoshi treated Takenaka Shigeto quite harshly; Takenaka Hanbei was only seven years old when Hanbei died. At that time, transferring the family business to Hanbei's younger brother, Takenaka Shigenori, was perfectly normal according to the rules of the samurai class. After all, granting you territory and requiring you to send troops is only natural.

However, after Takenaka Shigenori died in battle not long after, Hideyoshi showed no mercy and converted the entire Takenaka family, leaving them only with a stipend of 200 koku to survive.

If you were Takenaka Shigekado, wouldn't you be furious? You'd definitely harbor resentment. Later, at the Battle of Sekigahara, he betrayed the Tokugawa clan, captured Konishi Nobunaga, and actively served Ieyasu. It's also true that he eventually sold the Takenaka clan for 80,000 koku.

In particular, the Takenaka clan suffered over a dozen casualties in the Battle of Sekigahara, for which Tokugawa Ieyasu granted a stipend of 1,000 koku of rice. Although this was intended to win over the people, the Takenaka clan truly benefited.

By the time the Edo period arrived, the Toyotomi family had fallen, and Shigemon and Hideyoshi had old grudges. Shigemon would put down Hideyoshi while praising his father, Takenaka Hanbei, which was a product of political correctness.

When Hideyoshi transferred his fief to Harima, for example, Hachisuka Koroku was transferred to Harima Ryuno with a fief of 56,000 koku. Takenaka Hanbei, who was also a key figure in Hideyoshi's success, remained untouched with a fief of 10,000 koku (some say 8,000 koku) at Bodaiyama in Mino, which speaks volumes.

Could the Takenaka family not have mustered two hundred soldiers? Of course they could, but they were not granted any titles and instead followed Hideyoshi into Harima.

At that time, Takenaka Hanbei was probably just an ordinary yōri under Hideyoshi, not at all to the point that Hideyoshi was his right-hand man and could not do without him for even a moment.

"He believes that our lord is a magnanimous man and can be trusted as a wingman." Hideyoshi clearly agreed with this statement, nodding as he spoke.

"That's true!" Oh my, it seems Takenaka Hanbei isn't all talk.

Nobunaga's magnanimity lay in his use of people; if you had talent, he would employ you. As long as you were still useful, you could find a place in the Oda clan. Only if the gap between your usefulness and your status was too great would you possibly incur Nobunaga's wrath.

To be honest, the three members of the Nishi-Mino triumvirate were all proper samurai, capable of fighting and managing affairs of state without much trouble. If they were willing to serve Nobunaga, they could easily become samurai generals under Nobunaga. Of course, they would be the kind of samurai generals who could be transferred and reassigned at any time, and would have to work very hard every time.

The key point is that none of the three families want to be generals; they're more like local tyrants.

“He said he would do his best to persuade Ando Iga-no-kami, but obviously it was not effective,” Hideyoshi continued.

“With Ogaki Castle as the leader of the trio, even if Ando Iga-no-kami is willing, it will probably be to no avail.” Shichibei certainly knew the reason.

Of the three families, Ujiie Bokuzen, also known as Ujiie Naomoto, was the most powerful. Otherwise, he wouldn't have served as the rearguard in the great defeat against Ise and ultimately died in battle.

Without a solid base of support, even being the rearguard is impossible. Currently, the Oda clan only has Sakuma Nobumori, a senior retainer, serving as the rearguard. Historically, during the Kanegasaki retreat, besides Kinoshita Hideyoshi, Akechi Mitsuhide and Ikeda Katsumasa also served as the rearguard. It's said that the future Tokugawa Ieyasu was also involved, but this is questionable.

This shows just how powerful Shijia Buquan was. Mobilizing a full force of over two thousand men to act as a shield for the entire army would be no problem at all.

This is also why Hideyoshi said that if Ōgaki Castle were besieged, 10,000 men would definitely not be able to take it. 10,000 men attacking a castle defended by more than 2,000 people would come at a huge cost, even if they succeeded.

Isn't there any compromise?

Hideyoshi shrugged, and Shichibei, after thinking for a moment, also shrugged. "Nene's back just in time. You two, have some to drink. There are only two candied black beans."

A tiny dish, no bigger than the palm of your hand, containing no more than twenty black beans. These days, that's about it when we drink. Next door, Daiming drinks with candied fruit and the like. Fried peanuts, pig's ears, cold dishes—that's all in the future.

Not to mention that what we're drinking now is bitter wine, it's truly a bitter taste that hurts the heart as it goes down.

As the second-in-command among the various factions in western Mino, Hideyoshi must have been severely criticized by Nobunaga, hence his long, bitter face. Nobunaga was anxious, yet unwilling to change the terms.

Even if it were only half or a third of the military service, Hideyoshi would have had the courage to use both kindness and force. Now, with the two sides locked in this stalemate, Hideyoshi, caught between two massive, stubborn rocks, would probably be ground down to the bone even if he were an iron rod.

Poor thing, being assigned such a task. Fortunately, Shichibei's task is to purchase dowry items; although tedious, it's not too difficult.

While holding a black bean, Shichibei suddenly realized something. The three members of the Nishimino tribe believe they have the strength to withstand Nobunaga's attack, hence their constant challenges. Why doesn't Nobunaga simply go for it and besiege Ōgaki Castle?

The autumn harvest is approaching, and once it's over, the people can be mobilized to fight. Besides, we've already captured Nakano, established several hundred new standing foot soldiers, and gathered the Kajita garrison. With Nobunaga's current strength, mobilizing an army of 20,000 is not difficult.

If Dayuan City can hold off 10,000 people, how can it hold off 20,000?

With 20,000 troops stationed outside Ōgaki Castle, ten times the number of the castle's soldiers, I simply don't believe that all the retainers of the Ujike family are completely loyal, without a single traitor trying to renege on their promises. If even one person were willing to open the gates from the inside, wouldn't the castle be much easier to manage?

Hideyoshi, after trying to pick up the black bean eight times without success, threw down his chopsticks and immediately left. Nobunaga, having conquered the three districts of Naka and Nō, neither indiscriminately captured nor hunted anyone, thus suffering a loss in the war.

He finally managed to scrape together a sum of money, which was essentially a temporary property tax of 4,400 kan, and bestowed it all upon Sato Tadanobu. After returning from the war, he immediately began preparing for the wedding of Princess Tokuhime and Matsudaira Nobuyasu. He was practically made of gold; how many more battles could he possibly win?

You submitted the street map from Komakiyama to Tsushima, but did Nobunaga ever mention road construction?

It's just that we're broke!

After the autumn harvest, the losses from the Battle of Tangdong must be recovered. A portion of the money also needs to be allocated as Princess Tokuhime's dowry to bribe the Matsudaira clan of Mikawa. Only the remaining funds will be available for future battles.

No matter how much is left, even with the addition of temporary commercial taxes from Tsushima and Atsuta, it would be absolutely impossible to raise enough funds to send out an army of 20,000.

As Sun Tzu aptly put it, "When an army of 100,000 men marches a thousand miles, the daily expenses for the people and the government amount to a thousand gold pieces. The unrest both inside and outside the country will cause 700,000 households to be unable to attend to their duties due to the lack of travel and the resulting instability."

Although Nobunaga only marched about forty kilometers to fight, and his army was estimated to be only 20,000 strong, how much resources did he actually have? Just Owari and the three districts of Nakano. It would be a miracle if he could even afford to supply them.

"Then you..." Shichibei wanted to say "good luck" but he was too embarrassed to say it.

"Me? What can I do? Only God knows." Unexpectedly, Hideyoshi directly made a blunder.

"By the way, didn't the lord promise them money?" Since Hideyoshi has said that, Shichibei must have something to say.

"Yes, all the anti-money and husband money west of Hangase River belongs to these three families."

To put it simply, the temporary property tax and temporary head tax from the six counties of Mino, Ikeda, Fuwa, Ishizu, Tagi, Anhachi, and Kaisei were all divided equally among the three families.

As an aside, Hangesawa is quite famous in history because the outpost of the Battle of Sekigahara was fought there. The Eastern Army suffered over 500 casualties there, which pleased Ishida Mitsunari, who felt he had the upper hand and launched a direct attack.

Of the six counties west of the Hangse River, Ikeda and Fuwa counties have more forests and less arable land, so we'll leave them aside for now. The other four counties are all agriculturally developed. If we focus all our efforts on collecting anti-settlement money and taxes, 15,000 kan wouldn't be difficult to collect.

But if the money is split among three companies, with each company receiving 5,000, the appeal is greatly reduced.

The territory was still their own territory. Nobunaga promised to collect a temporary tax on their own land, but there was no question of any reward.

“Hiss… How much money do you have?” Hideyoshi suddenly grabbed Shichibei.

"I don't have any. I gave all my money to my five younger sisters as dowries!" Shichibei immediately waved his hand. Although he still had some, it wasn't much.

Of the 2,500 kan that Nobunaga received last time, 500 kan went directly into the Kinoshita family as dowry. Hideyoshi knew about this; Shichibei hadn't kept it from him at all.

"Five thousand kan, no, three thousand kan, do you have it?" Hideyoshi refused to let go, gripping Shichibei's sleeve tightly.

"Do I look like I have three thousand strings of cash?"

"Like it! Give it to me! I'll return it to you later!" Hideyoshi seemed not to have noticed Shichibei's tone and reached out to Shichibei directly.

"No, no, no, no, no!" Shichibei shouted, then slapped Hideyoshi's hand. Hideyoshi's black hand turned red, but he wouldn't let go.

"..." Hideyoshi stared at Shichibei and found that Shichibei's eyes were quite sincere, as if he really didn't have anything to hide, so he pulled his reddened hand away.

"Even if they did, people might not even be interested in three thousand kan." Shichibei slapped his own hand until it hurt.

"They look down on it, but do their retainers look down on it too?" Hideyoshi touched his hand, as if he had indeed slapped it a bit too hard.

"That's only useful when attacking a city."

"Too……"

The two fell silent. A short while later, Ningning brought in tea and rice, and they resumed eating. They remained silent throughout the meal, unable to come up with any good ideas.

However, to their surprise, Ando Mori ordered his son, Ando Uemon, to infiltrate Owari and contact Takagi Sadahisa, a former retainer of Ando who had already pledged allegiance to Nobunaga.

Ando Morinari had an immature idea: if Ando Morinari sided with Nobunaga, would Nobunaga support him to become the head of the Western Mino faction? If so, he was willing to step forward and persuade the various factions of Western Mino, including Inaba Ittetsu and Ujiie Bokuzen.

69. Why should I be the one to go undercover?

The next day, Shichibei came to see Hideyoshi again, wanting to ask if there was any way to arrange a meeting with Takenaka Hanbei. After all, this future man's reputation was truly immense; he was known as the "Modern Zhuge Liang," and was a significant supporting character in both films and games.

Shichibei, who was curious about whether Matsudaira Ieyasu ate rice with three parts wheat and seven parts rice, how could he not be curious about Takenaka Hanbei?

If you come all this way and don't take a look, then you've wasted your trip.

As it turns out, Ningning said that Hideyoshi was summoned into the city early this morning and hasn't returned yet. Huh? He went into the city? Poor Hideyoshi, he'll be scolded by his boss all day long.

It's even worse than having a Monday morning meeting where the boss briefly says three points, goes on until 12:15, and then leaves for a big hotel for a banquet in fifteen minutes, leaving me no time to even go to the cafeteria.

So he had no choice but to ride home. When he returned to the village house in the castle town, Shichibei wondered if he should pack up and go back to Tsushima first.

Given the current situation, Nobunaga and the three leaders of Saimino are locked in a stalemate. Unless the situation changes, a miracle is unlikely to occur anytime soon. Takenaka Hanbei will most likely be constantly shuttling between Sunomata and Saimino, and will have plenty of opportunities to meet.

They died young, but not immediately. They still have about ten years left to live.

The autumn harvest is just around the corner, and with it comes the annual tribute, a very important matter. As the governor of Kaito District, Shichibei must deliver the tribute to Komakiyama in a presentable manner, or Nobunaga will surely be angry.

Hideyoshi was right last night. Nobunaga has many ways to make money and earns a lot of money, but his expenses are even greater. So we must not mess with the annual tribute.

After instructing his family and staff at the branch shop near the castle, Shichibei began to greet Yoriki and his friends who were on holiday and returning to Komakiyama.

Before everyone had even arrived, someone from the city summoned Shichibei to enter. "No way," Shichibei thought, "after scolding Hideyoshi, what could he possibly remember about me?" He racked his brains the whole way, but couldn't figure out what had gone wrong with him lately.

Once seated inside the Japanese-style room, Hideyoshi was also present, while Nobunaga sat silently on the tatami mat, looking thoughtful. Shichibei entered, bowed, and then greeted him with "Your Majesty."

What?

Why does the environment feel a bit eerie?

Hideyoshi beckoned Shichibei to sit next to him, and then briefly explained how Ando Uemon, through Takagi Sadahisa, had conditionally switched sides.