Owari Yumeki Golden Day.

So Nobunaga waved his hand and changed the amount of arrow money and bridle money to 5,000 kan plus 2,000 koku of military rations. At this point, the wealthy merchants stopped complaining about being poor and began to fawn over Nobunaga. They were practically saying things like they would serve him faithfully and follow his lead without question.

However, Shichibei wouldn't look down on these people. Their feigning poverty and death in front of Shichibei didn't contradict their magnanimity and open-mindedness in front of Nobunaga.

As we've said before, these days, the only way to grow and become powerful is through government connections. Without the support of political and military power, it's impossible to make progress in business.

A successful merchant must have the support of a military regime, the imperial court, or even a temple. A vine clinging to a tree is like a vine; how can you expect it to straighten up and behave like a human being?

"You've been used by them." After everyone left, Nobunaga put away the oil-drop tenmu and tapped Shichibei on the head.

"Ah?" Shichibei thought to himself that he had accomplished a task, so why would he not use it?

"Sometimes I see you as clever, and sometimes I see you as honest." Nobunaga didn't continue. He was busy with other things, and mentioning Shichibei at all meant that he valued him highly.

Instead, Shichibei was left behind to recall the behavior of these Anotsu people. Did they intend to use us to get close to Nobunaga from the beginning?

109. Come forward to call the ronin

Good heavens, they really are a bunch of businessmen.

When Shichibei saw the Anotsu clan running over to ask if he could buy the remaining food in the storehouse for two kan and one koku, he already fully understood Nobunaga's meaning.

They discovered that Shichibei could speak with Nobunaga, so they played the victim and begged for mercy, using Shichibei's influence to get in front of Nobunaga.

If it weren't for Shichibei, Murai Sadakatsu would be the limit of what they could possibly gain. Even offering "oil-drop tenmoku" wouldn't suffice. Nobunaga would at most accept their lavish gifts and offer a few platitudes of consolation.

In fact, Shichibei was still clinging to some old, clichéd strategy, thinking he was being clever. The other side had even calculated the exact amount of rice Shichibei had stored in their rice storehouse.

Everything went according to plan, and the execution was very efficient.

As expected of the big merchants and self-governing associations of Mitsu Nanako, in some ways they are more adept at playing the game than the small merchants Shichibei had encountered before.

The key point is that they offered two kan and one koku to buy Shichibei's rice. Now that the war is over, Nobunaga isn't in a hurry for military rations. They can leisurely send people to Sakai to buy rice and then bring it back to Nobunaga.

What Nobunaga needed was an attitude of submission. Kneeling represented an attitude, as did giving money and rice. Once the attitude was there, Nobunaga was satisfied.

We had previously said we would offer these thousand dan of rice as a way to win over the Annojin people. Now, it's the Annojin people who are willing to pay three thousand kan to curry favor with Shichibei.

Anyway, all this rice is a profit for Shichibei. Giving Shichibei three thousand kan for free, even if they used Shichibei, Shichibei won't hold a grudge.

It's not like there's some blood feud; it's just borrowing someone's help, and they get three thousand kan for that. Knowing Shichibei's personality, he'd definitely welcome them coming to borrow every day.

When it comes to doing business and making connections with powerful figures, these old merchants certainly have some tricks up their sleeves.

If it weren't for Nobunaga's appreciation and our background as core retainers of Owari, we might not have been able to compete with them in the business world.

Fortunately, it was a feudal society, and commercial monopoly rights, backed by military and political power, were widely and openly spread across Japan. Shichibei only needed to obtain the monopoly authorization and rely on the powerful military force of the Oda clan. There was no need to fight at all; he could just wait for them to come and curry his favor.

Isn't this money of over three thousand strings of cash for buying rice also a form of their "goodwill"?

At least they wouldn't, and wouldn't dare, kick Shichibei aside and go to see Nobunaga alone. They also knew that to survive under the Oda clan's military, they needed a reliable central representative.

good……

The transaction went smoothly. To make it easier for Shichibei to carry, they delivered weighed gold and silver. What Nobunaga received, however, was mainly copper coins. This was because Nobunaga was about to distribute rewards after the battle and needed to pay his subordinates. Even ordinary foot soldiers who participated in the battle would likely receive at least a hundred sen (a unit of currency).

So Nobunaga wanted small change, while Shichibei didn't need any reward; he could simply pack up the money and send it back to Tsushima.

Unfortunately, Inase Yoshinari had already absconded with over 40,000 kan. To be honest, Shichibei wasn't entirely without suspicion. It's just that everyone had only recently met and was testing each other, not yet having fully established mutual trust. But with him gone, Shichibei was left to accompany the army with only 3,000 kan.

Nobunaga was currently holding the wedding ceremony for his younger brother Nobukatsu and the daughter of Nagano Fujisada. Nagano Fujisada had died suddenly on the same day as his father five years ago, so powerful retainers from the branch families, such as Hosono, Bunbe, and Unrinin, attended the ceremony to represent the Nagano clan in surrendering to Nobunaga.

Like Nobutaka, Nobuhiro gained control of the powerful families and influence of Nakanohana and the Kudo family in Nagano. Nobunaga also assigned dozens of people to him as petty officials and imperial stables.

In this way, Nagano Nobukatsu also possessed a large retainer group of nearly five hundred samurai. Moreover, he was twenty years old this year, and had the potential to independently command his retainer group.

The northern Ise samurai group was temporarily assigned to Takigawa Ieyasu, while the central Ise samurai group could be assigned to Nobukatsu Jiri. Perhaps this was also part of Nobunaga's arrangement, as the Nagano clan faced Kitabatake Muneo directly and needed to be constantly on the lookout. The Kobe clan had the support of the Oda clan and Nagano as a frontline force, allowing them to send their children into battle.

By the way, why is Xinbao twenty years old? Because the New Year is just around the corner.

The New Year of the eleventh year of Eiroku (1568) was spent in battle by all the generals of the Oda clan.

Although celebrating the New Year on the battlefield is a bit troublesome, at least Shichibei saved five kan this year because he didn't have to present the New Year's sword to Nobunaga. That's five kan saved, isn't it?

Nobunaga had seized eight districts in Ise, and he no longer cared about the five or ten kan that his retainers offered. Right now, he was clinking glasses with his younger brother, Nagano Nobukatsu.

(The five counties of the northern region were placed under Nobutaka's control, with Takigawa Kazumasu temporarily in charge. The two counties of the central region were placed under Nobukatsu's control, and the remaining Suzuka county belonged to Seki Morinobu. After his surrender, he settled down and became a retainer of Nobutaka/Kazumasu.)

Shichibei was also whispering to Hideyoshi down below, "We've been in Anotsu these past few days, and we need to find out how Nobunaga rewarded the meritorious retainers who conquered such a large territory."

Takigawa Kazumasu was appointed as the Chief of Staff and served as the Grand General, becoming Nobutaka's successor. This is something Shichibei already knew. What else is there?

"That great monk Shugen married Sakon's daughter, left the monastery, and changed his name to Takigawa Yuri." Hideyoshi glanced at Takigawa Ikki who was sitting opposite him.

Since they were all high-ranking officers, they naturally sat on the left and right, of equal rank. Who would have thought that just two months ago, Takigawa Kazumasu was merely a mercenary leader, not even ranked in the Oda clan?

"So it was him!" I don't know you if your name is Genju Gen, but I do know you if your name is Takikawa Yuri.

"He was also granted 500 strings of cash."

"Wow, I only had 60 kan back then." It really felt like the latecomer had surpassed the opponent. Shichibei might understand.

"I only had fifty kan back then." Hideyoshi swallowed the bitter wine, his heart aching. He was, after all, the son of a foot soldier from Owari Province, and his father had carried a gun for Nobuhide.

As a result, Hideyoshi only received 50 kan a year when he became the head of menial laborers. Later, when he became the captain of the foot soldiers and the head of the foot soldiers, his salary was raised to 200 kan. Now, people start their careers with 500 kan, so it's no wonder that Hideyoshi feels the pinch.

"What about the others?" Shichibei reached out and patted Hideyoshi on the back, telling him to let it go.

"Oda Ichinosuke (Oda Nobunari, Nobumitsuko) received 5,000 kan in the Northern Realm in exchange for the ruins of Obata Castle. Yokoi Masakatsu received 3,000 kan, and Iinuma Kansuke (Chōmune) received 1,000 kan..." Hideyoshi stopped drinking and quietly reported the accounts to Shichibei.

Many people were driven from the northern Ise counties, including the Asakura clan, which was wiped out, including more than ten families of the Chomei clan. Only Nanbu Tadaaki was quick to surrender; the rest either died or fled. Nobunaga would not allow these territories to remain empty. His solution wasn't to inspect the land, but to simply assign it to someone.

Then someone will mass-produce troops for me, until Nobunaga is satisfied. Anyway, Nobunaga doesn't ask how well you govern your territory, he only asks if you can mass-produce troops for me.

Speaking of Nobunaga's territory governance model, it was very "violent". He would conquer a place, appoint someone as the "official" of that place, and all power would be delegated to that person.

Nobunaga only ordered this man to send troops to fight, and did nothing else. Hosokawa Fujitaka marched into Tango and slaughtered his way through, wiping out the Isshiki clan. Shibata Katsuie marched into Echizen and slaughtered his way through, at one point leaving 30,000 corpses outside Fuchu Castle in Echizen. Nobunaga didn't care what happened, he didn't care.

Once this "one-official" had pacified the area, eliminated all the troublemakers, subdued the temple shrines, and made the local tyrants and bandits submit, Nobunaga transferred this person to a larger territory.

For example, Hideyoshi was promoted from 120,000 troops in Kotani to 400,000 troops in Harima and Himeji, while Toshiie was promoted from 30,000 troops in Echizen to 200,000 troops in Noto. These were all significant promotions. Even if the new territories were difficult or chaotic, such a large promotion was still worth the trip.

Once the remaining territory was well-governed, Nobunaga would either grant it to his son or relatives, or keep it for himself as a direct ruler.

The expansion is happening faster than ever before. If you're not doing well in your current position, don't even think about promotion or bonuses. You'll likely end up in a remote corner or be dismissed altogether.

For example, there was Hiromasa Kōda, a key retainer who made great contributions in the Battle of Okehazama, discovering the location of Imagawa Yoshimoto's main force and firmly supporting Nobunaga's surprise attack. He was transferred from Owari to Daisōji in Kaga with 70,000 koku of rice, but he didn't perform well and was stripped of his entire fiefdom. Later, because he was from old Owari, he was assigned to Nobutada as a retainer.

With Nobunaga, you can be bad, you can be ruthless, you can even be poisonous, but you absolutely cannot be weak.

The food itself is the original sin!

If you're weak, Nobunaga won't show any mercy when he starts attacking. Even if you're from the old Owari, old Oda, or old Shimotsu districts, he'll still take you down.

"Brother, you didn't get a promotion?" Hideyoshi and his Sunomata troops also joined the battle, so Nobunaga should at least give them something.

"Before the merger, the total was 2,500 kan." Hideyoshi was clearly somewhat unwilling when he said the number 2,500 kan.

Because Takigawa Kazumasu commanded 4,000 kan, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to accommodate so many miscellaneous soldiers from the Takigawa faction. Hideyoshi, on the other hand, only earned 2,500 after all these years, while Takigawa started at 4,000.

Even with his great achievements in pacifying the Kizuki and Kobe clans, and being the successor of Kobe Nobutaka, many people still felt dissatisfied.

"It's not bad, at least it increases knowledge and practice." Shichibei put down the wine dish, feeling a little, but not too much.

The main Shichibei were merchants, so they didn't need large territories. What was important was the various commercial monopolies granted by Nobunaga. Having too many territories meant taking up arms to attack cities and kill people, but controlling commercial power only required providing Yongle Tongbao coins to Nobunaga.

Different positions lead to different attitudes.

"You also participated in the reorganization, but I haven't seen any increase in the number of recruits." Hideyoshi was even indignant on Shichibei's behalf, but Shichibei was actually quite satisfied at the moment.

Having amassed a fortune of 35,000 kan, and gained additional territory of 1,000 or 2,000 kan, it would have taken decades to earn back that much. Now, thanks to Nobunaga's conquest of northern Ise, they've achieved everything in one fell swoop—what more could they ask for?

Shichibei was secretly laughing to himself; if it weren't for the crowd, he would have burst out laughing.

"Hey, Shichibei!" I was laughing in my heart when I heard someone calling me.

Looking up, he saw it was Nobunaga. Shichibei thought he had burst out laughing out loud, so he quickly rubbed his face and ran to Nobunaga's side.

"Did you find any ronin gathering in Anotsu?" Nobunaga asked, knowing that Shichibei had just returned from Anotsu.

"Hiss, some people did escape into Anotsu." Shichibei recalled that Anotsu must have taken in some ronin warriors from northern Ise.

Those samurai families from the northern and central factions who were driven away by Nobunaga either sought refuge with Rokkaku Yoshiharu or Kitabatake Tomonori. After all, these were the only two places where they could find refuge and have the possibility of making a comeback.

But there are always those who can't please either side. Those who temporarily seek refuge in Anokatsu, where the Oda army won't enter and which is relatively safe, are their first choice. They will remain in Anokatsu to ascertain the changing situation in Ise and await their opportunity.

Why were the Ise rebellions and Ikko-ikki so powerful in history? They killed so many of Nobunaga's relatives and retainers. Besides catching Nobunaga off guard with their sudden attacks, another major reason was that a large number of defeated ronin from the Northern and Central factions joined these armies that were counterattacking Oda.

Aside from a few monks, how much fighting power could the Ikko-ikki mobilize from the civilian population? It was only because they received support from a large number of ronin samurai that they were able to fight Nobunaga to a standstill.

"Hmph." After receiving a definite answer, Nobunaga simply nodded slightly.

"Should I and Sakon go together...?" Shichibei pondered his superior's intentions. Nobunaga was definitely going to kill these people, so they had to take on the dirty work.

Anyway, Takikawa Kazumasu was in charge of the dirty work. Shichibei scouted the area for him, confirmed the number of people, and then Kazumasu would send men to kill the ronin samurai. Physical destruction was the most direct and had the fewest repercussions.

"You should recruit a batch first." Nobunaga's lips curled up slightly, but it didn't feel like a smile.

"Understood." Shichibei didn't dare ask any further questions and immediately replied.

"You've also rendered meritorious service, so let's increase it to 2,500 kan." Nobunaga revealed his white teeth, which had a chilling quality.

"Your Majesty, I am filled with trepidation."

The words were clearly cheerful, but when accompanied by Nobunaga's order to kill, they sounded rather unpleasant. Shichibei took a step back, bowed, and understood.

First, try to recruit the ronin who have lost their lands in the northern and central regions. If they are willing to join Shichibei's forces, it means that their will to resist is not firm and they are thinking about a stable life first.

By recruiting under the name of Kawamura-ya, the ronin wouldn't be too resistant to Oda. Even though joining Kawamura-ya was essentially joining Oda, at least they had an excuse. Humans are all the same when it comes to making excuses for themselves.

If you don't even want to go to Kawamura-ya, and would rather wait in Anotsu for an opportunity to drive out Oda and regain your former territory, then I'm sorry, Nobunaga's sword is never dull.

If you dare to rebel, I dare to kill you.

This is the last window of opportunity Nobunaga has given us; once this window is gone, it will never come again.

110. Combining kindness and severity is indeed effective

Shichibei was still muttering about Nobunaga's strategy of first being courteous and then resorting to force when he saw Nobunaga use another underhanded tactic to kill someone with a blunt knife.

Suzuka Checkpoint removed!

Suzuka Pass is one of the most important passes on the Ise Road, and just by looking at the name, you know which district it's in and who it's in. Seki Morinobu, you kept jumping around, didn't you? You kept stubbornly refusing to surrender.

Did they think kneeling would solve everything? Of course not. While Nobunaga wouldn't break his promise to protect his family and ensure his own survival, he hadn't explicitly stated before that he would cut off the Seki family's source of wealth.