Owari Yumeki Golden Day.

Well said!

After all, they're brothers we grew up with, and they've really put in a lot of effort for the Kawamura family. The better the Kawamura family does, the more the Kawamura Nine Knights will benefit.

Shichibei then summoned Inase Yoshinari, Nambu Sanenaga, and other retainers who remained in Tsushima to Gifu Castle and announced to them the important household task of establishing a vassal division register.

Everyone agreed, and the owners' meeting of Kawamura-ya unanimously approved the resolution.

A rough count shows that the Kawamura family now has over 450 people, including servants and laborers provided by Nobunaga. This time, they all need to be listed clearly, and the dozens who came with Takenaka Hanbei must have their names registered and be given an extra allowance.

If they are to serve the public with imperial favor, then they must be rewarded with new favors.

Kawamura-ya's business is growing bigger and bigger, so it doesn't care about personnel expenses. Especially now, in this era of standard low human rights, the difference between labor costs and profits is like heaven and earth.

Did Mitsui, a merchant under the Tokugawa shogunate, earn over 600,000 ryo annually, have anything to do with his young monk Hazari being a child laborer with no salary? Or with his apprentices receiving an annual salary of six or eight ryo?

Of course, they have absolutely no connection.

However, when discussing this point, Shichibei still considered Takenaka Hanbei's feelings and clarified that after the division of the vassal accounts, the money for the pawned items would first be given to him, and then he would pass it on to his vassals.

Whether he gets his hands dirty or not is his business; Shichibei will cover the expenses of everyone who works at the Kawamura-ya. He'll also keep the retainers informed, and that's all.

The 205 newly arrived Ise ronin, being the most concentrated group and having no work to do, were the first to register and were then chosen and taken away by the heads of the various branch inns. Those not taken were sent to local post stations and stables, with each post station reportedly assigned three to five people to perform specific duties.

Especially the newly built post stations in Ise, which also had to perform certain local supervisory functions. Although if something really happened, they could only set off fireworks or something, and we couldn't expect them to use force to suppress it or make arrests. They could probably just send messages, and the messages would be sent from station to station to Gifu, where Oda Nobunaga's big sword would naturally be sent to the scene of the incident.

Putting everything else aside, Nobunaga's sword is still quite sharp.

Those sent to the Ise post station to deliver horses were put to good use. To be like Naniwa Shigesuke in "The Headmaster," someone who aspires to become a high-ranking general even at the cost of his life, and who can truly grow rapidly on the battlefield, evolving from a rookie who only dared to cry and shout when faced with battle to someone who can directly lead troops into sieges and take the lead in just two or three years, is truly a rare breed.

If he really did give Mitsuhide's head to Hideyoshi, he would surely get at least 5,000 koku, maybe even 10,000 koku, which would be easy for a samurai general.

But it is really rare to find someone like him who is completely focused on being a general and still says he has no burden even after his whole family died. You won't come across such a person easily.

After registering the Ise ronin, the retainer register needed to be kept in two separate books. One book contained the retainers sent by Nobunaga, from the high-ranking Takenaka Hanbei to the retainers previously supported with funds from the Kaito District governor; all were recorded clearly. The only exception was Mune Kotaro, who served Shichibei as a direct retainer of Nobunaga, a retainer of Kawamura, and also as the lord of Kawamura-ya, thus having a dual status.

The Oyamada Nobushige family was also considered to be "subordinate to both sides." Occasionally, information could be found in the Hojo clan's military service records indicating that the Oyamada family led troops to assist the Hojo in battle. They would go to war with Shingen when the Takeda clan was fighting, and with Ujiyasu when the Hojo clan was fighting, demonstrating a strong semi-independent nature.

Aside from these accounts related to power, the remaining accounts consisted of the retainers, servants, and samurai who originally served Shichibei. There were quite a few of them, starting from Shichibei's beginnings at Denba-to in Tsushima, annexing Atsuta Kato-ya, absorbing Oda Post Station, and summoning the ronin who fled during the Kannon-ji Incident, gradually working their way up to where they are now.

If you include them all, there are over two hundred people, maybe even more.

Sure enough, when all the numbers were finally tallied, it exceeded two hundred and fifty people. When the accounts of the former retainers, Yoriki, and Shinto were combined, the Kawamura-ya, also known as Shichibei's subordinates, had a staggering five hundred men.

Even Takenaka Hanbei was somewhat surprised by this number, because the vast majority of these 500 men were literate and capable of serving as the backbone. Even if some had muscles larger than their brains, that was still quite an achievement. After all, being able to understand tactical instructions was a mark of a good soldier in those days.

When Yuan Shikai trained his troops at Xiaozhan, he said that the soldiers couldn't even distinguish left from right. In the end, they had to wear cloth shoes on one foot and straw sandals on the other before they could tell left from right and then they could train.

In other words, those who can distinguish left from right and know when to advance and retreat are the best soldiers these days.

"When I was in Ise last time, I heard that even though the lord personally arranged it, he only assigned about six hundred retainers to Kobe-dono." Takenaka Hanbei used to be proud of having more than a hundred people and less than two hundred retainers in his own household.

“That’s right, Kobe-dono has six hundred cavalry, and Nagano-dono has five hundred cavalry.” Shichibei remembered hearing it clearly.

Back then, they were like crickets behind Kinoshita Hideyoshi's back, envying him for having a good father. They were only teenagers, barely out of school, when Nobunaga personally assigned them responsibilities and recruited retainers. He believed that as they grew older and fought a few battles, they would become powerful generals.

"You are no less than Lord Nagano," Takenaka Hanbei remarked with great admiration.

"Only five hundred men." Shichibei didn't seem to think much of it.

"That's all? This is the Kawamura Five Hundred Unity!"

113. Recruit a large number of apprentices and train them extensively.

What's wrong with 500 men of one mind? 500 men of one mind can't just carry guns and go out to fight, can they? Only those recruited to guard the post stations and stables, to act as security guards, can be mobilized for battle. But their main job is to guard the post stations in peacetime and guard the small pack animals in wartime.

If Oda Nobunaga were to drag me, Kawamura Shichibei, to the battlefield one day, that would be the end of me.

With so many strong men in the Oda clan, they could be considered a famous and luxurious male group in the Sengoku period of Japan. Unless a meteorite hits Gifu Castle, we would only have about five hundred men.

Don't overdo it; just focus on carrying the load for Nobunaga.

Takenaka Hanbei could only laugh to himself. He came from a proper samurai family, and even with a family fortune of ten thousand koku, he couldn't muster more than two hundred retainers. He could only muster five or six hundred soldiers by temporarily mobilizing farmers and hiring miscellaneous soldiers.

Shichibei's family fortune of 2,500 kan could also mobilize 500 men, and they were always on standby. At the sound of the whistle, they could be in position immediately, requiring no preparation and costing no extra money.

There is indeed a difference between the military and the merchant families.

"Kotaro, after you return to Owari, take care of another matter." Now that things have come to this point, Shichibei is ready to bring up the matter of building a talent pool.

"Hmm?" Kotaro was flipping through the account book of his retainers.

"Our main store will recruit another fifty junior servants, and each branch store will recruit thirty to fifty junior servants. Priority will be given to recruiting from families, followed by townspeople and farmers." Shichibei's idea was actually quite simple.

The Mino ronin who were recruited earlier, and the Ise ronin who were recruited not long ago, were mostly with their families. Shichibei had originally planned to incorporate the boys from their families into the Kawamuraya system, and this was just the execution of that plan.

These people served both Kawamura Shichibei Nagayoshi, a retainer of the Oda clan, and also worked for the Owari merchant Kawamuraya. Their identities were not "serving both," but were relatively ambiguous.

It's better to settle them down now and let them serve the Kawamura family for generations. Besides, it's definitely easier to educate samurai sons than farmers' sons.

The children of townspeople and farmers are naturally no problem either; as long as they have the talent, they have seven to nine years to train them. Those who can be trained will all be recruited by Shichibei. Those who cannot be trained will simply be naturally eliminated.

Oda Nobunaga now possesses territories in two and a half provinces, so our five hundred loyal followers are barely enough. What will happen after Nobunaga conquers more than twenty provinces and becomes the ruler of the land?

It would probably take five thousand, or even ten thousand people, to be able to be deployed.

To prepare for the future, we must start now, recruiting young apprentices to learn at the shop every year. Regardless of whether this is a feudal guild apprenticeship system or not, as long as it's useful, who cares if it infringes on the apprentices' human rights?

Previously, each of our stores was only responsible for the business of one town in Tsushima. Now, each of our branches is designed to cover the entire surrounding country. Back then, a store needed dozens of people; now, two or three hundred people per store is considered a reasonable allocation. During the business expansion phase, with so many project lines, the number of staff needs to be more flexible.

In other words, there's not much campus recruitment or social recruitment these days. If there were, it wouldn't be impossible for Shichibei to find a reputable university and recruit all four or five thousand graduates in a year.

Let's raise a few more people for now, so that when Nobunaga invades Hunan and destroys the old road transport service in Hunan, we won't be unable to immediately fill the gaps.

"Understood!" Kotaro immediately agreed.

"It's okay if there are too many people, the problem is if there aren't enough." Anyway, the children are all free laborers, as long as they are provided with food and lodging, so why not take as many as possible?

One of the profit-making points of the old feudal guild system was the exploitation of the labor value of apprentices. How could they not make money if an apprentice worked for free until he was twenty years old, or even past his twenties?

The only difference is that under the feudal guild system at a certain stage, killing an apprentice was no big deal. It's a bit better here; you can hit and scold, but you can't kill anyone. After all, these days, who doesn't have some weapons? We're all in the same shop; the worst that can happen is one for one, right?

"Alright, I'll take care of it immediately." Kotaro closed the retainer's tent and readily agreed.

"By the way, the post station under Kiyosu Castle costs twice as much as other post stations," Shichibei added as a final instruction.

Barring unforeseen circumstances, the political center of Owari will most likely remain in Kiyosu for the next thirty years or so. Before the construction of Nagoya Castle, Kiyosu's castle town must have been a hub for all the streets.

Tsushima, after 1650, would become completely silted up and quickly lose its role as an important trading town. Sakai was in a similar situation, not only due to competition from Osaka but also because Sakai Port gradually silted up after 1650. These now-major port towns would slowly give way to newly emerging areas with better port conditions.

Taking so long to decide isn't our style; let's just focus on the immediate needs of Kiyosu. We'll deal with Kiyosu when it's abandoned and we move to Nagoya.

Kotaro simply nodded, not asking why. The current lord of Kiyosu Castle is Saito Tatsuoki, and who knows how long he can stay in that position? According to normal feudal logic, Owari is Nobunaga's most fundamental base, the place where he rose to power, and it will eventually be passed on to his son.

Saito Tatsuoki would definitely leave, and the lord of the castle would be replaced by Nobunaga's eldest son. It's understandable that a branch would be set up in Kiyosu in advance to serve the eldest son of the family.

It's a pity that Lady Nohime hasn't given birth to a son yet. If she did, everyone would be vying to become the young master's study companion.

In Japan, the term "嫡男" (dínán) doesn't entirely refer only to sons born to the legal wife. The most accurate interpretation is that it refers to male heirs who have established their right of succession. If the legal wife has a son, then that son is most likely to become the legitimate heir. If the legal wife has no children, then it depends on the head of the household's decision.

The Oda retainers haven't fully committed their bets yet, so there's no need to prejudge Oda Nobutada or Oda Myokimaru as the legitimate son of the Oda clan, even though he was born to Lady Ikoma, who was favored by Nobunaga.

Nobunaga also had a son of humble origin, Oda Nobumasa, who had already come of age. His mother was the younger sister of Hanawa Naomasa (later Harada Naomasa), who was currently a member of the Akame-no-shu (Red-Clothed Guards). Although his position was not particularly prominent, he was still considered a member of the core power structure of the Oda regime.

One theory suggests that Nobunaga actually considered having an adult Nobutada as a backup, in addition to Nobutada. Therefore, he deliberately supported Hanawa Naomasa, who was indeed very dedicated and made contributions in both domestic and foreign affairs.

It wasn't until Nobutada demonstrated sufficient magnanimity to inherit the Oda clan's legacy that Nobunaga essentially abandoned his support for Hanawa Naomasa and Nobumasa. After Hanawa Naomasa suffered a crushing defeat at the Honganji Temple, losing more than half of his retainers and key members, Nobunaga swiftly and decisively eradicated Hanawa Naomasa's entire power base.

Having lost the support of this powerful elder of the Oda clan, Nobumasa completely withdrew from the struggle for the position of the eldest son of the Oda clan.

If Hanawa Naomasa had still been alive at that time, he would have been the governor of Yamato Province, half of Kawachi Province, and half of Yamashiro Province, holding a senior position among the Oda clan. How the Kiyosu Conference would have proceeded and what its outcome would have been remain unknown.

After all, in feudal times, having an adult and healthy heir was a very important competitive advantage.

Nobukatsu and Nobutaka were both given away to inherit other families early on, while Nobumasa remained by his side. It wasn't until Naomasa Hanawa's downfall that he was adopted by Murai Sadakatsu. Prior to this, in the second year of Tensho (1554), Nobunaga had already appointed him as Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade, Governor of Ōsumi. Meanwhile, Nobutada was only appointed as Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade in the same year as Nobutada, and it wasn't until the third year of Tensho (1554) that he was appointed as Dewa-no-suke (later changed to Akita-jo-no-suke).

In 1554, Naomasa Hanawa died in battle, and the Hanawa clan's retainers disintegrated. Nobutada was then quickly promoted to Junior Fourth Rank, Lower Grade, Left General of the Imperial Guard. At the same time, he succeeded as head of the Oda clan and was appointed lord of Gifu Castle, ruling over Mino and Owari provinces.

Based on the available information, it's not entirely certain who Nobunaga will choose as his heir. There's no need to rush to take sides or align oneself with anyone right now.

In the TV series "Yongzheng Dynasty," Tong Guowei reprimands Longkodo, saying that he talks about opportunities all the time, but where do all these opportunities come from? Some resign from their official posts and return to their hometowns, while others rush to the imperial examinations under the cover of night. Youth is unaware of sorrow, only old age reveals the hardships of life.

Once the final winner is decided and the candidates are selected, we can go up and greet them respectfully.

We must understand our own value, which is to serve as a medium for Nobunaga to manage commercial activities. Feudal rulers do not want their energy to be diverted to managing commerce, which creates fertile ground for the existence of the Seven Soldiers.

Kotaro left the residence and went to the front of the shop to make arrangements. Shichibei then prepared to divide the personnel into the Mino Group, Owari Group, Ise Group, etc., according to his suggestion. This matter did not require Takenaka Hanbei's assistance; he was Yoreki and was not busy at the moment, so there was no need for him to serve Shichibei at all times.

Go on vacation. I came here in the second half of last year to help relocate Komakiyama Castle, and then I was sent to build the road from Kiyosu to Tsushima. After that, I went to conquer Ise. I haven't had a break for several months.

Takenaka Hanbei collected his and his retainers' service duties, drank heavily in Gifu all night, and then rode back home. "It's just a job, why work so hard when the boss gives you a day off?"

The boss won't give his shares to the employees. Working hard might only help the boss buy a Rolls-Royce sooner next year. Takenaka Hanbei understood this principle well. He was diligent when on duty and went home to relax when not on duty.

Developing more strategies or making more plans is a waste of one's energy.

With Shichibei personally managing the shop, Tsuchida Chikakiyo was given a break. He was responsible for transporting timber from the Kiso River to Titonoya and assisting Oda Nobunaga in building his residence. He had been busy for several months and also had to take a break.

Fortunately, we took over a "company" that had been operating for many years, with its own system in place, and the business it was doing was the same business it had been doing for years. If we didn't face any emergencies, we just needed to keep track of the accounts and coordinate things, so it wasn't too chaotic.

Stealing half a day of leisure from a busy life.

Nobunaga was the same; when he had a rare moment of leisure, he would summon sumo wrestlers from Kyoto to Gifu to perform sumo wrestling, entertaining his senior retainers and advisors.

Like Noh theater, Shichibei didn't actually like sumo wrestling that much, but people in this day and age with limited entertainment options enjoyed watching it. After all, it's an intense competitive activity, and in some ways, it's even more entertaining than Noh theater.

Shichibei moved his seat forward and sat on the porch of the inner room of Nobunaga's residence. One could roughly assume the inner room was the main hall and the outer room was the main hall, at least according to the Tokugawa shogunate. The Oda clan didn't bring out any of their three main branches; serving Nobunaga were the chief retainers Hayashi Hidesada and Sakuma Nobumori, with Oda Nobuhiro, a close relative and a high-ranking member of the Oda clan, sitting slightly below them.

Indeed, that was the seating arrangement for the Oda family. Niwa Nagahide, Mori Yoshinari, Shibata Katsuie, and Ikeda Tsuneoki all had to sit slightly behind them in the second seat.

Even Saito Tatsuoki's seating arrangement was higher than Shichibei's, since he was now a member of the Oda clan and the lord of Kiyosu Castle with 15,000 kan. On the other hand, Mizuno Nobumoto, whose territory was far larger than Shichibei's, finally sat behind Shichibei, so there was still a sense of kinship.

Two sumo wrestlers outside the corridor pushed each other back and forth. Sumo at this moment seemed more about skill than victory. The wrestlers focused on performing various maneuvers with fierce shoving, not necessarily aiming to defeat their opponents.

The Oda retainers around him watched with great interest, clapping and cheering. It wasn't a Noh play, after all, where they could shout and interrupt. Furthermore, the atmosphere between the Oda clan and their retainers was relatively relaxed at this time. While it wasn't quite a scene of the emperor being punched three times, or Ma Qi and Kangxi engaging in a physical fight in court, they could still chat and laugh without any problems.

After one group of sumo wrestlers finished their performance, there was a short break before a new group took their place. Someone was even calling out their names. It's said that when Hayato Satsuma, captured by the imperial court, performed wrestling and similar arts in Kyoto, Hayato himself would call out their names. This has evolved into a traditional Japanese cultural heritage.

As Shichibei was watching, Kinoshita Hideyoshi nudged him. Shichibei turned to ask a question, but Hideyoshi gave Nobunaga a look. Nobunaga noticed Shichibei looking over and gently waved his folding fan.

Why are you calling me?

Shichibei bowed and knelt down beneath Nobunaga's couch. Nobunaga didn't speak, but first pointed to a spot in the open space outside the corridor. Shichibei scanned the area in the direction he was being pointed at, and after looking carefully, he saw a man named Oda Nobuhito there.

Even if one was listed among the Oda clan members, if their status wasn't high enough, they could only stand in the open space outside the corridor. This ranking of the Sengoku samurai families was indeed somewhat based solely on strength.

"When are you going to make wedding preparations?" Nobunaga asked when he saw Shichibei notice Oda Nobuhisa.