Owari Yumeki Golden Day

Upon hearing this, Tsuda Muneki smiled. He had clearly seen Shichibei's hesitation. After all, he was a wealthy businessman, and his ability to read people's expressions was not bad. He was sure that Shichibei was moved, so he could take his time.

Calling the huihezhong, right? Then call them. Public political action certainly couldn't be conducted within a so-called sanctuary. Like Tsushima, Sakai also had kaisha (companies)—places where huihezhong would meet, discuss, or conduct certain transactions. Even in modern Japan, these places still have names like "commercial associations."

As for why clubs have become a synonym for another type of entertainment venue in China, this is not surprising. It is normal for language and writing to evolve as they are passed down.

For example, "典、孝、急、乐、弹" have acquired new meanings on the Internet in the new era. This is the wonder of language change, and it is hard to say whether it is good or bad.

Let's not talk about that. Shichibei appeared before the so-called 36 representatives of Sakai's wealthy merchants. There weren't actually 36 people; it was just a figment of the imagination. But there were still about 20 people sitting down, and hundreds more lined up outside the clubhouse.

After looking around, Qibingwei wanted to find Qian Zongyi. After a moment, he remembered that he didn't know Qian Zongyi at all and didn't know if he was there. It was funny.

Tsuda Munekichi, who had already consciously become Shichibei's "collaborator", turned around and formally announced Shichibei's identity to the crowd of wealthy merchants. At the same time, Shichibei also showed everyone the document with Nobunaga's signature, confirming his legal political appointment as Sakai's deputy governor.

Everyone was discussing the matter, but upon learning that Shichibei was a merchant from Tsushimagawa Muraya, they were visibly relieved. They had expected a samurai like Hideyoshi, a low-ranking infantryman, to be appointed as the Sakai magistrate, but they had never expected that Nobunaga would send someone from his profession.

Being able to deal with colleagues is definitely easier and more convenient than dealing with vulgar lower-level warriors.

Regardless of their thoughts, Shichibei simply established the two restrictions Nobunaga had requested: weapons and equipment could only be sold to the Oda clan, and all ships chartered for sailing had to be registered.

Tsuda Munekichi must have discussed these two points with them beforehand, as no one expressed any objections. After Shichibei confirmed them again and again, he ordered them to sign the oath, threatening to punish anyone who broke it with a fist.

168. Spend a year to see who is more anxious

Nobunaga glanced at the Sakai Kaiheshu's oath and casually tossed it aside. These days, oaths are just for show, right? If you're so powerful, you don't need an oath; surrender is a constant. If you're not so powerful anymore, if you're not so powerful anymore, what's the use of forcing people to write eighteen oaths a day?

Especially Nobunaga himself, what kind of betrayal had he not experienced? Even his own mother and his brother tried to kill him. To him, perhaps the so-called oath was worse than toilet paper.

After all, toilet paper can clean your butt, but an oath may stain your butt black.

Shichibei understood that Nobunaga did not value such an illusory promise. He simply reported in detail his statement in Sakaimachi and the reactions of the people in Sakaimachi.

Needless to say, Kawamuraya was immediately enlisted as a member of the Sakaimachi Kai, and a branch office was soon established there. A seasoned and experienced Ieki was then dispatched to Sakaimachi to serve as the branch's head, becoming a "junior daikan," essentially a daikan's daikan.

Shichibei was bound to serve Nobunaga wholeheartedly during normal times, and even had to gather troops and horses to manage Nobunaga's grain depot during wars. He might only be able to go to Sakaimachi a few days a year to actually take charge of the management, so he had to appoint a "minor deputy".

Nobunaga's concerns about weapons manufacturing and sales were relatively straightforward due to the precedent of Kunitomo Village. For example, even the simplest task, drilling a cannon barrel, took several days, from dawn to dusk. While simple machines could be used to assist, it still required significant human effort.

Based on this, the production of various weapons in Sakaimachi can actually be calculated. If the factor of raw materials is added, the calculation will be even easier.

Because Japan was both an iron exporter and an iron importer. A typical example is the Amago clan, which imported iron and horses through iron trade with Korea.

A significant portion of the milled iron needed to forge teppo in Sakai was imported from overseas. It's said to originate from southern Ming China, and some even claim it's Foshan iron, but the exact origin of the smuggled iron remains unknown. There was also a rumor that it was Burmese steel that was diverted to Japan.

The difference in ironmaking techniques in different places led to different levels of impurities or carbon. The iron used to make the barrels of iron cannons required higher-purity wrought iron, which had to be imported.

The production of iron cannons in Sakaimachi can be determined by registering the amount of wrought iron input.

As for the management and rental of Sakaimachi's ships, Shichibei also explained it clearly to the Sakaikai. Sakaimachi's ships operated on two main routes: domestic shipping trade and the red seal shipping trade.

The main registration is to control the return ship. Shuin ships are large and difficult to operate in the Seto Inland Sea. They are rarely used as transport ships in the Seto Inland Sea. It is neither convenient nor cost-effective.

During the Battle of Dan-no-ura, the Taira clan's army possessed a large number of Tang-style large ships. While these ships appeared impressive from a distance, they gave the Taira clan considerable confidence. However, in reality, in the Seto Inland Sea, they were less convenient than the fast-moving Japanese boats powered by oars.

The Minamoto clan's army, thanks to their maneuverable small boats, was able to defeat the Taira clan's army despite being inferior to the Taira clan in both number of ships and manpower.

There is also an imperial capital under the sea.

Even Emperor Antoku jumped into the sea. With such a lesson in mind, who would still waste the red seal ships used for ocean trade in the Seto Inland Sea for transportation?

By gathering together all the merchants engaged in the shipping industry and registering their shipping ships and their bows in detail, this line will be under control.

The sea conditions along the Awaji-Naruto coast are particularly complex. As mentioned earlier, this area is prone to swells and whirlpools. Without skilled navigation, it's difficult to navigate such complex seas.

Last year, Ito Sojuro's family was devastated because their ships were cut down by Iwanari Tomomichi, one of the Miyoshi Three. Even though they still had ships and business opportunities, they were useless if they couldn't sail.

Controlling the bow skillfully is equivalent to controlling the boat.

Shichibei recorded the physical appearance and family information of each captain and compiled them into a book in triplicate: one copy was kept at the Sakaimachi Club, one at Kawamura House, and one at Gifu Castle.

Every three to five months, or however long it takes, they'll conduct surprise inspections and roll calls, making it clear who's missing. If you've been out on a ship for trade or transportation, then record it. Every trip, every stop, is accounted for. When you return home, you can track your arrival time. If you want to work for someone else, you'll need to verify your pre-memorized statements.

If it doesn't match, hmm...

After listening to Shichibei's description, Nobunaga simply nodded without commenting. As long as things got done, he didn't care about the process. Now that the Sakaimachi situation had been handed over to Shichibei, he was completely reliant on him.

The Nijo Palace was about to be completed, and Nobunaga still had to coordinate with Ashikaga Yoshiaki to complete the entire relocation and resettlement work. After listening to Shichibei's report, he prepared to leave.

Don’t be anxious, there is still the matter of Yamana Yufeng.

Shichibei, who had originally planned not to bring a message, was finally tempted after receiving a hint from Tsuda Muneki. It wasn't that he coveted the vast reserves of the Ikuno Silver Mine, but rather that he hoped to control the silver mine and thereby acquire the physical reserves needed to establish a two-way shop.

As for money, Shichibei would only have more and more, after all, he was in a monopoly business and had even become a Sakai magistrate. However, the value of a single copper coin was too low, and a large number of them were very heavy, making them too inconvenient for trade and circulation.

There still needs to be sufficient silver and gold to further strengthen the circulation of trade throughout Japan.

As trade expanded further, the exchange of gold, silver, and copper became a necessity. The enormous profits involved were truly impressive. In the Edo period, those who could afford to run a ryokuya (trade shop) were the wealthiest of merchants, backed by the elders or even the shogun himself.

Shichibei already had the background, and not only that, but it was substantial. The next step, then, was to gain access to spot gold and silver. The existing Ikuno Silver Mine was within reach, presenting an opportunity.

To be honest, Shichibei is a bit greedy here, but as a human being, ambition grows along with personal growth.

Although Shichibei doesn't have the ability to manage the silver mine now, there must be someone in Sakaimachi who can. Well, that's all in the future. Everything depends on Nobunaga forgiving Yamana Yoshinori before further progress can be made.

Therefore, Shichibei carefully hinted that Yamana Yoshitoyo hoped to offer a huge sum of money in exchange for Nobunaga's forgiveness and the possibility of allowing him to return to Tajima.

"What's the name of the mountain, Tajima?" Nobunaga had been so busy with military affairs recently that he almost forgot about the name of the mountain, Yufeng.

"Last year, we sent Fujikichiro to lead troops to respond to the request of the Mori clan, attack the Tajima Kosumi Castle, and exile Yamana Kingoden." Shichibei didn't expect that Nobunaga didn't know what was going on for a while.

"Oh..." Nobunaga clapped his hands, it seemed that he remembered.

"I had the opportunity to meet Yamanadono in Sakaimachi. Judging from his behavior, he seemed to be willing to surrender." That's all I can say. The prerequisite for Nobunaga to forgive Yamana Sukefusa was that Yamana Sukefusa had to come to Kyoto and kowtow to Nobunaga.

Money was secondary; Nobunaga's priority now was his reputation. He had to come to Kyoto to carry Nobunaga's sedan chair before any other options became available. Ukita Naoie saw this clearly and knelt before Nobunaga without a word. Nobunaga then armed troops out of his own pocket and sent them to Bizen to fight Ukita Naoie against Urakami Munekage.

What I want is for you to kneel down and kowtow, otherwise there is no point in discussing this.

"So what?" Nobunaga didn't care that the old guardian had been driven away and was not in the five provinces of Kinai where Nobunaga's main focus was.

Both Date Terumune of Mutsu and Uesugi Kenshin of Echigo sent people to Kyoto to kowtow to Ashikaga Yoshiaki and Nobunaga, but Nobunaga did not express any further emotion except for a few kind words to comfort them.

Even if Nobunaga played the emotional card with them, they would not turn against him and surrender with courtesy. Even if they surrendered, Nobunaga was too far away to control Mutsu and Echigo.

Nobunaga showed no affection for Terumune Date, who had his own territory. And why would Nobunaga expect Yamana Suketoyo, who had no territory, to pay any attention to him?

"Ikuno Ginzan." Shichibei leaned close to Nobunaga's ear, tilted his neck, stood on tiptoe, and then whispered.

"Hmm?" Nobunaga was indeed interested and stopped.

No matter how wealthy one is, one never thinks their wealth is too much. The fame of the Ikuno Silver Mine spread even in Spain. Almost every Jesuit missionary kept a diary, and this information, passed back to Europe, informed many of the European aristocracy and upper class of Japan of the existence of a vast gold and silver mine.

Even Europeans knew about it, let alone the Japanese. Nobunaga was a man who paid close attention to collecting news from various countries, and he had heard about the Ikuno Silver Mine long ago.

"Master Tsuda said that Yamana-dono has a strong desire to return to his country..." Shichibei didn't say too much.

The hint was enough. If Yamana Yufeng wanted to return to his country so badly, he would have to pay a price. However, the price he mentioned earlier was 1,000 kan of silver, while Shichibei and Nobunaga hinted at an entire mountain of silver.

"Tennojiya?" Nobunaga confirmed some of Tsuda Muneki's identity.

"good."

"Hehe, you are good at threading needles." Nobunaga smiled when he heard that it was indeed Tsuda Muneki.

A socialite, a middleman, isn't that what they do? They pull strings, they mediate. When things get done, the middleman naturally gets a share of the profits.

"What do you think, my lord?"

"Don't worry. No matter how big the silver mountain is, they may not be willing to give it up." Nobunaga is Nobunaga after all. Although he was tempted, he was still very rational.

Don't look at Yamana Yufeng's anxiety, and don't listen to Tsuda Muneki's words as if they were true. These are just one-sided accounts. If it drags on for another year or two, the nearly sixty-year-old Yamana Yufeng will only become more anxious.

After all, it was Yamana Yufeng who died in a foreign land, not Nobunaga. So Nobunaga has the right to sit still and wait for the opportunity to polish his skills.

To spit at an old guardian who had lost his territory was to disgrace Oda Nobunaga, the shogunate's regent. Or to ask Yamana Yufeng to kneel before Nobunaga and offer the silver mountain voluntarily, that would be the real deal.

"My lord is wise!" He understood. How could Shichibei not understand?

"But can you manage the silver mine?" Since they were talking about this, Nobunaga naturally asked.

"No, I've never seen it." Shichibei didn't dare to take on the responsibility. This kind of thing was very professional, and he had to go to Sakai or Kyushu to find talents.

"You might as well get ready and look for it." Nobunaga nodded. He liked Shichibei to be honest in front of him.

How could a leader not like an honest, slightly cowardly, and obedient subordinate, who also has decent work ability?

Born to be a cow or a horse, how wonderful.

"I will immediately send someone to search secretly." Nobunaga didn't need to give any instructions, Shichibei was also ready to look for it.

As for Okubo Nagayasu, who knows his real name now? Fortunately, Shichibei has acquaintances in Kai, and quite a few of them. At the moment, it seems Okubo Nagayasu is still working as a samurai musician. After all, his talent for gold was not fully displayed in his early years within the Takeda clan.

The gold mines of Kai and Suruga were still being mined until the middle of the Edo period. If Ōkubo Nagayasu had been involved in this industry, he would not have remained unknown.

At worst, we can just offer him 200 kan, no, 500 kan to recruit him. As long as the Ikuno Silver Mine is opened and Nobunaga is happy, let alone 500 kan, even 5,000 kan will not be difficult to deal with.

It was common for officials under Nobunaga to receive salaries of tens of thousands of koku. Nobunaga never treated his hardworking subordinates unfairly.

"Okay, that's it." Nobunaga then strode away.

In Kyoto, since there were no palaces or mansions, Nobunaga stayed at Myokaku-ji Temple. It could also have been Honno-ji Temple, but they were all large temples of that type. After watching Nobunaga go to Honno-ji Temple to meet Ashikaga Yoshiaki, Shichibei prepared to ask the temple's novice for a cup of tea.

When I got to the door, I realized the guard wasn't a familiar face. I greeted him and learned the new guard was Teranishi Jibei, a native of Owari and currently a member of the Fifty Ashigaru.

From old Owari, huh? They were all good brothers. Shichibei was standing at the gate and was trying to get close to them. Oh, and the gatekeeper Yamauchi Kazutoyo wasn't on duty today?

Teranishi Jibei immediately explained that Yamauchi Ippo had been assigned to Kinoshita-dono as a retainer. Hideyoshi's salary had already been increased to 6,000 kan, so Nobunaga had further assigned him relatively powerful retainers. Yamauchi Ippo, Nobunaga's foot soldier, along with his entire team of 100 foot soldiers, was then given to Hideyoshi.

I said why didn’t I see it.

Yamauchi Ichitoyo teamed up with Hideyoshi, but the two of them didn't have much of a relationship, just mutual strength.

After drinking the water, Shichibei asked for the address and found Yamanouchi Kazutoyo, who was stationed outside Honkuji Temple. Hideyoshi had collected 20,000 kan of arrow money from Sakaimachi over the past two days, and Nobunaga was so pleased that he assigned several samurai to Hideyoshi on the spot.

Yamauchi Kazutoyo, who happened to be standing at the door to watch over the gate for Nobunaga, was casually struck by Nobunaga.

169. Some people come to make trouble and some people laugh

Yamauchi Ichitoyo didn't have any particular thoughts about being assigned to Hideyoshi. He was still a foot soldier, so he just kept doing it. The only thing that bothered and pained him was that he had already seen the twelve-year-old Chiyo.

Although in this era, the daughters of samurai families can find a husband after they have their first period at the age of twelve, but Shichibei is from the future after all, so he subconsciously cursed him as a beast.

According to Yamauchi Kazutoyo's plan, he certainly couldn't live in his house at Gifu Castle for long. He would have to move to Sunomata Castle with Hideyoshi, or travel around to fight. In that case, he wouldn't even be able to see Chiyo, let alone run into her.

You are a despicable person and you are trying to get someone who is twelve years old when you are twenty-four or twenty-five.

Chiyo's family background was not very prominent. She was the daughter of Endo Morikazu, a member of the Hachiman Endo clan of Mino County. Her mother was the daughter of Higashi Tsuneyoshi. Her family background was not high, but it had some connections, but not much.

The main reason was that his father, Endo Morikazu, died of wounds sustained during the Battle of Moribe in 1694. His brother, Endo Yoshitaka, was only thirteen years old at the time and was unable to manage the family business. Therefore, he married his mother to Nagai Michitoshi to stabilize the family fortune.

As a result, Nagai Michitoshi was beaten badly by Nobunaga's iron fist and almost fled alone. Now Nagai Michitoshi went to Kiyosu to join Ryūshū, while the Endō clan surrendered to Nobunaga and handed over hostages. Meanwhile, Chiyo was taken hostage to Gifu Castle and was seen by Yamauchi Kazutoyo, Nobunaga's gatekeeper.

Tut tut...

Putting aside the age gap, this kind of chance encounter is something you only see in novels. Not only did they meet by chance, but they also fell in love at first sight, two people who had never met before.

These were all Yamauchi Kazutoyo's one-sided statements. Anyway, that's what he said, and Shichibei just listened. When he had almost finished, he put on a very distressed and sad expression.

"Do you want me to come and propose marriage for you?"

What are you pretending for? You're pretending so well. Shichibei scratched his ears. He's an old idiot. He knows what's going to happen just by looking at his butt.

As for Yamauchi Kazutoyo's performance level, it is not even a hair worse than Hosokawa Fujitaka's from two days ago, and even less than Kinoshita Hideyoshi's.

In the final analysis, it was because he felt that the Endo family was also a powerful family with several thousand koku of wealth, while he himself only had a salary of 200 kan plus a hundred foot soldiers of the old fiefdom of 45 koku.

Although he was a direct retainer of Nobunaga and had enough strength to carry a spear for Nobunaga, he was still a little lacking in talent. Now he pretended to wipe his eyes towards Shichibei, feeling bitter in his heart, because he just hoped that Shichibei, a senior retainer of the Oda clan, would propose marriage to the Endo clan on his behalf.

His father was the patriarch of the Iwakura Oda clan, but he was already dead. The only person he could ask for favors that would be prestigious enough was Shichibei. As for Hideyoshi, he was too embarrassed to ask since he didn't know him well.

Ha ha.

"Hmm? Yes, yes, yes." After trying hard but failing to shed tears, Yamauchi Kazutoyo came up and took Shichibei's hand.

At this moment, Yamauchi Ichitoyo's acting is really terrible. He doesn't have the cool and natural feeling of being the first to jump out and express his loyalty when Xiaoshan was evaluated. He also doesn't have the simple and "innocent" feeling of offering Totomi Kakegawa Castle to Tokugawa Ieyasu and shouting that he was born to lead horses for the inner court.

At that time, Yamauchi Kazutoyo's acting skills were enough to win him a Japan Academy Award, if not an Oscar. Without any hesitation, without any pretense, without any hesitation, he immediately secured 200,000 koku of Tosa Kochi.

If we say that at other turning points in history, Yamauchi Kazutoyo's success was related to his good wife Chiyo, then Koyama's assessment of this performance was definitely a successful example of Yamauchi Kazutoyo himself, who had lived for more than 50 years and seen many ups and downs, finally touching the threshold of acting and stepping into the hall of fame.

applaud.

"Okay, I'll get it for you later." Shichibei patted Yamauchi Kazutoyo. The other person has already opened his mouth, right?

"Oh, oh, oh, tsk..." It seemed that Yamauchi Kazutoyo was really greedy. After Shichibei agreed, he became a little incoherent.