Owari Yumeki Golden Day

Okay, the two of them agreed, and Shichibei stood up to see the guests off. How you two brothers continue to "game" with each other is your business, and Shichibei has to go back to cut alfalfa to raise funds for Fujikichiro.

Five hundred strings of cash is not a lot, but it is definitely not a small amount either.

If it were when Shichibei first traveled through time, it would have been a huge sum of money that he couldn't even imagine. Now, at least he can think about it, so it can be said that this period of time has not been wasted.

At the moment, Shichibei didn't dare to tell anyone else about this matter. After all, it involved "military and national affairs". If he hindered Nobunaga from building the city in Sunamata, Nobunaga's sword would be very sharp.

He turned and left. This year's alfalfa can only be sold for this season. All the alfalfa from the third season must be kept for winter fodder. Originally, he could still sell more, but that would mean giving away 500 mu of sandbar to the Kato family.

By the way, after Kato Nobutaka gave up the title of head of the family, he has been living in Tsushima for a long time and began to take an interest in the sandbanks where Shichibei did not sow seeds.

He seemed to want to give it a try, but he had no way to confirm whether the sandbar was stable.

I had no choice but to run to the sandbar every day to check whether it had shifted or been submerged. With this clumsy method, it would probably take several years to succeed.

Regardless, if a new sandbar formed, it would theoretically be Shichibei's acreage. Nobunaga granted Shichibei all the sandbars at the river mouth, whether mobile or fixed. For such a small amount of wasteland, Shichibei had to undertake twelve days of military service with six horses each year.

After Shichibei had received another hundred or so kan in return, the Oda clan finally openly discussed the construction of Sumata Castle. Shibata Katsuie also frequently appeared in Komakiyama Castle, actively communicating with Niwa Nagahide, Murai Sadakatsu, and others to mobilize the Owari general service after the autumn harvest.

Hadn't Shichibei previously re-established the Owari zokuan (conscription) system? Having a zoku system made it easier to conscript peasants directly based on the amount of land they owned. Oda Nobumasa was defeated and fled by Nobunaga, so the peasants in the territory had no right to bargain.

42. Persuading Xiaoliu to win the monkey’s heart

Shibata Katsuie also sent a document to Shichibei. It is true that Shichibei completed his military service in 1919, but he would like to borrow your military service in 1919 first.

Well, I'm used to it. It's not the first time I've been borrowed anyway.

Six horses, six grooms, right? This is clearly stated on the new Kawamura family settlement certificate. Nobunaga is demanding twelve days of military service from Shichibei, even without payment. There's no other way; he must go. Otherwise, the settlement certificate will be invalidated, and the territory will be reclaimed.

Just guessing that Shibata Katsuie's castle-building operation might fail, Shichibei summoned the family that had led the troops to join the expedition. There was only one way to deal with this: if you saw something was wrong, you should run away immediately.

If a horse dies, we can take it to Kai for only two or three kan apiece. If a person dies, we need to raise him for at least seven years, and we at Kawamura-ya can't afford the loss.

That family came here with such assurances, do you even need to explain this to us? It's all in our heads, okay? We're all just doing this for the sake of fighting, so we can just do it without much hassle. Ultimately, the credit goes to the warriors, so why would we, just horsemen, risk our lives?

Very good, I like your attitude.

Qibingwei patted Jialai's shoulder and wished him to escape as soon as possible.

Fortunately, Nobunaga will not go to war this year, and he also knows that collecting arrow money and tomb money too frequently will damage his vitality, so he will not levy any charges for the construction of Sunomata Castle this year.

That's good. If they negotiate, with Shichibei's current status, he won't be able to escape without ten or twenty kan. After all, Shichibei is now a member of the Tsushima Kaiheshu. With status and wealth, he can enjoy as much as he wants and pay as much tax as he wants.

After some inquiries, Shibata Katsuie discovered that his departure date was fifteen days after the autumn harvest. During those fifteen days, the rice harvest was essentially complete, leaving only the drying and threshing of the rice. Women could also do these tasks, and only then would the able-bodied men of Owari be free to serve.

If we were to be more generous, we could set out at the end of October, complete the project by mid-to-late November, and have several hundred of Nobunaga's foot soldiers move in by early December. The situation in Kinai would probably become clearer next year.

At that time, Nobunaga would make peace with Saito Tatsuoki and send troops to assist Ashikaga Yoshiaki in his expedition to Kyoto. Or he would ignore Ashikaga Yoshiaki and continue to fight Saito Tatsuoki. The choice was in Nobunaga's hands.

The prerequisite is that Sunamata Castle is in hand.

It's just a little strange that Kinoshita Tokichiro hasn't come to ask Shichibei for the money yet. We've sold all the alfalfa and barnyard grass this crop, and he still hasn't come to ask for the money.

It wasn't his fault, actually. Back when Fujikichiro was a humble man, selling cotton sewing needles all over the Kaido region for a meager profit, he had befriended Hosuka Koroku, who had even introduced him to a job as a heavy bag carrier.

They were the porters at the docks, the kind who could earn a full meal a day working. The Hosuka Clan specialized in shipping. After the Kiso River entered the sea, the shipping business was handled by Ito, the Tsushima clan's boss, but before the Kiso River entered the sea, it was the Hosuka Clan and the Tsubouchi Clan that ran it.

Needless to say, although others may not be clear, Hosuka Koroku is very clear.

What kind of poor bastard are you, Kinoshita Tokichiro? We used to share a bowl of barley rice, how could I not know that?

Five hundred strings of cash? Even if you beat Fujikichiro to death and sold him, you wouldn’t be able to fetch five hundred strings of cash.

Even if you sell ditches for a hundred years, you won’t be able to make 500 strings of cash.

If you get broke and come to me for a meal, that's no problem. The Hosuka Clan isn't a wealthy organization, but it's no problem hiring a few people to eat for free.

As for that 500-kan deposit to help Kinoshita Tokichiro prepare over 3,000 similarly sized logs and thousands of planks upstream of the Kiso River? Just pretend I didn't hear that, brother. Stop joking around, okay?

My party members in Hosuka have been delayed from working hard, and I don’t know if we will have hot soup and rice to eat this winter.

Hey, Kinoshita Tokichiro was also amused. Oh, now I understand why the big bosses of later generations must have luxury cars and watches when they go out. Even if they are in debt, they still have to buy private jets.

If you spend money here and spend as much as you can, people will think you are still arrogant. As long as you have the upper hand, it will be easy to get a bank loan or a private bridge loan.

At worst, when they see your private jet, everyone will estimate its value.

If you are a wage earner and want to borrow 100,000 or 80,000 yuan from the bank, there is no way. You can't even get a 100,000 or 80,000 yuan loan with a naked loan. It's impossible.

This was Fujikichiro's current situation. He was broke, and Hosuka Koroku didn't believe he could come up with the money. Even if he did come up with 500 kan in cash, Hosuka Koroku would still suspect it was ill-gotten and wouldn't dare to work with Fujikichiro.

Human nature is common sense and very simple.

What to do then? The only option was to drag Hosuka Koroku over to meet Shichibei. Shichibei was a big boss among the Tsushima Kai, with hundreds of horses under his command, thousands of acres of land, and a fortune worth thousands or even tens of thousands of kan.

If you don't believe me, you should at least believe Boss Kawamura.

So, now, Hosuka Koroku was sitting in front of Shichibei. Before coming, Hosuka Koroku had carefully checked several times, and even secretly sent someone to inquire whether the Kawamuraya in Komakiyama Castle and the Michudenma Kawamuraya in Tsushima were the same family.

He was certain only after he saw Shichibei and a group of Owari samurai welcoming and seeing off guests, and everyone calling Shichibei the big boss of Kawamura.

But whether you have money or not, you still have to compete with Shichibei.

Shichibei also cared a lot about Hosuka Koroku. After all, he was the only one who dared to continue calling Fujiyoshiro, who was already Toyotomi Hideyoshi at that time, "Hiyoshi" after Fujiyoshi became the ruler of the country.

Another person who is so bold is Fujikichiro's mother.

Before Hachisuka Koroku's death, the head of the Hashiba clan was always Hachisuka Koroku. Everyone else had to step back a bit. The bond between Fujikichirō and Koroku was probably as strong as that between his younger brother, Koichirō. Another head of the clan, head of the clan, and samurai general was Sugihara Ietsugu, Nene's uncle. The two shouldn't be confused.

If Xiaoliu were younger, he would definitely have a seat among the five elders of Toyotomi in the future.

Apart from anything else, the five elders at that time, whether it was Tokugawa Ieyasu or Maeda Toshiie, now have fewer retainers than Hosuka Koroku.

The Hosuka clan consisted of hundreds of retainers, and if they were all mobilized, they could even reach two thousand. With a retainer group of this size, they could simply follow Fujikichiro's lead and grow like a snowball, eventually managing a 1 million koku territory would be a piece of cake.

Another point is that this guy is so tall!

Nowadays, with the average height being over 1.5 meters and 1.4 meters being not too small, Hosuka Koroku, who is just over 1.7 meters tall and covered in muscles, is definitely a potential hero.

Let’s chat, what to talk about?

With Tokichiro acting as the middleman, Hosuga Koroku asked one question: would Shichibei really fully support Sunomata's castle construction? Would he really provide Tokichiro with a large sum of money and help him obtain timber?

That's right, Shichibei responded very quickly, without hesitation. He said that Fujikichiro's business was his business, and as long as Fujikichiro came to collect the money, as long as I had it, there would be no limit on the amount.

To show his support, Fujikichiro only wants 500 kan, but in Shichibei's mouth, he has to praise him as if the relationship between them is stronger than gold.

Koroku has a friendship with Fujikichiro and believes that Shichibei has the financial resources. These two factors combined are enough to convince him to bring the entire Hosuka party and join Oda's side.

"Here are twenty gold pieces!" Shichibei saw Hosuka Koroku fiercely weighing the pros and cons, and immediately took out the gold.

"Hmm?" Hosuka Koroku didn't expect Shichibei to be so straightforward.

Kinoshita Tokichirō, standing nearby, cast a grateful glance at him. Now all that was missing was the finishing touch. Seeing the cash, Hosuga Koroku, no matter how hesitant he was, should finally agree.

"If you need money in the future, just send someone to get it at any time!" Shichibei solemnly promised Hosuka Koroku.

Twenty gold pieces were only worth a little over 120 kan, which wasn't a lot of money for Shichibei now. But for Hosuka Koroku, who worked as a laborer on the Kiso River, it was still a considerable sum.

The three greatest hardships in life are rowing a boat, forging iron, and making tofu.

Few people who work in maritime transport have ever made a fortune, let alone those who work in river transport. Aren't those millions of canal workers in the Ming Dynasty next door all impoverished? The kind who died with nothing but a straw mat and no coffin.

"I'll go back and convince everyone right away." Hosuka Koroku made the decision immediately.

Since it was a "party," it was naturally not just Hosuka Koroku who had the final say, though he was currently the leader. He was joined by smaller leaders like Inada Daisuke, Aoyama Hidemasa, Nagae Kagechika, Kajita Keigi, and Hosuka Matajuro (Koroku's younger brother). As for Maeno Nagayasu, who later became known to many, he was Koroku's cousin.

However, he was not a member of the Hachisuka faction, but rather a member of the Tsubouchi faction, and his current name was Tsubouchi Mitsuki. It is not known whether Shichibei will participate in the construction of Sunomata Castle.

There was a high probability that he could not escape, and the Kawanami clan on the Kiso River eventually turned to Nobunaga.

"I'll leave everything to you." Shichibei immediately bowed his head and saluted Hosuka Koroku, wishing him success.

The night meeting ended quickly, and Fujikichiro took Xiaoliu away in the dark. Xiaoliu was still a member of the Kiso Kawakami clan, with uncertain allegiance. If he appeared at the gates of Komakiyama Castle, he might be mistaken for a spy.

Fujikichiro has to send the person out first. If they meet the foot soldiers guarding Himiya at night, Fujikichiro's explanation will prevent them from being suspicious.

After a while, Fujikichiro returned, saying nothing, but gave Shichibei a full, earthen-style bow. Selling out his brother was one thing, but having Shichibei support him so much was another.

At this time, Kinoshita Tokichiro was still a man who valued friendship and loyalty, and was able to win over people. His personal charm was at its strongest at this stage, attracting a large number of middle and lower-level samurai from the grassroots to join him.

As for the future, that’s a matter of the future.

There are countless people who were divine rulers in their early years, mediocre rulers in their middle years, and incompetent rulers in their late years. As a person's status changes, not only will his knowledge and thinking change, but even his personality and temperament will change.

Shichibei quickly helped the man up. "Now you kowtow to me, but in a few years, I'll be the one kowtow to you." Shichibei thought to himself that he couldn't rely on Fujikichiro for his entire life, so he decided to leave some happy memories of their friendship in the early days.

Trying to demand a reward from Fujiyoshiro in history may work at first, but not necessarily later.

"Since I've promised you, don't worry, I'll take care of the money." Shichibei held Fujikichiro's hand and tried his best to show his sincere feelings.

"Everything depends on you..." Fujiyoshiro shook hands with Shichibei again and again to express his gratitude.

After carefully observing Fujikichiro, he didn't force himself to cry, which meant he wasn't acting. This was probably more genuine than exploitative. We were all in humble situations, and when someone gave us a hand and accompanied us through this struggle, we should express our gratitude.

Now that one thing is done, all we have to do is wait and see how the situation develops.

The autumn harvest in Kamiowari concluded as planned. This year was considered an average year for Owari, and with no major military deployments and no fighting, the people could focus on farming without conflict, and the harvest wasn't bad.

After the rice harvest was complete, the general draft documents from Komakiyama Castle began to be delivered one by one to each village and town. Normally, Nobunaga's magistrates would draft the documents and then send low-ranking samurai to deliver them on foot.

This time was different, perhaps because Nobunaga had instructed that the Owari horse-drawn carriage station hastily built by Shichibei be used to send official documents from Komakiyama, and then use horse-drawn carriages to quickly deliver them to various villages.

Owari is not very big, so even if we send people to run from north to south, it would not take several days. But if we use a messenger horse, we can guarantee that the whole message can be delivered within a day.

In a small area, the difference between one day and two days is really not noticeable. But when Nobunaga controlled twenty or thirty provinces, the convenience and speed of sending messages from Azuchi Castle to Ueno Minowa Castle, Noto Nanao Castle, or Sanin Tottori Castle would become apparent.

Perhaps Nobunaga could sense Shichibei's intention in setting up a horse-drawn carriage house, so he ordered the hiring of horse-drawn carriages for delivery.

However, we have no way to communicate directly with Nobunaga, so we can only guess what Nobunaga is thinking.

Once the document was delivered, farmers from all the counties and villages in Kamiowari, led by their local jitojisamu, gathered at Komakiyama Castle. They didn't know what the general service would be this year, so they only brought simple engineering tools.

When they reached the city, Shibata Katsuie announced to them that he was going to Mino Nagara River to build the city. This naturally caused dissatisfaction among the peasants who were conscripted for general service. Normally, general service was conscripted within the country, and the price for serving abroad was different.

Shibata Katsuie clearly knew that going abroad for general employment was uncommon, so he sent Murai Sadakatsu to inform the farmers that everyone would serve for a maximum of twelve days, starting today. Any time beyond that would be paid per day, and Nobunaga would pay the same price as the rural laborers.

This appeased the farmers, who reluctantly agreed and headed to the Nagara River in Mino with Shibata Katsuie.

All in all, Shibata Katsuie only brought less than 400 soldiers with him, but more than 3,000 peasants who had volunteered for conscription. This team was a mess before the battle.

43. If the city fails, ask for advice again (named after the spicy soup)

"Do you think it's okay?"

Shichibei looked at Koichiro who had been "sold" to his shop and asked him with a smile. Anyway, according to Shichibei's own opinion, the probability of success in Shibata Katsuie's business was too small.

Four hundred soldiers, accompanied by over three thousand peasants, had to build a fortress in enemy territory. This was too difficult, and even if Shichibei were in charge, he would have thought it was almost impossible to accomplish.

Unless each of the 400 Shibata soldiers was a towering figure, able to withstand the Saito army's attack for more than ten days, and the resistance had to be such that it wouldn't affect the construction of the city at all, because the peasants would definitely run away if they saw the enemy coming.

Having lived in the Japanese Warring States Period, everyone knows the habits of the farmers. Without a bit of the cleverness of the Warring States farmers, you wouldn't have grown this big.

"Hmm..." Kinoshita Koichiro didn't dare to answer immediately.

After all, like Shichibei, he hadn't seen much combat. While he served his elder brother as an ashigaru, he was ultimately merely carrying the flag for his eldest brother, Kinoshita Tokichirō. So far, he hadn't encountered a life-or-death battle.

His brother had fought a bloody battle during the surprise attack on Okehazama. The soldiers around Imagawa Yoshimoto were not weaklings, and even Nobunaga's subordinates lost dozens of men in that battle.

"Forget it, we can only watch." Shichibei curled his lips. It was really unconvincing for two rookies to comment on a pig warrior like Shibata Katsuie.

"Mr. Shibata is brave, but I'm afraid he can't do everything." Kinoshita Koichiro nodded slightly, but his answer obviously did not tend to believe that Shibata could do it.

"When you're not on duty in the future, come and help out in my shop?" Shichibei felt there was nothing to guess.

"hold head high."

Ten days at most, if Shibata can succeed, then he can succeed, but if he can't, he'll just run back. It's only ten days, Shichibei still has that much time, so let's just wait and see.

After the autumn harvest, business slowed down. The first two seasons' alfalfa was shipped to Komakiyama for sale, and the third season's harvest was for personal use. While the Kailai horse trade continued, demand was significantly reduced due to the absence of war.

During a war, the increased probability of a horse stumbling can actually lead to good business. After all, a battlefield isn't a smooth playground; battlefields are often near rivers or cities, often filled with ditches, which can wear out horses quickly.

It is said that one of the reasons why the King of England was dragged down during the Anglo-French War was that the King of France had enough sources of war horses and riding horses, but the King of England did not.

Put it on...

But it was obvious that there was no time at all. Only three and a half days later, Shichibei's family came and rode away on six horses with a few grooms.

Well, he definitely didn't run away secretly. There's no need to guess. It's 100% certain that Shibata Katsuie failed to build the castle.

The family came to see the six men and six horses, and kept looking up at Shichibei. They had all grown up with Shichibei, peeing and playing in the mud, picking up horse manure together when they were little, and they were very close.

Okay, okay, the Oda clan lost the battle, what are you happy about?