Owari Yumeki Golden Day

So Shichibei, who was listening to the news at home and had already packed up and was about to go to the sandbar to build a straw hut, was suddenly pulled in front of Sasa Narimasa to explain the situation.

Hey, could it be that you, Sasa Narimasa, have felt any compassion?

Shichibei was summoned for no apparent reason, and upon hearing this, he immediately prepared to refuse. They weren't arquebus makers, so why would I need them?

15. Indigo dyeing craftsmen are useless

Sassa Narimasa was not a reckless man. In history, after seeing Oda Nobunaga turn the first person to go public into a wine cup, he advised Nobunaga. If you want to make billions of people submit willingly, you must implement the kingly way of education.

Be cultured and have a bottom line.

The reason Shichibei was summoned now was probably out of conscience. He wanted Shichibei to plant his men on the sandbar and delay the situation for now. Once the group heading to Komakiyama Castle Town had crafted a cannon and won Oda Nobunaga's favor, then, by a favor, these remaining men would likely be able to reach shore.

You are thinking about them, but I am a member of the Tsushima community, a believer in the Tsushima Gyuto Tenno faith. If you ask me to accept Christians, isn't that cutting me off from the Tsushima community?

So Shichibei smiled and said that everything was up to the Lord's decision. "I am the landlord, but I can't make the decision. We are both retainers of Oda Nobunaga. Please, Nobunaga, make the decision."

Sasa Narimasa, who hadn't expected Shichibei to be such a clever evader, couldn't help but look up to him. This Tsushima really had a few people, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to achieve such a big success.

Well, after Sasa Narimasa appeased the remaining Christian townspeople and prepared to send the arquebusier back to Komakiyama, he would ask Nobunaga for orders.

The Christian townspeople who were allowed to go ashore rented horses from Shichibei. They had belongings and elderly and infirm children; they couldn't possibly carry everything themselves. If they could carry everything themselves, there wouldn't be a need for shipping.

It was a good thing to have business, so Shichibei quickly arranged for pack horses and even said that since Nobunaga had already stationed you at Komakiyama, you could serve Nobunaga together. If you didn't have much money, you could wait a month, for Nobunaga to forge a cannon, and then come back to settle the bill after Nobunaga gave you the reward.

Open your business and make money through harmony.

A little girl almost said, "Uncle, you are ugly, but you have a good heart."

Fortunately, the child's parents were tactful and picked up the child, thanked them repeatedly and left.

After sending this group away, Shichibei, who was still at the port, asked the remaining Christian townspeople, "What do you do? If you don't have any skills, Nobunaga will definitely not take you in."

As I said, Nobunaga is a pragmatist. He will only look upon you with respect if you are useful to him.

Several Christian townspeople claimed they were dyers from Yamashiro Province, using indigo and hematoxylin to produce a dark blue, also known as eggplant purple, a brighter purple.

Purple, a color rarely seen in nature, is a symbol of nobility around the world. The Eastern Roman Empire revered purple, as did the neighboring Song Dynasty, both believing it to be a noble color.

In Japan, high-ranking monks wear purple robes. To be eligible, one must obtain permission from the Emperor. Not just anyone can wear one.

Therefore, these dyers who can dye white silk into purple silk are indeed relatively valuable and scarce technical talents.

But this is limited to Kinai, where purple consumption is strong. In the entire Owari region, there are probably only a few people who are qualified to wear purple clothing. Without a consumer group, what is the point of these dyeing jobs?

Seeing Shichibei's lack of interest, an old man among the dyers quickly offered to grow indigo. Indigo prefers moist soil, and whether it's mountain indigo or polygonum tinctorium, they could try growing it on a sandbar.

Wow, if I hadn't been so foresighted, I would have been fooled by you.

It's true that he likes moist land, but why don't you say that he likes warm and moist land, and a place where the sun is not so strong.

Otherwise, why did Tokushima Prefecture, now Awa Province, produce indigo? Because it is further south, has a warmer climate, and has the humid soil of the Yoshino River.

My sandy soil is damp, but it doesn't retain water. Besides, it snows heavily in winter, and it's not warm enough. You're kidding! How can I grow indigo? Shichibei spent the night in bed thinking about it, and he'd already ruled out indigo.

Goodbye.

The old man saw Shichibei leaving and tried to stop him, but he had no other bargaining chips to use. He stretched his hand in mid-air, tugged at it in vain, and finally gave up.

In fact, he wanted to say that he had planted safflowers in Ise for a few days, but the sandbar was too damp and not suitable for safflowers that needed dry soil, so there was no chance.

Nobunaga's reply is too direct, don't interrupt!

Unless you give up religion, those who give up religion can get ashore.

Those who come ashore can go to Shichibei's mowing area and listen to Shichibei's orders.

The letter wasn't sent by Sasa Narimasa, but rather by a family of Hotta Uma from Komakiyama Castle. It was a document sent to the Tsushima clan to inform them.

Everyone saw that Nobunaga's decision was acceptable. If you no longer believe in Christianity, that's fine. Tsushima Town is packed with travelers, so feel free to come.

What to do? After Shichibei informed the Christian townspeople of Nobunaga's decision, they split into two groups. One group, primarily middle-aged men and women, refused to abandon their faith and continued to believe in their Lord. They sailed on, finding a place where they could be relocated and then notified them by letter once they were settled.

The remaining elderly people, along with their children, abandoned their religion, trampled on the statue of the Virgin Mary holding the Child or the cross, and then stayed in Tsushima to grow alfalfa for Shichibei.

Anyway, Shichibei was going to recruit people to plant barnyard grass and look after alfalfa on the sandbar, and to build two more straw huts. Even these two old men couldn't do any work with seven or eight children.

That's a deal, no wages, just rice. Harvest a crop of alfalfa or barnyard grass, and you'll get a share of the grain. Think of it as hiring an old man as a doorman.

Many construction sites, and even residential complexes, simply employ a couple of elderly men to look after them. On some construction sites, the fasteners used to build scaffolding and steel pipes can fetch hundreds of thousands of yuan, and they're just looking after them.

Let's get two dogs. Farmers are quite capable these days, and two old men may not be able to take care of such a large alfalfa field.

He brought the two old men and a group of children to the sandbar and told them that he had surveyed it and found it to be a fixed sandbar. So he had built a thatched hut and constructed a dike.

The embankments are used to grow crops that thrive in dry, sandy soil. With the autumn harvest approaching, it's probably too late to plant anything this year. Next year, everyone, young and old, will have to work in the fields; even children as young as five or six will have to collect manure. This isn't Shichibei exploiting child labor; it's simply the way things are these days.

kindness?

Seeing the two acres of leveled sandy land, the old man who knew how to grow safflowers opened his mouth. The land was sandy, the ridges had been turned up, and water was easily accessible. Owari's climate was neither extremely cold nor extremely hot, but more like a maritime climate.

This kind of sandy soil is almost the best land for growing safflower, and because the wasteland was burned and alfalfa was planted for one season, the land can be barely maintained, so maybe it's worth a try.

16. Perhaps the red flowers are in season

safflower?

Shichibei was a bit skeptical at the old man's question. It seemed that it was indeed possible to grow red flowers in sandy soil, as red was readily available in nature. However, stories of specifically growing crops to obtain the color red were rare.

Of course, this is relative. Before the chemical industry became highly developed and pigments could be synthesized artificially, all dye plants were expensive. It's just that there are different levels of quality, just like purple is more expensive than red.

Why not give it a try? The old man saw that Shichibei was a man who wouldn't give up until he saw the rabbit. Without some kind of benefit, he wouldn't be able to move Shichibei. But after all, he had lived in Kyoto and Luoyang, and his life wasn't in vain. So he asked Shichibei, if he could successfully grow safflower on this sandbar, could he move the rest of his family here?

Hey, you never mind, if you could plant a few hundred acres of safflower, make some money, and offer gold to Oda Nobunaga every year, then Oda Nobunaga would definitely allow those Christian townspeople to go ashore, and even live next to Tsushima Town.

But now Shichibei didn't dare to agree, so he could only say, "Give it a try. If you succeed, I'll take your whole family as retainers first. I'll find a way to persuade Nobunaga later."

And don't rush to plant hundreds of acres at once. It's good enough to plant these two acres right now. As for seeds? The old man said they can be bought in Ise or Sakai. It's not that those safflower growers are stupid and don't know about the seed monopoly.

Safflower seeds are a medicinal herb.

The soon-to-be-published "Compendium of Materia Medica" mentions safflower seeds as promoting blood circulation and menstruation. I'm not sure who actually tested this out. It's just a medicinal herb, but it's difficult to buy hundreds of acres of safflower seeds in bulk. What's so difficult about the two acres you see? Just find a traditional Chinese medicine pharmacy.

Sure enough, Shichibei asked his family at a traditional Chinese medicine store in Ominato, and they sold him a small bag of safflower seeds without even asking any questions.

After all, in the eyes of many people, where can we find such a beautiful thing that can keep sandy soil dry, be very convenient to use water, and be easy to irrigate, with all the conditions perfectly matched?

If there is land that is easy to irrigate, it would be great to grow rice. Why not develop it into paddy fields?

Let's plant. Shichibei made a rare trip to Komakiyama. He was going to recruit two or three farmers. There wasn't just one sandbar, and the two old men could only look after one. They would have to hire people for the other sandbars as well.

Outside the castle town, there were many civilians who had fled south, but they had no idea how to interview Shichibei. The only thing they could confirm was his Owari accent, which confirmed his hometown status.

Perhaps out of concern that there might be spies from Inuyama Oda Nobukiyo's faction, foot soldiers patrolled the castle grounds and were responsible for driving any such spies away. The farmers who came from the south didn't expect to enter the castle town of Komakiyama, but rather to seek a living in the four lower counties of Owari.

Because the four counties under Owari, especially the area where the Chita Peninsula and Mikawa meet, have been the site of a stalemate between Oda and Imagawa since the time of their predecessor Oda Nobuhide.

The two sides fought for a long time in this area until Imagawa Yoshimoto was defeated and killed in Okehazama, and the Imagawa clan's power quickly retreated from Owari and Mikawa, and the border was stabilized.

Needless to say, the current lord of Mikawa Okazaki Castle, Matsudaira Ieyasu, has turned against his brother-in-law Imagawa Ujizane and formed an alliance with Oda Nobunaga.

Farmers who had fled the area naturally began to return to their original locations and cultivate the land. Unowned farmland was also redeveloped, and the local countryside experienced a brief period of recovery and prosperity.

Furthermore, the Mikawa Ikko-ikki had just been suppressed, leaving much of the land unclaimed in Mikawa. Particularly between Mikawa and Owari, the Mizuno clan, both of which were affiliated with the Mikawa clan, seemed to be recruiting farmers to establish settlements there to expand their power.

We are not stupid and we know that for landowners, labor is also a form of wealth.

Shichibei, completely clueless, decided to go to the tavern and inn and ask the two families to recruit people. He then watched the various aspects of life from inside the tavern.

Ever since defeating Imagawa Yoshimoto at Okehazama, Oda Nobunaga's fame has spread throughout the country. He used to be called the Owari Big Fool, but now he's known as the Owari King of the Storm.

A person's name, the shadow of a tree.

The autumn harvest was almost here. Once the harvest was over and the annual tribute arrived at the Komaki Castle warehouse, Nobunaga would undoubtedly mobilize his army, march on Inuyama, and defeat Oda Nobumasa, attempting to unify Owari. If he moved quickly, he might even seize the opportunity to invade Mino and seize territory there.

What does this mean? Of course, a large number of soldiers are needed.

In addition to conscripting soldiers from within their territories and mobilizing their standing guard of ashigaru hatamoto, daimyo would often recruit ronin by promising bounties and employment before battle. For example, Naito Masatoyo, lord of Minowa Castle in the Takeda clan, was a samurai who was extremely skilled in commanding ronin.

This was clearly related to the Takeda clan's deployment of a limited force in western Ueno, requiring them to utilize other forces to maintain a stalemate with the Minowa clan. The ronin who died didn't need compensation, and if they won, those who had made contributions could be deployed to the newly conquered territories. The daimyo and ronin each received what they needed, a win-win situation, a double victory.

At the tavern, Shichibei saw many ronin with spears and swords, drinking and chatting idly. They were all waiting for Oda Nobunaga to recruit ronin before he went to war, so that they could have a chance to join the Oda family.

For example, Yamauchi Inoemon was followed by an old man and a young boy.

Your wife is quite nice...

It was because he heard the old man and the young boy calling this name that Shichibei squatted in the tavern with a little social observation in mind, watching the master and servant arguing.

The Yamanouchi clan, the former patriarch of the Iwakura clan, had fallen into complete decline. Oda Nobuyasu fled, Oda Nobuaki was defeated and killed. Yamanouchi Ikkitoyo's father and brother were both killed by Nobunaga's forces.

Sometimes it is strange to think about it. With such a deep hatred, how could Yamanouchi Kazutoyo lower his head and find the door to serve in Oda Nobunaga's family?

It is understandable that he would vote for anyone, except Oda Nobunaga.

The two warriors, one old and one young, probably didn't quite understand Yamauchi Ippo's intentions, but Ippo's father and brother had both died in battle, and if they wanted to revive the Yamauchi family name, they had to rely on the young Ippo, who had just come of age. Even if they didn't like it, they had to follow Yamauchi Ippo.

After arguing for a while, the three of them came to a conclusion. They would wait at the tavern to see if Nobunaga was recruiting ronin. If so, they would join the army.

For no other reason than to restore the old order.

That is the former main castle of the Yamanouchi clan, Kuroda Castle. It is a branch castle of Iwakura Castle. It is not a famous city or town, so just treat it as a village.

17. Inouemon secretly harbors other ambitions

Logically, Shichibei should have gone up with a bottle of wine and chatted with the master and servants. Anyway, the tavern was filled with ronin waiting to be recruited by Nobunaga, so it wasn't unusual for them to ask each other questions.

They all came for Nobunaga's rewards and territories. Everyone knew what was going on in their hearts, and no one knew who else.

But you don’t have knowledge and action, but I do.

Shichibei has both a master and a knight, so he's definitely tall, rich, and handsome. If someone asks you about something, they might think you're teasing them.

If Yamanouchi Kazutoyo was indeed hired by Oda Nobunaga to attack Inuyama Castle, there would definitely be another chance for them to meet. After all, by then, he would have a large force of 3,000 to 5,000 men. If Oda Nobumasa were to defend the castle, Nobunaga would surely order the conscription of the Owari Michichu horsemen and begin the siege.

We will meet again then. You fill your ditch and I deliver my rations. We will all have a bright future.

As they pondered this, perhaps their furtive glances were caught by Yamanouchi Ichifuku's family, the three of them turned to look at Shichibei. As retainers of the Iwakura Oda clan, the Yamanouchi family actually had numerous relatives in Owari. After all, a small Ritsu-style state was no bigger than a prefecture on the neighboring continent.

Who doesn't have relatives in the next town in the same county? There are so many relatives and friends. If you count classmates and the like, you can run into acquaintances just by walking down the street.

So Muto Yoshibei came forward to greet Shichibei and asked him if there was anything he could help.

Huh? What could Shichibei possibly be up to? I'm just admiring the name Yamauchi. What a Yamauchi!

But since they came to ask, Shichibei had no choice but to say that he felt that the three of them looked familiar. Then he introduced himself and said that he was Shichibei of the Kawamura family, a famous figure in the Tsushima clan.

Muto Kichibei became thoughtful after hearing this. Perhaps he was an acquaintance, but a member of a previous generation. Yamauchi Moritoyo had dealt with the previous generation, Kawamura Shichibei.

Since they came to me on their own initiative, just sit down and have a chat.

Regardless of the other party's financial situation, Shichibei said that since they were old friends, as the host, he should do his best to entertain them. He then ordered the restaurant to serve wine and food, and let them eat and drink.

Yamauchi Ichifeng was fine, but his two family members were probably really hungry. When people are hungry, they don't care about etiquette and just eat their tea rice with all their might.

Yamanouchi Kazutoyo asked Shichibei what he was doing at the foot of the city. What was he doing? To deliver alfalfa to Sakuma Nobumori and recruit two or three farmers.

There was no mention of recruiting farmers; a plausible reason was all that mattered. Hearing that even the Oda clan's retainer, General Sakuma Nobumori, had begun preparations for war, Yamauchi Kazutoyo was thrilled. He picked up his wine glass and drank three cups in quick succession.

Are you so eager to support the Oda family?

Before he could calm down, Yamauchi Ichifeng asked Shichibei if Oda Nobunaga would personally lead the battle. This wasn't an unusual question, as Nobunaga had been personally involved in almost every battle over the past decade or so.

During the Warring States Period, Nobunaga's father, Nobuhide, was one of the so-called Kiyosu Three Magistrates, a typical minister under the command of a subordinate. His power was very small at the beginning, so naturally, what did this mean?

The group of hereditary retainers is very small!

Even if there were hereditary retainers, there was no powerful hereditary retainer of the daimyo. For example, Takeda Shingen had the hereditary retainer of the daimyo of Kyoto, Masakage Yamagata, who had 23,000 kan.

After Oda Nobuhide and Oda Nobunaga rapidly expanded their power, a problem arose. For a time, there was no one who could independently command thousands of relatives or hereditary family elders.

It's not that the retainers lacked the command ability, but that the hereditary retainers failed to build a samurai corps or military backbone of thousands of people.

Only Nobunaga, who controlled the wealth of Tsushima and Atsuta, had a large number of reserve officers, the Kojoshu, and the monastics (Akamoe-no-no-no-no-no-shu) armed with money. This made it possible to gather thousands of men and have sufficient officers to command them.

In fact, throughout Nobunaga's lifetime, no clear record of his military service has been passed down. This is largely due to the rapid expansion of the Oda clan, which had no time to replenish the samurai.

Furthermore, those so-called legion commanders who were promoted later in life also relied on Nobunaga's support to organize their legions. The most typical example was Shibata Katsuie, whose generals Maeda Toshiie, Fuba Mitsuharu, and Sassa Narimasa were all direct retainers of Nobunaga. They were assigned to Katsuie as valiant cavalry to organize the army.

The same was true for Toyotomi Hideyoshi, including Yamanouchi Iktoyo in front of him, as well as Takenaka Hanbei and Kuroda Kanbei who successively defected to Nobunaga. They all served under Hideyoshi as Nobunaga's direct vassals and Hideyoshi's retainers.

Hideyoshi's army expanded too quickly, and he simply didn't have enough retainers to lead the troops. A large number of samurai were directly assigned to him by Nobunaga to strengthen his samurai group.