Prime Minister Bizen

Chapter 253
Let's stop here about the collection of retainers, and the most important thing right now is the placement of Changzong's family.

Xiujia planned to ask the other party's attitude first, and then give his own plan.And the most important thing is don't forget that the 4 shi's knowledge and practice are shared with Xiangzong's family. What kind of arrangement is there on their side, the Xiu family must first find out.

So the Xiu family asked the relatives, "About the specific arrangement of Changzong's family's 4 stones, have you and Xiangzong's family confirmed it?"

Changzong's family members and Xiangzong's relatives looked at each other, then bowed to Xiu's family and said, "It has been confirmed that the 4 shi Zhixing will be shared in half by our own family and Xiangzong's family, that is, each family has 2 shi Zhixing .”

Xiangzong's family originally promised them 3 stones of knowledge and practice, so it can be seen that 1 stones were broadcast from their own knowledge and practice to support the Zong family.During the Warring States period in Japan, it was really rare to see a branch family with such a public heart.

As for whether Xiangzong's family's actions would cause internal problems in Xiangzong's family, this is beyond the Xiu family's concern.

"Then, will the Xiangzong family continue to exist as an independent daimyo, or will it still exist as a retainer of the Changzong family?"

"Xiangzong's family has always been the retainers of Changzong's family"

The person who spoke was Qin Tai, my family member of Xiangzong, who was Xinqin's uncle.The gold content of this sentence from his mouth is much heavier than that from his relatives.

If they arrange it according to their ideas, the Nagamune family may be a copy of the Yamada family and the Kume family.

Nowadays, due to the friendship between brothers and uncles, the two families can still be firmly tied together, but when this generation passes away, such an unreasonable structure of monarchs and ministers will inevitably cause turmoil in Changzong's family. Of course, all of this is not true. What Xiujia can consider now.

After asking to understand some details, Xiujia praised, "Neiji is really loyal and considerate of the country. How can Changzong's family not be revived with retainers like you?"

The full name of Neiji, Zhongneiji, is the official position of Zhengqi, and it is also an official position recognized by the imperial court for the pro-Tai family of Xiangzong.In history, after Yuan Qin was promoted to Gongnai Shaofu, Xiangzong's Ibu Qintai was also awarded the official position of An Yishou.

"Your Highness is absurd, I just did what an elder should do." Xiangzong's relatives said modestly.

"Then, do you have any ideas about the placement of the territory? Bizen's territory is up to you to choose."

This is actually the Hideka's temptation, and it is absolutely impossible for Bizen Ichikuni to give them their own choice.If only the Oku area where the long ship is located is a secret area where Hideka's armaments are produced.It took the Xiu family a lot of effort to take this area back from the hands of the wealthy clan, so how could it be divided up again.

Since the two counties of Kamido Mino are too close to Okayama, the Hide family is not prepared to consider the idea of ​​placing them here, so there are not many neighboring countries to choose from.

尔岛3万石根本不足以安置的下长宗我部家4万石的体量，其所能被安排的地方只有津高（4.2万石）、和气（2.5万）+磐梨（1.7万）或者赤坂（4万）石。

Changzong's relatives are worthy of being the best of the second generation. They didn't jump off such an obvious trap, but returned the problem to the Xiu family. Retainer, the arrangement of the territory will naturally be arranged by you, the lieutenant general."

Hideka thought for a while, and finally said to him, "Then Ryonomiyayama Castle 4 koku in Akasaka County."

The reason why Hideka made the following arrangement is because Jingao County connects Bichu and Misaku, and the most important road connecting Misaku, and the Tsuyama Line passes through it.

If one day the followers of the Chosoga tribe were ordered by Hideyoshi to oppose the Hideyoshi family, the Changzongga tribe family would become an important throat to cut off the support from the other neighboring countries of the Hideyoshi family.

At the same time, the plan of Panli + Heqi was also rejected by the Xiu family. The reason is very simple. These two counties are the only pass to block the enemy from the direction of Jinai. It is equivalent to being undefended in the direction of Osaka.

Compared with these two places, Akasaka County, which is sandwiched in the middle, is closer to Hideya’s Okayama, but there are high mountains on one side of the proportional beauty, and the road is steep and difficult, and it is not the main road. Here, it is exactly like being locked in a cage.

Interested friends can go to Google Maps to see the location of Bizen Akasaka Ryonomiya Mountain Castle, which is located in the basin on the upper left of Seto Station.Today, Sanyo Danchi (Yayoi Park) is the original site of Ryonomiya Mountain Castle, and it is one of the rare Hirajo Castles built in the non-sea plain area in the Western Kingdom.

In addition, if you are interested, you can also take a look at the Oniyama Castle on the upper left of Bichu Takamatsu. It is a relatively well-preserved mountain castle with a Sannomaru structure in Japan today.

Ghost Mountain City climbs up the mountain, only Honmaru is built with stone walls, and the outer city walls are the most basic earthen wall and screen structure. Don't think that the city is very low. This is the main structure of the main city in most areas in the middle and late Warring States period. Way.

Another reason why the Hide family placed Changzong's family in Ryogong Mountain is very simple, that is, it is adjacent to Okayama Castle, which is convenient for monitoring and management.

Changzong's family is just a small daimyo with 4 shi, and it is impossible to support a large-scale standing force.And in Okayama Castle, which is a 1-day journey away, Hideka has a 4500-person standing dog in the city all year round.

This is a mobile military force that can go out without gathering. Even Xiujia believes that it is very likely that the three standing troops from Okayama will surround it before the military force of Ryonomiyayama Castle is completed.

Although there is Mizubori on the outskirts of Ryonomiya Mountain Castle, it is not a problem for the Hideka. Even Okatoyo Castle has been captured by the Hideka. Isn't it easy to capture the next Hirajo?
The Hide family was always on the lookout for Chosogabu Zhixing's choice, but the Chosogabu disciples who were not familiar with Bizen's geography didn't know this, and instead happily agreed.

In his opinion, being placed in Akasaka, which is not far from Okayama, is precisely a manifestation of Hideka's trust in him.

No matter what kind of orders came from Osaka, the premise of Nagamune's family is that the retainers of the Bizen Hashiba family must first do their duty as a courtier, right?

Another point is that the four counties in the north (Tsingaka, Akasaka, Banli, and Waki) are precisely the areas where the Xiu family has the largest number of feudal families. Now that 4 shi of the Changzong family are to be housed, then the size of nearly 2 shi in Akasaka The lord Xiu's family had to find a good place for them to settle down.

If it's a big name from another family, they basically won't worry about it. After all, keeping the rich family in the collar can just cause conflicts between the new retainer and the original retainer Zhijiayou, which itself is also a method of restraint.

In history, even if Tokugawa Ieyasu took advantage of the large number of land servants left in Junyuan's three armored and four countries, the daimyos such as Asano and Yamauchi who were entrusted in these three countries did not have much control over these leading countries.

On the contrary, if you want to govern the country, you must get the approval of Tokugawa Ieyasu.

Why don't you sue Toyotomi Hideyoshi?
Even after the incident came up, Tokugawa Ieyasu would be reprimanded by Hideyoshi, and those servants who resisted the new collar would be dealt with by Hideyoshi.But if you can't govern the country well, it also means that you have a problem with your ability, and you are not enough to lead a country at all, and you will inevitably be changed and transferred.

In the Warring States Period, who could become a famous person, who didn't get to the position after many years of hard work, how could he make such a business that hurts himself and benefits others?

receive~
The daimyos of other countries might take advantage of the conflicts between the local aborigines and the new retainers to contain the power of these new retainers, but the Xiu family would not do so for three reasons.

First, the Bizen country where the Hide family is located has undergone several rounds of big waves, and now all those who remain in Bizen are wealthy retainers with less than 5000 shi. Yu Xi's family has a very high centripetal force.

Second, most of the families in these territories are small and medium-sized warriors who are less than a thousand stones. They are the officer class in Yuxi's family and the directly-administered reserves, and they are an important part of the Xiu family's military strength.

From Hideya's point of view, it is more meaningful to keep them in the army as military chiefs than to stay in Akasaka as a wedge.

Third, Xiujia predicts that after the Beszi Copper Mine is mined, according to the historical situation, a hundred or so tons a year should be appropriate. With the gold and silver and other metals attached to the mine veins, the Beszi Copper Mine can produce more than 50 tons a year. Bring no less than [-] yuan in income to Xiujia.

Many people don't know anything about the copper production capacity of Besshi Copper Mine. They may think that my figure of 50 is a nonsense figure, so I will emphasize it here.

The Besshi Copper Mine was already the largest copper mine in the world in the 17th century when it was discovered and mined. The largest copper mine refers not only to the reserves, but also to the mining volume.

The annual mining volume of this mine accounted for one-third of Japan's copper production at that time, which was equivalent to 70% of the total copper production of the second-ranked Deba Antler Copper Mine and the third-ranked Hitachi Hitachi Mine. In other words, these three copper mines account for more than 7% of Japan's copper mining.

When the Besshi Copper Mine was discovered, it was at the beginning of the collapse of the Tokugawa shogunate's small-scale peasant economy, and the agricultural land under the Tokugawa shogunate was still able to supply the shogunate.

However, after entering the 18th century, the Tokugawa shogunate’s finances collapsed completely. The Besshi Copper Mine mining dividends handed over by the Sumitomo family accounted for 1/5 of the Tokugawa shogunate’s annual income.

According to the agreement, the Sumitomo family only needs to contribute [-]% of Besko's income to the Tokugawa shogunate. In other words, if the Besshi Copper Mine is changed to be state-run by the shogunate, the income of just one Besshi Copper Mine can account for half of the Tokugawa shogunate's income. above!
Xiujia knew that after the discovery of the Besshi Copper Mine, it was absolutely impossible to hide the huge mining volume from Toyotomi Hideyoshi.With Toyotomi Hideyoshi's greed, the Hideo family must prepare his part of the benefits in advance, which is a kind of protection fee.

How appropriate this interest is is a question that needs to be considered. At the same time, Hideyoshi also needs a title that Hideyoshi cannot refuse, so that Hideyoshi cannot make a request to increase the share.

Do you still remember how Hong Kong Li Luo divided up black money in the 60s?

Hideka plans to distribute the profits of the 4 cities to Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Hidecho brothers, with Hideyoshi accounting for 3% and Hidecho accounting for 1%.The reason for doing this is to completely bind the two brothers to his chariot. Even if there is a rift in the relationship with Hideyoshi in the future, Hideyoshi can persuade him from the sidelines.

The remaining 6% of Xiujia plans to divide it in half, of which 3% will be handed over to Yuxi Family for financial use, and 1% will be used by Xiujia's internal treasury for private use.The remaining 2% ​​was used as the samurai fund, which was used to distribute to Xiujia's retainers.

Of course, not everyone can receive these retainers, and they are limited to non-family members whose execution amount is less than 1 shi.Xiujia plans to implement another policy here, that is, the "Knowledge and Action" Act.

In fact, the Xiu family now has a basis for knowing and doing discounts, and the territory less than 1500 shi will not be sealed off, but will be given annual money, grain and salary equal to Zhixing's income only as compensation.

What the Xiu family valued in doing this was not money, on the contrary, what the Xiu family valued was the control over the territory after doing so.

As mentioned above, the benefits of doing this are obvious. First of all, the Xiu family does not need to dismantle their territories, but deliberately collects a large number of low-knowledge warriors' lands, and integrates them to provide themselves with a complete military service system.

And these little lords who have mastered the knowledge of thousands of stones no longer need to depend on the sky for food. With the Xiu family as a guarantee, they can reap a stable income.

At the same time, this group of warriors from the Warring States Period had no experience in systematic governance. After the Xiu family took over the territory, they no longer had to worry about the governance of the village.

Of course, the Xiu family reserved a nominal number of Zhixing for them, so that they could receive salaries from Yu Xi's family every year and classify them.

However, the Xiu family thought that this was not enough, and the Xiu family set their sights on the non-famous wealthy families with more than 1500 shi and less than 1 shi.

All their knowledge and actions total about 15 shi. Of course, after the War of the Four Kingdoms, this number should increase.

In the past, the Yuxi family did not have so much income to pay their salaries, so they could only let them manage the land.But now with the development of Besshi Copper Mine, even 2% of the income is 10 guan, which is equivalent to 40 shi.

The Xiu family can completely reclaim the territory managed by them according to the standard of 1:1.2. Of course, in the samurai list of Yuxi family, they still have the same amount of knowledge and action, but they no longer have the actual territory.The ownership of the land will be taken back by the Xiu family.

All of the above are voluntary.

Of course, a distinction needs to be made here. First of all, wealthy families with more than 5000 shi in summer missions must have an extremely strong desire to possess land. Therefore, the Xiu family’s first step is to only ask families with less than 5000 shi to return their knowledge and actions. 5000 shi~1 Wan Shi's wealthy family is put aside for now.

As for the rest of it, the Xiu family is going to tinker with Japan's first pension system, called the envoy fund system, to support the samurai who fought for Yuki's family until they were disabled.

You must know that at that time, the samurai relied on their lives to live for their masters, and the masters relied on their meritorious deeds to give them money or rewards for their knowledge and deeds.

In this way, it would be better for warriors with hereditary territories. If they were injured, sick or disabled, they would at least have something to eat.

However, if there is no knowledge and action, and the samurai who live on receiving a salary will be abandoned by the times like useless garbage after being disabled.

As a result, on the battlefield, this group of samurai class, mainly ronin, despite their extremely high combat strength, their morale has always been low because of the lack of protection behind them.

The Xiu family intends to use Zhixing Feng to return the remaining tens of thousands of coins as part of Yuxi's samurai Feng Jin income.

According to the samurai salary system at that time, the average landless samurai could receive support rice or copper coins at a discount of about 3 to 5 pennies per year.

The Xiu family only needs to ask them to hand over 1/5 of this part of the salary every year, so that they can still receive 6% of the past [-]% of the support rice after the injury or illness. Yuxi family will pay you this money until you die.

Xiujia believes that if this system is really implemented, it will definitely improve the morale of the warriors in the territory, because they know that they have Yu Xijia as a guarantee behind them.

(End of this chapter)