Prime Minister Bizen

Chapter 348 The Gift of the Shimai Clan——Andalusian War Horse
The Xiu family gave Tachibana Zongshige enough time. In the small water city, it was only after four days of fighting under the arrangement of the Xiu family that the Xiu family was defeated. The Xiu family did not enter the rock house abandoned by the Shimadzu family until January 4. city ​​defense.

It was also on this day that the Hakata Chamber of Commerce finally figured out the situation here, and headed by the Shimai clan, they sent military donations to the Xiu family.

Since the Kamakura period, Hakata has become an important port of Japan's foreign trade.Since the middle period of Muromachi, due to the decline of the Asuka trade and the demise of the Ouchi family, Hakata's position was gradually replaced by Sakai, Fangzu, and Hirado.

In the second year of Tensho (1574), the war between Otomo and the Ryuzoji family burned most of the city streets in Hakata. Historically, on the eve of Hideyoshi's landing in Kyushu, the Shimadzu family completely destroyed Hakata before retreating due to the unfavorable frontline war. Hakata suffered from this disaster. It was in ruins.

But in this life, Tadaga Shimadzu originally planned to confront Hideka in Tarawa, and he did not expect that Hideya would break through Tara River soon, so there was no time to react, and Hakata was retained.

The current Bodo is not what it used to be. Because of the war and the decrease in trade with Ming Dynasty, it has become a bit dilapidated.Even so, Hakata is still the largest port in Kyushu.

The first Shimai clan is one of the "Three Heroes of Hakata", the other two are Kamiya Zongzhan and Oga Zongjiu.It was only after Kamiya Zongkan needed to help Hideyoshi contract the transportation and collection of conquest materials that he started to make a fortune. At this moment, he is still a small businessman buying and selling tea.

After the Tokugawa shogunate, Oga Zongjiu will become the new leader of Hakata by relying on becoming a royal merchant of the Kuroda family.The era of the above three heroes has a certain continuity, similar to the existence of the "Three Heroes of the Warring States Period" Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu.

Although the Shimai clan is the wealthiest group of people in Kyushu, they are not warriors and cannot wear gorgeously printed clothes. Perhaps they got a special license when they were called the royal merchants of the Ouchi family and the Ryuzoji family.

But now I am meeting Toyotomi from Kyoto. In order to show his humility, he came to meet Hideie in very plain gray clothes.

The Xiu family met the Shimai Clan in a courtyard of Iwaya Castle Honmaru. The Xiu family sat casually on the verandah basking in the sun, drinking the Longjing bought from Li Dan, but the Shimai Clan could only Kneeling in the sand and gravel to answer Xiujia's question.

It's really not that the show family is being rude, but that the Shimai clan on the opposite side is a businessman, and his status in Japan is even lower than that of farmers, and the people who meet in the evaluation room are all samurai.

If it is a friend, you can take it to the tea room for a private meeting. Unfortunately, this is the first meeting between the Xiu family and the Shimai clan, and the Xiu family must display the spectrum of being an imperial court executive.

"I just heard from my attendant that you are very influential in Bodo, you seem to be the head of a merchant, right?"

When the Shimai Clan heard Hideka's question, they panicked and said, "It's just a small business, and it was praised by friends, so how can it have any influence in the world?"

"Really? I heard that Hakata is the richest port in Kyushu in Okayama. Even Sakai-machi can't match it. I heard that Hakata's annual trade income is as huge as one million kan."

"That's all in the past. Since the decline of the Ouchi family and the stagnation of the trade between the Ming and Kanhe, Hakata has long since lost its former prosperity. In the west, there is Hirado to connect with Hong Maoyi, and in the east, there is Sakaicho to connect with Francis. Man, we in Hakata are nothing more than a sip of soup.

Not to mention that since the 6th year of Tensho (1578), the lands of Chikuzen, Chikugo, and Hizen have been war-torn for a long time. Otomo, Ryuzoji, Akizuki, and Shimadzu Kiku fought here.

Every daimyo wants Hakata to donate money, but they don’t develop Hakata wholeheartedly. It’s all about killing chickens and taking eggs. The two towns of Okayama and Takamatsu under his command. "

The words of the Shimai clan are not empty words. According to Hideo’s memory of history, Hakata was indeed in depression at this time because of the war, but the emaciated camel was bigger than a horse. The Shimai clan said these words now just to avoid It's just the butcher's knife of the Xiu family.

The Shimai clan originally thought that the Xiu family should be ignorant of world affairs at such a young age, so they wanted to sell miserably in front of the Xiu family, but when they saw that the Xiu family did not accept him, they could only introduce to the Xiu family angrily, "I am here today." , I came here to offer a gift to Your Highness, this is the gift list, please check it Your Highness."

Nobuta Anayama, the attendant of the Hide family, took the gift list, opened it, and found that there were tea, silk, ginseng and other things written on it. After all, Hakata mainly traded with the Ming Dynasty and North Korea, and it was reasonable to offer these. .

These things were shipped from the Ming Dynasty and North Korea, and the price could be multiplied several times. Any warrior would be moved when they saw it. After all, the things on the gift list were converted into a price of no less than 5000 guan.

However, the Xiu family had already launched Ming Dynasty trade, and they knew the cost of these things well, and even sold these materials themselves, so they closed it after just a quick glance.

The Shimai Clan is also a genius. Seeing the Xiu family glanced at it quickly, they closed the gift list without interest. He knew in his heart that this might be because the Xiu family didn't like these things. After all, what warriors like most is armor, knives and guns horses.

So he took out a gift slip from his bosom and handed it to a Xiu family, saying, "The gift slip just now was for Commander Toyotomi's Army, and now this gift slip is for Your Highness personally."

Quietly, what she said was so watertight. It was clearly a gift but it was split into two. While public and private were clearly distinguished, it also made the recipient of the gift enjoy double happiness.

The Xiu family saw that he took out another gift list, and joked to him, "When will you show your share, why don't you show it all this time and give me a review later."

At this time, Nobutada Anayama had just received the second gift list, and he stopped by the Shimai Clan's side when he heard about the Hide family's problems, obviously not planning to come again for the third time.

Embarrassed, the Shimai Clan took out another copy from his pocket and said, "This is the wish of the merchants in Hakata Town to serve the Toyotomi Army. Please review it."

The Xiu family took the gift list and opened their own to take a look. It turned out that they had a collar, a set of Yamato handed down swords, a batch of Nanman horses, and a bow. It can be said that they had prepared a warrior with complete equipment All the weapons needed.

But judging from the gift list, it was only the Nanman horse that attracted the Xiu family's interest.

After all, Japanese horses are short, with a shoulder height of less than 1.2 meters. They are not even as good as the Yunnan horses used to run mountains and pull goods. In Xiujia's opinion, Japanese horses are not suitable for use as cavalry horses. At most, they are used as livestock for pulling goods. use.

The so-called "Oriental Dama" in later generations of film and television works is a horse breed that was improved after Japan used European horse breeds for more than a hundred years of mating after the Meiji Restoration. It does not exist in the world at this moment.

This is why Xiujia chose to transport horses from Ezo. Ezo horses and Mongolian horses belong to the same horse breed, and their shoulder height is generally around 1.3 meters. Although they are still not as tall as European horses, they can also be used as long-distance raiders. Cavalry horses are bred.

But Ezo is such a big place, even if the Xiu family tried their best to search for horses, they would only ship dozens of horses a year, and it would be wishful thinking to buy horses from Li Dan. The Ming Dynasty didn’t have enough horses. Possibly sell to yourself.

The cavalry assault battle outside Fuliangshan City was rewarded. Fortunately, due to the terrain restrictions of the mountains and waterways, the width of the battlefield is not wide.In fact, there was only one cavalry brigade equipped with Ezo horses that actually charged at that time, and the rest dismounted and fought on foot after approaching on horseback.

Xiujia has always wanted to change this situation, and also wanted to learn from Japan in later generations, trying to see if it is possible to use European horses to improve horse breeds.

So the Xiu family immediately ordered people to bring up the Nanman horse-drawn horse presented by the Shimai Clan. As soon as the horse appeared, people around it exclaimed, and some even thought it was a monster.

Even Xiujia stood up the first moment he saw it.

There is no other reason. It is all because the horses are too tall. Even the shoulder height is higher than the groom who leads the horses. The Shimai clan stands beside him like a villain.

Amidst the people's surprise, the Shimai clan stood aside and introduced, "This horse was sold to me by Francie merchants. It is said that there were 5 horses when they were shipped from them, and only two survived when they landed. horses, and this is one of them."

He seemed to enjoy everyone's surprise, and raised his brows slightly, as if he was watching a country bumpkin see the world for the first time. "Even a daimyo from Kyoto has never seen the world, isn't he?"

"The height of this horse's shoulders is higher than that of a person. An ordinary villain can't handle it at all. Only an adult like His Highness is his destination."

The Shimai clan used a homophonic stalk here. He had never seen Xiujia before. How could he know that Xiujia was taller than ordinary people at this time? The "little person" here refers to a person with a short stature, and "adult" "It means "big man", referring to the identity of the Xiu family.

"Which country does this Francie refer to?" Seeing such a majestic war horse, Shimizu Shin, who was staying beside Xiu's family, couldn't help asking.

The Shimai Clan explained here: "The Southern Barbarians are a country. Anyway, they are not the same as the Hongyi. Most of them have the same black hair color as us."

In fact, Xiujia is very light. Franji (Rizuo Franci) is the name of Portugal and Spain in the Ming Dynasty.This is the name used by Turks, Arabs and other oriental peoples to refer to Europeans before modern times.

The Ming Dynasty first learned about Frangi from Arab merchants, and the word Frank was pronounced Firangi in Persian.

At that time, the Arabs would not divide the European countries in such a detailed manner. The country with the strongest method was the Frank Empire, so Europe was called Frank. This name was passed down to the Song Dynasty at that time, and passed down.

This way of reading is like the name of China in later generations of Europe. It is a misreading of Khitan. After all, most of the silk and porcelain at that time were resold by Daliao through the Silk Road after the Song Dynasty paid tribute to Daliao.

Although the missionaries of later generations wanted to correct this statement, they didn’t care to listen to what geography and the concept of the country you talked about with the people in power at the time. They simply called all Europeans by Francis.

Judging from the black hair color described by Shimai Zongshikou, he should be a Spaniard or Portuguese from the Iberian Peninsula.

Although Xiujia doesn’t know how to judge horses, he also knows that the best horses in Europe at this time are Andalusian horses. This kind of horse is the standard military horse of the European army. up.

Thinking of this, Xiujia specially went to the side of the horse to have a closer look, the excitement just now faded away, and it really was a gelding horse.

In fact, it is also understandable. After all, Andalusian horses still retain part of their wildness. Before there was no gelding, the male horses were relatively irritable. It would be difficult to transport the male horses without the gelding by sea.

"That's a good horse," Hideka said to the Shimai clan, "Is there another horse?"

"There is another one that I plan to dedicate to His Highness Guan Bai." The Shimai Clan said flatteringly from the side.

Thinking of the monkey's height of less than 1 meters, riding on such a tall horse with a shoulder height of more than 3 meters and a total height of more than 1 meters, Xiujia couldn't help laughing and said, "Okay, you still have a heart."

"I like this horse very much. Please help me to ask those Nanban merchants if there are any such horses. I want as many as there are. I am willing to double the purchase of stallions and mares."

It is not easy to have the opportunity to get in touch with foreign horses. Naturally, the Xiu family is unwilling to give up, and told the Shimai clan, "As long as you help me get the horses, if you do business in the Seto Inland Sea in the future, the family can also give them to you." A certain discount."

Hideka is not talking about it casually, his territory really spans both sides of the Seto Inland Sea. After so many years of development, Hideka's Ukita Navy has become the Seto that surpassed the Murakami Navy after annexing the Goto Navy. The strongest existence in Touchikai.

"Then I wrote His Highness here." The Shimai clan responded.

"By the way, how much did you pay for this horse?" Xiujia asked while walking beside the horse, caressing its mane gently.

"1 kans," the Shimai clan replied with a smile, "I bought this horse with 1 kans."

When the price of the horses was announced, even Xiujia was surprised.

The eight major horse producing areas in Japan in later generations are Kiso horses from Shinano, Hokkaido horses and stallions from Ezo, Noma horses from Iyo, Misaki horses from Hyuga, Taishu horses from Tsushima Island, Yakuma horses from Tanegashima and Yakushima, and distant horses. The Miyako horse and the Yona country horse.

Leaving aside the Miyako horses and Yona horses from distant countries, the Tsushima island imported Tsushima horses will not be discussed soon from North Korea.Japan's remaining five horse-producing land show homes have 2 of them, or the best two horse breeds.

Even so, the price Hideka buys from Iyo country is still around 120 kan, and the price for Kiso horses is around 180~230 kan.

Although Hideka has established a stronghold in Ezo Island and is constantly reclaiming land, due to shipping costs and rarity issues, Hideka's purchasers in Okayama are 250~300 guan, which is still the cost price.

If you look at it this way, the price of this Andalusian horse is a hundred times that of a Noma horse, and an Andalusian horse is even the entire financial income of a middle-class family with 10 shi for a year without eating or drinking.

For the retainers of the Xiu family, even 1 shi is enough to surprise people, let alone 1 guan.After the fee was given, all the warriors present couldn't get excited anymore.

Although the Shimai clan quoted a price of 1 kan, Hideka knew that he must have overreported. This is also the habit of businessmen in this era. They just bully samurai who don’t understand business, and more importantly, highlight the value of his gift. precious.

In Xiujia’s view, the normal price of such an Andalusian horse to Japan should be around 3000 guan. If the Nanman merchants’ intentionally high price is added, its purchase cost should be 5000 to 6000 guan. If you are willing to use gold as a transaction currency, it may be cheaper.

(End of this chapter)