Pillars of the Wu family

While laying out the spring plowing arrangement, Yoshitoki Kira also integrated the resources of Biwaya. The original intention of Biwaya was to integrate the trade of the three main commercial centers in the Yodogawa River Basin, Sakamoto, Kyoto, and Sakaimachi. With his mastery of Lake Biwa, The great advantage of the Yodogawa water transport, he can obtain any kind of goods entering the Kinki area.

After returning to Sakamoto, the business travelers who went to Hokuriku and Ou for business can directly sell the returned goods at the Biwaya. Disassemble and sell these goods and make profits from them.

In addition, Biwa House acts as an agent for many special products in the Lake Biwa area, such as tea, iron cannons, paper, fish, and other products in Yuao and Hokuriku. The houses are all eaten, and the horses of Yuao and Hokuriku have been completely monopolized. Every time the best horses are brought in, they will be kept as horse breeds. All the horses are personally selected by various merchants and transported to the country through Yodogawa. Kyoto and Sakaicho are delivered to various places.

The advantages of transportation capacity and safety guarantee of Piwa House have made merchants from all over the world give up purchasing horses from Yuao and Hokuriku. As long as they maintain a good relationship with Piwa House, they can save a lot of costs for horse trafficking, and at the same time, they don’t have to worry about horses dying of illness. , being taxed by unscrupulous daimyo, being robbed by navy troops along the way, and other risks, a rough calculation is still quite profitable.

Gradually, the strong influence of the Piwa House penetrated into Kinai, and affected the authority of the Naya people in Sakai Town, so the wealthy merchants in Sakai Town came to their door.Sohisa Imai of Naya started out as a leather and dokura maker.Qianwu Zongne's real name is Songjiang Zongne.Dokura also started his business with a loan, and Tsuda Sotatsu met for the first time. When the three wanted to meet Kirayoshi, it was Hosokawa Fujitaka who received him on his behalf.

They hope to establish a comprehensive cooperation with Pipa House. Except that the fixed business route of Nawuzhong is still maintained, the goods purchased by Pipa House from Yuao and Hokuriku will be eaten together, and they hope to give certain discounts. What they mean is to cut off Small thoughts of other small businessmen.Eat all of Sakamoto's goods in one go, and let them continue to follow the rules of Sakamoto.

This idea is very good, the goods of Pipa House are sold to almost everyone, but it is impossible not to pay some price.

In Sakamoto, what the Naya people say is right, and in Sakamoto Town, it is what the Biwaya says. , Odate Harutada, Mitsui Toraka, Ina Tadaka and other followers patiently went around in circles with them.

The meeting lasted for three full days, and in the end, the Nawu people could not bear it anymore, and finally allowed Pipa House to join the Nawu ten people.Become one of the power holders in Sakaimachi, and at the same time, Biwaya must give priority to selling the hoarded goods to internal members of Nawu.The final agreement is slightly different from the requirements of Nawuzhong. The priority is not a complete monopoly. A monopoly group is thus formed.

The development momentum of Biwa House is fierce. By monopolizing all businesses in Lake Biwa and the Yodogawa River Basin, Piwa House can easily maximize profits. With the identification of Naya people in Sakai Town, the Kyoto Congregation also approached Biwa House and asked to join. With the support of the chambers of commerce in the two places, the tentacles are extended to the entire Kinki.

Now Yoshishi Kira is indeed very rich, and even richer than he imagined. The income of the money house has not changed and is still stable at the level of 1000 per month, and there is no problem with the annual income exceeding 12000.

The copper house’s secret business of recasting Yongle money has grown to 300 guan per day in net profit. With the more than 1 newly added sand founding skills becoming more proficient, the net profit can still increase to a certain extent. Specifically, can it reach 500 per day? It is hard to say, and this trend cannot continue indefinitely. Once the coins in the market are emptied, and the original Yongle coins are all melted down, the huge profits of the copper house will disappear. However, this process will be very long, probably for several years or even longer.

Sanheya’s business of building materials, wood and craftsmen has just started on the right track, and its own income cannot be compared with other commercial houses. In addition to selling various building materials, undertaking work such as repairing bridges, paving roads, and building new towns, Sanheya has also begun to operate. Wood processing, furniture making business.

At present, the construction of the new towns in Shiga and Takashima counties has basically been completed. After a period of huge profits of 500 kangaroos per month, it has returned to the normal income video, and the net income of about 150 kangaroos can be obtained in a month. , less income is better than nothing.

Relying on the profits of middlemen, the daily profits are also growing rapidly. In addition to the product management in Yuao, Hokuriku, Omi and other places, it includes ironware, woodware, handicrafts, swords and armor, clothing, cloth, shoes and hats, mustard and other product management. , have been integrated into the Pipa House, and the monthly net income of the Pipa House is still 600 guanyongle qian, which is double what it was a few months ago.

The real function of Biwaya is not to make money, but to monopolize the huge influence of trade. Imagine that merchants in Kinai gradually get used to the convenience of Biwaya to provide cheap goods. Once Piwaya cuts off the trade route, how much impact will the merchants in Sakaimachi and Kyoto be Well, the rich businessmen in Sakaimachi and Kyoto are a little aware of this reason, so they rushed over to win over Piwaya for this reason.

Yoshishi Kira was also afraid that the piwa house would be too powerful to be controlled. In order to strengthen the control over the piwa house, he specially ordered Hattori Ninja to inspect the followers of the main store in Sakamoto, Kyoto, and Sakaimachi. Persons with both talents will serve as middle-level managers, and at the same time, they will conduct investigations from among the adherents, and select loyal, reliable and rule-abiding people to be appointed as the new adherents of the Pipa House in the three places.

At the end of the year, Sakamoto Town, Katada, and Otsu Shinmachi were built one after another. A total of more than 5000 residents were settled in the three new towns. The total population of Sakamoto Town exceeded 2000, and the population was close to that of Kyoto and Sakai Town. The third largest urban agglomeration in Kinai, this calculation is based on the inclusion of Minato Town, Castle Town, and Northern Shinmachi, including [-] people from the craftsmen in the copper house and the newly relocated residents of Mikawa, and the entire Kuniyu Village.

In addition, there are [-] residents in Katada Port Town, Shinmachi, and the newly built Katada Castle Town, and [-] residents in Otsu.The level of urbanization in Shiga County has been greatly improved.Rely on craftsmanship imparted by Ming craftsmen over precious months.The new-style houses with brick-wood structure and three-fold soil reinforcement are more than half the cost of the board-furnished houses, and the reputation of the three-fold houses has also risen with the establishment of Shinmachi.

The newly built Katada Castle adopts a new fortification method for experimentation. The brick and stone are used as the external structure. The internal structure of the castle tower in the city still maintains the architectural idea of ​​​​mainly wood, and the stone wall is upgraded to a real city wall. It is convenient to garrison troops, and complex fortifications such as Sankaiyuebori, Hukou, and Machu are preserved inside.Although the city is small, it has all internal organs. Tokiyuki Yamamoto directly participated in the design and construction of Katada Castle. In his words, only 500 people can easily resist the attack of [-] troops.

During the chat during the inspection of Katada New City, Yoshitoki Kira asked: "This new city cost [-] kan Yongle coins in total? This is much more expensive than the original construction of Sakamoto Castle! The scale is also much smaller than Sakamoto Castle!"

Tokiyuki Yamamoto answered patiently: "The construction of Sakamoto Castle relied on the collection of general labor. When this Katada Castle was built, it happened to catch up with the expansion plan of Shinmachi, so the old minister strongly advocated that the craftsmen of Sanhewu should be the main ones. With the hired townspeople, when the construction of the new town is completed, the Katada Castle will also be built together. This may cost more, but it can avoid the impact or even destruction of the castle town during the subsequent construction of the city.”

"Hmm. Master, wouldn't the master really make this fortified city invulnerable?"

"How is it possible...the old minister can't feel at ease if such a fortified castle doesn't leave any flaws!" Tokiyuki Yamamoto said with a smile.

"Well, my family is horrified to see it. Without effective siege equipment, it is really difficult to break through. The price of using roasted jade is too high, and it will always cause huge losses!" Ji Liangyi said while thinking about the new city. who should be.

When he returned to Sakamoto, he immediately summoned his retainers to hold a small appraisal and announced his appointment: "It is not an option to delay the post of Usayama Shirojo for a long time. In this family, Nakajo Tokihide, who will return next month, will be appointed as Joyo. , The newly-built Katada Castle was appointed by Ina Tadashi. The defenders of the two places were recruited from the local area, and the military expenses and food were paid by the family. Usayama Castle was more important, so three hundred defenders were arranged, and Katada Castle only needed [-] defenders. "

"I would like to obey the order!" A group of retainers stood on the ground and saluted.

The expressions of several of the disciples are very interesting, Hosokawa Fujitaka is a strange expression of disappointment and relief, Matsui Yukan's face is full of disappointment, Ninagawa's parents are slightly upset, Odate Harutada is very calm, Mitsui Toraka It's nothing to do with oneself, but Ina Tadashi's family was surprised and grateful. Only Ben was frowning and thinking for a long time, and seemed to have realized something when he left.

After the retainers gradually dispersed, Yamamoto Tokyuki, who was left alone, said with relief: "It seems that the owner of the museum has understood the way of balance!"

"This appointment must have been contemplated by the master for a long time? My family has limited options. I can't move a few important positions, and the amount of movement is not enough. My family deliberately delayed the appointment of the castle representative because I wanted to give Nakajo Tokihide a chance to return. As for the position, it is not difficult to guess, Katada Castle has to be selected from the executives no matter what, and the new senators of the shogunate cannot be moved, so there are only two people, the Ina Tadaka family from Mikawa, and Mitsui Toraka from Omi."

"Master Master has really grown up! Considering everything carefully, it seems that the veteran has nothing to teach Master Master." Yamamoto Tokyuki stood up and walked out the door with a gratified and disappointed expression.

Ji Liangyishi hurriedly got up and chased after him, saying: "Master, don't say such things. There is still a lot to learn in this family, and the master needs to be reminded from time to time!"

"The work of the old minister will never be forgotten, please rest assured, Master Master!" Tokiyuki Yamamoto bowed slightly and stepped back.

The Kira family now pays retainers and craftsmen an annual salary of up to 8000 kanmon. For example, Yamamoto Tokiko’s annual salary has risen to 500 kanmon, which is paid in the form of half copper coins and half rice grain.

Therefore, the annual salary that the Kira family pays Yamamoto Tokiko is 300 kan Yongle coins, 600 shi of rice, 1 shi of salt, 20 shi of various vegetables, 500 poultry eggs, 5 shi of kelp, river fish and other aquatic products, and other welfare. The level is far higher than all the samurai of the Japanese Warring States Period in the same period.

The market price of these products is more than 800 guanwen, but the living conditions may even be better than that of the 8000 shi of the rich family. After all, a rich lord has 8000 shi of knowledge.According to the standard of public six people four.By the end of autumn, the grain that can be obtained is at most 4800 shi.Also consider the different seasons every year. If the weather is abnormal or even droughts and floods, it will be reduced. On average, it may be between 4000 and 4800 stones.

And the 8000 shi of grain has to be fed by a group of retainers to give the land to Zhixing. No matter how you say it, the Pudai retainer group will occupy 3000 to 4000 shi of Zhixing, and the rest is his direct leader, only about half of it. No less than [-] standing armed forces in the Shigao organization directly led to undertake military service, and finally the food was exchanged for copper coins for daily expenses.After all, food is not as convenient as copper coins to carry and circulate.

There are also banquets to entertain retainers, and meritorious retainers will be rewarded with money and food, and even land will be increased when they have military exploits. In the end, the living expenses withheld seven times and eight times for the lord's withdrawal are even less than 1000 shi.

Even if he has 1000 shi of grain in full, converted into Yongle money, it is worth about 300 guanwen, and there are no benefits such as fruits, vegetables, poultry eggs, and aquatic products, let alone 600 shi of grain, they can only eat pickled radishes made by themselves , miso soup and rice, the only way to improve food is to go fishing and falcon hunting.

On this point, he was not as lucky as Toki Yamamoto, he did not have the burden of supporting retainers and samurai.There is also no need to maintain a standing armed force to obey the orders of the master. All kinds of benefits that cannot be eaten can also be given away as favors or simply sold in the castle town.Lived with gusto.

Except for Tokyuki Yamamoto, who has a super high salary as an old family member of the genealogy family, the middle-level elite samurai of the Kira family, that is, the samurai of the ashigaru general, have a basic salary of between 100 and 200 kan, and the same half food and half money are paid separately. For the benefits of salt-like poultry, eggs and aquatic products, the only expenses they have to buy are clothes, armor for horses, and daily expenses for banquets, which is easy for the samurai of the Kira family.

The samurai who will be prodigal for a month, eating, drinking, playing and visiting the whale house all day long can't spend 20 Yongle money, and they don't have time to go to those places. The Kira family has always focused on diligence and thrift. Eating more poultry eggs and aquatic products strengthens the body, and it is neither good for poetry gatherings nor extravagant banquets. Ape music and tea ceremony are just a taste, and it also reduces the daily spending pressure of the samurai to a minimum.

In addition to the middle-level elite warriors, there are also some low-level warriors, including various fantou, group-tou warriors, horse-backed warriors, and red-backed warriors, who have salaries ranging from 300 to [-] guan, and their basic living standards are far more than [-] shi. The level of the small wealthy family is also an important reason why the samurai of the Kira family are envied by the shogunate. Although there is no enfeoffment of land and knowledge, this super high salary system makes those wealthy families with land and knowledge drool.

That is to say, the samurai have the division of leadership, but the relationship between each other is only the relationship between the master and the force. This can minimize the use of the power of the master to develop their own power. Of course, rich retainers can hire ronin to be themselves. This is not under the management of Kira's family, and the grassroots below are all standing ashigaru with 3 people to support Mi.

Kira’s family also has a lot of soldiers to support. As Sanhebei’s relatives and friends successively defected, the number of Mihebei’s supporting rice has increased to 2620. One person’s supporting rice is based on the consumption of 5 koku rice per day, which is equal to 1.8 shi per year. This is 2620 More than half of the people have participated in several joint battles, and they have achieved some merits. Currently, the one with the highest merit has 5 people supporting rice, which is equal to the income of a ground servant for a year's hard work.

He spends 1 shi of grain every year to pay and support rice, and the rewards of small competitions are also a combination of grain and rewards, and high-intensity training also requires extra food consumption. About 5 shi of grain, which is enough to support 2620 townspeople for a year, also made Kira Yoshitoshi deeply realize how expensive it is to raise soldiers.

It is much easier to keep an ashigaru out of production than to go to the field to plant a field servant. Although it seems more cost-effective to have land, but whenever there is a drought or flood, you can only resign yourself to fate, and you have to bear 2 to 3 places of military service. Needless to say how uncomfortable it was, and the ashigaru samurai of the Kira family didn’t have to do anything, they just needed to complete the prescribed training. They were also the basic base of the main armed forces of the Kira family.

In order to build a new type of iron cannon team, Yoshitoki Kira decided to sell all the 300 Sakai barrels in his hand. He sold them to the Oda family in Owari for 60 kanwen. Oda Nobunaga was very happy to buy them. The high-quality and low-cost Sakai cylinder, for which I wrote a letter to Kira Yoshitoki.Thank him for being a good friend.Oda Nobunaga certainly didn't care who used these iron cannons.If you know the source, you may be happier. After the test of Fukakusa, it sounds like the name is very good.

Then he used the Yongle money in the copper house to purchase the new iron cannon produced in Guoyou Village. Of course, the price of the new iron cannon was relatively high. The price given to Kirayoshi was 50 guanxi, which is considered a small profit. When Kirayoshi purchased 12 new iron cannons in one go, it cost a total of 70 guanyongle coins.

The new iron cannon adds a support frame to enhance the stability of shooting.It can be used for fixed shooting during defensive battles. At the same time, the caliber of the gun is further reduced, and the barrel is extended to 1 meters. Therefore, the total weight of the new iron cannon has also increased to about 2 catties. It was replaced with a 13-gram heavy lead bullet, which increased the effective range to 25 meters, and the maximum range reached an astonishing 80 meters. With the Kira family's secret gunpowder, the initial velocity of the lead bullet exceeded 200 meters per second.

Another type of iron cannon sold in Kuniyou Village is the Spanish iron cannon that was improved when helping Kirayoshi.It just absorbs the advantages of the two iron cannons for improvement, and the gun weighs only eight catties.Of course, the lead bullet is too light, and the effective range is less than 50 meters. With the gunpowder cover, it can be used in bad wind and rain. The big deal is that the effective range of the gunpowder may be less than 20 meters after being wet. This can only be regarded as a little secret, and the cost is about 35 yuan. , Of course, the external retail price is 80 guan, which is basically the same as the retail price of the Sakai tube.

Equipped with this heavy-duty iron cannon, the long-range attack capability of the Kira family will be greatly improved. At the same time, with the introduction of small competition and new weapons, the overall equipment has caught up with European infantry equipment, and the iron cannon is convenient and even slightly strengthened.

Each of them served for the Kira family with the same salary. Sanhebei had ashigaru generals, cavalry generals, bow generals, and iron cannon generals. Among them, there were 500 red cavalry, 500 iron artillery teams, 500 archers, and javelins. 500 soldiers, 500 gun shields, 100 grenadiers, and 20 flag bearers.

First of all, the new iron artillery team supported by 500 heavy-duty iron cannons is led by the iron cannon general Takikawa Masushige, wearing black full body, equipped with 1 iron cannon, 50 jade medicine box with 1 fixed gunpowder bamboo tubes, and 2 matchlocks meters, 1 support frame, 1 machete, and 50 lead bullets produced by Tongwu.

General Naito Masashige leads a 500-man bow and archery team, wearing black full feet, equipped with a heavy rattan bow, 1 pots of cast iron feather arrows, a total of 2 pieces, and a scimitar. They serve as the main force of the long-range troops of the Kira family. At the time of Kiragishi, 40 guanyong coins, the price of the ghosts is about to catch up with iron cannons. Although cast iron feather arrows are not expensive, they are consumables. 1 cast iron feather arrows need 500 guanyongle coins. The cost of a battle.

Ashigaru General Takazuna Watanabe selected 500 able-bodied men to serve as the javelin team, dressed in black and full body, each equipped with a long spear, a vine shield, two short javelins, and a one-handed battle axe. The new arms that have been explored are spear and shield soldiers for melee combat and javelin soldiers for long-range combat. It will be a nightmare for both ashigaru and cavalry.

Bombanto Kato Koaki continued to lead the grenadier team of 100 people, wearing red full body, equipped with 10 baked jade, 1 piece of vine wood shield, and 1 scimitar. An assault unit like the Grenadier.

Admirals Suganuma and Okochi Tsunao commanded 500 gun and shield teams, wearing red full body, each equipped with a spear, a vine shield, a one-handed battle ax, and a mace as the main force. Heavy armor has great power.

Riding general Yise Zhigao and Shile Zhentong commanded 500 red cavalry, all dressed in red, each equipped with a large gun and a scimitar, as the main assault force, and finally 1 people holding flags, each Holding the black Eryinliang pattern banner on a white background, and the white Wuqitong pattern banner on a black background.

Those in black are the Iron Artillery Team, Archer Team, and Javelin Team, and those in red are the Grenadier Team, Gun Shield Team, and Red Cavalry. There are 200 returning warriors, all dressed in red and fully equipped with 1 large body gun, 1 machete, 1 heavy rattan bow, and 2 pots of cast iron feather arrows, a total of 40 pieces.

This less than 2820 elites are all refitted, costing 4 Yongle money, and the monthly training and maintenance of weapons and equipment costs as much as 300 guan. I really don’t know how the Takeda family raised the red equipment. The elite cavalry was about to be overwhelmed, and Takeda Harunobu's cavalry must not be so elite. (To be continued..)

ps: I know that everyone is very concerned about the structure of the reserve team, so I wrote it out, including how to get salary for the samurai who don’t give Zhixing. .