Japan's Warring States Period: The Rise of the Wakasa Tiger

The prerequisite for drawing up military service accounts and clarifying the obligations of retainers and citizens, in addition to corresponding legal norms, is the accurate calculation of knowledge and action, which also involves land inspection.

At first, considering the unstable situation, Yoshishige only carried out land surveys in Tango, Wakasa, and Tsuruga. Nowadays, a large number of newly annexed territories, including Tajima, Inaba, Mimasaka, and Harima, still use the previous land survey accounts, and both taxes and military service are far from the actual situation.

Therefore, when the Amago clan and the Ouchi clan were busy fighting and had no time to look east, Yoshishige announced that he would survey the above four countries. Of course, in order to avoid arousing resentment and resistance from the newly annexed people, Yoshishige announced that this survey was only to grasp the basic situation of the land in the territory and would not be used as a standard for paying taxes.

Since these areas had just been annexed, the land survey was relatively difficult, so it took from March of the 1542th year of Tenbun (1543) to May of the following year under the constant urging of Yoshishige to basically complete it. The new tax standards and military service account were not finally implemented in the above-mentioned areas until the end of the th year of Tenbun ().

Yoshishige was well aware that wars cost a lot of money, so during the hard-earned post-war period of peace, he focused his attention on developing the economy.

In addition to the existing "Northern Ship Trade" and "Communication Symbol Trade", Yoshishige strengthened economic ties with Ming merchants, which was called "Ming-Wa Trade". On the basis of the original opening of Aoshima Island near Obama as its base, he further allowed merchants under Wang Zhi to land in Obama Port and set up a "Tangjin Town" in the port, imitating the Asakura clan, to attract Ming merchants to trade and live here, further developing the local economy.

Not only that, in addition to Obama Port, Yoshishige also allowed the opening of four ports, namely Tsuruga, Maizuru, Miyazu, and Takeno, to Ming merchants, and built the above-mentioned ports into the intersection of "Northern Ship Trade", "Tongxiangfu Trade" and "Mingwaka Trade", so that goods from Mutsu, Dewa, Echizen, Echigo, Echigo and other places could be transferred in the Takeda territory and then boarded Ming merchant ships. Yoshishige also earned a considerable price difference and commission.

Since the economy serves the war, the trade of strategic materials is indispensable. While helping Wang Zhi to make a lot of money and almost monopolize the trade with the Takeda clan in Wakasa, Wang Zhi also returned the favor by providing Yoshishige with a large amount of saltpeter and Mongolian horses, transporting several falconets, and assisting the Takeda clan in optimizing and improving the iron cannons they manufactured, which significantly improved their accuracy and power.

In addition to developing foreign trade and promoting commercial development, Yoshishige also officially started mining at the Ikuno Silver Mine.

As we all know, after defeating Yamana Yutoyo and taking over the land of East Tajima, Yoshishige took control of Asago County where the Ikuno region is located. However, because the area was located on the border between the Takeda clan and the surrounding forces, Yoshishige, who was weak at the time, did not dare to develop the silver mine.

Nowadays, the areas of Harima and Mimasaka around the silver mine have been controlled by Yoshishige, and the Ikuno Castle to defend the silver mine has been built, so the mining of the silver mine has been put on the agenda.

After repeated and careful discussions, Wang Zhi provided Yi Zhong with several craftsmen who were proficient in the "ash blowing method" in accordance with his previous promise, and reached an agreement with Wang Zhi on the trade process and profit distribution after the silver was produced.

In April of the 1542th year of Tenbun (), Ikuno Silver Mine officially started mining, and Hirai Toshimichi, the son of Hirai Toshimasa, was appointed as the "Ikuno Magistrate" to be responsible for the daily management of the silver mine. At that time, Iwami Silver Mine, as the largest silver mine in Japan, had an annual output of about tons (million taels). As a "rising star", the annual output of Ikuno Silver Mine basically reached tons (million taels) five years after it was put into mining.

In order to serve the economy and facilitate the management of the territory and future war needs, Yoshishige leveled and widened the main roads in the territory, such as Tango Street, Mackerel Street, Tajima Road, and the roads leading to the territory areas such as Tsuruga, Harima, Mimasaka, Inaba, and the surrounding areas such as Tamba and Omi, in the name of unblocking the trade route. In addition, some mountain roads that hindered the passage of the territory were also widened and improved, making the communication between the territories and the surrounding forces more convenient. The development of commerce and the improvement and optimization of the road network have driven the advancement of the "post station system" in the territory and the increase and growth of "post station town". The growth of "post station town" has in turn attracted more businessmen, and a virtuous cycle of commercial development in the territory has been achieved.

With the economy on the rise and the family financial resources strengthened, the next thing Yoshishige needs to do is to strengthen the military.

Previously, because the economy had just started, Yoshishige's plan to implement the "separation of soldiers from farmers" was temporarily shelved. However, for the purpose of defense within the territory, he still selected or built a city in each county, and the county representative trained a certain number of standing soldiers to be stationed in the city. In peacetime, they were responsible for the defense of the city, and in wartime, they were responsible for supporting the county or neighboring counties. This approach could quickly assemble the army to respond to sudden war situations, and these standing soldiers were also seen as a pilot for "separation of soldiers from farmers."

However, as the territory expanded significantly and the external forces faced became increasingly complex and powerful, Yoshishige believed that the implementation of "separation of soldiers and farmers" must be accelerated.

The first step was to expand the previous "Red Cavalry" into a larger "army", which was later commonly referred to as the "Red Armor".

The so-called "Bei" is a general term for a relatively complete team during the Warring States Period in Japan, which was mainly composed of Ashigaru and was divided into various military positions such as flag group, arquebus group, spear group, bow group, cavalry team, military supervisor/meetsuke, samurai general (commander of the reserve team), and okado (in charge of supply transportation).

In order to enhance the mobility and combat effectiveness of the Red Guards, Yoshishige crossbred the native horses imported from Kai and the Mongolian horses purchased from the Ming Dynasty, creating an improved breed that was more suitable for warfare in Japan's mountains, valleys, and small plains. Since the horse farms were mainly located in the eastern part of Tajima, this type of horse was also called "Tajima horse."

The size of this horse is between Kai horse and Mongolian horse. It is relatively easy to control and can adapt to different battlefield conditions. It runs fast and has strong maneuverability. It can have a strong deterrent and impact on the enemy. It was one of the magic weapons for the victory of the Takeda army in large-scale battles in the future.

In addition to the red-armored troops, Yoshishige also divided and expanded his own horse guards into two reserve troops, which were called "black-armored troops" and "yellow-armored troops" respectively due to the differences in armor, flags, and even weapon colors.

The status of these two items is basically the same, but because Yoshishige admires black and prefers to use the "Marunouchi Rhyo" with a black background and white print, it is generally believed that the black item is more important than the yellow item.

The Black, Yellow and Red armies formed the famous "Three Takeda Armies" in the future. The internal structure of these three armies is basically the same, but each has its own characteristics.

The most obvious difference is that the "white-browed team" composed of the descendants of the Chinese lords is arranged in the black defense, the number of iron cannon teams in the yellow defense accounts for a large proportion, and the number of cavalry teams in the red defense is basically the sum of the other two defenses. (End of this chapter)