Owari Yumeki Golden Day.

Shichibei, on the other hand, still retained some of the moral compass of later generations, but this compass was quickly shattered. It's unclear whether Princess Ichibei misunderstood or had simply made up her mind. She might have thought Shichibei's question about her well-being was a hint.

It's like you eat my food, live in my house, and use my things, and I haven't treated you badly. Shouldn't you show some appreciation?

Before Shichibei could finish agonizing over it, Ichihime had already done so. She sent a maid over to tell Shichibei that her period was over, and that she had even specially cooked herself in an iron pot and taken a long bath using the so-called Goemon bathhouse.

Chongji also wanted a father.

Shichibei, who was drinking miso soup, almost choked. "So you've already showered and are waiting for me? Is that so direct? That's not very nice. We're... well, I'm a little embarrassed..."

Before the mini-drama in his mind could even begin, the maid had already gotten up and left the room. Shichibei kept nodding, as if the mini-drama was unfolding. The maid, however, assumed that Shichibei's nods meant agreement, and that everything was settled.

People at the time were not shy about discussing sex, yet they were relatively conservative in their actions. Despite the popularity of erotic art in the Edo period, it didn't stop the courtesans of Kabukicho from covering their faces while waiting to be chosen in the brothels. Those who took a liking to someone wouldn't say so directly, but would go to the brothel entrance, take down the courtesan's sign, and arrange a time privately. They would either relieve themselves inside the brothel or go out to serve her.

So, it's perfectly normal that Shichibei only nodded and didn't agree.

In the Taiga drama "Aoi and the Three Generations of Tokugawa," Tokugawa Hidetada and his brothers are discussing how to find women. The old ladybug, Yuuki Hideyasu, mentions a place that directly hints at the headman's house, where women are offered up that night. His brothers readily agree, considering Hideyasu very experienced.

It was truly abundant, but in the end, his whole body was covered in large red spots, and he was so badly rotten that he was unrecognizable.

After finishing his meal, Shichibei strolled around the yard, glancing left and right to see that it wasn't completely dark yet, and not all his family members were resting. He just stood there, pacing about; even the horse shook its head at him.

In the end, he actually chopped firewood himself, boiled a large pot of hot water, mixed it with cold water, rinsed himself thoroughly, and washed clean. The little drama in his mind also stopped, and only then did he set off for Ichihime's room.

The room was dimly lit by a single candle. To be fair, the young woman was alright; at least when Shichibei touched her, she didn't tremble with the shyness of a first-timer, nor did she flinch. It wasn't exactly deliberate compliance, but rather a calm demeanor, as if she were urging Shichibei to hurry up and go for it.

Shichibei, who wasn't a virgin, wasn't in a hurry at this point, and his mind actually became sharper. Unlike the petite young general, Ichihime was taller, so she couldn't sit in Shichibei's lap, but leaning against the pillar, the height was just right.

Finally, I can try holding onto my legs...

Having learned several new techniques and methods, Shichibei got up early and, feeling refreshed, fed the horses in the stable. He even bumped into the worker who was fetching water for the horses, and the worker wondered why Shichibei was up so early.

Well, I wasn't going to get up this morning anyway, so what else can I do?

After thinking for a moment, Shichibei realized that fetching water was a task usually done by apprentices around fourteen or fifteen years old, and young people might not even know how to do it. He simply smiled and said, "When I was your age, I also got up this early to fetch water and feed the horses. If you work hard, you can become a great merchant like me in twenty years."

The young man was stunned, unable to imagine having hundreds of thousands or even millions in capital. The scene was too beautiful, it was like a dream.

The young general and the other maids, who had also gotten up early to light the fire, boil water, and cook, burst out laughing when they saw Shichibei drawing pictures of cakes for a young apprentice. If anyone should be drawing, it should be for the head merchants or lords; they have the potential to become wealthy merchants. What could a fourteen-year-old boy possibly draw?

"You're so irresponsible..." The young general didn't even bother to look at Shichibei, and walked past with his head tilted to the side.

The maids giggled and laughed. Besides the baby crying in the middle of the night, there had been other noises last night. Most of the maids in the house were either the wives of the servants or women who came to work as wet nurses; how could they not understand? How could they not know?

Shichibei, however, seemed oblivious, easily feeding the horses. A horse drinks dozens of liters of water a day, and if it runs all day, it probably needs even more. Wild horses spend more than eleven hours a day foraging and drinking. It's only because human-fed horses eat millet, black beans, and other feed that they can spare the time to run for humans.

The young men who were carrying water back one after another saw Shichibei personally feeding the horses and thought they were late. But when they looked up at the sky, they saw that the sun had just risen and they were clearly not later than usual.

Watching Shichibei humming an unnamed tune in such a cheerful mood, the other men felt something was off, but they couldn't express it. They all grabbed buckets and went to pour water for him. Some even muttered that it wasn't enough and ran out to fetch more.

Shichibei was completely unaware, busy with his own tasks. Indeed, it had been quite some time since he had specifically tended to these horses; it seemed he needed to constantly interact with them to avoid becoming rusty in his horse-raising skills.

Chapter 331 New Money Is Quite Relative

The feeling of secret delight lingered for quite a while. After brushing and feeding the horses and opening the shop for business, a letter and samples from Tsuda Munekichi were delivered from Sakaimachi by the Flying Kick Clan.

The Tada copper mine and the Kamioka zinc mine are still recovering, and although they have started small-scale production, they are not yet fully operational. However, the trial minting of brass coins has already begun in Sakai.

Genuine small-denomination coins should be cast using red copper or purple copper, as they have a high copper content and thus appear purplish-red, hence the name. The copper content of these finished coins is mostly above 80%, sometimes even higher.

However, we cast brass coins, which contain 55%-60% copper, about 35% zinc, and the remainder are impurities such as lead and iron. Brass coins are actually quite shiny and beautiful when they are first cast, but they only become dark after oxidation.

Minting coins is a minor matter. Japan has plenty of craftsmen who can mint bad coins. Just spend money to recruit them and give the master craftsman twenty koku of rice, and see if he comes or not.

The only problem was the appearance of the coins; in other words, the poor minting technology meant that it was impossible to produce beautiful coins.

Many later Kan'ei Tsuho coins are of excellent quality, with clear, deep, and beautiful lettering. These were all cast by the same craftsmen who passed down their skills from generation to generation. So why is there a difference between "ugly" and "beautiful" coins? It's all about passing down skills from father to son and from son to grandson. Surely the skills of sons and grandsons don't suddenly explode.

It's actually very simple; it depends on your needs.

If the goal is simply to mint inferior coins, then profit is the primary consideration. A few coins can be minted casually, just enough to resemble coins, without needing to think much beyond that.

However, if the goal is to mint high-quality coins, then advanced techniques are required in the pre-minting preparation stage. For example, in the simplest case, when Japan was minting inferior coins, they didn't have master coins; they simply took coins from the market and started casting and mold making. This method resulted in coins becoming smaller and smaller with each mint.

Why? Because once the coins are cast, the edges are filed down to remove any rough edges or burrs. Naturally, the craftsmen will file carefully, since what they file down is just scraps, waste material, and has to be "thrown away."

The first coin was smaller than a normal copper coin. The second coin was made using the smaller coin as the master coin. After it was cast, the edges were filed down. It got smaller with each generation until it was so small that there was no edge left, only a blurry circle of characters in the middle.

Therefore, the first step in minting coins of equal weight is to hand-carve a master coin from red copper. This beautifully carved master coin is then used to create the mold. This ensures that the coins are roughly the same size and weight, while also ensuring that the inscriptions on the coins are clear.

This prevents the characters from gradually becoming blurred and distorted, or even missing strokes, during repeated casting. Some cast coins even have half of their characters missing.

The cast coins were threaded onto an iron mace and rolled simultaneously to grind their edges, ensuring that all coins were the same size and shape. Finally, the four edges of the rounded coin were scraped to ensure there were no burrs, and a single coin was considered complete.

The Yongle Tongbao coin that appeared before Shichibei was made of shiny brass. Although it was not the most exquisite, its weight and appearance were almost identical to the genuine Yongle Tongbao coins circulating in the market.

There's absolutely no problem using it directly as valuable cash. In fact, because of its pristine condition, it might even be highly sought after in the market, with everyone collecting it for future use.

After all, Emperor Yongle (Zhu Laosi) has been dead for over a hundred years. Aside from the coins minted during his lifetime, the remaining Yongle Tongbao coins are mostly privately minted coins from various regions. Private minting took place in southern China, Annam, and Japan, all treating it as an international currency in East Asia. With so many in circulation, good, high-quality coins have become increasingly rare.

Shichibei, wanting to give it a try, immediately called over the helper who was carrying water for him, gave him two newly minted Yongle Tongbao coins, and asked him to buy two steamed buns.

Let the market decide!

One Yongle Tongbao coin could be exchanged for a steamed bun or pastry.

While the waiter went to buy steamed buns, Shichibei resumed reading Tsuda Muneki's letter. The content was straightforward: it wouldn't be difficult to build a few coin-minting workshops in Sakai; the craftsmen were local, and they could even manage to lure in those from out of town. These days, war was everywhere; Sakai was a rare haven of peace.

However, Tsuda Munekichi still has to say that even with 35% zinc, the cost of minting such high-quality coins is still very high. Because the current minting volume is not large, production is not at full capacity, and the coordination of tasks is not smooth, the cost of minting a single high-quality coin is almost the same as the market value of a Yongle Tongbao coin.

As the scale increases, costs may be reduced to 80% or even 70% of the value. However, considering the need for large-scale storage of raw materials such as copper, zinc, and charcoal, as well as transportation costs, the actual profit will still not be much.

After all, while transporting zinc from the mountains of Hida to the Kiso River in Mino for shipping, and then transferring it to Sakai, is convenient, it still incurs transportation costs. Copper from Settsu also needs to travel via the Ina River and then the Muko River before finally arriving in Sakai. In other words, it's all by water transport; if it were transported by land, this would be a loss-making endeavor.

I understand, I can accept it, that's just how it is.

What to do? Japan's transportation conditions, craftsmanship, and logistics costs are all different from those of the Ming Dynasty. The only advantage is that the price of raw copper is relatively lower.

Since Tsuda Muneyuki calculated that large-scale production could yield a gross profit of approximately 30%, this business was feasible for the wealthy Shichibei. The key point was to use this to control the money laundering industry and establish industry standards and regulations.

Having ample copper and silver in stock was an important stepping stone for Kawamura-ya's further expansion and development.

After putting down the letter, the young man who had bought the steamed buns ran back. Two steamed buns wrapped in bamboo leaves were presented to Shichibei without any trouble.

Can I spend it? Of course you can.

The steamed bun vendor, seeing the gleaming new money, accepted it without hesitation and promptly wrapped two steamed buns for the young man. However, the expected conversation—asking the young man where the money came from or if he had any more—didn't occur. Two mere coins weren't anything to be surprised or suspicious about.

Very well, here are two steamed buns for you. Take them and eat them yourself. Shichibei picked up the bag full of the remaining new money and then wrote a reply to Tsuda Munechika, the big boss.

Regardless of whether it's profitable or not, mint coins at this rate. Shichibei will have Sou Kotaro check on them from time to time. Anyway, these coins won't be put into the market for the time being; let's hoard them for future use.

After the letter was written, it was sent to Sakai by the Flying Kicks, and Shichibei had to set off for Azuchi.

Azuchi Castle was originally a branch castle of Kannonji Castle, but it was just a small military fort built on Mount Azuchi. It was used to house two or three hundred people as a guard post and guerrilla garrison, and was not a complete Japanese castle.

In order to connect the waterways of Lake Biwa, Nobunaga also launched a large-scale shogunate project in the south of the Yangtze River, which completely connected Lake Ōnaka and Lake Biwa, making Lake Ōnaka the harbor for Azuchi Castle.

With the Oda clan's vast financial and human resources, the entire Azuchi region is now a massive construction site. The cutting and leveling of Mount Azuchi, the development and excavation of Lake Ōnaka, and the planning and layout of the castle town—all these projects are being carried out simultaneously, demonstrating the talent of Niwa Nagahide, the General Sovereign.

Considering that Niwa Nagahide also had to prepare for the expedition to Shikoku as the successor to Miyoshi Nobutaka and Kagawa Nobusumi, the fact that he could juggle two important matters at the same time further demonstrates Nagahide's prowess.

After a quick glance at the massive construction site, Shichibei didn't linger and ran off to Jōraku-ji Temple on the Azuchi side. Nobunaga's family members lived in the residence of Sakuma Nobumori at Gifu Castle, but Nobunaga himself and his troops moved to the vicinity of Azuchi Castle, where they first built samurai residences.

The samurai's residences surrounded Azuchi Castle, much like the samurai guarding Oda Nobunaga. Only on the outskirts of the samurai residences were the planned streets and towns for merchants and artisans.

By the way, unlike Kawamura-ya, Shichibei didn't need to wait for Niwa Nagahide's land allocation. After Nobunaga decided to build Azuchi Castle, Shichibei already had a huge plot of land near the castle.

That's a story for later. Let's find Nobunaga, who is temporarily residing at Jōraku-ji Temple. Otherwise, Nobunaga might personally go to build a long siege around Hongan-ji Temple with Hanawa Naomasa and not be able to find him.

Upon asking around, they learned that Nobunaga was inside the temple.

After paying his respects, Nobunaga was gesturing at some blueprints. Historical records indicate that Nobunaga was personally involved in the planning of Azuchi Castle, and that he personally instructed on how some buildings should be constructed.

Even after Shichibei sat down, Nobunaga didn't stop observing and thinking. If it were something truly earth-shattering, Shichibei would have already started yelling and screaming; he wouldn't still be sitting here opposite Nobunaga.

After Nobunaga added two strokes to the drawing, he looked up and asked Shichibei why he had come. Shichibei didn't pretend; he took out his pocket, poured out five coins, and pushed them in front of Nobunaga, showing them to him.

"What?" Nobunaga glanced at it and thought, "It's just five coins, what's wrong with the money?"

"This was newly cast in Sakai." Nobunaga had clearly forgotten about it, and he didn't seem to care much about it before.

"Oh...no wonder it looks brand new." Nobunaga finally remembered after being reminded by Shichibei.

"Do you think it can be used as a single coin?" Although the value of a coin needs to be tested by the market, the approval of Nobunaga, a feudal ruler, is also necessary.

"Of course, I wouldn't worry about anything if you minted it." Nobunaga picked up the coin, then threw it on the ground, listening to the sound of the coin hitting the ground.

The main thing is to determine the weight and size. If gold and brass of the same size are hit on the ground, you can tell the difference just by the sound.

"Then I will order Sakai to produce them with all its might. Afterwards, may they be used as a form of salary?" Shichibei could use the tens of thousands of samurai and standing foot soldiers under Nobunaga's command to actually confirm market acceptance and expand his influence.

Nobunaga didn't answer, but instead tapped the two coins together and continued to listen to the sound. He even stroked the edges of the coins, as if carefully judging the quality of new coins.

"Of course," Nobunaga nodded, indicating that there was no problem with doing so.

"With your words, I am relieved." Very well, with Nobunaga's endorsement and the excellent relationship with the Sakai-chōkai, Shichibei is confident that he can promote the new currency to the fullest extent in a short period of time.

If the market accepts the new coins with only 55%-60% copper content and gradually spreads throughout Japan, then Shichibei's efforts to take over the Tada copper mine and the Kamioka zinc mine will not have been in vain.

Chapter 332 Tianwang Temple is too sparse

Now that Shichibei has arrived, Nobunaga has one more thing to instruct him on: to allocate 500 arquebuses to Sakuma Nobumori. This is to assist Sakuma Nobumori's army in invading Kishu and eliminating the separatist armed forces within the Kishu region.

Nobunaga's main force is going to participate in the siege of Ishiyama Honganji Temple, right? At this moment, Ishiyama Honganji Temple is the most troublesome place in the Goki region, and Araki Murashige is secondary.

Since Nobunaga couldn't help Sakuma Nobumori in any way, he could only support him in other ways. Of the five major powers in Kishu, namely the Saiga sect, the Negoro sect, Funaga-ji Temple, Mount Koya, and the Kumano Three Temples, the Saiga sect, which supported Ishiyama Hongan-ji Temple, and Funaga-ji Temple, which belonged to the Tendai sect, were the least subservient to the "royal rule."

Nobunaga had burned down Enryaku-ji Temple on Mount Hiei, the head temple of the Tendai sect. It would be strange if Funaga-ji Temple treated Nobunaga well; they wished they could burn Nobunaga to ashes and settle the score immediately.

Koyasan and Kumano Sanzan are relatively inclined towards Shugen, and in reality they have become local separatist groups, but they are not so frequently involved in external struggles.

As for the Negoro-shu, they were the warrior monks of Negoro-ji Temple. Negoro-ji Temple was the head temple of the Shingon sect, boasting a land area of ​​720,000 koku, making it one of the most powerful temples in the land. Its warrior monks claimed to number in the tens of thousands, but in reality, they numbered over ten thousand, and possessed more than three thousand arquebuses, making them quite formidable in combat.

According to the established strategy, the four generals, including Sakuma Nobumori, aimed to completely eliminate the Saiga clan and the Funaga-ji Temple. They also sought to recruit the Negoro clan and bring them under Oda's command.

The fighting prowess of the Saiga troops needs no further explanation; they were one of the core main forces in the ten-year resistance against the enemy at Ishiyama. Their bravery and relentless fighting style were even documented by the Christian missionary Frois.

The key point is that they had the capacity to produce their own arquebuses and could also obtain domestically produced saltpeter through the Honganji Temple. In addition, the Saiga clan lived in the Kawaguchi area of ​​the Kii River in Kishu, where they were engaged in fishing, timber production, and shipping, and maintained a certain number of naval forces.

There are records of the Saiga naval forces gaining strength during the first Battle of Kizugawaguchi. With their own naval power, the Saiga not only controlled Kishu Minato, but were also able to obtain saltpeter and refined iron needed to forge gun barrels through foreign trade.

This is not easy to defeat!

Upon hearing the matter, Shichibei said it was a trivial matter; mobilizing arquebuses was something he was responsible for handling and supplying anyway. Furthermore, Shichibei's adoptive father, Oda Nobuhiro, was also appointed as Sakuma Nobumori's successor and was to lead troops to Kii Province. Providing Nobuhiro with some guns and cannons was simply his duty as a son-in-law.

With that settled, there was nothing more to it. Nobunaga waved his hand, indicating that Shichibei could go about his business as he pleased; he still had to continue planning Azuchi Castle. Some areas needed to be built in a way that reflected the high standards of this new generation of noble Japanese ruler. The reconstructed Azuchi Castle keep, after all, was simply adorned with gold leaf.

"Alright, then I won't bother you any longer." Shichibei was about to get up and leave when Nobunaga seemed to remember something and called him back.