Owari Yumeki Golden Day.

Alright, the two agreed. Shichibei got up to see the guests off. How you brothers continue to "play games" is your business. Shichibei has to hurry back to cut alfalfa and raise funds for Fujikichiro.

Five hundred strings of cash is not a lot, but it's not a small amount either.

If this had happened when Shichibei first transmigrated, it would have been an unimaginable sum of money. Now, at least he can think about it, so it's fair to say that he hasn't wasted this time.

Shichibei dared not tell anyone else about this matter, as it involved "major national plans." If he hindered Nobunaga's construction of Sunomata Castle, then Nobunaga's sword would be very sharp.

They turned and left. This year's alfalfa could only be sold for this one season; all the alfalfa from the third season had to be kept for themselves as winter fodder. They could have sold some more, but this meant giving up 500 mu of sandbar to the Kato family.

By the way, after Kato Nobutaka relinquished his title as head of the family, he has been living on Tsushima for a long time and has become interested in the sandbars that Shichibei had not planted.

He seemed to want to give it a try, but struggled to find a way to confirm whether the sandbar was stable.

They had no choice but to run to the sandbar every day, constantly checking whether it had shifted or been submerged. Using such a laborious method, it would probably take several years to succeed.

Ignore it; if new sandbars do form, theoretically they'll all be Shichibei's spoils. Nobunaga granted Shichibei all the sandbars at the river mouth, whether they were moving or fixed. For such a small piece of land, Shichibei still had to perform twelve days of military service with six horses every year.

After Shichibei recouped his investment of about 100 kan, the Oda clan finally began openly discussing the construction of Sunomata Castle. Shibata Katsuie also frequently appeared at Komakiyama Castle, actively coordinating with Niwa Nagahide, Murai Sadakatsu, and others to mobilize the Owari general laborers after the autumn harvest.

Previously, Shichibei had revised the land allocation system for Kami-Owari, right? Having an account book is convenient; you can directly conscript farmers for general service based on the amount of land they own. Oda Nobukiyo was defeated by Nobunaga and fled; the farmers within his domain had no right to bargain.

42. Persuading Xiao Liu to win over the monkey's heart.

Shibata Katsuie even sent a letter to Shichibei: Shichibei has indeed completed his military service in the eighth year of Eiroku, but he wants to borrow Shichibei's military service for the ninth year of Eiroku.

Sigh, I'm used to it. It's not the first time I've had my things borrowed.

Six horses and six grooms, right? This is clearly stated on the new Kawamura family's pledge of allegiance. It's a military obligation; Nobunaga doesn't want money now, he just wants Shichibei to serve twelve days of military service. There's no way around it, he has to go. Otherwise, the pledge of allegiance will be void, and the territory will be taken back.

Having only guessed that Shibata Katsuie's castle-building operation might fail, Shichibei summoned the head of the household who had gone to enlist. The rule was simple: if things went wrong, run away immediately.

A dead horse can be taken to Kai for only two or three kan. A dead person, however, requires at least seven years to raise, a loss our Kawamura-ya cannot afford.

That guy even patted his chest and guaranteed it, do you need to explain the logic to us? We all know it in our hearts, okay? We're all just trying to make a living, so we can just coast along. Anyway, the credit for the battle goes to the warriors in the end, why should we, mere horsemen, risk our lives?

Great, I really like your attitude.

Shichibei patted the man on the shoulder, wishing him a speedy escape.

Fortunately, Nobunaga is not fighting this year, and he also knows that collecting money too frequently, such as arrow money and tamabe money, will damage his strength. Therefore, he will not impose any levies on the construction of Sunomata Castle this year.

That's great! If it were a negotiation, given Shichibei's current status, he wouldn't be able to leave without at least ten or twenty kan. After all, Shichibei is now part of the Tsushima-kai, so his status and wealth are both in place. He'll pay as much tax as he enjoys the good life.

After inquiring around, I learned that Shibata Katsuie's departure date was set for fifteen days after the autumn harvest. Fifteen days would be enough time to complete the rice harvest; the remaining tasks would mainly involve drying and threshing. Women could also do the drying and threshing, which meant that able-bodied men in Owari could find time to serve.

If we take a more relaxed approach, we can set off at the end of October, complete the construction by mid-to-late November, and have several hundred of Nobunaga's foot soldiers move in by early December. The situation in the Kinai region should gradually become clearer next year.

Whether to make peace with Saito Tatsuoki and send troops to assist Ashikaga Yoshiaki in his march to Kyoto, or to treat Ashikaga Yoshiaki like a fart and continue the messy war with Saito Tatsuoki, the choice was in Nobunaga's hands.

The prerequisite is that you have the city of Suna.

It's a bit strange, though, that Kinoshita Tokichiro hasn't come to Shichibei to collect the money yet. We've sold all of this batch of alfalfa and millet, and he still hasn't asked about the money.

It's not entirely his fault. Back when Fujikichiro was struggling financially, he was selling kapok needles around the coastal areas to make a meager living. He met Hachisuka Koroku, who even introduced him to work carrying heavy loads.

They were dockworkers, the kind who could earn a decent living by working a day. The Hachisuka Party specialized in the shipping industry. After the Kiso River flowed into the sea, the shipping industry was run by Ito, the big boss of the Tsushima Clique, but before that, it was run by the Hachisuka Party and the Tsubouchi Party.

Needless to say, others may not know, but Hachisuka Koroku knows very well.

What kind of penniless wretch are you, Kinoshita Tokichiro? We used to share a bowl of barley rice, do you think I don't know you?

Five hundred kan? Even if you beat Fujikichiro to death and sold him, you still wouldn't get five hundred kan.

Even if you sell ditches for a hundred years, you still won't earn five hundred strings of cash.

If you ever fall on hard times, come and ask me for a meal. No problem. The Hachisuka Party isn't exactly a wealthy organization, but hiring a couple of people to do free meals isn't an issue for us.

As for the matter of giving a deposit of 500 kan to help Kinoshita Tokichiro prepare more than 3,000 logs of similar size and thousands of planks on the upper reaches of the Kiso River? Just pretend I didn't hear that, don't joke around.

This has delayed the entire Hachisuka faction from working hard, and we don't even know if we'll have hot soup or rice to eat this winter.

Hey, Kinoshita Tokichiro chuckled too. Ah, now you understand why big bosses of later generations always need luxury cars and watches when they go out, even if they're drowning in debt, they still have to buy private jets.

If you spend money here, and spend a lot, people will think you still have some airs. As long as you have airs, it's easy to get bank loans and convenient to use private bridging loans.

At the very least, when people see your private jet, they'll be able to estimate its value.

If you're just a wage earner and want to borrow 100,000 or 200,000 yuan from a bank, you don't even have a chance. You couldn't even get 100,000 or 200,000 yuan through a predatory lending scheme; it's impossible.

That's exactly the situation Fujikichiro is in now. He's penniless, and Hachisuka Koroku simply doesn't believe he can come up with that much money. Even if he did produce 500 kan in cash, Hachisuka Koroku would suspect the money was ill-gotten and wouldn't dare cooperate with Fujikichiro.

It's a very simple and basic principle of human nature.

What to do then? The only option is to bring Hachisuka Koroku to see Shichibei. Shichibei is a big boss among the Tsushima Kaiju, with hundreds of horses, thousands of acres of land, and assets worth thousands or tens of thousands of kan.

Even if you don't believe me, you should at least believe Mr. Kawamura.

So, Hachisuka Koroku is now sitting in front of Shichibei. Before coming, Hachisuka Koroku carefully checked several times, and even secretly sent someone to inquire whether the Kawamura-ya family under Komakiyama Castle and the Dochu Denma Kawamura family in Tsushima were the same family.

He only realized it when he saw Shichibei and a group of Owari samurai welcoming and seeing off guests, and everyone genuinely calling Shichibei "the big boss of Kawamura."

Whether you're rich or poor, you still have to clash with Shichibei.

Shichibei also cared a lot about Hachisuka Koroku, after all, he was one of only two people who dared to continue calling Fujikichiro, who was then Toyotomi Hideyoshi, "Hiyoshi" after Fujikichiro became the ruler of the land.

Another person who was just as bold was Fujikichiro's mother.

Furthermore, before Hachisuka Koroku's death, he was the head of the entire Hashiba family's retainers. Everyone else had to take a backseat; the bond between Fujikichiro and Koroku was probably no less than that between his younger brother, Koichiro. Another member of the family, the head of the retainers and samurai generals, was Sugihara Ietsugu, Nene's uncle; the two should not be confused.

If Xiao Liu were a little younger, he would definitely be among the five elders of Toyotomi in the future.

Putting aside other things, the number of retainers among the five elders at that time, whether it was Tokugawa Ieyasu or Maeda Toshiie, is now less than that of Hachisuka Koroku.

The Hachisuka faction comprises hundreds of retainers; if all were mobilized, they could number up to two thousand. With such a large retainer group, simply growing alongside Fujikichiro, managing a territory worth a million koku would be a piece of cake.

Another thing is, this person is so tall!

In a world where people are generally over 1.5 meters tall and 1.4 meters is not uncommon, Hachisuka Koroku, who is over 1.7 meters tall and has a muscular build, is definitely a potential future leader.

Let's chat, what should we talk about?

With Fujikichiro acting as the intermediary, Hachisuka Koroku asked one question: Would Shichibei truly give his full support to Sunomata's castle construction? Would he really provide Fujikichiro with a large sum of money to help him obtain timber?

Indeed, Shichibei responded very quickly, without the slightest hesitation. He meant that Fujikichiro's business was his business, and as long as Fujikichiro came to collect the money, and he had the funds, there was no limit.

To show support, Fujikichiro only asked for 500 kan, but Shichibei would exaggerate it, making it sound like their relationship was stronger than gold.

Xiao Liu and Fujikichiro were friends, and Xiao Liu believed that Shichibei had financial resources. Only by combining these two factors could he persuade Shichibei to lead the entire Hachisuka Party to join Oda's side.

"Here are twenty pieces of gold!" Shichibei immediately brought out the gold when he saw Hachisuka Koroku fiercely weighing the pros and cons.

"Hmm?" Hachisuka Koroku didn't expect Shichibei to be so agreeable.

Kinoshita Tokichiro, standing to the side, cast a grateful glance; now it was just one final step away. Seeing the cash, even if Hachisuka Koroku hesitated, he should agree now, right?

"If you need money later, just send someone to collect it!" Shichibei solemnly promised Hachisuka Koroku.

Twenty pieces of gold would only amount to a little over one hundred and twenty kan, which, frankly, wasn't a large sum for Shichibei at this point. However, for Hachisuka Koroku, who was doing hard labor on the Kiso River, it was still a considerable amount.

The three greatest hardships in life are rowing a boat, blacksmithing, and grinding tofu.

Few people who work in maritime transport have made a fortune, let alone those in river transport. Take the neighboring Ming, those million canal workers, aren't they all impoverished wretches? The kind who die wrapped in a straw mat, without even a coffin.

"I'll go back immediately and persuade everyone," Hachisuka Koroku decided on the spot.

Since it was a "party," it naturally wasn't up to Hachisuka Koroku to make all the decisions, although he was currently the leader. Below him were other minor leaders such as Inada Daisuke, Aoyama Hidemasa, Nagae Kagechika, Kajita Kageyoshi, and Hachisuka Matajuro (Koroku's younger brother). As for Maeno Nagayasu, who later became well-known to many, he was Koroku's cousin.

However, he is not a member of the Hachisuka faction, but rather a member of the Tsubouchi faction, and is now known as Tsubouchi Mitsukage. Whether he will participate in the Sunomata castle construction activities is currently unknown to Shichibei.

They were unlikely to escape, and the Kawabe clan of Kiso River eventually sided with Nobunaga.

"I entrust everything to you." Shichibei immediately bowed to Hachisuka Koroku, wishing him success.

The meeting at night ended quickly, and Fujikichiro left under cover of darkness with Koroku. Koroku is currently a local force on the Kiso River, whose allegiance is uncertain; his presence at Komakiyama Castle might lead to him being mistaken for a spy.

It was only after Fujikichiro personally escorted the person out that they encountered the foot soldiers guarding the Himiyagura at night. With Fujikichiro's explanation, no one would suspect anything.

After a while, Fujikichiro returned without saying a word, and gave Shichibei a deep, respectful bow. Selling his brother was one thing, but Shichibei's support for him was quite another.

At this time, Kinoshita Tokichiro was still a loyal and righteous man who could win people over. His personal charisma was at its peak during this period, attracting a large number of lower and middle-ranking samurai from the common people to join him.

The future? That's a matter for the future.

There are countless examples of rulers who were brilliant in their early years, mediocre in their middle years, and incompetent in their later years. As a person's status changes, not only will their knowledge and thinking change, but even their personality and temperament will change.

Shichibei quickly helped the man up. "You're bowing to me now, but in a few years, I'll be bowing to you." Shichibei figured he couldn't live off Fujikichiro's goodwill forever, so he'd better leave some pleasant memories of friendship for now.

Trying to use someone's past actions to demand repayment might work at first, but it might not work later.

"Since I've promised you, don't worry, I'll take care of the money." Shichibei held Fujikichiro's hand, trying his best to show his sincere feelings.

"Everything depends on you..." Fujikichiro shook hands with Shichibei repeatedly to express his gratitude.

After observing Fujikichiro closely, I noticed he didn't force himself to shed tears, which meant he wasn't acting; his feelings at this moment were genuine rather than opportunistic. Both of us were in humble circumstances, and someone was willing to lend a hand and fight alongside us—we should indeed express our gratitude.

With one matter settled, all that remains is to wait and see how things develop.

The autumn harvest in Kami-Owari ended as scheduled. This year was considered a normal year for Owari, as there was neither a large-scale troop deployment nor any fighting. With no war, the people could focus on farming, and the harvest wouldn't be too bad.

Once the rice harvest was complete, the official documents requesting service from Komakiyama Castle began to be delivered to each village and hamlet one by one. Normally, it would be the magistrates under Nobunaga who would draft the documents and then send low-ranking samurai to deliver them on foot.

This time was different. It's possible that Nobunaga had instructed them to make use of the Owari messenger station that Shichibei had drafted, to send official documents from Komakiyama, and then use messengers to quickly deliver them to various villages.

Owari is not a large area; even if you sent someone to run the messenger, it wouldn't take more than a few days to travel from north to south. But if you use a messenger horse, you can be guaranteed to deliver the message within a day.

In a small-scale application, the difference between one day and two days is not very noticeable. However, once Nobunaga controls twenty or thirty provinces and news needs to travel from Azuchi Castle to Minowa Castle in Ueno, Nanao Castle in Noto, or Tottori Castle in San'in, the convenience and speed will become apparent.

Perhaps Nobunaga sensed Shichibei's intention in establishing numerous messenger stations, which is why he ordered the hiring of messengers.

However, we have no way to communicate directly with Nobunaga, so we can only guess what he is thinking.

Upon receiving the official document, farmers from various districts and villages in Owari Province, led by their local officials, gathered at Komakiyama Castle. They were unaware of the contents of this year's general labor service, so they only brought simple earth-working tools.

Once they reached the castle, Shibata Katsuie announced that he was going to build a castle along the Mino Nagara River. This naturally caused discontent among the conscripted farmers, as conscripted laborers were normally recruited domestically and served there, while those sent abroad were paid separately.

It was clear that Shibata Katsuie also knew that going abroad for general service was not the norm, so he had Murai Sadakatsu inform the farmers that everyone could serve a maximum of twelve days, starting today. For any time exceeding this, they would be paid daily, at the same rate Nobunaga paid for short-term rural labor.

This finally calmed the farmers down, and they reluctantly agreed to go with Shibata Katsuie to the Mino Nagara River.

In summary, Shibata Katsuie brought fewer than four hundred soldiers, but over three thousand peasants who had been conscripted. Even before the battle began, this force was in disarray.

43. After failing to build the city, we seek another strategy (named after a bowl of spicy soup).

Do you think it's okay?