Owari Yumeki Golden Day.

After three more cups of sake, Shichibei learned from Hidenaga how much gold Hideyoshi had obtained from Konishi Ryūsō and Hibiya Ryōke. Just to become Hideyoshi's personal merchants, the two had each offered 5,000 kan and 3,000 kan respectively.

Two thousand kan were spent on land purchases. Hideyoshi promised them that they could freely preach in Harima, and he also paid two thousand kan for the land.

The 10,000 kan were all transported gold and didn't need to be repaid. Another 10,000 kan were lent to Hideyoshi as a pretext for the renovation of Himeji Castle.

Himeji Castle was originally just a branch castle of the Kodera family, and now it's undergoing large-scale renovations. Ten thousand kan might not even be enough.

"Oh my," Shichibei thought to himself, secretly amazed after hearing what Hideyoshi had to say. This was just the first step into Hideyoshi's fold; he would have to provide Hideyoshi with a steady stream of funds, especially military financing.

From a prescient perspective, the investments of these two individuals were nothing short of phenomenal success. After all, Konishi Yukinaga eventually rose to the rank of daimyo with a staggering 200,000 koku of rice, and the Konishi family's social standing was elevated significantly.

However, from the perspective of contemporaries, whether Hideyoshi could gain a foothold in Harima was still uncertain. For the two of them to place such a heavy bet was simply insane.

They were complete strangers to Hideyoshi before, yet they offered such a high price upon their first encounter; they were nothing short of gamblers. However, they ultimately won their gamble; those who lost wouldn't even make it into history.

Oh, and there's a little anecdote: Konishi Ryūsō gave his second son to Hideyoshi as a page, and his daughter to Nene as a maid.

That's right, Konishi Ryūsō's initial idea was to align himself with Hideyoshi's Owari Mototsune faction. His daughter becoming Nene's maid... who knows...

Qi will marry someone from Ningning Kindergarten in the future.

However, his son did not align himself with the Owari faction in history.

It's simply a matter of each person having their own destiny and choices; we should respect and offer our blessings, without any ulterior motives. As for Konishi Ryūsō's alliance with Hideyoshi, how he plans, deploys, and chooses sides is entirely his own business.

Heh.

You can't exactly tell Shichibei to Konishi Yakuro (the head of the company) right now, "Don't associate with that Ishida Sakichi, or you'll lose your life."

Chapter 380 Entrusting Little Deer to Find the Mountain Master

Because the chief engineer, Niwa Nagahide, and the chief designer, Oda Nobunaga, were not at the Azuchi construction site, the construction of Azuchi Castle was somewhat delayed. However, compared to what I saw on my last visit, Azuchi Mountain had now been completely cut away, and the plans for curved paths, stone steps, and tiger-shaped structures were already taking shape.

Those who actually stayed on the construction site to supervise the work were Kimura Takashige, the general secretary, and Okabe Mataemon Yoshimitsu, the chief foreman.

This Okabe Yoshimitsu was the "God-master" of Atsuta Shrine in Owari Province, which in Japanese terminology is roughly equivalent to the head craftsman specializing in the construction of large palace buildings. After the completion of Azuchi Castle, Okabe Yoshimitsu became the chief craftsman of the Oda regime, was praised by Nobunaga as the pillar of Japan, and was even granted the title of Junior Seventh Rank, Upper Rank, Shuriyoshi.

His son, Toshimitsu, died in battle at Myokaku-ji Temple along with Nobutada, and his grandson, Munemitsu, was the chief architect of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's Hōkō-ji Temple and Tokugawa Ieyasu's Nijō Castle, with the position of chief architect passed down through generations.

At this time, the construction of Seiryoden was being planned near Honmaru. This was a palace that Nobunaga planned to build specifically for the Emperor when he invited the Emperor to visit Azuchi Castle.

That's a huge project.

Damn it, they're asking me for 20,000 strings of cash again!

All the construction teams in the Kinai region, including the Anata clan, were mobilized. Under the main beams of the project, there were also tile magistrates, stone magistrates, lacquer magistrates, and rope magistrates, and countless civil engineering workers gathered together. Nobunaga went to kill Takeda Yoshiyori, and Niwa Nagahide went to kill Miyoshi Nagaharu, and they were away from the construction site for eight months.

They finally spotted Shichibei, the chief accountant for the Azuchi Castle construction project, and wouldn't let him leave. If they let Shichibei go, who knew when the accounts would be settled?

They had to at least pay some of the progress payment; the prototype for the Seiryoden Palace was already complete, and they couldn't possibly not pay a cent. Shichibei had no choice but to allocate funds to them, and the civil engineers were so excited that tears welled up in their eyes. The project payment from two years ago was finally in place this year.

Well, no wonder Nobunaga didn't stay long at Azuchi Castle and went straight to the Right General's residence in Kyoto. If he had stayed in Azuchi, he would have definitely experienced what Shichibei encountered today.

He accompanied Hideyoshi on the main road, heading from Kyoto to Harima. While visiting Oda Nobunaga in Kyoto, he witnessed how Hideyoshi, having gained favor with the Hongan-ji Temple and been promised Settsu after surrendering, had been won over by Nobunaga.

Araki Murashige of Hankoku.

This guy was incredibly lucky, because the Honganji twins, Shimoma Yorihiro and Saiga Magoichi, beat up Hanawa Naomasa and crushed the Hanawa army. In order to completely encircle Ishiyama Osaka Castle, Nobunaga reluctantly accepted the surrender of Araki Murashige of Arioka Castle, in order to cut off the Honganji's land supply.

Araki Murashige is shameless; he followed Ashikaga Yoshiaki in opposing Nobunaga and exiled Ikeda Katsumasa. Now he has also surrendered to Nobunaga and exiled Ikeda Tomomasa, whom Nobunaga had installed.

In the end, the Ikeda family, one of the original three guardians of Settsu, was overthrown by Araki Murakami in just a few years, to the point that even their family fell into ruin.

It's no wonder that Araki Murashige's history is marked by inconsistency; each reversal brings enormous benefits. This has become an addiction for him, as if every act of defection will bring him even greater gains.

Although he has now submitted to Nobunaga, it remains to be seen whether his surrender is genuine or a forced feigned surrender after being thoroughly humiliated by Takayama Shigetomo.

In any case, by taking advantage of the situation to release Ikeda Tomomasa, he was certain to seize real power within the household. Hideyoshi and Shichibei didn't have a good impression of people like him.

But since they were in front of Nobunaga, they had to put on a friendly front and give him a simple greeting.

Akechi Mitsuhide, sitting across from them, was quite enthusiastic, but Shichibei suspected that Mitsuhide's enthusiasm was feigned. Earlier, Shichibei and Nobunaga had led troops to kill Akai Naomasa, and the Akai Tokiie family had subjugated the Oda clan. Apart from Hikami District, Amada District and Koraku District had come under Mitsuhide's control.

Mitsuhide didn't join the attack on Takeda Yoshiyori; instead, he focused on consolidating the two districts of Tanba. He is currently launching a fierce attack on Naito Joan and Utsu Yorishige, but the siege is not progressing well.

Therefore, he hoped that Nobunaga would reallocate Araki Village to him, so that he could drive thousands of Araki's men to attack the mountain fortresses of the Naito and Utsu families.

It's understandable; Nobunaga even drove the samurai who had surrendered to the Takeda clan to Harima to fight the Mori. Although Nobunaga reluctantly accepted Araki Murashige, Araki Murashige still had to pay a heavy blood tax, fighting and shedding blood for the Oda clan until he had only one drop of blood left.

Upon learning the details, Hideyoshi and Shichibei nodded in agreement. It was something Mitsuhide, that ambitious and driven man, would do; to win over Tanba and Tango, he was showing goodwill towards Araki Murakami—it was quite something.

To understand.

Nobunaga also hosted a banquet to wish Hideyoshi success in his campaign in Harima. Hideyoshi was so moved that he cried buckets of tears, which was likely partly an act and partly genuine emotion.

Going to Harima at this point carries a risk of about a year's worth of trouble, even though the Akamatsu clans of Okisho, Tatsuno, and Kodera have all expressed their willingness to submit to the Oda clan. However, the Akamatsu clan of Sōyō has explicitly rejected the Oda clan, seemingly determined to stick with the Mori clan to the bitter end. Thus, Hideyoshi will have to fight as soon as he enters Himeji Castle, and may even have to fight his way into Himeji Castle.

In Kyoto, Hideyoshi also joined forces with the 3,000 men of Amago's revived army. Nobunaga then gifted Amago Katsuhisa, Yamanaka Shikanosuke, and others a large amount of money and weapons, encouraging them to fight fiercely and to restore their families if they could break through to Izumo Province.

Our beloved Lord Nobunaga is most likable for this: he's generous with his money.

Of course, when they use you, it's the kind of work where you have to stand up and kick, with absolutely no mercy. You have to work your butt off, and you're not allowed to stop working.

However, in Japan's Sengoku period, an era where humans and dogs coexisted, Nobunaga's advantages were magnified infinitely. Although...

Treat him like a human being and go all out. At least he paid upfront. It was the first time that Amagi Katsuhisa and Yamanaka Shikanosuke had ever seen such a generous sponsor, and they both kowtowed to Nobunaga.

They declared that even if Izumo were to revive their family fortunes, they would remain loyal to the Regent's Palace to the death, serving as its vanguard. They would go wherever instructed, even if it meant crossing the sea to Kyushu, without complaint.

Word.

Tsk tsk tsk…

Excellent, Nobunaga is very pleased. With the addition of Shichibei's 6,000 highly capable men and the spirited Amago Army's 3,000 more, Hideyoshi should have no problem conquering Harima.

If Harima can be flattened, then the Ukita Naoie family of Bizen will make the appropriate choice. Besides, there's already the Ukita Nagaie family in hand; the Ukita family can split up.

"Please take care of Amago privately." Nobunaga said to Shichibei after the banquet.

"Why is that?" Nobunaga's concern was usually genuine and direct.

"The Oda clan, with its Yin-Yang commandery, always has a strategy for conquering the western regions." At this time, the Oda clan's position towards the Mori clan was still unclear.

The main reason is that the Mori family possesses unparalleled power in the Seto Inland Sea.

With its naval forces, the Mori clan could rapidly deploy troops to any location in western Japan, thanks to the convenient shipping routes of the Seto Inland Sea. They could also intercept merchant ships sailing from Hakata, Goto, Ōmura, and Akama-gase to Sakai, thus disrupting trade within the Kinai region.

The army of 100,000, at least on the surface, was far superior to that of the Takeda clan. Furthermore, Mori Motonari's reputation hadn't faded, and after his death, the Mori clan had maintained its expansionist trend, showing no signs of fatigue.

state.

The Oda clan is struggling to conquer even a small mountain valley in Tanba, and they haven't even seen the light of day yet. Let alone the vast western regions crisscrossed by countless mountain valleys.

Therefore, in the western provinces where the local population was widespread, Nobunaga still hoped to make use of Amago Haruhisa's former title of "Yin-Yang Governor." He would employ both military offensives and political maneuvering to quickly defeat the Mori clan.

"Understood." This means they're going to extract every last bit of value from the Niko family.

That's normal, Nobunaga, of course he'd fleece them as much as he could. Hearing this, Shichibei decided to go find Yamanaka Shikanosuke. He remembered the Amago clan had also mined the Iwami Silver Mine; was there anyone respectable who could recommend them?

After defeating Takeda, they seized the Kurokawa and Fuji gold mines, which Tsuchiya Nagayasu alone couldn't handle. Yonekura Nobutsugu was a latecomer to the gold mining business; he wasn't from a gold mining background. Relying on the local gold-digging families, the Tanabe and Sano families, Shichibei shouldn't even think about increasing production or income.

We still need to introduce some competition, such as bidding and contracting every three years, to gradually gain control of the Kai and Suruga gold mines. Shichibei doesn't want to seize all the mine's output, but rather wants to clearly understand the output quantity, form a large-scale system, and serve the entire mining industry.

Just like when Tsuchiya Nagasu went to the Ikuno Silver Mine, Shichibei knew perfectly well that the Ikuno Silver Mine also contained gold every year. But he didn't ask where the gold went, treating it as a bonus for the mine workers.

The Amago army was already fully prepared for battle. When Shichibei arrived, Yamanaka Shikanosuke was assigning tasks to those who would strike first and then question them. He secretly stopped him; they were acquaintances who had met a few times before. Years ago, when they were transported to Otsu by ship, it was Shichibei who received them.

After asking them if they needed anything, Shichibei took matters into his own hands. He first indicated that anything needed would be sent to Harima, then seemingly casually asked them, "How did your Amago family manage to..."

How can one mine stones to find silver mountains?

They certainly wouldn't go out and mine themselves; they'd just find a contractor.

According to Shikanosuke Yamanaka, the Iwami Silver Mine, or more specifically the Omori Silver Mine, was initially developed by the Ouchi family. At that time, the person in charge of management was Toshiyoshi Kamiya, the big boss of the Hakata Kamiya Group. This big boss introduced the ash-blowing method, which laid the foundation for the large-scale development of the Iwami Silver Mine. By the way, this was also the great-grandfather of Kamiya Sozen, a wealthy merchant in Hakata today.

When the Amago clan conquered Fuki Castle in Izumo, it was thanks to the wealthy Ogasawara Nagataka that the castle was developed. Ogasawara Nagataka's grandson is the Ogasawara Nagao, who frequently appears in later games. However, most gamers probably won't recognize him, given his generic appearance and lackluster stats.

At this point in time, Ogasawara Nagao has been dead for almost ten years. The one currently in Ginzan should be his son, Ogasawara Nagayoshi, but Yamanaka Shikanosuke doesn't know the specifics of his situation.

(This was actually a feudal lord with a rank of 35,000 koku, ranking among the top 200 in Japan.) Yamanaka Shikanosuke knew of the two officials appointed by the Mori clan as Silver Mistress Magistrates. One was Heisaka Naruyuki, a concubine of the Mori clan.

The other is Hayashi Shūchō, a descendant of the Kikuchi clan.

Judging from the "就" in their names, you can basically tell that both of them were long-time retainers of Mori Motonari, and were among the more loyal members of the Mori family. Don't even think about promoting them.

Wow, mining is a really skilled job these days.

"Alright, we won't send any more gifts. The money and the goods will suffice." Yamanaka Shikanosuke also noticed that Shichibei seemed to be looking for someone skilled in mining, and said that after he went to Harima, he could try to inquire for Shichibei. If there were any, he would recommend them later.

The West has plenty of silver, the East has plenty of gold, and there will always be skilled miners without a home, so there's no need to rush.

That's true, but I'll still have to ask Yamanaka Shikanosuke to keep looking. Thinking it over, I couldn't just trouble him for nothing. So Shichibei led a red horse, about 1.45 meters tall at the shoulder, from the stables and gave it to Yamanaka Shikanosuke.

To be honest, the little deer was quite happy. It wasn't that he didn't have a horse, but rather that he didn't have a good warhorse. This warhorse was salvaged from Iwadono Castle, and it was most likely a warhorse belonging to Takeda Yoshiyori or one of his close associates.

The soldiers of Takikawa Kazumasu's unit who entered the city only wanted money; after all, they were about to take over the imperial governorship of Ueno, so they didn't care about the cost.

One horse. In the end, they were all sold to Shichibei.

Having received the red horse, Shikanosuke Yamanaka repeatedly expressed that he would definitely look for the master carefully and recommended the village house.

No sooner had he left than Tsuchiya Nagayoshi, then residing in Tada Copper Mt. in Settsu, came to Kyoto to pay his respects to Shichibei. After conquering Kai, Shichibei had asked him to recommend two respectable subordinates. Now that Shichibei had finally returned to the Kinai region, Tsuchiya Nagayoshi hurriedly came to pay his respects.

Two instructors recommended by him also arrived. One was called Yasuhara Denbei, and the other was called Kamaya Mabuchi. They didn't have formal names, so they were just called that.

They are all skilled fighters trained at the Ikuno Silver Mine and the Tada Copper Mine. While they might not be quite ready to directly manage a large mine, they should be able to meet Shichibei's requirements for overseeing the Kai Gold Mine without any problems.

For now, that's all Shichibei needs. Since he was recommended by Tsuchiya Nagayasu, his skill level shouldn't be too bad. Immediately assign him to work under Kai Yonekura Nobutsugu, to familiarize him with the situations at Kurokawa Kinzan and Fuji Kinzan.

Putting that aside, Shichibei mainly wanted to ask one question: How much Yongle coin is currently stockpiled in Sakaimachi? Is it enough for large-scale exchanges, or even the possible dismantling of existing ones?

A run on Taiwan?

Shichibei now controls gold, silver, and copper mines, all of which are rich mines, and the output is enormous by current standards.

The only thing lacking was actual physical copper coins. Gold and silver were both considered weighted currencies, usable immediately after being refined. Copper coins, however, required a minting process, and each coin had a very small value; only by increasing the quantity could economies of scale be achieved.

When asked about this, Tsuchiya Nagaan leaned closer, paused for a moment, and then quoted a figure of 160,000 kan.

Chapter 381 Kyoto is bustling with mundane affairs

Shichibei was initially delighted; with so many copper coins in hand, Ryotsuya could now arrange to open for business. Then he paused, smiling as he patted Tsuchiya Nagasuan on the shoulder.

It's alright, it's normal for us to have lubricants in this line of work. From this day forward, Shichibei will give up one of his thousand Kawamura-ya plants, and from now on you will also be a plant owner of Kawamura-ya.

Upon hearing these words from Shichibei, Tsuchiya Nagaya was initially overjoyed and immediately kowtowed to Shichibei, repeatedly promising to be utterly loyal and at his beck and call. However, when Shichibei gently patted his shoulder, he was startled again and lowered his head even further.

From now on, we're all family, part of the Kawamura family. My little Shichibei will have to call you uncle. Why are you kowtowing? Get up.