Owari Yumeki Golden Day.

With a few apprentices and horses carrying ropes and bamboo poles, the surveying team had to set off the next day to get to work. Re-measuring the street lengths actually benefited Kawamura-ya as well, since the horses were charged based on distance.

Redetermining the distance from Tsushima to Komakiyama was very helpful in setting the price for the horse transport at Kawamuraya. This was probably one of the reasons why Nobunaga put Shichibei in charge of this matter; after all, it concerned Kawamuraya's economic interests, and Shichibei couldn't just shirk responsibility and submit any random map.

57. Laughing at the child's penny

Fortunately, the distance from Tsushima to Komakiyama Castle is only about 20 or 30 kilometers, which isn't a long distance. Owari isn't a very big place to begin with. Nobunaga set out from Kiyosu Castle at Ushi-doki and arrived at Atsuta Shrine before dawn. You can imagine how big that territory could be.

It was the middle of summer, unbearably hot. The wheat harvest was already complete, and once it was stored in the granary, Nobunaga would definitely go out and clash with Saito Tatsuoki, seeking revenge on his good nephew.

To his utter surprise, Nobunaga himself actually followed the street route planned by Shichibei. There he saw Shichibei on the roadside, using the Oda clan's three-and-a-half-long spear to precisely adjust the data on the rope.

If Owari is to be unified, the standard to be used will definitely be the one established by Nobunaga. This is not about pleasing the leader, but about following the will of Heaven and the people, and assessing the situation.

As expected, Nobunaga saw Shichibei holding his prized three-and-a-half-kilometer spear, spurred his horse over, and lightly patted Shichibei's forehead with his whip.

You're really a diligent worker, kid. I haven't spoiled you for nothing.

Hearing Nobunaga call him to rise, Shichibei got up. Nobunaga dismounted, picked up his own spear, and seeing that Shichibei was using it as a standard for "rope stretching," he even wanted to measure it with Shichibei.

This is called setting an example by example!

"Have you planned out the stables along the way as well?" Nobunaga was quite easy to get along with when he was in a playful mood.

"Yes!" Shichibei naturally answered.

Besides the main store in Tsushima-cho, Shichibei has already established branches in Atsuta and Kiyosu. The Atsuta branch handles business in the Mikawa region, while the Kiyosu branch serves as a central hub for business throughout Owari. As for the branch at Komakiyama Castle, it is not merely a branch, but also an important branch that receives horses from the Takeda clan, sells horses and alfalfa to Zen'o, and responds to Nobunaga's military service.

Soon, a branch of Sunomata will also be set up.

Of course, this "soon" refers to the period after Nobunaga conquered Mino, became its lord, and established unimpeded trade between Mino and Owari. Currently, Sunomata is still on the front lines, making it unsuitable to establish a stable there.

On the northern Ise side, if Nobunaga is able to conquer the eight districts of northern Ise and bring them under his control, Shichibei will also choose a suitable relay point for deployment.

Once Nobunaga's power grew strong enough to subdue Tokugawa Ieyasu into a de facto vassal, Okazaki and Yoshida in Mikawa, and Hamamatsu and Kakegawa in Tōtōmi, would all establish stables.

Wherever Nobunaga's gun is pointed, Shichibei's stable will open there.

"You're very good." Nobunaga patted Shichibei on the shoulder, his praise sounding quite sincere, though Shichibei didn't detect anything else in it.

Putting everything else aside, Shichibei's unwavering belief that Nobunaga would succeed and build a great empire was enough to please and impress Nobunaga.

"I dare not take credit." Shichibei didn't have any particular feelings. Since he was already here, he might as well do his part.

We can't eat cold rice soaked in hot water every day. When we get ahead, we'll have tempura and fried pork cutlets. We can't be like we are now, where we have to be stingy and cut back on even a piece of tofu.

The other morning, when I was drinking miso soup, Shichibei saw the tofu cut into eight pieces and thought to himself, "I'm a big boss with several thousand kan of capital, and this is all I get in the end."

What picture?

I've wasted my life.

"Alright." Nobunaga smiled, mounted his horse, and, with a few page and attendants, continued to survey the route from Komakiyama to Tsushima.

You keep saying it's good, but why don't you give us something in return? We're sitting here in the sweltering heat of summer, practically steaming. A few dollars would be nice, so we could find a fellow villager to buy some peaches. Even though the peaches back then weren't as big as they are now, and we hadn't yet bred those exceptionally sweet varieties, a peach is a peach, and right now we just crave that taste.

Well then, after bowing ninety degrees and watching Nobunaga leave, Shichibei took out some money and sent one of the shop's apprentices to the nearby village to buy two peaches.

What's good about Owari is its location on a plain, with ditches and canals spreading across the entire plain like a spider web. The roadsides are lined with ditches, some dug by humans, others naturally formed. People washed peaches in the water of these ditches and then washed their hands as well. Shichibei and the others sat by the roadside eating peaches and rinsing their feet.

They wore straw sandals every day, their feet always covered in dust. But they were still better off than the village children, who didn't wear shoes, not even underwear in the sweltering summer, running around naked, boys and girls alike. Before the age of seven, they weren't even considered human, let alone boys or girls. After all, the infant mortality rate before the age of seven was too high, everywhere.

Several village children were also sitting on the other side of a ditch, munching on peaches. These days, the peaches are small, just a snack. The farmers don't really care much about the fruits they can grow in the village.

If you go to Guangxi and ask a local farmer on the roadside to buy a sugarcane, he won't even bother to charge you; he'll just cut one open and give it to you for free.

Runtu also said that it was perfectly fine for passersby to pick and eat the melons in the field, but the main concern was that the badger would eat them all at night.

Hey, are the kids in the village bored right now?

Shichibei asked the child on the other side of the ditch what he was doing. Although Shichibei was unfamiliar, his accent was familiar, so the child wouldn't be alarmed. The child, who was eating a peach, asked who Shichibei was, as he didn't recognize him.

Whether we know each other or not is a small matter. If you help me, I'll give you a Yongle Tongbao coin, how about that?

The summer harvest is long over in the village now, and the main farm work is spreading out the wheat to dry. In the past, the village children would not have had any free time; all the children would be driven to the fields to scare away the birds and prevent them from stealing the ripe wheat ears.

During the period before harvest, even if you are a five-year-old child, you have to take a small bamboo pole, tie pine branches or something similar to it, and run around the fields to snatch food from the birds' beaks.

That's why there's a Japanese proverb: "The poor have no free time."

I've been busy since I was three or five years old, and I rarely have time to sit down and eat a peach.

Hearing that Shichibei would give him a Yongle Tongbao coin, the child was somewhat tempted. A seven or eight-year-old child already had a concept of money and roughly knew its value. When Shichibei said he was a stable boy in Tsushima-cho, the child asked Shichibei what errand he needed him to run.

No need to run. Take a bamboo pole about the length of a meter, stand still, tie a rope to the pole, and have a child carry the rope and run forward until the rope runs out. That's enough.

Is it really that simple?

Yes, it's that simple.

After hearing this, the child quickly finished the peach, threw the pit into the ditch, attracting several small fish. Then, naked, he ran back to the village to call his friends.

Before long, a dozen or so children of all ages ran over. These days, there were no elderly people in the village, just a bunch of kids. Farmers, you know, all strive to have more children; increasing the family's labor force is equivalent to increasing their ability to withstand risks.

Let's get started! Kids always have so much energy. Shichibei is running like crazy, while the rest of the kids are having a blast. I don't know what's so fun about running like that.

By evening, my work progress had greatly improved; I had covered several kilometers in one go.

Shichibei kept his promise and gave each of the children a Yongle Tongbao coin. He even asked the older child who was leading the group, "If you're free tomorrow, call all your friends over, and I'll give you all a Yongle Tongbao coin too."

Incidentally, I secretly gave the older kid an extra sum of money as a brokerage fee.

The little boy, clutching a Yongle Tongbao coin in each hand, ran home for three kilometers with his friends, chattering excitedly. He was really energetic! He even looked back as he ran. Shichibei, this kind of adult who keeps his promises, must be considered a positive role model here.

After sending the children away, Shichibei looked through the detailed records. With a sudden increase in manpower, the register was even detailed down to the length of each village.

That's a good thing...

This will probably come in handy for future local inspections.

Whatever, I'm not a prosecutor, so this has nothing to do with me.

The next morning, the boy was already waiting for Shichibei by the ditch with his dozen or so friends. Unfortunately, Shichibei wanted to ask the boy if he had a name, but to his surprise, he didn't. Japanese has words like "hey" and "yo" to express emotion, but the boy wasn't the eldest son in his family; he hadn't even earned the title of "eldest son," and was still called "hey" by others.

"Alright, your name will be Yu Xun." Shichibei was about to give the kid a name, but then he thought that the two characters were too unfamiliar to the kid and he probably wouldn't recognize them, so he kept quiet.

Come on, let's get started!

The task wasn't difficult, just troublesome. He meticulously recorded each step, working for three more days until he finally completed the job. Shichibei then worked through the night to draw up a route map to present to Oda Nobunaga, and before he knew it, it was late at night.

He got up to drink some water, only to find the tea had long since gone cold. He gulped down a cup, and then a thought suddenly occurred to him: Could they perhaps install flying kicks within the territory to facilitate the flow of information?

No need to find adults, just find kids, though the kids in front of us are still a bit too young. Twelve years old is the minimum, up to seventeen or eighteen, specializing in flying kicks. Cheap, and we might even be able to find a few usable ones for Kawamura-ya.

The flying bag service flourished during the Edo period for two reasons: firstly, the financial and manufacturing centers were in Osaka, while the political and consumer centers were in Edo. To facilitate remittance transactions and strengthen financial ties between the two cities, flying bags were needed to exchange the previous week's account books between them within a week.

Another reason was that Edo, as the seat of the shogun, housed not only 80,000 hatamoto cavalry but also 200,000 to 300,000 samurai from across the land. These samurai, who came to Edo to perform their duties as daimyo, would stay there for a year at a time. During that period, they naturally needed to keep in touch with their families back home.

With Edo as its center, the kabuki industry naturally flourished and a kabuki network was built, supplying major regions throughout Japan.

Why not use horses?

Horses are certainly faster for short distances, but for long distances, to be honest, humans are still the better choice. After all, in areas like heat dissipation, oxen and horses are no match for humans. Besides, if an ox or horse dies, it's a significant financial loss, but if a person dies? You can just hire another one.

In Owari right now, there's not much need for flying kicks. But it's the same principle as Shichibei setting up the Umaya. If you wait until the industry is mature before you enter, you're just a fool trying to catch the pig that's riding the wave of opportunity.

The person who inflated the pig's wings will happily take your money and seize the next opportunity, making money from money and accumulating wealth you could never have imagined in several lifetimes.

Although Nobunaga only controlled Owari Province at the time, he would eventually possess nearly twenty provinces, and Hideyoshi, who succeeded him, unified Japan. At that point, flying kicks would inevitably be needed, and not just one or two, but thousands or even tens of thousands. These kicks would radiate throughout Japan from Azuchi Castle, Osaka Castle, and Fushimi Castle.

Furthermore, Shichibei has an advantage: he gradually sets up stables at key street and town intersections. Therefore, if necessary, he can easily expand the area into a longhouse so that Hikari can rest overnight.

It wouldn't be a problem to let Flying Foot sleep in the barn or hay shed at first. After all, once you're doing Flying Foot work, your usual living conditions might not be better than a cowshed or horse pen.

Starting to train flying kicks now probably wouldn't generate much business, as it would require continuous investment. However, supporting one flying kick would only cost five kan and one shi of rice per year. Shichibei could still afford to support dozens of flying kicks.

Once the core of the Owari samurai group begins to relocate with Nobunaga to Inabayama Castle and Azuchi Castle, the business of flying kicks will gradually increase. When Toyotomi Hideyoshi commands dozens of daimyo to serve him year-round at Osaka Castle or Fushimi Castle, along with tens of thousands of samurai accompanying these daimyo in the castles, the business will expand significantly.

It's doable!

With his mind made up, Shichibei lay down on the couch, still feeling that the plan could be slowly implemented. In the early stages, he would choose local Owari flying kickers, and after bringing everyone out, he could gradually use them as the backbone, branching out and eventually growing into a large tree.

Fortunately, Shichibei wasn't a newcomer. Back then, I had just debuted with Kinoshita Hideyoshi in Sunomata. Do you know Sunomata? I fought alongside Hideyoshi against Saito Tatsuoki's more than 7,000 men.

Hideyoshi was in charge of chopping, and I was in charge of shouting "Yes, sir!" Kuku went on a rampage.

Having seen all sorts of grand occasions, this little one wouldn't keep Shichibei up at night. Once he'd had a good night's sleep, Shichibei rolled up the blueprints, mounted his horse, and rode back to Komakiyama Castle to present them to Nobunaga.

Thanks to Nobunaga's orders, Shichibei no longer needs to queue at the gate to be received. He can now wait for an audience at the palace within Komakiyama Castle, greatly reducing the queuing time.

Nobunaga first went to Tsushima-cho, then turned and went to Atsuta-cho. Unsurprisingly, he was preparing for this year's collection of the temporary commercial tax, "yazen." After collecting this tax, he would then go after Saito Tatsuoki.

At this moment, Nobunaga is discussing the matter of sending troops with several senior retainers. Since it is not only necessary to mobilize the standing army, but also the people under his rule, it is necessary to consult with the senior retainers.

When Shichibei entered, he greeted the senior retainers and other important figures. They were all from Owari Province, and they all nodded to Shichibei.

Upon entering again, a route map was presented. Nobunaga first studied the map intently, comparing it with the route map in his memory. After roughly reviewing it, Nobunaga asked Shichibei a question.

"How much money do you need to take charge of this?"

58. I hereby appoint you to the position of Prefect of Haidong (named after Guo).

I don't know...

No, bro, I work in passenger transport, freight transport, and horse breeding. Why would you think I could prepare road engineering budgets? Budgeting is something that either pure civil engineering interns do all the work of, or seasoned veterans with more than ten years of experience do it cautiously. What am I?

When Shichibei said that he didn't know how much money he had, both Nobunaga, who had been quite casual just moments before, and the page kneeling behind him carrying a sword, were stunned.

"Hahahahaha..."

Nobunaga laughed heartily, his laughter was extremely unrestrained.

Clearly, it had been quite some time since he had heard such an answer from his retainers. Even if others knew the answer, they would at least offer some excuse. But Shichibei, being a simpleton, just blurted out, "I can't do that!"

"Your Majesty, I am terrified." I truly do not know; Shichibei would never dare to make such a boast.

If we quote a price and Nobunaga thinks the price for the general contracting is quite good, and directly awards the contract to Shichibei, what will Shichibei do?

It's not just a matter of whether we can cover costs or make a profit. Shichibei doesn't even have the manpower to handle the overall contracting. Our family has a total of nine retainers, and even if we whip them into spinning tops, it's impossible to complete the construction of a 30-kilometer-long standard village road within the given timeframe.

It's impossible for nine managers to oversee thousands of illiterate migrant workers.

Besides, with all nine managers on board, what will happen to our business? Should we just abandon Kawamura-ya? My cheapskate father even risked a bullet from Matsudaira Motoyasu's father to come back and maintain the Kawamura family business.

If we could turn back time another four hundred years, and find a subcontractor, Shichibei would have accepted the job. Unfortunately, we can't find a subcontractor now, so even with our connections and qualifications, it's useless.