Owari Yumeki Golden Day.

They maintained the operation of the post station in peacetime and shared offices with Shichibei's stable. In times of war, one person would stay behind to guard the station, while the others would go to war with Shichibei.

This saves the trouble of dispatching foot soldiers to guard the small pack animal convoy; they can just draw guards from the rear relay stations. Wouldn't it be better to save dozens or even a hundred foot soldiers for Nobunaga's main force?

Upon realizing this, Shichibei hurriedly entered the house and found Nobunaga having dinner with Saito Tatsuoki, who had accompanied him during the retreat. Just a few days ago, they had been threatening to kill each other, but now they were sitting together very "amicably," as if they were just an ordinary lord and retainer. The key point was that they were even eating ochazuke (rice soaked in tea) made with a pot of tea leaves; otherwise, Tatsuoki wouldn't have been able to eat it.

Hiroshi Hine stood outside the longhouse of the post station, his eyes wide open, seemingly unable to discern anything. If Nobunaga truly wanted to kill Tatsuoki, why go through all this trouble? He could have done it right there at Inabayama Castle.

"Shichibei? What is it?" Nobunaga was a perceptive man, and he asked as soon as Shichibei appeared at the door.

88. Select one hundred retainers (I don't even know what my name is).

"I have a preliminary idea."

Since Nobunaga had summoned him, Shichibei naturally had to obediently sit down at the door and loudly report to Nobunaga. The post station previously built for Nobunaga hadn't actually fulfilled its full purpose.

For example, when Hideyoshi was in Sunomata, he still sent someone on horseback all the way to Komakiyama to deliver the message to Nobunaga. The post station only fed the horse once halfway there, without providing replacement horses and manpower to change people and horses, so as to deliver the message to Nobunaga as quickly as possible.

Before discussing personal matters, first dangle the veneer of public duty for the country and its people; this makes it easier to start a conversation.

Having stated the premise, Shichibei then subtly revealed his willingness to combine public and private interests, merging the stables and post stations together, and using his own salary to cover personnel costs and ensure operation.

Coupled with Shichibei's harmless and sincere face, Nobunaga only considered it briefly before accepting Shichibei's idea. However, the messengers sent from the front lines to Nobunaga's castle were all trusted confidants of the local samurai generals. It was impossible to replace them en route; sometimes, the message might even arrive verbally.

If it's just a horse swap, how will Shichibei settle accounts with Nobunaga?

Then of course, we should calculate it however we want. Are we going to give all the post stations to Kawamura-ya and have all the accounts settled together under the annual tribute rice that they handle?

Well, it's not impossible.

As long as it avoids Nobunaga's troubles, everything is negotiable; it all depends on whether Shichibei's offer can satisfy Nobunaga. I doubt Shichibei would dare to try and squeeze money out of Nobunaga in such a matter.

Nobunaga nodded in agreement and waved for Shichibei to go and talk with Murai Sadakatsu and Shimada Hidemitsu. They were to write a report to Niwa Nagahide, who would then sign it after reading it.

It's somewhat like I want to focus my energy on military matters.

However, Nobunaga didn't like micro-management; he preferred to recklessly charge in. Not only did he not micro-manage, he also liked to take on more responsibility. The more you meddle, the better, as he would be in charge of assigning tasks.

Saito Tatsuoki, who was standing to the side, watched Shichibei and Nobunaga's conversation and suddenly asked Shichibei what his background was.

During the previous meeting to reward meritorious service, Longxing clearly heard that the scheme to lure him out of the city was proposed by Shichibei. And it was Shichibei's family that ultimately captured him. With such a scheme and such brave and valiant retainers, how come he had never even heard of it before?

Actually, he is also forgetful. In the story of Sunomata Night City, wasn't there a generous and righteous Shichibei?

that's me!

When asked about his background, Shichibei had no choice but to answer truthfully that he was merely a merchant, not from any prestigious family. Unless the Kawamura family could survive into the Edo period, waiting for Kansei to revise the family genealogies, then they could plagiarize and blatantly impersonate others.

At that time, Edo had a large number of talented people skilled in altering and compiling family genealogies. The daimyo and hatamoto all treated them with great respect, hoping that these people could help them embellish their family genealogies and make them look legitimate.

Later generations also had many people who specialized in this field, especially concentrated in Fujian and the Chaoshan region of Guangdong, who were famous for their compilation skills. People all over the country who needed to compile family genealogies would go to these two places to hire people.

Upon hearing that the man was a merchant, Longxing's emotions were somewhat evident, and he bluntly stated that he had actually been captured alive by a mere merchant. It was Nagai Michitoshi at the door who gestured for him to calm down and not to mention the matter again.

Nobunaga watched the brief spectacle unfold, then picked up his chopsticks and told Shichibei to leave quickly. Staying there, Ryūō couldn't control his expression.

Even without him saying anything, Shichibei noticed that Ryuki's face was a bit strained, so he quickly withdrew. Ryuki was still young, and his skill level was far inferior to his uncle's. His uncle could laugh, but when it came to keeping a straight face, he was probably much more composed than Weiwei.

The next day, they returned to Komakiyama Castle from the post station. The troops had completely disbanded. Shichibei handed over the military supplies and provisions to Murai Sadakatsu and settled accounts with him.

Previously, Murai Sadakatsu and Shimada Hidemitsu were sent to receive fifteen hostages from the Saino clan, but they led the hostages back to Komakiyama halfway through the battle. Therefore, in this battle, it was Shichibei who was in charge of the Kadokurikō Magistrate.

However, doing it yourself has its advantages; at least the accounts are clear. Shichibei was both the owner of the Kawamura-ya shop that provided the service and the Oda clan's magistrate who purchased the service. What a coincidence! He kept his own accounts and approved the loans for himself.

It was still kind of fun.

After settling the price of the horses, Shichibei sat down opposite Murai Sadakatsu. He told him about the matter he had discussed with Nobunaga the previous evening regarding the placement of one hundred post station soldiers.

Clearly, Murai Sadakatsu was a feudal official characteristic of his time, adhering to the principles of "simplified governance and clean laws." He pushed as much of the administrative work as possible to the people to handle themselves. The less the government had to deal with, and the less tax revenue was collected, the better the "great order" would be.

Seeing that Shichibei was willing to take the initiative, he agreed without hesitation. Since Nobunaga had already agreed, he had no reason to say anything more.

Since we're going to set up staff at the post stations to be responsible for recording and maintaining them, we can settle the costs at the end of the year. Or, to put it more bluntly, deduct it from the annual rice tribute that Shichibei is in charge of. It's all an internal matter for the Oda clan anyway, so let's not make it too complicated. This agreement is sufficient.

Wow, bro, you're quite the lazy one too.

It's just getting paid to carry a gun and fight, only a few strings of cash a year. Why are you working so hard? It's not like it's about external threats, it's about internal affairs. Everyone knows how much a horse costs; it's just a pittance at the end of the year.

Alright, so Shichibei directly forged an imperial edict, ordering Murai Sadakatsu to write a memorial, show it to me, and then we'll submit it to Nobunaga for approval.

Even though Murai Sadakatsu was a former bureaucrat, he didn't refuse to write the document, saying it was a piece of cake and that Shichibei could just wait and see the draft later.

Having made things clear to both sides, Shichibei immediately dispatched men to Tsushima, Atsuta, Kiyosu, Komakiyama, Seki, and Inokuchi to post notices. The notices stated that they were recruiting one hundred infantrymen, with priority given to those who could read and write, were good at arithmetic, or were skilled in martial arts.

This time it's a large-scale recruitment, and Shichibei has learned his lesson. Those hired through the regular system will only receive an annual stipend of ten kan, plus a personal allowance of rice. Those with exceptional talent will be directly awarded ten or twenty kan, with no upper limit, depending on their abilities.

If you were "modern-day Zhuge Liang," I wouldn't mind sharing the spoils with you as ruler and subject. It's all just boasting, just to get people here first.

With the Saito clan of Mino suffering this defeat, some low-ranking samurai will certainly be dismissed or exiled. Those minor clan lords who fought against Nobunaga to the end, who were not on Ando Morishige's list, will also be driven away by Mori Yoshinari, who stayed behind in Sekigahara.

In any case, there will be a few more decent ronin samurai. As long as they are willing to work, Shichibei will definitely not treat them poorly in terms of money.

The reason for this certainty was that Shichibei had clearly heard Ryūō send people to Mino to recruit the scattered Saitō samurai. Since their territory had suddenly shrunk to 15,000 kan, all the Saitō samurai were required to serve with reduced pay. Furthermore, those Saitō samurai who only received a salary and had no prior official duties were not included in this re-entry program.

To put it bluntly, as long as the core retainers who have served the Saito family for three generations remain, the newly recruited Saito samurai can only fend for themselves.

During the Edo period, the shogunate's finances collapsed, and the first thing they thought of was to dismiss the gokenin (low-ranking samurai) who received cash stipends and rice subsidies. Sometimes, more than a thousand people would be dismissed at once.

Alternatively, instead of purging the sons, the shogunate would not allow them to serve in the government for generations. In other words, once the father retired, the relationship between ruler and subject ended, and the sons could go about their own business, and the shogunate would no longer employ them.

Knowledge and action are the foundation for upholding the great principles of loyalty between ruler and subject.

Ryuuō openly said they didn't want any samurai, so coming here is better than going out to be ronin, right? Anyway, the Saitō family never granted them any land or property rights. Without land or property rights as a bond, to put it bluntly, they're just temporary workers. What kind of loyalty can they maintain to Ryuuō?

With a salary of ten or eight strings of cash a year, I can make do in this rural house for now. I'll keep looking for a better job while I'm still employed.

These days, it's not common to be hunted down across the country just for leaving one's domain. Even senior retainers and generals would run away and join another family. As for ordinary foot samurai, they just left without a second thought.

Murai Sadakatsu's report was quickly written and submitted. Shichibei reviewed it, made minor revisions, and the two of them jointly submitted it to Niwa Nagahide and Nobunaga. Nobunaga didn't even glance at it before signing it, and Niwa Nagahide only gave it a quick look before countersigning.

Originally public property of the Oda clan, the post stations, which were specially repaired by farmers of Owari Province through labor service and funded by Nobunaga, all fell into the hands of Shichibei. The condition was that Shichibei must properly maintain and operate the post stations and ensure uninterrupted communication during wartime.

OK OK.

The infantrymen recruited from various towns and villages also arrived one after another. They were mainly ronin who had lost their masters in various parts of Mino, and occasionally the second and third sons of wealthy landowners in Owari.

To maintain the stability of their property (and status) and prevent its division, wealthy landowners often passed their entire estate to their eldest son, with the other sons working for him. This system persisted in many rural areas even during the reign of Emperor MacArthur, who implemented a nationwide land redistribution.

It's not surprising that the second or third sons, who have no family business to inherit, venture out into the world. If they succeed, they will become the main branch, while the legitimate sons who inherit the family business will become the branch families.

Whoever becomes successful is the boss; this principle applies throughout history.

A steady stream of people arrived at the Kawamuraya branch store near Komakiyama Castle to report for duty, and Shichibei interviewed them all. Many Oda retainers who had been granted official positions in Mino or had been transferred to other fiefdoms were also recruiting samurai at this time.

The entire city was a huge job market. Some people would go to another company after their first interview. Except for those who were hired on the spot, each ronin had an average of four or five interview opportunities.

The Oda clan retainers, whose family business was rapidly expanding, also adhered to the principle of accepting all comers. They would select any samurai who had any talent, even if it was as small as a firefly's tail.

89. Rice granary delivers more rice to Malaysia today.

Wow, I never thought I, Kawamura Shichibei Nagayoshi, would have the day when I commanded over a hundred soldiers. As soon as the procession was set up, it stretched from under the eaves all the way to the shop door, with hundreds of people, young and old, bowing in respect. The scene was indeed quite different.

Apart from a dozen or so truly "outstanding" samurai who were good at writing and calculating and could easily become employees, and who were granted the title of Chigyo by Shichibei, the rest were paid their actual salaries.

Some of them really only know how to wield swords and spears, but that's fine too; they can serve as security guards for the cavalry in the future. They usually guard the post station to prevent fires and thefts, and if anything happens unexpectedly, they can come to Tsushima to help Shichibei behead people.

In the last case, which was unusually serious and warranted execution, Shichibei didn't even have a single person under his command who knew how to behead someone. Now that he finally does, there's no need to rush to buy a good knife and prepare a feast for the person to behead.

Another part involves basic literacy, which would be absolutely unsuitable for an accountant or cashier. However, it would be fine for a post station to handle simple record-keeping.

Anyway, it's not expensive, only eight or ten strings of cash a year. That's all the money you can hire for this level of service.

Furthermore, Shichibei discovered an additional "benefit" to this recruitment of samurai retainers. Many of them brought their families, and although temporary accommodation would be a major (shielding) problem, it would provide a reserve of retainers and samurai.

If they are sent to settle in the post station, the original post station only had three people left to guard it, but now there are more than a dozen people moving in. In this day and age, which family doesn't have three or five children? In just a few years, there will be no need to recruit any more people. We can just select and use them directly from these retainers' sons.

Recruiting these samurai who have just lost their masters is indeed better than simply hiring ronin. Those with families to support are more reassuring to serve, and it's easier to cultivate a reserve force.

After a detailed register of the retainers' names was made, more than thirty of them were dispatched to the established post stations. The remaining women and children were left to be housed at Komakiyama Castle, while the able-bodied men went to Okazaki Castle and Inabayama Castle to build stables and post stations.

In addition, stables need to be set up in Ōgaki Castle and Iwamura Castle. Before Nobunaga finishes unifying Mino Province, we need to establish a preliminary post station and horse-transfer system in Mino Province.

It's good for the horse trade and also good for the transmission of information within the territory.

Meanwhile, with men and horses in place, Takeda Shingen, who was raising funds for the war against Imagawa, dispatched several hundred horses to Owari. For the first time ever—and truly for the first time—the number of warhorses exceeded single digits, reaching fifteen.

Clearly, Takeda no Otoshi was also short of gold. Warhorses could be trained slowly, but gold was an immediate expense, to be used to bribe the powerful clans of Suruga Province.

It was probably because of the large number of horses delivered this time that the old acquaintance Yonekura Nobutsugu came again. He came to deliver horses to Shichibei and to deliver a message to Nobunaga. The news of Nobunaga's annexation of the entire Mino province had already reached Tsutsuzaki-no-kami through the Toyama and Kiso clans.

If a powerful lord with a territory of over one million koku suddenly appeared in your life, even you, Shingen, would be anxious. You would come to inquire about it, offering your congratulations on the surface, but in reality, you would want to see if Mino truly submits.

If Shingen could shelter and accept a few of Saito Tatsuoki's followers or senior retainers, he would certainly be happy.

Can't you see that Inuyama Tessai is still alive and kicking in Kai? If Shingen were to turn against Nobunaga now, he could immediately lead Inuyama Tessai into Owari.

Most of the retainers of the Inuyama Oda clan were still serving Nobunaga under the leadership of Tsuda Nobuyoshi. Nobunaga wasn't worried about Tsuda Nobuyoshi rebelling or anything; he was quite comfortable using him.

What a pity! Long Xing himself, along with his three elders and generals, was captured and taken to the Martial Arts Hunt by some small merchant.

When Yonekura Nobutsugu came to Owari, Shichibei was sure to treat him well, as he was an old acquaintance. Yonekura Nobutsugu also brought Shichibei a gift: paper made from reeds. It was a little brittle and probably needed some bark from mulberry trees to be properly neutralized.

However, according to Yonekura Nobutsugu, Shingen was greatly impressed. After all, in Kai, the mountains were snowbound in winter, and people either went out to kill and burn or stayed home to make paper from reeds.

You can choose for yourself.

Murder and arson are certainly enjoyable and can make you rich, but people die. And whether you make money or not depends entirely on luck. Making paper from reeds at home is much simpler; there are no lazy people these days, lazy people would have starved to death long ago. Almost everyone understands the principle that no work, no food; what does working matter, having food to eat is the most important thing.

After the snowfall in late autumn last year, they set up two large paper mills and began making paper. They stayed home for four or five months, producing several thousand rolls (one hundred sheets per roll). Merchants from Odawara and Sunpu inspected the paper and said it was somewhat brittle, only worth half the price of regular mulberry bark paper.

Even at half price, it's still a profit.

Besides, they've only set up two paper mills. Once they build a few more around the city, earning three to five thousand strings of cash a year won't be difficult.

"You guys did a pretty good job." Shichibei looked at the reed paper; it was indeed a bit brittle.

Actually, the neighboring Daiming also uses reed paper, but for different purposes. The main sales target of reed paper is "gold paper," or to put it simply, it's the paper money burned when someone dies.

If you look closely at those tin foils, yellow coins, and white coins, you'll find that they occasionally contain obvious straw or reed stems, and the fibers are relatively coarse; as long as they can be burned, that's all that matters.

It has to be said that this thing has an incredibly huge market in China. After three or four decades of trying to change customs and traditions, it immediately resurfaced as soon as the market opened up; the people genuinely have this demand.

It's hard to say whether or not it should be burned.

"What do you think we should add to it to prevent it from becoming brittle?" Nobutsugu Yonekura asked Shichibei very directly, since it was Shichibei who had taught them this trick.