Owari Yumeki Golden Day

With Nanbu Tadaaki as his guide, he would rather die than let his friends die, and sold out all the families. Nobunaga admired him very much, thinking that the young man's breaking away from the court and serving the public was a great loyalty to him.

Thus, in just seven or eight days, the three counties of northern Ise near Owari fell into Nobunaga's hands. The army quickly entered Mie and Suzuka counties, and Seki Morinobu of Suzuka County was determined to resist Nobunaga's attack to the death.

With the support of Seki Morinobu and Kobe Tomori, the lord of Takaoka Castle, Yamaji Dan, bravely resisted the siege of thousands of troops led by Takigawa Ikki, delaying the offensive of the Oda army.

Not to mention, Yamaji Danzheng's resistance, and his ability to withstand the siege of thousands of people, immediately demonstrated his united front value. Nobunaga allowed Yamaji Danzheng to surrender, and the surrender was the surrender of his guards.

Yamaji Danzheng, who still held out at the front, was considered loyal to Kobe and Seki, opening the city and joining the Oda army. Yamaji's surrender greatly shook the branch families of the Seki clan, and the Kokufu, Mine, Shikafutsu, and Inabū clans all collapsed and surrendered to Nobunaga.

Sekimori Nobuyuki was okay, but Kanbe Gumori was no match for Nobunaga. Takigawa Kazumasu personally went into the city to persuade Nobunaga to surrender. The details of the negotiations are unknown, but Nobunaga ordered to go to Gifu Castle immediately and bring his third son to Nobunaga.

107. Entering Anno and Collecting Arrow Money

From this perspective, Nobunaga is actually just an ordinary person. Or to be more specific, Nobunaga is still within the scope of "human", not so wise as to be almost demonic.

It turns out that Nobunaga also took things one step at a time and only made the final decision when the time came.

Shichibei, suddenly realizing he had some "human touch," was delighted. Serving a person was always better than serving a political machine. Humans have their own desires, so there was room for negotiation. As long as this was negotiable, Shichibei, a small businessman, felt that life was full of hope.

It was at this point that the Oda generals surrounding Nobunaga finally understood Nobunaga's plan for Ise. He had previously sent Oda Nobunaga south in the hope of supporting an Ise branch clan and thus gaining control of Ise.

Once I began to fully understand Ise, I discovered that the "Three Houses of Ise" were all forces that needed to be controlled. They were the Sekike family in the north, the Nagano family in the middle, and the Kitabatake family in the south.

Oda Nobunaga had already told him that he wanted to inherit the Nagano Kudo clan. Having already promised his brother, Nobunaga couldn't easily go back on his word. Meanwhile, the southern-based Kitabatake clan was very understanding and didn't raise an army to oppose Nobunaga. This, of course, was also related to Nobunaga's "60,000 strong army." Even with only 10,000 or so Kitabatake soldiers, even a field battle wouldn't have been enough for Nobunaga to defeat.

The remaining clan is the Sekkei clan of the northern region, but they are still resisting desperately in Kameyama Castle and refusing to surrender. Therefore, we should support the branch clan of the Sekkei clan, the Kobe clan, to lead the surrendered local nobles of the northern region, replace the Sekkei clan, and pacify the northern region.

Now, except for the area around Kameyama Castle, the five counties of Hokusei had basically sided with the Oda clan. In order to establish his rule, Nobunaga summoned his son Sanchimaru, who was only ten years old during the Lunar New Year. This was a helpless move.

The great rebellion of the Hokusei during the Ise-Nagashima War was also related to the fact that Sanchimaru, and later Kobe Nobutaka, were quite young. Although he became the head of the Kobe family with the support of his father, he was unable to actually unite the Kobe retainers and suppress the Hokusei Kunio.

If Sanchimaru were twenty years old this year and had fought for three to five years, he would have dozens of trusted, self-promoted samurai. Together with the hundreds of northern samurai who had defected to him, he could have mustered at least five thousand men. With five thousand men defending Kobe Castle, even if a few hundred or twenty thousand Ikki-kun arrived, they wouldn't cause any major chaos.

It’s a pity that Nobunaga had too few adult sons and brothers.

Oda's 40,000-man army paused to await the Sanchimaru and besiege Kameyama Castle. Nobunaga did not immediately enter Kobe Castle, as it would have been unwise to rush in rashly just after Kobe's capital, Gumori, had announced the opening of the city.

First, Takigawa Ieyasu had to be sent into the city to gather all the soldiers and clear the castle. Only after ensuring that no one was left inside would Nobunaga enter the castle temporarily. The women and children who had been removed from the city would naturally become hostages. The male samurai would then await the arrival of Oda Sanshimaru to meet the new head of the family.

The news was quickly delivered to Gifu in just over a day by boat and horseback. The Oda Sanchimaru could reach Kobe Castle in four or five days at most.

On the other hand, how to attack Kameyama Castle which is defended by Guan Shengxin?

To be honest, Nobunaga was no god, and it was his first time commanding so many troops, so he was quite flustered. The fact that Kameyama Castle was never taken was also related to this.

After all, managing so many troops was enough to worry Nobunaga. He also had to win over the people, care for his allies, and place his son in a position. Anyone else would be overwhelmed by all this.

However, now that the five northern counties have basically surrendered and the army has camped around Kobe Castle, Nobunaga has time to start planning.

Takigawa Ieyasu pointed out to Nobunaga that many powerful clans had been defeated in the previous battles against Kuwana, Inabe, and Asaaki. While those smaller clans could be eliminated, some still had ronin who could be deployed as replacements. However, a major clan like the Sekike clan had hundreds of retainers, from retainers and generals to foot soldiers, a complete samurai corps.

It’s better to focus on absorption.

As long as Seki Morinobu is willing to surrender, Takigawa Ieyasu is willing to act as a guarantor and ask Nobunaga to send someone to him to serve as his assistant.

Furthermore, after this battle, the power of the Sakae clan dwindled significantly. All the powerful families under his command now sided with the Oda clan. The Sakae clan, which could muster over 3,000 men, was reduced to a force capable of recruiting only 800 to 1,000 men, a significant weakening.

Seki Mori Nobuyuki, who came from the lineage of Taira no Tadayoshi of the Ise Taira clan and was a descendant of Seki Sakon Masakane Sanetada, may now have to give up his status as a legitimate heir to the Kobe family.

Later generations might think it's just a branch of the main family, what's the big deal? Well, in modern Japan, this is a very significant matter. Below a certain level, the existence of a branch is indeed meaningless. But at the level of Seki Morinobu and Kobe Gumori, the main family is the main family, and the main family holds the key to the relationship between ruler and subject, and can nominally command all the branch families.

How many people would want to fight for the great title of being the direct descendant of the Seiwa Genji clan and a pillar of the family?

If a branch family attacks the main family, regardless of whether they win or not, they will first be labeled as a rebel. If they win, they will be labeled as a usurper, and if they lose, they will be trampled on by ten thousand feet.

Now, if Seki Morinobu agreed to give up the title of a legitimate branch to the Kobe family, the Kobe family would have the right to rule over the branch families. This would benefit both Oda Sanshimaru, who would later become the head of the Kobe family, and Takigawa Ikki, who hoped to find a powerful envoy.

After some thought, Nobunaga agreed to Takigawa Ikki's request, saying that as long as Seki Morinobu agreed to become a branch of the Kobe family and handed over hostages to Sanchimaru, he would accept his surrender and his territory would be safe.

"That's great..." Shichibei was really envious, and since Kinoshita Hideyoshi was sitting next to him, there was no need to pretend.

"That's about right." Hideyoshi smacked his lips, but he was actually envious.

None of Shichibei's forces were large-scale samurai groups. They were either scattered by Nobunaga, or they only brought dozens of people like Takenaka Hanbei.

Hideyoshi was better off, as he had the backbone and strength of the large-scale Hosuka Party and Tsubouchi Party. The following Makimura, Maruge, and Ikoma were all from small countries.

Therefore, Shichibei was particularly envious of Takigawa Ikki who suddenly gained the Seki Morinobu samurai group with hundreds of retainers. Hideyoshi did not say it, but he was envious in his heart.

"In this way, Sakon will also become a Samurai-shogun." Shichibei watched Takigawa Kazumasu run out of the shogunate with great joy.

"At least he should be in charge of three counties. Before the young master Sanqimaru comes of age, he might be in charge of five counties." Hideyoshi naturally understood it.

Oda Sanshimaru was only ten years old. How could he lead the people of Northern Ise? It must have been Takigawa Ieyasu who was in charge. The transfer would only be made to Sanshimaru after he came of age and entered his primogeniture period.

Of course, this is what happened in history. Takigawa Ieyasu was transferred to Ueno Province, and after Kobe Nobutaka obtained the local samurai group in northern Ise, he made some preparations and prepared to attack Shikoku.

As a result, the Northern Ise samurai group and Kobe Nobutaka were not familiar with each other. When the news of the Honnoji Incident came, the tens of thousands of troops immediately collapsed, and most of the samurai and foot soldiers fled. Only part of Niwa Nagahide's army continued to follow.

Look at what happened. The reason why Nobutaka was finished so quickly was largely due to the fact that he never established a legitimate and large-scale group of samurai retainers.

The reason Takigawa Ieyasu fell so quickly was related to his loss of Ueno and his handing over of the northern Ise samurai group to Nobutaka, which resulted in the rapid disintegration of the group and the lack of time to regroup, which was also related to Hideyoshi's conflict.

"Tsk tsk tsk..."

Doesn't this seem like a case of the latecomer taking the lead? Both Shichibei and Hideyoshi served Nobunaga for years before finally rising to the rank of general and important minister. It's as if Takigawa Ieyasu had just joined Nobunaga's army and was immediately promoted to samurai general, commanding five counties and a force.

I don’t know how many people here are dissatisfied and how many are unhappy.

"There's nothing to be sentimental about. I've been active in Kitase for many years." Hideyoshi restrained his expression and said it calmly.

As the two were chatting, news came in that the young master Sanqimaru had arrived. Then, several people escorted the ten-year-old Oda Sanqimaru and rushed to pay their respects to Nobunaga.

With a shout of "Myeong-mi", Nobunaga asked Sanchimaru to sit next to him.

Regardless of whether he loved this son in the past or thought that he had great potential, Nobunaga now had to support this son and uphold his dignity.

Especially in front of all the Ise Kunihiro, helping Sanqimaru to gain his footing. Kobe Gusheng, who had been standing nearby for a while, was ordered to exchange bows with Sanqimaru, and from now on they would be father-in-law and son-in-law, father and son, and ruler and subject.

Today we are still paying respects to each other as equals, but tomorrow we will have to sit under the couch and pay respects to Sanqi Wan as a subject.

Kobe Gumori had a daughter (Suzuhime), who lived outside the camp. Without discussing whether they were dating or not, or whether they were suitable for each other, they were immediately arranged to be married, and the wedding took place in Kobe Castle. Sanshichimaru's coming-of-age ceremony was named Nobutaka, Kobe Sanshichiro Nobutaka.

In order to ensure Nobutaka's safety in Kobe Castle and to recruit his confidants, Koda Hikoemon Takayuki, Okamoto Taro Emon, Sakasensai, Miyake Gonemon, Sakaguchi Sudonosuke, Yamashita Sanemon, Suematsu Yoshiemon and others were all transferred from being Nobunaga's direct retainers to Nobutaka.

Together with the samurai retainers of the powerful families of Kobe, Mine, Kokufu, Shikafutsu, and Inamori, the total number of retainers was 600. This instantly became the strongest and most complete group of retainers in the entire Oda family.

A biological child is a biological child, no matter if you like it or not, but he is indeed the son that Nobunaga got by chance.

Look at us, three or five of us, being so stingy, asking for three this year and then having to come back next year for more. Look at Nobutaka, he gave away six hundred serious warriors in one go.

There was only one person with a grim look on his face at the wedding banquet, Guan Shengxin.

Because Nobutaka's wife was originally scheduled to marry Seki Motoyoshi, the son of Seki Morinobu, and Seki Motoyoshi was also scheduled to inherit the Kobe family. It's really a coincidence, isn't it? Nobunaga's fate really seems to be a bit of a blessing from heaven.

Kobe Tomori could not have a son, Nagano Fujisada could not have a son, and the same was true for the two major clans of Hokusei and Nakasei. It was simply God helping Nobunaga.

Since he had no biological son, Kobe Gusheng was the first to kneel down. After all, the family property belonged to others. So he must choose the most powerful person to join him and save his family.

But no one paid any attention to his bad face. He also didn't dare to show it in front of Nobunaga, so he could only curse inwardly.

The five counties of Northern Ise were completely pacified after the surrender of Seki Morinobu. After Nobunaga arranged the marriages of Nobutaka and Suzuhime, he broke camp and set off, continuing south to Anno and Ichishi counties.

Naturally, it was another stage for Takigawa Ieyasu to shine. After Mokuzo Tomomasa defected, the people of the two counties seemed to collapse. They either fled to Kitabatake with their families overnight, or knelt before Nobunaga.

On the other hand, Nagano Guto of the Nagano family held fast to his castle, ready to fight Nobunaga to the bitter end. No one else would rescue him, but Kitabatake Guto was his biological son, so he had to save him.

Then came the most common scene in the Warring States Period: Hosono Fujiatsu rebelled against Oda, expelled Nagano Guto, raised the banner to welcome Nobunaga, and welcomed the Oda army into the city.

The Ise strategy ends here.

"Nanabe, I'm sending you to Anozukuri to collect 5,000 strings of arrow money and 2,000 stones of military rations from the people of Anozukuri." Nobunaga ordered Nanabe immediately after his horse passed Anozukuri.

"Five thousand strings of cash!" This price is not low, Shichibei needs to confirm it.

"You go with Tamebe." Nobunaga looked back and saw Murai Sadakatsu standing behind him on horseback.

Murai Sadakatsu was in charge of the Gunmezuki, which meant inspecting and recording the battle achievements on Nobunaga's behalf. Because the battlefield was large and the troops were divided into several routes, Nobunaga had to send many Gunmezuki.

"I understand." Shichibei was on horseback, so he didn't salute. He turned around and said a few words to So Kotaro, then took a dozen people with him and headed straight for Annozu.

Annozu had already assembled a "large army" of over 3,000 men, and if war broke out, they had to defend themselves. But upon hearing that it was Shichibei who had come under orders, they trusted him. After all, Shichibei was a member of the Tsushima Kai, and like them, autonomous merchants.

The gate opened, and Shichibei rode in. Someone immediately came to hold his horse. Inase Yoshinari, who had stayed behind in Annozu, also ran over to greet Shichibei as he entered the town in triumph.

"Boss, we're making a fortune!" Inase Yoshinari was so excited that his eyebrows almost flew to the sky.

"Yeah." Shichibei glanced at him, meaning that he should understand the situation and not talk about this matter at this time. Didn't he see Murai Sadakatsu behind him?

"Ahhh." Inase Yoshinari immediately shut up, which was quite sensible.

Although he had expected this and was only thinking about making this money, after hearing what Inase Yoshinari said, Shichibei still had some doubts in his mind. He wondered how much money he would make in the end, and how big a fortune he would make.

………………

There is a question that people often ask. I will tell you what I know. If there are any mistakes, please point them out.

What is the exchange rate between guangao and shigao? Because shigao is the value of land output, while guangao is the value of land income, so a piece of land with 10,000 shi, five officials and five civilians, would have an annual income of 5,000 shi of rice.

Five thousand dan of rice is worth about 2,500 strings of cash, so if we use the dan as the height, this piece of land is worth 10,000 dan. If we use the strings of cash as the height, this piece of land is worth 2,500 strings of cash.

Previously, Nobunaga Chiyuki gave Shichibei 1,000 kan, which meant that Shichibei would only recruit 100 retainers of 10 kan each after he got the 1,000 kan and the land.

108. The reverse image of the matchmaking is exploited

The wealthy merchants of Annozu, such as those in the rice houses, fish houses, and gofuku houses, sat in front of Shichibei and put on the same smiling face that Shichibei used to welcome Oda Nobunaga to welcome him.

Such a similar smile is now directed at our Shichibei. How times have changed. It feels like a lifetime ago.

The wealthy merchants breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Shichibei and Murai Sadakatsu arrive. If this were some ignorant, unsophisticated warrior who could only draw his sword and demand tens of thousands, it would be like a scholar meeting a soldier, with no chance of explanation.

Now that they had an acquaintance, they could at least discuss matters and make concessions. In fact, the demands of these merchants were quite low: they could pay the arrow money, but the lord's prosecutors were not allowed to enter and actually interfere in the management of Annozu Town. Commercial matters and the general civil administration of the town were handled internally by the merchants themselves.

In name, it could become a power under the umbrella of the Oda family, but in reality, Nobunaga only needed to sit at home and collect money. There was no need for the two sides to draw swords and actually fight each other.

War is something that normal businesspeople dislike. Of course, arms dealers and those who are naturally adventurous (shielded) are not included in this category. Those who can profit from war without having to go to the battlefield are the most supportive of war.

Before coming, Shichibei and Murai Sadakatsu also agreed that one would play the villain and the other the hero. He would be the villain and Shichibei would be the hero, and they would do their best to complete Nobunaga's instructions.

After all, Shichibei has the advantage, and the most important thing is to get the money of the Annozu people first by coaxing and deceiving them.

As for the tactics, they were very old-fashioned. Murai Sadakatsu opened his mouth and said that Nobunaga wanted 8,000 kan and 5,000 koku of rice for military rations. These were the arrow money and dobetsu money Nobunaga would collect after he entered Ise.

I'll leave the arrow money aside; it's just military sponsorship fees. It's clearly stated that it's arrow money, no explanation needed. Dobetsu money is a property tax on commercial shops. The danqian/fanqian collected in Mino are a property tax based on the size of the land. Dobetsu money is levied based on the size of the building or shop; the larger the shop, the more it's collected.

Or to put it more understandably, "Liang Bie Qian".

In Japanese, the word "pillar" is commonly used in many contexts, as are the words "art" and "river." The word "pillar" is used on houses. Building a house in China involves a "beam raising ceremony," while building a house in Japan involves a "roof raising ceremony."

In order to collect the tax in the simplest and most direct way, the inventors of the tax chose to count the number of beams. The number of beams equals the amount of money charged, which is an intuitive and simple tax collection method.

That’s why the more bays a store has, the more building space it needs to cover. Doesn’t one bay just mean one beam?

Some might ask if all beams are the same length, and if such a tax is unfair. First, trees are living things; they are mortal, not immortal. When timber is grown to maturity and used to build houses, it's generally of similar length.

Secondly, when it comes to houses, when it comes to mechanics and so on, there is an upper limit to the length of the beam. Even if you have a beam that is 100 meters long and put up pillars, aren’t you afraid that it will not be able to withstand the pressure of the roof and break directly?

Finally, the simplest one is that I collect taxes with the knife in my hand, and you actually discuss with me whether it is fair or not.

The Annozu people were naturally aware of the collection of arrow money and dobetsu money, but they were still shocked when they heard about 8,000 kan of money and 5,000 koku of rice.

Even though Anotsu was one of the three major ports in the country, a major port in the Bay of Ise, it was quite painful to collect so much money and rice at once.

It's just painful. If I ask for 5,000, it will be painful. If I ask for 3,000, it will also be painful. It won't be painful if I don't ask for anything.

After making his announcement, Murai Sadakatsu ignored the wailing merchants and stood up to leave. Everyone could only grab Shichibei's sleeves, asking him to help them because they were all wealthy merchants.

"Everyone, you should know that I am just a small businessman. The Minister of Civil Affairs is the military commander and the chief magistrate." Shichibei curled his lips and acted pitifully to show that his words carry little weight.

"What are you talking about, Lord Kawamura? You are the head of the Nobi Ryokan and the governor of Kodado. You are a popular figure in front of Lord Gifu." A wealthy merchant knelt down in front of Shichibei.

"That's still a royal merchant."

"Ah this."

Shichibei silenced the big boss with just one sentence. Indeed, Shichibei currently held no position in the Oda Clan. He had previously served as the Magistrate of Hikari, but now that the relocation to Gifu Castle had been completed, he naturally resigned.

Nobunaga meant to let Qibingbei take the position of "Okata" later, so no new appointment was made. But outside, Qibingbei really did not have any position, just a royal merchant.

The small porter in the army was assigned to fight in a temporary battle, and Murai Sadakatsu was still the military commander.

"Well, well, well, we're going to lose our house." Oh, the big boss was also a dramatic actor. He actually fell to the ground and started to squeeze out tears.

The other Annojin people also bowed their heads and wept, as if offering 8,000 kan would cost them their lives. If Shichibei wasn't a small businessman, he would have been ripped off. Who among them didn't have a hundred or two hundred thousand kan in capital? Shichibei himself had tens of thousands.