Owari Yumeki Golden Day

When Nobunaga invaded northern Ise, he ordered the abolition of the Suzuka Checkpoint in Ise to suppress and weaken the power of the Suzuka County Sekkei clan. He also removed the numerous smaller checkpoints scattered throughout northern Ise.

In addition, Nobunaga also ordered the repair of the streets connecting northern Ise with Owari and Mino, the improvement of the port docks, the construction of post stations and stables, and the deployment of samurai generals and envoys in the local areas.

Its main purpose should be to strengthen Nobunaga's own rule over the local area. As for whether it was already preparing for the Rakuichi Rakuza, it is still unknown.

As for the checkpoints at Shichiguchi in Kyoto that the Muromachi shogunate had set up, Shichibei had no idea whether Nobunaga would remove them or not.

To give an inappropriate example, if a traveler only has simple personal belongings and a sword, how much money do you think the checkpoints along the way would ask for when traveling from Annozu to the gate of Ise Jingu Shrine?

One hundred coins!

This stretch of road is only about forty kilometers long, but at its peak, there were over seventy checkpoints—literally, one every few hundred meters. Of course, after the Kitabatake clan unified and strengthened, the number of checkpoints decreased, with only a few at major intersections. But the fees collected were substantial. Based on Takebe Kenichi's "Road History of Japan," it's estimated to be quite a bit.

In the same way, there are seven entrances in Kyoto, namely Oharaguchi (Oharaguchi, Yaseguchi → Hokuriku Expressway)? Kuramaguchi (Izumo Intersection)? Awataguchi (Higashi-sanjoguchi → Tokaido)? Fushimiguchi (Ujiguchi? Woodabataguchi → Nankaido)? Toba Pass (→ Saikaidou)? Tanba Pass (Nishi Shichijo Pass? Shichijo Pass → Sanin*shield* Road)? Nagasaka Pass (→ Tanba Pass). These seven gates are the most important source of liquidity for the imperial court and the shogunate.

During the Namboku-cho period in Japan, years of war left the government short of funds. The imperial court began establishing the so-called Nari-ryo-bungan, the prototype of checkpoints. Initially, these checkpoints were managed by the heads of various government offices, but later became hereditary by the court nobles. They were established and abolished from time to time, and during the Onin War, the shogun's wife, Hino Tomiko, established several more checkpoints.

Until now, they still exist (historically, Hideyoshi killed them all).

Nobunaga seemed to be still adhering to the basic rules of the Muromachi shogunate, as he had not yet successfully turned to the direction of Taira no Dai-sho-koku by relying on the imperial court and the emperor's tiger skin. At present, he still used the card of Ashikaga Yoshiaki's shogun to appoint shugo, grant privileges, and collect taxes.

The Kyoto customs office probably won't be demolished, but as for the Minami-Omi customs office, I can't guarantee that either. Shichibei finished chatting with the merchant representative with a grin, then returned to Kyoto with the money.

On the one hand, they needed Nobunaga to grant them the red seal of the entire town's autonomous settlement, and on the other hand, they also wanted to petition Nobunaga and understand his attitude.

The money was handed over to Sugaya Nagayari and Murai Sadakatsu, and if they wanted to report something, they had to queue up. Several large temples in Nanto also sent people to pay a visit to Nobunaga. It was because Sakuma Nobumori led more than 20,000 people to violently attack Yamato. These old bald donkeys were scared and anxious, and they rushed to curry favor with Nobunaga.

Since Nobunaga publicly expressed his support for Matsunaga Hisahide, those large temples that had previously sided with Tsutsui Junkei, either openly or secretly, had to pay a heavy price to gain Nobunaga's forgiveness and keep their temple territories and mountain gates.

No one wanted the Great Buddha Hall to be burned down again. Building a magnificent temple was not easy. With wars every year, the princes and the court were not wealthy, so begging for alms was difficult.

After sending these old bald thieves away, Nobunaga went out to eat, and then he had time to let Qibingbei report on his work. He also asked Qibingbei if he wanted to eat. Qibingbei had eaten too much at the Otsu banquet and was not greedy for this. He said that he would finish his report quickly and not disturb Nobunaga's subsequent work arrangements.

I heard that Hanawa Naomasa and Hachiya Yoritaka had both reached Iimori Castle. Shinohara Nagafusa's 20,000 Hashima troops might be involved in a conflict. Compared to the removal of the checkpoints mentioned by Shichibei, fighting was clearly more important.

After finishing a bowl of miso soup, Shichibei briefly stated the demands of the Otsu merchants. "Removing the checkpoints?" Nobunaga said without hesitation that all checkpoints in Minami-Omi would be removed.

But not now, because in addition to collecting taxes, the customs office also has an important function, which is to crack down on criminal activities along the road and capture fugitives.

Rokkaku Yoshitaka and his son, Rokkaku Yoshiharu, were missing, and Nobunaga had to capture them before he could finally rest in peace. Therefore, the checkpoints were not removed for the time being, and the tolls collected from the checkpoints were used to support the checkpoint soldiers, who were then sent to capture the remnants of Rokkaku.

Let's not even talk about capturing Rokkaku and his son, at least capture the people they sent out to seek help. Having been tied up in the mountains of Koga County for so long, it was hard to even get enough to eat, let alone get cannon ammunition, bows, and horses.

Without weapons, what can you use to fight?

Ow...

No wonder Nobunaga didn't order the removal of the checkpoints before. Fortunately, Shichibei was cautious and didn't agree to the Otsu merchants, so he could respond to them naturally.

"We'll discuss this later after all the branch cities in Jiangnan are abandoned." The young man next to Nobunaga poured a circle of soy sauce soup on Nobunaga's rice, and Nobunaga began to eat it.

"Understood." Since Shichibei didn't make any promises, he might as well just agree to it.

All castles, big and small, including Kannonji Castle, were demolished, and all moats and embankments were filled in. Even if Rokkaku and his sons fought back to Minami-Omi and raised their army again, there would not be a single castle left to defend and wait for change.

At that time, the threat posed by the remnants of the Rokugao Party was greatly reduced, and the customs office was withdrawn again.

"Go and estimate the price of the stones and wood that were removed, and come back to tell me." Nobunaga continued to order.

"Should we transfer it to Kyoto in advance?" Shichibei tried to be a little clever.

The palace of Ashikaga Yoshiteru had been burned down during the rebellion of the Miyoshi Three, and Ashikaga Yoshiaki now lived in Honkuji Temple. Temples were not a permanent place to stay, so a new palace had to be built.

Building the Imperial Palace naturally required stone and wood. If the buildings in southern Omi were demolished and moved directly to Kyoto, Nobunaga could save a couple of dollars. Unless he was already planning to build a new residence in Omi, there was no need to bother; he could just move everything to Azuchiyama.

"Hmm..." Nobunaga hesitated for a moment when asked by Shichibei.

Nobunaga was probably still wrestling with Yoshiaki about whether to pay for the construction of the imperial palace. Yoshiaki had seven checkpoints in Kyoto, and if he collected money for two or three years, he would probably be able to raise the construction costs.

When Kamakura's Genkaku-ji Temple was to be rebuilt, the Muromachi shogunate allowed it to set up a customs office at Hakone Station, allowing it to collect taxes for three years. It only took two years to raise enough money for the reconstruction, and the rest of the money was a profit.

Because everyone found that setting up a checkpoint in Hakone was very profitable, after the Hojo clan invaded Izu and Sagami, they did not hesitate to build a mountain castle on the west side of Mount Hakone, set up a camp on the road, blocked the road, completely avoided the possibility of evading tolls, and made a fortune.

During the Battle of Odawara, Yamanaka Castle became an important branch castle of Odawara Castle, blocking the generals of Toyotomi Hidetsugu who were advancing on Odawara from Tōkaidō. However, being just a customs house, it lacked much defense and was easily conquered by the Toyotomi army in just a short time.

"Let's tear it down first." Nobunaga thought for a moment. There were indeed a lot of things happening recently, and each one required a decision. His brain was finally not enough.

"Yes!" Then we will dismantle it on the spot and wait for the next order.

By the way, Usayama Castle had not been built at that time, so there was no need to worry about demolishing the castle, lest Mori Kanari be unable to stop the Asakura-Azai coalition forces in two years.

Wait, it's possible that this wave of stone and timber from Minami-Omi was ultimately used to build Nijo Gosho and Usayama Castle. This is highly likely. After all, Nobunaga's money wasn't blown by the wind, so he would have used readily available materials.

Mori Yoshinari, who was ordered to build Usayama Castle to block the Asakura army's southward advance, could hardly have obtained a large amount of fortification materials in such a short time. Most likely, he directly used materials from the demolished Minami-Omi Castle, relocating and reinstalling them to obtain gates, towers, and stone walls with relatively good defensive strength.

Building a castle from scratch that could withstand the combined forces of Asakura and Asai for over 30,000 men and remain unconquered for a prolonged period would take at least two or three years. However, if the project involved simply leveling the land and then dismantling and rebuilding the surrounding fortifications, the process would likely have been much faster.

We'll pre-install any potential defensive structures for him, label them, and keep them organized. When Mori Koshinari needs them, he can just drag them over and start building with the blocks. If he can hold the city and survive, we'll owe Shichibei a big favor.

Just do it.

"Where's the red seal? Bring it here so I can sign it." Nobunaga had finished his meal by now. He stood up and walked around a few steps, found a bright place, and asked Shichibei for the red seal.

The attendant behind him immediately brought out the red seal letter, which Shichibei had already countersigned. "We are subordinates, so we must prepare it in advance and do it when the leader is free. It's impossible for us to say we forgot when the leader asks about it."

After signing the seal with the dragon and phoenix, Nobunaga took out his own seal of Tenkabu and stamped it on the top. It is said that Nobunaga also had a seal of phoenix in history, but it is not known whether it is true or not. At least he used the Tenkabu seal at this time.

In addition, the soon-to-be-rich Akechi Mitsuhide claimed to have a seal with a kirin, but this is also unknown. However, some people later used this seal as an excuse to create a photo of Akechi Mitsuhide, the kirin child of Mino.

Shichibei also had a seal, but it was the kind used for interleaving, primarily for business dealings, such as loans, transactions, and bills with the kaiju of Annozu and Sakaimachi. Interleaving seals were convenient for business purposes and also served to enhance the security of bills. Shichibei didn't have a personal seal.

"The people of Otsu must be very happy." After respectfully accepting the letter with the red seal, Shichibei asked the young man beside him to fold the letter and put it in bags one by one according to the different places of awarding.

Nobunaga must still be in the process of getting food, so he filled in the place names one by one on the envelope with great interest. This saved Shichibei from having to write it again, which was quite considerate.

"Did you collect the money from them?" Nobunaga suddenly looked up and asked this while he was signing the place name.

Shichibei was so frightened that he shuddered. He must have taken it.

"You should give me half of it, but I don't want this half. I'll give it back to you." Nobunaga saw that Shichibei's chrysanthemum tightened and his whole body arched forward, and he knew that he must have accepted it.

Nobunaga doesn't care. This little bit of lubricant is nothing.

"How many kan are worth of the horse farm and cultivated land you obtained in Jiangnan?" Nobunaga continued to ask, as if to warn Shichibei.

"There are always a few thousand strings of cash."

"I'll count your new knowledge as 2,500 kan, a total of 5,000 kan." Nobunaga picked up a piece of paper and started writing on it.

"I will never forget Yu En!" You should have said it earlier. Look how scared Shichibei was.

In fact, many of the horse farms and arable lands Shichibei inherited were actually ordinary villages. War horses needed beans; without this relatively protein-rich food, they would run weakly. Therefore, fields had to be specially cultivated for bean cultivation. At the time, the price of beans in Japan was roughly the same as that of rice, at a 1:1 ratio, so ordinary people were happy to cultivate them.

If you really counted, Shichibei's territory was definitely more than 5,000 kan, 8,000 kan or even more was possible. Nobunaga didn't care about that, nor did he care whether he planted beans or grass. He just wanted Shichibei to fulfill his military obligations when fighting.

Immediately, the land in southern Omi was inspected, and the landowners reported the value of their land. They could then register their number of military service members, or pay a fee if they chose not to serve. Once Nobunaga gained more wealth, he stopped drafting Omi farmers into the military. Instead, he had them pay a fee in lieu of military service, and Nobunaga would then spend the money to recruit standing ashigaru.

Apart from large-scale expeditions that required long-distance logistical transportation and the conscription of military personnel, military obligations gradually became separated from wealthy farmers and landlords during the Azuchi-Momoyama period.

Farsighted daimyo understood that the disadvantages of mobilizing peasant soldiers for war far outweighed the advantages. Rather than continuing to mobilize peasants, it would be better to extort more money, recruit standing soldiers, and go to war whenever they wanted.

The Korean War lasted for several years, and the peasants would never have the morale to sustain such a long expedition.

"Okay, let's get ready to go to Jiangnan to inspect the land." Nobunaga handed the new report to Shichibei and smiled at him.

According to the plan, five temporarily appointed magistrates were to be in charge of this task. One was Shichibei, another was Sugaya Nagayari, whom I had met earlier, another was Shimada Hidemitsu, who I had known before, and another was Sakai Toshisada, who had recently defected to Nobunaga. There was another magistrate, but who would it be?

144. Disputes between Nobunaga and Nagamasa

After some questioning, Nobunaga realized that he was sending a local samurai from southern Omi to assist him. Indeed, Shichibei, Shimada Hidemitsu, and Sugaya Nagayari were all former retainers of Nobunaga in Owari. They were certainly trustworthy and loyal, but it was also true that they were unfamiliar with southern Omi.

Sakai Toshisada, who recently surrendered to Nobunaga, is from Mino. The surname Sakai sounds familiar, doesn't it? Nobunaga had retainers with the surname Sakai. Back then, I was half the governor of Kaito, and the other half was held by Sakai Masanari. I wonder if they're considered one family after 200 years.

That would indeed require a local from Minami-Omi to help oversee the situation. While Nobunaga didn't care how much land he could ultimately seize, he was mindful of the number of soldiers required to serve in the area. He likely wouldn't give up until 15,000 men were available. Rokkaku and his son were completely demoralized, so how could they possibly mobilize 11,000 men to resist?

people come.

The water mouth is full.

Hmm… Shichibei looked the man in front of him up and down. He was just an ordinary samurai, one of those who immediately surrendered with courtesy when Nobunaga's flag arrived. So, the old lords began to sell out their fellow Omi people to ensure the survival of their family name.

Let me ask you, bro, where do you know where you are from? What's your background? Mizuguchi Morisato said he joined Nobunaga along with Kondo Kenmori, the scribe of Kurita County. Of course, now they're calling it a rebellion, and all those Rokkaku are traitors. Their family's territory was small, just a few hundred koku in Nagatsuka Village near Mizuguchi, Kurita County.

Nagatsuka Village? Hmm? Shichibei's eyes lit up. The name of the village sounded like a person. However, judging by his age, Nagatsuka Masaya should still be a child. Historically, he participated in the Western Army during the Battle of Sekigahara and was likely only in his thirties or forties when he committed seppuku.

Changshu Village was the fiefdom of Shuikou Shengli, so it was highly likely that the Changshu Zheng family was either a relative or a son of his. It was definitely impossible for his father to have a thirty-year-old son at the age of five.

After all, since this was our first meeting and we were going to be working together, there was nothing wrong with Shichibei asking me questions. Besides, I'm from Owari, so you, a native of Omi, shouldn't be forced to accept my actions.

According to Mizuguchi Morisato, it's fine to call him Nagatsuka Morisato, as his family's skills had all moved to Nagatsuka Village. As for their common character, it's indeed "正." He was called Mizuguchi Morisato because he received the character "盛" from Kondo Kenmori; otherwise, he would have been Mizuguchi Masato.

I understand. From now on, we are colleagues and will work together for Nobunaga.

Shichibei secretly decided that this line must be kept stable. If all else failed, he would ask Nobunaga to take Mizuguchi Morisato over to serve as his assistant. Nagatsuka Masashi was also a top figure, and he would be useful if he opened a branch in Kinai in the future.

After distributing Nobunaga's red seal letters in Otsu and gathering five colleagues, Shichibei and his team, along with hundreds of others, marched into the castle grounds of Kannonji, the temporary government headquarters in Minami-Omi. Inside the castle, men dispatched by Niwa Nagahide were carrying out demolition work. Following Nobunaga's orders, various materials were being transported to the castle town for storage. Shichibei would later assess the value of the lumber and stone.

Putting this aside, Aochi Shigetsuna, as Shichibei's Minami-Omi vassal, was also ordered to bring a dozen men to assist Shichibei. Upon hearing that the matter was about the inspection, Aochi Shigetsuna readily agreed. Had it been Nawabari, he might have expressed some hesitation. The mere inspection, in other words, was merely a matter of revising the "Gifu Danshoden Kinshu Retainer Limit Account."

Envoys were dispatched to erect notice boards at the county offices and intersections of each county, ordering the warriors of Minami-Omi who had surrendered to Nobunaga to convey Nobunaga's order to all counties and villages throughout the country. They were to report and register their tax revenues at the Land Inspection Office at the foot of Kannonji Castle within fifteen days.

No waiting after the deadline!

All received will be confiscated!

Just like collecting the money for the dombetsu and danqian, the new conquerors followed this same process for handling their new territories. Shichibei suddenly felt that Sassa Narimasa, after Hideyoshi transferred him from Echizen to Higo, probably thought he could collect a new danqian, then point out the land inspection and settle the account, so he quietly transferred him to Higo.

As a result, Hideyoshi's order was to conduct a land inspection in Napochi, requiring him to conduct a detailed investigation into the land output of all the territory in Higo and the corresponding military personnel.

The people of Higo would immediately rebel. This would be a death sentence. They had painstakingly concealed their tiny paddy fields, and now not only would their holdings be exposed, but military service would also be increased. Even if Sasa Narimasa were the ruler of Higo, even if Hideyoshi himself were, everyone would still rebel.

In addition, Hideyoshi seemed to be a bit indifferent to his relatives when it came to being a bad person. Killing Sasa Narimasa was completely understandable. After all, Sasa Narimasa and he had fought against each other before. Killing him would put an end to it all and eliminate future troubles. This even seemed to be a big advantage in many cases.

However, his land survey of Ukita Hideie was a bit outrageous, increasing the amount of land in Okayama from 380,000 koku to 570,000 koku. At the time, Hideie was a small figurehead and had no say in the Ukita family. The only people who could make the decisions were the Ukita elders and the land survey commissioner sent by Hideyoshi. It's impossible that Hideyoshi didn't know anything about it.

Hideyoshi in his old age is really a bit bad.

Fortunately, this guy isn't that bad right now. He's even quite a decent person, willing to help his brothers when things get tough. It seems the Party and the country are less important than Lord Nobunaga. If something goes wrong, calling my senior from Huangpu won't work. Sending a horse to Hideyoshi for help might actually be enough.

No need to mention it, just set up the desk and start registering. Shichibei also sent people to ask Goto Takaharu and Kondo Kenmori, who had already defected, if they had copies of the accounts of Rokkaku Yoshitaka's retainers. As the two Rokkaku retainers, they were qualified to countersign the documents of the Rokkaku family head, so they must have some records.

Although Rokkaku Yoshihide didn't set fire to Kannonji Castle when he fled, it is true that the castle was looted. The escape of Rokkaku and his sons caused chaos throughout the city, and by the time Hideyoshi arrived to block the gate, half a day had passed.

In history, as soon as Mitsuhide was defeated, the Warring States peasants living under Azuchi Castle immediately entered the city to rob. This was the nature of the Warring States period and was not uncommon.

As a result, many documents in the city were snatched away by the common people, who took them home to use as fire starters or to wipe their butts, although in reality, everyone just used grass leaves to deal with it.

Documents were sparse in the city, so he could only turn to his two old retainers for help. The retainers of both families immediately came to reply to Shichibei, saying they didn't have the complete copy, only the one for the sub-county where they served as county governor, and had already prepared it and brought it with them for Shichibei to review.

That's fine, this just settles the old accounts of the two counties.

Since they both have it, then Gamō Kenhide of Hino Castle should have it too. I wonder where Gamō Kenhide is with Shibata Katsuie, perhaps already storming Ikeda Castle. There's no need to go find him personally; instead, send a letter to Gamō Sadahide, who's being held hostage by Nobunaga, and have him send a copy of the county land survey ledger.

Of the seven counties in Hunan, we now have the old accounts for at least three, which is better than nothing. There were too many hidden reports, so at least we have a reference, and the registration work is proceeding rapidly.

Perhaps because Shichibei had been granted 5,000 kan (approximately 5,000 kan), the other four seemed to prioritize Shichibei over them. They were supposed to serve as co-executors, but they didn't bother Shichibei with many minor matters. Even when submitting memorials to Nobunaga, Shichibei was always the lead.

"The lord has ordered the construction of a street from Ogaki Castle to Seta Bridge." So Kotaro, who stayed in Kyoto under Nobunaga's command and was ready to take orders at any time, ran to Guanyin Temple on horseback.

"My lord, do you have any other orders?" Shichibei opened the envelope and showed Nobunaga's order to the other four magistrates.

"After the taxes are collected, one third will be sent to Shibata's army, one third will be sent back to Gifu, and one third will be used to build streets." In fact, it was written in the imperial order, but So Kotaro had already come.

"I understand." Everyone nodded.

After delivering the order, Shichibei and Sokotaro went out the door, mainly to find out where the Oda army was. Because of the many chaotic changes, Shichibei could not be sure of Nobunaga's movements.

Ikeda Katsumasa of Ikeda Castle was unable to withstand the onslaught of Shibata Katsuie and Hanawa Naomasa and surrendered. Nobunaga pardoned Ikeda Katsumasa and even promised him continued service as the guardian of Settsu, demonstrating the value of a united front.

Miyoshi Yoshitsugu and Hatakeyama Takamasa also went to Kyoto to pay a visit to Nobunaga. It was quite rare that Miyoshi and Hatakeyama, the old enemies, could now sit on the same bed.

Nobunaga recognized their loyalty in the fight against the Miyoshi Three and granted each of them half of Kawachi, using Ashikaga Yoshiaki's status. Miyoshi Yoshitsugu was stationed at Wakae Castle, and Hatakeyama Takamasa was stationed at Takaya Castle, so they could both be considered guardians of half of the kingdom.

With the support of Hatakeyama Takamasa and Honganji, many forces in Kii also expressed their obedience to Nobunaga. Everyone felt that Nobunaga was the governor, and now he was so powerful, so he should bow down when it was time to do so.

However, a very famous resignation event in history still happened at this time.

At a banquet for envoys from the feudal lords, Ashikaga Yoshiaki directly asked Nobunaga when he would become Kanrei. Nobunaga said he did not want to be Kanrei. Yoshiaki, assuming that Nobunaga thought the offer was too low, asked again if he would be the Vice-Shogun of the Tenka. Nobunaga did not answer, declining with silence.

Ashikaga Yoshiaki, who was originally fooled by Akechi Mitsuhide and thought Nobunaga was a country bumpkin, was embarrassed to ask such a big shot for help. Now he finally felt a little jealous and realized that Nobunaga only wanted to borrow the skin of the shogunate but didn't want to have anything to do with it.

The shogunate and Ashikaga Yoshiaki were just like rags that Nobunaga used temporarily.

"Besides this, there is one more thing." Seeing that there was no one around, So Kotaro whispered into Shichibei's ear.

"how?"