Owari Yumeki Golden Day

If you obey and send someone to Kyoto to congratulate him, your position on the list will be moved down. If you disobey and don't give Nobunaga face, then Nobunaga will happily accept your family's territory.

Well……

Shichibei personally felt this way. After all, Nobunaga's goal was to spread military power throughout the country. Those who were clear-headed and surrendered politely would naturally be recruited as retainers. Those who were not so smart and resisted the royal army would definitely become the targets of military power.

"Then what should we do?" Originally, Takigawa Kazumasu should have been the chief envoy, after all, he was in charge of the Ise region of the Oda family.

But now he asked about Qibingwei, for no other reason than that he felt what Qibingwei said made sense and seemed to be the case.

"I think there is no need to do anything." Shichibei recalled the situation in the palace just now. The elders and important ministers of the Kitabatake clan seemed to feel that they had someone to rely on and looked down on Oda, who had risen from a country bumpkin to the power of the shogunate.

"do nothing?"

"That's right! There's no need to lecture them on the severity of the situation or expound on the pros and cons. Just tell them that harboring the Rokkaku clan's traitors is a heinous crime."

"hiss……"

"Now the lord is the king's teacher. As long as the righteous cause is in hand, he can go anywhere."

"I think that Toriya Oishimi is quite wise, so I'm afraid there will be some twists and turns." Takigawa Kazumasu is not a fool, so he naturally sees that there are smart people in the Kitabatake family.

If their final agreement was to temporarily bow to Nobunaga, then Nobunaga would have no reason to attack the Kitabatake family.

"Your son-in-law..." Shichibei was referring to Minamoto no Jyoujushugen who had returned to secular life, and should now be called Takigawa Yuri.

Isn't he from a family of wood builders? And the current head of the wood builders, Mokuzoku Guzheng, is Kitabatake Gujinori's younger brother. I don't believe he doesn't have some connections in the Kitabatake family.

Ask him to send someone back to the Kiriyama Palace to spread some rumors. The simplest thing is that even a close brother like Kizukuri Tomomasa has defected to Nobunaga, so there must be someone in the Kitabatake family who wants to infiltrate Nobunaga.

Very likely, right?

Don't mention who was in contact with Oda Nobunaga by name. If you do, the rumor will become less reliable and easier to expose. Just guess, guess.

Under such circumstances, everyone was speculating whether Toriyao Mitsuyoshi, who had persuaded Kitabatake Tomoe to surrender to Nobunaga, would show up?

Whether a minister is loyal or not is not important. What is important is whether the lord believes in your loyalty. If the lord does not believe, he will kill you even if you are unwaveringly loyal.

By then, when Toriyao Mitsuyoshi or Fujikata Tomonari have understood the situation, will they still be able to continue to advocate temporary submission to the shogunate and go to Kyoto to meet Nobunaga?

As long as these important Kitabatake retainers who can clearly see the situation dare not continue to make suggestions due to rumors, then the already powerful group in the family who look down on the upstart Oda will become the mainstream.

If Kitabatake Yoshinari and Nagano Guto became the mainstream, they would strongly advocate for a confrontation with Nobunaga. After all, they relied on the support of the imperial court and believed that Nobunaga was the successor of the old order and would not slap the court in the face.

"Okay! I'll do it right away!"

After hearing what Shichibei said, Takigawa Ikki understood and immediately went to inform his retainers to secretly contact Kizuku Tomomasa. He asked Kizuku Tomomasa to do him a small favor.

If Nobunaga had defeated Kitabatake, then Kizuki Tomomasa would have been a meritorious minister and the successor to the family line. Perhaps Kizuki Tomomasa would have been happy to do such a thing, as the Warring States period was a time of great contention.

The Kitabatake family argued for several days without any result, and then a rumor appeared openly in the Kiriyama Palace.

Some people were convinced that someone in the Kitabatake clan had been in contact with the new Kanrei, hoping to secure a favorable position within the new Oda Kanrei system. The story was told with vivid, yet completely unspecific language, simply stating that it was a prominent member of the Kitabatake clan. However, because it was not explicitly stated, the rumor became particularly irritating when it reached Kitabatake Muneori and Kitabatake Munefusa.

Compared to Nobunaga, who theoretically held two million koku, the Kitabatake clan of southern Ise was truly a tiny, insignificant force. If His Highness the Kanrei were to launch a military offensive against the Kitabatake clan, it would be perfectly natural for some to waver.

What should I do? Should I clean up and organize my home right now?

152. At least I got a piece of Taita

When he met Kitabatake Tomofusa again, he found that all the important officials of Kitabatake who had previously suggested that Kitabatake Tomofusa should go to Kyoto in person to congratulate Ashikaga Yoshiaki, or at least send important officials to Kyoto, had shut up.

I can't speak. It's really painful to speak at this time.

There was no need to discuss that. Kitabatake Mufusa directly rejected the proposal to send people to congratulate Shogun Ashikaga Yoshiaki and Shogunate Regent Oda Nobunaga. He said that the Kitabatake family had never met with the kanrei before, and that the Kitabatake family and the shogunate kanrei had never had a subordinate relationship.

As for what Shichibei said about the shogunate granting the Kitabatake family various protective powers, they have not found it anyway. If the shogunate can find it, then please ask the shogunate to produce the documents of the Kitabatake family's submission to the shogunate.

It is obviously impossible. The Imperial Palace has been burned down countless times. The documents from the eras of Ashikaga Takauji and Ashikaga Yoshimitsu have long been burned and disappeared. How could there be any documents left?

Okay.

As expected, everyone would be furious and scold Shichibei and Takigawa Kazumasu of the Kitabatake family for refusing to obey the king, but they simply nodded to show that they understood.

Yes, I know. What else do you want?

The result was exactly what Shichibei and Takigawa Kazumasu wanted. They couldn't even clap their hands, so why were they angry? Shichibei bowed to Kitabatake Tomori and left without a second thought.

Seeing the two of them like this, the Kitabatake clan's retainers looked at each other in bewilderment. Even Fujikata Asanari opened his mouth, trying to salvage the situation. But after all this, what was there to salvage?

Wait to die!

Fortunately, although Kitabatake Mufusa rejected the Oda army's proposal, he still played by the old order and didn't resort to the tactic of killing you out of frustration. He was politely escorted out of the country. If they used this as an excuse to attack, it would depend on the court's mediation results.

Mediation? Do you think the imperial court, which has received a lot of money from Nobunaga, will be willing to mediate?

As expected, when the news of the failed inquiry was reported to Nobunaga, he was very calm, and even a little happy in his calmness. After asking around, he found that the envoy who went to Ichijodani to request Asakura Yoshikage to go to Kyoto had also failed in his mission.

Not only did Asakura Yoshikage refuse to go to Kyoto, he even refused to present the imperial sword to the shogun to express his submission.

Honestly, Asakura Yoshikage was incredibly courageous. He wouldn't even offer a katana—how different is that from rebellion? It's no wonder Ashikaga Yoshiaki readily agreed to Nobunaga's military campaign against Asakura, directly providing Nobunaga with legitimate political endorsement.

Asakura Yoshikage refused to go to Kyoto, and Yoshiaki could understand why he was secretly sulking. After all, Yoshiaki had not been open about his actions in the past and had used some tricks to escape from Echizen.

But since he didn't even perform the sword-holding ceremony to show his submission, don't blame Yoshiaki for being rude.

In the past, Yoshiaki had asked Asakura Yoshikage for favors, as Yoshikage was his elder brother. But now that Yoshiaki has been proclaimed Shogun, maintaining the reputation and authority of the Muromachi shogunate is Yoshiaki's top priority in life.

Not offering the knife would make Yoshiaki even angrier than if he had secretly punched him three times in real life.

To secretly strike Ashikaga Yoshiaki three times would only hurt a certain part of his body. To not publicly present the godachi to the Shogun of the Muromachi shogunate as a sign of submissive submission would be to undermine the reputation of the entire shogunate.

Good, good, this is great. Now Nobunaga is very satisfied. He has two fearless men, one in the south and one in the north. Kill Asakura Yoshikage and Kitabatake Tomofusa, and they will be rewarded with a million koku of land. Then the Oda family's fortune will be further expanded, and the salaries of Nobunaga's loyal retainers will be even more generous.

Nobunaga even praised me.

I don't know if the last incident is truly over, but Nobunaga hasn't shown any signs of a reaction yet. He's still making arrangements as he should, and hasn't said where to send Shichibei. Even Murai Sadakatsu and Niwa Nagahide specifically asked Shichibei how many years of tribute rice Kawamura-ya could handle this year.

The fact that such a lucrative business remained unchanged meant that Nobunaga's favor hadn't diminished. After all, this kind of monopoly business, which completely relied on the daimyo's personal connections, couldn't exist without favor.

Shichibei breathed a sigh of relief and then lay down safely in the branch store at the foot of Gifu Castle.

Fortunately, Nobunaga had not yet become completely arrogant at this time. Once he had actually unified the core areas of central Japan and the trend of unifying the world was irreversible, he would probably find it difficult to listen to words that did not suit his wishes.

No wonder historical figures like Zou Ji's persuasion to the King of Qi, Chu Long's admonition to the Queen Mother of Zhao, and Chunyu Kun's sudden success are all considered famous examples of advice that go down in history. These people were incredibly eloquent and could effectively change the monarch's mind.

Otherwise, why would he be remembered forever? Of course he must have some special abilities.

At this time, Takenaka Hanbei, who built Shogunyama Castle for Ashikaga Yoshiaki, also returned to Gifu. After reporting the details of the castle reconstruction to Nobunaga, Takenaka Hanbei, who had been busy for several months, was given a vacation.

Seeing him, Shichibei thought of Mizuguchi Morisato. Two-thirds of the year had already passed. Shichibei only got Aochi Shigetsuna, so he was fully qualified to ask for Mizuguchi Morisato.

I didn't ask for it before, because I had angered Nobunaga before and didn't dare to speak. Now Nobunaga doesn't seem to be very angry, so I should open my mouth once and nothing will happen.

"It has been assigned to Gorozusa."

When Shichibei asked again, Nobunaga was slightly surprised. Why hadn't Shichibei mentioned it earlier? He had already casually assigned Mizuguchi Morisato to Niwa Nagahide, because Mizuguchi Morisato had been quite diligent in the previous inspection of Minami-Omi. Everyone had already shared the responsibility for Kinshu, so Niwa Nagahide couldn't be left out.

It can't be such a coincidence, right? Shichibei asked again, and Nobunaga simply had the "Gifu Danshoden Kinshu Shubun Kencho" brought out. After flipping through a few pages, he saw "Mizuguchi Akino-no-kami, Kurita-gun chief Tsukamura so-so-so-kanmon, given the power to Niwa Gorozaemon."

Nobunaga even turned the retainer account around and made it official for Shichibei to see clearly.

"You should change to someone else." Nobunaga didn't think that Mizuguchi Morisato was such a powerful person.

"Then let's just leave it alone for now." Shichibei originally wanted to find the "three big brothers who rebelled against Sekigahara", but in the end, all three were not there.

I finally managed to get Mizuguchi Morisato, but they told me he'd already been assigned to Niwa Nagahide. Might as well just leave it as is for now. I'll see if I can get Ishida Masatsugu or Todo Toraka. They're small-time tycoons, with a few hundred koku. They're not too big of a target, and they're easy to use.

The main forces in Jiangbei are the Seven Factions of Takashima and the heroes of Hubei. Abe Sadayoshi has 25,000 koku, Hori Hidemura has 60,000 koku, and Isono Umamasa has 60,000 koku, none of which Shichibei can take.

Nobunaga would assign these great lords to skilled military retainers to accompany them in expanding the territories. Abe was given to Mitsuhide, Hori to Hideyoshi, and Isono Umamasa to another story; in any case, he would not be used as a guard for Shichibei's small pack convoy.

"Are you short of something? All of what I have is outdated and insufficient." Nobunaga was not a small businessman, so he bargained.

If he wanted it today, he'd give it to someone else tomorrow. Nobunaga might have already assigned his retainers to someone else. With Nobunaga's empire rapidly expanding, the constant transfer of retainers between them wasn't entirely stable. Furthermore, Nobunaga greatly admired Akechi Mitsuhide and had already begun to gather and deploy samurai groups for him.

Once Mitsuhide began to assign his retainers, it was likely that he would have taken all the remaining vassal states in Omi. After all, great lords like Gamo, Goto, and Kondo were already taken. To round out his vassalage, he even included those incompetent former retainers of the Muromachi shogunate who could easily have been moved to a museum.

"I only have 5,000 kan now." How could Shichibei agree to this? He immediately cried out in poverty.

"Then who do you want?" Nobunaga pointed at the retainers and divided them into accounts, meaning that he could take whoever Shichibei liked. Nobunaga worked on the spot and gave it to the person directly.

"Well, well, well..." Shichibei immediately flipped over.

But all I see are people like Inoshino, Baba, Kimura, and Matsuda, people I've never heard of. Either they were swept away by the tide of the times, or they were just so incompetent that they couldn't even get a hatamoto with a salary of several thousand koku.

"how?"

"Then we need help!" Shichibei was anxious when he saw Ota Gyuichi sitting next to Nobunaga and taking notes for him.

"Huh? Yasuke?" Nobunaga turned his head and looked at Ota Gyuichi, who was also a little surprised, with some confusion.

"Yes, yes, we must help again."

Nobunaga could give all the remaining misfits in southern Omi to Mitsuhide. After Mitsuhide conquered Enryakuji Temple, he would own the entire Shiga County. In order to build his retainers, he would take anything.

"Then you can go and follow Shichibei." Nobunaga didn't feel reluctant to let him go. After all, Ota Ushiichi was not a very powerful samurai.

The Ota family was a wealthy family from Anshoku Village in Kasugai County, more accurately described as the village chief. A village with 200 or 300 koku was quite a feat, but during the Battle of Dodo, he served as a bowman and shot an arrow at a foot soldier of the Kishi family in Ninomaru, much to Nobunaga's awe.

So he summoned Ota Ushiichi to his side and made him a bow holder. He was on the same level as the other tool holders, conch holders, and sword holders, and he was the one who carried Nobunaga's bow and arrows during battles.

To put it bluntly, Ota Gyuichi's political skills were no match for the gray-haired Takei Yuian. His family was merely a village chief, and he could only manage a dozen men and seven or eight guns. Neither civil nor military, that's exactly how Ota Gyuichi is today. More importantly, he had a major flaw.

Forty-two years old!

Yes, Ota is already over 40 years old this year. In this day and age, if a person in his 40s dies tomorrow, it is not considered a premature death, but a normal end of life.

At this age and with this level of skill, what did Nobunaga want him to do? Speaking of archery alone, the most skilled archer, Yoshida Izumo-no-kami, was nearly beaten to death by Nobunaga's troops.

In fact, this guy's talent should be writing novels, but unfortunately, this talent was useless in the Warring States Period of Japan.

If he had lived in the Edo period, Ota Ushiichi would have become a famous novelist, specializing in novels about the Japanese Warring States period, like "The Tale of the Eight Dogs of Satomi." Not only would he have made a fortune, but he would also have been immortalized in history.

Of course, he is also famous in this dimension. After all, he wrote "The Chronicle of Nobunaga." Especially since he actually served Nobunaga for three or four years, he did see a lot of things. This is also a firsthand historical material, but whether it is reliable or not is up to everyone's opinion.

"Please help me again in the future." Shichibei bowed to Ota Gyu and his group.

Before Nobunaga sent them to serve as his vassal, they were both his direct subordinates and colleagues. After becoming his vassal, although they were not lord and subject, they had a clear superior-subordinate relationship.

"Kawamura-dono." Ota Ushio turned around, faced Shichibei, and also bowed.

He certainly didn't want to be promoted from a direct vassal to a powerful one, but Shichibei asked for it, and Nobunaga agreed to give it to him, so his own wishes were basically insignificant. Besides, he was no fool, having been by Nobunaga's side for several years, and if he could be promoted to a magistrate, he would have done so.

Even Sakai Toshimasa, who had only joined Nobunaga after conquering Mino, became the Southern Omi District Magistrate, and he still worked as a clerk for Nobunaga. His so-called future was so predictable.

So, instead of wasting time with Nobunaga, it's better to work under Shichibei. There's no chance of getting new knowledge of the territory, but saving two coffins is no problem.

As everyone knows, Shichibei was given a job as a laborer, apart from anything else, and it was true that he had a diligent and honest attitude when serving his country. Shichibei's salary was not shabby at all. After all, he earned money from the monopoly business, so how could he lose money?

Haha.

There was no harm in following Shichibei. Nobunaga signed the document and sealed it on the spot and asked Sakuma Nobumori to countersign it. Then Ota Ushiichi packed up his pens, ink, and paper, and put his small bag in it, and was led by Shichibei back to the Kawamuraya branch in Gifu Castle.

153. Annual tribute of 200,000 tons of rice

Shichibei now has quite a few followers under his command. The Owari group includes Kuwayama Shigekatsu, Ota Ushiichi, and Munesuke Haraguchi; the Mino group includes Takenaka Hanbei and Tsuchida Yoshikiyo; and the Kinshu group includes Aochi Shigetsuna.

If these few were gathered together, they could form a "regular army" of about four to five hundred people.

However, Shichibei had no intention of coveting their limited manpower. Since they were already at the store, they decided to introduce themselves to each other and get to know each other. Ohta Ushiichi even asked Shichibei what his responsibilities were at the store. He replied that he had no responsibilities, just to go home and rest.

Kawamuraya's daily operations were managed by a team. Even if there were more wars, Inase Yoshinari would remain at the main store in Tsushima. Although most of the retainers and employees would be withdrawn to transport food for Nobunaga, the staff had been expanded, so operations would continue uninterrupted.

So, Aochi Shigetsuna was on vacation in Minami-Omi, and Takenaka Hanbei was also on vacation at Bodhiyama Castle. As for when they'll return to serve, I don't know the exact date. I'll probably return when the rice harvest begins in Mino and Owari.

Double salary will be paid as usual, but you can go home and rest.

If Nobunaga hadn't urged him, Shichibei wouldn't have even thought of calling Ota Ushiichi. I wonder if he's even started writing "The Chronicle of Nobunaga," but he probably hasn't yet. He's barely scratching the surface. Nobunaga had just successfully conquered Kyoto, and the most glorious era of his life had just begun. The heroes of the previous era weren't all dead yet.

With the job he earned for free, Ota Ushiichi returned to his hometown in Kasugai County, Owari, to rest. He would report to the Gifu branch on the day he harvested rice.

You can also report to the main store in Tsushima. The annual tribute rice from Owari is collected at the county offices in each county and then shipped to Gifu. This is because Nobunaga had actually begun promoting a policy of "retainers gathering together." Although it wasn't explicitly stated, everyone had residences in Gifu Castle and gathered there to serve Nobunaga.

The samurai who needed Nobunaga's rice were all gathered in Gifu Castle, so the tribute rice must have been transported to Gifu that year. In addition to the direct distribution of this part, a portion was kept in the castle as military rations and famine relief food.

Most of the rest would be transported to Tsushima and sold for cash. Whether it was paying the salaries of the samurai or meeting various expenses, including Nobunaga's own expenses, money was needed.

In reality, the time and distance that most lords could fight each year were roughly determined after the autumn harvest. After deducting necessary expenses, the remaining food would last for a few days, which would be enough to mobilize a few men for a few days of fighting.

We are responsible for the annual tribute rice. In Gifu, we do shipping and packaging, in Tsushima, we do warehousing and accounting, and only when it is sent to Sakaimachi does it go into sales and payment collection.

There are three groups of people anyway, you can join the one you think is suitable.

By the way, the guilds from Annozu and Sakaimachi have sent several deputies and servants to visit Shichibei. Needless to say, they're here to check on Shichibei's situation. Kawamuraya owes them 40,000 koku of rice, and now that Nobi is about to start harvesting, they definitely have to come and take a look.