Matsugami Yoshimitsu did not intend to delve into the reasons for the price hikes or the conspiracy that existed, and Matsumoto did not have the time to spend too much energy on this matter, so it was only necessary to know that the merchants must not only do this for money, but also that there must be something deep.

Therefore, Matsugami Yoshimitsu chose to go straight to the point and send Saigo Kanhisa to negotiate directly with the merchants. If they are willing to negotiate, then weigh their demands, but if they are not, there is nothing to say, after all, even if Matsugami Yoshimitsu wants to maintain the prosperity of Matsumoto Town, it must be based on stable rule. However, things often turn out unexpectedly, and the merchants of Matsumoto Town actually took the initiative to send them to the door.

Shortly after the retainers' meeting, Shintaro Kanai, one of the leading businessmen in Matsumoto Town, came to see Matsugami Yoshimitsu with a generous gift, but Matsugami Yoshimitsu did not intend to receive him immediately. As the owner of Matsumoto Town, if you come into contact with the merchant too early before the matter is clear, there is no other use than to reduce the space for your own measurement.

"Inform Saigo Kanehisa to meet this Kanai Shintaro first, and ask him to report the results to me immediately afterward." Matsugami Yoshimitsu instructed the side who came to report it.

"Haha." ......

A quarter of an hour later, somewhere outside Matsumoto Castle.

"Is there anything wrong with Kanaiya coming to meet Yoshimitsu-sama this time? The lord doesn't have time to see you now, so if you have something, let's talk to the old man first. ”

In the room, Saigo Kanhisa said to Shintaro Kanai. The status of a merchant is extremely low in the samurai world, not to mention the merchant in front of him, who is likely to be a traitor in the eyes of Saigo Kanhisa.

"In this way, I will be able to speak freely." Kanai Shintaro didn't feel angry at all, and took out a letter from his bosom and presented it: "Our Matsumoto Town can not have today's prosperity without the protection of Yoshikoden, and now the family is about to start a war with the Ohno family, although we are businessmen, we should also do our best. This small gift is our wish for the prosperity of the Yiguang Temple, and I hope that Lord Saigo can forward it on his behalf. ”

In the Warring States period, the concept of commercial tax was not legalized by the strength and needs of the lord, and the merchants also obtained some kind of monopoly or development rights, so Saigo Kanhisa was no stranger to Shintaro Kanai's offering, so he took it and spread it out to see.

"Hiss~~~" As soon as he opened the gift book, Saigo Kanhisa couldn't help but take a deep breath, with the current strength of Matsumoto Castle, this gift is a bit heavy, but as soon as he remembered everyone's discussion before, Saigo Kanhisa immediately became angry at the end.

"Hehe~~~" Saigo Kanhisa, who was annoyed in his heart, sneered while calmly closing the book presented by Shintaro Kanai: "500 stone of rice!" It seems that the merchants of Matsumoto Town have made a lot of money from the lords, but don't forget that this is Yoshimitsu-sama's territory!"

Rice 500 koku!

This is really a non-negligible help for the current Matsugami Yoshimitsu, but it would be terrible if the 500 koku rice came from the merchant's tribute. Merchants have no borders, so merchants are the least trustworthy, and today's help is very likely to become an obstacle in the future! Not to mention that in the eyes of the old-school samurai such as Saigo Kanjiu, the merchants' financial resources all came from the exploitation of the lords, which moved the rice balls in their samurai bowls!

At one point, Kanai Shintaro really couldn't help but want to surrender to the majesty of Saigo Kanhisa, which was a reflex of the nature of merchants in the samurai world for hundreds of years, but when he thought of the great wish in his heart and the support behind him, he still became strong.

"How dare you, how dare you!" Shintaro Kanai first hurriedly stated his position before he defended: "The creation and prosperity of Matsumoto Town all depend on His Highness Yoshimitsu, and how can we businessmen benefit from this by being able to operate with peace of mind!" As for the 500 stone of rice, it is the intention of all the merchants of Matsumoto Town, and everyone is looking forward to Yoshimitsu being able to protect this place forever!"

"Then let's restore the price of rice in Matsumoto Town to the way it was!" Saigo Kanehisa did not refute Shintaro Kanai's argument and instead allowed him to restore the price of rice, which was also a test for the merchants.

However, unexpectedly, Shintaro Kanai responded to the matter without a hint of prevarication, as if everything before was just a boring game.

"If that's Yoshimitsu-sama's request, then so be it!"

Kanai Shintaro said, but Saigo Kanhisa knew that there would be a follow-up and would not end easily. When things go wrong, there must be demons, and businessmen will never easily raise the price of rice, let alone reduce the price of rice casually.

Sure enough, without waiting for Saigo Kanehisa to respond, Kanai Shintaro pleaded with a face full of embarrassment: "Actually, we didn't want to raise the price of rice and disturb the stability of Matsumoto Town, but we have to do it for a reason, and if Yoshimitsu-sama can administer justice for us, then I would be grateful!"

After saying that, Kanai Shintaro knocked on the ground with his head, although it was just a business trip, but at this time it seemed very decisive, and if there was no result, this person would not be able to send it away.

"Is this your wish to offer 500 koku of rice this time?" Saigo Kanjiu's eyes flashed and said: "Then let's talk about what the hell is going on, if it wasn't too rude to ask, I would have personally reported it to the lord." ”

It turned out that in the Warring States Period, when the feudal system was the mainstream, commercial tax or the kind of long-term stable commercial tax was absolutely non-existent. While it is true that the samurai daimyo could set up checkpoints to collect tolls from the merchants, excessive taxation at a time when the absolute world is not produced is tantamount to making one's own territory a desperate situation. Therefore, many ambitious samurai used the abolition of checkpoints as an effective means to achieve the goal of enriching the country and strengthening the army, after all, the power of the merchants was greatly strengthened in the troubled times of the Warring States.

However, the merchants who gained great power by virtue of opportunity were not independent after all, and this world was still the world of the samurai. Therefore, in order to obtain some kind of business convenience or avoid trouble, merchants would often offer large sums of money in exchange for samurai.

500 koku rice is not a small amount, and the merchants of Matsumoto Town naturally did not give it to Matsugami Yoshimitsu in vain. Saigo Kangashi had been worried about the excessive demands of the merchants, such as keeping the current price of rice in Matsumoto unchanged. After all, these 500 stones of rice are too important for the current situation to refuse, but fortunately they are not here to get a concession but to ask for help.

But it's not that simple......