231

The spring of the 11th year of Tensho is a good time to go.

In Osaka Bay, west of Tojo-gun, Settsu Province, the shogunate's ruler Kogoro began to build a luxurious castle on a scale that is impossible to describe in words.

The place is surrounded by rivers on all sides. The Kamo, Shirakawa, Katsura, Yodogawa, and Uji rivers to the north converge here to form a large river, while the Domeiji River and Yamato River to the southeast also flow into it. Large and small, all kinds of ships come and go in the river, and there are even ships from the Ming Kingdom, Nanban and Korea.

The waves in this place are rough, and in ancient times, when the seafaring industry was not developed, it was called "Namba" or "Nawa".

At the time of the Heigen war, this was once the base camp of the Taira warlords———— Oda Nobunaga moved the castle to Osaka, I wonder if this is considered a kind of return?

About 50 years ago, the 8th Honganji Sacred Monk Renshin opened a dedicated ashram in this place where ships frequented, and no one would think that it was a castle for samurai.

At first, it was called Namba, but later the people who gathered here began to call it Osaka Gobo, and gradually "Osaka" became the name of the place.

The cost of building Osaka Castle was unimaginably high, and I don't think the 100,000 taels of silver that Oda Nobunaga gave me to undertake the first phase of the project would be enough.

At present, the number of workers who have built the castle has reached 10,000, which is obviously not enough———— when Toyotomi Hideyoshi built Osaka Castle, the number of laborers has exceeded 80,000!

There is also the issue of building materials, and since the end of the New Year, it has been raining in endlessly, which has made the roads for transporting stone and timber muddy and difficult to navigate.

In short, what is in front of me now is one problem after another......

In March, I took advantage of a tea party to meet with the merchants of Osaka.

Ahem, although it is a tea party, all of us know that ———— need money to build a castle, and this group of people is the owner of the money! It's kind of unbelievable.

Although I have implemented a series of mercantilist economic policies at home since I came to power and have achieved great results, I ......

This year, I've been the governor for three years, but I haven't had any direct contact with any of the big business groups in Japan———— which was left to Akechi Chang'an.

But it doesn't seem to work anymore.

Since I'm going to build a castle in Osaka, I have to have a good relationship with the locals of Osaka.

Those who are familiar with Japan know that the people of Osaka have some unimaginable love for business.

In order to do business, they can go to any corner of Japan.

As early as the Heian period, when the navigation industry was backward, the figure of Osaka merchants appeared in the Bianliang Castle of the Song Dynasty.

It's great to hear that they have now opened their stores in Luzon and Annam in Southeast Asia......

Because of their prevalence in business, the quality of life of the people of Osaka is very good, which means that almost everyone is "middle class".

It is precisely because of the affluence of life that the people of Osaka generally look down on the "poor" living in other places, and they think that they are superior to others. Even the dialect accent is weird.

For nearly 120 years, in war-torn Japan, Osaka did not succumb to anyone's force, and from the Northern and Southern Dynasties to the Ashikaga period, it has been engaged in free trade with ships from the Ming Dynasty and the Western Ocean, and has accumulated great wealth as an unusually peaceful place.

Geographically, the two most prosperous parts of Japan, Ishiyama Port and Sakai Port, are both within the scope of Osaka.

Historically, however, neither the Hosokawa (Miyoshi) family, which controlled Sakai Port, nor the Honganji Temple, which controlled Ishiyama Port, had effectively controlled the bustling city under their control, and they had no unnecessary interference in the area other than collecting taxes.

As a result, Osaka became the only comfortable place of this era.

However, this "free city" eventually became involved in troubled times.

Oda Nobunaga was the first to conquer Osaka, intimidating the citizens of Osaka to end their "boring" autonomy and make Osaka accept his leadership and become their own domain......

"Hmm~~~~"

I took a sip of my coffee and it felt pretty good.

Unlike the coffee that missionaries and foreign merchants gave me in the past, this coffee is made by the Japanese themselves.

Coffee was introduced to Japan a long time ago, and for many years foreigners have been painstakingly trying to sell this popular drink in Europe and the Middle East (it is estimated that not many people know that the ancient Muslims, that is, Muslims, were even more crazy about coffee than Europeans, and simply drank it as water) to the Japanese.

It's a pity that because of the taste, the Japanese people are never cold to this bitter, astringent, and black-looking drink.

Even Oda Nobunaga, ———— a man who is obsessed with Western culture, would only take two sips with sugar and tell us that it tasted weird.

But this thing eventually met its "Bole" ———— me.

To be honest, the taste of this classical coffee is not at all comparable to the "Cappuccino←_←" that I liked to drink very much in later generations, but it also has a different flavor.

So every time I met Pastore, he would bring me good coffee beans at my request.

It is the so-called "celebrity advertising photo".

When the people around me saw how happy I was, they imitated what they liked.

I don't have enough coffee beans for them.

So the wise family started a coffee business with foreign devils.

Although my faith is Catholic (does Catholicism have a rule that you can marry two wives?). But I did not reject doing business with merchants from Protestant countries———— German coffee, which was very difficult to drink in the previous life, now entered my kitchen through the hands of Dutch (Dutch) merchants.

(The first coffee house in German history opened in Bremen in 1673, but coffee has been cultivated here for a long time.)

As soon as I promoted it, coffee quickly became popular in the territory of the wise family, and then the surrounding countries began to imitate it.

After getting used to drinking, the Japanese found that this thing doesn't seem to be as bad as they imagined, and it also has the effect of refreshing and anti-fatigue, which is really good.

Since then, the Japanese have been trying to grow coffee on their own land......

The coffee I'm drinking now was grown by Yodoya Tsuneyasu, a merchant from Osaka (I'm sorry, I've watched "Tokugawa Ieyasu" for so long, but I still can't remember a few of the names of the merchants in it).

"How's this coffee, Lord Wise?"

Yodoya Tsunean asked.

"It's very good, the aroma is moderate, even if it is compared with the coffee of the Southern Barbarians, it will not be bad."

"Well, we're worried that it's not to your taste."

"Where's Yodoya-san? As a samurai, I'm used to marching and fighting, sleeping in the open air, and eating coarse tea, and in terms of this enjoyment, I can't compare with Mr. Yodoya, you who make a lot of money just by moving your mouth, or I won't be a samurai, how about learning business with Mr. Yodoya, haha......"

"Hehe, but don't say that, if you don't do it, Lord Wise, I'm afraid that those of us who do petty business will have to apologize to His Excellency the General......"

Joking is the best way to lighten the mood.

Among the people gathered was a group of people who had long been heavily influenced by Nobunaga.

This group of people is represented by Yodoya Tsuneyasu and the famous tea man Senmune Ilyukyu, and there are Tsuda Muneki, Imai Munehisa, Konishiya Toshitoku, Sumiyoshiya Sonoku, Bandai House Muneyasu and others, in addition, there are also swordsmen Sugi Shinzaemon who lives in Minamisho Meguchi-cho, Tachibana Mataburo Mataburo who casts muskets, Kazalia Fujizaemon, Foilya Kuro Saemon, Akane Ya Sosa, and Tsuriguchi Ishimi, who is good at drums, and others, covering almost all occupations.

These people are the best of the best in the Osaka merchant forest.

In addition to testing the attitude of the Oda shogunate towards the wealthy merchants, I would like to ask you————

To build Osaka Castle, those who were so poor that they only had money left in their families had to "cut as much flesh as they wanted" according to the "rules".

Regarding this ......, Oda Nobunaga once told me when he came to Osaka:

"Those fat oily guys, when they first repaired Antu City, they had already handed over 100,000 taels of silver, this time, it was enough...... Give 200,000 taels! ”

“……”

"Kogoro, why are you looking at me like that? Did I say something wrong?! ”

"General, that's enough for what you just said...... But since it's just a 'meaning', why has the amount of donations doubled?! ”

"Meaning, of course, is that the amount they give should be 'meaningful'."

Oda Nobunaga looked at me with an innocent expression.

It was not that he had said the wrong thing, but that I had not understood what he meant.

"Isn't it! I just found out today that the 'meaning meaning' is actually this kind of 'meaning'?! ”

"'The meaning is actually this meaning'...... Well, that's a good thing to complain, Kogoro! ”

Oda Nobunaga actually laughed and gave me a thumbs up.

"It is said that Kansai people, especially Osaka people, are good at complaining and being funny, Kogoro, I believe that with your character who likes to complain, you will definitely be able to get along with them...... Eh, don't go......"

In retrospect, I was already very good to have a father like Akechi Mitsuhide, and as for Oda Nobunaga's father-in-law...... I can't think of any suitable words to describe him other than "weird......

"So, may I ask Lady Akechi, what kind of castle does the Shogun want to build Osaka?"

Seeing that I was in a good mood because I had drunk delicious coffee, Yodoya Tsunean took the opportunity to ask.

"Well...... Osaka was originally the Monzen town of Ishiyama Godo, but it was banned when there was a conflict between the shogun and Honganji...... At that time, the Shogun had built a large castle there...... That is, today's Tennoji Castle, on the one hand, it is used to guard the capital, and on the other hand, it can be used to suppress Honganji. ”

"Now that the Venerable Master of Honganji has returned to the Imperial Court, is there still a need for the new Osaka Castle to be used as a military base?"

"Hehe, people in the world, who does not desire peace, the general also knows this.

Therefore, the shogunate's opinion was that when the matter of the Seto Inland Sea was almost settled, Osaka should be used as a big camp, that is, it should be built as a 'castle town' in the capital. Presumably, Mr. Yodoya and all the gentlemen present have no objections, right? ”

"Of course there is no opinion......"

Everyone seemed very happy, and what I just said was very straightforward about the fact that after the completion of Osaka Castle, the shogunate would continue to follow the mercantile policy here.

Everyone's life will continue as it is, and there will be no negative impact.

"In order to calm the world, even Your Excellency the General can't do without wealth. Those of us who do business have no other idea than to ask His Excellency the General to try not to interfere with our money, in other words, we use each other for the better. ”

The speaker was Munehisa Imai, who had been taught the tea ceremony by Oda Nobunaga when he went to Beijing 20 years ago to seek official positions.

Imai Munehisa smiled to himself.

"Hahahaha...... It's a bit whimsical, but if there's a really good way, that's great. ”

"Of course."

I remembered the inspirational stories I had read in my previous life, and I replied:

"If you make a profit of 1,000 taels from your trades, then you don't have to give a penny to the general, but even if you keep those profits as your own, you will only get 1,000 taels at best.

However, if you can make a profit of 100,000 taels, even if you pay 20,000, there will be 80,000 left. If there is a way to turn 1,000 taels into 80,000 taels, who will care about those 20,000 taels? ”

"It's ......"

Yodoya Tsunekoan says:

"Although we are all small traders, we also know how to contribute to the country, and if the shogunate and the imperial court can be useful to us, we will not shirk no matter what."

"Well, that's a great point, don't worry, the shogunate won't embarrass you...... Osaka Castle will be the permanent residence of the shogunate, and in the future, all matters will depend on the gentlemen. ”

My words are beautiful enough, but here's the problem.

How can I say the huge donation of 200,000 taels of silver......

232

Two hundred thousand taels of silver, which is not a small amount.

But I believe that this group of guys in front of me, who lack everything, that is, they don't lack money, will definitely be able to take a shot.

In Japan during the Warring States period, samurai and merchants were on two completely different sides.

Influenced by traditional Chinese culture, Japan adopted a contemptuous attitude towards merchants, but similarly, lowly merchants who lived in wealth always looked down on samurai who were impoverished with heavy armies.

Hum! A group of philistines who only recognize money but not people, as long as there is money to be made, they can't wait to sell their parents and children.

Cut! Call us shameless? You yourself have killed the people, you have no means for your own political ambitions, we only want money, but you want human lives!

Although they don't think much of each other, in the troubled times, there is still something that brings these two classes of people together ———— interests!

The tea party passed minute by minute————

It's a bit funny, here, everyone drinks tea, and I am the only one who drinks coffee with a taste (it seems that when coffee was first introduced to China, it was called "coffee tea" by the Chinese people because it had many of the same physiological effects as tea).

Coffee appeared on the tea party, which was very discordant, but because the atmosphere was not bad now, this disharmony was also covered up.

I claim to be a cultural person, but after so many years, the level of tea ceremony has not improved at all.

Tea ceremony utensils are otherworldly treasures. Vases, tea kettles, white tea bowls, several sets, lotus-foot teapots, zygote water vessels...... To put it mildly, even if these are all fakes, I wouldn't be able to recognize them as a layman in the tea ceremony.

But it should not be inferred from this that I, a "fool", am a vulgar person who lacks taste.

On the contrary, my taste is much higher than that of my time.

As a samurai, and also an important samurai, his main focus is usually on galloping on the field, and the rest of his time is spent studying poetry and Western culture, how can he have time to consume these?

So, what do I think of the group of people in front of me?

It's very simple————

In my opinion, the Osaka merchants and tea people in front of me are rare cash cows, machines for collecting money.

However, what is "commendable" is that we get along very well with two completely different mentalities!

I first accompanied them to recite poems, and then I cheered them up and chatted with them about some interesting anecdotes that I didn't often hear.

After the coffee, I said:

"Mr. Qian, can I also taste the tea you made?"

"Of course there's no problem with that————"

Although I usually drink a large bowl of herbal tea with ordinary tea quality, but now that I taste the fragrant tea, my tea drinking posture is also decent, not at all like a person who rarely touches the tea ceremony.

In fact, I don't really have much of an interest in the tea ceremony.

I often drank with my retainers, but rarely drank tea together———— I had been the governor for several years, and there were many family banquets, but there was no tea party.

Alas! It seems that "the octagonal kettle (the famous tea vessel, which Oda Nobunaga bought at a high price from Echizen merchants, and Akechi Mitsuhide commanded the Oda family's iron artillery team during the Battle of Nagashino) is about to be reduced to useless in my hands."

Even when Oda Nobunaga held tea parties, I always went to them with the attitude of "not drinking tea, just talking".

No matter how many times I attended, the tea party would always be a strange event to me.

But now I can act like a tea ceremony veteran, not because I'm so sociable, but because I'm ————

It's not uncommon for you to have a knack for "even first-time strangers can talk like old friends for many years".

What's going on?

I can't tell! ……

"Actually, a person's life,"

Recently, I always want to express some emotion. But I don't know what to say.

"It's basically just a matter of hovering between 'gain' and 'loss'...... This is the same thing as doing business with gentlemen, everyone has the experience of making money, but everyone must have experienced the pain when losing money.

No one is an absolute permanent winner, and no gentleman has been losing money all his life, haha......"

Everyone laughed, how could there be such a superb fool in the world?

"Even Mr. Imai, the richest man in the world, known as the world's number one businessman, I'm afraid you have suffered a lot in business, right?"

"Hehe, I'm ashamed, don't look at the old man who is now here with the name of 'No. 1 in the world', an investment more than 20 years ago, because of the delay in receiving the payment, the capital chain is broken, and I am so scared that I plan to pack my luggage and run away......"

"What?! You're going to run away?! ”

Imai Munehisa's biggest business partner, Sumiyoshiya Munema, said without pretense:

"Imai, you're really an unreliable person, no! I'm going to divest from you! Haha......"

After laughing, I said:

"Actually, I also made a deal, can you help me judge whether this deal is a profit or a loss?"

"Adults do business too?"

"After following the Shogun to destroy the Takeda clan and returning to Azuchi Castle, the Shogun once entrusted me with a job ———— receive his long-time ally, Major General Tokugawa...... Oh no, I almost forgot, Tokugawa-sama has been promoted to the rank of lieutenant general of the left guard.

It's a 'fat difference', it's not as scary as marching and fighting, and you can get a lot of merit after you do it, but just when I was about to take over the job, Hashiba Chikumae-samae's messenger for help came to Azuchi Castle......"

"We've heard about this, but the Shogun was very embarrassed at that time, because he had just returned from the Kanto region, and the army was tired, and he didn't have any men and horses in his hands who could serve as reinforcements.

At this time, Akechi-sama volunteered to ask the shogun for his life to rescue Hashiba-sama...... The loyalty of the wise lord to the general is indeed not needless to say. ”

Wait a minute! Am I loyal to Oda Nobunaga?

Well! How much can you do for him if you are disloyal?

If he is not faithful, can he marry his precious daughter to you?

Give you back the high-ranking officials who are far more than you can do?

For a moment, I started thinking crankily again.

"After that, we all know that in order to praise the wise adults, the shogun gave the three countries of Izumo, Iwami, and Nagato to the adults, and at the same time, in order to encourage the adults not to slack off, they took back all the original territories of the adults."

"So I ask you, can I count my behavior at the beginning as nothing to find trouble and cause trouble for myself? After all, the sum of these three countries is only more than 500,000 stones, and my original territory has more than 600,000 stones. ”

"My lord, you can't say that."

Yodoya Tsunekoan says:

"The development value of these three countries is far greater than the original territory of the adults...... Hehe, my lord, if one day I go to Shimonoseki Port to open a store, you must help take care of the business. ”

Shimonoseki was the most prosperous commercial and trading port in Japan during the Warring States period, and the Ouchi family became wealthy by developing the Yamaguchi town with Shimonoseki Port as the core.

However, after the demise of the Ouchi family, Shimonoseki declined, and the center of Japanese trade shifted from here to Osaka.

With Oda Nobunaga's support, I will be able to take control of Shimonoseki sooner or later, and that is the best time for Shimonoseki to be revived.

No, Yodoya Tsunean has already begun to make up his mind in this regard.

"If Mr. Yodoya is willing to help me revive Shimonoseki, then it would be great."

"We're willing to help too......"

"Haha, I'm here to thank you."

"Actually, the deal is too good for you."

Imai Munehisa says:

"The country you got is nothing, but the lord has completely gained the trust of the shogun since then, leaving the bustling Kyoto and running to the poor and remote Kansai, the shogun naturally thinks that you are sharing his worries, from this point of view, the adult's business methods are too clever."

"yes......"

"It's really enviable to say that."

"Huh?"

"Now in the shogunate, the lord must be the most respected shogun among the new generation of retainers."

I didn't expect that......

In fact, Oda Nobunaga's power is everywhere.

When everyone heard "200,000 taels of silver", they all gasped.

Note! It's silver, not copper!

But in the end, everyone agreed.

As for how "flesh pain" they will have in their hearts, then I don't understand it, they know it themselves.

But as Yodoya Tsunean said before.

If you can earn 80,000 taels with 1,000 taels and give out 20,000 taels as a political donation, who cares?

When I went in to say goodbye, everyone gave me a little gift.

It is the most expensive cushion nowadays———— five tiger skins, five leopard skins, two orangutan scarlets, as well as 300 pieces of cloth, music ink, famous knives "Fudo Peak", "Nine" waist knives, long knives, new rear-loading Western muskets, etc.

The gifts themselves are not cheap.

But considering the personal assets of this gang of "big money", ...... Forget it, the goose feather gift is light and affectionate, and I can't refuse people's wishes.

As the days passed, the construction of Osaka Castle was in full swing, and with the help of Hidemasa Hori and his own wise Chang'an, I slowly began to get started......

One day at the end of March.

As the shogunate's "side employer", Moran Maru finally spoke:

"General, I want to tell you something?"

"Oh, Ranmaru, what's the matter?"

"General, I'm nineteen years old, and I'm not a small boss, so ...... I want to officially get married and start a family. ”

"So? Are you planning to get married? ”

Oda Nobunaga glanced at the latter with both eyes————Don't get me wrong, he often uses this kind of look to talk to us, and it's almost a fixed sign."

"Yes, please general."

"If it doesn't work out, let's put it aside...... Ranmaru, tell me first, which girl do you fall in love with? ”

"It's a wise lady."

"Wise...... A member of Kogoro's family? ”

"Yes......"

Mori Lan Pill bowed to the ground and said in a careful tone:

"I have a crush on Miss Renli of the Wise Family."

"Renli...... Wait a minute! ”

Whether as a child of the Tokugawa family or as a child of a wise family, Renli is the granddaughter of Oda Nobunaga, and Oda Nobunaga is actually no stranger to her.

"Do you want to marry Kogoro's daughter...... Hahahaha......"

Oda Nobunaga laughed out loud as if he had thought of something happy, regardless of his image.

"General...... Is there anything funny? ”

"Of course it's funny, you and Kogoro usually call each other brothers, and when I think of the future you want the king to call him 'father-in-law', I can't help but want to laugh, hahahaha......"

Senranmaru's cheeks flushed.

Oda Nobunaga's reaction now is exactly the same as that of the wise Kogoro at the beginning.

What I joked with him at the beginning is now going to become a reality.

It's really laughable.

After laughing, Oda Nobunaga asked playfully:

"About Renli...... Well, and his sister...... When Kogoro brought her back, I originally wanted them to be Kogoro's sister, after all, Renli and Kogoro's youngest sister are not much different in age...... Later, I thought about it, Kogoro and Tokugawa Nobuyasu had a brother-in-law friendship, which was equivalent to a brotherhood, so they simply made them Kogoro's daughters...... Time flies, and it's time for them to get married. ”