The room was quiet for a moment, and everyone watched each other cautiously, breathing too carefully for a long time. The sounds of pedestrians and merchants in the street came from the open windows, and the seagulls were quacking in the sea not far away.

"Why, everyone is really satisfied?" I wanted to make a suggestion through their own mouths, and then we would come up with a result, and it would be against my intention to scare them into speaking.

"This ...... What can I say? The bald old man, who was sitting on a few corners of his lower hand, finally couldn't help but open his mouth, and said stubbornly after receiving encouragement from the eyes of the others.

This man's name is Kozaburo Okokuro, and although I don't know him well, I've met him a few times, and he runs four of the largest inns in Sakai Town, which also operate food and lodging houses, and is one of the industries with the greatest demand for food, so the partial food control has had the greatest impact on him.

"Thanks to His Highness's grace, our families have received great benefits. It was also because of your advance arrangement that Sakai-cho was not affected too much in this disaster! Probably because the weather was a little hot, he picked up a handkerchief and wiped his oily forehead. But...... But now, due to the expansion of the disaster, a large number of people are flocking to Sakai Town. This was a good opportunity to expand the commercial sector of Sakai Town, but the ration of food was ...... But he ...... "I made the policy, and he doesn't know how to describe it."

"What do you mean by that?" With a slightly surprised look, I turned to Sadakatsu Murai, who was sitting to my left, who was attending the meeting as my chief treasurer. "Didn't I just let us control the total amount we put in? How to interfere with the independent management of the bosses! ”

"The lord's orders, we dare not deviate in the slightest when we carry them out!" Murai Sadakatsu replied immediately, looking anxious.

"No, no, no, I don't mean to criticize His Highness's policy at all, and your lordships are also public-minded!" Seeing that it caused an unnecessary "misunderstanding", Kozaburo Okuroya became more and more flustered. "Your Highness's tolerance and benevolence, we are grateful, how dare we have the slightest complaint. The villain means that if His Highness can increase his support for Sakai Town, it will make the economy here rise to a new level. His Royal Highness has been in charge of Sakai Town for several years, and we can also empathize with him, and the prosperity of Sakai Town is the only way I can repay His Highness! ”

"That's what the owner of the big black house meant......" I lowered my eyelids and looked at the corner of the table in front of me, as if in deep thought. Anyone could tell that I was very upset, but I didn't mean to get angry.

Seeing this situation, many people's minds are active, even if persuasion fails, at least it will not attract any harm, businessmen's pursuit of interests is out of instinct, how can they easily admit defeat without hard work. Besides, the people who can sit here are some accomplished businessmen, and they are not lacking in perseverance.

"I also sincerely ask that you consider this suggestion carefully!" A middle-aged man with a round face and dark brown curls said that he was Sanchez, the resident chargé d'affaires of the Portuguese Trade Centre. "At present, the control of grain has affected the import of materials, and many merchant ships have to carry part of the supplies for returning to the sea, which has directly led to a reduction in profits, and the import of Nanban goods this year has dropped by two percent compared with last year. It is said that you are also in charge of a large area of land on the southern islands (Shikoku), so we kindly ask you to increase the amount of money allocated to Sakai Town! ”

"Does everyone else mean the same thing?" My gaze swept along the table to the faces of the crowd, especially for a moment longer on Sanchez's face. This man had not known much about the Orient since he had come to Japan, and Gómez would never have dared to use such a way of pointing fingers.

After looking at the people left and right, Imai Munehisa said, "This is indeed a little rude request from all of us to you, and of course we also know your difficulties......

"Difficult, this word is very well used!" I nodded with a wry smile, but I was thanking them for giving me the opportunity to make a contrarian request. "As you all know, this year's drought has spread a wide range of areas, and the grain harvest in and several nearby countries has basically failed, and the current situation will become even more severe!" I let out a long sigh. "As a retainer of the Oda family, I also have my own responsibilities, and the burden of maintaining the supply of, especially the imperial court, will fall mainly on the shoulders of Shikoku and Hokuriku. The 200,000 stone index given to me by His Royal Highness Youfu has just been raised, which is really not easy! ”

Although the weather was very hot, there was still a sound of cool air in the house, because the number of floating people in the commercial city of Sakai Town was very large, and the corresponding demand for food was not comparable to that of other surrounding cities.

"You mean...... All the grains may be distributed in the whole of? Imai Munehisa finally asked.

"For now, I'm still able to supply the Izumi alone, but if the disaster continues, it's hard to say!" My hands were clasped together, my fingers intertwined with each other, and I couldn't tell what I was thinking.

The people in the room looked at each other, and the fat and thin faces formed by overnutrition and overindulgence respectively formed all kinds of bizarre expressions, and all kinds of negative emotions of disappointment, greed, and chagrin can be found on them. This is the real human nature, when others are still struggling on the death line, but they are calculating the profits and losses of their own copper plates.

"It would be my greatest honor if I could help you in the slightest!" A handsome young man with blond hair suddenly spoke, but I didn't know him. "My name is William, William Habitt, and I'm in charge of the business here in place of Mr. López!" Look at me puzzled, he introduced himself.

"I will never refuse the sincere friendship of friends, if you have any suggestions, please just say it!" My first impression of this lad was good, and the man Ernst picked should not be a fool.

"That's what I think, but it's still very immature!" Out of politeness to the seniors here, I expressed a little modesty. "As far as I get very one-sided information, His Royal Highness Oda Youfu is a very practical person, and in order to avoid ****, the disaster in is integrated, and none of us can blame for this. But out of a genuine admiration for his great deeds, we merchants may be able to do a little bit for his cause. Doing so is first of all to express our thoughts, secondly, to make him more aware of the value of Sakai Town, and finally to relieve some pressure on you, after all, you are biased towards Sakai Town, and it is completely out of consideration for the entire Oda family's business! ”

What a genius this lad is, that's for sure! When many veterans in the business field were still in the clouds, he actually understood the true meaning of my words. And from his voice, I could hear that I was confident, and I didn't know what kind of plans I had made.

"Of course, it's good to have that in mind, but what do you want to do your best?" That's the purpose for which I came, and since he helped me lay the foundation, I naturally had to build it layer by layer.

"His Royal Highness Yuzhou will attack Kyushu again, and we will naturally help each other!" If you don't understand this, Imai Sohisa can't have the achievements he has today. After patting his chest to express his attitude, he looked at others again, and the others naturally expressed this mood eagerly.

"I understand your loyalty, I will definitely report to His Highness Youfu to praise him! As for what you need, I'll ...... later," I nodded solemnly after listening to their presentations, and expressed great relief. In fact, the list was prepared yesterday and is in my arms at the moment, but it is not suitable to take it out immediately.

"But Your Highness, please also consider the difficulties of Sakai Town!" William suddenly changed his words sharply, and began to say that he also had a "price code". "Although there are some food reserves in the various shops in Sakai Town, it is not too much of a problem to maintain them at the moment, but everyone knows that this will not have a stabilizing effect, and the slightest disturbance in the surrounding area will lead to panic. The hearts of the people in the market are one of the most unstable things, and panic will inevitably form a rush to buy, and the lack of reserves will be magnified exponentially, and it is difficult to say what the consequences will be! ”

"Do you have any practical advice?" I asked in a loud voice, and he really had to take precautions. The Great Famine and Oda Nobunaga's change of change to Araki Murashige have indeed caused a certain amount of panic, and various rumors have spread like a plague in all directions, and I have sent people to investigate the origin and purpose of the various versions extensively, but it has not yet been rewarded. Rumors are the most difficult to detect because there is no clear target.

"His Highness said just now that there are 200,000 stone of grain to be transported to Kyoto!" After seeing me nodding, he said, "So I would like to ask you to stay this grain in Sakai Town for three days!" ”

I understood what he meant, but motioned for him to continue.

"Sometimes you don't need a very definite guarantee, just letting the people see something is enough to comfort them!" Willem is from the Netherlands, where the banking industry was first introduced, and he knows how to maintain credit. Truckloads of grain were unloaded from the sea vessels and dispersed into a dozen warehouses in Sakai Town, where they were constantly being taken away. Ordinary civilians will naturally have the impression that there are sufficient grain reserves and frequent transportation, and any rumors will be self-defeating! ”

"Murai-sama will have detailed arrangements for this matter, so don't worry!" I agreed without much thought, and it was a good thing for all parties. It was not only Sakai Town that was settled, but also the wandering merchants who spread the news throughout.

"There's one more thing I'd like to ask you!" William suddenly remembered something else.

"You say!" I said it tolerantly.

"I heard that a nearby prince may start a rebellion in the near future, I wonder if this is true?" He asked bluntly.

"Europeans are Europeans, no matter how smart they are, they don't think in the same way!" I was filled with emotion for a while.