$ Chapter 228 2. Yamauchi Domain Reserve
"Your Highness, do you think you are a noble lord who loves his people like his own children?" (Let me reiterate that the people are limited to military servicemen and above, and those below are not considered human beings. This is the current social reality!)
Oyatai was shocked by the current situation of the Yamanouchi hatamoto who were dominating the eastern countries, and was ready to come over to provoke Yamanouchi Yoshiharu.
"Hmm? Military merits and titles are rewarded fairly and selflessly. Salary support is never overdue. Xiaoyatai, don't you think it's not enough?" Yamanouchi Yoshiharu frowned. He felt that he was very fair and just to the people under his rule, kind and generous.
"Those who have merits must be rewarded, and those who have committed mistakes must be punished. It is indeed fair. Golden rice is never delayed in four seasons and four festivals. It is indeed selfless. But what about other than that?" Xiaoyatai continued with Yamanouchi Yoshiharu's words.
Yes, Yamanouchi Yoshiharu did everything that the current daimyo should do. He did not impose heavy taxes, nor did he start years of corvée. Even because of his tolerance, even the land inspection was a five-year or ten-year period, and he was never strict.
As long as he knew the merits of his loyal soldiers, even the smallest infantryman, he would comfort them with gentle words and give them generous rewards. He never spared the gold and rice he stored to motivate the soldiers who fought for him.
But he also had a cruel side. Once the war started, farming time was no longer a problem for him. When driving samurai foot soldiers, in order to win the victory, he could also let them rush to death without hesitation. In the wars that Kobayata experienced in the past few years alone, more than 1,500 people from the Yamauchi family died in the war, and countless people were injured.
If a soldier died, his family members, Yamauchi Yoshiharu, would not care. If a soldier was sick, Yamauchi Yoshiharu would not help him treat it. If a soldier had no money to marry a wife, Yamauchi Yoshiharu would not help him go on a blind date (this was a welfare project in the old society!).
First of all, Yamauchi Yoshiharu was a noble master from a famous family, so how could he have such a concept? Secondly, no one would think it was important to care about the family life of middle and low-level soldiers and remind Yamauchi Yoshiharu. He did not collect heavy taxes, did not carry out major labor service, and paid salaries on time, which made him a rare feudal lord.
"Your Highness, the hatamoto are of mixed quality, poorly trained, and equipped differently. Can't this be changed?"
"Each family has different financial resources, so it is naturally difficult to unify. If the public is asked to make up for it, the expenses will be huge and difficult to afford."
"So, Your Highness also knows that the miscellaneous soldiers are living in pain and anxiety, and they are increasingly falling into poverty after years of fighting?"
"What can be done? What can be done?" Yamanouchi Yoshiharu sighed.
He often went to the countryside, and he was not a person who was out of touch with the world. Among the hatamoto who were paid on time, many soldiers lived in poverty, not to mention those self-sufficient small peasant soldiers and low-level servants.
The rural economy is deteriorating at a speed that cannot be detected by the naked eye. In time, the completely devastated countryside will no longer be able to provide the backbone of the army.
To paraphrase a phrase from a political class, the development of productivity cannot keep up with the overall development of society. People don't have enough food or clothes, so they can only go to war. If they win, they will have new resources and can survive for a few more years. If they lose, many people in their own country will die, and the people who survive will have enough resources to share, so they can still survive for a few more years.
Changing this situation requires the joint efforts of countless genius scientists and countless ordinary scientific and technological personnel. Only after hundreds of years of development can productivity be greatly improved and keep up with the speed of social development.
Xiao Pingtai alone cannot make any changes to this. This broken house is shabby and leaking everywhere. Xiao Pingtai can't add steel bars and cement to it, but it is still possible to find two pieces of wood to support it.
Since it is impossible to solve the increasing poverty of the military service as a whole, Xiao Pingtai's idea is to slow down the speed of his poverty. Let him not fall into collapse before the end of the war. When the world is peaceful, productivity is restored and improved, and there is no need to fight a bad war, this problem will be alleviated by itself.
Kobayata's starting point is to ensure that the property status of the military conscripts does not collapse. The core point is to ensure that the owners of small plots of land can always own the land and provide additional military service and taxes for the land.
This is also the most fundamental task of the feudal state, to ensure the overall number and level of self-cultivating farmers, to prevent large-scale bankruptcy of self-cultivating farmers, and to indirectly alleviate the overall contradictions in society. The foundation of the feudal state can be stable, and the country will naturally be safe if the foundation is solid.
During this period, many daimyo have realized the importance of ensuring the military conscripts to the country, including Imagawa Yoshimoto, Rokkaku Sadayasu, Takeda Harunobu, Shimazu Takahisa and others, who have begun to actively use political power to ensure the stability of the real estate of the military conscripts. It is even stipulated that land cannot be freely bought and sold and the land transaction tax is increased to twice the land price. Hojo Ujiyasu even implemented a medical insurance system within the territory to ensure that the military conscripts do not become poor due to illness.
The Yamanouchi clan still does not have a complete law for the division of the country, and still uses the samurai law of the Muromachi shogunate. After all, six or seven years ago, the Yamanouchi clan was just a nominal lord occupying a county. If there was a little thing, Yamanouchi Yoshiharu would come over on horseback to deal with it. So no laws have been formulated so far. Of course, Kobayata can't take care of this for the time being, and it is not a top priority.
Kobayata's current idea is to establish a protection system for all military servicemen and people in the domain above the standing foot soldiers in Yamanouchi Yoshiharu's territory, and effectively implement it.
This system is not uncommon, but many feudal bureaucrats are unwilling to do it because it is not profitable. Simply put, it is an interest-free or low-interest loan system for self-cultivating farmers (military servicemen), which is a complete loss-making business.
The soldiers fought outside for five months, and the strong laborers who were supposed to plant rice and weed were gone. The fields were left to the elderly and weak at home, such as their wives, children, and parents. The harvest was reduced, and the soldiers did not receive much reward. Then, if someone in the family got sick or something happened, what would they do if they had no money? They could only sell the land.
Once the land was sold, the conscripts were gone! The country had one less soldier! One less today, one less tomorrow, and there were only a few thousand conscripts? Not enough for him.
Other things, such as weddings and funerals, which one does not cost money? If the conscripts cannot marry wives and have sons, who will carry the guns in the future? If the conscripts die, they cannot even afford a coffin. What should they do if they do not sell the land?
Kobayata believed that this must be prevented from happening. The domain should pay for it, and poor but repayable soldiers should be allowed to borrow money in installments of five or ten years at no interest or no interest.
Because the borrowers were all above the military who owned land or salaries, the pressure of repaying the loan in installments would not be too great. If the soldier dies in battle, there will be a pension, but it will be deducted until it is used up. Don't say that Kobayata didn't work hard, it was good enough to be like this in feudal society.
"I beg Your Highness to set up a reserve fund for the Yamanouchi samurai!" Kobayata knelt down on the seat with a full bow.