Chapter 239 13. The Election Is Like a Play

Regarding the nomination of the six reserve fund kandei, it is no longer limited to the 100 middle and high-level samurai present, but to all those who are listed as foot soldiers and above in the Yamanouchi clan.

Based on the principle of fairness and openness, all men who can wear a collar of armor and carry a gun for Yamanouchi Yoshiharu have the right to vote and be elected. All samurai immediately went to the countryside to publicize the merits of Yamanouchi Yoshiharu to all military servicemen and above, saying that if you don’t have money in the future, don’t be afraid, Yamanouchi Yoshiharu will lend it to you without interest.

The whole Yamanouchi was boiling at that time. The lending industry that flourished in the Edo period had already appeared in the Warring States period. The interest often reached 30% or even more of the principal, and the repayment period was also short. Many low-level samurai families owed money, and there were many who were forced to break up their families.

Even the people of Yamashiro Province and Kinai launched a large-scale benevolent government uprising, demanding the exemption of all overdue annual tributes and unrepayable usury. Finally, the shogun and the general were forced to issue the De Zheng decree, which was one of the largest peasant movements in Japan in the Middle Ages.

Now Yamanouchi Yoshiharu has paid for the establishment of a reserve fund. And for all the soldiers who died for the Yamanouchi family, Yamanouchi Yoshiharu's reputation far surpassed the previous generation, and the Yamanouchi family was more powerful than before.

In fact, this election was very unfair. The Yamanouchi family had a total of 40 or 50 men, and they could nominate one person. The Yamanouchi family had no less than 10,000 soldiers, and they could only nominate one person. It was a bit like the French Estates General. On the surface, the representatives gathered together, but in fact, the nobles and religious representatives who accounted for a minority of the population each had one vote, and the representatives of the urban residents who accounted for the majority of the population had only one vote.

But on the surface, this was a great progress of the times. It represented the grassroots self-cultivating farmers who were originally oppressed and cruelly ruled. For the first time, under certain circumstances, they enjoyed the same political power as the heirs of the 150,000-kan daimyo such as Yamanouchi Yoshikatsu.

Since the number of the Gofudai family elders, the Gokin and the Hatamoto was small, they held a meeting or raised their hands, and the candidates came out immediately.

There were 1,500 regular foot soldiers, and finally, under the supervision of Yamauchi Yoshiharu, they all gathered in the playground. First, they called out the names loudly, and then drew the names on the list. For the first time, they were asked to choose a person they thought was fair and just to enter the reserve fund as a kande-yaku.

More than half of them could not read, and they only knew that Yamauchi Yoshiharu asked them to choose someone. These people did not realize the sacredness and importance of the vote in their hands. When the voting began, they basically looked at their foot soldiers and captains. The foot soldiers captains were samurai, but most of them were low-level samurai. They were used to obeying, so they also looked up at their foot soldiers. The foot soldiers spread their hands and looked at Koyata in unison.

Then everyone suddenly realized that it was our Zixiaoji Danshoda Tadatsuna family. Everyone has heard that it was Xiao Pingtai who suggested setting up the reserve fund, so what's the point of electing a person?

This made Xiao Pingtai realize that in this era, samurai groups are basically literate. But the literacy rate depends on their own ability. They can't understand you talking to them. Anyway, they only know that Yamanouchi Yoshiharu lent them money without interest. Yamanouchi Yoshiharu is a good lord and they want to work hard for him.

As for the popular large-scale election, it is insignificant in their eyes. They will think that you samurai generals can help us make the decision. We don't have any opinions either. We think you are doing a good job. It's troublesome to elect people.

"The people are not enlightened and numb."

If it were some male protagonists of Long Aotian, they would definitely criticize him and say the above eight words.

But universal suffrage is not something that can be achieved overnight. Now Xiao Pingtai is still trying to try it above the bourgeoisie and self-cultivating farmers, and the result is quite unsatisfactory. Although others were very satisfied with the election of Koyata by the foot soldiers and thought it was normal, Koyata was still a little frustrated.

At the same time, everyone also saw the trouble of so many people in the ancient times with low productivity, so Koyata simply proposed a representative election method. Every 100 foot soldiers or military service members nominated a representative to elect, and the representative nominated the candidates for these voters.

Yamauchi Yoshiharu also expressed his approval, saying that it was indeed a long time for thousands of people to vote. In other words, Koyata just won the support of the people, and everyone was more blindly obedient, so Koyata was successfully elected. If there was no candidate who won the support of the people after a few terms, it would be a big deal.

So the election of military service members was changed to a representative election system. This was the first time that the political power of these "nationals" was restored since the destruction of the medieval manor system and the rural commune system. Compared with the numb foot soldiers, the enthusiasm of the rural military service members was very different.

During the Warring States Period, the peasant class had begun to awaken. The most famous example was the Dezheng Ikki mentioned above, and the other was the Hokuriku Ikko Ikki, who, under the encouragement of the Ikko clan, disdained the power of the local lords and actively fought against the lords.

In "The City of Puppets", there is a very realistic scene. The Narita clan only had 500 soldiers in the city, so they discussed with the "national" tax-paying farmers under the city. When everyone heard that they were going to resist the Toyotomi army, they immediately disagreed and refused to arm themselves to defend the city. Of course, when they heard that they were going to defend the city for the male protagonist, everyone agreed.

Some of the numb and "sensitive" national tax-paying farmers realized the importance of this nomination and enthusiastically nominated the candidates they thought were the most fair and just.

Representatives from each village and town came to the Yamanouchi Prefecture Castle with the hopes of the whole village, because they knew that they would nominate a farmer representative who would truly participate in the distribution of power.

The final result was as expected. A low-level official who was brave and good at fighting on the battlefield and was willing to help the people was elected in the dispute. And he was just an infantryman with a family property of 31 kan 200 wen!

A small infantryman who couldn't even afford a horse and struggled in the mud with armor and guns during the war.

But as soon as his name was nominated, Yamanouchi Yoshiharu remembered it immediately. Just like remembering the name of Uncle Tsunayoshi, Yamanouchi Yoshiharu's memory was particularly good in this regard. He also held the hand of the low-level official and narrated the story of a battle in a certain year, month and place, and this person's deeds of asking for the head.

It moved the man to tears, saying that he would never let down the trust of the villagers and Yamanouchi Yoshiharu, and would strictly abide by the discipline and manage the reserve fund for the Yamanouchi family.

Since then, the six Yamanouchi samurai reserve fund Kande service have been nominated.

After experiencing a "universal election" that can be regarded as the most advanced of the times, the people under Yamanouchi's rule have regained peace again.

But at this moment, there are undercurrents in Kinki!