Chapter 666 11. The Ocean Is More than Just Fish and Salt

Annual tribute is not all paid in Kofu Castle. Each county in Kai has a county office. The lords of each township, village, and town can pay the annual tribute to the official office.

Kofu is just the county office of Yamanashi County and the capital of Kai Province. So if you want to learn how to collect annual tribute, you just need to stay in Kofu.

After a long period of general invitation, Kofu Castle has been built. Probably for some reason, Kofu did not build a castle tower, but only built an additional palace and expanded the building. The water hole stone wall and other things have been prepared, and the warehouses are well stocked.

"Greetings, Your Highness!" No matter how busy Konishihara Saemon is, he always has time to greet Yamauchi Taro.

"Saemon, please stand up!" Yamauchi Taro got off the carriage, and Kasuga Gensuke jumped down before him and put a footstool for him.

Behind him followed a row of lords of Kai. Of course, they also came to greet Yamauchi Taro, and each of them was extremely respectful. After a few small talk, they were sent away.

Originally, this trip to Kai was not to perfunctorily deal with Anayama Nobukuni and Kawaguchi Nobumi. This trip was an autumn outing and on-site internship, and they came with a mission.

This year, the situation in Kai is still okay. Although there was an uprising at the beginning of the year, it was quickly quelled because the snake was lured out of its hole, so it did not have a big impact.

Last year, Kai implemented the five public and five civilians and reduced the collection by half. This year, according to the rules of the Yamauchi family, the full amount will be collected according to the actual situation, and no arrears or cheating will be allowed.

"Saemon, Kai is now...?" A crowd of people surrounded Yamauchi Taro and entered the city, and Koheita and Konishihara Saemon walked side by side.

"No problem, I have already arranged it." Konishihara Saemon gave you a reassuring look.

"Your Highness, you have to take a quick look when you come here. Please make careful arrangements."

"No need!"

As the two walked and talked, the eight hundred hatamoto jobei also entered Kofu Castle one by one. There were enough ashigaru long houses in the castle, and the weather was hot now, so there was no need to arrange any quilts. Just give them a straw mat and a piece of cloth to cover them and they could sleep.

"One more thing, are you going to Kawagoe?"

"Of course I am going!" This was Kobayata's established plan.

He had to inspect the younger brothers who had been re-established in Musashi to see if they could pass this round of autumn harvest stably, establish rule, and restore the local people's hearts.

"Then you can take the military rations of Kawagoe!" Konishihara Saemon lowered his voice.

The importance of Kawagoe Castle to Kai and Shinano behind Kai is self-evident, and it is also one of the most important branch castles of Musashi. The Yamanouchi family was really worried about handing over such an important town to others to manage, so they made some arrangements in secret.

As previously imagined, the Kawagoe area, which is said to be the retirement home of old man Uesugi Shizuken, is still nominally the territory of the Uesugi clan of Ogigayatsu, and there are garrisons stationed by the Uesugi clan of Ogigayatsu in the city. But in fact, the castle lord is sent by the Yamanouchi clan, and more than half of the castle soldiers are from the Yamanouchi clan.

In order not to attract too much attention, the castle lord in Kawagoe Castle cannot be a famous minister or general, but he must be a reliable person who is loyal to the Yamanouchi clan.

After thinking about it, Xiao Pingtai thought of Aji!

He was also favored by Yamanouchi Yoshikatsu and was selected from the humble, so he was naturally grateful to Yamanouchi. In addition, he has always served as the general of the hatamoto team and has never been trained outside. Although he has enough battlefield experience, it is the first time for him to defend the city independently.

The most important thing to defend Kawagoe Castle is loyalty, followed by ability. If there is an alarm in Kawagoe, Konishihara Saemon will arrive in a few days in Kai. Even if Aji is not good at anything, he will definitely have no problem defending for a few days. Moreover, judging from his past, there must be more than that.

So after some discussion, everyone agreed to this appointment. So Aji was sent to Kawagoe, as the castle lord, and actually served as the lord of Kawagoe Castle.

The main thing is loyalty, and it is reliable to use!

……………………

In the next few days, it is natural to see the famous lords of Yamanashi County pay annual tribute according to the land inspection account and the good or bad harvest of this year.

Fortunately, this year is not a cold summer. In the month when the rice ears are in the head, although there is rain, it is mostly sunny. The rice grows very well, and the harvest of the paddy fields in the center of the Kai Basin is still good.

Xiao Pingtai took Yamauchi Taro and others to see most of the paddy fields that have been harvested. The water in the fields has naturally been drained long ago, and there are only endless rice stubbles left in the fields. Many two- and three-layer drying racks are built with bamboo in the rice fields. They are full of harvested rice.

After the drying is completed, the rice will be threshed and winnowed, and finally stored. The rice bags woven with rush were divided into packing bags, and people pulled them, carried them on their shoulders and sent them to the foot of Kofu Castle.

The tax rate of the Yamanouchi family was lower than that of the Takeda family, but it was actually very heavy. It was just a 10% easing, which probably only allowed the common people to have a meal of rice cakes during the New Year.

"Your Highness, do you still remember that the Prime Minister asked you to harvest rice?" Kobayata walked on the ridge of the field and looked back at Yamanouchi Taro.

"My grandfather's earnest teachings are still in front of me!"

The ridge of the field was not slippery without rain, and they were still wearing straw sandals, so there was no big problem. The group walked slowly, but it was a bit aimless.

"In the current warring states, Your Highness should encourage farmers to farm and weave, and teach people to fight."

"Agriculture is the foundation of all industries, and all four classes of people rely on it." As a feudal ruler, Yamanouchi Taro naturally knew the importance of agriculture.

Self-cultivating farmers provided taxes to the country, undertook military service, and produced food to stabilize the social situation. Nature is the most important profession in all walks of life in the world.

"Then, Your Highness, have you ever thought that Japan is just a small country. When the world is at peace, the population will increase and the fields will not be enough for cultivation?"

"What about developing new fields?"

"What if all the new fields are developed?"

"This..." Yamauchi Taro looked back at his friends.

The children immediately understood that they were asked to come up with ideas and then put them forward for Yamauchi Taro to choose. This is also one of the original intentions of arranging them next to Yamauchi Taro, to learn together and grow together.

"Your Highness, if you cross Mount Fuji, you will reach Suruga. Suruga Bay is rich and has the benefits of fish and salt!" Xiao Pingtai turned to look at Mount Fuji.

"Uncle Tanzheng is talking about Qi in the Spring and Autumn Period, when Guanzi ruled the country, connected the mountains and the sea, boiled salt to make profits, and fished and raised livestock." Kaikawa Shoki often told them stories from ancient China, and Xiao Pingtai also listened to the story of Zhuge Ke getting a donkey.

"This sea has more than just the benefits of fish and salt."

"That's the Nanman trade!" Yamauchi Taro answered.

"The world is so vast that we cannot even imagine it. There are countless people we can trade with."

"Uncle means that if one day the people have no land to farm, we can let them go overseas to trade."

"That's right! I have eight strategies for your Highness!"