Chapter 91 15. Bid Farewell to Uesugi and Head to Sakaimachi
After staying in Kyoto for a few days and attending some parties, the dozens of taels of gold he had given out before were also effective, and he got to know a few more people. After such a round of exchanges, Kobayata stopped there and went to say goodbye to Uesugi Terutora.
Uesugi Terutora still had to make plans in Kyoto and the West, and he needed to gain a high enough reputation in Kyoto, and it would be best if he could shock all the powerful and famous people along the way to Kyoto. This would make it much easier for him to go to Kyoto. After all, he had limited time. The northern route snowed in October and melted in March. There were more than five months in winter a year, and he couldn't waste all his precious time on dealing with the salted fish along the way. Once delayed, he might not be able to go to Kyoto.
So he must continue to stay in Kyoto. Seeing Kobayata said he was going to Sakaimachi, he casually asked Kobayata what he was going to Sakai. Kobayata didn't have any confidential mission, he was just going to Sakai to buy a sample of the iron cannon, so he told Uesugi Terutora casually.
When Uesugi Terutora learned that Kobayata had bought the iron cannon to compare the quality of the iron cannon and take it back to make samples, he thought so too. Since he didn't have to spend a lot of money to buy it, he would definitely make the one with the best performance and the most suitable for his soldiers.
Kobayata also boasted to him that there was a kind of big musket in Nanman that could shoot more than 250 meters and had a chance to break armor from 100 meters away. And it was the Nanman do, if it was the light armor of other foot soldiers or the cheap domaru, it would be even easier.
Uesugi Terutora was shocked. Even if he rode a horse and slowly increased his speed to the fastest speed, it would take less than half a minute to run over. If it was a walking samurai foot soldier, wearing a foot and holding a weapon, it would take at least several minutes to walk quickly. This was enough for the iron cannon to shoot several rounds. Even if he was limited by his vision, he still felt that this was a powerful weapon.
If it could be set up high on the top of the city, facing the cluster of soldiers attacking the city gate below the city, he could give them a few shots before attacking the city. These miscellaneous soldiers might even be driven away before they even reach the city gate. Even if they reach the city gate, their strength will be greatly weakened. What a great feeling!
Moreover, the samurai in Echigo are very precious, especially the samurai directly under Uesugi Terutora. They are the lifeblood of Uesugi Terutora. If you can fire a three-wheeled gun before they charge, weakening the enemy. Wouldn't it be great to fight? One samurai is exchanged for twelve kan of gold, which is extremely cheap.
After a little thought, he thought this thing was good, so he quickly asked Kobayata where he could buy this kind of musket, and then go back to imitate it. Kobayata didn't know where to buy the Spanish Moushcot musket, so he could only spread his hands and say, "I'm a hen. I still want to buy it, but I don't have any connections, and I don't know where to buy it."
Then Kobayata had to suggest to Uesugi Terutora that you have such a big face in Kyoto, all the nobles come to flatter you, and they know a lot of Nanman missionaries and Nanman merchants. Ask them to introduce you. Even if they can't get it for the time being, ask them to help you buy it in Macau. At most, you just have to wait for two years.
Yes, there are so many southern barbarians in Kyoto and Sakai, and they can't get a Mushkote rifle. Uesugi Terutora said he understood, and Kobayata was fine, but he asked him to get one more for him if he could get it. Uesugi Terutora agreed. With his relationship with Kobayata, it was just a matter of words.
So Kobayata packed his bags and set off for Sakai, the largest commercial city in Japan at that time, a medieval free city with a population of 100,000.
As a metropolis that brings together Eastern and Western cultures and commodities, this Sakai town is not even controlled by the Miyoshi clan that dominates Kinki. It is managed by the merchant self-governing group "Kaiheshu" and has a considerable degree of autonomy.
The whole Sakai has a rare order and democracy in troubled times. Its major affairs were initially discussed and decided by the "Ten People" and now expanded to the "Thirty-Six People". At the same time, the entire city was divided into towns, and the town officials were appointed as managers, and under the town officials there were the noyori. The entire Sakai was managed in an orderly manner, which was much better than many small daimyo.
Sakai relied on a wide moat, thousands of yojimbo fighters from the big merchants gathered here, and at least thousands of iron cannons in stock. No matter how powerful the daimyo was who came to attack Sakai, even if the Sakai people were defeated, they could still break all his teeth.
So even if the Miyoshi family only charged them a fixed annual protection fee, the annual protection fee for such a Sakai town was as high as 20,000 kanwen. These were all genuine Yongle coins and Ming coins, which were circulated throughout the country like gold and silver. Iron cannons from the west, military horses from the east, and swords and guns from Kinki were attracted by this wealth one by one and gathered in the army of the Miyoshi family.
Such a huge and enviable sum of money, enough to arm and maintain a standing full-foot soldier force of more than 6,000 people, was the biggest source of income for the Miyoshi clan to dominate Kinki. This is not one of the biggest sources of income, but the clear biggest source of income. Even if Settsu has silver mines, the output cannot exceed this number.
In addition, there is a huge amount of gunpowder, weapons, armor, food and countless ronin gathered here in Sakaimachi. As long as there is money, it is easy to raise an army of 20,000 to 30,000 people in three or five days. It is a bit like the autonomous commercial city-states in Europe that rely on resources to recruit thousands of mercenaries.
Miyoshi Nagayoshi was really a wise leader. After he dominated Kinai, he exempted a large number of exorbitant taxes, protected the legitimate rights and interests of merchants, and removed the numerous customs posts in Izumi, Kawachi, Settsu, Yamashiro and other places in the country. Some of the customs posts were even set up by the previous shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa and have a history of hundreds of years.
The amount of annual tribute was also determined, the ratio of currency and physical goods in the annual tribute was stipulated, and part of the annual tribute was allowed to be offset by grain, salt, and handicrafts. In this way, the rural commodity economy in the Miyoshi clan's territory was greatly activated, and the farmers' production enthusiasm was greatly improved due to the withdrawal of the trading checkpoints. On the contrary, the basic annual tribute income of the Miyoshi clan was further increased, and the lives of the people in the territory were also improved.
Miyoshi Nagayoshi's open attitude towards business also received continuous support from Sakaimachi. The leading figures among the merchants in Sakaimachi even sang in harmony with Awa Miyoshi Saneki and Awaji Ataka Fuyuko's tea parties and poems. The military power figures of the Miyoshi clan and the top economic bosses of Sakai are firmly tied together, and the two sides are now in a sweet period.
Sakaimachi is also in its most prosperous and beautiful period.
Koheita took his two burdens and walked for only a few days. He passed the mountain city Katsuryuji Castle and entered Izumi, and he could see the shadow of Sakaimachi immediately.
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