The Self-Cultivation of Warring States Warriors

Page 77

Shinzaburo originally intended to take advantage of the situation to survey the land.

As a result, when cleaning up the battlefield, they were surprised to find that the civilian leader who called himself Torii Kawachi no Kami had actually laid a very solid foundation for the land survey work.

A diary dated to the eighteenth year of the Tianwen era records estimates of land, population, and housing conditions in various villages. It also details the lives of forty-eight wealthy peasant families.

This self-proclaimed leader of the local people, who called himself Torii Kawachi no Kami, after years of observation and statistics, believed that the fifteen villages of Yamaguni-sho had a total of 2,840 paddy fields and 1,330 dry fields.

They estimated the expected average yield using the annual yield of 1.25 shi of brown rice per paddy field and 9.5 shi of mixed grains per dry field as the average yield, and concluded that the total yield of brown rice was more than 3,500 shi and mixed grains was more than 1,200 shi.

The estimated number of residents is 660 households, totaling 2,470 people, including men, women, and children.

Next, Torii Kawachi-no-kami proposed in his diary that the grain delivered to the Utsu family should not exceed 1,800 koku, and the total amount of various taxes paid each year should not exceed 200 kan, otherwise the people would be in danger of not having enough to eat. If someone were to rent land from a famous landlord, the suggested rent would be two dou of black rice per year for paddy fields and one dou and five sheng of mixed grains per year for dry fields, so that even those without land could have a way to survive.

Finally, he wrote with pride: "This year, through successful mediation, we obtained 995 shi of nanometers and 130 guan of cash. The villagers were very grateful and therefore offered some money and grain to my family as a token of their thanks."

An interjection added: "From eleven households, they purchased twenty-three and a half fan of fertile land. Now they own over two hundred fan of land." Since these were villagers urgently needing to raise money and goods, they didn't try to drive down the price, but instead completed the transaction at market value.

In conclusion, judging from this diary, Torii Kawachi-no-kami was indeed a very capable and wealthy farmer, and he truly provided considerable help to the villagers in the vicinity.

However, some of the statements are still a bit off. For example, it was mentioned earlier that the people offered gifts out of gratitude. Was it really voluntary? In reality, it's not always the case that if you help someone, they will necessarily be grateful and give you something in return.

Furthermore, the fact that the amount of the thank-you gift was deliberately omitted makes it even more suspicious.

That's all in the past, so there's no need to delve into it.

Because it needed to be kept secret from the previous lord, the Utsu family, the contents of the diary were naturally kept confidential and used only as a private reference for Torii Kawachi-no-kami, and could not be made public.

Now Shinsaburo didn't need to worry about that anymore. He immediately used this data as a benchmark and sent someone to conduct a very rough land survey. The estimated figures were indeed not far off.

The diary was written in the eighteenth year of the Tianwen era, which is seven years ago now. It's easy to imagine that during this time, the people must have cultivated some hidden fields in remote areas, and their population must have increased. But even a unified, centralized government can't completely manage such things, so there's no need to worry about it.

To facilitate management, Shinzaburo decided to emulate the Azuchi-Momoyama regime and implement the "stone height system" on the newly pacified territory.

Using the yield estimation standards from the diary, and considering that the value of miscellaneous grains is about two-thirds that of brown rice, each field of paddy rice was converted into one shi 2 dou 5 sheng, and each field of dry rice into six dou 3 sheng.

The fifteen villages of Zeshan Guozhuang were registered with a total of 4,400 shi (a unit of dry measure).

The grain tax was levied at 3.5 dou of black rice per shi, and 40 wen of cash per shi, totaling 1,540 shi of black rice and 176 guan of cash.

Military service and corvée labor are calculated separately.

This ratio ensures that too many seeds of hatred are sown while still obtaining sufficient money and provisions.

After abolishing the "middlemen," the burden on the people did not increase, but the lord's income increased significantly.

If the policy of having retainers and officials living together is promoted in the future, this ratio can be maintained. For example, a person with a salary of 100 koku would receive 35 koku of black rice and 4 kan of cash annually.

After conducting this preliminary land survey, Shinzaburo received a message from a monk in Kyoto.

It is said that after Takeuchi Kiji recovered from his illness, he heard that the thief had been beheaded and wanted to return to serve as the magistrate of Yamakuni-sho. However, his superiors believed that this fellow was unbecoming and would not allow him to go out and cause trouble for the time being. After the New Year, it is possible that the true court noble, the third rank of the councilor, and the councilor, Tada Shigeyasu, will make a trip to symbolically restore the control of "forbidden lining materials".

Shigeyasu Niwata, on the other hand, was a person who was obsessed with Kyoto culture and had no intention of living in the countryside for a long time.

What a joy.

……

After clearing out the fifteen villages of Yamaguni-sou, Shinzaburo did not take advantage of the situation to attack other villages. Instead, he first fulfilled his promise to reward the peasant soldiers.

The seized money and grain were divided among them on the spot, but each person didn't get much.

The land incentives haven't been implemented yet.

After eliminating dozens of wealthy farmers, led by the Torii family, several hundred tan of unclaimed land were left vacant.

As a lord, Shinzaburo only intended to retain the right to levy taxes and did not have the time to personally worry about farming like a farmer.

He decided to grant 40% of these lands to the wealthy farmers who had previously distinguished themselves. However, this time the grants were only for the title of lord; taxes would still have to be paid as usual. This was fundamentally different from granting land to warriors.

The remaining 60% is reserved for future use.

On the second day of the eleventh month, more than a hundred influential local gentry and wealthy people from various villages in Kumada River and Inoue River were summoned to Shinzaburo.

Then, Kono Takatoki deliberately adopted an elegant tone and read out the rewards to these people who couldn't even be considered samurai.

"Nakayama Village Otsuna Yazaki Heibei, granted the title of Yamakuni Shohiga Village Mizuta Shichiban, is permitted to use his own surname!"

"Zhongshan Village has Deren and Wulang, who have been granted the right to use the Miao characters for dry land in Shan Guozhuang Daye Village!"

"Zhongshan Village has a virtuous man named Sanqi Youweimen, who has been granted permission to use the Miao character in Zhongjiang Village, Shanxio Village, for the purpose of creating five rice paddies!"

"Name B from Baishi Village..."

These villages are larger than my hometown, Jiubao Village, and often, in addition to Yiming, there are one or two other virtuous people.

"Yi Ming" refers to the village chief, while "You De Ren" is a term for someone who owns a lot of land.

Regardless of the type, they are all typical local worthies.

Those who have cooperated well over the past few months will be rewarded based on the outcome of the last battle.

If you can cultivate the land this time, you can earn seven dou of income per dou after paying taxes. Even if you are unable to cultivate it, you can still receive two dou of rent by renting it out.

In the eyes of the village, this was a very large sum of money.

Shinzaburo originally had over a hundred local worthies standing to his right. As Kono Takatoki called out each name, he would issue a land decree and simultaneously instruct the recipient to move to his left.

After everyone finished reading, the lines on both sides were about the same length.

The fifty-odd local gentry who received the land were all beaming with joy.

The expressions of the remaining people gradually shifted from expectation to doubt, and then to dissatisfaction.

After a moment of silence, a middle-aged man on the right who had not received land couldn't help but step out of the line and questioned, "Lord Kubo Genban! We all participated in the campaign against the Yamaguni-sou rebels, so why are only they receiving rewards?"

Although the others did not echo this sentiment, their facial expressions conveyed the same idea.

Shinzaburo looked up, pondered for a moment, and smiled, "You're Otona Kamo no Suke from Katano-mura, right?"

"Exactly!" The middle-aged man, whose posture did resemble a duck, pouted and said aggrievedly, "Didn't our village also obey orders and make contributions?"

"Heh!" Shinzaburo glanced to the side and said coldly, "Then tell me, what's the situation with Katano Village?"

"Yes." Monk Jingcheng received the order, took out a record from his bosom, and calmly said: "Katano Village should have handed over 35 shi of autumn grain. This year, Lord Kubo Genban graciously exempted 15% of it, so it should still hand over 29 shi, 7.5 dou. The grain handed over on the seventh day of the tenth month was 75 yi, but it was a smaller amount than the larger amount, so the actual amount was 21 shi and 6 dou."

The middle-aged man stood frozen in place, cold sweat pouring down his face. He then knelt down on the ground, stammering as if he wanted to say something, but dared not utter a word.

Shinzaburo ignored the man and instead told the monk Jingcheng to continue.

then--

“In Xigu Village, the amount of grain delivered is correct, but out of the sixty-two bundles, only twenty bundles are indeed black rice, the rest are old mixed grains that are being passed off as such.”

"Shangmuchuan Village should have paid 25.5 shi of black rice. Instead, they filled the gaps with weeds and paid 19.7 shi of black rice."

"Shimomukawa Village..."

After reading about the situation in three or four villages, Yi Ming and You De, who were on the right, both knelt down.

Regarding the previous autumn grain harvest, all 42 villages requested a 20% reduction, while Shinsaburo agreed to a 15% reduction.

Then, only 21 villages honestly handed over 85% of their dues, while the other 21 villages used various methods to achieve their goals.

It's exactly half and half.

After some investigation, Shinzaburo discovered that over the past one or two decades, the Utsu family had been carefully checking the annual tribute, basically just glancing at the total number and throwing it directly into the warehouse, and even if discrepancies were discovered later, they were too lazy to investigate.

Furthermore, based on some clues, it can be inferred that the truly capable person in the Utsu family might have been Utsu Mototomo forty years ago. That guy seized the Yamaguni Estate of the Imperial Court through a series of overt and covert attacks, killed the estate's officials and their families, and used his connections with the Shogunate to silence the Imperial Court. He also took advantage of the burning of Jingo-ji Temple in Kyoto to seize a large amount of temple property nearby.

Then came the son of the Yuan dynasty, named Shushin, and Shushin's son, named Jōsei—the one who was defeated by Shinsaburo—it seems that each generation is worse than the last.

Considering the circumstances, Shinzaburo decided against severely punishing the village that cheated on the annual tribute for the time being.

But I still have to say a few harsh words.

Shinzaburo looked at the fifty-odd people kneeling on the ground to his right, trembling with fear, and said sternly, "Originally, I planned to kill the disloyal ones just like I did with that traitor who impersonated the Torii clan. But considering this is your first offense, I will spare your lives. Next, this monk Jōchō will calculate the shortfall in each village, and you will pay three times the amount, and that will be the end of it. However—you are forbidden from imposing any more taxes on the villagers; you will have to bear the burden yourselves!"

Then he waved them away.

Then Shinsaburo smiled again and said leisurely to the fifty or so people on his left, "I brought quite a few attendants from my family. Their social standing is a good match for yours. Let's have a feast together tonight! If there's no inconvenience, we can talk about marriage arrangements for our children."

145. The system of high stone and the foot soldiers.

These fifty-odd wealthy farmers who received rewards obviously couldn't possibly have any real loyalty to the Kubo family; they were probably just cautious and timid, which is why they obediently handed over their autumn grain.

However, compared to others, this alone is worthy of encouragement.

Shinzaburo decided to designate these people as "Ashigaru Shu" (foot soldiers).

They are allowed to use their surnames freely, but they do not need to leave their jobs and wait in the city. They still have to pay taxes and grain, but they are given some preferential treatment in the land inspection and collection process.

Therefore, in accordance with the corresponding obligations, they must participate in military service as fully armed personnel and undertake some grassroots management tasks.

The first task assigned was to supervise Yi Ming and the wealthy households who had previously falsified the autumn grain harvest, and to see if they had used their own property to make up for the three-fold difference as required.

If they remain stubborn and continue to use underhanded tactics or impose levies on the villagers without authorization, then they may have to sit at the same table as the so-called Torii Kawachi-no-kami.

Shinzaburo had notices posted at temples and shrines along the Kumada River and Inoue River, appointing two to three supervisors for each of the twenty-one villages that needed to pay three times the difference, and declaring that villagers could report any injustices they encountered.

The local people are unlikely to easily trust outside samurai, but they might have a certain degree of goodwill towards the respected elders of neighboring villages.

For these local grassroots forces that have not yet taken on a formal "local coup" form, it is only necessary to win them over and divide them, and to gradually subdue them by cracking down on some and promoting others.

In addition, a large number of marriages have been arranged.

Those brought from Kubo Village were all granted the title of Chigyo, becoming the lowest-ranking samurai. Apart from two relatives, Kumataro and Hashibei, who were qualified to use "Kubo" as their surname, the other fifteen or sixteen almost all used the name "Noguchi" from "Noguchi Village".

Most of the fifty-odd newly recruited foot soldiers in the area chose to use "Kumada" or "Inoue" as their names.

This is because they live in the basin of the Kumada River and the Inoue River, and have benefited greatly from the rivers. Moreover, they had previously used the names "Kumada-shu" and "Inoue-shu" without permission, so it is perfectly legitimate for them to use them again now.

As a result, Noguchi, Kumada, and Inoue became the three most common surnames in the Kubo family register.

Furthermore, all marriages between Noguchi and Kumada or Inoue received strong support.

Out of respect for the customs of the time, Shinzaburo deliberately selected two families who were related to Torii Kawachi-no-kami and instructed them to inherit the Torii name.

Then, in mid-to-late November, a rough survey of the territory and conversion of stone height began.

The final measurement was 3,400 koku for the Kumada River basin and 3,700 koku for the Inoue River basin. However, a large portion of this consisted of land owned by the "foot soldiers," and half of it was taxed.

The ten villages near Noguchi Castle have a total land area of ​​only a little over 1,100 koku, which is indeed a small area with a sparse population.

Adding the 4,400 shi from the fifteen villages of Shanguozhuang, that makes up the total amount within the territory.

After the suppression of the uprising, the local wealthy farmers were less likely to resist the land inspection.

However, due to the insufficient number and quality of clerks, the actual work is still difficult to advance effectively.

Shinzaburo's idea to use Ishitaka was simply because he found Torii Kawachi-no-kami's diary, which contained basic data on the fifteen villages of Yamaguni-sou as a reference.

Even if other places sent all their subordinates who knew arithmetic, the numbers they obtained would still be inaccurate. It was only because Shinzaburo relied on his mathematical knowledge from his previous life and his farming experience in this life to act as a middleman that he was confident that the error would not be too great.

These days, even the Guan Gao system is not yet widespread, and the Shi Gao system is a very novel thing, appearing only in a very few areas.

Shinzaburo's "pilot project" intrigued the upper echelons of the Miyoshi family, prompting them to send people to investigate.

This includes the division of the family in Shikoku.

The final reactions varied.

According to subsequent rumors, Yoshikazu Miyoshi, Kazutsugu Sogo, Nagayoshi Miyoshi, and Nagayasu Matsunaga all believed that the key was to suppress local gentry and eliminate middlemen, and that the method used to measure land output was actually meaningless. Yoshioki Miyoshi, Fuyuyasu Ataka, and Hisahide Matsunaga felt that establishing a simple and clear unified standard was necessary, but the current land relations within their territories were too complex to handle; they suggested trying it if they could acquire new territories in the future.

Miyoshi Nagayoshi did not express any clear likes or dislikes.

However, there is one point that is the consensus of most people.

That is, we should indeed support the "foot soldiers," a class that is half-farmer and half-servant.

More and more people are realizing that it is inappropriate to fight with a small number of elite soldiers and a large number of cannon fodder; the trend of the times is to achieve the highest possible armor coverage at the lowest possible cost.

According to Shinzaburo's plan, the internal system will henceforth be divided into three tiers.

The upper echelons were naturally composed of proper samurai.

A proper samurai's "territory" was entirely under their control, including the right to manage the people on the land. Furthermore, following the prevailing principle of "vassal settlement," they needed to establish their homes in the lord's castle or stationed at a designated stronghold. This policy was difficult to implement for traditional daimyo with numerous hereditary vassals, but it faced little resistance within the Kubo family.

Since the policy of having retainers live together is to be implemented, it is impossible for them to personally go down to the fields to manage the affairs, and they must entrust it to the magistrate and the acting governor.

However, the ceremony for bestowing knowledge and action must still be preserved.

From the earliest followers, Oi and Jōjō, to the ronin recruited in the middle, and then to the newly promoted villagers of Kubo, a total of forty-six people were given a chiyō ranging from 180 koku to 20 koku based on their seniority and merits, totaling about 2,600 koku.

Inatomi Shigenobu already possessed ancestral lands and received a settlement from Matsunaga Nagayori, being included in the Naito family's vassal list and intended to serve under Shinzaburo. However, he still received rewards, resulting in a delicate "dual vassal" status.

Receiving imperial favor from different lords simultaneously was not allowed in the Edo period, but it was quite common in the Sengoku period.

After defeating the Utsu clan, Matsunaga Nagayori dispatched two samurai from Kuwata County as his assistants, named Kobayashi Nagamitsu and Hata Masanobu, saying they could serve as magistrates.