Japan's Warring States Period: The Rise of the Wakasa Tiger

Chapter 109 Undercurrent
After finalizing the plan to force Yi Jianchang to take action first, Yi Zhong's mind turned to another matter.

It can be said that opening up new routes and building new cities is for economic recovery, while building new cities is for strengthening politics.

As for the land inspection, it was an exception. On the surface, it was intended to increase the tax revenue of the Takeda family and was an economic means. In fact, it was to weaken the power of grassroots lords (such as local landlords and local samurai) to deceive their superiors and profit from it, and to strengthen the Takeda family's control over the farmers in the territory. From this perspective, it was a political means.

Although the above-mentioned "four horses" all serve to strengthen the power of the Takeda clan, there is an important bridge between the two, which is the "separation of soldiers and farmers."

The so-called "separation of soldiers from farmers" simply means separating warriors and farmers, allowing those who fight to focus on fighting and those who farm to focus on farming, which will neither affect the war nor production.

Many people believe that the reason why the Oda army was so powerful in history was because Oda Nobunaga implemented the "separation of soldiers and farmers" and trained a group of professional soldiers (samurai) with high combat qualities. This enabled him to demonstrate strong combat effectiveness when fighting against the armies of other forces composed of a mixture of farmers and samurai.

Therefore, some people would say that this "separation of soldiers from farmers" is not a military measure, but should be a policy on the same level as the "Four Horsemen".

But in fact it is not the case.

Rather than saying that "separation of soldiers from farmers" is a means or a policy, it is better to say that it is a system, a product that was formed naturally with the support of various policies.

Specifically, first of all, although the samurai, especially the local lords, formed a relationship of lord and subject with the daimyo and regarded themselves as the latter's "retainers", they had their own zhixingdi, in which they were the "lord". When the daimyo mobilized for war, they would lead their troops to follow the daimyo's actions, and then lead the troops back to their own territories. In this case, the samurai and the peasants were closely linked.

From a negative perspective, these land-owning retainers were semi-independent forces. They could pledge allegiance to the daimyo, or they could bring their own armies and territories to his side at any time, creating an unstable situation.

One of the foundations of "separation of soldiers from farmers" is to separate these warriors from their territories and farmers to avoid the situation where they bring civilians, troops, and land to rebel.

As it happened, the "castle town gathering" solved this problem very well. The retainers moved to the castle town under the daimyo's castle, thus severing their ties with the land, reducing their independence and the possibility of rebellion.

Secondly, some people may ask, what about those lower-level retainers who have little or no territory at all? They make a living by being half-farmer and half-soldier. How can we distinguish them from farmers?

It was very simple. The daimyo directly gave money as salary instead of granting land. Thus, the samurai completely separated from farming and became a specialized samurai class. Their expenses and daily needs were maintained by the salary provided by the daimyo. This means that the second basis for achieving the "separation of soldiers from farmers" is to have sufficient income.

Coincidentally, "Rakuichi Rakuza", "opening up routes" and "land inspection" solved this problem very well. These three measures greatly increased the income of the daimyo, allowing them to have enough funds to "exchange money for land", making the samurai willing to leave farming and live contentedly in the castle town.

Finally, the political nature of "land inspection" was also a powerful assist in "separation of soldiers from farmers". As mentioned above, land inspection weakened the power of grassroots lords to exploit farmers, which prompted them to choose "living in the castle" in exchange for the annual salary given by the daimyo to maintain their current living standards.

Well, through the above three points, the context of "separation of soldiers from farmers" is basically clear. In short, it is the economic and political changes brought about by the "Four Horsemen" that gave rise to the "separation of soldiers from farmers" system, thereby strengthening the military strength of the daimyo.

However, in order to achieve the perfect "separation of soldiers from farmers", one more thing needs to be done, that is, to confiscate the farmers' weapons, that is, the "hunting knives".

As we all know, the so-called "Ikki" is not only a peasant uprising, but often a civil unrest developed by lower-level samurai who gathered peasants who did not know the truth. Therefore, in order to prevent peasants from becoming combat forces during war, their combat capital, that is, weapons, must be confiscated, so that they are firmly imprisoned in the fields and have no ability to connect with the samurai class. Unfortunately, in order to realize the "hunting sword", a peaceful environment is required, that is, peasants do not need to worry about being plundered by the outside world. With the current strength of the Takeda family, it is far from being able to do this, so the "hunting sword" can only be postponed.

However, if the "Four Horsemen" can be successfully implemented, Yizhong can consider implementing a basic version of the "separation of soldiers and farmers".

During this meeting, Yoshishige told Yamamoto Shigeyuki and Yunfeng Ryuoki about his idea of ​​implementing the "separation of soldiers and farmers", but unexpectedly, he was unanimously opposed by the two.

The first to raise objections was Yamamoto Shigeyuki: "My lord, I think that before the land survey is completed, we must not mention the separation of soldiers and farmers, so as not to anger those countrymen. If they incite the uprising, it will be difficult to resolve the matter."

"Moreover, it will take a long time for Le City Le Zuo and the development of shipping routes to generate revenue. With the current finances of the Takeda family, it certainly cannot support the separation of soldiers and farmers." Yunfeng Longxing also tactfully expressed his opposition.

The two major advisers around him both spoke out against it, which forced Yoshishige to reconsider the current situation.

"Maybe I'm too impatient." Yoshishige thought, "But the current situation of the Takeda family can't allow them to slowly implement reforms. In a few years, Miyoshi Toshinaga will rise, and the rejuvenated Asakura family will surely make a comeback. There is also the Asai family in the south, and the current head Asai Ryomasa is also a troublesome guy. Only Yamana Tasukuyo in the west can be dealt with..."

"Yamana Yufeng..." A thought suddenly popped into Yoshishige's mind: "This year is the eighth year of the Tenmon era... There are still three years left, I must act fast."

"Shigeyuki, I understand what you said. Let's put the issue of separating soldiers from farmers on hold for now and properly resolve the issues at hand." Yoshishige followed the advice of Yamamoto Shigeyuki and Yunfeng Ryuoki and temporarily postponed the separation of soldiers from farmers.

"The matter at hand... My lord, are you referring to Itsumi Suruga-no-kami?" Yamamoto Shigeyuki asked back.

Yizhong nodded: "First, get rid of this guy and his followers. This can be regarded as killing the chicken to scare the monkey. With these guys as sacrifices, your subsequent land inspections will be much easier."

Itami Masatsune's residence, Suidoyama Castle, is located on a small hill over 100 meters high not far to the south of Takahama Castle. It can be said to be a city, but also a group of castles. Many castles are densely distributed on the hill. Its actual scale is even larger than Takeda clan's Gozeyama Castle, which shows Itami Masatsune's ambition.

While Yoshishige was discussing how to deal with Itami Masaki, Itami Masaki, who was far away in Suidoyama Castle, was also discussing fiercely with Naito Katsutaka and the remaining retainers of the Awaya family on how to create a storm and properly dampen Yoshishige's enthusiasm and prestige.

"Uchizoku, how's the contact with Tango going?" There was a sense of arrogance in Isami Masaki's tone, which made Naito Katsutaka, who was once on equal footing with him, quite unhappy.

But people have to bow their heads under the eaves. Naito Shenggao could only suppress his inner resentment and said respectfully: "The Sugi family and the Inatomi family have not made a clear statement, but the one in Katayama Castle has agreed."

Because of family matters, the second chapter may be updated later, so I would like to give you a heads up.



(End of this chapter)