Warring States Survival Guide

Chapter 159: Even in ancient times, bride price was required!

"Ten rolls of silk, ten rolls of brocade, one hundred rolls of printed and dyed cotton, one hundred rolls of fine linen; ten barrels of sake, ten barrels of fruit wine; a set of three-day moon-themed clothes, one piece of silver-embroidered blue gauze feather weaving, one piece of colorfully embroidered mother's dress, two printed shoulder clothes, two short-handled gilded iron cannons, a gold-inlaid peach-patterned arrow box, and thirty long-feathered expedition arrows..."

Endo Chiyo, Maejima Juichiro, and Amand were all kneeling upright. Endo Chiyo read the more than one-foot-long list for three or four minutes before respectfully asking Yuanye, "Sir, what do you think? Is there anything I need to add or delete?"

Yuanye was speechless for a moment, he didn't expect that he had fallen into the ancient times and had to pay a "bride price" to get married. It really made him feel like he had returned to the modern times. Fortunately, the ancient people were more practical. The "bride price" at that time mainly consisted of food and drink, clothes and fabrics, four treasures of the study, daily necessities, weapons and armor, instead of asking for money directly, which was better than modern times.

His thoughts wandered for a moment, but he immediately gathered them back and asked with concern, "Does it comply with the etiquette and the requirements of the Oda family?"

Endo Chiyo and Maejima Juichiro said in unison: "Sir, we have considered it carefully and discussed it with the Oda family."

"That's it, there's no need to add or subtract anything." Yuanye didn't understand this at all, so he agreed directly, and then asked with concern, "Thank you for your hard work this time. Did you encounter any trouble when discussing with the Oda family?"

Endo Chiyo and Maejima Juichiro looked at each other. Maejima Juichiro, who was in charge of discussing the wedding arrangements with the Oda family, hesitated and replied, "We didn't encounter any trouble. The Oda family was very sincere in their intention to marry. It's just that... a few of the Oda family's retainers seemed to be a little sarcastic in their words and were slow to discuss things. There's nothing else."

"Are they all older retainers?"

"That's right, my lord."

Yuanye nodded slightly. It seemed that the old-school retainers had some opinions about the marriage, or that people close to Lin Xiuzhen were using the excuse to vent their anger. But these people didn't care. Oda Nobunaga didn't like these people either. These old-school retainers had either already stepped aside or were about to step aside. There would be no place for them on the future historical stage.

He said directly: "Next time we discuss things, don't be polite with them. It's not the time for us Wanjin people to live under someone else's roof. If they want to be sarcastic and drag their feet, just tell them clearly. If that doesn't work, just go directly to Lord Niwa and let him solve the problem. We need the Oda family now, and the Oda family also needs us. There is no need to feel inferior to them."

Maejima Jiro was a soft-tempered person who was not very good at arguing with others. Hearing this, he hesitated for a moment before lowering his head and saying, "Yes, sir, I understand."

Yuanye also knew that he was very honest and could not be tough, and he felt that Endo Chiyo was not suitable for arguing, so he turned to Aman and said, "You can go over and take a look when you are free."

Ah Man had a rude personality and was a natural chatterbox, which was perfect for quarreling and cursing, but Ah Man didn't care and nodded casually. The family was busy with construction and she couldn't help much. During this period of time, she was basically expanding the intelligence network outside. Occasionally, it didn't affect anything to help Maejima Juichiro quarrel.

The issue of the "bride price" was decided, and Yuanye discussed the subsequent "dowing gift" and "asking for the date" with Endo Chiyo and Maejima Juichiro, and then the two of them took their leave and continued to work - after several months of hard work, the marriage process was almost completed.

There is no way around it. Getting married is always a troublesome matter in modern times as in ancient times. A few months of preparation is considered a short time. After all, although the Oda Danjotada family is not very famous now and is generally regarded as a country bumpkin in Owari, it is still a "quasi-Warring States daimyo" who controls half of the country. They still have to be decent. It is impossible to put a princess on a bullock cart and bring her to you for marriage. Etiquette must be followed.

Or should we blame Confucianism? At this time in Japan, Confucianism is highly respected. The wedding process is a magical modification of the "Six Rites". There are all kinds of discussions and inquiries, a lot of things to prepare, a lot of people to help, and a ceremony to ask the family guardian god for approval. It's super long-winded.

But it’s almost done, so it’s okay!

After Endo Chiyo and Maejima Jichiro left, Aman picked up the "bride price" list and read it again. His stinginess came back and he felt bad for the dog princess whom he had never met. He muttered unhappily, "She's just a little girl, but she needs so many things to get married..."

All these things together would probably cost about 600 or 700 kan, which could buy 100 or 200 Yayoi, and that didn't even include the house she had built for the wedding. She felt like she was losing out. Yuan Ye didn't care, and said casually, "It's okay. We should spend the money we need to spend. With the trade routes, we will be able to make it back sooner or later. Besides, the Oda family also has to give us a dowry, it's not like we're taking things for free."

In this era, dowries are really given when getting married. They are not just two quilts. The dowry list will be given after the "date" is set, that is, after the wedding date is decided, and the dowry will be delivered on the wedding day. Yuanye has always been lavish with money. He doesn't care about the small amount of money such as the betrothal gift, let alone the dowry. As long as he can achieve his goal, it's fine. He mentioned it just to comfort Aman, and then asked her: "Why are you here? Is there something special?"

Aman had nothing to do with the wedding preparations. She just happened to meet Endo and Maejima. But she did come back with news. Upon hearing this, she threw the "bride price" list aside and sighed to Yuanye: "Oda Nobumitsu died last night!"

Yuan Ye was stunned. This news was a bit too sudden. How could Oda Nobunaga's third uncle, the former lord of Moriyama Castle, and the current lord of Naguno Castle, Oda Nobumitsu, die? It had only been about half a year since he had killed the Oda family in Kiyosu?
He quickly asked, "What happened? How did he die?"

"It is said that he was stabbed to death by someone arranged by Oda Nobumitsu's family elder, Sakai Daizen, who had fled to the Imagawa family." Aman had just received the news and returned, so he was not very sure. "It is said that the assassin sneaked into his bedroom, shouted 'Those who break their oaths will be punished,' and stabbed him in the chest with a knife. He died on the spot. The assassin was later recognized as Sakai Magohachiro, a famous swordsman of the Oda family in Kiyosu."

"What about others?"

"It is said that he escaped and there is no news now."

Yuan Ye was silent for a moment. Oda Nobumitsu was Nobunaga's third uncle and the most powerful supporter of Oda Nobunaga. He was considered an important figure in the Owari Oda clan. But he was assassinated in his own territory? And the assassin escaped?

Isn't this a ridiculous death? There's no logic at all?
Yuanye pondered for a while and asked Aman, "What about the current situation of Guye City?"

"Oda Nobumitsu's son is still young and hasn't even come of age yet. Now there's no one to take charge, so of course things are in chaos." Aman said directly, "I don't know the specifics. Before, Oda Nobunaga moved to Kiyosu Castle and took away most of the spies we had stationed in Furuno Castle. The newcomers have only been in place for a short time, so the information they can access is limited."

"Then continue to pay attention and try to find out what is going on." Yuan Ye was not in a hurry. After all, things are not the same as before. In the past, any disturbance in Owari could affect his personal safety, and he would not dare to rest assured if he did not find out the truth immediately. But now he has jumped out of the sphere of influence of Oda Danmasatada's family. No matter how turbulent the Oda family is, it will not affect him much. In fact, as long as he knows that Oda Nobumitsu is dead, it will be enough.

Now I want to find out the truth, just out of pure curiosity. After all, this matter is really a bit strange.

"Don't worry, I've left some people there, and there should be news coming back soon." Aman was a professional spy, so Yuanye didn't need to worry about this. He immediately talked about another matter, "There's another thing. The people below have received news from the merchants in Atsuta Port, saying that the Imagawa family's military advisor Taiyuan Xuesai is seriously ill and unable to manage the affairs. There is some unrest within the Imagawa family, but we don't have any people in Suruga and Totomi, so we can't tell the authenticity of this news for now."

Yuanye nodded slowly, thinking that the news should be true. In his impression, the Imagawa family's mainstay, Taiyuan Xuesai, died around this time.

I can't remember the exact time, probably at the end of this year or the beginning of next year, and then Imagawa Yoshimoto officially took power, or it could be said that there was no one who could restrain him. After he came to power, he acted very vigorously and vigorously. His ideas were similar to those of Oda Nobunaga. He was disgusted with the fact that so many powerful families under him were doing things their own way. He also wanted to implement a "united system". He began to forcibly abolish the "guardian non-entry rights" of the powerful families and temple families in the territory, carried out large-scale land inspections, and recalculated annual tribute and military service. As a result, he caused considerable unrest and even fought several battles.

After he had subdued all the powerful families in his territory, he left his eldest son to look after the family business and led his army to Kyoto. However, he met with tragedy when he only reached Nishiowari.

Strictly speaking, Imagawa Yoshimoto was not stupid, otherwise he would not have been able to subdue all the powerful temple families in his territory and successfully conduct land inspections. His love of waka and Chinese poetry, dyeing his teeth black, shaving his eyebrows and other behaviors that showed him trying to get closer to the nobles were just a political statement to seek support for his move to Kyoto. It's just that this world likes to judge a hero by his success or failure. He was defeated by Oda Nobunaga even though he was superior to him. Naturally, he was a fool who had lost his military courage.

Yuanye thought about it for a while and felt that this information was quite useful. At least it could ensure that he had enough time to develop. In the short term, the Imagawa family would pay more attention to internal interest disputes and internal fighting, so they would not be able to pay attention to him anymore.

The two sides would probably meet again when the Imagawa family marched west to Kyoto and came face to face with the Oda Danjotada family.

He told Aman not to bother pursuing the news, as the internal disputes in the Imagawa family had nothing to do with them. In the next few days, he continued to busy himself with his own affairs, waiting for his first marriage in his life, and by the way, he would pay attention to Oda Nobumitsu's affairs and wait for news from there.

(End of this chapter)