Warring States Survival Guide

Chapter 48 Bean Cake
Japan took the Tang Dynasty as its teacher and sent envoys to learn about the Tang Dynasty's equal-field system and rent-labor system. Japan implemented the equal-field system in its own country and established the equal-field system. However, as royal nobles and officials exploited legal loopholes and relied on their power to engage in large-scale mergers, within a few generations, Japan's self-cultivating farmers began to go bankrupt one after another.

By the mid-to-late 10th century, the land nationalization system of the land allocation system could no longer be implemented, and the imperial court had no land to distribute. However, a large number of private estates appeared in the Sixty-Six Countries of Japan.

This kind of private manor often has privileges, such as the "right of non-import and non-entry", which means that it does not pay taxes and is not subject to the jurisdiction of the local guardian daimyo. It has become an independent small kingdom, and the internal situation is very complicated, such as the three-tier control system of "main family, lord family, and manor official", the difference between "sent-in manor", "direct manor", and "self-cultivated manor", and then from the details of "land inspection, land inspection, internal land inspection", "field removal, fixed field", etc., until the end, how the samurai used tricks to occupy the manor...

If these were explained in detail, they could fill three chapters in a novel, or a popular science book called "Manor: From the Kentian Yongnian Private Property Law to the Onin War". However, readers would certainly not like to read it, and might even point at the writer's nose and curse - you, the temporary eunuch, have the old habit of messing around again, believe it or not, I will chop you to death!
But Takeuchi-sho should be such a relic with a long history. It may have existed for five or six hundred years. It was originally a private manor belonging to the royal family, nobles or powerful people.

This private estate is located by the lake. A tributary of the Nagara River flows through it, forming a lake due to its low terrain. The paddy fields of the estate are surrounded by the lake on the west and north sides. To the east is a wetland, which is caused by the overflow of the lake in summer. It is covered with withered yellow reeds and large and small still water puddles.

There are also a large number of water birds. From time to time, you can see a flock of birds taking off into the sky, flying around in the sky, and then falling back into the reeds and disappearing. It is a good place for hunting.

The main part of the manor was built in the southwest of the lake, next to the tributary of the Nagara River. The layout was also very neat. A large water mill was built on the side close to the river, and rows of warehouses and workshops were built on the side close to the road to facilitate transportation. In between the two was the residential area. Although most of them were still big thatched houses, they were at least arranged in an orderly manner, and there were flat stone roads, unlike Hibitsu Village, where the houses were crooked and some were squeezed into gaps. Not to mention the muddy roads, the first thing to do when going out at night was to be careful not to sprain your ankle.

Standing on a high place and taking a few glances, Yuanye had to admit that this place was indeed much better than Hibitsu Village. It seemed that the living conditions were better and the people were more prosperous.

Ah Man was also very satisfied and immediately looked up and said to him, "You can live here from now on. There must be more chickens and fatter fish here, and we can often hunt wild geese and ducks to eat. It's much better than that shabby village!"

Ah Qing stood quietly without saying anything, but looking at the rippling lake, the many water birds and small animals, she seemed to like this place very much.

Yuanye still didn't rush to make a decision, but just said: "Let's go see the house first!"

No one had any objection, and they walked towards the village again. The defense here was stronger than that of Hibitsu Village. There were many followers of Oda Danmasatada's family. They wore domaru, carried katana on their waists, and wore iron-studded hats. They were obviously elite forces that had undergone long-term training, and were not the kind of militia foot soldiers who could only follow behind and make trouble.

This group of men generally look young, most of them are about 16 or 17 years old, and there are not many veterans.

These young Oda's gang stopped them and respectfully made way after checking their documents. They also assigned one person to lead them into the manor, where they found the manor's deputation officer - a samurai of Oda Nobunaga, but not a direct samurai like the retainers of Oda Nobunaga. Instead, he was a member of the group of retainers sent to him by his father Oda Nobuhide, and was considered a powerful samurai.

Well, only after Oda Nobuhide died and Oda Nobunaga succeeded in ascending the throne, and these people regained their loyalty, could they truly be considered Oda Nobunaga's men.

This samurai was in his forties. His name was Mutsu Michitomo, his common name was Seibei, and he had a one-month haircut. He looked like a very serious and old-fashioned traditional samurai, and he acted meticulously. He first carefully checked the "black seal", and after confirming that it was correct, he took out the illustrated book to carefully compare the seal - this was completely unnecessary. Yuanye was not here to get money, but to see the house, and he might even want to stay here. There was no point in forging anything.

But Lord Seibei still went through the entire procedure in a very serious manner, and then led them to a large house by the river, allowing them to go in and look around while he waited outside.

The house consisted of three long wooden houses with low legs and a wooden corridor outside. Not only was the living area large, but it also had even larger front and back yards with bamboo groves and trees planted in the yard. It looked very old, quiet and elegant, and could be said to be very good. However, it was empty inside, without any furniture. The walls were also ugly and mottled, the floor was a bit rotten, and there was dust and spider webs everywhere, making it look very dilapidated.

Ah Man was quite satisfied with the outside, thinking that there was even a stable and the well water was quite clear. But he was disappointed after taking a look inside. He turned around and said to Yuan Ye, "Look, I told you to spend less money, but you didn't listen! Now it's over. The money you have left is only enough to repair the floor, and you can't even buy a few pieces of furniture."

"Shut up and stop talking nonsense. You usually eat a lot!" Yuan Ye cursed casually, but he thought it was good. He had originally planned to build a house he liked to improve his living conditions. Now the house has a good layout and a large area, so it's just right to renovate it.

The important thing is that this place belongs entirely to him. Even if he hollows out the bottom and builds a chemical laboratory, no one will care.

He wandered around and went to find Oru Kiyobei, while Aman followed him and complained to Aqing in a low voice: "He has changed. He doesn't respect me as much as before. He used to listen to me all day, but now he starts to tell me to stop talking nonsense!"

Ah Qing glanced at her coldly, lowered his eyelids and said nothing - Sister, if you hadn't saved my life, I would have stopped respecting you a long time ago. No one in this world can live with you for a month and still respect you, please be aware of this!

Yuanye didn't care what Aman muttered behind his back. She was just that kind of person. She kept nagging, so it was right to ignore her. He went straight to Oru Seibei at the door and asked politely, "Master Seibei, this house looks like no one has lived in it for a long time. What was it used for before?"

This is common sense when buying a house. Ask whether it is a mortgaged house, a foreclosed house, the original owner's situation, etc., to ensure that the property rights are clear, so as to avoid unnecessary trouble. Although Oru Seibei is a rigid person, he is not difficult to talk to. When asked by Yuan Ye, he answered truthfully, "It is the family residence of Lord Kinoshita, and it has been vacant for more than a year."

"Oh, did Master Kinoshita move away?"

"Master Kinoshita has passed away."

Yuan Ye was stunned for a moment, and suddenly had a bad feeling, and asked cautiously: "Could this Master Kinoshita be the one that Master Oda Saburo used the iron cannon to..."

Oruki Kiyohei nodded slightly, his face not looking good, it seems that he is very resentful of having such a lord. Yuanye was also convinced, originally his favor towards Oda Nobunaga increased sharply - not wanting to lose independence and personal freedom is one thing, and his personal impression of Oda Nobunaga is another. He actually admired Oda Nobunaga very much, after all, he was really generous and magnanimous, but he didn't expect this guy to do such a trick, first beat the retainer to death, and then gave him the retainer's house.

This is no longer a question of being generous or not, this is simply not what it means to be a human being!

Yuan Ye didn't know what to say for a moment. After a while, he asked hesitantly, "What about the other people in the Kinoshita family?"

"The Kinoshita family has temporarily died out." Oruki Seibei said in a deep voice with a dark face, "Not long after Lord Kinoshita died in Furuno Castle, Mrs. Kinoshita was unable to maintain the family home, so she left a 'deed of sale (real estate certificate)' in exchange for a sum of money for her daughter to use in the future to find a son-in-law to continue the family name, and she remarried."

Yuanye was not surprised that Mrs. Kinoshita ran away. Mr. Kinoshita probably had a low status and did not have many fields under his name. If he died, his annual salary would be gone. If his wife did not remarry, she would not be able to maintain the family home. She might even starve to death after a long time. Having to remarry was a common phenomenon in this era. However, he was really concerned about the property rights issue, so he asked again, "What about her daughter..."

Oruki Kiyohei hesitated for a moment and said uncertainly, "Lord Kinoshita left behind two daughters. The older one... is about five or six years old, and the younger one is probably only three or four years old. They should both be adopted daughters in Mrs. Kinoshita's family now."

Yuanye nodded slightly. There was no problem with the property rights. A five- or six-year-old boy couldn't get a son-in-law for a while, so it was impossible for him to make trouble and want to recover the ancestral home. It would be even more impossible after a long time. What kind of evil did Oda Nobunaga do? Not only did he kill someone with a cannon, but he also broke up his wife and children, and the family name was about to be lost. No wonder the other retainers were so sad and resentful.

However, these were all bad things done by Oda Nobunaga and had nothing to do with him. He just complained in his heart and looked back at the house. After thinking for a while, he asked Oruki Seibei: "If it's convenient, can I walk around the manor at will?"

"Of course, Lord Nohara, please do as you please!" Oruki Kiyobei agreed immediately. Now Nohara was considered a resident here, and no matter whether he came to live here or not, his household registration was here, so he could do as he pleased. However, after he agreed, he didn't say a few more polite words, and turned and left without even expressing his welcome. It seemed that he was not only rigid, but also an unsociable person.

Yuanye didn't care. He took Aman and Aqing to stroll around the village, checking out the situation to see if it was suitable for living and whether it could support people. After looking for a while, he felt it was not bad. The farmers here were generally healthier than the villagers in Hibitsu Village. They had a little color on their faces and lived a relatively affluent life. They were not too afraid of him, a samurai with a "maid". They all looked like they had seen a lot of the world.

Then they strolled all the way to the workshop warehouse. They were not allowed to enter the warehouse as it was strictly guarded by the Oda family's gang. The water mill was too primitive and was not working yet. Yuanye didn't want to see it and was too lazy to go around it. Finally, they listened to the noise and smelled the bean odor and found an oil press. The craftsmen inside were using the ancient method to squeeze soybean oil - digging wood into a trough, placing beans in it, and using manpower to push huge stones to repeatedly hit the wedges to squeeze the soybeans to produce oil.

Well, it’s not just soybeans that can be squeezed, sesame seeds, rapeseeds and the like can also be squeezed. It just so happened that they were squeezing the beans right now, probably because they were going to build some building and were preparing the materials for mixing the paint.

But there was nothing to see here, just an ordinary oil pressing workshop. There was a strong bean smell in the air, which made people feel very uncomfortable. Aman lost interest after just one look. He was about to urge Yuanye to leave, but he saw Yuanye rummaging through some sacks.

She took a look and found that the sack was filled with bean cakes, which was nothing special. She asked curiously, "What are you looking at this for?"

Yuanye flipped through the bean cakes and said thoughtfully, "If I want to buy bean cakes, how much do they cost?"

Ah Man said casually, "This thing is not valuable. Depending on the age of the beans, it's only about 400 to 500 coins per stone. After squeezing the oil, the remaining bean cakes are only about 100 coins!" Then she realized that Yuanye lacked common sense, and quickly added, "This thing tastes terrible and has a strong fishy smell. It's impossible to swallow it. If you eat too much, you will urinate blood. Don't do this!"

She suspected that Yuanye was running out of money and finally started to save money. She planned to buy some bean cakes to replace rice. But Yuanye just didn't understand the times and it wasn't like he really had no common sense - bean cakes were indeed not something for humans to eat. If they were used as a staple food, the human kidneys would not be able to handle it and the person might indeed urinate blood. Even many livestock don't like to eat bean cakes alone and must be paired with something else.

For example, horses don't like to eat very much. They are very happy if you give them beans, but they are not very happy if you give them bean cakes. Horses are very smart. Just like humans, they can distinguish the difference between "fresh meat" and "dried meat, canned meat". If you keep feeding horses with bean cakes and don't give them any oil or water like in the novels, be careful that they will kick you.

Donkeys and mules are a bit dumber, so they can still make do. Pigs should be cooked before eating. If the large protein is not broken up, they may suffer from indigestion and start to have diarrhea. The ones who really like to eat bean cakes are cows. Cows have several stomachs, so they eat it and turn it upside down, chew it upside down, and swallow it down, so they can digest it slowly. Large protein particles are not a burden to them, and the digestion rate is also high, reaching more than 70%.

Yuanye didn't learn biology very well, so there might be some minor mistakes in common sense, but he still understood it clearly. It was impossible to buy bean cakes as a meal, as that could kill people. He was not that crazy, he just thought of something else and thought that maybe it could be used to make money - not to open a tofu workshop, which would not make much money, but something that could be mass-produced, saving time and effort, and making money quickly.

Of course, this is just an idea. He still needs to go back and think carefully about whether it can be realized and try whether the product can really be sold.

However, having something is better than having nothing. For example, Hibitsu Village does not have these conditions and cannot get various cheap raw materials. He is completely unable to give full play to his strengths there and acts like a fool every day.

The balance in Yuanye's heart began to tilt gradually. The only bad thing was the [Second Daily Task]. He really wanted to go back to the modern times. He felt uncomfortable if he didn't come to see whether the thick fog rose on Mount Ise every day.

He weighed the pros and cons in his mind, and his eyes slowly fell on Aqing. After a moment, he felt that he should not bully an honest child, so his gaze immediately turned to the back of Aman's head.

You say, if I buy Aman a horse, let her practice riding skills, get up at 4:30 every morning, ride a horse to take a look at Mount Ise at sunrise, and gallop back to report as soon as the thick fog rises, will she be happy?

(End of this chapter)