Warring States Survival Guide

Chapter 92 Leshi Order

After Hirate Masahide's death, Oda Nobunaga remained silent for a while and did not show up until after the autumn harvest. After he showed up, he did not turn over a new leaf as everyone had expected and become gentle and polite. Instead, he was still the same as before and immediately reiterated the first order he issued after becoming the head of the family: build roads.

However, the death of Hirate Masahide did bring some changes to him. He seemed to be more stable and no longer forced everyone to move the entire four counties under Owari. Instead, he made a plan to first widen and reinforce the roads between several large cities. The standards were also relaxed. The first step only required that the road width be no less than two rooms and that it should not become a muddy road on rainy days.

The number of local wealthy families affected this time was greatly reduced, and the opposition was not as loud as before. In addition, he kept sending people to their homes to scold them, so in the end, these wealthy families really started the construction reluctantly. However, their private complaints never stopped, and the progress of the project was extremely slow.

Oda Nobunaga didn't care about it at all and didn't pay any attention to the criticisms. He only occasionally sent people to threaten him to speed up the progress of the project, and then he disappeared.

When he reappeared in late autumn, he issued the "Leshi Order" without consulting anyone, welcoming craftsmen and free merchants to settle in the castle town of Naguno Castle. Anyone willing to come would be rewarded, including but not limited to exemption from corvée, small loan, free grant of residential land, and a series of preferential conditions such as issuing a monogram to publicly guarantee the safety of personal and property, which attracted a lot of attention again...

This time it did not cause an uproar, as it had nothing to do with the local wealthy families, but the monks in the temple were anxious.

"Za" is actually a feudal guild system. Only by joining the "Za" and becoming a member of the Zayei can one run a certain business. This is a set of industrial and commercial systems that have been running in Japan since ancient times. It is a commercial monopoly behavior. Now this commercial monopoly is in the hands of temple owners (monks), who have been relying on "Zayei money" to generate income, and at the same time forcibly monopolizing the sales rights of some high-profit commodities.

Just like when Yuanye wanted to produce and sell soy sauce before, he was a new handicraftsman and a free businessman, but he was not a zayei. According to current laws and regulations, he had no right to produce and sell condiments, so he had to either go to the Guanyin Temple branch in the lower four counties or the Shotoku Temple branch in the upper four counties. Only after obtaining permission from the "zato" and paying the "zayei fee" to the temple family could he start normal production.

After all, he has the identity of a "samurai", but now he is in such a mess that he can't even keep the distribution rights, not to mention the small handicraftsmen and small businessmen who have transformed from townspeople. They can only be bullied by the monks. After all, if they are disobedient and refuse to let the monks make money, the monks will really come to their homes to chop people, and the monk soldiers they raise are not for decoration.

These emerging artisans and free merchants had no choice but to endure it. But now Oda Nobunaga suddenly jumped out and issued the "Rakuichi Order" - Raku means freedom, and Rakuichi encourages free trade and free employment. It doesn't matter whether you have the status of a zayaku or not, you can do whatever you want and sell whatever you want. You don't have to pay the "zayaku money" anymore. He will provide protection for you, and you just have to pay the commercial tax to him in the future.

This was simply taking rice from the monks' mouths, and the monks could not tolerate it. Within a few days, envoys from temples all over the country gathered in Kuno Castle. They either persuaded one of their retainers to give advice or went straight to meet Oda Nobunaga shirtless and made an impassioned speech.

In short, they had the same demand, which was to ask Oda Nobunaga to revoke the "Rakuichi Order".

Suddenly, the city of Guye became the center of the storm and was bustling with activity.

This made Aman very happy. He was as excited as a civet cat that fell into a melon field. He ran to the castle town every day, smelled this and looked that, and then came back to share his gossip with Yuanye. He kept praising Oda Nobunaga for being so energetic. He always made big news every month. He was worthy of being the number one geek in Owari Province. It was unlucky for Oda Danjotada's family to have him.

Yuanye was also very interested. With his meager knowledge of Japan's medieval history and the stupid background of playing "Taikou 2", he certainly knew about the famous "Rakuza Rakuichi" policy, but he really didn't expect that this policy would be implemented separately - he originally thought that "Rakuza Rakuichi" was an integrated whole, and would directly eliminate feudal guilds such as "za", launch free trade, and take the management rights of industry and commerce back from monks. As a result, Oda Nobunaga only did half of it. He turned a blind eye to the existence of "za" and only demanded the abolition of the constraints of "za service" in the castle town of Furuno Castle.

But after thinking about it carefully, Yuanye could understand that the monks were not easy to mess with. He was taking a step-by-step approach like this, which made him look like a mental patient. However, a sudden idea could ease the conflict to some extent.

This farce lasted for nearly a month. The monks' protests were of no use, and Oda Nobunaga turned a deaf ear to the persuasion of his retainers and was too lazy to even pay attention to them. If Hirate Masahide was still alive, there might be a chance to bring him back, but Hirate Masahide was already dead, and no one could deal with him.

So, the monks went back very frustrated. Otherwise, they had no other choice. The foundation left by Oda Nobuhide was too strong. Even though the Oda Danjo family was showing signs of splitting up, and the new head of the family, Oda Nobunaga, had been beaten three times and was bruised and swollen, Oda Nobunaga's strength was still overwhelming to all the forces in Owari Province. If a real fight broke out, at the very least, he could take the Kannonji or Shotokuji branches to hell with him.

Oda Nobunaga was a little crazy, but they were not crazy. They lived a comfortable life and did not want to fight to the death.

Therefore, the monks tolerated it temporarily. It was just a place in the castle town of Kuno Castle, and their servants were not expelled. They just added some "unlicensed vendors and workshops", which they could barely accept.

They went back to curse Oda Nobunaga, and only then did the Furuno Castle calm down. Not long after the monks left, Yuanye received an invitation from Oda Nobunaga, who directly gave him a piece of land and asked him to open a soy sauce shop in the castle town of Furuno Castle to set an example for those who came after him, to prove that Oda Nobunaga kept his words and did not want to trick those emerging artisans and free traders into being slaughtered like dogs.

This was exactly what Yuanye had in mind. He had no good feelings towards monks either - they were already monks and still making money for nothing - and he just didn't want to be exploited by them anymore, so he immediately responded to Oda Nobunaga's call and asked Maejima Jushiro to hire craftsmen to build a shop. At the same time, he selected the adult women from the purchased families, that is, the "old, weak, sick and disabled" group, for training and prepared to send them to the castle town to work as sales clerks.

If nothing goes wrong, his first store in Owari will be open for business around the beginning of next year (Lunar calendar).

Only then did he want to admit that he might indeed be inferior to the ancients in some aspects. At least he lacked this kind of madness in his character and dared to go against everyone.

If it were him, he would probably still be hesitating, thinking about how to achieve "free trade" without conflicting with the Tera family. He would definitely not be like Oda Nobunaga, who would do it first no matter how bad the situation is now, whether there will be any adverse consequences, or whether the timing is right!
Perhaps, those who have accomplished great things throughout history, both in China and abroad, have to be a little bit crazy!

Yuanye reflected on his character flaws a little. He was the type who would not go crazy unless he was pushed into a corner. He would do desperate things only when he was pushed into a corner. He felt that he was slightly inferior to Oda Nobunaga in this regard, but it didn't matter. He didn't have a strong desire to win or lose, so he continued to live his peaceful life.

Soon, it was winter, and the whole of Owari Province entered the wintering season again, and Oda Nobunaga did not cause any more trouble.

Yuanye calculated the days, but he didn't get the exact number. However, he estimated that it should have been after New Year's Day of the Gregorian calendar. Maybe he had already been in Japan's medieval era for a year.

Although he had a miserable and bumpy life this year, at least he survived with his stupid son, made some friends, had some help, lived in a big and comfortable house, and had full and delicious meals every time.

For him, this is good enough and he has no higher requirements.

I just don’t know what will happen to him next year - next year in the lunar calendar. I don’t know if he can find his way home, or if he can continue to persevere.

I hope I can live in peace and security in the future!

<Volume 2: Death of the Tiger of Owari: End>
<Volume 3: Hello, My Territory: To be continued>
(End of this chapter)