Looking at the seemingly sincere Akechi Mitsuhide, and thinking about the mischievous interests of Maeda behind the scenes, Ashikaga Yoshiteru became more and more certain that these Shiba retainers were unreliable.
She must regain the power of the powerful local factions in the shogunate and not let them become a stumbling block to her progress.
Akechi Mitsuhide knew that the general was unhappy, but she continued to speak.
"In this riot at Guanyin Temple, although Rokkaku and his daughter were able to return to the city, the foundation of the Rokkaku family has been shaken.
In order to limit Rokkaku Yoshiharu's chaos, both Shindo Kenmori and Kamao Kenhide supported Goto Takaharu's conditions and forced Rokkaku Yoshiharu to issue the Rokkaku Shiki to limit the power of the lord.
The power of Rokkaku Yoshiharu has been severely restricted, and it is no longer possible for him to act as recklessly as before, which is also a good thing."
Akechi Mitsuhide seemed to be explaining, but Ashikaga Yoshiteru felt wary in his heart.
The hexagonal style restricts the behavior of the lord, which is a serious violation of the lord's power by the retainers, which makes her, the lord of the world, uncomfortable.
The Rokkaku retainers can use the Rokkaku clan shiki to restrict the Rokkaku family governor, and other samurai families can also use these clauses to restrict the power of the Ashikaga shogun.
She snorted.
"Sooner or later I will have to deal with the rats below."
Akechi Mitsuhide bowed his head and remained silent. She was happy to see the general's dislike of the Rokkaku Retainers.
Isn't it her purpose to guide the general step by step to deal with each family?
———
Sakai Port, the headquarters of the Shinsengumi.
Takada Yono looked at the document in her hand with a bad look on her face. In front of her, Imai Mune kowtowed to the ground for a long time.
"Really sorry!"
Takada Yono asked.
"Less than 50%? Can't we think of another way?"
Imai Munehisa stood up and bowed deeply again.
"I'm really sorry. I used all the methods I could. The war in Noto and the closure of Nanao Port had a huge impact on the caravan's confidence in taking the Hokuriku Road.
I have promised a large interest discount and provided the convenience of Yodogawa concession, and this is how I secured 50% of the share of Sakai Port.
As for other trading towns in recent times, our influence is even lower and may be even less ideal."
Takata Yono knocked on the slip of paper and sighed.
Last year, 30% of the goods from Sakai Port were taken from the Hokuriku Road trade route, and merchants in other places were waiting to see what was going on.
She originally wanted to make a big push and mobilize 70% of the goods from Sakai Port to travel through the Hokuriku Road this year, thereby impressing businessmen from all over the country to follow her. But unexpectedly, she encountered civil strife in the Noto Hatakeyama family, and her success fell short.
Businessmen pursue advantages and avoid disadvantages, and hesitate to move forward if there is even the slightest risk. There is a mature Tokaido trade route to follow, and their motivation to change course is insufficient.
If Takada Harano hadn't borrowed a share of Tokura copper coins and desperately subsidized the interest rate for the caravan, they wouldn't have been tempted.
Now that the news about the closure of Nanao Port has spread, many caravans have been scared to retreat. Even if Takada Yono helps Imai Munehisa obtain the Yodogawa concession, not many people can be tempted to persist.
Thinking of the heroic words he had promised in his letter to his lord, Takada Yono became very angry.
She hated that she couldn't fulfill her promise to Shiba Yiyin, and hated that Shiba Yiyin was disappointed with her. She couldn't stand just thinking about it.
Takata Yono said solemnly.
"Are those merchants on Tokaido still following up on interest discounts?"
Imai Munehisa said.
“Since the incident at Nanao Port came out, the follow-up interest rate discounts have stopped.
They are pure businessmen and will pursue profit maximization. Since we have problems ourselves, they are not willing to continue spending money.
I checked the source of their funds, and Tsuda Muneki had a hand in it."
Takada Yoshino glanced at Imai Muneku and saw that she was respectful, but he knew in his heart that she wanted to give Tsuda Souji eye drops.
"Tsuda Muneki has been warned by Master Miyoshi Masayasu not to interfere with our work anymore, and you should stop staring at her."
"Hi!"
Imai Muneku bowed, sweating on his head.
Takada Yono's words were meant as a warning. She had been accompanying Takada Yono these days and participated in the exchange of interests between the Shiba family and the Miyoshi family, which was an eye-opener.
Ignorance is bliss, only when you know too much do you know how to be reverent. Merchants pride themselves on being shrewd, but compared to these negotiations with the Wu family, who are glamorous on the surface but dirty behind the scenes, they are still too immature.
Takada Yono's operation not only helped her get back the Yodogawa concession that was envied by the merchants in Sakai Port, but also made Masayasu Miyoshi, who had already raised the butcher's knife, greet her with a smile and shake hands to make peace.
This was not due to Takada Haruno's ability, but a diplomatic game between the two samurai families behind the scenes. Their interests were incompatible, and it made Imai Munehisa sweat on his head.
The more she understands the politics of the samurai family, the more respectful her attitude towards Takada Harano becomes. The more sensible she is, the more she knows how to be afraid!
Seeing that she was obedient, Takada Yangno nodded with satisfaction and asked again.
"What did Sakai University say?"
"Tsuda Soji has shut up, and Sen no Rikyu came to me privately to build bridges for several earthen warehouses in Kyoto.
I don't dare to agree casually, and I also want to ask for your permission this time."
From Imai Munehisa's point of view, since there are no more caravans willing to take the Hokuriku Road by paying interest discounts, there is no need to continue borrowing money. The interest rate in Tokura is terrifyingly high.
Takada Yono said decisively.
"Borrow, I'll borrow as much as you have."
Senke was from the shogunate samurai family, and she was a wholesaler on the surface, but she was able to gain a foothold in Sakai Port because her family had inextricable connections with the shogunate ministers.
Izumi, Settsu, Kawachi, Yamashiro, and Minami-Omi all had samurai families that Sen Rikyu had good relations with. The Izumi-Hosokawa family alone, and Hosokawa Fujitaka had a very good relationship with her.
She came forward to help Tsuchikura in Kyoto, mostly with funds from the ministers.
The Ashikaga General pressed forward step by step, and the ministers headed by the Ise family were in panic all day long, and finally wanted to leave some way out.
Takada Yono didn't know who invested the money, but with Sen no Rikyu, the number one businessman in Sakai Port, coming forward, he would not be a small person.
She split the shares of the Houriku Dou Trading Road and pledged them, because she wanted to attract powerful people and protect this trade route. With the influence of Kyoto joining in, there was no reason not to accept it.
Interest is a trivial matter, and the trade route itself is also a trivial matter. Using this trade route to transport supplies to Shiba Yiyin and raise his own value for Takada Haruno is the real important thing.
Imai Munehisa bowed and accepted the order. Seeing how decisive Takada Yono was, she also had a taste of it. But she didn't dare to get involved in it, she just had to do her job well.
"One more thing, the batch of plate armor you want, my lord, may cost 20,000 guan."
Takada Yangno raised his eyebrows and said in surprise.
"It's just two or three hundred pairs of armor, but you can't fight with twenty thousand guan? Is it so expensive?"
Imai Munehisa smiled bitterly and shook his head.
"I didn't understand it at first. I asked the craftsmen when I went to do errands, and I realized that it's not simple.
The curved surface of steel plate armor cannot be hammered by humans, but must be stamped by water conservancy.
The Sakai Port area has abundant water conservancy, but there are not many water-forging workshops. Even hiring all of them is not enough, and a number of them have to be temporarily built.
Moreover, the quality requirements for the iron materials are too high, so the only option is to smuggle them from China. I have already requested through Nanman merchants to bring goods from Guangdong.
However, they put forward conditions."
Takada Yono frowned and said.
"What conditions?"
"They want you to join the religion and convert to Nanman religion."
