The name of the Wu family is very bitter. They seem majestic and can kill whoever they want, but in fact they have very little power.
Japan's manorial system was economically closed. In ancient times, the imperial court introduced rent-to-yong regulation from the Tang Dynasty and implemented land equalization similar to public ownership. The basic idea was to seize power from local manor owners.
Land, population, and food are the foundation of the country, and the system is just a way for the ruler to control these materials.
But the local manor owner is not a fool either.
They married the descendants of the Taira clan, the Minamoto clan, and the descendants of the Fujiwara family, the descendants of the emperor, and took advantage of the nobility's privileges to resist the erosion of the equal land system.
The emperor's court's reform of rent-to-yong regulation failed, but it left behind a small tail, that is, the samurai family's tradition of co-governance by nobles.
The imperial court wanted to implement public land for local governments, which was a bad policy that was spurned by local governments. However, local governments have formed a tradition of sharing family property, which is a moral policy that balances the interests of all parties.
The power structure of the Wu family starts from the local servants in the grassroots villages, and each level contributes part of their power upwards in exchange for the protection of the upper levels to the lower levels.
The advantage of this structure is that as long as the upper level conforms to the wishes of the lower level, there is no need to spend too much effort on management, and it can be managed vertically.
The power that the military lord cares most about is nothing more than taxation and conscription. The lower-level military rations are paid on time, which means they are loyal and good warriors.
The disadvantage is that the power structure of the Wu family is similar to that of aristocrats. Family property is the common interest of all martial families under the entire family name, and the idea of a retainer group always restricts the behavior of the lord.
The direct commanders of the samurai lords generally only accounted for 30% of the entire territory, and only the direct ministers group could be mobilized directly. Most of the control over local areas was actually in the hands of the retainers.
Policies need to be reviewed, wars need to be discussed by the military, and the replacement of successors also needs to be discussed. The actual power is pitifully small.
The reason for the weakness of the Ashikaga shogunate was that the change of successor was not fully recognized by the three officials and four officials of the shogunate.
Supporters and opponents squared off and fought a protracted, lose-lose battle.
As a result, the strength of the samurai loyal to the shogunate was exhausted, leaving the shogunate without the power to suppress the local samurai, and the world subsequently entered chaos.
Terutora Uesugi seems to be right, but in fact, the most trustworthy force in his hand is Nagao Ichizu.
Even the Naoomi group who followed closely in her footsteps had their own ideas. Honjo Minoru, Kakizaki Kageie, Saito Asanobu, and so on, which official next to Hatamoto doesn't have his or her own little plan?
Even if they are members of the Long Tail clan, their loyalty is paid with real money and silver. They must always be protected and their interests must be considered at all times.
The Yangbei people can surrender, and Uesugi Teruhu can give them some benefits. But to introduce them to the Uesugi retainers group, they must be approved by the retainers group.
If you force the cow's head to drink water, you will be in even greater trouble if you turn around. No matter how powerful Uesugi Teruhora is, he is still a single person, and any order needs to be implemented by a group of retainers.
If the retainers cannot be convinced, the order will be forced. They acted in disobedience and benefited themselves at the expense of others. If a scandal like the random distribution of tax rebates from the two public servants happened later, it would still be the master who would take the blame.
The Uesugi retainers are the ruling class of Echigo, and of course they do not want to see others share their power.
Fortunately, with Shiba Yoshigan, Uesugi Teruhora could spread his hands and smile while watching Uesugi's retainers sitting on pins and needles.
Yangbeizhong didn’t have many choices.
They couldn't beat Uesugi Terutora, this was a recognized fact after many times of practice. After facing the reality, you just have to accept it by bowing your head and suffering some losses.
Even if the samurai daimyo of Ou and Yu colluded, they would most likely not be able to defeat Uesugi Terutora. Except for those tough guys from the Sasaki Party who were forced to make trouble, who would be willing to use an egg to hit a stone?
But the problem now is that there is still the Kanto Servant of Yoshigan Shiba in Echigo. In the past, the Yangbei people had no choice. Now they want to join the Guandong Chamber of Commerce and be good people. How can others stop them?
Just because they reformed and turned over a new leaf, did the Uesugi retainers bully them even more? Is there still such a truth in the world?
Besides, Sibo Yiyin is not someone to be trifled with. His martial prowess was admired by the fierce Echigo samurai family. Uesugi Terutora pursued him wholeheartedly and would never break up with the Shiba family.
Any action that disrupts the merger of the Uesugi Shiba families, please refer to the fate of Usami Sadamitsu and Nagao Masaki, which puts the Uesugi retainers in a dilemma.
Not accepting Yangbei Zhong, Sibo Yiyin smiled and accepted the Yue Wu family to join him. The Shiba family became the main force, surpassing the Uesugi family in strength and becoming the strongest force in Echigo.
Accepting the Yangbei Zhong and enriching the Uesugi retainers group with a large number of Shimotsu samurai will inevitably squeeze the traditional interests that originally belonged to the retainers.
Uesugi Teruhu looked at the tangled faces of the retainers below and couldn't help but sneer, these bastards.
The Kanto strategy was coming soon, and they didn't think about how to capture the Kanto Plain. They were still thinking about the small gains and losses in Echigo's country.
After receiving the command of Kanto from Teru Uesugi and returning to Echigo Country, Yoshigan Shiba has been assisting her in doing only two things.
First, stabilize the surrounding environment and avoid situations that threaten the rear of Echigo Kingdom from other directions when conquering the Kanto Plain.
Second, integrate internally, reduce internal friction, and project as much of the power of the Echigo samurai family as possible into the Kanto Plain for conquest.
But over the past year, external crises have occurred frequently and internal integration has been chaotic. Not to mention that Shiba Yoshigage's patience was worn out, and he was even more irritated than his short-tempered Uesugi Teruhu.
Taking advantage of the Shinbada Rebellion and Yoshigan Shiba's suggestions on the governance of Shimogoshi, Uesugi Teruhu took advantage of the situation and faced a complete showdown with his retainers.
Do you still want to conquer the Guandong Plain? If you want to, don’t make any more trouble!
Uesugi Teruhora looked at his retainers with provocative eyes. Kakizaki Keiye came out and kowtowed to the ground.
"The Kakizaki Kei family will always be loyal to you and will follow you according to His Highness' orders."
The retainers' eyes instantly focused on her, but she didn't take it seriously.
A thought came to the minds of all the ladies, how shameless, letting this bastard take the lead again.
Under Uesugi Teruatora, Naoe Keizuna, the boss of the family lineage, and Honjo Minoru, the leader of the Naomichi side line, both remained silent, but that was before Uesugi Teruatora used Shiba Yoshino to scare people.
When Terutora Uesugi started to threaten and the attitude of the retainers relaxed slightly, Kakizaki Keie jumped out and took the lead, reacting very quickly.
Terutora Uesugi immediately praised her and expressed his affection for her, which divided the retainers group.
"Kakizaki Hime Tadada is a loyal and unparalleled warrior. There is no match for her in the seven counties of Echigo."
This sentence contained a profound meaning, which stung Honjo Minoru. Saito Nobunobu and other ministers became restless as they approached. They are all close confidants of Uesugi Teruhu. They are under the greatest pressure and are about to make a statement.
Naoe Keizuna knew he couldn't stop him anymore, sighed secretly, and said while lying on the ground.
"I sincerely request Your Highness to accept the Nakajo family, Irobe family, and Takemata family as members of the family, participate in household chores, and comment on military affairs."
From the moment Kakizaki Kage opened his mouth, the retainers group had already lost. As soon as Naoe Keizuna let go, all the concubines followed him and fell to the ground to beg for their lives.
