Since the Echigo army returned north to Numata territory, Shiba Yoshigan moved into the residence behind Numata Castle's castle tower, while Uesugi Terutora found another residence in the city.
At this time, Yi Gin was walking towards the meeting hall of Lord Tenshu, with a group of people supporting him.
Before reviewing military merits, you must first review with the followers, so that you can know how much wealth you still have, and then you will have the confidence to reward you.
Outside the meeting hall, the left and right banners bowed and saluted, and then the sliding door opened. The room was already filled with ministers from both families, and they all kowtowed to the ground in the middle aisle.
"The imperial palace is safe."
Terutora Uesugi sat on the side of the main seat and bowed slightly. Yiyin strode forward, walked to the main seat on the other side, and sat down.
"Everyone, get up."
All the Ji warriors sat with their backs straight and bowed again to Yiyin to show their respect. The two factions adhere to a clear distinction and sit on the left and right sides of the aisle.
On one side are the Uesugi priests led by Naoe Keizuna, and on the other side are the Kanto priests led by Ohuma Asahide. The two lieutenants, Naoe Kanetsugu and Ishida Mitsunari, were each beside them.
Yoshigami and Uesugi Terutora greeted each other politely, and then said.
"Everyone is here, let's start the review. Which of you comes first?"
Naoe Keetsuna and Daxiong Chaohide looked at each other and smiled at each other. Naoe Keetsuna came out and bowed and said.
"Please give me your permission."
Yiyin smiled.
“This time we went south to achieve a complete victory, and you have made great contributions in arranging food, fodder and armaments in the rear.
Mr. Naoe, there is no need to be polite. I just want to ask how much the logistics supply has been consumed. Is it more than expected? "
Naoe Keizuna said.
"I would like to report to your two highnesses that the Zhijiangjin market is prosperous and the military supplies are abundant.
However, the severe drought in Kanto resulted in a poor harvest, and the harvests in various places in Echigo were only about 60% of previous years. The military grain gap was supplemented by the purchased grain stored in Naoetsu.
After the army went to war, a large amount of military supplies had been transferred to Numata Territory. Now the amount of military rations in Numata Territory is enough for the army here to survive the winter.
There are still about 8,000 stones in Naojiangjin. How to deal with them, I would like to ask the two masters to tell you. "
Yoshigage nodded and glanced at Terutora Uesugi next to him, seeing her looking back at him with the intention of asking.
Since the opening of the Hokuriku Road trade route, Naoejin has gradually replaced the declining Sunpu Castle on the Tokaido Road and become the largest transshipment market in Kanto and Kansai. If you have money, you will not be afraid of not being able to buy military supplies.
What really limits the army's participation in battle is food. In the agricultural era, there was never enough food.
Before going south this time, Yiyin was determined to buy grain to maintain military supplies against all opinions, instead of going south to grab grain from Guanbazhou, which was also suffering from drought.
Using the Houriku Road trade route, we purchased more than 200,000 koku of grain in several places in the Kanto region. After deducting losses, the amount of grain stored in the Naoejin warehouse was approximately 80,000 koku.
Now that the war is over, Zhijiangjin still has 8,000 shi of food in stock.
There is a severe drought in Kanto, and food is more precious than gold. No one dares to suggest how to deal with these grains. The two masters must make up their own minds.
Yoshigan did not respond to Uesugi Teruhu's questioning eyes, but changed the subject and asked about other things.
"What is the status of the tax rebates from the Second Public Security Bureau? Are there any disputes over the money and food returned to various places? Is there a shortage of money and food allocated to the water conservancy project?"
Naoe Keizuna replied.
"Each family sent people to discuss the distribution of the tax rebates from the Second Public Security Bureau, and each took it for his or her own use. So far, the Naojiang Customs Office has not received any complaints from any family, and there have been no problems for the time being.
The cost of water conservancy construction in the Echigo Plain is a fixed amount, which is paid by the general request of the Kanto Shrine Office and supervised by Ina Tadatsuki.
I didn't ask about the specific matter, but I didn't receive any complaint from her, so there should be no problem, right? "
Naoe Keizuna said, looking back at Ina Chuji who was sitting behind Ohuma Asahide.
Ina Chuji came out and kowtowed to the ground and said.
"I have been keeping an eye on the water conservancy plan of the Echigo Plain. The allocation of money and food has gone smoothly, and I am also responsible for the construction in various places.
Before the first winter snow, ditches, reservoirs and other facilities in various places have completed this year's construction goals. Now the Echigo Plain is covered with snow and the next target will not be carried out for the time being. "
Yiyin nodded, very satisfied.
The two public tax rebates and the water conservancy plan were his most important political achievements during his two years in Echigo.
The original intention of the two public tax rebates was to replace part of the land tax burden with the Hokuriku Road trade route, and transform the Echigo tax rate of six public and four private citizens into four public and six private citizens.
However, due to the obstruction of Uesugi's family interest groups, he had to compromise in the end. The controversial grains from the two public taxes will be handed over to the public for tax rebates, and another method will be used to reduce the burden on local governments and provide feedback to local construction.
The water conservancy plan was forced to be extended to a five-year period in order to reduce annual expenditures, and was reluctantly accepted by the Uesugi retainers.
In the final analysis, Yoshihiro's two years in Echigo have been to compete with the Uesugi retainers, the largest interest group in Echigo.
It is necessary to unite them, but also to prevent them from excessively exploiting the peripheral martial arts families in Zhongxiayue. Draw these samurai who were oppressed by the Uesugi retainers to your side and become your own strength.
This kind of behavior means that the powerful Teruhora Uesugi acquiesces in helping Yoshihiro Shiba. Otherwise, in another place, a civil war would have started.
As the saying goes, there is no room for two tigers in one mountain, except one male and one female.
Because of Uesugi Teruhora's deliberate concession, today's Echigo dual politics came into being, a special political situation in which the Uesugi retainers and the Kanto retainers coexisted, uniting to move south to the eight states of Kanto.
There is no love without reason in this world.
Daxiong Chaoxiu, Honzhuang Fanchang, these Zhongxiayue local warriors are willing to follow Sibo Yiyin. It was because he could stop the Uesugi retainers from exploiting peripheral samurai families like them.
Therefore, when it comes to internal governance, Yiyin’s first concern is tax rebates for public servants and water conservancy plans. Whether these two benevolent policies operate smoothly is related to his foundation in Echigo.
The result of the inquiry made him very satisfied, so Yoshigami turned back to Uesugi Teruhu and said.
"Your Highness Uesugi, I have some ideas about the Kanto strategy. Please give me your advice."
Terutora Uesugi smiled.
"Don't take it seriously, I'm all ears."
Yiyin nodded and said.
“This time when I went south, I observed all the way.
Although the Guandong Plain is the largest plain among the sixty-six kingdoms, the eight states of Guanzhou are millions in height and are known as the capital of the king.
However, a hundred years of wars, water conservancy projects were in disrepair, the people were dispersed, and droughts and floods continued. The reputation of this king's tyrants is really a bit false. "
Teru Uesugi nodded.
“No matter how good the land is, it can’t afford such waste.
Starting from the feud between the Kanto shogunate and the Kyoto shogunate, the Kamakura Ashikaga family, the Ryougesugi family, the Hojo family, and heroes from all sides took turns to appear.
The good Kanto Plain was turned into a mess and its vitality was severely damaged. It was no longer the place where the wealthy and powerful Kamakura family came from. "
Yiyin said.
“Therefore, the Guandong Strategy should not be a battle for hegemony, but a just battle to help restore the vitality of the eight states of Guanzhou.
I want to gradually roll out the tax rebate and water conservancy plans in our new areas of Guanbazhou. "
Uesugi Teruhora was stunned and looked at Shiba Yoshigan. When he first implemented these two benevolent policies in Echigo, the trouble was ugly.
In the end, he succeeded not because of any justice, but because Uesugi Teruhu's fist was hard enough and the Uesugi retainers swallowed their anger.
But the land of Guanbazhou is different. The local Wu family here is naughty and cunning, and the Hojo family is watching covetously from outside.
If something goes wrong, the cooperation between inside and outside will cause a big trouble, which will be detrimental to the Kanto strategy.
Teru Uesugi hesitated.
"Mr. Kenshin, the land of Guanzhu is not as good as Echigo. I'm not saying that these two benevolent policies are not good. I'm just worried that I won't adapt to the climate."
Faced with Uesugi Teruhora's implicit dissuasion, Yoshigami had his own ideas, he said.
"Your Highness Uesugi, if our Kanto strategy is to be successful, the Hojo family will not be the only enemy. The local samurai families in the Kanto Bashu who are used to being undisciplined and unruly are also a problem.
The famous families in Kanto do not want to make progress and wantonly squeeze the place. Hojo Ujiyasu won over the grassroots of Kanba Prefecture with his benevolent government of four public officials and six citizens, and used tax system reform to reduce the burden on the villages.
Have you ever thought about it.
Hojo Ujiyasu will not make the mistake of Sano leader again. It is not that Hojo Ushimasa was young and impulsive and would not easily fight a decisive battle with us. Instead, she instigated the local samurai family to oppose us. What should we do?
A sentence of four public officials and six citizens is worth thousands of troops. If we don’t have corresponding benevolent policies and rely only on strong suppression, it’s unclear whether we can seize control of Guanbazhou and secure our position here? "
"this.."
Terutora Uesugi's eyes sparkled. Her military talent was outstanding. In Echigo country, she was tyrannical and suppressed dissidents.
After Yi Yin came, he helped her clean up the troubles in Beishin, Shimotsu, and Yue China, and unite the internal affairs of Echigo. This allowed her to avoid any future troubles and concentrate on going south to the eight states.
Therefore, she has never suffered and is somewhat dissatisfied with the power of benevolent government that Yiyin talks about.
But Yoshigan knew how troublesome this old fox Hojo Ujiyasu was.
He was about to return to the nearest land, and he didn't know that Teru Uesugi had an obsession with proving himself. He thought that the Echigo army would have at least a year or two before launching a new major offensive.
In a relatively peaceful situation, the tax reform of the Hojo family is a very lethal soft confrontation.
The famous families in Guanbazhou have long been in ruins, and the bottom class have been exploited to the point of suffocation.
If Hojo Ujiyasu is allowed to do what she wants and she shouts the slogan "six publics and four citizens", most of the Musashi Kingdom will immediately switch sides.
Don't think that the famous boss can stop this situation. Isn't it rare that the retainers ask the family governor with a knife?
Tax collection is always the most important thing for a political power, but the problem is how to collect it.
In ancient times, unlike modern times, most fiscal revenue was actually military expenditures. Without money, there is no army and no political power.
During the period of chaos in the Celestial Dynasty, when the country was founded, there was a lot of land and a small population. As long as you are willing to farm and have children, the imperial court will support you, and the imperial court's tax revenue mainly comes from poll tax and labor.
However, as the dynasty developed and land was merged, there began to be more people and less land. At this time, tax revenue was not enough to maintain the increasingly bloated ruling group, and the court hoped to supplement it with land tax and property tax.
The poor have no land or money, and they will rebel if they receive too much. To raise taxes, it would be better to put money into the land and property owned by the rich.
But the question is, can you collect this tax money if you want to? Wang Anshi was the one who failed in the reform, and Zhang Juzheng was half the success. Anyway, the whole family would be killed in the future.
The Japanese martial arts are somewhat different from the Chinese.
The taxes collected by the Celestial Empire may seem light, but are actually heavy. The court wants one share, and the people below want ten. For those who eat from the public family, how can they make the court full and starve themselves?
However, the Japanese samurai family divided the land and collected their own taxes, which was the amount they should pay. There were few middlemen to make the difference.
But the Wu family also had its own troubles, because fighting every year cost too much money and food, and the people at the bottom couldn't bear such hardships, and resistance came one after another.
When the Xiaowu family goes to the countryside to collect taxes, they must bring all the people, horses and equipment with them. If you dare to take less people with you, the unruly woman in the village will kill you and hang the street lamp. It's called tax collection, but most of it relies on robbery. This is really poor and crazy.
The Guanba Prefecture has been at war all year round. The tax rate of six public and four citizens is the basic configuration. Some people directly receive the tax rate of seven public and three citizens. But the Eight Dukes and Two Citizens are not common, because it is almost time for the retainers to rebel.
The most powerful thing about the Hojo family is not that her family can fight. The internal political governance presided over by Hojo Ujiyasu controlled the tax rate within the Hojo family to four public and six citizens, and gradually spread it to the outer territories.
Moreover, in addition to the basic land and land taxes, there are also house-specific taxes, suspended money, labor services, similar to the head tax, and the unified standards for surcharges have further reduced the burden on the grassroots.
The grassroots of the Wu family benefited from the Hojo family, and even if the upper-class famous families hated it, they could only follow the Hojo family in many cases.
This is what Yiyin calls benevolent government.
Village women and commoners are not considered human beings, but the village servants are the foundation of the Wu family. Without their support, where would the lord collect taxes? How many faces in the village do you recognize?
If the war subsides, Echigo will not have a corresponding benevolent strategy to keep up.
Hojo Ujiyasu only needs to shout "four citizens and six citizens", and the local servants from all over the country will hold knives and force the governor, telling her to return to the warm embrace of the Hojo family.
The governor refuses? Kill him and replace him with an obedient family governor. The lower one overcomes the upper one, a traditional skill of the Wu family.
This was a spontaneous act from the bottom up. Even if Uesugi Teruhora's troops marched in and forced the samurai to surrender, they would rebel again in a few days.
Violent suppression is useless. This is not a matter of political stance, but an economic issue related to food and survival.
Shiba Yoshigan sighed inwardly when he saw that Terutora Uesugi was a little unconcerned. Terutora Uesugi is superstitious about force, which is her biggest flaw as a rich second generation. The capital is too rich and the self-esteem is too high.
But she is really good to Yiyin. They have been together for more than two years. Apart from never sleeping together, the two of them are already very close. There is also a system task, the Sword of Damocles, hanging high above.
Yoshigami was unwilling and unable to abandon Uesugi Teruhora, so he could only rack his brains to gain her approval and cooperation.
he said.
“The tax rebate and water conservancy plan will not be fully rolled out to the eight prefectures, but will only be used first in the new areas we have secured.
In addition, I want to melt those plate armors into steel ingots, and then transport eight thousand stones of grain from Naojiangjin.
Use this batch of steel and food to help the new leaders of Guanbazhou and the martial arts families of Guanbazhou who are close to us survive the famine.
This can be exchanged for the concessions of the local martial arts families in the new territory to two benevolent policies, and the support of the martial arts families in the eight states of Guan. "
Yoshigan's idea is still the same as in Echigo, giving a little sweetness in exchange for the cooperation of the local samurai family.
