different warring states of japan

Chapter 2123: The Success of Shunming Tongbao

Just as Matsue Sae was feeling confused about her future and couldn't figure out why the saint chose her, Yoshigin was receiving Date Masamune who had come from afar in his residence in Tamonyama Castle.

Yiyin muttered to himself as he flipped through the gift list in his hand.

"Twenty-eight swords, ninety-five war horses, three hundred and eighty taels of gold dust, sixty thousand Shunming Tongbao coins, and also pleated silk with characters, Natori Umiboku... Hmm... So many famous products.

What a generous act! Where did you get so many Shunming Tongbao coins? "

Date Masamune covered his mouth and chuckled.

"Thanks to the blessing of Mr. Ina Tadatsugu of the Samurai Giri Promotion Association, the Ashio Copper Mine has been mining smoothly in recent years, and a large number of copper coins engraved with Shunmei Tongbao have flowed into the market.

The quality of Shunming Tongbao was comparable to that of Yongle Tongbao of the Celestial Empire, and the quantity was large, which caused a sensation in the entire Kanto market.

Now, almost all merchants in the Guandong market only accept Shunming Tongbao coins. The inferior and fine coins made by various merchants themselves are rejected by the market.

The only coin that can compete with Shunming Tongbao is Yongle Tongbao, but its quantity is too small to be circulated. It has long been kept as a reserve in the bottom of each family's box and is not seen on the market at all.

So this time when I went to Luoyang to pay tribute, even if I wanted to use other copper coins, I couldn’t find them on the market, so I could only use Shunming Tongbao.”

Yiyin nodded and said.

"Ina Tadashi did a great job."

Yiyin, this is what I really think.

Back then, Daizo Changan was tricked by the Kanto Bugyoshu and kicked out by taking advantage of the corruption issues of the Samurai Giri Promotion Association.

However, Yoshigin did not want to let the Kanto Bugyo control the Kanto economy as they wished, so he transferred the Otsunami-chan back to Sakai Port at the same level to continue using him, and also brought in Ina Tadatsugu, a hard-working person who could get things done.

The current Samurai Giri Promotion Association no longer focuses on both economic development as it did in the past, and has stripped itself of its independent economic system.

Ina Tadatsugu also knew his own weaknesses. Since even Da Zang Chang'an couldn't handle the thunder, why should he look for trouble? He might as well just keep his head down and do what he is good at.

In recent years, while deepening the construction of the Tone River middle and lower reaches diversion project, Ina Tadatsugu has also started to develop the Ashio Copper Mine and mine copper to print coins, with significant results.

Gold and silver, as precious metals, are only suitable for large quantities. The most widely circulated currency in the market is still small-denomination copper coins.

Similarly, the face value of food coupons was too high. The lowest amount of food coupons, one stone, could be exchanged for 500 copper coins, which was completely useless for daily use.

After all, the lives of ordinary people are nothing more than necessities such as grain, cloth, and salt. You can't go out and pay for a bowl of noodles with a stone of grain coupons, right?

The Shunming Tongbao coin controlled by the Shiba family flooded the copper coin market and, as a lower-level supplement to food coupons, had occupied the small change circulation market.

Furthermore, the Celestial Empire was short of copper, and Shunming Tongbao could be used as hard currency for future transactions with the Celestial Empire. It could be injected into the Celestial Empire in large quantities to avoid widespread depreciation within the island country.

But before Shunming Tongbao was introduced into the Celestial Empire, the underdeveloped Kanto market had already been filled with Shunming Tongbao and turned into Ahegao. It was expected that Kinki, Saigoku and other places would be the same sooner or later.

After all, the mineral resources of Ashio Copper Mine are so rich that Yoshigin did not expect that there would be such a large copper mine hidden there.

Based on the current exploration results alone, the copper ore inside can be made into copper coins, which is enough to supply the markets of three or five island countries. The reserves are terrifyingly large.

Although the Iwami Silver Mine in the west has a large deposit, the use of gold and silver precious metals in the island country has begun to be squeezed since the circulation of the Saba grain coupons. Gold and silver are too expensive and difficult to carry, and are far less useful than the reputable Saba grain coupons.

The Shiba family is constantly encroaching on the market, using a combination of Shiba food coupons and Shunming Tongbao to gradually change the underlying color of the island nation's economic system.

In addition, the diversion of the Tone River, a huge water conservancy project unprecedented in the island nation, reduced the swamps in Musashi and exposed thousands of acres of fertile land.

This brought huge benefits to Shima Katsutake, who was stationed in Edo Castle and controlled the eastern Musashi area. She had a very good impression of Ina Tadatsugu and wrote several letters to praise the saint.

Not only did Musashi Province benefit, but the Tone River and its tributaries, after the change of course, ran through half of Sekihachi Province all the way to the sea in Hitachi Province, irrigating fields along the way. Water transportation also strengthened the connections between the countries.

The Tone River diversion project alone benefited millions of people in the eight provinces of Kanto. Countless samurai sang praises to the sage and became the most staunch supporters of the Sasaki family.

Water conservancy projects have always been extremely costly, and the Tone River is said to have a total investment of 20 million koku in ten years, which is almost the total annual land output of the 66 countries in the world.

To put it in today's terms, the country's entire annual GDP was spent on the water conservancy project in the middle and lower reaches of the Tone River, comparable to the ancient Three Gorges Project.

Over the years, Ina Tadatsugu carefully calculated and saved expenses, and he also opened up the financial resources of Ashio Copper Mine to invest in the diversion of the middle and lower reaches of the Tone River. His contribution can be said to be outstanding.

Although the samurai tradition emphasizes military achievements over domestic affairs, Ina Tadatsugu, a practical person who does not offend anyone and is devoted to his work, is still respected by countless samurai. Among the five magistrates, she has the highest reputation.

Yoshigin knew very well that what Date Masamune said was true. Due to the huge expenditure on water conservancy projects, Ina Tadatsugu had spent millions of kan of Shunmei Tongbao coins in the Kanto market in recent years.

What you spend is money. If you don’t spend, it will just be a pile of miscellaneous things that will hurt your butt when you sit on it.

It can be said that almost all the copper coins produced by Ashio Copper Mine in recent years were spent by Ina Tadatsugu, which is also the biggest reason for the flooding of Shunmei Tongbao in the Kanto market.

These accounts all have vouchers for the approval of the Tongxin Secretariat, and the money was issued by Yiyin himself with his signature.

It is this caution of not touching money that makes Yoshigin admire Ina Tadatsugu's character very much. If it were Takata Haruno or Okura Changan, they would not be so honest.

Yiyin casually flipped through the gift list, but he didn't really care. He was already rich enough to own half the world, so why would he care about these things?

If he wants money, there are plenty of people who can help him make it.

If you want a woman, you can just call her and have sex with her.

Having lived to his level, perhaps the only thing left was a little spiritual pursuit to leave a name in history, such as killing Hideyoshi and unifying the world, or making the people of the island nation serve as dogs of the imperial court for generations.

The Date family was very capable of handling things. Since the beginning of the Ashikaga shogunate, they had maintained close relations with Kyoto and had been paying tribute continuously. That was why they were able to defeat the Sasaki branch sent by the Osaki and Motokatsu shogunates.

This gift list alone is nothing more than a continuation of the Date family's policy of obedience to the central government for a hundred years. It is insignificant. Instead, Yoshigin cares about other things.

Yiyin asked.

"You came to Shangluo so excitedly, but who is taking care of our daughter?"

Date Masamune was born last autumn, so Kohugiku is just over one year old.

It is impossible to bring such a young child from Ou to Kinki. Date Masamune must have left him to be raised by someone else and came here alone.

Yoshigane's words seemed unintentional, but in fact they were heart-piercing. He pierced Date Masamune with his eyes, wanting to see how this gentle on the outside but strong on the inside woman would respond.