Great name!

Chapter 288: Trade, Return to Azuchi

Ever since the conspiracy of several wealthy merchants was exposed and they lost their lives a few days ago, everything inside and outside Yougang City has been peaceful.

Now that the weather is cold, all armies have ceased fighting, and merchants have taken advantage of the opportunity to immediately start trading with the prepared goods.

On this day, merchants from Kyushu were sailing along the Sanyo Road in Osaka Bay and saw castles and ports in Kobe and Hyogo in the distance.

Because the Mori family's navy had temporarily withdrawn, the Tsuda family's several ships and small boats dared to go out to sea.

It was Zheng Jun who was in charge of this small navy, and the one commanding the sailors on the Guan ship now was his former subordinate Li Xinyan, who was now also a retainer of the Tsuda family and belonged to the ranks of mid-level samurai.

A small morning ship quickly rushed to the merchant ship and asked loudly, and the Kyushu merchant immediately stated that he was from the Shimazu family.

The Shimazu family needed to go to Sakaimachi every year to buy gunpowder and replenish some cannons. This merchant was entrusted by the Shimazu family to go to Sakaimachi with a retainer of the Shimazu family.

After confirming the news, the small morning ship immediately returned to report to the ship's commander Li Xinyan.

When Li Xinyan heard that these people were merchants going to Sakaimachi, he immediately said to the samurai on Kohaya's ship, "Go tell them that Sakaimachi is still under martial law, so I'm afraid they can't trade, but we have gunpowder and cannons for sale."

He was not talking nonsense. Sakaimachi is the intersection of Settsu, Izumi and Kawachi. The Ishiyama area where Honganji is located is just to the north of Osaka Castle. The two are very close to each other.

Sakaimachi is located west of Osaka, south of Honganji Temple.

When Oda Nobunaga was at war with Honganji, Sakaimachi's business was greatly affected. Strategic materials such as food, gunpowder, and cannons were all controlled and could not be traded.

So it’s a good thing that Li Xinyan reminded me of this.

The people on the ship also knew about the battle between the Oda clan and Honganji. After all, this was a war supported by the Mori clan and Shogun Ashikaga Yoshiaki.

The Kyushu merchant discussed with the Shimazu retainers and decided to anchor at the Kobe Port of the Tsuda family.

Li Xinyan met with Kyushu merchants and Shimazu retainers, and said, "Everyone please wait in the inn at Kobe Port. I have sent someone to Arioka Castle to report the news.

Gunpowder and iron cannons are controlled materials, mainly to prevent Honganji and its believers from buying them, so special people are needed to buy and sell them. "

Shimazu's retainer also understood this, but he still asked, "Excuse me, sir, how long will it take to meet the seller?"

Li Xinyan smiled and said, "Soon, you will be able to see it tomorrow at the latest. I also have to remind you that my master is now implementing a new policy. If you want to do business, it is best to exchange it for gold and silver. You can't use bad money in the future."

The Kyushu merchant was not surprised, because he had been doing business in Sakaimachi for many years and knew that this was the rule of the Oda family. However, he did not expect that Settsu also had such a rule.

He asked curiously, "Who is your lord?"

Li Xinyan replied: "My master is the chief elder of the Oda family, Tsuda Jingzhao Yinden."

Shimazu's retainer gasped in shock and asked, "This should be the territory of Lord Araki Murashige, right?"

The news from the Shimazu family was delayed a bit, but that was normal. There had been a war before, the waterway was blocked, there was a war in the central region, and the Amago family had restored Kamitsuki Castle in Harima Province.

The Mori family was worried that the former retainers of the Amago family would cause trouble, so they strengthened the road blockades within the territory, which led to a blockage in the flow of information.

Li Xinyan saw that they really didn't know what had happened, so he told them what had happened recently.

The Shimazu retainers were dumbfounded when they heard this. As the lord of Settsu, Araki Murashige's reputation had also spread to the Shimazu family. After all, he was the lord of a big country. Yet, it only took more than a month from the time they raised their army to their defeat.

Regarding the speed at which Tsuda Shintora suppressed the rebellion, Shimazu's retainers could not help but sigh: "King Zhao Yindian is indeed a famous general who is feared by the world."

Then they followed Li Xinyan's suggestion and exchanged the hundreds of strings of bad money they had for new copper coins.

However, they were originally here to do bulk business, and their main funds were still gold and silver, so they were not too worried.

A day later, a fellow from the Commercial and Industrial Magistrate's Office came to meet with Shimazu retainers and Kyushu merchants. They talked for a long time, mainly about some details of trade.

For example, when merchants from Kyushu go to Settsu to trade, there are some rules that the Tongxinshu must tell the merchants from Kyushu.

According to the current situation, Xinhu stipulates that merchants coming from other forces to trade should be regarded as foreign trade.

According to foreign trade preferences, Kyushu merchants can enjoy certain tariff preferences.

This preferential treatment is even greater than that of the Oda clan, which makes Kyushu merchants very happy. If they pay less taxes, they can earn more money.

The reason why he came all the way to Sakaimachi to do business was because the Oda family had many preferential policies for merchants, and he could make more money.

However, the Mori family, Shikoku and other vassal states did not have such preferential policies.

The transaction was quickly concluded. The people who presided over the trade wrote a report on the matter and submitted it to the Bugyosho. After reading it, Yamazaki Haramori handed it to Honda Masanobu.

Honda Masanobu is currently the military strategist, mainly responsible for providing advice to Nobutora, which is equivalent to the secretary general.

After reading the report, he immediately took it to Nobuhiro's study and handed it to Nobuhiro for review.

After reading it, Nobutora smiled and said, "Well, you did a good job. In the future, more merchants will definitely come to Kobe to trade. Tell Haramori that they still have to work hard to cultivate local merchants and build a rich and diverse business network.

Also, tell Zhengwu and the others to hurry up with the road construction, especially the trade routes connecting various places. "

Honda Masanobu quickly wrote down what Nobutora had instructed and went down to make the arrangements.

Then Honda Masanobu brought some reports from the samurai stationed in the villages in various places about the villagers' exchange of new currency.

Basically, villagers from all over the country have completed the exchange of new currency. There are not many bad coins circulating in the market, and bulk commodity trade is also settled in gold and silver, so the other party can only make trouble with copper coins.

In fact, the new currency exchange is mainly aimed at small-scale trade and the stability of ordinary people's daily lives.

The quality of bad money is unstable, which means that ordinary people have no choice but to accept it when they receive it, and small businessmen have to swallow their anger when they receive bad money.

As for the wealthy merchants, they used gold, silver and the best Yongle coins for trade settlement, so they would not suffer such losses.

Therefore, Xinhu promoted the exchange of new currency, and the main targets were small traders and ordinary people.

Now that the big merchants have been hit by Xinhu, small merchants and ordinary people support the new currency policy. Now that the results are out, this policy has also landed smoothly.

Then there is the matter of banks.

Xinhu now misses the days when his son was around.

But Tsuda Nagatobu and the others are still in Azuchi.

...Azuchi was very lively this year, with many envoys coming from all over to congratulate Nobunaga, and some people also wanted to come and see what Azuchi Castle looked like.

Now the construction of Azuchi Castle has been basically completed. The seven-story castle tower is magnificent and beautiful. Everyone who sees it for the first time will be stunned by this magnificent building.

Tsuda Naganobu had never seen the complete Azuchi Castle. He returned to Azuchi Castle with his sworn brother Tsuda Nobuyasu. After seeing the glittering golden castle tower, he couldn't help but exclaimed: "This... This is too beautiful!"

Tsuda Nobuyasu was also a little speechless, and said excitedly: "This is the most magnificent building I have ever seen, it is worthy of being Nobunaga Palace!"

As the two were sighing with emotion, a young man on horseback shouted loudly, "Brother, brother!"

Tsuda Naganobu and Nobuyasu withdrew their gaze and looked forward, only to see a handsome young man with red lips and white teeth galloping towards them.

"Shinjiro!"

Tsuda Naganobu rode his horse forward, and when he got close he dismounted directly. Shinjiro also raised his leg and jumped off the horse directly. His movements were smooth and heroic, and the girls next to them lowered their heads in shame when they saw it.

Tsuda Naganobu walked up to his brother and gave him a bear hug, laughing: "Hahaha, Shinjiro, you've got really good riding skills!"

Shinjiro said excitedly: "Of course, brother, I practice very hard every day, thinking that one day I can go to the battlefield and relieve the worries of my father and brother!"

Tsuda Naganobu was very happy. He turned around and looked at Nobuyasu, smiling and said, "Brother, look at this boy. He has grown up now. I wonder how many women have been harmed by him!"

Tsuda Nobuyasu also teased, "This boy doesn't look like a samurai at all, but more like a public official. Shinjiro, you should learn some Japanese poetry. If you do that, you will have more women than you can sleep with."

Shinjiro's handsome face turned red due to their teasing, and he was a little overwhelmed, so he had to quickly bring up his eldest mother Axia: "Mother is waiting for you at home, let's go back first."

Tsuda Naganobu didn't even bother to tease his brother and immediately asked everyone to go home.

As soon as he got home, he hurried to the warm room with Nobuyoshi and Shinjiro.

"Mother, my son is back."

A maid in the warm room opened the door, and Tsuda Nagatobu and others hurried in. A warm feeling came over them, and the coldness on their bodies instantly dissipated.

Axia, who was sitting on the tatami, saw her son coming back and waved, "Taro, come here quickly, let me take a good look."

Tsuda Naganobu hurried forward, but didn't get too close. He said, "Mother, my son is still cold. You can't get too close."

A-Xia smiled with relief: "Look at you, you have lost weight these days, and your father has lost weight too. I have to talk to him nicely. I can't leave all the things to you. He only knows how to find women."

Tsuda Naganobu heard the sourness in his mother's words, and he smiled and said, "Mother, father is very busy, and I naturally have to take on some responsibilities to prevent him from being too tired.

Besides, father needs a woman to take care of him when he is away from home for a long time, right? This time, I found one for him."

As he was speaking, Tsuda Naganobu felt a pain in his waist. He turned around and saw that it was his wife Gotoku who pinched the soft flesh on his waist. She said angrily, "It seems that you couldn't help yourself when you saw the beauty, so you pushed the blame on your father!"

Tsuda Naganobu just grinned without giving any further explanation.

Axia finally realized that this was a joint effort of the father and son.

"You are birds of a feather. Why did you come back? Why don't you just enjoy yourself in Settsu with your father?"

Axia helped Wude to bully his own son.

Tsuda Naganobu was also a thick-skinned man. He smiled and said, "Mother, please calm down. Although my father is away, he is always worried about your health. Just let me bring my brother back to visit you and celebrate the New Year with my father-in-law."

"You...your father is a cunning one, and you are also a little monkey."

Axia smiled and pointed at the long letter, revealing the matter.

Seeing that his mother was in a good mood, Tsuda Naganobu took out the letter written by Nobutora.

Axia still happily took the letter and read it. The content of the letter was just some daily greetings, and then it reminded Axia to take medicine on time, take good care of her body, etc.

At the end, he also wrote that once Settsu became stable, he would build a new city in Settsu and bring her to live there.

Axia felt so sweet watching this that she forgot about the fact that Xinhu had taken someone else's wife as his concubine.

Who told her she was in love? Back then, she married into the impoverished Tsuda family alone under great pressure.

Axia is still the same Axia. Even after many years, she is still like a little girl and can't resist Xinhu's sweet words.

After reading the letter, Axia said to Tsuda Naganobu, "Your father rarely spends the New Year away from home. The most recent time was when he fought against Takeda Shingen. It seems that your father is really busy.

Taro, you are a young man, and your father is old. After the New Year, you should go back and help him, and don't let him get too tired."

Tsuda Naganobu was stunned. No, mother, where is your concern for your son? How come it disappeared after reading a letter?
Is this the strength of a father? Not only was he not scolded or beaten, the matter was over, but he came back stupidly and was taught a lesson!

You are worthy of being my father. I still have a lot to learn!

Tsuda Naganobu immediately accepted his mother's request, and then he said: "I have one more thing to do this time. My father wants Shinjiro to go to Arioka Castle for his coming-of-age ceremony."

Axia nodded and said, "Shinjiro has grown up. Since your father has made up his mind, when you return to Settsu, take Shinjiro with you."

Shinjiro, who was behind Tsuda Naganobu, was very excited when he heard the news.

Shinjiro said quickly: "Mother, I will definitely work hard and will never let you and father down!"

Wu De then said, "Now that Shinjiro has reached the age of 18, it's time to consider marriage. However, with Shinjiro's looks, I don't think there will be any shortage of women who like him."

Upon hearing this, Tsuda Naganobu stroked his chin and said, "Shinjiro is indeed handsome, but compared to my brother, he is a little less masculine."

Wu De glanced at her husband. She was a little angry at first, but when she saw this face, she calmed down.

Forget it, it’s normal for such a handsome man to have more women.

Seeing that Shinjiro was a little embarrassed, Axia immediately came to the rescue and said, "After Shinjiro has been trained by your father for a year or two, he will definitely be no worse than you."

Tsuda Naganobu laughed and said, "Hahaha, mother is right."

Shinjiro said quickly: "I will try my best to keep up with my father and brother, and will never bring disgrace to the Tsuda family!"

(End of this chapter)