A tour of Japan's Warring States Period

"Does His Highness think that he is a master who loves his people like his own children?" (Once again, citizens are limited to military service members and above, and those below are not counted as human beings. This is the current social reality!)

Koheita was shocked by the current situation of the powerful Yamauchi banner members in the East Kingdom, and was ready to come over to stimulate Yamauchi Yoshiharu.

"Huh? Military merit awards are fair and selfless. Salary support is never overdue. Don't you think it's enough, Mrs. Xiaoping?" Yamauchi Yoshiharu frowned. He felt that he had been very fair, just and kind to the people under his leadership. Leniency.

"Every merit must be rewarded, and every fault must be punished. It is indeed fair. Golden Rice, four seasons and four seasons, never defaults, is indeed selfless. But other than that?" Koheta followed the words of Yamauchi Yoshiharu.

Yes, Yamauchi Yoshiharu did everything that the current daimyo should do. He did not impose heavy taxes or raise years of corvee. Even because of tolerance, even the inspection period is five to ten years, and it is never harsh.

For soldiers who are loyal to him, as long as their merits are known to him, even the smallest infantryman, he will comfort them with gentle words and reward them generously. He never spared the gold and rice he stored to inspire the soldiers who fought for him.

But he also has a cruel side. Once the war starts, farming time will no longer be a concern for him. When driving the samurai ashigaru, you can also send them to their death without hesitation in order to win. In the wars that Koheita has experienced in the past few years alone, more than 1,500 people have died in the Yamauchi family, and countless others have been injured.

When a soldier dies, his family members, Yoshiharu Yamauchi, will not take care of him. When a soldier is sick, Yamauchi Yoshiharu will not help him treat him. The soldier has no money to marry a wife, and Yamauchi Yoshiharu will not help him go on a blind date (this was a welfare project in the old society!).

After all, Yamauchi Yoshiharu is a famous master who comes from a noble family. How can he have such a concept? Secondly, no one would think it was important to care about the family life of middle- and low-level soldiers and remind Yamauchi Yoshiharu. However, he does not charge heavy taxes, does not conduct major battles, and pays his people on time. This makes him a rare feudal lord.

"Your Highness, there are mixed good and bad within the banner, the training is not complete, and the equipment is inconsistent. Can't it be changed?"

"Each family has different financial resources, so it is naturally difficult to unify them. If the public funds are to be paid, the expenses will be huge and difficult to afford."

"So, Your Highness also knows that the soldiers are living a miserable and restless life. They have been fighting for years and are increasingly falling into poverty?"

"What can we do? What can we do?" Yamauchi Yoshiji sighed.

He often goes to the countryside and is not an insular person. There are many soldiers in the banner army who are paid on time and live in poverty, not to mention the self-sufficient small peasant army soldiers and low-level public servants.

The rural economy is deteriorating at a speed that is imperceptible to the naked eye. Over time, the completely dilapidated countryside will no longer be able to provide the backbone of the army's military service members and public servants.

To paraphrase a saying from politics class, this problem is that the development of productive forces cannot keep up with the development of society as a whole. People don’t have enough food and clothing, so they have to go to war. If you win, you will get new resources, and you can survive for a few more years. If you lose, a lot of people in your country will die. If the survivors have enough resources, they can survive for a few more years.

Changing this situation requires the joint efforts of countless talented scientists and countless ordinary scientific and technological personnel. Only after hundreds of years of development can productivity be greatly improved and fully keep up with the speed of social development.

It is impossible for Xiaopingtai alone to make any changes to this. This shabby house is crumbling and leaking from all directions. Xiaopingtai cannot add steel and concrete to it, but it is still possible to find two pieces of wood to support it.

Since the increasing poverty of the military service members as a whole cannot be solved, Xiao Pingtai's idea is to slow down his poverty. Let him not fall into collapse before the war in the world ends. When the world is at peace, productivity is restored and improved, and there is no need to fight bad wars, this problem will be alleviated on its own.

The starting point of Xiaopingtai was to ensure that the property status of the military service members would not collapse. The central point was to ensure that owners of small plots of land could always own the land and provide additional military services and taxes for the land.

This is also the most fundamental task of the feudal state, ensuring the overall number and level of self-cultivating farmers, preventing large-scale bankruptcy of self-cultivating farmers, and indirectly easing the overall contradictions in society. If the foundation of the feudal country can be stable, then the country will naturally be safe and peaceful.

During this period, many daimyo had realized the importance of ensuring military service to the country, including Imagawa Yoshimoto, Rokkaku Sadeyori, Takeda Harunobu, Shimazu Takahisa and others, who all began to actively use their political power to protect the military property. stable. It even stipulated that land could not be bought and sold freely and raised the land transaction tax to twice the land price. Hojo Ujiyasu even implemented a medical security system within the territory to ensure that military service members would not become poor due to illness.

The Yamauchi clan still does not have a complete country-dividing law, and still uses the samurai laws of the Muromachi shogunate. After all, six or seven years ago, the Yamauchi clan was just a famous lord who occupied a county. For some big things or small things, Yamauchi Yoshiharu came over on horseback. It's taken care of for you. Therefore, no regulations have been enacted so far. Of course, Xiao Pingtai cannot control this matter for the time being, and it is not a top priority.

Koheita's current idea is to establish a security system for all military service members and feudal members with standing ashigaru and above in the entire territory of Yamauchi Giji, and to implement it effectively.

This system is not unusual, but many feudal bureaucrats are unwilling to do it because it is unprofitable. To put it simply, it is an interest-free or low-interest loan system for homesteaders (military servicemen), which is a complete matter of making money at a loss.

The soldiers were out fighting for five months, and the strong laborers who were supposed to plant rice and weed were gone. The fields were managed by the old and weak at home, including wives, children, parents, etc., so the harvests decreased, and the soldiers received few rewards. Then there is no guarantee that anyone in the family will get sick or something happens, and what should I do if I have no money? Only land can be sold.

Once the land is sold, the army will be gone! The country has one less soldier! One less today, one less tomorrow, and only a few thousand soldiers in total? Not enough for him.

Other things such as weddings and funerals, which don't cost money? If the military service members cannot marry or have sons, who will carry the guns in the future? If a soldier dies and cannot afford a coffin, what will happen if the land is not sold?

Koheita believed that this kind of thing must be prevented from happening. The domain should provide money and allow poor but capable soldiers to borrow money in installments of five or ten years with no interest or one penny of interest.

Because the borrowers are all senior citizens or above who own real estate or have a salary, the pressure to repay the loan in installments will not be too great. If the soldier dies in battle during this period, wouldn't he be entitled to a pension as long as it is deducted? Not to mention that Xiaoping was too devoid of hard work, it would be great if the feudal society could do this.

"I sincerely request Your Highness to set up a reserve fund for the Yamauchi domain!" Koheita knelt down on the mat with a full body salute.