A tour of Japan's Warring States Period

We might as well sort out the handicraft workshops that Xiaopingtai has started since he started his business.

The earliest mint could produce 1,200 guan per month. Coin materials, fuel, labor, etc. required 200 guan. This was mainly due to the fact that it did not produce copper and could not expand its scale.

Then there is the wood wax workshop, with a monthly output of 150,000 pieces, each worth 7 yuan, totaling 1,050 guan, and the cost of work is about 100 guan.

The iron cannon workshop can produce more than fifty short-barreled horses per month, and about thirty-five ordinary iron cannons. There are twelve iron cannons, but most of them are armed to the Yamauchi clan's army. A small part is sold to retainers and people in the territory, which can be ignored. Breaking even is already good.

The wild burdock fine velvet match rope also made a lot of money, but unfortunately it was the income from the Yamauchi feudal lord's reserve fund, which was used to relieve the poor Yamauchi clan and could not be included in the calculation.

Due to the long cycle of persimmon lacquer, it is now beginning to show results. The annual income can reach 15,000 guan, and the cost of production is 2,000 guan. Half of the profits go to the Yamauchi family's official office, which is about 6,500 guan each year.

The shell ash from Yuanjiang is only twice as expensive as lime, regardless of how it is sold in various countries, and it only costs five or six thousand guan in a year.

Hamamatsu Raid has sold its reputation. It has a large-scale government-run handicraft workshop with strong strength and orderly management. The tatami produced is no less than that of old brands such as Tsuyama and Usuki, and it can also bring in a huge income of 15,000 kusen every year.

Calculated, it can generate 56,000 kan Yongle cash for the Yamauchi clan every year. This is why, with a mere 130,000 kan territory, the Yamauchi clan can have 400 direct subordinate banner warriors of the 13th Division of the Imperial Guard, and 4,000 kan. With a standing army of iron cannons, bows and arrows, the ultimate mobilization can reach 30,000 soldiers.

With an income of more than 50,000 kan, the Yamauchi clan, which originally had only more than 1,000 standing ashigaru and a base of more than 100 people, has expanded like a snowball to such an extent.

Where did you say the money went?

Isn’t it worthwhile to maintain more than 400 mounted officers and 4,000 standing troops with more than 50,000 troops? That is to say, in Japan, there is no other such cheap and relatively capable troops.

People always ask Xiaoping how he worked so hard to get so much money? In fact, Japan only has such a big market, and it took more than ten years of hard work to create such a big family business.

It is estimated that other time-travelers would laugh to death after seeing it. After struggling for more than ten years, they only have this little property in the end. He wakes up early and eats late at night. As a result, he can only earn more than 50,000 taels of silver a year.

This is the reality in Japan today. The domestic market is small, the consumption power of ordinary farmers is low, and the consumer-oriented citizen class only accounts for 10% of the population. Domestic consumption is insufficient and expansion is difficult. Without the development of foreign trade, it is impossible to obtain huge profits.

It’s difficult!

Only by opening the window of foreign trade, trading with Europe and the Ming Dynasty, exporting various handicrafts and mineral products with huge output, and importing the food that is lacking in the country (Xiao Pingtai stipulated that the ballast of Nanman ships must be one-third to two-half of the load capacity). One Thai rice, I wonder if anyone still remembers it?). Introduce advanced weapons manufacturing technology and various types of machinery from the East and the West.

If we cultivate political principles internally and open ourselves to learning externally, as long as we can maintain our own strength, we will not be in danger of collapse.

There is still a long way to go, and the future is still uncertain.

…………

Sukezaemon brought in dozens of pieces of pine wood, some of which cost twenty or thirty pieces each, all of which were the best ones picked by Koheita.

But Koheita cut him into eight pieces without saying a word, and Sukezaemon was heartbroken and bleeding. A piece of such a large piece of wood is worth dozens of strings, but once cut into pieces, it becomes firewood, which is worthless.

After stopping Sukezaemon, who had a question mark on his face, Koheita revealed the truth and was preparing to create Jomo.

In this era, almost all ink was monopolized by Yamato Kōfukuji Temple and various lower houses, and the merchants who undertook the sales were not Natsuya. It's useless no matter how anxious you are to glare with a pale face, it's just a franchise and has nothing to do with you.

And if the Yamauchi family starts making ink, monopoly management will be another way to make money, which should not be underestimated.

"Ink? If you use Korean red pine to make ink, the cost will be too high." Sukezaemon has been a big boss in the business world for more than ten years, and he feels a little unreliable.

"It's just an experiment, not a definite adoption." Xiao Pingtai certainly knew that the cost of importing red pine from the Li Dynasty and bringing it back to the mountains to make ink was unimaginable.

"Is Shinano unusable?"

"Haven't tried it yet."

"How to try?"

"Isn't this cutting off?"

The first step is to loosen the oil on the sawn pine wood to prevent the grease content in the soot from being too high and causing adhesion. "Tiangong Kaiwu" has a detailed introduction to the process.

The pine oil taken out is also a good thing, and can be used to make ink. One pound of oil can produce three or four yuan of oil smoke, and the rate of return is not too low. It's just that the quality of the ink produced is not as good as smoked ink, which was very popular in the Qing Dynasty.

Use the remaining pine wood to build a smoke kiln more than ten feet long, burn it slowly, and finally scrape off the ashes.

The result was much beyond the expectations of Koheita and others. The closer the wood grows in the north, the finer the wood grain and the harder the wood, the less soot will be produced.

In the south, there are crooked and cracked pines that cannot be used as building materials. Instead, the soot is thin and abundant, and the pine oil is quite pleasant.

Excellent building materials, the first-class building materials Sado red pine and Korean red pine used for beams and rafters, are expensive, and the return is not as good as the investment.

Countries such as Kii and Yamato have a relatively warm climate, with longer sunshine and abundant rainfall. Many of the growing pine trees are not straight (no upward competition for sunlight), the wood grain is not fine and fine, and the material is not hard enough. But it is rich in oil, grows quickly, and is cheap (who told him not to build a house).

No wonder the further north you go, the more pine trees there are, the less likely people are to make strips of ink. It's more profitable to just cut it and sell it than to make ink. Only fools make ink. In the south, mixed pine trees are useless, so Nara produces ink. The natural environment also has a considerable impact on local industries.

The local Shinano pine in the mountain is neither south nor north, so it cannot go up or down. It is possible to make ink, but the cost is too high. The pine wood from Mikawa, Toe, Suruga and other countries on the Pacific coast is crooked, melon-split and jujube, but it is rich in oil and can be used.

If you want to make ink, you can only set up a workshop in Hamamatsu. Taking advantage of the convenience of getting materials nearby and the geography of being close to overseas ports, the plan is to sell it to big cities such as Kinai Sakai Town and the other side of the river, Deming.

Koheita suddenly remembered that when Yamauchi Yoshiharu and Yamauchi Yoshikatsu and his son were there, Yamauchi Yoshiharu expanded Hamamatsu Castle and the harbor on a large scale and managed the Tenryu River. At the same time, the Hamamatsu area was inspected and the port opened, and the Hamamatsu Castle Town was enriched. Hamamatsu Castle is right in the center of the sea route, with access to Kamikawa.

Could it be that the father and son had the idea of ​​moving the city to Hamamatsu?