Chapter 214: A Divine Artifact!
“This ship is quite good. The money spent on Okabe was worth it.”
A Man stood at the top of the deckhouse of Wanjin’s first giant ship, the “Chita,” gazing out at the vast Ise Bay, feeling the sea breeze on her face, and speaking with great satisfaction.
It was mainly these giant ships, wrapped layer by layer in “money,” that shone with golden light and were incredibly magnificent. Even though they exuded a vulgar aura of the nouveau riche, they still perfectly matched her aesthetic.
Moreover, Okabe Igen was indeed a master carpenter whose name would be remembered in history. He built this ship exceptionally well. Even though A Man didn’t understand woodworking or shipbuilding, after walking around the ship a few times, she could still feel that the ship’s spatial structure was very reasonable, the various tools on board were ingenious, and it sailed very smoothly.
Perhaps the craftsmanship was in the details, a feeling that was hard to express in words. In any case, A Man felt that this ship was more comfortable than any she had ever been on.
“The money was indeed not spent in vain!”
Yuan Ye was also quite satisfied with the final result delivered by Okabe Igen. If he were to do it himself, his work would definitely not reach the level of the “Chita.” Principles and manufacturing technology are two different things. Knowing the principles and being able to create a physical object across industries and mass-produce it is something that only happens in transmigration novels.
It’s like many people can explain the principles of wind tunnels and atomic bombs, but if you ask them to lead the construction or inquire about how to handle certain details, you’ll only get a blank stare.
The Wanjin Navy, having received a new warship, was also very excited. Under the command of Chief Instructor Yu Da, they were continuously conducting various tests, accelerating and decelerating, or signaling to the accompanying Kan-sen ships and Kobaya ships, directing them to cooperate in order to put the warship into actual combat as soon as possible.
Yuan Ye didn’t bother with them and just sat in the deckhouse as a “mascot,” letting the Wanjin Navy roam around Ise Bay.
By the morning of the next day （, after anchoring for the night and not sailing at night ）, the “Chita” sailed to the west side of Ise Bay and saw the Ise Peninsula. Yuan Ye’s interest was piqued again.
Currently, there are four main samurai forces on the Ise Peninsula: the Kitabatake family, the Miyoshi family, the Hatakeyama family, and the Rokkaku family.
The Rokkaku family doesn’t need much attention; it only occupies a small territory at the base of the peninsula and has little presence on the peninsula. As for the other three families, the Kitabatake family controls North Ise and is a neighbor across the sea from Yuan Ye.
The Miyoshi family controls a large plain in the central part of the peninsula, while the Hatakeyama family controls the remaining portion.
These three families are all powerful Daimyo of the Japanese Warring States period.
Especially the Miyoshi family, which is currently at its peak, controls Kinki, possessing eight provinces: Yamashiro, Settsu, Kawachi, Izumi, Tanba, and Harima. They also hold the real power of the Muromachi Shogunate, serving as the “Vice General” of the Shogunate. If Yuan Ye’s history is correct, the Miyoshi family will eventually kill the Ashikaga family’s Sword Master Shogun, marking the end of the Muromachi Shogunate era.
The Hatakeyama family, second in strength, is also not to be trifled with. Its core territory is in West Ise, facing Shikoku Island, and it is one of the controllers of the Seto Inland Sea shipping routes. Their navy is strong and they are very wealthy, but they are the type to quietly accumulate wealth and are not very interested in land disputes, with a generally mediocre reputation in history.
The weakest is the Kitabatake family. Yet, this weakest one, in history… about seven years from now, Oda Nobunaga wanted to take North Ise and mobilized fifty to seventy thousand men, fighting for a long time without achieving victory. In the end, he only forced the Kitabatake family to grudgingly accept Oda Nobukatsu as an adopted heir, which was merely a de facto surrender.
Yuan Ye is now somewhat eyeing the Kitabatake family in North Ise. After all, he is currently trapped on the Chita Peninsula by Oda Nobunaga and Matsudaira Motoyasu. Unless he completely breaks ties, he cannot leave. Thus, his only option is to seek a way out across the sea.
However, considering the distance he can currently engage in battle, to the east along the coastline are the Matsudaira, Imagawa, Hojo, and Uesugi families, all of whom are currently difficult to provoke. Even the Imagawa family is not easy to deal with. If a triple alliance were formed, it would be the Imagawa, Takeda, and Hojo families ganging up on him. Even if he could withstand it, he would suffer heavy casualties. Traveling west along the coastline, there are the Oda family, the Kitabatake family, the Hatakeyama family, and the Miyoshi family. Among these, only the Kitabatake family is a viable target.
A Man, who spent all day with him, knew that he had been restless due to a certain plan. Seeing him staring at the coast of North Ise with a glint in his eyes, she immediately started nagging, “Save it. The Kitabatake family last fought the Miyoshi family and mobilized over twenty thousand men to fight desperately. Adding the allied reinforcements they called, they had over thirty thousand men. We can’t deal with them now.”
Previously, Wanjin, due to its expansion, required a large number of grassroots officials, forcing many military officers and veterans to retire. Currently, there are only over two thousand professional soldiers, fewer than during the Battle of Okehazama. With this strength, trying to defeat twenty to thirty thousand men and annex North Ise is not just wishful thinking, but the difficulty is excessively high.
“I’m just looking, for now… I don’t plan to do anything.”
Although Yuan Ye was stubborn, he didn’t intend to play the game of one against ten. Even if he could replicate the New Wanjin landing battle, he currently lacked enough grassroots officials to control new territories.
It can only be anticipated for the future…
Yuan Ye calmed down, deciding to develop further before acting. The “Chita” sailed along the coastline of the Ise Peninsula to its tip, ignoring the astonished fishermen along the coast of the Kitabatake territory, and then diagonally crossed Ise Bay again to return to Xin Wanjin, thus completing this naval training.
Well, after rounding the tip of the Ise Peninsula, going further west would lead into the Seto Inland Sea. That is a super prize, with merchant ships coming and going, numerous island fortresses, bandits everywhere, and countless navies. With the current strength of the “Chita” accompanied by a few Kan-sen ships and Kobaya ships, it’s best not to go and be a pushover. That area is not somewhere Wanjin can afford to provoke at present.
The task is heavy and the road is long. Wanjin’s strength is still insufficient; it can only be considered a minor Daimyo.
…………
Yuan Ye personally oversaw the Wanjin Navy’s strenuous training, darting around the sea, firing cannons and guns, sparing no expense in hopes of quickly building up their combat power. Meanwhile, Xin Wanjin City was also very lively.
This was mainly due to the iron workshop owners like Hirajima Kichijiro.
They had collectively come back to life. After receiving substantial bank loans and ordering ships, they were working at full capacity to forge ironware, hoping to fill their cargo ships to the brim in the future and make as much profit as possible from this hard-won sales expedition.
Otherwise, having Lord Yuan Ye escort them on a trip only to sell a few thousand catties of ironware and return would be foolish, wouldn’t it?
For this reason, they were no longer considering the possibility of failure. They were desperately borrowing money in private and abnormally recruiting workers during this period of industry downturn, offering excellent benefits, all to stockpile more goods.
It didn’t matter anymore. The Lord of Wanjin had already done everything for them. If they failed, for example, if their ship sank in a storm or they were beaten back on the way, they would have no complaints. They could only blame their bad luck. At that time, they would not bother Yuan Ye or Wanjin again and would simply jump into the sea together to commit suicide.
Whether they live or die depends on this gamble!
If they succeed this time, they will become big and strong. If they fail, they will just die and be done with it!
The unusual behavior of Hirajima Kichijiro and others caused quite a stir. The people of Wanjin already thought that Yuan Ye, their lord, was a bit too outrageous, too benevolent, like a reincarnation of a Bodhisattva. Unexpectedly, he could go even further. To prevent the collapse of over a dozen small workshop owners in his territory, he was willing to spend a huge sum to build a copper-plated ship and personally escort them on a journey.
Throughout history, Japan has never heard of such a thing. Normally, merchants, such lowly beings, would be lucky not to be eaten alive by their lords. Yet, they were receiving help from a superior?
The “Council” that Yuan Ye created also became a hit. Even though Xin Wanjin City did not have newspapers yet and information dissemination was very low, many people quickly turned their attention to this new phenomenon and began to carefully study how Hirajima Kichijiro and these unfortunate fellows managed to turn their fortunes around with its help.
When it comes to personal interests, most people in this world are very smart. Within two days, these smart people discovered that the council could “command” senior administrative officials like Endo Chiyo.
Or perhaps it shouldn’t be called commanding, but rather that after crying out at meetings, they could obtain some assistance from Endo Chiyo and others. For instance, this time it even alarmed Lord Yuan Ye, forcing him to personally make a trip.
Something that can summon the Lord of Wanjin, if this were a Western fantasy setting, it would be a divine artifact!
After all, in terms of destructive power, Yuan Ye was much stronger than a giant octopus!
As more and more people learned of this news, the number of people coveting the “divine artifact” also increased. At the same time, the number of people who felt unbalanced began to double. They were all old subordinates of Lord Yuan Ye, so why could only Hirajima Kichijiro and his group enjoy privileges?
If the person involved were Lord A Man, it would be understandable. Lord A Man was rumored to have saved Lord Yuan Ye more than ten times and taken over three hundred arrows for him. Enjoying some privileges would be understandable. But who is Hirajima Kichijiro? He wasn’t the only one who dug ditches and mined iron sand for Wanjin. There were plenty of people with longer qualifications and even more numerous with greater contributions.
This is unfair! I deserve a share of Lord Yuan Ye’s benevolence too!
Over the years, with the support of Yuan Ye’s interest-free loans, Wanjin has produced many private workshop owners. These people were relatively bold and flexible. Shamelessly inquiring everywhere and carefully studying the “Council Rules,” they soon found their own “Councillor” and began to denounce them: “You are truly useless! Look at Hirajima Kichijiro, who dared to be the first to try. With one proposal, he single-handedly revived the entire industry!”
And you, do you only vote ‘yes’?
What about our industry?
What? That was the first time, and you didn’t know what was going on, so you weren’t prepared?
Then why was Hirajima Kichijiro prepared? Why could he make a proposal and even cry in public?
You are useless, hurry up and cry at the council meeting! Lord Yuan Ye is protecting those people to travel halfway across Japan to sell goods, and he must take us too!
The “Councillors” personally selected by Yuan Ye were originally those with good reputations in their respective industries, who were steady and honest. However, they were now greatly implicated by Yuan Ye, and many of them had become synonymous with “useless.” Their peers had strong opinions about them, and some even privately said that although Yuan Ye had always had a discerning eye, he had misjudged this time, and the councillors he chose for their industry were simply unqualified.
In other words, he should be the councillor. If he were in their place, he would definitely cry until his nose ran, making Yuan Ye feel so sorry for them that he would take them all along.
These newly appointed councillors had no recourse against the implicit and explicit scolding from their peers and could only dejectedly submit meeting applications to the council building, with various reasons.
Some imitated Hirajima Kichijiro by playing the victim. For example, many liquor stores in Wanjin had suffered huge losses due to grain rationing in the past two years. The relevant councillors cried their eyes out in front of Speaker Izumi Heiji, claiming that since Hirajima Kichijiro and others were being taken along, if their liquor industry was not included, they would have no face to see anyone and would have to hang themselves at the council hall entrance.
Others acted obediently. For example, the dyeing and salt industries in Wanjin had not suffered much previously and mostly held “state-owned” status. However, they all expressed their desire to support Lord Yuan Ye’s “Sales Expedition” and requested to be included, at least to be given an opportunity to speak at the meeting.
Izumi Heiji was overjoyed. This old man had spent his life trying to establish collective autonomous villages and greatly admired the council Yuan Ye had created. He had initially worried that it would fade away without a trace, but he never expected it to be so popular.
After urgently contacting Yuan Ye, he immediately organized the “Second Meeting of the Xin Wanjin City Council” and successfully passed the proposal for a large group of people to join the fleet on the expedition.
Suddenly, Xin Wanjin, after experiencing famine, became prosperous. The prices of various raw materials soared, and even newly built workshops like the Wanjin shipyard received an overwhelming number of orders, forcing them to urgently recruit workers, with their scale growing day by day.
