Chapter 245: Uprising
Yasuda Katsuji did not rush back, spending several more days inspecting the surrounding villages and farms. He found the situation to be very grim; insect infestations were a common phenomenon. Even the small village he had visited initially, due to its relatively fertile land, had suffered less damage.
The more he looked, the more worried he became, as the situation in Ise Province was not good either!
Ise Province, with its thirteen counties, was filled with mountains. Not only were there minor Daimyo like the Nagano, Kōbe, Seki, and Chigusa families who dominated their own territories, but also numerous local lords with tangled vassalage relationships and several “adoptive fathers.” Very few were truly obedient.
Kitabatake Tomonori, the de facto head of the Kitabatake family, had abdicated but not relinquished power. He was naturally unwilling to accept this. Since the era of Oda Nobuhide, the “Tiger of Owari,” which was the few years Yuan Ye had just fallen into misfortune, after consolidating the southern five counties of Ise Province, he had attempted to unify the northern eight counties. However, after so many years, he had only managed to chip away at the Nagano family, and not even completely – Kitabatake Tomonori’s second son became the adopted heir of the Nagano family, making them vassals. But resistance within the Nagano family had never ceased.
There were also external threats. The Miyoshi family, the hegemon of the Kinki region, was becoming increasingly powerful and possessed a strong desire for expansion. After occupying Yamato Province, they were rumored to have set their sights on Ise Province, and could launch a fierce attack from west to east at any moment.
Owari Province to the east was also not peaceful. The “Big Fool of Oda” had suddenly risen to prominence. Even though he was currently actively expanding his territory to the north and his attention was temporarily focused on Mino Province, having a stronger neighbor was unsettling to even consider.
Shima Province to the south was also not quiet. The Kuki family was slowly becoming active, and there were signs of unification there, which could very well become a major threat.
In short, although the future opponent was unknown, a major war was almost inevitable. Preparations could not stop; if they did, enemies would take advantage of the weakness. Yet, at this very moment, they were facing an insect plague, causing widespread crop reduction, ranging from twenty to thirty percent, and in some cases, over half. This…
The more Yasuda Katsuji thought about it, the more his head ached. The slight compassion and mercy he had felt for these commoners suffering from the disaster slowly disappeared.
If the commoners were having a hard time, the samurai were too. If they let the enemy invade, would these commoners fare any better?
He wondered how widespread this insect plague was. Was only Ise Province affected, or the entire Ise Peninsula? If the entire peninsula was affected, then the situation might be slightly better.
He sighed all the way back to Okōchi Castle with his men.
Okōchi Castle was located on Mount Suzugamine and was an important stronghold for the Kitabatake family to control the Suzugamine Plain and the surrounding two counties. As he approached the castle gate, he saw a large contingent of Ashigaru, led by several mounted samurai, rushing out in haste. They turned a corner and headed northwest along a fork in the road.
Yasuda Katsuji was slightly puzzled. As he entered the castle, he asked a samurai he knew, “Lord Mizutokei, what has happened?”
The samurai casually replied, “A village in Nagatsukotsu has collectively fled their tribute. Kono and his men are going to bring them back.”
“Fled their tribute?”
“Probably…” The samurai was not part of the Magistrate system and only knew a little, but he still spat, “A bunch of ungrateful wretches. They fled over the mountains during the famine a few years ago. We kindly took them in and gave them land. Now they’ve run off again, the entire village at once. We should have just killed them back then.”
Hearing this, Yasuda Katsuji remembered. A few years ago, there was a wind disaster. The Suzugamine Plain was protected by the Mount Ise Range, so while it flooded for a while, the damage was not severe. Some refugees from other areas fled there seeking food. The Kitabatake family gained a batch of labor for free and used them to clear some wasteland and build a number of small villages, essentially turning them into serfs. Now, were these people running back?
Last time they forcibly crossed the mountains to escape the famine, more than half of them had died on the way…
Yasuda Katsuji thought for a moment and understood. He pressed further, “Was the damage in Nagatsukotsu very severe?”
“I don’t know,” the samurai said casually. But after thinking for a moment, he hesitantly added, “It should be fine, right? I heard they made a lot of money selling hemp cloth this year, so they should be doing well?”
Nagatsukotsu had many hills and the soil was not very good, making it relatively barren. However, it had mountains and wetlands, which were very suitable for growing and retting hemp. In any case, it was said that the chief magistrates who were sent to oversee the land reclamation there had each managed to procure over a thousand bolts of hemp cloth and sell them to the seaside, making a small fortune. A difficult task had turned into a pleasant one.
Yasuda Katsuji had also heard this rumor. He shook his head and asked no further questions, entering the castle directly. He then proceeded up the mountain path and found his superior, Hirado Tōbei, in his samurai residence halfway up the mountain. He reported the situation of the disaster. After a moment’s hesitation, even though he had little pity left, he was afraid of trouble and still pleaded for the villagers and farmers: “Lord Hirado, should we reduce the annual tribute a little this year?”
“We’ll see!”
Hirado Tōbei was one of the Chief Magistrates of Okōchi Castle, with a position similar to Niwa Nagahide of the Oda family. He was responsible for the financial income and expenditure of the Kitabatake family in this region. The strategic situation of the Kitabatake family was becoming increasingly tense. They had to contend with the minor Daimyo and local lords in the northern eight counties, while also guarding against sneak attacks from the Miyoshi family. The fiscal pressure was also immense. A few years ago, the Ise Peninsula had already suffered a disaster, and the losses then were not small. Just as they had recovered a little, another one struck. He was also finding it unbearable.
Moreover, historically, the Miyoshi family had indeed attacked the Kitabatake family. It was only because the Miyoshi family collapsed on their own during their campaigns that Oda Nobunaga did not get to reap the benefits and easily took over Ise Province.
Ise Province was a large country with nearly 300,000 koku, not much different from Owari or Mino… At least, it wasn’t then. Owari’s 500,000 koku was developed later; at present, it was only over 300,000 koku. In fact, when Yuan Ye first arrived, Owari was even less than Ise, with only 260,000 to 270,000 koku at the time.
Therefore, Hirado Tōbei was not being overly cautious. He truly dared not reduce the annual tribute arbitrarily at this time. At the very least, he had to seek further instructions from Kitabatake Tomonori before making a decision.
Yasuda Katsuji said no more. He understood the practical difficulties, but… without some reduction or exemption of the annual tribute, he felt uneasy.
But he couldn’t say any more. Sometimes, there was no choice. They could only make the commoners suffer. Who could blame them for not being born to a good lineage and being born as commoners!
It wasn’t his fault!
Yasuda Katsuji returned to prepare for the autumn harvest. He summoned the low-ranking magistrates and followers under his command and gave them detailed instructions. He also rearmed a squad of Ashigaru assigned to them. He felt that collecting the annual tribute this year would be a big problem. To get those commoners to pay the full tribute, it would be difficult without hanging dozens of them. There was even a possibility of armed resistance, so he had to be extremely careful.
The situation developed as he expected. A few days later, the order to reduce the annual tribute was issued, but it was only a symbolic reduction. For example, for the directly managed fields that were supposed to pay over 320 koku, only about 9 koku were reduced; the rest had to be paid as usual.
However, Yasuda Katsuji’s situation was relatively good. This was mainly because the two villages he was responsible for were located on the Suzugamine Plain, with fertile land and convenient irrigation. Even though the commoners here suffered disasters, their harvests were relatively higher. Even if they had to use their own grain to make up for the shortfall, they were unwilling, but under the threat of death, they gritted their teeth and found ways. They borrowed some from temples or mortgaged their children to the monks, and were temporarily able to gather the full amount.
As for how they would deal with the accumulating interest in the future… that would have to wait until next year!
For the commoners, as long as there was a glimmer of hope, they could endure and would not truly fight to the death. Therefore, after hanging one or two troublemakers in each village who dared to cause trouble, Yasuda Katsuji persuaded them with soft words for a while. He managed to collect the annual tribute he was responsible for in full. He estimated that he would definitely receive a “letter of commendation” during the next evaluation. If he accumulated a few more, it might not be impossible to acquire his own fief in the future.
However, after he finished visiting each village and happily returned to Okōchi Castle, he found the atmosphere along the way even more tense. At the same time, mounted samurai were passing by on the road continuously. Okōchi Castle was demanding the assembly of followers from each manor and the conscription of rookie Ashigaru from nearby villages.
He quickly stopped a mounted samurai and asked, “What has happened now?”
The messenger, dazed from riding, reined in his horse. Grimy and tired, he looked at Yasuda Katsuji, recognized him, and said with exhaustion, “Oh, it’s Lord Yasuda. Do you have any water?”
“Yes!” Yasuda Katsuji quickly had someone fetch water for him.
The samurai had lost his water canteen. Riding at full speed under the scorching sun in late summer and early autumn had made him extremely thirsty. He took the water and drank it down in gulps. After a while, he sighed and said, “An ‘Ikki’ has broken out in Shimokyū County. A commoner named Tsugomaru led people to kill Lord Mito and his men, and ambushed those sent from Mt. Kiri Castle. Now, several manors and over ten villages in that area are in chaos, and our Lord has ordered Okōchi Castle to provide reinforcements.”
The term “Ikki” originated from Mencius, “Li Lou II.” It states, “The distance between the lands is over a thousand li; the time between the ages is over a thousand years. When the wise attain their aspirations and act in the Central Plains, it is like matching tally pieces; the former sages and latter sages, their principles are one.” This roughly means that although the time and environment are different, the actions of the sages are completely the same. Later, the term “Ikki” came to represent “the same principle.”
In Japan, “Ikki” also acquired the meaning of “uniting and acting together.” That is, if certain people agree to achieve a certain goal, it can be called an “Ikki-shu.” Therefore, peasant uprisings such as resisting taxes and corvée labor became known as “XX Ikki.”
Now, a “Shimokyū Ikki” has erupted in Ise Province. Some commoners in Shimokyū County, unwilling or unable to pay their annual tribute, could no longer bear it. They killed the magistrates and samurai collecting tribute, and the unrest grew, leading neighboring villages to also consider collective resistance against taxes and corvée labor.
The Kitabatake family had been rooted in Ise Province since the Nanboku-cho period of Japan. More than half of the major castles in Ise Province were built by the Kitabatake family. Over the years, they had certainly encountered peasant uprisings, but due to the relatively good natural conditions on the Ise Peninsula, such large-scale and rapidly developing peasant uprisings were truly rare.
At the same time, the Kitabatake family had extensive experience in dealing with such matters. They knew that such incidents could not be delayed; if there was even a slight delay, the “Ikki-shu” would immediately swell several or even dozens of times. Therefore, they had to mobilize all surrounding forces immediately, encircle them from all sides, and crush these rebellious villagers in Shimokyū County.
At this time, chaos absolutely could not be allowed to spread. Examples must be made to deter others!
Overall, the Kitabatake family’s upper management’s response was not problematic. Yasuda Katsuji found no fault with it and was immediately relieved. After bidding farewell to his colleague, he continued back to Okōchi Castle. He hesitated whether he should apply to join the battle – a group of ruffians who played with hoes since childhood and didn’t even have a single piece of armor, how could they possibly defeat heavily armored samurai? Such achievements were truly easy to come by. Even he, a magistrate with ordinary martial arts skills who would not normally go to battle, could easily scatter hundreds of these ruffians with a few followers.
He was somewhat tempted. His own tasks were completed, and he had nothing else to do for the moment. Earning more merit for free would certainly be good. However, as soon as he returned to Okōchi Castle, he heard another piece of bad news.
Further south of Shimokyū County, in Jōsui County, an “Ikki” had also broken out. There were two groups, one in the east and one in the west, both causing trouble. The local garrison had only managed to disperse the western group. The eastern group had retreated into the Mount Ise Range, showing signs of turning into mountain bandits, and began robbing everywhere by relying on the mountainous terrain, attempting to coerce more people.
The Kitabatake family certainly could not allow such a thing to happen and had to deal with it quickly. Okōchi Castle had to urgently dispatch another wave of troops to Jōsui County to assist the local samurai in swiftly exterminating these rebellious villagers.
Now Yasuda Katsuji no longer had to consider whether to go or not. He was also among those being mobilized and began to head south with the contingent. However, after only a few days, just as they entered Jōsui County, someone suddenly caught up from behind, delivering new orders.
Return to Suzugamine County immediately. A large enemy force had suddenly appeared in the coastal area and had begun to land successively, with the possibility of attacking Okōchi Castle!
Reinforce quickly!
