Chapter 83: Consider it buying personal accident insurance!
Yuan Ye’s desire to find Monkey was simple; he was just bored.
Lately, he had no money and nothing to do. He remembered Monkey and wanted to find him to deliver a surprise blow, hoping to change history. Monkey was directly related to the Invasion of Korea War and indirectly related to the rise of Later Jin. If he could knock this kid out, turn him into an idiot, it might save tens of millions of people!
What a great merit that would be! With such merit, he might instantly achieve sainthood, ascend on the spot, and fly back to the Modern Era. He wouldn’t have to worry about being trapped in the Japanese Medieval Period, where he could lose his life at any moment.
Unfortunately, the time he transmigrated was not right. Monkey was nowhere to be found at this moment, dashing his hopes of ascension. He could only go and see his future wife first, to see if he could undermine one of the foundations of his future success.
So, the next morning, he took A Man and A Qing, carrying two jars of soy sauce and a box of rice cakes as gifts, to Nagoya Castle to visit Asano Nagamasa. The gifts might seem a bit odd, but they were normal in Japan and would still be presentable five hundred years later, let alone in ancient times; they were already quite respectable.
It was about a twenty to thirty-minute horse ride from Takeuchi Manor to Nagoya Castle. He let his horse wander freely, asking about the new workshop director, Maeshima Shichiro. “How is Maeshima doing at the workshop?”
“Everything is normal.” A Man had been out and about recently, so she hadn’t missed any news from home. “He’s moved into the workshop to live with that group of ‘old, weak, sick, and disabled.’ He’s working diligently, his hands and feet are clean, and he hasn’t been snooping around. He doesn’t seem to have any ulterior motives, and there’s no one behind him.”
Yuan Ye nodded slightly, feeling more than half at ease. He thought that if Maeshima Shichiro was truly an honest and hardworking person who genuinely pledged allegiance to him, even if his talent was mediocre, he could be made permanent after two or three years.
He instructed A Man to keep an eye on Maeshima Shichiro for a while longer. Once he was confirmed to be no problem, she could stop paying attention to him. Then, he asked A Qing, “How much money has been added to the ledger this month?”
“Over four hundred and thirty guan.” A Qing was only a part-time guard for the treasury, and the ledger was with Yayoi, but she had a rough idea of how much money was in the vault.
Yuan Ye thought it was acceptable. They had sufficient manpower, and raw material supply had also improved. The workshop’s profitability had increased significantly, earning over four hundred and thirty guan in about a month. This meant an annual income of at least five thousand guan, almost equivalent to the annual income of the Aragiko Maeda Family. The actual strength of the Aragiko Maeda Family was only six to seven thousand koku, which translated to about five thousand guan in money.
Of course, this was just income; strength was another matter. The Aragiko Maeda Family had seven to eight thousand people. One punch from each of them could turn him into a pulp. These people were the greatest wealth of the Aragiko Maeda Family, and he was still far from that.
Since income was recovering and finances were becoming healthy again…
Yuan Ye thought for a moment and asked A Man, “Should we recruit more people? Elite followers, should we start recruiting them?”
He had long intended to recruit a group of fighters to enhance their combat power, but he only had over two hundred guan （ for medical expenses from treating wounded soldiers）. This was also the restart capital for the workshop, so he dared not spend it lightly, which had caused the delay.
“Recruit more fighters?” A Man hesitated, feeling it was a bit unnecessary for now. “There doesn’t seem to be a need for that right now. Oda Nobunaga has pacified the more significant mountain bandits and river pirates in the lower four districts of Owari, so the roads are much safer. Even if there are a few scattered petty thieves, they wouldn’t dare provoke people like us. It doesn’t seem necessary to spend this money.”
She paused and added, “You don’t need it even more. We live in Oda Nobunaga’s manor. Even if someone wanted to kill you, they would have to break through the manor first. Not many people in Owari can do that, and even fewer would dare to.”
Raising elite followers wasn’t as simple as just finding people; it was very expensive.
If you want followers to go into battle, you can’t let them go naked, right? At the very least, they need a dōmaru! That’s at least ten guan.
To look somewhat decent, if the dōmaru had more iron content, it could help these followers live longer and fight better. It might cost sixteen to seventeen guan to start, and twenty guan would be considered good. Then, equipping them with a jingasa hat, boots, leggings, a short sword, bow and arrow, a yari spear, and various daily necessities might not even be enough with twenty-five guan.
These people also need to eat every day, and they eat a lot. Feeding one person for a year costs another two to three guan. If they train a bit more diligently, they eat even more and better food. Some rewards are also needed to boost morale. It might be that two to three guan isn’t enough, and it could be three to four guan.
So, overall, to equip a follower into an elite follower, train them to be combat-ready, and cultivate enough loyalty so they can charge forward without fear of fleeing, at least thirty guan needs to be prepared to be safe. And recruiting just one or two such individuals is useless; at least a squad should be recruited. That four hundred and thirty guan would be gone in a flash, and she was reluctant.
Yuan Ye sighed after hearing her analysis.
War is truly a money pit. He thought five thousand guan a year was a lot, but it could only equip over a hundred followers, and they were just “ordinary retainers.” To upgrade them to “matchlock gun followers” to keep up with the times would likely require another seven to eight thousand guan, or even ten thousand guan.
This is too difficult. In Taikō Risshiden 2 》, you could just click a couple of times, and you never had to worry about troop numbers. But in reality, there are so many issues.
However, the Aragiko Maeda Family only had about a dozen samurai and over a hundred followers. After following Oda Nobuhide out and suffering two defeats, they were almost broke, and even their main castle was left unfinished.
It seems that having some self-preservation ability in turbulent times is indeed this difficult!
I cannot slack off; I must find a way to continue making money!
Seeing him sigh, A Man felt somewhat relieved, thinking he had finally given up the idea of burning money. But she didn’t expect Yuan Ye to say after sighing, “In that case, let’s recruit ten first! It’s okay if there are difficulties; we’ll save up slowly, it will only take a year or two. Anyway, there’s no danger for now, we still have time.”
Although this was difficult, and these ten people would be of little use in the short term, purely a waste, he felt he should still recruit them. Otherwise, what was the use of keeping those broken copper coins? He couldn’t eat that much himself in a day and couldn’t spend that much money. It was better to start accumulating now, transforming broken copper into power, for unforeseen circumstances.
A Man looked at him in disbelief, unable to understand. “You’re really restless when you have a little money. Can’t you just save it properly? You’re not going to war, so why do you need so many daring followers? You can’t use them at all! Are you just going to throw money away?”
You wild child…
Yuan Ye was about to retort, to argue with her about who was in charge here, but considering his new persona, he hesitated for a moment and softened his tone, sighing deeply. “I have a premonition that turbulent times are coming… I mean, even more turbulent than now. So, improving strength is always useful, even if the improvement is minimal. So… just listen to me! As for the money, you don’t need to worry too much; I’ll find a way. We won’t starve!”
After arguing with him, A Man was ready to fight him, to argue until they settled who was right and who was wrong. She didn’t expect him to change like this. She looked at him suspiciously for a while, hesitated slightly, and didn’t contradict him again. “Fine, it’s your money anyway. Spend it however you want! I just don’t see any use for them… But forget it, what you said makes sense. This world is getting more chaotic. If something happens, it’s good to have more people as a buffer!”
Oh? So easily subdued? In the past, it would have taken a long argument to force her to agree, and afterward, she would have complained incessantly, making all sorts of “prophetic” remarks when something happened, which was incredibly annoying…
So, you wild child only respond to soft tactics, not hard ones?
I never noticed that before!
Yuan Ye just wanted to play the role of Yuan Bei Yuan Xuan De and gain some experience for his new persona. He didn’t expect to inadvertently discover A Man’s weakness. Then… it wouldn’t be bad to order her around like this in the future!
He thought to himself and immediately made a decision. “I don’t have much experience with fighting and killing. So, I’ll leave this matter to you! Choose people carefully, and then see what armor and weapons they need. Make a list for me to look at, and then go buy them.”
“Alright!” A Man had given up contradicting him, so these trivial matters naturally fell to her. “I’ll tell you when I’ve thought it through. We can also have A Qing teach them some martial arts so they can survive longer in combat, so the money isn’t truly wasted.”
Yuan Ye looked at her with sincerity, feeling that his new persona was really useful. He upped the ante again, patting her shoulder forcefully. “No problem, you handle it. I trust you; you’ve always been reliable!”
“You’re just talking nonsense. Of course, I’ve always been reliable!”
A Man replied, feeling a little pleased, but she always felt that Yuan Ye had been strange these past two days, as if something was off, but she couldn’t pinpoint what. She pondered for a long time with her Dou Dou eyebrows furrowed, then hesitated and quietly instructed A Qing, who was sitting behind her, “That second-hand donkey at home… keep a closer eye on it. That second-hand donkey might really be a problem!”
Besides that second-hand donkey sneaking into Yuan Ye’s room late at night and kicking his head every day, she couldn’t think of any other reason why Yuan Ye had become so peculiar.
However, his strangeness was quite pleasant, so it wasn’t a bad thing…
…………
Yuan Ye chatted with A Man along the way, finalizing the monthly “military expenses” and planning to improve their combat strength a little each month, just in case, like buying personal accident insurance. There was no other way; he was just starting to develop. The annual income of 5,000 guan couldn’t be advanced, and current financial resources were limited. Nothing could be done all at once; he could only accumulate slowly, and it would likely take about a year to see initial results.
However, to be honest, he was already doing quite well. 99% of samurai without inheritance rights couldn’t achieve what he had. Most could only find a lord and use their annual salary to support three to five people, hoping for a stroke of luck to achieve great merit on the battlefield, obtain a fief, and then begin to develop.
Yuan Ye didn’t chat with A Man anymore and began to think about how to make another fortune and establish a new industry, one completely under his control, which would collapse if he died. This would not cause a surge in power in the Japanese Medieval Period. However, he hadn’t come up with any ideas yet when A Man led him to the entrance of Asano Nagamasa’s residence.
Asano Nagamasa’s residence was magnificent, even more so than the Kinoshita Family’s residence. After all, it was built within the castle town, a city dwelling, which naturally lent it more prestige. As Yuan Ye dismounted in front of the residence and looked at the four ink characters “Asano Tōshu” on the nameplate next to the gate, his tendency to let his mind wander kicked in.
The Asano family, the future “Lord of Ako Domain,” the protagonists of the “Chūshingura” incident, were quite famous in later Japanese history.
This could be considered a typical example of fate’s irony. Asano Nagamasa probably wouldn’t have imagined, even if he were drunk, that an adopted orphaned girl would allow the ordinary Asano family to become lords of a province in the future, prospering for centuries.
I wonder if this counts as good deeds being rewarded!
