Chapter 92: Market Liberalization Order
After Hirate Masahide’s death, Oda Nobunaga remained silent for a period, only reappearing after the autumn harvest. Upon his return, he did not, as everyone had hoped, become a reformed man, gentle and refined. Instead, he reverted to his old ways, immediately reiterating his first command as head of the family: road construction.
However, Hirate Masahide’s death did bring about some changes in him. He seemed to have become more composed, no longer forcing the entire Lower Four Districts of Owari to mobilize. Instead, he made plans to first widen and reinforce the roads between several major castles. The standards were also relaxed; the initial requirement was only for roads to be at least two *ken* wide and not turn into mud roads on rainy days.
The number of local powerful families affected this time was greatly reduced, and the opposition was not as strong as before. Coupled with his constant threats and curses delivered by messengers, these local powerful families reluctantly began the work. However, their private complaints never ceased, and the construction progress was extremely slow.
Oda Nobunaga was indifferent to this, paying no mind to the criticism. He only occasionally sent people to issue threats to urge the construction progress, and then he would disappear again.
When he reappeared in late autumn, without consulting anyone, he issued the “Market Liberalization Order,” welcoming artisans and free merchants to settle in the castle town of Nagoya. Anyone willing to come would receive rewards, including but not limited to exemption from corvée labor, small loans, free allocation of land, and official documents guaranteeing personal and property safety. This immediately caused…
This time, it did not cause an uproar. It had nothing to do with the local powerful families, but the monks in the temples became anxious.
A “za” was a feudal guild system. Only by joining a “za” and becoming a member of the guild could one operate a certain business. This was a system of commerce and industry that had been operating in Japan since ancient times, a form of commercial monopoly. Currently, these commercial monopoly rights were in the hands of the temple families and monks, who generated income by collecting “za fees” and forcibly monopolizing the sales rights of some high-profit goods.
Just like when Yuan Ye wanted to produce and sell soy sauce, he was an emerging artisan and free merchant. However, he was not a member of a guild. According to the current laws and regulations, he had no right to produce and sell seasonings. Therefore, he either had to go to the Kannon-ji sect in the Lower Four Districts or the Shōtoku-ji Temple sect in the Upper Four Districts. After obtaining permission from the “za head” and paying the “za fee” to the temple families, he could then begin normal production.
He at least had the status of a “samurai,” and even then, his sales rights were not secure. Let alone ordinary artisans and small merchants who transitioned from townspeople, they were at the mercy of the monks. If they didn’t comply and refused to let the monks profit, the monks would truly come to their homes and cut people down; their warrior monks were not for show.
These emerging artisans and free merchants had no recourse and could only endure. But now, Oda Nobunaga suddenly stepped forward and issued the “Market Liberalization Order.” “Raku” means freedom, and “Rakuichi” means encouraging free trade and free enterprise. It didn’t matter if one was a guild member; one could engage in any trade and sell anything. The “za fees” no longer needed to be paid; he would provide protection, and in the future, they would only pay commercial taxes to him.
This was like snatching rice from the monks’ mouths. The monks could not tolerate it. Within a couple of days, envoys from temples all over the region gathered at Nagoya Castle. Some tried to persuade a vassal to advise Nobunaga, while others directly confronted Oda Nobunaga, passionately arguing their case.
In short, their demands were unified: they requested Oda Nobunaga to revoke the “Market Liberalization Order.”
For a time, Nagoya Castle once again became the center of the storm, bustling with activity.
This made A Man extremely happy, as excited as a field mouse in a melon patch. She ran to the castle town every day, sniffing and looking around, then returned with a belly full of gossip to share with Yuan Ye. She repeatedly praised Oda Nobunaga for being so troublesome, always creating major news every month. Truly worthy of being the foremost eccentric of Owari Province. The Oda Danjō no Chū family was truly unlucky to have him.
Yuan Ye was also very interested. With his meager knowledge of the Japanese Medieval Period history and his foolish foundation from playing Taikō Risshiden 2, he naturally knew about the famous “Rakuza Rakuchi” policy. However, he hadn’t expected this policy to be implemented in parts. He had originally thought “Rakuza Rakuchi” was a unified policy that would directly eliminate “za,” the feudal guilds, establish free trade, and reclaim the management rights of industry and commerce from the monks. Instead, Oda Nobunaga only did half the job, ignoring the existence of “za” and only demanding the abolition of “za” restrictions in the castle town of Nagoya.
However, upon further thought, Yuan Ye could understand. The monks were not easy to deal with. By proceeding step by step like this, it seemed like he was acting on a whim, but it could, to some extent, ease the conflict.
This farce continued for nearly a month. The monks’ protests were useless, and Oda Nobunaga completely ignored the vassals’ advice, not even bothering to acknowledge it. If Hirate Masahide were still alive, there might have been a chance to rein him in, but Hirate Masahide was dead, so no one could control him.
Thus, the monks returned in frustration.
Otherwise, they had no choice. Oda Nobuhide had left behind a substantial foundation. Even though the Oda Danjō no Chū family was showing signs of internal division, and the new head of the family, Oda Nobunaga, had been beaten black and blue three times, Oda Nobunaga’s strength still held an overwhelming advantage over all forces in Owari Province. If a real fight broke out, at the very least, he could drag the Kannon-ji sect or the Shōtoku-ji Temple sect down to hell with him.
Oda Nobunaga was somewhat insane, but they were not. They were living comfortably and didn’t want to risk their lives.
Therefore, the monks temporarily endured it. It was only in the castle town of Nagoya, and their “za” were not being expelled, just that some “unlicensed merchants and workshops” were being added. They could barely accept this.
They returned to curse Oda Nobunaga. Only then did Nagoya Castle finally quiet down. Shortly after the monks left, Yuan Ye received an invitation from Oda Nobunaga, who sent someone to give him a plot of land and asked him to open a soy sauce shop in the castle town of Nagoya as an example for future generations, proving that Oda Nobunaga kept his word and did not intend to lure and kill those emerging artisans and free merchants.
This suited Yuan Ye perfectly. He had no good feelings towards the monks either—why were they still pursuing money after becoming monks? He didn’t want to be exploited by them anymore and immediately responded to Oda Nobunaga’s call. He asked Maeshima Shichiro to hire craftsmen to build the shop and selected adult women from the purchased family retainers, those from the “weak and infirm” group, to be trained as salesclerks in the castle town.
If all goes as planned, his first shop in Owari should be open by early next year, according to the lunar calendar.
At this point, he was starting to admit that in some aspects, he might indeed be inferior to the ancients. At least his personality lacked this kind of madness, the courage to go against everyone.
If it were him, he would probably still be hesitating, thinking about how to achieve “free trade” without conflict with the temple families. He would absolutely not be like Oda Nobunaga, who, regardless of how bad the current situation was, the potential negative consequences, or whether the timing was right, would just do it!
Perhaps, those who achieve great things, whether in ancient or modern times, East or West, must possess a certain degree of madness!
Yuan Ye briefly reflected on his personality flaws. He was the type who couldn’t go mad unless pushed to the brink, only resorting to desperate measures when cornered. He felt he was slightly inferior to Oda Nobunaga in this regard, but it didn’t matter. He wasn’t overly competitive and preferred to continue living his peaceful life.
Soon, winter arrived, and Owari Province entered its hibernation season once again. Oda Nobunaga caused no further disturbances.
Yuan Ye calculated the days but couldn’t be precise. However, he estimated that it was likely past New Year’s Day according to the Gregorian calendar, and perhaps he had already been in the Japanese Medieval Period for a year.
Although this year had been difficult and bumpy, he had at least survived with his foolish son, made some friends, acquired some manpower, moved into a comfortable large house, and could eat his fill with delicious meals every day.
For him, this was already very good; he had no higher demands.
He just didn’t know what would happen next year—next year according to the lunar calendar. He didn’t know if he could find his way home or if he could continue to persevere.
He hoped that in the future, he could continue to live so peacefully!
End of Volume 2: Death of the Tiger of Owari
Volume 3: Hello, My Territory. To be continued.
