Warring States Survival Guide
Chapter 80 - 48 Soybean Cake

Chapter 80: Chapter 48 Soybean Cake

Japan took the Tang Dynasty as its teacher, sending envoys to China to study the equal-field system and the rent-labor-tax system. Upon returning home, they implemented the handover system, establishing the equal-field system. However, as royals, nobles, and court officials enthusiastically exploited legal loopholes, using their power to aggressively annex land, it took only a few generations for Japan’s independent farmers to start going bankrupt in droves.

By the mid-to-late tenth century, the state-owned equal-field system had become completely unenforceable; the Court had no more land to allocate. Yet, paradoxically, Japan’s sixty-six countries saw the emergence of a great many private manors.

These private manors often enjoyed special privileges, such as "exemption from taxes and official interference"—meaning they neither paid taxes nor fell under the jurisdiction of the local Daimyo, effectively becoming independent little kingdoms. The internal structure was enormously complicated, with a three-tiered control system made up of the "main house, ruling house, and manor official"; distinctions among "entrusted manors," "directly-managed manors," and "self-cultivated manors"; as well as complicated details such as "surveyed lands, confirmed lands, internal lands," and "exempt fields, designated fields"—all the way up to the clever tricks Samurai used to seize control of manors...

If one were to go into detail, it could fill three Chapters of a novel—or even a popular science book titled "Manor: From the Law of Perpetual Private Land to the Ōnin War." But readers definitely wouldn’t care to read it, and might even point at the writer’s nose and curse—"You’re pulling your old eunuch tricks again, just padding for length; believe it or not, I’ll mess you up!"

But Takeshige Manor must be just such a time-honored relic, possibly having existed for five or six hundred years—originally a private estate belonging to the royal family, nobility, or other powerful clans.

This private manor stood by a lake, through which a tributary of the Changliang River flowed. Because of the low-lying terrain, a pooled lake had formed, with the manor’s rice paddies arranged around the west and north sides of the water. To the east lay a stretch of wetlands, caused by flooding and overflow during summer, filled with withered yellow reeds and all manner of stagnant pools, large and small.

A large number of waterbirds inhabited the area, and from time to time one could see flocks rising into the sky, circling before dropping back into the reeds and disappearing—a great spot for hunting.

The manor’s main complex was built on the southwestern side of the pooled lake, close to the Changliang River’s tributary. The layout was quite orderly: on the riverside stood a large waterwheel mill, while on the roadside there were rows of storehouses and workshops for easy transport. Wedged between them was the residential area. Most of the dwellings were still thatched huts, but at least they were neatly lined up, with smooth stone-paved roads. Unlike Hibi Village, where every house faced a different direction, some squeezed into the tiniest gaps, and the muddy roads were so bad that the first thing you had to mind at night was not twisting your ankle.

Harano only had to look down from on high for a moment to admit that this place was far better than Hibi Village—life here clearly looked more comfortable and prosperous.

Ah Man looked quite satisfied as well, immediately looking up to say, "You should live here from now on. There are definitely more chickens raised here, the fish are fatter too, and you can often hunt big wild geese and ducks—it’s so much better than that crummy village!"

Ah Qing stood quietly without saying anything, but from the way she gazed at the shimmering lake, the abundance of waterfowl and small animals, she clearly liked this place too.

Harano still didn’t rush to make a decision, simply saying, "Let’s look at the house first."

No one objected. The group continued on into the manor, which was much more heavily guarded than Hibi Village: there were quite a few Oda Danjo Chonosuke Lang Faction members, all wearing armor, tachi at their waists, and iron-edged conical hats on their heads—obviously well-trained elites, not just some rabble militia like the Ashigaru who only knew how to tag along and make noise.

It was just that this group of Lang Faction seemed generally quite young, most fifteen or sixteen years old; few old veterans could be seen.

These young Oda Lang Faction guards stopped the group, respectfully letting them through only after checking their documents, also assigning one person to guide them to find the Manor Chief—a Samurai under Oda Nobunaga, but not one of the personal attendants’ cavalry, rather, one of the household retainer group sent over by his father, Oda Nobuhide—in other words, a Yoriki Warrior.

Yes, only after Oda Nobuhide’s death and Oda Nobunaga’s successful rise would these men truly switch their allegiance and become Nobunaga’s own people.

This Yoriki Warrior was in his forties, named Mutsu Tomotomo, with the given name Kiyobei, and sported a shaved pate. He looked like a very stern, old-fashioned, traditional Samurai. Everything he did was meticulous—first he carefully inspected the Black Seal, and after confirming it was in order, took out an illustrated reference to compare the seal’s imprint in detail. This was wholly unnecessary—Harano wasn’t here to get money, after all, just to look at a house, possibly even to settle down here; forging would make no sense whatsoever.

Yet Lord Kiyobei insisted on dutifully completing every step, before leading them to a large house by the river and telling them to look around as they wished while he waited outside.

The house was made up of three stilted wooden buildings connected by wooden corridors. It had a huge living space and even larger front and back courtyards, where bamboo groves and trees had been planted—obviously for many years. It was quiet and elegant, really quite fine, except that the interior was empty, with no furniture at all. The walls were mottled and ugly, various floorboards were rotting, dust and cobwebs were everywhere, making the place seem rather dilapidated.

Ah Man was initially quite satisfied with the exterior—there was even a stable, and the well water looked clear and sweet—but after looking around inside, she was sorely disappointed. She turned to Harano and chided, "See, I told you not to squander so much, but you wouldn’t listen! Now look what’s happened—what you’ve got left is only just enough to patch up the floor; you’ll barely be able to buy any furniture at all."