Mitsuhide Akechi sat back on the tea table with his back straight and his expression indifferent.
She slowly raised the tea cup in front of her, and ripples appeared on the surface of the tea. As she raised it, it trembled violently, and by the time she brought it close to her lips, most of the tea had spilled out.
She raised her head silently, swallowed a small amount of tea in one gulp, and tasted it carefully.
"Tsk, it tastes really bad. I really don't have the talent for this."
She looked into the distance silently, her eyes inexplicably gentle.
"I'm really only good at those dirty and dark tricks."
———
Sakai Port, the headquarters of the Shinsengumi.
Takada Yono played with the gold judge in his hand and asked Imai Munehisa who was sitting at the bottom.
"What did Tsuda Muneki say?"
"She said she was willing to share the Hokuriku Road trade route with you and offered five hundred pieces of gold. She just asked my family not to sell off the goods in her warehouse at a low price."
Takada Harano looked at Imai Sohisa coldly, making her forehead sweat.
Tsuda Muneki was really anxious. She was doing exclusive business, and the profit was several times the profit. It wouldn't actually hurt her to have 30% of the goods taken away by the Shinsengumi.
The worst thing is to increase the price! There are always risks in business, just pass it on to the next party.
The loss here was 30%, and when it was resold, the price increased by 50%, and another profit was made. However, the Spo family took the blame and was scolded, which ruined their reputation.
This kind of business routine is already understood by Takada Yono, who has been practicing it for a long time in Sakai Port.
But she sold goods at half price in Sakai Port in exchange for supplies to support Shiba Konge, which really cost Tsuda Muneki his life.
Selling 30% of the goods at half price is equivalent to selling off the goods. Not to mention increasing the price later, Tsuda Mune is able to maintain the original price, which is a good thing.
For this reason, she had to take the road of Imai Munehisa, donate money and beg to Takada Yono, and show her noble hand.
Takada Yono stared at Imai Munehisa dripping with cold sweat before speaking slowly.
"Five hundred pieces of gold is a small amount of about one tael. One tael of gold is equivalent to one thousand five hundred coins, which is only seven hundred and fifty coins.
My pity is really cheap, it would be nothing more than a big sentence, because I don’t know how to be a human being."
Imai Munehisa was flattering on his face, but he was complaining in his heart. The big sentence was one twelfth liang, which is seven thousand five hundred guan.
The low-level Hime Samurai becomes an official, and his annual income is only about fifteen kuan. If he becomes the person you want, and the huge losses are incurred, it would be better for the Shiba family to sell off their inventory directly.
You are so greedy.
Takada Haruno didn't bother to care what she thought of him. His mind was full of money. He wanted enough money to buy supplies and transport them to Shiba territory.
War is the most expensive business, and no amount of supplies is enough to fill this bottomless pit.
she said.
"Don't cover up for her just because you received her benefits."
Imai Munehisa was so frightened that he fell to the ground and kowtowed.
"How dare I accept bribes and ruin the affairs of my master's family?"
Imai Sojiu had been wronged for a long time. She was rich and wanted to have a smooth career in the Wu family. How could she lose a big thing for a small amount of property?
Tsuda Muneki did intend to give it, but she really didn’t accept it!
Takata Yono waved his hand, disapprovingly.
"It's okay to accept it. As long as you serve the Lord loyally, the rules of the Wu family are not that strict."
Imai Muneku is about to cry but has no tears. Takada Yono is putting the blame on her. As a subordinate, what else can she say?
Do you blame your boss for being blind? You have to cry silently and bear the blame.
Originally, he wanted to say a few good words for Tsuda Soji, but at this time, he remained silent and did not dare to speak out.
Takada Yono glanced at her, feeling satisfied.
Imai Munehisa was a great businessman and tea man in Sakai Port. Now he had become a samurai, and his reputation was growing day by day.
She must be beaten from time to time to prevent her from getting carried away, forgetting her dignity and inferiority, and falling out of her control.
Takada Yono threw the gold coin in his hand, smashed it into the five hundred small coins on the table, and stretched out.
"Tsuda Souji woke up too late and told her that I didn't want her Hokurikudo store and handed over 50% of the warehouse inventory. This was an apology for disrespecting the Shiba family.
You give half the price to the merchants in Sakai Port in exchange for military supplies, and continue to transport them back to Sibo territory."
Imai Munehisa asked curiously.
"Takada-sama was so focused on acquiring business points on Hokuriku Road, why did he suddenly give up? Isn't this an important matter at home?"
Takada Yangno smiled slightly, his eyes looking far away with tenderness.
"Of course the master is wise and saved me a lot of effort.
The merchants of Echizen Tsuruga, the Asakura family, and the Noto Hatakeyama family contacted me. It turned out that their masters already had a layout on the Hokuriku Road and had negotiated the port connection.
Echizen Tsuruga Port, Noto Nanao Port, Echigo Naoetsu, the local lords will give their full support to our port transportation.
With the three samurai merchants joining us, our goods from Sakai Port can be connected to the seaport on Hokuriku Expressway without any hindrance."
Imai Munehisa was shocked, this was a method she had never thought of.
Her idea is still that of a traditional business, contacting various merchants, buying shares to participate in the business, and sharing the benefits.
However, what Shiba Yiyin prepared for Takada Haruno was a road to the sky, which would promote commercial development through political alliances.
The ports on Hokurikudo follow the open ocean current and are not in the same line as the Seto Inland Sea that supports the trade of Sakai Port.
The Tsushima Islands are one of the maritime trade hubs leading to Japan from the Northeast China and the Korean Peninsula. The other route is Ryukyu, which trades with Southeast Asia and Nanman.
Every year, countless merchant ships come to Hakata Port in Kitakyushu via the Tsushima Current. What Sakai Port receives are the goods distributed by Hakata Port via the Seto Inland Sea.
The Tsushima Current is a circle. In addition to the prosperous Hakata Port in Kitakyushu, Tsuruga Port on the Hokurikudo has also carried some specialties from the Northeast since ancient times.
For merchants, this trade route is mature and feasible.
Take Tsuruga Port and transit at Nanao Port on the Noto Peninsula. The sea route can lead to Echigo Country, Sado Country, and even Dewa Country.
Just because Hokuriku Road is closed and chaotic, few merchants have the courage to sell goods in large quantities.
Most merchants took the relatively safe and stable Tokaido route, the Imagawa family's route.
But last year, Yoshimoto Imagawa was killed in the battle of Owari, and the Imagawa family began to be in civil strife, and the trade routes along the Tokaido Road were already affected.
If at this time, there is a route in the Hokurikudo that is maintained by the local samurai, and the maritime trade route leads directly to Kanto and even the land of Ou.
What a benefit this is!
The sea route is shorter than the land route, has fewer checkpoints, and has more benefits.
Once the Shiba family can take charge of this trade route and become a shipper for Sakai Port, Takada Yono will be the goddess of wealth for the merchants of Sakai Port.
With this bright future, Tsuda Muneki's Hokuriku Dojo merchant decided to kick her away and play the big game by himself.
Imai Munehisa admired from the bottom of his heart that the samurai knew how to play.
If this comes to pass, the Shiba family's importance in Sakai Port will be on par with the Miyoshi family.
The Mihaoshi family held a knife, so everyone had to give in and pay.
The Spo family holds the money bag. As a businessman, if you don't want to make money, you are not vying to kneel down and lick it.
Imai Sohisa was delighted, but Takata Yono was thinking about the Omi war after spring plowing.
Even though she was already trying her best to transport supplies, it was still difficult to meet the needs of Iga's military strength because time was too tight.
But she must get this done. This is an excellent opportunity to expand her voice in the family and must not be missed.
she asked.
"How much funding do we have left?"
Imai Munehisa looked bitter and reluctantly answered.
"Except for the necessary working capital, all military supplies have been purchased.
These days, the armament of Sakai Port has increased by 30%, and the food supply has increased by 50%.
You can’t buy it anymore, Mr. Takada, those profiteers are raising their prices, waiting for me to take action.”
Takada Yono is silent, Imai Munehisa is right when he says that there is no business without treachery.
Knowing that the Sibo family is purchasing supplies on a large scale, and that everyone is holding back their prices and raising prices, who wouldn't want to suck a few more mouthfuls of blood.
The working reserve fund cannot be moved any more, otherwise it will damage the foundation.
Takada Yono used the sugar decolorization method to invest in Imaiya, but neither of them actually took it seriously.
What really made Imai Munehisa work hard was the identity of the samurai family given by Yoshigan Shiba.
The decolorization method was used by Takada Yono in transactions with various parties, and he became a shareholder in various arms businesses. The formula has long been widespread and worthless.
At the beginning, in Owari, a pound of raw sugar cost 300 fen, while the white sugar obtained after decolorization cost 600 fen per pound.
Sakai Port is a wholesale place for imported goods, and the price of imported cane sugar is already low. After decolorization, the cost is only one hundred cents.
The decolorization method is simple, but once it spreads, the price will collapse.
Nowadays, the price of sugar in Sakai Port is only one hundred and thirty cents, and it has completely become an ordinary commodity, no longer as luxurious as it was when it first appeared.
Now in the hands of Takada Yono, the real profitable business is finance and armaments run by Imai Munehisa.
Originally, she was only in the iron cannon business. At the request of Takada Harano, she used the sugar decolorization method to open up a new business and continued to invest money in the business of various weapons and equipment.
Although it seemed that the business was getting bigger, after the exchange of interests, the shareholding in the hugely profitable business of Tie Pao actually declined, and the profits were far less than before.