For Takada Harano, the most important thing is always to prove his worth to his master.
Even if the master scolds her for wasting money and wasting money, as long as the master can remember her strong financial resources, it will be a successful promotion.
Nothing can prove her wealth and willfulness more than spending tens of thousands of dollars to create a bunch of useless armor.
Takada Haruno is not afraid of Shiba Yoshigan scolding her, but she is afraid that her master will ignore her and look down upon her.
It was difficult for Imai Munehisa to understand Takada Haruno's complicated feelings for Shiba Yoshigan, and of course he couldn't understand her crazy behavior of throwing money into the water.
Japan had no shortage of iron in the agricultural era, and Japanese knives were even one of the main bulk goods exported to China in Japan's trade.
Japan is a volcanic island and has some minerals of all kinds. Even the veins are shallower than the surface, making it easy to mine. It just lacks the large-scale iron ore of the industrial era.
At this time, iron was very cheap in Japan. About four or five kilograms of pig iron cost one bucket of rice, or three hundred Wen.
However, pig iron requires a large amount of water and coal to be smelted to make steel, and the loss is almost three to one.
In this era, steel smelting was an advanced technology, and Japan did not have the ability to smelt on a large scale.
Only China can provide mature iron products near Japan. Even the Nanman people who pioneered Southeast Asia imported iron materials from Guangdong to make muskets.
Imai Munehisa was in a dilemma.
"Sir, I made a rough calculation.
In order to build the quantity you need in the past six months, not only must we try our best to purchase the steel smuggled from China, but we must also occupy a large number of craftsmen in the port town.
Maybe the quantity is not enough, so we need to actively contact smugglers and go to other trading towns to attract craftsmen to come and work.
The cost is not low. A set of plate armor costs at least forty or fifty guan, and a vest may cost 70 or 80 guan."
The price Imai Munehisa said was scary, but he didn't mean to threaten Takada Haruno. He really wanted this price.
The tools used in the Ashigaru are about four to five kilograms of pig iron and cost three hundred dollars. If you find someone to make it, it will cost about half a pound.
But for this amount of money, many poor daimyo couldn't afford it. The turbans were rented to ashigaru, and they had to be stripped back after they died.
The cost of the steel used in plate armor alone is five to ten times that of pig iron.
A full-body armor weighs at least fifteen kilograms, and as much as twenty-five kilograms. The complex craftsmanship requires skilled craftsmen to hammer it out over a long period of time.
Not to mention that after the Sino-Japanese trade was cut off, the price of smuggled goods was very high. Just the amount of money for a large number of craftsmen to eat, drink and hire during the past six months made Imai Soku scratch his head.
A set of plate armor must have at least forty or fifty strings, and a vest, which is larger than human armor, must have at least seventy or eighty strings.
Even if work is started day and night to create a unified and rough system, it will still cost 12,000 to 15,000 guan. The total of other various expenditures will not be less than 20,000 guan.
After spending so much money to create a batch of scrap armor that is destined to be useless, Imai Sohisa really wants to cut open Takada Haruno's head and see if there is any water inside?
But she didn't have the courage to do this, let alone refuse, so she could only smile bitterly and follow her nonsense.
20,000 guan of money, if you find a good name from the Wu family, is enough to cover the entire military expenses of four reserve armies for a year.
Four reserve troops can rule a territory of 30,000 to 50,000 koku and occupy one side. If there is a corner in the nearby nest, even Ashikaga General will have heard of the name of this samurai family.
In Echigo, for 40,000 kan, Yoshihiro Shiba teamed up with Terutora Uesugi and almost killed Uesugi Hoshino.
But Takada Haruno didn't even blink an eye, and directly spent 20,000 guan to create a batch of garbage, letting Shiba Yiyin know that he must scold this prodigal woman to death.
Armor is not something you can just build and put away. Armor is the tank of this era and requires a lot of materials to maintain.
Anti-rust, cracks, links, and damaged patches are a bottomless pit. If you use it once, you may need to spend another 10,000 yuan to find steel and find a mature craftsman to repair it.
Are you mentally ill for playing this? In a war in a poor place like Japan, would a feudal-era tank like full-body plate armor be used?
Moreover, as iron cannon technology becomes more and more mature, armor-piercing gunpowder weapons are the natural enemy of heavy armor. Plate armor is destined to decline, and this money is meaningless.
Takada Yono, a fake samurai who was born as a commoner, may not know these things, but even if she knew, she wouldn't care. She is not a traditional samurai, and she only has Shiba Yoshigan in her eyes.
As long as Shiba Yoshigan has any mood swings towards her, whether it is love or scolding, Takada Haruno will swallow it up eagerly and think about it over and over again.
In other words, Imai Muneku thought well, she had water in her head and was sick.
While the two were talking, there was a knock on the door. Yuigahama Yui opened the door, walked in quickly, and saluted Takada Haruno.
Takada Haruno frowned slightly. As the Miburou Group used it smoothly, she gradually became dissatisfied with Yuigahama Yui, the leader of the Shinsengumi.
This girl follows the rules and has too many scruples in doing things, which is not very consistent with Takada Yono's unbridled thinking.
But she was the leader of the Shinsengumi appointed by the master, so Takada Yono reluctantly tolerated it, but she gradually became a mouthpiece for communication with the master's family.
Takada Harano was interrupted mid-sentence and said coldly.
"What's up?"
Yuigahama Yui kowtowed on the ground and said.
"Emergency news has come from Hokurikudo. There seems to be unrest in Nanao Castle. Nanao Port is closed, which may affect shipping after the beginning of spring."
"What!"
Takada Yono and Imai Munehisa were both shocked.
It snows heavily in the winter in the north, so Nanao Port and Naoetsu are not suitable for winter shipping. They are both frozen ports waiting for the beginning of spring.
Everything is ready at Sakai Port. The caravan has received a large amount of subsidies and is gearing up for the big start in the spring.
At this time, the turmoil in Nanao Port will directly affect the confidence of recent merchants in the Houriku Road trade route.
Takada Yono looked at Imai Munehisa.
"Can you block the message?"
Imai Munehisa shook his head and said.
"Impossible. We and the merchants on the Tokaido Road are subsidizing us and seizing the initiative on the trade route.
They must also be keeping an eye on the Hokuriku trade route, and they will use any clues to undermine the confidence of the caravans and make them change their ways.
When something happens at Nanao Port, not only can we not cover it up, we must also be honest and honest about it."
Takada Yono nodded. This was a helpless move. He tried to cover up but was taken advantage of by the other party.
The loss of Nanao Port has only shaken the confidence of merchants. The route from Tsuruga Port to Naoetsu is still feasible.
But this is a bad omen, and it will be exploited and amplified by Tokaido merchants, and the number of caravans taking the Hokuriku Route will decrease.
Takada Yono frowned and said.
"This matter is not something we can resolve. Please contact Echigo to see if the Lord knows about this matter and if there are any follow-up instructions."
Takada Yono sighed, she was so majestic and confident in front of Imai Munehisa.
In fact, on the stage of the battle between the samurai daimyo, she and the merchants in Sakai Port were just ants. They relied on the strong to survive, and had no choice but to accept the changes in the face of changes.
This is the reality that she is unwilling to face but has to face.