CHAPTER 304: CHAPTER 219: NOT WORTHY TO COMPARE WITH THE MASTER!

In this era, it’s extremely difficult to expand ports by manpower; places that can become major harbors, capable of hosting and anchoring large numbers of ships, are all heaven-sent, naturally sheltered from the wind. Moreover, the local terrain needs gently sloping tidal flats, solid seabeds, and no abundance of reefs or hidden rocks nearby, only then can ships come and go conveniently, and docks, piers, warehouses and other basic facilities be built.

Such terrain is one in a hundred; for example, in Ise Bay, there are only two such spots, and in the Izu Sea Area, only Shimoda Port truly counts as a natural and excellent harbor.

Here the coastline curves inward as a whole, forming a semi-circular bay. Shimoda Port sits at the apex of that semi-circular arc. Before the Satomi Navy appeared, almost all Wanjin merchant ships had already entered this bay, waiting in line at the dock and the piers to unload cargo.

But now, chaos had broken out at the dock. Large numbers of Wanjin merchant ships were no longer keeping order; shouts rang out in unison, and ships were dropping anchors and turning around. Meanwhile, a great many Wanjin people who’d gone ashore for business were crowding onto small boats, paddling desperately, trying with all their might to get back to their ships.

Those who couldn’t squeeze onto the boats for the moment were yelling and shouting on the docks. Some even hauled out chests of copper coins, scattering them everywhere.

Kasahara Yasuhisa and the other Samurai of the Houjou family glanced at the scene from afar, then hastily sent someone to investigate. Soon, a Lang Faction retainer of the Houjou family returned with the report: "My lord, the Wanjin merchant ships are preparing to leave the harbor and join the battle."

Kasahara Yasuhisa was quite startled. "Who gave the order?"

Previously, they’d had envoys go to the Chita, inviting Harano to enter the port and take shelter. Normally, the Satomi Navy wouldn’t dare charge into the bay to fight; that would make them too vulnerable to attack from both sea and land. However, no one from the Chita had sent any commands back, and the Wanjin masters engaging in trade onshore were scattered, in small groups, with no Samurai of the Nozawa family among them.

The Lang Faction retainer hesitated, then answered, "It doesn’t seem like anyone gave the order—looks like the merchants are acting on their own. Some heard the Satomi Navy had appeared out at sea, then started shouting, and all the Wanjin people began running for the docks, all shouting that they wanted to fight the Satomi Navy."

The Samurai of the Houjou family looked at each other in bewilderment. After a moment, one Samurai pointed at the group of Wanjin masters tossing money about on the dock, and asked curiously, "What are they... doing? Why are they throwing copper coins everywhere?"

The Lang Faction retainer straightened up, peered into the distance, then bowed his head and said, "Those merchants are recruiting dock laborers to help in the fight. When I came over, the price was already up to three kan per man... Uh, as long as you go out to battle, you get three market kan just for leaving the port, and if you take an enemy head, that’s extra—another three kan in Yongle Coins for each head."

Three kan was basically a whole year’s wages for an ordinary Lang Faction retainer—already very tempting. If someone was lucky and bold enough to kill even one enemy, they’d double it, and if fortune was outrageously on their side, if they wiped out everyone on a ship, they could achieve instant wealth and enjoy a comfortable retirement.

Honestly, this offer was outrageous—the Lang Faction retainer could barely resist the urge to have a go himself, let alone those Wanjin merchants who were even willing to supply weapons. Some were even loudly offering a death benefit, promising double payment even for the fallen—the Wanjin masters made solemn oaths in public: if they didn’t pay, let them be cursed by gods and men, with eighteen generations of their descendants doomed to misfortune. In these times, such vows were taken very seriously; no one would doubt them.

Kasahara Yasuhisa and his colleagues were even more dumbfounded.

Merchants spontaneously joining battle—this to them already bordered on the fantastical. Now these merchants were willing even to pay from their own pockets to hire people to help Harano fight; they simply could not understand it, as if gazing at some deep-sea Cthulhu, their minds about to melt.

Every time the Houjou family went to war, just conscripting irregulars and Ashigaru and collecting rations and military funds was an ordeal. There were always would-be deserters, always some who’d rather escape into the mountains than hand over their money or grain; they couldn’t compare in the least to the Nozawa family’s retainers.

The sitting merchants were even worse; they’d try to evade their taxes if they could. If they were truly willing to bankrupt themselves to help the Houjou navy oppose the Satomi navy, Shimoda Port wouldn’t have decayed into such a sorry state.

"Those... the Nozawa family’s commoners really are well-behaved. How do they do it?" After a while, one of the Houjou Samurai finally spoke, sounding as if he genuinely wanted to learn Wanjin’s methods of rule.

No one answered; none of them could figure out how to govern people to this effect. But soon another Samurai pointed at the merchants scattered around throwing copper coins and asked, "Shouldn’t we stop them?"

"No need for that, right?"

"It’s just a few laborers. We can always conscript more from the villages later..."

"If it helps the Mizuno family lose a few more men, sacrificing some laborers is worth it."

This time the Samurai of the Houjou family all chimed in at once. They felt that so long as the Wanjin were willing to risk their lives against the Satomi navy, offering seven or eight hundred commoners as reinforcements was no big deal. However, someone soon asked, "Should we go out and lend a hand as well?"

The Houjou navy was finished; they hardly dared leave Shimoda Port. But they weren’t entirely powerless—there were still five or six Customs Ships and a dozen kobaya small craft in the harbor. If they launched a sudden attack from inside the bay, they probably couldn’t tip the battle, but they could distract the enemy somewhat and at least take some pressure off the Wanjin Navy.

However, these past years, Mizuno Shichiro, the Bousou Water Thieves, and Kazusa Water Thieves had left them with such psychological scars that, when it came to venturing out for battle, the Samurai just fell silent, as if they hadn’t heard—no one followed up on the suggestion.