Japan's Middle Ages saw a total of three samurai governments: the Kamakura Shogunate (1185-1333), the Muromachi Shogunate (1336-1573), and the Edo Shogunate (1603-1867).
Every time one regime was replaced by another, there would be a massive upheaval sweeping across all of Japan—corpses littered the fields, rivers ran red with blood, and huge numbers died. In history, these periods have come to be known as "the time of chaos."
Now, Harano felt as if he had time-traveled straight into such chaos. He frowned, racking his brain to recall his meager knowledge of Japanese history.
At the end of the Kamakura Shogunate, tensions exploded between the ruling Houjou family, the Emperor of Japan, and various regional samurai groups. Local samurai, called to arms by the Emperor, rose up for the imperial cause. After a bloody war that killed countless people, they toppled the rule of the Kamakura Shogunate.
Afterward, the samurai leader Ashikaga Takauji founded a new shogunate in Muromachi, Kyoto in 1336, taking up the title of General of Expedition. Soon after, more conflicts erupted against the future Emperor Daigo and his circle of nobles and warriors, leading to the political standoff known as Japan's Northern and Southern Courts: the Kyoto Court in the north and the Yoshino Court in the south.
Not until 1392, with the third Muromachi Shogunate shogun Ashikaga Yoshihisa, did the North-South Courts standoff finally end, and Japan was barely unified in name.
But under the long-term stalemate of the North and South Courts, low-intensity warfare never ceased, the emperor's authority gradually eroded, and the shogun based in Muromachi (de facto leader of the samurai) naturally became the real ruler of all Japan. His relatives and honored lieutenants were dispatched as Guardians to the various provinces, controlling both the local administration and the military, slowly usurping the power of the Emperor.
As time passed, in 1467, a succession crisis erupted within the Ashikaga family's shogunate. The Ashikaga family's core forces—the "Three Kanrei and Four Shiki"—started a massive battle in the Kyoto region, historically known as the "Ōnin War." In 1467, the Hosokawa side fielded 161,000 men against the Yamana side's 116,000 men (numbers include a ton of baggage carriers, according to the "Account of Ōnin," so take them with a grain of salt), all clashing to the death in Kyoto. The mayhem soon swept across all of Japan.
The ultimate result of this chaos? Both sides were utterly exhausted and wiped each other out.
The Ashikaga family shoguns, along with their primary branches—including the three Kanrei families (Hosokawa, Hosokawa, Hoshina) and the four Shiki families (Yamana, Ichisaka, Akimatsu, Kyogoku)—all sank into decline within ten years. The Muromachi Shogunate's original system of rule crumbled, and the real power of the Guardians in each region was seized by their own deputies or by rich local clans.
From this point on, Japan was already filled with warlords great and small who ignored orders from the Central Government. Inside these warlord domains, ruthless struggles for land, people, and power also erupted in bloody fashion.
This was pretty much the beginning of Japan's Warring States Era.
"Sir, are you… are you all right? Did I say something wrong?" Seeing Harano suddenly space out mid-conversation—he had stopped eating and speaking, his brows furrowed, his expression rather grave—Yayoi grew a little anxious. She quickly and deeply reflected, but couldn't figure out what she'd said wrong, so she could only ask timidly in a small voice.
Harano snapped back to reality, flashed her a gentle, perfunctory smile, and said, "It's nothing. I just remembered something from the past."
"Yes." Yayoi obediently lowered her head and replied softly, not daring to ask further.
"Come on, keep eating!" Harano scooped more of the untouched brown rice into her bowl. He really couldn't get used to brown rice, and the quality of the rice itself was pretty bad—hard, tough to chew, and exhausting to eat.
Yeah, at this time in Japan, it was mostly quick-growing rice planted during the Meiyu Season and harvested just in time before typhoon season hit—otherwise, you'd spend more than half the year working for nothing.
This was not exactly an age for pursuing great flavor.
Yayoi looked a bit scared, starting to suspect Harano might have some wicked ideas. But this man before her had both noble status and had saved her father's life. Her mother had warned her many times to serve him carefully and never offend their benefactor. There was no way she could just throw down her bowl and run for it, so she could only mumble a thank you and leave it all up to fate.
She was clearly overthinking it. Harano had no such base instincts toward a ten-year-old, obviously malnourished little girl. If anyone like that showed up, he'd absolutely be in favor of executing the bastard with a Close Defense Cannon for ten minutes—those cost 160 a shot, and he'd happily sponsor 100 rounds, even 200 if need be. Just put it on the tab for the Shanghainese—they had money.
Harano was just expressing kindness by reflex in his rattled state of mind, hoping to coax more information out of her. After serving the brown rice, he asked, "I came from the west, so I'm not familiar with the local setup. Whose domain is Hibi Village in?"
Yayoi had just raised the rice to her mouth, but quickly set down her bowl and answered, "Sir, it belongs to the Hosokawa Family."
"Hosokawa Family?"
"Yes, sir." Yayoi replied respectfully. "Master Maeda holds Hosokawa Castle and a stipend of 2,162 kan 700 wen, and the seven surrounding villages are all under the jurisdiction of the Maeda Family at Hosokawa."
Harano pondered for a moment. During Japan's Warring States Period, they mostly calculated domain value using the kan system, not the koku system, unlike in the games. So that would mean the Maeda Family at Hosokawa could collect taxes each year totaling the equivalent of 2,162 kan 700 wen in agricultural products?
Of course, that 2,162 kan 700 wen was probably a rough estimate, and likely one from ages ago. It was nowhere near accurate. The actual intake was probably higher—and if the patriarch was on the ruthless side, squeezing every last drop, he could probably wring even more from the peasants.
If you converted that into kokudaka (the koku system), 2,162 kan—based on the numbers from "Taiko 2"—was about 2,500 to 3,000 koku?