Ruling the Kiso River—Who Else but Us!

"How could that possibly work!"

"If we wanted to gain a foothold on the Kiso River, we still had a long road ahead of us."

By a tidal flat along the Kiso River, three boats lay quietly moored at the shore.

To avoid drawing trouble, Yamauchi Kazutoyo had no intention of entering Matsukura Castle. Instead, he chose to settle in a place called Matsubara Estate.

The reason was simple. The local lord of Matsubara Estate was Matsubara Naiku, who had once eaten from the same pot as Hachisuka Masakatsu's father while serving under Saito Dosan.

Because the Kiso River frequently flooded, most of Matsubara Estate's people made their living on the river. Traveling merchants made up the majority, while those who honestly tilled the soil were few.

Rice painstakingly planted could be wiped out by a single torrential downpour.

So it was not that these "Kawanami League" men wanted to stir up trouble on the Kiso River. They simply could not survive without taking crooked paths.

"Today was only the beginning. Once word gets out that we're collecting passage fees, Oda Nobukiyo of Inuyama Castle—and even Oda Nobunaga in Kiyosu—won't just stand by."

After hearing Yamauchi Kazutoyo out, Hachisuka Masakatsu felt it made sense.

Though they had not known each other long, the steadiness and viciously sharp eye Yamauchi Kazutoyo displayed had earned Hachisuka Masakatsu's deep respect.

More importantly, Yamauchi Kazutoyo dared to think and act. What normal person would think of waving the tiger's skin of Jodo Shinshu to collect tolls on the Kiso River—and dare offend three daimyo at once: Oda Nobunaga, Oda Nobukiyo, and Saito Yoshitatsu?

"Mosuke, have you finished counting? How much did we collect today?" Hachisuka Masakatsu turned toward Horio Yoshiharu, who had been squatting at the stern counting copper coins for ages.

With his rear sticking up, Horio Yoshiharu scratched figures across the deck for a long while. Then he announced excitedly, "Seven kan and 652 mon in copper coins, plus two Kai Province one-bu gold coins and three pieces of Hida silver."

"Not counting the goods used in place of payment, we made no less than fifteen kan today." Horio Yoshiharu pointed at the packed hold.

Many merchant ships had carried only a small amount of copper coin. Since no one had ever dared stop ships on the river to demand money before, they could only use part of their cargo to offset the toll.

Yamauchi Kazutoyo welcomed it all. These were good goods.

"Iemon, this is fast money, but we have two problems now." Horio Yoshiharu dusted off his backside and walked over.

"First, we're openly collecting passage fees from merchant ships on the Kiso River and issuing documents in the name of Jodo Shinshu. We may be safe for the moment, but once the surrounding daimyo learn of it, they'll certainly join forces to crush us."

"Second, the money is easy enough to deal with, but what do we do with this boatload of goods?"

"This stuff can't see the light of day. We can't exactly haul it into Tsushima and sell it in broad daylight, can we?" Horio Yoshiharu struck straight at the two problems now facing the Ogawa Band.

Hachisuka Masakatsu curled his lip. "The Kiso River isn't some coastal region. How could these daimyo afford to maintain naval forces?"

"Building boats might not cost much, but their upkeep is a huge expense. Then there's the cost of recruiting men and paying them wages. Even Oda Nobukiyo of Inuyama Castle can't afford a navy."

"At most, when the need arose, they'd hire fishermen from nearby villages to serve as guards. That was how our Hachisuka clan got its start."

After explaining, Hachisuka Masakatsu added, "In coastal regions, some of those guard bands are actually pirates famous far and wide."

"When daimyo pay them, they're called guard bands. When they're idle, they take off their armor on the spot and become pirates."

Horio Yoshiharu stared, dumbfounded. You could do that?

Yamauchi Kazutoyo, however, was not surprised. If he had known nothing, he would never have dared cause such a stir on the Kiso River so openly.

Murder and arson, then accepting official amnesty—he understood that routine better than Hachisuka Masakatsu did.

After a brief moment of thought, Yamauchi Kazutoyo asked, "If we face a joint suppression campaign, how many boats could the castles along the Kiso River send out?"

Hachisuka Masakatsu answered, "Oda Nobunaga probably can't send anyone. Imagawa Yoshimoto has won over the Saji clan of Chita District, and the naval forces of Ise Bay now serve Imagawa Yoshimoto."

"The ships of Kaisei District are controlled by Nagashima Gansho-ji and the Hattori League. The Oda clan has no time to spare for the Kiso River."

"As for Oda Nobukiyo of Inuyama Castle—well, Matsubara Naiku in that village is one of Inuyama Castle's guard-band men. Want me to introduce him to you, Iemon?"

Hachisuka Masakatsu beamed, while Yamauchi Kazutoyo and Horio Yoshiharu looked at each other in speechless disbelief.

Look at this mess. After all that, everyone turned out to be brothers!

"These past years, the situation in Mino and Owari has changed too fast."

"Today everyone serves under the Saito clan. Tomorrow they defect to the Iwakura Oda clan. The day after that, they'll be serving Oda Nobunaga of Kiyosu Castle."

"I, Hachisuka Masakatsu, have had more than enough of this kind of life!"

"Originally, I didn't hold out much hope. I only came to Matsukura Castle to find some work. Who would've thought Iemon could actually persuade Jodo Shinshu?"

"Looking at things now, our little Ogawa Band truly has great prospects!" Hachisuka Masakatsu said with deep feeling.

The several districts along the Kiso River had never known peace in recent decades, yet no force had ever truly ruled this land.

But it was precisely such a lawless no-man's-land that gave the Ogawa Band soil in which to survive.

"If survival isn't a concern for now, then what do we do with these goods?" Horio Yoshiharu looked at the other two.

Yamauchi Kazutoyo had long prepared an answer. "When our Ogawa Band flies the banner of Jodo Shinshu, we're an Ikkō-ikki. But once we take that banner down, we can be merchants too."

"We'll sell the goods we get from Mino merchants in Owari, and sell Owari goods in Mino. In the end, Saito Yoshitatsu and Oda Nobunaga might even issue us letters of thanks!"

Before the other two could react, Yamauchi Kazutoyo suddenly straightened with a shudder. "To put it simply: we'll buy what Mino can't sell, and sell what Owari can't buy!"

"From now on, this Kiso River will be where our Ogawa Band plants its feet! Every merchant ship passing through here will have to act according to our moods!"

Yamauchi Kazutoyo's words set both men's blood boiling.

All three were samurai who had sunk to the bottom rung of society. They had nothing but rotten lives anyway—so they would just do it. Who was afraid of whom?

"Come on, I'll take you into the village to meet Matsubara Naiku right now!"

Hachisuka Masakatsu had his two younger brothers remain on the boats with men to stand guard, while the three of them immediately disembarked and headed for Matsubara Estate.

Matsubara Naiku's residence was also known as Watari Castle. Calling it a castle was generous—it was really just a samurai manor, much like the Yamauchi family's Kuroda Castle.

On the road into the village, Yamauchi Kazutoyo spoke again. "After today's trial, I've realized we need to change our approach."

"We can't just use large ships. We need to equip ourselves with smaller boats too."

"When the time comes, we'll have a large ship pretend to be a merchant vessel and sail upstream from downriver, while small boats lie in ambush among the reeds upstream."

"When the moment comes, the large ship will stop and block their retreat, while the small boats come down with the current. Only by attacking from front and rear can we sweep up every ship on the river in one net!"

"Within three months, we'll unite the local warrior bands along the Kiso River and gain complete control over river transport."

They needed to find a differentiated leverage point in the blue-ocean track of the Kiso River—passage fees—build a brand barrier through Jodo Shinshu, penetrate the lower-tier market through trade transshipment, and form a closed business loop by joining with the guard bands, ultimately reducing costs and increasing efficiency.

At the same time, they needed to strike at user pain points—trade embargoes—align internal strategic goals by painting a grand vision, empower the frontline team—the Ogawa Three-Man League—iterate their product strategy, raise conversion rates, build a brand moat, and achieve a monopoly over Kiso River transport.

With this proposal in hand, Yamauchi Kazutoyo brimmed with confidence in the future.

Saito Yoshitatsu's attention was fixed on Kyoto and Omi, while Oda Nobunaga was busy recovering the lost lands of eastern Owari.

Oda Nobukiyo lacked the strength, and Nagashima Gansho-ji was simply too far away to reach them.

From this day onward, the Kiso River would be the Ogawa Band's cash machine!

"Oh, right, Koroku—does this Matsubara Naiku have any particular hobbies?" At the village entrance, Yamauchi Kazutoyo stopped.

Without hesitation, Hachisuka Masakatsu replied, "Matsubara Naiku has three great loves in life: fine horses, women, and money!"

Yamauchi Kazutoyo spat. "Nonsense. Who doesn't love those three? I like them too!"

Horio Yoshiharu raised his hand as well. "Me too!"