"Patriarch! The second batch of two hundred domain people has all been settled!... The two batches together make eighty households, four hundred people in all, with a fair number of able-bodied men. Half have been settled at the main fort in Katsuyama, and half at Hishi Fort. Before the spring plowing in May, each household should be able to open up a dozen or twenty mu of dry fields and plant some millet..."
"Mm. Morimichi, did you give them the support rice?..."
"Yes! Each household received two bales of millet. I personally checked it all; there wasn't any embezzlement. If they eat sparingly, mixing it with acorns, wild vegetables, leaves, and insects, it should be enough to last them until the autumn harvest... According to the rules, each household has registered one able-bodied man as a farmer-soldier. If there are too many mouths to feed in these new households and they cannot last until the autumn harvest, they can register one more able-bodied man as a farmer-soldier and receive one extra bale of millet! Once these eighty households settle down, I estimate they'll be able to provide the clan with a hundred farmer-soldiers!"
"Very good! Issue each household a spear as well, and let them handle weapons whenever they have nothing to do! These domain people come from Kinki, and they look rather timid and shrinking, not much good at all. After the autumn harvest, we'll have to arrange squad leaders skilled at drilling men to train them properly! Mm, feed them when they report for drill!... Otherwise, forget the savage Sanda People—even the tribal soldiers of the Ezo People could smash them all in one go!..."
"Yes! The patriarch is generous!..."
The finance magistrate Kakizaki Morimichi bowed, then saluted the elder Morino Kiyoshi before turning and hurrying out of