From Sanda in the north, to Ezo and Mutsu, Ugo and Echigo, then Noto and Wakasa, Chuyun and Hizen, all the way to Joseon's two southern provinces! Such a surging "golden trade route" was a magnificent vision Kakizaki Mitsuhiro had never imagined! And the value it would bring was by no means merely gold!...
"Buddha! A trade route driven by gold, flowing into being—so long as it can be opened, the potential it can bring... Ezo Land's furs, Mutsu's warhorses, could be sold directly to Hizen, even smuggled into the hands of Joseon's private-trade merchants... And Joseon's Artisans, Joseon ceramics, Hizen tea, Chuyun swords, all could be shipped to the Northern Country!..."
"On the basis of protecting the interests of this trade route, the clans along the way would also gain channels for communication and dialogue, and might even form alliances!... And as the great merchant who pioneered this trade route, as the bond linking the various clans together, I, Morino Kiyoshi, could break free from my identities as 'Kyoto purveyor merchant,' 'member of the Omi merchant group,' and 'monk of Myoho-in,' and become a legendary great merchant of my generation!..."
"Buddha! If I could have such influence, then even the nobles of Kyoto would have to think twice before laying hands on me!... Perhaps I could become a figure like Tao Zhugong, boating upon Lake Biwa, with wealth and reputation in hand, living out my old age in peace!..."
At that moment, the longing to leap out of the cage burned fiercely in Morino Kiyoshi's chest. He had read the histories of the Book of Tang by heart, and had seen far too many examples in reality as well. He had never seen a great merchant of the Shogunate in Kyoto able to retire peacefully with a rich family