The beginning of September brought a hint of chill. Wind swept across the Kurose estate, gently stirring the tree canopies still heavy with dew and carrying the fresh scent of grass and earth through the early morning.
Kurose Nobumasa changed into a more presentable indigo silk robe than he usually wore, ate a quick breakfast, and left the house. A horse-drawn carriage was already waiting outside the gate, with Sakuma Genbei holding the reins up front as he took Nobumasa toward the Mizuhara Domain offices. Nobumasa had something very important to deal with today, something directly related to the Kurose clan's largest source of income this season: the taxes on the Amasuzu pear harvest that was about to begin.
Sitting in the carriage, Nobumasa's expression remained calm, but he had been running the numbers over and over in his head for a long time. The Kurose family's Amasuzu orchard had a high yield, beautiful fruit, and excellent flavor. Every year, as soon as harvest season approached, merchants came looking to place orders. Precisely because the pears were so outstanding, the taxes imposed on them had never been light.
If they truly reported the entire yield and all the revenue, the taxes owed would be enough to make any family wince. In previous years, Nobumasa had prepared well in advance, cultivating ties with the clerk who maintained the farmland registers and the official in charge of taxes in the Kawase area. When they entered the orchard's yield and the value of its produce into the tax records, the two men would discreetly reduce the figures somewhat. That way, the Kurose clan's actual tax burden could be kept at around three-tenths.
The difference amounted each year to seven or eight hundred silver taels at the market's usual valuation, nearly more than half the entire household's annual net profit. For the Kurose clan as it stood now, that was absolutely not a sum they could casually throw away.
The carriage stopped on a street not far from the Mizuhara administrative district. Nobumasa got down and followed a familiar route to meet the clerk who had helped him handle the farmland registers in previous years. Afterward, he arranged to meet with the official in charge of Kawase's taxes as well. The three men did not speak at the government office, but went instead to a fairly discreet teahouse on a nearby side street.
After a few cups of tea and the usual polite exchanges, Nobumasa gently pushed two prepared money bags across the table. Each contained silver worth two hundred taels, heavy enough that anyone who picked one up would immediately understand the intention behind it.
He smiled, his tone as mild as ever. “The pears in my orchard will be ready for harvest soon. I’ll have to trouble you two to keep an eye on this year’s paperwork as well.”
In previous years, the moment they saw the silver bags, the two men across from him would have accepted them with broad smiles. Today, however, they did not immediately reach out. Instead, they exchanged a glance, both wearing troubled expressions.
The official in charge of Kawase's taxes sighed and lowered his voice. “Nobumasa, this year is different. The regulations from above have just changed. The inspection and collection of certain taxes in the districts under Mizuhara—including Kawase—have been assigned to the Takashiro clan.”
Nobumasa's brow furrowed slightly.
“Takashiro?”
That one word was enough for him to understand where the problem lay. Once the authority to inspect the yield, determine the amount owed, and compare it against the actual figures was in Takashiro's hands, the two men before him might still be able to alter the initial farmland registers, but the room to maneuver afterward would become far smaller.
The clerk who maintained the land records nodded, looking somewhat helpless. “That’s right. We can still take a little care of the old records for you, but once the Takashiro people come down to inspect them, there’s nothing we can do.”
At that, he finally pulled the money bag toward himself, but only took half the silver inside before pushing the rest back to Nobumasa. The man beside him did the same. They would take whatever they could still help with, but the meaning behind both their attitudes was perfectly clear: this year, the old route would no longer be enough.
Nobumasa did not show any disappointment. He only asked, “Who from the Takashiro clan is in charge of this? Could the two of you introduce me?”
The two men exchanged another glance.
This time, the official in charge of Kawase's taxes leaned closer and lowered his voice further. “The man sent out to handle this is named Takashiro Yasumori. He’s an outside affairs steward who specializes in taking care of the Takashiro clan’s business beyond the estate. He’s extremely greedy. Anything that passes through his hands, he wants to keep a portion of. If it were only a matter of money, it would still be easy enough to discuss. Unfortunately, we don’t have much of a relationship with him, so getting a word in on your behalf will be difficult.”
Nobumasa's heart sank further when he heard that.
A greedy man was not necessarily frightening. The truly frightening thing was knowing that your opponent loved money, yet being unable to find even a door through which to offer it.
He thought for a moment before asking, “Does Yasumori have any particular interests? Or is there anyone around him whose words carry enough weight?”
The clerk hesitated for a long while before answering. “I hear he’s been especially fond of a woman recently taken into his private quarters, a woman named Kikuno. Apparently, she likes delicate and novel things. The rarer they are, the more likely they are to catch her attention. If you can find a way to please her, perhaps she’ll be willing to put in a few good words for you in front of Yasumori.”
Novel and delicate things.
Nobumasa fell silent for a moment.
He was merely a landowner in Kawase. The Kurose family was best at farming, from Amasuzu pears to all sorts of techniques related to orchards. Asking him to suddenly produce rare jewelry or exquisite handicrafts capable of moving a woman accustomed to luxury was practically like asking a fish to climb a tree.
Even with the memories of his previous life, the field he had understood back then was still horticulture. He had spent most of his life studying cultivars, nutrients, pollination, and ways to improve fruit quality. When it came to luxuries and finely crafted goods, he knew little more than an ordinary person.
Just as this thought crossed his mind, Nobumasa suddenly stopped.
Novel things.
He really did have something like that.
White sugar.
It was not that this world had no sugar. Red sugar, dark brown sugar, and maltose had all been used for a long time. It was just that most of them were cloudy in color and still contained quite a few impurities. At least during all the years he had lived in Kawase, Nobumasa had never seen the pure white sugar, bright as snow, that he had once encountered in his previous life appear on the market.
In his previous life, while researching various solutions to support pollination, he had needed to test many different ingredients. The concentration and purity of sugar had been one factor that could not be overlooked. Because it was difficult to obtain sugar that met his requirements in certain situations, Nobumasa had studied rudimentary refining techniques on his own. In the end, he had worked out a method that could be carried out with very simple tools.
First, sugarcane juice had to be boiled until it reached the proper concentration, then poured into a funnel-shaped ceramic vessel. When the sugar began to crystallize, a mixture of treated and properly adjusted clay was slowly added from above so that it could seep downward. The clay would absorb some of the color and impurities, while the crystallized sugar below gradually became lighter. In the end, it was possible to obtain clean white crystals far purer than the sugar currently sold on the market.
In previous years, Nobumasa had only made a small amount from time to time for his household's use. It was not that he failed to recognize the value of this product. Precisely because he saw its value so clearly, he had never wanted to use it carelessly.
Sugar was something every household used, and a technique that could multiply its value several times over was absolutely not a profit a small clan like the Kurose clan could safely swallow. Once word spread, the major merchants and powerful forces that already controlled the sugar trade would certainly take notice. Bringing unnecessary trouble upon himself for a little money had never seemed worthwhile to Nobumasa.
But Takashiro was different.
It was a major clan with considerable power throughout Mizuhara, and even the Takamine Dojo had their influence behind it. If a technique like this fell into Takashiro's hands, they would be fully capable of turning it into a real industry while protecting the interests it generated.
More importantly, Nobumasa was no longer the same man he had been a few years ago.
He had already reached the threshold of the cultivation path. The things that had once forced him to avoid the mortal world at all costs no longer left him feeling completely helpless, at least not now.
Once he had thought the matter through, Nobumasa's slightly furrowed brow gradually relaxed. He lifted his teacup, took a sip, and set it down, his expression once again composed.
“Thank you both for telling me about this. I think I have a way to give it a try.”
The two men across from him were both somewhat curious, but Nobumasa offered no further explanation. He rose to take his leave, left the teahouse, and returned to the carriage.
He did not return to Kawase right away. Instead, he told Genbei to drive to the pottery district. Nobumasa selected several high-quality funnel-shaped ceramic vessels, bought a few porcelain jars with smooth surfaces, and then went around to the outskirts to look for suitable clay. Everything he needed was quite ordinary, but if he wanted to make sugar white enough for anyone to recognize the difference at a glance, every step still had to be prepared with care.
By the time he had gathered everything needed for the opening gift, Nobumasa still did not rush to find a way to contact Kikuno or Takashiro Yasumori.
He sat back down in the carriage, thought of something else, and said to Genbei, “Before we go home, stop by Takamine.”
Genbei immediately changed direction.
Munetaka had been away from home for several days.
Although Nobumasa had spoken very calmly the morning he saw his son off, saying that once he entered the dojo, he would have to endure hardship on his own, this was still the first time the boy had lived away from home. These past few days, Nobumasa had been busy with cultivation, the pear orchard, taxes, and all sorts of matters concerning the clan. Even so, he could not help occasionally thinking about the boy.
Now that he was close to the Takamine Dojo, it was only natural that, as a father, he would stop by to take a look.