Chapter 3

"Wow, it's quite lively here."

"There's a lot of energy."

"Over there, people are spreading out straw mats and selling all sorts of things. Let's start too."

Instead of stopping in Sakai, a major city, Hikaru and his companions arrived in the town of Tsuchi, in Owari Province. Since Kanagawa was quite noticeable, they loaded their goods onto a small escape shuttle and landed secretly under the cover of night.

This shuttle was designed for space but could also be used underwater. However, it could never fly into the sky again.

"Should we cover this shuttle with a ship from this era to disguise it?"

"Shouldn't we make the ship out of iron? If it's not too big, I think we can make something that looks like it."

"Maybe we should start with wood. We can think about that later, but let's try to sell something quickly."

The three spread out a multi-purpose sheet used by the military and arranged the Chinese porcelain they had brought. Everyone else was using straw mats, but the three couldn't get any, so they used military supplies from their cargo.

It was a violation, but since they couldn't deliver the supplies to the military anyway, they decided to use them effectively.

"By the way, we don't have to pay the loan for Kanagawa anymore, right?"

The reality of not having to pay the loan made Hikaru, the CEO, feel elated.

"Thinking about it, we might have made a pretty good deal, right?"

"Well, it depends on how we live here, doesn't it? What's your goal, big brother?"

"Frankly! To live a relaxed life!"

Hearing Hikaru's goal, Seiki felt a bit dizzy.

"I've gathered more information, but this world is pretty tough, isn't it?"

The Ashikaga shogunate isn't doing well, and wars are breaking out all over the country. This is the Sengoku period until things settle down.

"There's no way we can do anything about it, so I hope this Chinese porcelain sells well."

They chose and arranged famous pieces from the Northern Song, Southern Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties. However, the three had no artistic background, so they relied on Kanagawa's computer and Kiyomaro for appraisals. They knew the origins because they matched the data from Kanagawa's computer. The three were relieved that the names and places of ancient Chinese dynasties and porcelain origins were consistent.

"It's not selling..."

About an hour after starting their business, a few customers came to browse, but when they mentioned the era and kiln names of the porcelain, they were treated as fakes and didn't sell at all.

"Maybe we should have sold in Sakai?"

"If we said it was illegal, the meeting merchants might have confiscated it."

"Big brother, are you a bit paranoid?"

"That's not the case."

Since Hikaru was the CEO of a small transportation company, he was naturally wary of large companies. Large companies weren't just about pure business skills; sometimes they colluded with powerful people or became shadow rulers to make money.

"Mitsan."

"What is it, Kyouko?"

"I just thought, is there anyone in this market who can appreciate the value of porcelain?"

Hikaru thought this was a blind spot. Indeed, without such people, the Chinese porcelain wouldn't sell.

"Even though she's my wife, she still has a sharp insight."

"Mitsan, if there's time, many people would notice."

"Kyouko, saying that is the end of it."

They had successfully salvaged from a sunken ship and recovered hundreds of thousands of pieces of Chinese porcelain over a six-month voyage. They hoped at least one would be a hit.

"This is a small piece, but it seems to be from the Southern Song official kiln."

"If someone knows, they might say something like the beautiful color of the celadon."

"Which color is beautiful, we can't tell."

Suddenly, the surroundings became quiet. Looking up, they saw a well-built samurai in his mid-twenties standing there. He looked a bit nervous but was clean and well-dressed, giving the impression of a high-ranking person. Around him, about a dozen samurai stood guard.

"Mitsan, Kiyochan, this might be a high-class customer."

"He looks important. Welcome."

Since Hikaru was the CEO of Ashikaga Transport, he decided to handle the situation. He was usually in charge of sales, so he could handle it.

"Shopkeeper, are all these ceramics genuine?"

"Yes."

"How did you get them?"

The young, well-built samurai asked with a sharp gaze.

"They're not smuggled. Actually, we have connections with a special group that salvages treasures from sunken ships..."

Hikaru decided to tell only the fact that they salvaged from a sunken ship, using a submarine-like spaceship. He lied, saying that there were unexplored tribes along the coast of Ming who were skilled at diving deep and salvaging such items.

"There are such people in Ming. The world is vast."

In this era, information didn't spread quickly. There was no way to verify the truth of what the three said, but the Chinese porcelain was right there. The young samurai seemed convinced.

"Do you have more?"

"We didn't bring many large items today."

It was their first day, so they thought it was better to observe the situation and didn't bring many large items.

"I see. I'll come to Kiyosu in a week. Bring them."

The young samurai wrote something, handed a bag of gold to Seiki, and left.

"Big brother, he seemed important."

"Yes."

"We didn't sell anything but got money. Lucky, Mitsan."

"I have a bad feeling. This letter might be a permit to enter Kiyosu...!"

"Big brother, what's wrong?"

"That young samurai is Oda Nobunaga."

The signature on the beautifully written letter read "Oda Saburo Nobunaga."

"Let's show off our Chinese porcelain."

A week later, as promised, Hikaru and his companions displayed their Chinese porcelain in Kiyosu Castle.

Transport was a hassle. Since they couldn't use vehicles, they loaded the goods onto carts produced in Kanagawa's shipyard and hired horses from a local horse rental service in Kiyosu. It seemed Oda Nobunaga had instructed them to cooperate, so they were happy to provide the horses.

"Young master, where did you get these carts?"

The horse rental service was very interested in the carts made with aluminum suspension, springs, and rubber tires. They were strong on rough roads, had less vibration, and were easier to load and unload, making them desirable.

"They're imports from the Southern Barbarians."

"Southern Barbarian goods? They must be expensive."

In this era, people seemed to accept anything as long as it was from a foreign country, especially Ming or the Southern Barbarians. They successfully transported the Chinese porcelain and were ready to show it to Oda Nobunaga.

"Today, we have guests."

In addition to Oda Nobunaga and his retainers, there were many merchants and people dressed like tea ceremony practitioners.

"What do you think? Are they genuine?"

Among them, Oda Nobunaga asked an old man who looked like an expert.

"Lord Sōshū, please wait a moment..."

The old man continued to appraise the various Chinese porcelains placed in large quantities.

"Mitsan, he looks like Mr. Nakayama from 'Antiques Roadshow.'"

Kyouko whispered to Hikaru. Indeed, he reminded Hikaru of the antique dealer from the treasure appraisal show broadcast in the Akitsushima Federation.

"What do you think?"

"All of them are genuine... Where did you get such masterpieces?"

"They are from a sunken ship, so there were items intended for other countries' rulers or as gifts."

"I see, that makes sense."

"Then, what do you think?"

Is he impatient?

Oda Nobunaga asked the old man.

"From the Tang Dynasty's Yue kiln celadon, Song Dynasty's Ru kiln, official kiln, Ding kiln, Yaozhou kiln, Yue kiln, and Longquan kiln, Jingdezhen kiln, Southern Song official kiln, Yuan Dynasty's blue and white, Longquan kiln, and Ming Dynasty's Yongle, Chenghua, Hongzhi, and Zhengde periods, almost all famous kilns are represented."

"What is their value?"

"Do you know the 'Mabōkan,' owned by Ashikaga Yoshitaka?"

"I know it and its origin."

It was a famous item that Ashikaga Yoshimasa sent back to Ming for repair when it cracked, and it was returned with iron staples.

"There are a few items that can rival it. Even if they are slightly inferior, they are all worthy of being called masterpieces."

The old man's appraisal surprised even Oda Nobunaga. His retainers were also surprised, and the merchants were excited, thinking about how to buy them.

"Then, how much will you sell them for?"

"..."

Hikaru and his companions were silent. They had been so focused on identifying the era and origin of the porcelain and cleaning and repairing it that they hadn't checked the market prices.

"The currency unit in this era is 'mon,' right?"

"Big brother, starting from there?"

"You're not much better!"

The currency unit was 1,000 mon to one kan, and the coins were a mix of imports from China and privately or publicly minted copper coins. However, Hikaru didn't know how much one mon was worth.

"Maybe one mon is about 100 new yen?"

"Then, how much is that celadon tea bowl, big brother?"

Seiki pointed to the tea bowl the old man had praised as comparable to the Mabōkan.

"Maybe 100 million new yen, so about 1,000 kan? But I've seen news that national treasures can be worth billions of new yen."

The more they looked, the more confused they became. They thought it could be 100 mon, but 100 million mon didn't seem unreasonable.

"Does Kyouko know?"

"Mitsan, I don't have an eye for aesthetics."

"Seiki?"

"What do you expect from a commoner's family, big brother?"

"True..."

Whispering among themselves, the three felt the gazes of Oda Nobunaga and everyone else, who seemed to be thinking, "Tell us quickly!"

"Since we don't know the price... How about a competitive bidding?"

To avoid the hassle of pricing, Hikaru declared they would sell the items through an auction. It was a spur-of-the-moment idea, but it had the advantage of getting a higher price through competition.

"What is competitive bidding?"

"It's a method where those who want to buy state the price they can offer, and the highest bidder gets the item."

Oda Nobunaga didn't seem to know about auctions, so Hikaru explained briefly.

"I see, that's interesting. The more people, the better. I'll allow a competitive bidding in Kiyosu in a month."

Oda Nobunaga was naturally authoritative, but as a lord, it was understandable. Hikaru remembered that before being sent here, there were many authoritative politicians, high-ranking officials, and big business leaders.

"Thank you for your kindness."

Thus, the Chinese porcelain display ended successfully. They could have gone home, but to show respect to Oda Nobunaga, they gave him a few Tenmoku tea bowls for tea ceremonies and gave the merchants some low-quality plates and bowls as samples.

Even though they were low-quality, they could sell for a few kan, and everyone was happy to go home.

"Great! Let's collect money and buy a lot!"

"The price might go up if we tell our acquaintances, but it will leak anyway... I'll tell them in a way that seems like a favor."

The merchants were each thinking about how to prepare for the auction in a month.

"Big brother, the auction is a good idea."

"We have a month, so let's gather more."

"Good idea. Let's leave the rest to Kiyomaro and search nearby."

They went to the coast of China with Kanagawa, a three-week round trip, and obtained more treasures. They spent the remaining week preparing for the auction.

In August of the third year of Eiroku, a historic large auction was held in Kiyosu.