'Ninomiya? But who is this Ninomiya? What is his lore? Of what is he made and how has he come to be "Ninomiya"?' This I hear you ask, beg, scream. Very well. I shall indulge you.

THE GRAND BOURGEOIS

Ashikaga Event:

It was well known throughout Kyoto and the Ashikaga domain that Mikimoto Kichiro had gained a strong foothold within the government of the Shogunate, or at least the kubo-esque-ship of Yoshiharu and his regent Hatakeyama Amesaka. As the TTC’s toady, his prominence in government and economics had inspired envy and hatred amongst his opposition, and the disunified interests of the JTC in Kyoto had begun to organise themselves to rival his prominence. So began the rise to popularity of one Ninomiya Kintoku, a peasant in the household of a Nara landholder who resided in Kyoto.

Ninomiya was born in the world of yesteryear, he was a child when the Hatakeyama Imperial family yet lived, and he had been a peasant in the fields of Nara as most strange happenings befell that cursed branch. When Nara itself was annihilated in a great eruption, he had been only a teen, and his family had all perished in the ruin. It was only through happy chance that he happened to attract the attention of the landholder on whose farm they worked in the aftermath, his virtuous diligence and dedication to reconstruction earning the admiration of the older gentleman. He took the boy on as a peasant on his own, grand estate, where the boy worked twice as hard, and studied in his lord’s personal library all the while.

When Ninomiya was around 18, he approached his aging lord and asked to be given permission to tend to the lord’s ruined fields near Nara, fields which many had come to deem infertile and had long abandoned. The lord gave him permission, and furthermore, gave him the land as his to oversee in the lord’s name. In short time, the young innovator had revived the land and began to become rich off the fruits of his labour. He became a small landlord on this estate, hiring and housing several peasant farmers, and as he grew in wealth, so did his lord. Eventually, his lord recommended him to his own liege, a local shugodai, as a candidate to oversee the feudal district around Nara, which had been in decades of crisis, and thus oversaw the reconstruction of the region until, eventually, the regime changed once more, and he was discharged and disregarded.

It was around this time that his lord died, and the lord’s heir elected to, with the arrival of the Ashikaga-Kikyo Shogunate, move to Kyoto, leaving the estates to be managed by local farmers. Though Ninomiya wished to be one of these managers, the lord declared he was “indispensable” and “had surely great deeds to do”. In this way, Ninomiya was introduced to the rich bourgeois and guild culture of the Peaceful Capital, becoming a member alongside his lord of the Jōshū Kome-za, the Yamashiro Province Rice Guild. Applying his keen mind for agriculture, he quickly became a central figure in the Kome-za, and was an ardent backer of cooperation with the JTC, which he perceived as more favourable to farmers and fledgling industry, and the future of the Japanese economy.

Mikimoto’s TTC dealings won out, however, and his introduction of bank capital operated through the Gin-za (the Silversmiths) which he dominated allowed him to buy out much of his JTC-friendly competition. Ninomiya, who vocally criticised the TTC as overly financial, and also believed the future was in Japanese unity, something he saw most likely alongside the Kikyo Shogunate and their JTC, was quickly identified as a rival which needed crushing. The Kome-za, however, managed to resist this as Ninomiya studied with great fascination the practices of the early banks in Toyohashi, and in the face of their indomitable capital’s introduction to Kyoto, had devised his own institution: the gojoukou, a proto-credit union. Putting up, with his lord’s permission, a substantial funding base, and convincing the Kome-za’s members to do the same, they were able to gather substantial enough capital to make loans, competitive offers, and investments to rival the Gin-za, and slowly the Kome-za began to vastly expand its influence in other sectors of the economy — most notably, proto-industry.

As the two guilds, and their merchant leaders, began to butt heads, Ninomiya identified his next focus: the acquisition of a JTC friendly port through which to trade. On account of his history, the Kome-za had begun with many estates and much influence throughout the reconstructed regions of Gojo and Nara, but whilst they produced much in the way of grain and ore there, they were frequently forced to export these through Osaka, or more recently, Maizuru, where their profits were strangled by TTC fees and functional tariffs. Thus, Ninomiya had acquired a number of estates and properties in and around the quieter port of Wakayama, in hopes of developing it into a JTC hub, free of such influences…

Mikimoto has immediately protested this, and sought a government audience to secure the position of his prized (Takeda administrated) Maizuru, or at least Osaka. Simultaneously, Ninomiya has appealed for investment and trade privileges himself in Wakayama. It would seem the great Gin-za & Kome-za war has begun.

Ashikaga gain Ninomiya Kintoku as an NPC with Great Skills in Agriculture, Skills in Finance, and Minor Skills in Industry and Organisation. He and Mikimoto will begin their rivalry in earnest…

The Ashikaga economic sphere will now be divided. In Wakayama, Gojo, and Nara, the JTC, or more accurately the Kome-za under Ninomiya, is dominant. In Maizuru, Osaka, Kyoto, Toyooka, and Nantan, the TTC, or more accurately the Gin-za under Mikimoto, is dominant.

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Option 1: The TTC will be easier to control, through the state. We will heed the protests of the loyal Mikimoto. Veto the Wakayama port development; exports will be routed through Osaka or Maizuru. – [Invest 2 AP or a plot; Gain ‘The Staple Ports, State-Reinforced’; This will favour the TTC.]
Option 2: The JTC will present a useful counter-balance for Mikimoto. We will heed the appeals of the talented Ninomiya. Back the Wakayama port development; arbitrage must be free, and free-flowing (with a price to our profit, of course)! – [Invest 5 PPG or a plot; Gain ‘Gojo-Nara Export Boom’; This will favour the JTC.]
Option 3: What do you come to me for? The Invisible Hand of the Market knows best. – [???]

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