The Politics Of Money-Making Analysis

(2) ‘The politics of money-making’
With the economic situation that existed between ‘the samurai and the ordinary people’ in Kumamoto, as stated in the section on ‘the politics of thrift’, how should ‘the road of finance’ that the han government adopted be assessed? Yokoi spoke about the ideal way of finance in The Book of Rites, which was based on the principle that ‘is calculated beforehand according to a long-term viewpoint, and as a result, expenses are scheduled’ (Nippon Shiseki Kyokai [1977a], 70). Furthermore, ‘the revolt in Kuma in these days’ meant ‘mushroom mountain riots’ that the Hitoyoshi han (the next-door han to Kumamoto) brought about in 1841 (Nippon Shiseki Kyokai [1977a], 70). For these reasons, there were sharp conflicts
If the han government doesn’t stop this policy, people won’t feel easy about any moment’ (Nippon Shiseki Kyokai [1977a], 70). It was clear that the han government did not value the mutual cooperation involved in ‘the upper classes and the lower classes helping one another’(ibid.), and, as a result of the monopoly system, the han government was not the appropriate political-economic agent for pursuing the public
The wax-candle was able to command a high price even in markets outside of the territory, and was a product for which there was a lot of income elasticity. Furthermore, it was grown on cultivated ground that would otherwise not have been used for crops associated with the original tax base, such as rice and vegetables. That is, it could be grown even in mountainous areas, on wasteland, and on unoccupied ground. The advantage of having a source of revenue was great because the collection of wax seeds formed part of the farmer’s leisure activities in