So now, with the achievements of the two major commissions gone, who became the beneficiary?
That's right—the Yashiro Commission!
With the trade routes opened, the spread of culture became much easier.
After all, selling books isn't very profitable, so few people were willing to transport and sell printed books.
Now that the trade routes were open, more people were willing to haul goods. Only when transport capacity was sufficient would someone be willing to carry books.
With books now circulating, culture could be considered spread.
When the people gained stability and wealth from trade, they would have leisure time and be willing to read books. Once they read books, the Yashiro Commission's task could be considered accomplished.
Little Ayato explained the general meaning to his father as above.
"Very good. It seems you've studied your lessons well, but it's not detailed enough. Besides the benefits to us, the Kanjou Commission actually gains something too—it's just that the ones benefiting aren't the Hiiragi family. Next, I'll teach you the follow-up approach."
In reality, each commission is led by one major clan, with many smaller clans ruling under it.
Leaving some ronin around allowed the leading clans to eat very well, but the smaller clans lacking strength easily couldn't even get a sip of the soup, because their status wasn't high enough to profit from it.
This was also the reason the Kamisato Clan within the Yashiro Commission was in a precarious position. When the leading big brother was weak, naturally some of the smaller clans under their command—who were slightly weaker—would try to usurp from below.
Now, the leading big brothers of the Kanjou Commission and Tenryou Commission had their food supply cut off. Though still powerful, they would need time to recuperate after being starved.
This recuperation period couldn't possibly go smoothly, because no matter what, unexpected issues always arise in operations. There were far too many people who didn't want to see the leading big brothers in good condition and were slowly waiting to usurp them.
All of this was precious development time for the Yashiro Commission.
"This time, I plan to create a new cultural symbol. As for the name... let's call it Shura Anyakonsen-shou."
"Wait, Father, if we do this..."
Creating a god privately... without the Shogun's recognition, that would be a heretical cult.
Kamisato Ayato was shocked. His father had always said that the Kamisato Clan had been loyal to the Raiden Shogun for generations—how could he be so bold now?
"There always needs to be someone operating outside the rules to bring change. Ayato, this is the profound truth I realized today."
The Shogun is not omnipotent. If she were omnipotent, why wouldn't she know the current state of Inazuma's people?
If she did know... the head of the Kamisato Clan dared not think about why.
So obviously, the truth was that the operations of the two major commissions had shielded things from the Raiden Shogun.
And the solution was very simple and unadorned.
That is, to report to the Raiden Shogun that they were failing in their duties.
Yes, exactly. Though the solution sounds very elementary school-level, reporting them is indeed the most reasonable method.
However, this reporting couldn't be done by someone from the Kamisato Clan, nor by any force within Inazuma.
The reason is simple: it's one thing for kids from another class to report that someone in your class is pulling small tricks, and entirely another for someone in your own class to report issues within the class.
If a force within Inazuma successfully reported and usurped this time, then in the future, everyone would truly start mutually reporting to climb up.
The consequence would be that "reporting" becomes a tool for other forces to gain power.
At that point, so-called reporting would no longer have effective function, because in the end, operations are still carried out by people—and people have selfish motives.
So how to utilize an external force?
This adventurer who cleared out the ronin even erects monuments~
That's a cultural symbol!
It's a natural bond between the Yashiro Commission and this adventurer!