HIST 9C Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Mercantilism, Moral Economy, Jiriki
Document Summary
Economic structure built on the primacy of rice (agricultural fundamentalism) Samurai collected rice as a levy and sold it to merchants to get cash. Samurai had to borrow money from merchants in advance and then became indebted as they often failed to pay them back. My great famine lasted between breakfast and this class. Rice was still the most important thing tho. This structure will change because samurai need to borrow money before they can collect tax. Their lifestyle was expensive (rituals and dual recidence) There was an explosion of commerce because the samurai had to travel, so their retainers (their 500 servants or whatever) had to go with them every two years. Basically the samurai had to spend more money. Samurai cancelled their debt (cause they have the. Samurai cancelled their debt (cause they have the upperhand) Merchants were pissed off, but couldn"t really hold a rebellion.
