o that farmers and samurai alike were plunged
into their old difficulties.

Ultimately, in 1735, the Bakufu inaugurated a system of officially
fixed prices (osadame-soba), according to which 1.4 koku of rice had
to be exchanged for one ryo of gold in Yedo, the Osaka rate being
fixed at forty-two momme of silver for the same quantity of the
cereal. Anyone violating this rule was fined ten momme of silver for
each koku of rice purchased or sold by him. It is related that the
osadame-soba was operative in name only, and that the merchants
secretly dealt in the cereal at much lower prices than those
officially fixed. The Yedo financiers now concluded that the quantity
of currency in circulation was insufficient and its quality too good.
Accordingly, the gold and silver coins were once more reminted,
smaller and less pure tokens being issued under the name of bunji-kin
with reference to the Genbun era (1736-1740) of their issue. Thus,
the reform of the currency, achieved with so much difficulty in the
early years of Yoshimune's administration, had to be abandoned, and
things reverted to their old plight.

If this difficulty operated so acutely under a ruler of Yoshimune's
talent, the confusion and disorder experienced when he withdrew his
able hand from the helm of State may be imagined. The feudatories
were constantly distressed to find funds for supporting their Yedo
mansions, as well as for carrying out the public works imposed on
them from time to time, and for providing the costly presents which
had become a recognized feature of ordinary and extraordinary
intercourse. As an example of the luxury of the age, it may be
mentioned that when the fifth shogun visited the Kaga baron, the
latter had to find a sum of a million ryo to cover the expenses
incidental to receiving such a guest. In these circumstances, there
arose among the feudatories a habit of levying monetary contributions
from wealthy persons in their fiefs, the accommodation thus afforded
being repaid by permission to carry swords or by promotion in rank.
The poorer classes of samurai being increasingly distressed, they,
too, borrowed money at high rates of interest from merchants and
wealthy farmers, which loans they were generally unable to repay.
Ultimately, the Bakufu solved the situation partially by decreeing
that no lawsuit for the recovery of borrowed money should be
entertained--a reversion to the tokusei system of the Ashikaga
shoguns.

Of course