Pillars of the Wu family

The arrival of Umino Totsuna brought a little vitality to this dead castle. Following his small load team, the urgently needed food in the city, as well as cooked chicken, duck, fish, pig and sheep, etc., came to this juncture. No one doesn't care about breaking the precepts or not, the first thing to do is to fill the stomach that has been hungry for half a year.

A grand luncheon was held in the Honmaru of Stone Rock Castle. The protagonist of the banquet was Totsuna Unano, who returned to Shinano. This old man was not only the grandfather of Sanada Yukitaka, but also the ruler of the small prefecture and Saku County. Sanada Yutaka His grandson is one of his retainers, and at the same time, he is also the backbone of the Unino family who has been carefully cultivated.

A luncheon turned into a reminiscence meeting, and the samurai of the Sanada family began to collectively remember the bitterness and sweetness, recalling the glorious years of the Unano family in Shinano. Fast forward nearly 20 years, and the young man has entered middle age. The governor of the old family back then was even more than seventy years old, and the samurai of the Sanada family looked at Totsuna Umino with admiration in their eyes.

"Xinglong! Let the old man take a closer look at you!" The old man grabbed Sanada Yutaka's hand, looked at it carefully for a long time and said with tears in his eyes: "It's really hard for you these years! I think we fled our hometown and wandered to Ueno alone. More than ten years have passed since the country! Now everything is fine, the town government has defeated the rebel Takeda family, Murakami Yoshiki and Ogasawara have surrendered for a long time, my child! Listen to the old man! Surrender early!"

Sanada Yutaka smiled wryly and did not answer. He just supported the old man with a sullen head and slowly walked up to the castle tower. He had expected this would happen a long time ago. He turned his head and gave Yazawa Yorima a wink, as if telling him that he knew his worries. Sure enough, the latter could only respond with a helpless expression.

After all, Totsuna Umino was over ninety years old, so he couldn't help but chatter non-stop.After a while, he talked about the old things: "Your father passed away early. It was very difficult to leave you brothers. The old man took pity on you little children, so he took you to Taiping Temple City. In a flash, 35 years have passed. However, the little baby back then has become a first-class samurai with a strong reputation, and the hardships I have suffered all these years are all worth it!"

Looking at the old grandfather, Sanada Yukitaka couldn't help but said excitedly: "I am lucky to have today's achievements thanks to the cultivation of my grandfather. Without the hard work of my grandfather, our brothers would have starved to death in Sanada Township long ago. I remember that my grandfather took me as Xinglong as the successor of the family governor to train me, and even had a big fight with my uncle, but it was more than 20 years ago."

Totsuna Unano sighed: "Yes! Back then your uncle was very angry and had a long fight with the old man, but in the end the old man convinced him with the facts that my Unino family is not an ordinary samurai family, and the old man's shoulders are not only the family business of the Unino family , and the inheritance that my Shino family has passed down for hundreds of years, and the hope of tens of thousands of people from Shinano and Ueno. Your uncle is just a reckless warrior, and you are the ideal successor of my Uno family. !"

"..." Sanada Yutaka didn't know what to say.Whether it is the Sanada clan established by his father Sanada Yorichang, or the Yazawa clan, they all come from the tributaries of the Unino, Mochizuki, and Nezu clans.These three families are the descendants of most of the people in half of Shinano and half of Ueno. This family is called the Ziye clan.

The so-called Shino clan is not a standard name. Their ancestors, the Shino courtiers, were also of extraordinary background. They were created by Prince Zhenbao, the son of Emperor Qinghe. They could not enjoy the glory of Qinghe Genji because of their humble status in the royal family. , can only survive as Ziye courtiers, and their ancestors did not cultivate prominent figures in the Heian era. They just took root in Shinano and Ueno by virtue of their perseverance and the strategy of grouping together. .

The record of the Shino family’s first appearance as a samurai is the first time that the name of the Uno (Uno) family appeared among the Genji warriors led by the sixth-generation pillar of the Hanoi Genji Genji Yuan Yoshitomo in the "Hoyuan Monogatari" in the early Genpei era. As the Lang Party under Hanoi Genji Bai's banner, he personally participated in the Baoyuan Rebellion that spread to the whole world, and witnessed the process of Hanoi Genji's prosperity and decline through the Pingzhi Rebellion.

Decades later, when King Ni raised his troops and Genji's other samurai mainstay Genyoshi Naka raised his troops in Shinano, the most powerful samurai in East Shinano were Yukio Nei from Saku County, Yukino Unano, Yukihiro Unano and his son, In fact, Yukino Unano and Yukino Nei are actually brothers. In military records, he is often recorded as Yukino Shino and Yukino Shino. This shows that the Shibino clan has become a pivotal force in the Shinano Kingdom during the Genpei era.

With the demise of Minamoto Yoshinaka, the Shino family did not decline because of this. "Genhei Shengshang Ji" records an important achievement of the Unino clan. In the Battle of Beichu Mizushima, Unano Yukihiro also served as the vanguard general of the Hanoi Genji at the same time as Yada Yoshiki, the son of the Ashikaga family. , and in the ensuing battle, he fought fiercely with Iseheira's number one fierce general, Heijiao, and finally died in a fierce battle.

How can I say that this family has contributed to the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate, and then the achievements of the Unino clan were promoted by the Kamakura shogunate as it should be, and the second son of Yukino Unano, Yukino Unano, is also a great bow horse general, the most important The most important thing is that his character is a representative of very few loyalty and bravery in the unscrupulous samurai society of Genpei era.

Unano Xingshi was sent to Kamakura as a hostage when he was a companion of Minamoto Yoshitaka's son Minamoto Yoshitaka in his youth. With Minamoto Yoshitaka's demise, Minamoto Yoshitaka took advantage of the chaos and escaped from Kamakura, and Unano Xingshi pretended to be the young master Minamoto Yoshitaka to attract The attention of the guards, along with Unano Yukihiro and his elder brother Unano Yukihiro joined Minamoto Yoritomo, and he was also highly praised by Minamoto Yoritomo for his brave performance.

In the third year of Jiazhen (1237), Hojo Yasushi held a Yabusame horse riding and archery competition at Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine. Yabusame warriors from all over the world gathered together to compete for the title of "bow horse clan", and eight warriors stood out in the end. Ukino Yuki won unanimous praise from all the samurai for his outstanding bow and horse skills, and he was named the "Four Heavenly Kings of Bow and Horse" by Takeda Nobumitsu, Ogasawara Changqing, and Mochizuki Shigetaka.

The four heavenly kings, Umino Yukiji and Mochizuki Shigetaka, all came from the Shino clan, and Takeda Nobumitsu and Ogasawara Nagaki also happened to come from the first-class descendants of Kai Genji. In that era, Kai Shinano's samurai level represented the basic level of Kamakura samurai until Until the Mongolian Yuan invasion in the late Kamakura period.

There are too many prominent stories in their family that are memorable, so Totsuna Unano's chatter is extraordinarily long. Gradually talking about what happened in the past 20 years, Totsuna Unano suddenly became emotional: "I think back then, I The homeland of the Shino clan was taken by Takeda Nobutora, Murakami Yoshiki, and Suwa Yoshigee. Your uncle Unano Yukiyoshi died in the Battle of Kamigawa. Jiro Saburo! Have you forgotten all these hatreds? Have you forgotten your uncle before Do you love you so much? Have you forgotten the impact of your mother crying when she heard the news of Xingyi's death? Tell this old man!"

"I... haven't forgotten! I will never forget the shame of the Uninohira Battle! Never!" Sanada Yukitaka finally couldn't help shedding tears, and Yazawa Yorimasa and Kawahara Takamasa also quietly wiped their tears. The Shimadzu family of Satsuma, from the family governor to the low-level samurai, all belong to the same clan.

This complex composition of relatives created the current situation of the Ziye clan in a state of disunity, and at the same time provided them with extremely high morale and combat power. Back then, the Ziye clan carried the three-way army with their relatives, the Lang Party, and fought fiercely for several months until the food and aid were exhausted. It's a pity to fail, and it's impossible to say that the samurai here have no hatred for these three families.

Sanada Yutaka's childhood was very miserable. His father passed away in a hurry when he was just ten years old. The child who lacked fatherly love was brought up by his grandfather and uncle. Not only that, he also exercised his body and shaped his character habits, giving him the best A comprehensive education freed him from the rut of a country warrior.

Without the vigorous cultivation of the two relatives, there is no Kodamsho. Although Sanada Yukitaka had some misunderstandings with his uncle Unano Yukiyoshi because of the issue of inheritance rights, these things have long since disappeared with his uncle's relief, and the uncle and nephew reunited. When they were united and determined to work together to run the family business, they encountered a major blow in the Battle of Uninohira. Not long after his uncle died, his grandfather fled to Ueno country with his brothers and his mother. Soon after his mother passed away, he Big regret left.

The Ziye clan suffered from the division of the Takeda clan, the Murakami clan, and the Suwa clan. How many members of the clan died tragically in the flames of the three clans. There are his childhood playmates, young friends, and even the woman he once liked. It is because of this painful memory that he continues to inspire him. From that smart and witty young man, he has gradually transformed into a generation of tycoons who can influence the situation of Shinano.

"Do you still remember that one month after the Battle of Uninohira, Takeda Nobutora was exiled by his son and family servants on the way to Suruga? On that day, we ran around in Ueno country to tell each other like a new year. After asking for a decree from the Xianzheng Palace, he followed His Highness Nagano Shinano Shouye and fought back to Saku County. That day you also participated in the battle with the old man as the sixth team.

That day our enemies were the Oi family, the Hiraga family, the Uchiyama family, and the Shiga family in Saku County, who belonged to Takeda and Suwa respectively. The battle was very fierce, and it lasted for half a month from daytime to dusk. In the end, it was the Uesugi Army that won the battle. Nagano Shinano Shouden and Suwa Yoshigee reached peace, and the Suwa family gave up the territory they occupied in the small prefectural county. My Uno family finally recovered part of the lost territory!

But then Murakami Yoshiki and Takeda Harunobu attacked from two sides, and the old man was forced to leave his homeland and flee to Ueno country again. This is the suffering of the exiled samurai.It is not our enemies Takeda family who help us, but His Highness Uesugi Kensei, the governor of the Kanto region. We Shinano samurai must avenge our grudges, Saburo Jiro!Have you forgotten this kindness?Have you forgotten this hatred?Have you thought about revenge? "(to be continued...)