Japan's Warring States Period: The Rise of the Wakasa Tiger

Chapter 107 Knocking on the mountain and shaking the tiger
The cause of the incident can be traced back to October 8th.

On this day, the Tango group's senior ninja Taro Mitsugu came to the Takeda clan's mansion and reported to Yoshishige on the intelligence in the Tango direction over the past month as usual.

Among the news he reported, two items caught Yizhong's attention.

One is the neighboring province of Tajima, where an attempted assassination against the family elder Kakiya Tsunesaga occurred a few days ago. After the attempt failed, the assassin committed suicide by taking poison on the spot.

Although no one knows who the mastermind behind the incident is, Gakiya Mitsunari, the son of Gakiya Tsunari, insisted that it was his father's political enemy and fellow family elder, Tanjie Shoyoshi, who did it. He led his followers to attack Tanjie Shoyoshi's residence, forcing Tanjie Shoyoshi to flee back to his territory for mobilization. A civil war was about to break out.

However, with the active mediation of Yamana Yufeng, the two sides stopped fighting and did not cause too much turmoil.

Upon hearing this information, Yoshishige was somewhat disappointed and thought, "If a war really breaks out, perhaps our family can reap the benefits."

"I heard before that the Tajima Yamane family has split into two factions. One faction is inclined to befriend the Amago clan and live in peace with the Inaba Yamane family. The other faction is tough and hopes to annex Inaba by force and unify the Yamane family. Now it seems that the contradictions within the Tajima Yamane family have reached an irreconcilable point. Shirobei, you will strengthen the surveillance of Tajima for me and report to me in time if there is any abnormality."

"Ha!" Tara Oo Mitsugu responded, "There is one more thing that I think the lord needs to be vigilant about."

"What's the matter?" Yoshishige knew that if Taroko Mitsugu said that he needed to be vigilant, then the matter must be serious.

"The Chunin under my command reported that Itsumi Suruga-no-kami of Oi County has been very active recently. Not only has he frequently sent people to contact those transferred people in Tango, he has also recruited those Tango samurai who were demoted or exiled. It seems that he is planning to take some action." Taroko Mitsuna reported.

In fact, Yoshishige had heard about this matter from Tanabe Hikomitsu earlier, but at that time he thought of waiting and watching, so he did not take any action. After more than a month, the intelligence about Itomi Masaki's unusual behavior came again, and Yoshishige had to take it seriously.

"I also learned that the envoy sent by Suruga-no-kami to contact Tango was none other than Naito Uchisuke, who was exiled by the main family back then." Taroko Mitsunaga had just arrived and did not know what Naito Katsutaka had done before, so he learned about this from the local Chunin in Wakasa.

"Hmph, what on earth do these guys want to do?" Yoshishige was furious, thinking, "I treated him well, and even gave him an additional 2,500 koku after the Tango attack. But in the end, they secretly recruited ronin and colluded with others to commit crimes. It seems that I have to deal with these guys who don't learn their lesson."

"Shirobei, you did a great job." Yoshishige nodded slightly to express his appreciation. "In the next few days, you should gather more intelligence and try to compile a detailed list of Tango people who have contact with Suruga-no-kami for me. The sooner the better."

"Ha, I obey your command!"

Not long after Taroko Mitsuna left, Yoshishige felt more and more that something was wrong, so he summoned Yunfeng Ryuoki and Yamamoto Shigeyuki to the palace to discuss the matter.

In the palace, as soon as the two men sat down, Yoshishige told them the truth about Yijian Changjing's evil intentions.

To Yizhong's surprise, the bald man and the lame man were not surprised. Yunfeng Longxing asked, "Your Highness, don't you know what's going on? You told me that this man has rebelled twice and is very ambitious. How could he be satisfied with an additional 2,500 shi?"

"Then according to Master's opinion, how should I respond?" Yi Zhong asked anxiously.

"I think that your highness's previous tactic of using stillness to overcome movement is a good idea." Yunfeng Longxing replied, "Your highness currently has the advantage, and you can let him jump around for a few days. Once he has linked up all those forces with ulterior motives, you can then catch them all in one fell swoop." "Do you want me to wipe out all those guys?" Yizhong frowned. To be honest, he didn't know how many Tango people would respond to Itsumi Masaki's call and raise the banner of rebellion against him. If the impact was too wide, it would inevitably cause turbulence in the internal environment that had just been stabilized, and the revitalization of the territory would be delayed again.

"Master, I think it is better to strike the mountain and scare the tiger than to use stillness to overcome movement." At this moment, Yamamoto Shigeyuki expressed a different opinion, which brought Yoshishige's thoughts back to reality.

"Tell me, how do you scare the tiger by making a loud noise?" Yi Chong became interested.

"It's simple. My lord, you only need to take advantage of the fact that Suruga-no-kami is still in the preparation stage, force him to take the initiative, disrupt his position, and take this opportunity to eliminate him first, and then deal with those forces that secretly colluded with him one by one. The advantage of doing this is that it avoids causing too much unrest at one time, greatly reduces the risk of the rebellion spreading, and is conducive to maintaining stability in most areas of the family."

It must be said that Yamamoto Shigeyuki's strategy did solve the problem that troubled Yoshishige, but how to force Itsumi Masahiro to take action? Yoshishige thought about it and there seemed to be no particularly suitable solution.

"My lord, I have a plan." Yamamoto Shigeyuki said.

"Don't waste time. If you have any good ideas, tell me now." Yi Zhong said impatiently.

"My lord, you can issue a decree requiring that from now on, the family elders and their families all live in the castle town of the Takeda clan's mansion," suggested Yamamoto Shigeyuki.

As mentioned before, the Wakasa Takeda clan now implements the "retainer rotation and consultation system", that is, Yamagata Hidemasa is the chief retainer, Kumagai Katsunao, Shirai Mitsutane, and Itsumi Masatsune are the second retainers, Yamagata Morinobu, Yamamoto Shigeyuki, Kagawa Morihisa, Kumagai Takanao, Awaya Katsuhisa and other five people are rotating retainers, who jointly manage all matters big and small in the family.

According to Yamamoto Shigeyuki's plan, once the above nine people and their families were asked to move to the castle town, the guilty Itomi Masatsune would definitely refuse at all costs, and this would give him a reason to take action against him.

As the saying goes, one should stay out of matters that do not concern one. Since other people in the country are not included in the retainers who are required to live together in this round, they are likely to adopt a wait-and-see attitude and will not follow Itsumi Masatsune to rise up against Yoshishige. In this way, Itsumi Masatsune will be isolated and helpless and can only surrender.

At this moment, Yoshishige remembered that Yamamoto Shigeyuki's move had a special name in history, called "Gathering under the Castle."

During the Warring States Period, powerful retainers were simply semi-independent lords who could pledge allegiance to the daimyo, but could also, at any time, take possession of their own property and turn to his master, thus creating an unstable situation.

The purpose of this "castle-dwelling concentration camp" policy was relatively simple. It was to allow powerful retainers, powerful clans, and locals to move to the castle town of the daimyo's castle. In name, this was to make it easier for them to participate in official business and serve at any time, but in reality it cut off their ties with their respective territories, thereby reducing their independence and the possibility of rebellion.

"I think what you are talking about can be called 'gathering under the city'." Yi Zhong pretended to be in deep thought and then "summarized".

"Living in the castle town... Well, that's good, simple and clear." Yamamoto Shigeyuki nodded in agreement.

"But, I have a question." Yunfeng Longxing suddenly interrupted, "What if Suruga-no-Kami is willing to move to the castle town? After all, he can hand over the collusion of evil to Naito Uchizoku to carry out."

"That's easy, but I have another trick," Yamamoto Shigeyuki replied, "'Inspection of the Land', my lord, you should have heard of this, right?"

(End of this chapter)