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

Chapter 61 Bargaining
It was already late when they arrived at Kanezaki Castle. Under the arrangement of Kagawa Morihisa, Maenami Keisada temporarily stayed in the samurai residence in the castle town.

After tossing and turning all night and unable to fall asleep, he got up early the next morning and went to Kagawa Morihisa's residence, requesting to meet Nobushige early.

Unable to bear his repeated pleas, Kagawa Morihisa had no choice but to lead him to the large hall of the Kanezaki Castle Palace and wait quietly for Nobushige to meet him.

About half an hour later, Xinzhong finally arrived.

Looking at the young samurai in front of him who was only eighteen years old, Maemaya Kagesada was filled with mixed feelings. He did not expect that Asakura Kageren, Asakura Kagetaka, and Asakura Kageki, the three great generals of the Asakura clan, and the powerful army of 13,000 people, would be defeated by such a young head of the Takeda clan.

"The foreign minister, Maeba Gobei Kagesada, pays his respects to His Highness Izu no Kami." Maeba Kagesada tried to calm himself and bowed respectfully to Nobushige.

"Please stand up." Nobushige raised his hand and said with a smile, "The imperial edict has not come down yet. I have not yet been appointed as the governor of Izu. You can just call me Nobushige."

"This..." Qianbo Jingding hesitated for a moment and responded: "I'm afraid this is inappropriate."

"What's wrong with that? Your new head of the family has no official position, right? I can't call him by the previous head of the family's official position, 'Tanzheng Shaobi', right?"

Xinzhong's words startled Qianbo Jingding, and he hurriedly asked, "Your Highness, have you already known about the change of the head of our family?"

"Of course." Nobushige replied with a relaxed expression, "That's why I'm willing to meet you here. If the previous person was in power, I would definitely not let you cross the Komei Pass."

"It seems that His Highness has a good impression of the new head of the family." Maenba Kagesada said with great effort to suppress his anger. He was one of the "Four Commissioners" appointed by Asakura Takakage, and now that Takakage has died, not only can he not take revenge, but he also has to come to negotiate on behalf of Asakura Kagetaka, who is plotting to usurp the throne. Thinking of this, his heart is like a burning flame.

"Not only do I have a good impression of you, we also have a pretty good personal relationship." Nobushige said this deliberately in order to arouse the vigilance of Zenba Kagesada. He knew that what he said to the Lord Zenba in front of him would eventually reach the ears of Asakura Sotei. That is why he wanted to take the opportunity to cause trouble for Asakura Kagesaka.

"Personal relationship?" As expected, Qianbo Jingding suddenly became alert: "Your Highness, have you had a long-standing relationship with my master?"

"Of course." Xin Zhong gave an affirmative answer promptly, but when Qianbo Jingding continued to ask when and where they met and what kind of relationship they had, Xin Zhong avoided the question and pretended to be hiding something, which whetted Qianbo Jingding's appetite.

"If you want to know these, please go back and ask your lord." Seeing that his goal had been achieved, Nobushige immediately changed direction and shifted the focus of this meeting to the Asakura family's invasion of Wakasa.

"Let's get back to the point. What brings you here? You're not just here to inquire about the relationship between me and your new head of the family, are you?"

Xinzhong's words made Qianbo Jingding recover all of a sudden. Feeling that he had been a little rude, he quickly apologized, "I was rude just now, Your Highness, please forgive me."

"No problem," Nobushige said nonchalantly, "Tell me, what is your purpose for coming to Kanezaki Castle?"

"The foreign minister has come here on behalf of the Asakura clan to discuss a truce with Your Highness." Maeba Kagesada got back to the point.

"Cease the fighting? Humph." Nobushige snorted coldly, "Over at Yuji Castle, your Asakura troops are gathering continuously. It's ridiculous to come here and talk about a truce now."

"Your Highness, calm down." Maenami Kagesada bowed and apologized, "Our family did not do this to target the Takeda clan, but we are worried that the war will continue to spread and affect the heartland of Echizen, so we deployed troops on the border."

Nobushige did not believe Maeba Kagesada's explanation. If it was just for defense, there would be no need to mobilize so many troops. Judging from the troops that were still being reinforced, Asakura Soteki should be taking advantage of the Takeda clan's unstable foothold to recapture Tsuruga County.

However, Nobushige still wanted to hear what price the Asakura family could offer. After all, if the Asakura army could withdraw, he would have time to return and rescue Tango.

"Oh? Then tell me, how do we make a truce?" Xinzhong asked. Qianbo Jingding heard this and felt that Xinzhong was interested, so this matter would be relatively easy to handle: "Your Highness, Master Zongdi sent an external official here to propose three truce plans:

First, both sides declare a ceasefire; second, each side withdraws its troops and returns home to restore the previous border line; third, both sides maintain a standing force of no more than 500 troops on the border.

"Restore the previous border line?" Xin Zhong smiled dumbly: "I have a few questions for you, Your Excellency."

"Your Highness, please speak."

"Did our family start this battle first?"

"This...is not it." Qianbo Jingding looked embarrassed.

"So, up to now, the battle line is within Wakasa?"

"No." Qianbo Jingding blushed.

"Is this Muling natural moat in your hands now?"

"Not really... Your Highness, what do you mean?" Qianbo Jingding knew what Xinzhong meant, but still asked despite knowing the answer.

"Since it's none of them, why should I agree to it?" Nobushige said sarcastically, "The three-point proposal you just mentioned doesn't seem like a peace agreement after our family wins, but more like a handout after your Asakura clan wins. Do you think I will agree to it?"

"Your Highness, please feel free to tell me what the conditions are. Although an outsider cannot make the decision, you can take them back and ask Master Sotei to decide." Qianba Jingshou bowed. He knew that the three conditions were indeed a bit tough, but after all, he was here on orders, so he could only act according to Asakura Sotei's wishes.

Seeing that he was quite respectful, Xinzhong openly gave the conditions he had thought of long ago:

1. The Asakura clan acknowledged that Tsuruga County was ceded to the Takeda clan, and the two sides used the Kirigiri as the boundary;

2. Both sides immediately withdraw their troops from both sides of Muling, retaining a maximum of 500 troops each;

3. The Asakura clan shall pay compensation to the Takeda clan for 1,000 taels of gold and 30,000 strings of Yongle coins;
4. The two sides signed an oath and declared a ceasefire.

"Cede Tsuruga? And ask for compensation?!" Maematsugu opened his mouth in shock. He had thought that Nobushige would ask for compensation, but he didn't expect that he would ask for such a high price, which directly broke his psychological bottom line.

"Your Highness, are you sincere about the ceasefire by offering such conditions?" Qianbo Jingding said resentfully.

"If you are not sincere about stopping the war, is there any need for me to meet you here?" Xinzhong asked back.

"Your Highness seems to have not yet understood the situation. Although our Asakura Army has suffered some setbacks, its strength is still there. With our Echizen mobilization power, how long can your country resist?"

"I don't doubt your mobilization ability in Echizen," Nobushige said calmly, "but 13,000 troops are not something you can just pull out casually, right? Besides, do you really want to fight to the death with our army at the Muling Ravine? I heard that the Ikki in Kaga seems to be restless recently."

(End of this chapter)