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

Chapter 73 Determined to Go to Luoyang
Although Miyoshi Toshinaga seems fearless now and dares to lead his troops to Kyoto and challenge Hosokawa Harumoto, in fact, looking back on the first half of his life, it was also a bumpy road and full of bitter tears.

The Miyoshi clan is a branch of the Ogasawara clan, a famous branch of the Shinano Genji clan. After the Jōkyū War, Ogasawara Nagashū became the guardian of Awa. His descendants lived in Miyoshi County, Awa Province, and later used "Miyoshi" as their surname. After more than a hundred years of development, the Miyoshi clan gradually became a powerful people in Awa Province, and also a capable retainer of the Awa Hosokawa clan, who later inherited the post of Awa guardian.

Miyoshi Toshinaga's father, Miyoshi Motonaga, was an important official in the family of Hosokawa Harumoto, and made great contributions to Harumoto's rise. However, as he became successful, he gradually became estranged from Hosokawa Harumoto. In 1532, Miyoshi Motonaga committed suicide after being defeated in a battle with the Ikko clan at the age of , under the scheme of Hosokawa Harumoto.

At that time, his sons were still young. The oldest, Miyoshi Toshinaga (nicknamed Senkumaru), was only ten years old and had to live under the protection of the Awa Hosokawa family.

As the saying goes, good and evil will be rewarded in the end. After losing his important minister, Hosokawa Harumoto was seriously injured and soon lost control of Kinki. Kinai fell into a vortex of struggle among the Hosokawa clan, Rokkaku clan, Ikko sect, Tendai sect, Hokke sect and other forces.

One year after Miyoshi Motonaga's defeat, the coalition forces of Hosokawa Harumoto and the Hokke sect were defeated by the coalition forces of Hosokawa Harukuni (younger brother of Hosokawa Takakuni) and the Ikko sect. Hosokawa Harumoto had no choice but to retreat to Awaji Island to avoid the attack temporarily, and at the same time asked for help from his younger brother, the head of the Awa Hosokawa family and the Awa guardian Hosokawa Ujiyasu.

Hosokawa Ujiyuki took this opportunity to send Miyoshi Tosinaga to serve under Hosokawa Harumoto. Although he had a grudge against Hosokawa Harumoto and the Ikko clan for killing his father, in order to preserve his family business, Miyoshi Tosinaga had to temporarily bow to Hosokawa Harumoto and become his retainer.

After that, Miyoshi Toshinaga maintained a good relationship with Hosokawa Harumoto on the surface, but in fact he had been secretly accumulating strength and waiting for the opportunity to counterattack. This time he raised an army to Kyoto, which was an attempt for him to become more powerful, and also a test of Hosokawa Harumoto's strength.

The young man who once bowed and scraped under him was now forcing him to abdicate with force at his doorstep. Hosokawa Harumoto was furious, but he was also worried that if he failed to handle this crisis well, he would not only lose face, but also the forces that followed his lead would disappear.

After much deliberation, he decided to split his troops into two groups. One group would ask his old friend, Rokkaku Sadajori of Minami-Omi, to mediate, and the other group would send an envoy to Wakasa in the name of Shogun Ashikaga Yoshiharu, asking him to lead his troops to Kyoto to show his strength on the pretext of appointing Nobushige as the guardian of Wakasa and Tango.

On February 28th, just as Nobushige had returned to the Takeda clan's residence after handling Tango's affairs, he received the "Gopan Gokyo Sho" from the shogunate. The content of the book was eloquent and ornate. It first praised Nobushige and the Takeda clan, and then stated that Ashikaga Yoshiharu hoped to meet Nobushige, the young and promising head of the clan, with his own eyes, and appoint him as the guardian of Wakasa and Tango.

Nobushige had some concerns about this letter from the shogunate: he felt that Tango had just been pacified and his family affairs had not been settled yet, and rushing to Kyoto might give the scoundrels an opportunity to take advantage of him. Moreover, he also understood the principle that a tall tree attracts the wind, and he did not want to wade into the muddy waters of Kinki before his strength was developed. If so, he would be targeted by the big guys in Kinai, and it would be difficult for him to keep a low profile in the future.

However, Takeda Motomitsu, who had always advocated strengthening ties with the imperial court and the shogunate, did not think so. After learning that Nobushige had received the shogun's letter, he could not help but smile and hurried from Hoshin-ji Temple to Takeda's mansion, urging Nobushige to pack his bags and prepare his army to go to Kyoto.

When Nobushige succeeded to the position of head of the family, he had an in-depth conversation with Takeda Motomitsu. During the conversation, Takeda Motomitsu put forward "three bottom lines", one of which was "the relationship with the imperial court and the shogunate must be maintained and cannot be neglected."

At that time, Nobushige disagreed with this bottom line. He believed that the imperial court and the shogunate were weak now, and it was enough to just keep looking good. There was no need to spend too much energy and financial resources on them.

However, seeing that Sanjo Konyori played a significant role in the harmony between Takeda and Asakura, Nobushige gradually developed a new understanding of the imperial court and the shogunate.

He began to realize that the intervention of the imperial court and the shogunate could indeed play a significant role at certain times, especially when the two armies were deadlocked and urgently needed a way out. The appearance of those nobles and envoys could often play an unexpected role. Therefore, although Nobushige had some concerns about the letter from the shogunate, he was not as resistant as he was at the beginning. At this time, Takeda Motomitsu came to urge him, which really made him feel troubled.

"Hikogoro, do you know when was the last time our family went to Kyoto?" Takeda Motomitsu asked excitedly in the tea room of the Takeda clan's mansion.

Xinzhong hesitated for a moment and tentatively answered: "It seems to be the seventh year of Daying (1527)?"

Takeda Motomitsu shook his head, his eyes sparkling as he said, "It was the sixth year of the Daiei era! December 8th of the sixth year of the Daiei era! That morning, after the snow, the sky cleared up. My father led the Takeda army from the Takeda clan mansion, along the Kuchikikoshi all the way south, to Kyoto to support Hosokawa Rokuro (Hosokawa Takakuni). At that time, our Takeda army was so high-spirited and strong!"

"It's a pity that the battle of Katsura Kawahara was a failure..." Speaking of this, Takeda Motomitsu lowered his head slightly, his eyes full of disappointment: "Eleven years have passed in a flash, Rokuro has already been defeated and died, and the main family is no longer as powerful as it used to be..."

"Father, please don't be sad." Seeing Takeda Motomitsu's dejected look, Nobushige couldn't bear it, so he whispered to comfort him: "Although we suffered a terrible defeat at that time, our family has survived now. Not only that, we have also defeated our old enemies, the Asakura clan and the Isshiki clan, and seized Tsuruga and Tango. Isn't this worth your happiness?"

"Yes," Takeda Motomitsu immediately turned from sadness to joy after hearing what Nobushige said. He wiped his beard and sighed: "This is all thanks to you, Hikogoro. If it weren't for you, your father would never have dared to think that our family could have achieved such success today."

"This is the result of the unity of our Takeda clan and our retainers, not just my credit," Nobushige said modestly.

"No matter what, our family is different now than it was in the past. It's only after many years that we've gained the respect of the Shogun and Kanrei again." Takeda Motomitsu took the "Gopan Gokyo Sho" from Nobushige, looked at it left and right, up and down, and was delighted no matter how he looked at it. This scene made Nobushige feel both ridiculous and sad.

"Hikogoro, have you decided how many troops you will bring to Luoyang this time?" Takeda Motomitsu carefully examined the letter and asked with concern, "It won't work if you have less people. Last time, my father brought 2,000 people to Luoyang."

"My dear father, I haven't made up my mind yet." Xinzhong replied.

"Our family has integrated Tango and Tsuruga counties, and with Wakasa... even if we have to leave some troops behind, we can at least transfer 4,000 men to Kyoto..." Takeda Motomitsu solemnly presented the letter and began to make plans.

"Father," Nobushige thought for a moment and interrupted Takeda Motomitsu, "I have decided that I will only bring a thousand troops with me this time. Not only that, I will also bring Nagisa with me."

感谢凌风傲雪、月舞星痕、玉清真王、18346631555、泰瑞纳斯、书友20211124125534313、织田上总介信长、daiak47、晴空下飞舞的枫叶、竹上隐客惊鸿、懒喵星大总统、末世黑烟、书友190323035108468、书友20171014224425371、龙游大海、叶子一世、李子大哥、少时诵经书、书友20220228155343625、风见阳人、半离哥、背景板X、列宁指引着方向、书友20180107114200740、仰天长啸兮气白虹、格雷希亚拉波斯、有WiFi不思蜀的打赏和月票；

Thanks to friends such as Blue Demon Shark, ILVAI, Gui Yihu, Jue Shi Tiansha, Curious Thrush, Dashan Mengleyoumeng and others for their recommendations and wonderful comments!
Xiongzai thanks everyone for their subscriptions and monthly tickets. Please continue to support us. Thank you!


(End of this chapter)