Warring States Survival Guide

Chapter 188 Monkey No.
Yuanye's speculation is not without basis.

He had never thought about it before, but it was only after this incident that he realized that Song and Ningning were actually orphans. Song's father died, her mother remarried, and she had a falling out with Arakiko Shiro, so she was really an only child. The Kinoshita family had no male descendants at all, leaving only Ningning and her sister, who were only slightly better off than Song, and had Asano Nagakatsu to rely on.

In that era, such an orphan girl would definitely not be a good marriage partner, but Oda Nobunaga still chose such wives for his two trusted retainers, Maeda Toshiie and Monkey. The intention of isolating them from the Owari nobles was quite obvious. Otherwise, as their status and strength improved, they would definitely be excellent marriage partners in the eyes of the Owari nobles. The intention of isolation was very obvious in Yuanye's eyes, but in the eyes of others, they would probably think that Oda Nobunaga was "playing tricks" and, seeing how Ason treated him, he would marry her to Maeda Toshiie.

Some historical events can also prove that the monkey later took over the "Kawabami clan" and "Mino clan", greatly suppressing the expansion of the power of the Owari clan, making it impossible for the Owari clan to dominate under Oda Nobunaga. Maeda Toshiie became one of the "Fuchu Three People", always following the Owari clan group, and even called Shibata Katsuie "my dear father", and the relationship between the two sides was extremely close.

Even after Oda Nobunaga's death, Maeda Toshiie behaved strangely in the Battle of Keigadaki, and did not put in much effort. Then he quickly turned to Monkey and became one of the "Five Elders" under Monkey. It may be related to this incident - in history, Monkey was most likely aware of it and accepted Maeda Toshiie as a hidden chess piece after Oda Nobunaga's death.

Of course, these are all Yuanye’s speculations, and it is hard to say whether they are right or not. But this matter really has nothing to do with him, so he just needs to wait and watch the fun.

He told Aman what he could, and Aman still didn't quite believe it, but he felt that it made some sense and was not groundless. He stroked his chin and pondered, "In other words, Shiami was killed deliberately by Oda Nobunaga?"

"Maybe he was too close to the powerful families, so Oda Nobunaga thought he was a traitor, so they made good use of him." Yuanye added casually. He felt it was a bit strange when he first saw Maeda Toshiie killing Juami so easily.

Maeda Toshiie was not actually a fool, and it was not in line with his character to just draw his sword and kill people. This guy had been in Oda Danmasatada's family for so long and had good relationships with everyone. It was strange that he had never even fought with anyone, so he suddenly started chopping people.

Ah Man thought about it, and believed Yuan Ye's analysis a little more. He nodded and said, "Okay, since he won't die, I'll have someone keep an eye on him later."

Yuanye didn't object, he was also very curious about this matter.

…………

The next day, Shibata Katsuie was persuaded by someone and went to Oda Nobunaga to plead for mercy. No one knew what the two said, or what kind of acting skills Oda Nobunaga showed, but in the end Shibata Katsuie came out with a solemn look, but there was some joy in his eyes, and Maeda Toshiie was exempted from the punishment of seppuku to apologize and was exiled instead.

From this moment on, Maeda Toshiie became a ronin.

All his friends were relieved but also felt sorry for him. Maeda Toshiie also seemed to have suffered a heavy blow and looked very depressed. After instructing Sawaki Yoshiyuki to thank everyone on his behalf, he left Kiyosu Castle alone.

Ah Man had been sending people to monitor his movements, and soon reported to Yuan Ye: "Maeda Toshiie went to Atsuta Port and temporarily stayed at the Matsuoka family. I heard that it was Shibata Katsuie who helped."

The Matsuoka family is a family of priests of Atsuta Shrine and a well-known powerful family in Owari.

Yuanye nodded slightly and asked, "What about Asong?"

"It seems that he has entrusted Asong to Shibata Katsuie's care." After Aman finished his report, he said with a sympathetic heart, "It turns out that it is true. Maeda Toshiie is really connected with Shibata Katsuie. Will he become Shibata Katsuie's retainer in the future and pass on information to Oda Nobunaga?"

Yuanye thought about it and shook his head, "Probably not. He shouldn't be used for gathering intelligence. That would be a waste. He should stay with Shibata Katsuie in the future, relying on the power of the Owari clan to develop and do something crucial at a critical moment in the future, right? If it were me, I would probably arrange it this way."

Ah Man frowned and sighed, "It's okay this way, but it's a pity for Ah Song..."

She mustered up the courage to pursue her beloved, but her husband was "exiled" right after they got married. She lost her annual salary, and most of her party members were forced to leave. The "Maeda family" was 99% destroyed. She must be feeling very bad at this moment.

"It may not be a bad thing for Song." Yuanye felt that it would be more beneficial for his future development if Maeda Toshiie was released. Besides, Song was so young, it would be better for him to stay away from Maeda Toshiie.

Ah Man thought about it, but didn't understand what Yuan Ye meant by that. However, her sympathy was limited. She immediately put Ah Song out of her mind and said to Yuan Ye, "By the way, I think I have discovered something about the thing you asked me to pay attention to before."

Yuanye was in high spirits and immediately asked, "Who is it?"

He had killed the monkey in a despicable way before, but he was very suspicious that a "second monkey" would appear, so he ordered Aman to pay special attention to the new faces around Oda Nobunaga to see if Oda Nobunaga would promote grassroots samurai again.

Aman took out a piece of "toilet paper" from his pocket, smoothed it out and handed it to him, introducing him to him: "According to the secret report and cross-verification, this guy has won the favor of Oda Nobunaga in the past two months. Oda Nobunaga has summoned him several times in a row, including two private conversations, but he has never praised him in public."

Yuanye nodded, and at the same time, he pushed the "tissue paper" hard, trying to recognize the handwriting on it. The word "dog" written by the bastard Aman was naturally confidential, and even he, who taught Aman to read, had a hard time recognizing it, and had to guess. He read softly while trying to recognize it: "Ya Jiulang, 22 years old, born in the merchant town of Naguno Castle, currently serves as the head of the family, proficient in arithmetic, and has a basic understanding of horsemanship, swordsmanship and tea ceremony. He is smart, decisive, and loyal..."

Yajiro is also a member of the Oda family's Lang Gang, and he is the kind of Lang Gang who has outstanding performance and holds a small position. Moreover, his background is even more grassroots than that of Monkey. After all, Monkey comes from an "artistic family", while he is simply the son of an ordinary merchant.

But the same is true for Oda Nobunaga. If Yakuro wants to succeed, his only support will be Oda Nobunaga. He can only consciously or unconsciously fight with the Owari clans.

Aman's men also provided a portrait for the information. Yuanye flipped through it and knew without asking any more questions that this person also had the ambition to become a samurai - this man had a topknot, and topknots were not the standard hairstyle in Japan at that time. It was not beautiful, and was even ugly. The only advantage was that it was convenient for wearing a helmet (kubu).

Well, the workmanship of helmets in this era was very poor. If you had hair and you wore a helmet and were bumpy all day, when you turned around and took off the helmet, the smell of burnt hair caused by friction would make even you want to vomit, let alone others.

Therefore, this hairstyle is usually only worn by warriors going into battle. Others who have this hairstyle, unless they are naturally bald, are imitating the warriors and trying to be closer to them.

Yajiro is a civilian "accountant". With this hairstyle, he most likely wants to make great achievements and become a member of the samurai class.

This is normal. Nowadays, any ambitious man hopes to become a warrior, but very few can succeed.

Yuanye finished reading the information and memorized Yajiro's features in order to recognize him the next time they met. Then he looked up and instructed Aman, "Keep a close eye on this man and try to understand his every move."

"Well..." Ah Man scratched his head and said awkwardly, "It may not be possible for the time being. This guy is missing now. I am sending someone to find him!"

Yuan Ye was surprised and asked, "Missing?"

"Yes, that's why he reported it to me so quickly because he was missing." Ah Man also felt that this was a big mistake, but some things are just unexpected, and she couldn't do anything about it. "There are several people like him around Oda Nobunaga, and our people can't keep an eye on him all the time in Oda Nobunaga's house. He hasn't appeared since yesterday, and I don't know where he is now."

"Did Oda Nobunaga have a mission for him?" Yuan Ye recalled, remembering that before Monkey was poisoned to death, Oda Nobunaga seemed to be planning to give Monkey a secret mission, so maybe the mission was restarted? Is this Yakuro Monkey's successor, the "No. 2 Monkey"?
"Should be it?" Aman couldn't be sure either and could only guess.

Yuan Ye attached more importance to this matter and immediately ordered: "Then find the person as soon as possible. The budget of the 'Life-Saving Crowd' has to reach a new high every quarter, and we must produce results!"

"Don't worry about that!" Ah Man patted his chest and agreed, "Your money won't be wasted. As long as he is still in Owari, he will definitely not escape our eyes!"

Yuan Ye was relieved for the time being, but he felt that history was not so easy to change. Not long after Monkey No. 1 died, Monkey No. 2 took his place. I just don’t know how capable Monkey No. 2 is compared to Monkey No. 1…

It should be about the same. In fact, most people in this world have similar abilities. The only difference is the opportunities and platforms.

He did not dare to take this matter lightly. After returning to Xinwanjin, he kept asking the question every day, hoping to quickly find out what Monkey No. 2 was doing and what impact it would have on history.

Aman also urged the "survivors" to search everywhere, otherwise they would not be able to ask for more funds in the future. However, they soon received bad news and could only find Yuanye who said depressedly: "We have found the person, but he is out of our intelligence control area. The last time someone saw him was in Atsuta Port, he seemed to have gone east."

Yuanye was stunned: "East? To the Matsudaira family and the Imagawa family?"

"I can't be sure, but it's almost certain!"

Yuanye nodded slowly, roughly knowing what the mission of monkey number two was, and it was very reasonable.

The Imagawa family has wanted to go to Kyoto for a long time, and Imagawa Yoshimoto has been frantically integrating the people in the territory, preparing to eliminate all worries so that he can launch a western expedition. Oda Nobunaga is not a fool, and it is impossible for him to be unprepared. He is sending the number two monkey to mess with the Imagawa family!

The intelligence war for the Battle of Okehazama has already begun...

(End of this chapter)