The name of the great swordsman begins in Okehazama.

After a day of consideration, Nagae finally chose to become Nagayoshi's second retainer, and Nagayoshi kept his word and gave him 250 koku of grain.

The future great swordsman's mindset and demeanor are indeed extraordinary. He has devoted his knowledge and actions to the construction of the dojo, and is just like a partner.

Changqing then imparted all his knowledge to him and put him and Xiuchang in charge of the affairs of the dojo.

Nobunaga had finally calmed down for a while, but Nishimikawa started causing trouble again.

Motoyasu led 2,000 troops to attack Kariya Castle of the Oda clan in western Mikawa.

The lord of Kariya Castle was Mizuno Nobuchika, whose elder brother was Nobumoto, the head of the Mizuno family. Both of them had sided with the Oda family during the reign of Motoyasu's father. Mizuno Nobumoto was also the half-brother of Motoyasu's mother, "Odai".

Upon hearing this news, Changqing couldn't help but laugh.

The first step to getting ashore is to kill your own maternal uncle, right?

The Mizuno clan, a powerful family in western Mikawa, could mobilize a thousand men for the war. When Imagawa Yoshimoto invaded Owari, the Mizuno clan was suppressed by Motoyasu and could only retreat to a few castles for most of the time.

Mizuno Nobumoto seemed eager to teach his nephew a lesson, making it clear that he did not need Nobunaga's support.

At the military council meeting, Nobunaga declared, "Even though Nobumoto has no intention of asking for help, I should still teach Takechiyo a lesson!"

Since everyone had finished the autumn harvest and had nothing else to do, Nobunaga dispatched Sakuma Nobumori and Takigawa Kazumasu with more than a thousand men to attack the powerful clans north of the western three rivers.

Most of the powerful clans in this area are still wavering between Motoyasu and Ujizane. Although the Imagawa clan was defeated, they still have troops stationed in eastern Mikawa, so Motoyasu has only actually gained the support of half of the powerful clans in western Mikawa.

Nagayoshi had reason to suspect that Nobunaga and Motoyasu had a secret deal.

Indeed, the North-South war ended in less than three days, with Mizuno Nobumoto suffering a heavy loss of fifty men and women before "forcing" Motoyasu to retreat.

On the other side of the war, Sakuma Nobumori and his men burned down five or six villages north of the West Three Rivers and destroyed many rice seedlings that were not yet planted.

Now those wavering noble families were in a hurry. The Imagawa army was too far away to help them, so they had no choice but to ask Motoyasu for help. Motoyasu generously provided them with assistance.

It wasn't even the fourth year of Yonglu (1561) yet, and the two were already exchanging glances. Historically, the Cheongju Alliance was a matter of the fifth year of Yonglu.

Changqing had a vague feeling that history was deviating from his understanding.

Historically, Oda Nobunaga's rise to power was inseparable from his alliance with Motoyasu, but even more so from the untimely death of another figure: Saito Yoshitatsu. He had already contracted leprosy and was due to die the following year. If Motoyasu and Nobunaga had formed an alliance earlier, it would have meant that the conquest of Mino would have been brought forward.

Compared to the fear of the unknown, Changqing felt more excited. With such frequent wars, he could accumulate military merits and secret manuals much faster.

……

In May of the fourth year of Eiroku, Oda Nobunaga made his move by sending Takigawa Kazumasu to inform him of the Tokugawa alliance.

Yuan Kang also stopped his clumsy performance and began to focus on winning over the powerful clans of Sanhe.

This immediately made Imagawa Ujizane feel threatened, and he ordered the garrison at Nakajima Castle and the powerful clans in Nishi-Mikawa who were still allied with Imagawa to rebel. Motoyasu did not hesitate and immediately suppressed them.

Ujima immediately retaliated, and the Matsudaira family's hostages were taken outside Yoshida Castle and beheaded.

Among those killed were Matsudaira Kahiro's youngest son, Saigo Masakatsu's grandson, Kanzuma Sadahide's wife and sister... Most of the wives and sons of powerful clans like the Okudaira, Mizuno, and Okuyama clans who chose to follow their former masters were killed.

After the massacre, Ujima continued to threaten Motoyasu: if he dared to betray him, he would kill Motoyasu's wife and eldest son, Takechiyo (Matsudaira Nobuyasu).

In this era, women are like clothes, and sons can be adopted anywhere.

This threat, in turn, accelerated Motoyasu's idea of ​​forming a formal alliance with Nobunaga.

In June of the fourth year of Eiroku (1565), Motoyasu, who had already completed the unification of western Mikawa, announced that he would abandon the character "Moto" from Imagawa Yoshimoto's name and change his name to "Ieyasu." With the mediation of Takigawa Kazumasu and Mizuno Nobumoto, he went to Kiyosu Castle. At this time, Saito Yoshitatsu of Mino had just died less than a month earlier, and the 14-year-old Saito Tatsuoki succeeded him as head of the family.

Changqing has also been busy for the past six months.

The temple flourished, income increased daily, and the number of disciples expanded to more than two hundred, eighty of whom could accompany him on expeditions.

Maeda Toshiie joined the dojo as a half-disciple; Nagayoshi taught him swordsmanship, while Maeda Toshiie taught him spearmanship.

Inside the Ashina School dojo.

Changqing and Lijia were exchanging skills today, which was a rare occasion, but the disciples beside them were clearly somewhat distracted.

"Have you heard? Matsudaira Motoyasu is coming soon?"

"Yes, I heard he was Lord Nobunaga's childhood playmate!"

"The Mikawa man has already arrived in Nagoya. He's making quite a show of it. Don't let his current imposing manner fool you; he'll definitely be groveling before Lord Nobunaga later."

Marume Nagayoshi immediately reprimanded them, "Practice properly and don't spread rumors!" He was now a retainer of the Oda clan and naturally did not want these words to reach the ears of Motoyasu and his group, causing unnecessary trouble.

Upon hearing this, the disciples who had been chatting idly immediately began practicing with their bamboo swords.

A short while later, Hattori Koheita arrived at the dojo. He hadn't contributed much to the Battle of Okehazama and was still just an ordinary horse rider, but that was better than losing a leg in the actual historical events. Now he was also a disciple of the dojo, though he came less often.

"The lord has ordered that the two gentlemen proceed to Ueda Shrine to receive Lord Matsudaira."

"knew!"

When they arrived at Toki Shrine, senior retainers such as Hayashi Hideyoshi, Shibata Katsuie, and Niwa Nagahide were already lined up.

Soon after, Ieyasu arrived. Most of the people around him were very young; senior retainers such as Ishikawa Kazumasa and Sakai Tadatsugu were not present.

Nagayoshi understood that Ieyasu's visit this time was largely a gamble. If Oda could simply control him, conquering western Mikawa wouldn't be difficult. If Ieyasu also sent his senior retainers, this alliance might completely turn into a annexation.

Ieyasu quickly spotted Nagayoshi in the crowd, nodded to him, and could tell he was a little nervous.

Changqing smiled at him, but his gaze couldn't help but fall on a young man beside him.

This man was tall and imposing, standing out like a crane among chickens in the group. He had a dignified appearance, but looked quite young, at most sixteen or seventeen years old.

Could it be Honda Tadakatsu?

After the group reunited, they headed to Nido Castle, where Nobunaga had arranged for Ieyasu to stay.

Nobunaga was already waiting at the gate. As soon as he saw Ieyasu, he greeted him warmly: "You've finally arrived! I still remember you. You haven't changed much, Takechiyo."

His voice was unusually warm and friendly, as if he were genuinely reminiscing about his childhood friends.

Motoyasu was very cautious and bowed respectfully. He wanted to return Nobunaga's smile, but thinking that his son Takechiyo might be executed by Ujizane soon, he couldn't smile.

Can the feud between the Oda and Matsudaira generations really be laughed off?

Before he could think it through, Nobunaga, his eyes reddening, grabbed his hand and ushered him inside.

"Goro-suke, go prepare the banquet. Nagayoshi and Toshiie, entertain Lord Matsudaira's retainers well!"

Changqing looked at the unfamiliar Mikawa samurai around him and extended his hand in a "please" gesture.