Owari Yumeki Golden Day.

The government recognized Ikeda Tomomasa's status as head of the family and, in the name of the Muromachi Shogunate, appointed him as the governor of Settsu. At the same time, Araki Murashige and others also became deputy governors and took control of Settsu's territory.

As for Kennyo Shonin, Nobunaga humbled himself, offering to contribute money as a fee for peace talks and persuading Nobunaga to do the same. He also hinted to Kennyo Shonin that he could petition the court to appoint Kennyo Shonin as the Grand Master of the Monks.

The highest-ranking monastic official position was the Grand Master of the Heavenly Sea. Master Xianru had already been appointed Grand Master of the Heavenly Sea in the fourth year of Yonglu, but to take the final big step, he still needed the help of all parties and the promotion from both inside and outside.

Therefore, Master Kennyo was the first to agree. Firstly, there was an imperial edict, and Honganji Temple had a very good relationship with the court. Kennyo's own wife was the daughter of the Minister of the Left. He certainly had to listen to the court's instructions and couldn't refuse.

Secondly, Kennyo Shonin believed that he had already demonstrated his strength to Nobunaga, and that Nobunaga must have realized that there would be no good outcome for opposing his Jodo Shinshu sect, and therefore would not target Honganji in the future.

Finally, there's the donation for the position and the so-called Grand Master of the Monks. Everyone has ambitions in life, right? Nobunaga's ambition to unify Japan was quite ahead of its time. Kennyo certainly wanted to expand his religious order, but he definitely never dreamed of Jodo Shinshu sweeping across all of Japan and becoming the Shogun.

Once the fight was over, the Saiga monks packed up and prepared to go home. After all, the Saiga monks were only there out of respect for the Honganji Temple. Since the head monk had said there would be no more fighting, why should they continue? They simply left.

Thus, the original military standoff between the two sides turned into a situation where Nobunaga and Ashikaga Yoshiaki had the upper hand. The Miyoshi Triumvirate, including the later Miyoshi clan of Hazu Province and the Ikeda clan of Settsu Province, had no choice but to accept the imperial edict to make peace and announce the restoration of harmony with the Oda clan.

Temporary harmony.

Regardless of how many days this will last, at least for now, things are peaceful. Many troops who came from Shikoku and Bashu across the sea have gradually withdrawn, and the monks of Honganji Temple who originally came to fight have also slowly dispersed. On the surface, the war in Settsu has been quelled.

Noda Fukushima Castle is really an eyesore.

What could be done if they were still an eyesore? Nobunaga ordered Wada Koremasa to return to Akutagawa Castle to keep an eye on the Settsu Ikeda clan, whose situation had suddenly changed. Meanwhile, Nobunaga led about 15,000 men, including Hosokawa Fujitaka, Akechi Mitsuhide, Niwa Nagahide, and Hanawa Naomasa, and hurriedly headed towards Kyoto. He also invited his son-in-law, Hatakeyama Akitaka, to contribute 1,000 men to join the defense of Kyoto.

Nobunaga knew very well that the honest Mori Yoshinari wouldn't lie to him, so something really serious had happened in Koshu.

After a brief one-day rest in Kyoto, Nobunaga ordered Akechi Mitsuhide and Hatakeyama Akitaka to stay in Kyoto, while he took his elder brother Oda Nobuhiro with him and rushed to Usayama Castle.

Nobunaga and Sakuma Nobumori arrived at Usayama Castle almost one after the other. At this time, Usayama Castle had been attacked by more than 25,000 Asakura troops. The outer turret had been destroyed, and the main turret was also exposed on all sides.

Nobunaga and Sakuma Nobumori, who appeared out of nowhere, truly saved Mori Yoshinari and Takigawa Kazumasu's lives, while the Asakura army that had besieged the city gradually withdrew and joined forces with the monks of Enryaku-ji Temple on Mount Hiei, setting up their battle formation in the Sakamoto area.

Before the heavy snows had even blocked the mountains of Echizen, Asakura Yoshikage had not only harvested grain from the two counties north of the river, but also plundered Otsu and Katada, and destroyed Nagakoji Temple. With well-trained troops, ample provisions, and high morale, he had completely recovered from the shadow of defeat in the Battle of Anegawa.

Today, it is backed by the gate of Enryaku-ji Temple on Mount Hiei, while Mount Eizan is the main temple protecting the country, with a status far above Ishiyama Hongan-ji Temple. Even if the Emperor himself came, Mount Eizan could ignore him.

Combined from both sides, the anti-Nobunaga army, mainly composed of the Asakura army, numbered over 30,000, and was also blessed with religious golden statues. Nobunaga, on the other hand, only brought 15,000 men, and even including Sakuma Nobumori's 6,000-odd men, the total was just over 20,000.

The situation of being besieged on all sides has not improved!

"Genroku! Genroku, Genroku..." Nobunaga also learned of Shibata Katsuie's death at this time, and immediately jumped up from his stool, but quickly sat down again.

He gripped the horse staff in his hand even tighter.

"This is a battle to mourn Gonroku!" Sakuma Nobumori was the first to stand up, loudly encouraging the generals present.

Although Sakuma Nobumori usually seemed somewhat complacent, he was currently oscillating between putting in his best effort and giving up. Seeing Nobunaga in this state, and with the generals feeling down due to exhaustion, numerical disadvantage, and religious reasons, they immediately stepped forward to invigorate the troops with a battle to mourn.

“That’s right, we can’t let Quan Liu’s sacrifice be in vain!” Mori Yoshinari also had to thank Shibata Katsuie.

If it weren't for Katsuie's desperate defense at Choko-ji Temple, the main force of the Asakura army would have arrived long ago. With 20,000 to 30,000 men attacking Usayama, the castle would have fallen in just a few days, and he would have died.

If Asakura Yoshikage had broken through Nagako-ji Temple two days earlier, he would have already entered Kyoto. Oda Nobuhiro, who remained in Kyoto, only had a little over a thousand men, and Murai Sadakatsu had only two hundred. With so few men in Kyoto, they were utterly powerless to defend it. The entire Kyoto garrison had been taken by Ashikaga Yoshiaki to Settsu and Nijō Haruyoshi.

“But Ruishan…” Niwa Nagahide reminded him from the side.

Attacking Mount Hiei wasn't unheard of; past leaders had certainly done it many times. But Enryaku-ji Temple on Mount Hiei was a sacred dojo for the entire country. Was Nobunaga truly certain he wanted to attack it?

"The soldiers have been fighting for a long time, and their food and military funds are also running out." As soon as Shichibei sat down at this main camp, there was no need for anyone else to take on the role of the magistrate of the small chariot; he dumped everything on Shichibei's shoulders.

Nobunaga was incredibly bold in his hands-off approach to management, and he trusted his subordinates implicitly. Once he employed someone, it was entirely their responsibility; he only cared about the results. If the results were good, then everything was good; the process and methods were completely unimportant.

"Brother, you should go back to Luoyang." Nobunaga seemed to have his own plans.

"A request for an imperial envoy?" Oda Nobuhiro turned his head.

"Order Enryaku-ji to make peace with our clan." Nobunaga flicked his horse handle.

No one present was afraid or hesitant about attacking the Asakura army. However, they were somewhat skeptical about Enryaku-ji Temple on Mount Hiei. Nobunaga also knew that the war could not be delayed any longer, and even if a war had to be fought, it could only be against the Asakura forces.

Therefore, his idea was to ask the imperial court again, or even directly ask Crown Prince Naruhito, to go to Enryaku-ji Temple on Mount Hiei and ask Enryaku-ji to negotiate peace with Nobunaga.

Once the peace treaty is reached at Mount Eizan, the Asakura army will have no reason to remain on or around Mount Enryakuji. Or even if they do remain, Nobunaga will have a legitimate reason to search the mountain and kill people.

When Nobunaga had the authority and legitimacy to justify his actions, he was quite swayed by this kind of rhetoric. Even when he massacred Nagashima, it was because Nagashima had killed a large number of his brothers and nephews; blood revenge was a matter of course.

The surrounding authorities would naturally agree. If the imperial court were to tell Ruishan to focus on his Buddhist practice and not concern himself with external affairs, and Ruishan still insisted on getting involved in worldly matters, then Ruishan would truly be considered ungrateful.

"Let's talk about Owari..." Nobunaga showed a rare hint of fatigue between breaths, but quickly concealed it.

It was only because Shichibei had been watching Nobunaga that he noticed something from the look in Nobunaga's eyes.

"It's still under control..." Sakuma Nobumori had experienced most of the chaos in Owari. He was responsible for giving the main explanation to Nobunaga, while Shichibei and Ikeda Tsuneoki supplemented the details.

Nobunaga nodded slightly, confirming that Ryūshū still needed to lick his wounds. If he could quickly suppress the chaos in Jiangzhou, he could then move his troops to Weizhou to quell Kiyosu's rebellion.

Long Island? Sigh...

Nobunaga made peace with Ishiyama Hongan-ji Temple, so no matter how big Kennyo Shonin's ambitions were, Hongan-ji Temple lost its righteous cause to attack Nobunaga, and Nobunaga could breathe a little easier.

Once he catches his breath, you bunch of scum, just wait, Nobunaga will send a massive army to send you all to heaven one by one!

"Shichibei, go and appease the townspeople of Otsu, Kusatsu, and Katada." Nobunaga kept issuing orders; there were just too many things to do.

"Understood." Otsu was looted, and Katada was even burned to the ground. Nobunaga would definitely have to find a way to appease them.

The most likely scenario is that they will reduce the amount of money demanded next year, allowing the townspeople to mitigate their losses and rebuild the damaged towns along the way.

"Get moving! I'm alive and well!" Nobunaga stood up from his stool and loudly encouraged the Oda samurai present.

"Heh heh." The crowd responded in deep voices and went about their business outside the shogunate.

Furthermore, it's unclear what Ashikaga Yoshiaki was thinking at this time. Perhaps he feared Nobunaga would die soon, and then Asakura Yoshikage would enter Kyoto. It would be like driving away one wolf only to let in another tiger. Would Asakura Yoshikage then be all lovey-dovey with the shogunate? Wouldn't he just want to divide Yoshiaki's power and rule the land?

Therefore, Yoshiaki not only ordered Mibuchi Fujihide to lead 500 servants to come and bolster Nobunaga's power, but also took the initiative to send people to Enryaku-ji Temple on Mount Hiei. Nobunaga did not mention it, but Yoshiaki took the initiative to persuade Enryaku-ji Temple to make peace.

It's likely that Yoshiaki's ideal scenario would be for Nobunaga and Yoshikage to be locked in an eternal, inescapable battle, with neither able to defeat the other.

The result was truly hilarious. When Enryaku-ji Temple on Mount Hiei heard that the messenger was sent by Ashikaga Yoshiaki, they simply refused to let him in, completely ignoring him (historical fact). At this time, the imperial envoy also arrived. As the de facto living god of Shintoism in Japan, the emperor still had the face to enter and speak.

Unfortunately, Enryaku-ji Temple on Mount Hiei had really lost its temper. It thought that its own forces numbered over 30,000, while Nobunaga's forces numbered over 20,000 and there was war going on everywhere. It refused to negotiate.

Absolutely no negotiations!

Chapter 212 Willing to Be a Guest General and Find Temporary Abode

(Strange, the picture of Master Xianru and the Amitabha Buddha flag that I posted yesterday only had a picture and no explanation.)

He doesn't even listen to the imperial edicts! This is no ordinary bald monk!

Nobunaga invited the Imperial Court, which was a gesture of respect to Enryaku-ji Temple on Mount Hiei. Niwa Nagahide was right; Mount Hiei was the sacred site that protected the nation, the head temple of the country. Nobunaga, surrounded by enemies, had to yield to him, but that didn't mean he was afraid of him.

Don't be fooled by the fact that Nobunaga only has about 20,000 men around him now. If Nobunaga does his best to gather more men, it's not impossible for him to get 30,000 to 50,000.

For example, Tokugawa Ieyasu of Mikawa could easily muster 8,000 men. Kitabatake Nobuo of southern Ise could also easily muster 5,000 men. Matsunaga Hisahide, Miyoshi Yoshitsugu, Hatakeyama Akitaka, and others could each muster 2,000 to 3,000 men, so gathering 50,000 men would be quick.

They only let the Asakura family and Enryaku-ji Temple on Mount Hiei have a couple of good days, and then they became arrogant and thought Nobunaga was easy to bully.

Just do it!

"You won't take the easy way out, huh?" Nobunaga rode his horse to observe the battle and immediately began to deploy the siege of Enryaku-ji Temple on Mount Eizan. He also issued a proclamation ordering all monks and believers inside and outside Mount Eizan to evacuate within three days. Those who did not evacuate would be considered traitors who would fight against the imperial army to the bitter end.

Kill without mercy!

To say they were shameless was an understatement; envoys from Shogun Ashikaga Yoshiaki and Crown Prince Naruhito, along with imperial edicts, arrived at Mount Eizan one after another, but Mount Eizan treated them like dirt, displaying utter arrogance. The more Nobunaga pleaded with them, the more determined they became to fight.

After Nobunaga issued a proclamation and began preparing large quantities of fuel to launch a fire attack on Mount Hiei, he became as clownish as he had been before.

Seeing that Nobunaga was really going to set fire to Mount Hiei, the Enryaku-ji and Asakura clans actually turned around and sent envoys to Nobunaga. They made it clear that the reason they were unwilling to negotiate before was that their route back to Echizen was not guaranteed, and now they needed Nobunaga to open up a route back to Echizen before they could negotiate peace.

Sure enough, these days you can't show any kindness. The more you follow the rules, the more you'll be bullied by those who have the advantage within the old rules. But as soon as you say you want to break the rules and test the strength of the laws of physics, to see if Enryakuji Temple's gate is more durable or if my fire is bigger, Enryakuji Temple immediately becomes much more agreeable.

Under the threat of Nobunaga's impending fire attack, Enryaku-ji Temple split into two factions. One faction insisted on radical resistance against Nobunaga and cooperation with the Asakura army. The other faction thought, "Let it go. Nobunaga is already badly wounded. According to the custom of the Sengoku period in Japan, war will soon break out in Nobunaga's territory."

Now that Nobunaga has learned how powerful we are, it's time to back down.

Since the founding of the temple by the missionary master Saichō, the temple complex, pavilions, and iron towers have been burned down by Nobunaga. It is unknown how much it would cost to rebuild them.

To be honest, if this thing were burned down and rebuilt, it would probably cost 100,000 strings of cash just to lay the foundation, and another 100,000 strings of cash would be needed to make it look decent.

After a brief discussion within Enryaku-ji Temple, they sent someone to inform Nobunaga that they were not accepting peace talks with him, but rather requesting a special imperial edict from the Emperor. They accepted the edict and respectfully withdrew their troops only in accordance with the Emperor's will.

Even at the last minute, they tried to make amends for themselves.

Without the advantage of terrain at Mount Eizan, the Asakura army eventually accepted the imperial court's offer of peace. Nobunaga promised that the Asakura clan could retreat from Takashima County back to Wakasa, but they had to return the heads of Shibata Katsuie, Sakai Masahiro, Oda Nobuharu, and others.

Furthermore, the Wakasa clan, who had besieged Odani Castle, were also forced to negotiate a peace and withdraw their troops, and the fortified castle outside Odani Castle was dismantled. Nobunaga, in the end, still thought of his good brother-in-law and did not abandon him.

"Shichibei, go to Namie Castle and tell Sasaki Chikako that it's either peace talks or extermination of his entire family." Nobunaga looked calmly and composedly at the Asakura army retreating from Eizan to Wakasa.

The faction centered on the Miyoshi Triumvirate in the west and the faction centered on the Asakura family in the east have both retreated. The rest are not worth mentioning.

"What are the conditions?" Shichibei needed to know, because Namie Castle was still in the hands of the Rokkaku family. Was it to acknowledge the Rokkaku family's possession, or to ask them to leave the castle?

"What? Do they still have the right to bargain?" Nobunaga retorted to Shichibei.

"Your subject understands."

If you still don't understand this, then Shichibei has lived all this life in vain. What Rokkaku Yoshikata and Rokkaku Yoshiharu rely on is nothing more than Asakura Yoshikage's southward march and entry into Kyoto, which they can use to restore their former territories.

But now Kannonji Castle has already been demolished on Nobunaga's orders, and the administrative center of southern Omi, which was originally in Otsu-cho, is now in Usayama Castle. How can they control the vast plains without taking Usayama Castle?

Who has Usayama Castle in their hands?

Oda Nobunaga.

So, don't be fooled by the fact that the Rokkaku father and son still have some support in Koga District, and can even rally a few hundred or a thousand troops to act alongside the Asakura army. In terms of actual strength, they have been weakened to almost nothing.

How long can Koga, that rotten land, support these unproductive people?

Nobunaga's current intention to make peace with them is, frankly, a sign that he's too lazy to bother with anything else. He'll provide the Rokkaku father and son with a decent house in Kyoto so they can live off the land. As a successor and master of the Hioki-ryu archery style, and also a successor of the Ogasawara-ryu archery style, he can make a living by teaching his skills and performing archery and horsemanship demonstrations.

Having figured it out, Shichibei rode off to Namae Castle, while Nobunaga dismissed the troops that had come from various places to reinforce his forces, and led only Noo's men to Odani Castle to confirm whether his good brother-in-law had been released.

They rode swiftly to Namie Castle, which was actually not far from Kannonji Castle, just a dozen kilometers to the east. Having already learned of the Asakura army's retreat and the defeat of the Kanemori Rebellion by Sakuma Nobumori, the Rokkaku father and son had no choice but to open the castle gates and let Shichibei into the city.

No, it should be "welcome," not "release."

Nianjiang City wasn't a fortified city; it was merely a flat mountain city built on an earthen platform, without stone walls or moats. The empty moat was added by the former lord, Nianjiang Zhenjing. If it weren't for its proximity to Guanyin Temple City, the Rokkaku father and son might not have come.

Two months have passed since they arrived, and they have yet to recover the Jiangnan region. The reinforcements have either died or fled. Before Shichibei could even make any threatening gesture towards Rokkaku and his son, Rokkaku Yoshikata took the initiative to speak up, saying that since it was an imperial edict to make peace, they were willing to accept it.

Heh, imperial edicts are for the Miyoshi Triumvirate, whose every call is swayed by countless followers; for the Enryaku-ji Temple on Mount Hiei, the head temple of the state; and for the powerful lord Asakura Yoshikage, who commands an army of over 30,000. Your insignificant Rokkaku family is only a few steps away from destruction; you have no right to receive an imperial edict.

Shichibei simply waved his hand, saying that without an imperial edict, it was just Nobunaga ordering his family to surrender.

Surrender or not, it's up to you. If you don't surrender, wait for Nobunaga's 20,000-strong army to come and send you and your son to heaven.

Interrupted by Shichibei, Rokkaku Yoshikata, who had already prepared his speech, immediately became angry and then retorted, asking Shichibei what Nobunaga intended to do to them.