Owari Yumeki Golden Day.

However, as they talked, the conversation turned to the matters of Shibata Katsuie, Sakai Masahiro, Oda Nobuharu, and others. Their heads had been returned from the Asakura army, and each of them had a Bodhi-ji temple where they could be buried, and memorial services had been held for them.

bereaved families and samurai groups...

Oda Nobuharu's retainers were the smallest, mainly from his maternal clan and a portion of those temporarily assigned by Nobunaga. Therefore, his retainers could directly join Nobunaga's main force. He also had a young son, whom he raised as well. More people meant more chopsticks; there's not much to say about it.

However, Shibata Katsuie and Sakai Masahiro, both Oda clan retainers commanding over a thousand troops, lost half of their retainers in battle in Omi. Furthermore, they possessed considerable vassal power, which, now lacking a lord, needed to be redistributed and disposed of by Nobunaga.

People like Gamo Kenshū and Nagata Kagehiro from Omi Province are prominent local families in Koshu. It's impossible for them to just leave their positions vacant.

Shibata Katsuie's son is a minor, but he has a brother-in-law, Yoshida Jihei, whom we mentioned earlier, and with whom he made a pact to forever own one-tenth of the territory. Yoshida Jihei's son is the future Shibata Katsutoyo. The Shibata samurai group can be temporarily handed over to Yoshida Jihei as commander, and their fate can be determined after Shibata Katsuie's son comes of age.

As for Sakai Masahiro's son, he was very lucky and had already been selected into Oda Nobunaga's page-servant team. Nobunaga actually cared for and admired Sakai Masahiro's martial prowess, so he made arrangements for his son in advance.

Then they might as well just send him to Oda Myojou as a retainer. It's like Sakai Masahiro's son is getting on the train of the second generation of Oda early. Whether he can rise to prominence again depends on himself.

(He died in battle in Kyoto along with Nobutada in history)

They were all old retainers from the Oda clan, Owari, and the four lower districts; it was quite good that they were settled this way. At least they weren't directly dismissed or had their territories confiscated just because they couldn't immediately organize troops for battle.

This may also show that Nobunaga was still quite humane at this point, and at least not a complete war and political machine.

Having said that, Sakuma Nobumori said that the Sakai Samurai Corps was fine for now, but they would serve as the young master Kyokumaru's guards and direct military force. They didn't need to go to the battlefield immediately, and could recuperate for a few years to slowly replenish their strength.

What about the Shibata samurai group? They can't just send Yoshida Jibei and Koshiba Gonroku into battle right next year, can they?

They've just lost half their troops, and we're already expecting them to send troops again next year? It's just...

Everyone clearly shared the same sentiment; being long-time residents of Owari, they naturally felt a sense of shared vulnerability. They decided to let the Shibata samurai group serve as Owari's garrison for now and avoid deploying them further.

"Shichibei!" Nobunaga suddenly turned around for some reason.

"exist."

"I remember you have three younger sisters?"

"Yes, the eldest, the fifth sister, is already sixteen." Shichibei has had no right to marry off his younger sister for the past two years, as Sakuma Nobumori had already hinted.

"She will be adopted by my elder brother and be betrothed to Shibata Gonroku!" Nobunaga thought she was a perfect age and made the decision immediately.

"Your subject will make preparations immediately." Shichibei couldn't possibly refuse such a marriage, could he?

"The dowry should be 3,000 kanmon, and I'll take it." Nobunaga meant that Shichibei shouldn't rush, as there were additional matters to be discussed.

Upon hearing this, those around him nodded in agreement. "Of course, of course," they said. "Katsuie has died in battle; he should be taken care of. Calling it a dowry is just giving Koshibata Gonroku a subsidy. His father died in battle, and his retainers have lost half their number. If they don't give him some money, there's no way to quickly replenish and recover."

"Remember to allocate one hundred horses."

"Understood, understood." There's no need to take notes on this kind of content; Shichibei has it all memorized.

After the matter was settled, everyone left the castle. Sakuma Nobumori remarked that Shichibei and Koshibata Gonroku would henceforth be close brothers-in-law. After all, their fathers-in-law were both Oda Nobuhiro, so they were indeed brothers-in-law.

Ah, he's my brother-in-law! We're both from the old Owari samurai group, so it's like we're family.

Chapter 214 Nobunaga Helps His Brother Nobuhiro

Yoshida Jibei, who survived because he stayed behind at the Gifu residence, immediately brought Shibata Gonroku to visit Nobunaga after learning that Nobunaga had betrothed Shichibei's sister to Shibata Gonroku.

As the brother-in-law and elder brother-in-law, Shichibei carefully observed Shibata Gonroku, who was already over ten years old. For some reason, Katsuie had never married a wife. However, he had several concubines and maids, so he wasn't without children. Thinking about it, that shouldn't be a problem; his status and position certainly qualified him to marry.

Could it really be just a prelude to going public?

Forget it, he's dead, let's not talk about it. Right now, Katsuie has three sons, and the one in front of us, Quan Liu, is naturally an illegitimate son. It's unclear whether he will become the future Shibata Katsusato, Shibata Katsutada, or the Shibata who died young.

Upon seeing Shichibei, Shibata Gonroku bowed respectfully. His father was now gone, and the wars of annexation in Japan's Sengoku period were far from over; the struggle for victory in this chaotic world continued. If the child wanted to survive, he would have to rely on Shichibei and Oda Nobuhiro.

Perhaps the children of samurai families mature a bit earlier.

Because it was Nobunaga's order, Shichibei didn't waste any more words with Shibata Gonroku. "Young man, you're fourteen this year. My sister is two years older than you, a perfect match indeed. Let's meet and try to get things done before the New Year, so the young couple can live happily ever after."

Nobunaga has already promised to be the bride's son in the Eboshi (a type of Japanese hat) ceremony for Gonno Roku's coming-of-age ceremony. It's highly likely that the coming-of-age ceremony and the wedding will be held together, and it won't be delayed for too long.

Even after suffering heavy losses, Shibata Katsuie's remaining samurai retainers still numbered five or six hundred. Nobunaga wouldn't allow him to sit idle for long, so he first had Yoshida Jibei lead them into battle. Once Shibata Gonroku had trained for a few years and was able to lead troops independently, he would continue to lead troops as a samurai general.

After meeting Shichibei's sister, Yoshida Jibei even praised her, saying that the Kawamura family's daughter was truly a warrior woman, simple and strong. Ha, you rascal, just say my sister has big hands and feet, not some delicate young lady. You had to go on and on, and your praise wasn't very pleasant.

By this time, Oda Nobuhiro had returned from Kyoto, and Nobunaga ordered Hanawa Naomasa to lead two thousand men to garrison Kyoto. It wasn't that he didn't trust his brother; according to Shichibei's guess, it was most likely because Ikeda Tsuneoki hadn't even done a good job of besieging Kiyosu, so Nobunaga had no choice but to call his brother Oda Nobuhiro back to plan the war against Ryugo next year.

Nobunaga's greatest enemies were the Miyoshi Triumvirate, who commanded a large following, and Asakura Yoshikage, who commanded over 30,000 troops and effectively controlled the Wakasa clan and the Sakata-hori family of Omi Province.

Longxing may be disgusting, but it only has a little over three thousand people, a mere speck of dust.

If it weren't for Kiyosu, Nobunaga wouldn't have bothered with it at all; he would have simply ordered one of his generals to lead three thousand men to wipe it out.

Now that Oda Nobuhiro is back, I'll take you to pay your respects to your father-in-law. Shichibei called on the young general, "It's a good opportunity to go back to your parents' home; it's a rare year without war."

Having received news yesterday that he was to adopt Shichibei's younger sister and marry Shibata Gonroku, Nobuhiro was at home today awaiting everyone's visit. Although he was not as capable as Nobunaga, he had seen and acted over the years and could make that judgment.

Similarly, Oda Nobuhiro also carefully examined Shibata Gonroku. Since Gonroku was going to become his son-in-law, they would definitely have to help each other in the future, so Nobuhiro needed to see what kind of person Gonroku was.

Putting aside everything else, how much of the martial prowess of the Sheng family did he inherit?

Speaking of this, Yoshida Tsubei breathed a sigh of relief. While he might lack in literary skills, he was certainly no pushover when it came to martial arts, having been trained by Katsuie since childhood.

Xin Guang immediately took him to the courtyard, set up a straw target, took out a bow, and hit the bullseye eight out of ten arrows at a target thirty meters away.

Very good, very good indeed, truly like his father. Thus, Nobuhiro happily accepted the marriage and even gave his wakizashi (a type of samurai) to Shibata Gonroku.

With everything cleared up, Yoshida Tsuhei and Shibata Gonroku left. Their family needed to start preparing for the wedding as soon as possible.

After the two left, Oda Nobuhiro pulled Shichibei aside, shielding him from the others, and quietly asked Shichibei if Nobunaga had mentioned the ownership of the fallen generals and their strength.

how?

Oda Nobuhiro, letting out a sigh of relief, admitted that after spending so much time in Kyoto, he was starting to lose track of the situation in Gifu. Or to put it bluntly, with the deaths of Shibata Katsuie, Sakai Masahiro, and others, there were fewer samurai generals left who could independently command two or three thousand men, or even more.

However, Nobunaga's war could not be stopped, so it was necessary to promote new people to become regional generals who could independently command thousands of people.

It would be difficult for a single retainer to muster several thousand men based solely on their strength and ability. Following the general practice of the Warring States period, it was still necessary to allocate and distribute manpower.

In other words, whoever gains the support of Katsuie, Masahiro, and others will become the next regional commander.

As things stand, Ikeda Tsuneoki is definitely out of the game. He's loyal enough to defend his base, but his strategies for expansion are questionable.

Could it be Michimasa Hayashi? Or Narimasa Sassa? Or perhaps Shigemasa Nakagawa? Or Hiromasa Tada?

I won't go into detail about Hayashi Michimasa, Sasa Narimasa, and Tsuda Hiromasa, but I'll briefly mention Nakagawa Shigemasa. He was formerly the Oda Suruga no Kami, who was adopted by Nakagawa Ichiji, gaining access to the Nakagawa clan's retainers in Owari Province and further strengthening his power.

Among them, Sasa Narimasa was slightly inferior. The main reason was that several of his older brothers had died in battle, along with many of his retainers. His retainer group was slightly weaker than the other three.

Hayashi Michimasa's martial prowess is undeniable; he's incredibly fierce in battle, as Shichibei witnessed firsthand. Moreover, the Hayashi family has a strong foothold in Owari, and if Nobunaga were to intervene and strengthen their forces, they could rise to prominence very quickly.

Hiromasa Kōda? The only retainer who openly supported Nobunaga's surprise attack during the Battle of Okehazama, and he even personally scouted out Imagawa Yoshimoto's main camp. With that kind of merit, he'd rise to power sooner or later.

"Why don't you think you can do it?" Shichibei turned his head and looked at Oda Nobuhiro.

"Huh?" Oda Nobuhiro, who was seriously analyzing the situation, paused.

"In terms of merit, you have served your lord for many years and have achieved considerable success. In terms of manpower, you have accumulated several hundred men since the time of our late lord." In fact, Shichibei had not thought of this at first, but it was only after Oda Nobuhiro mentioned it that Shichibei became somewhat certain.

Nobunaga brought you back from Kyoto just to rebuild a regional army of a few thousand men.

"Hiss..." Nobuhiro realized that Shichibei was absolutely right.

During Japan's Sengoku period, there were many powerful daimyo who worked together as brothers. Takeda Shingen and Takeda Nobushige, Ukita Naoie and Ukita Tadai, and Mimura Iechika and Mimura Chikashige were all exemplary representatives of brotherly love and respect.

However, Oda Nobuhide died too early, and his older brother Oda Nobukatsu rebelled. There was no successor among his younger brothers, so he didn't have a big stage to perform.

But the younger brothers can't, but the older brothers can.

"All it takes is distributing supplies and adding foot soldiers; in a short while, three thousand men will have gathered." Shichibei helped Nobuhiro calculate this with a simple count on his fingers.

In his early years, Nobuhiro was stationed at Ansho Castle in Mikawa Province. In fact, Oda Nobuhiro already had a force of a thousand men at that time. However, he was defeated by the Zen master Taigen Sessai, and his army was completely wiped out. He was only able to return home after being exchanged with Tokugawa Ieyasu.

If the team had been trained and built up back then, the Oda Nobuhiro samurai group would have become the most outstanding force in the Oda clan long ago.

However, among Nobunaga's brothers, only Oda Nobuhiro was truly reliable and capable of being entrusted with important responsibilities. Therefore, over the years, Nobuhiro has maintained a retainer force of several hundred men, capable of protecting Kyoto for Nobunaga.

Once the resources are distributed, three thousand people might be considered a small number, and five thousand people could be a realistic possibility.

“But, you know what I mean…” Oda Nobuhiro was clearly tempted, but he had a dark past after all.

Who doesn't know about the dark history? These days, right? That's enough. As long as no case is reopened, who dares to bring up old grievances?

It was nothing more than colluding with foreign powers, planning to borrow foreign troops, and then come back to deal with Oda Nobunaga. Nobunaga himself forgave him, so who else has the right to condemn him?

"The past is the past, the present is the present," Shichibei encouraged his father-in-law.

You need to step up, understand? Now is the time for Nobunaga to put in his best effort. The times have chosen you, and they need you to contribute to your lord and shine.

"..." Oda Nobuhiro did not answer, but simply nodded silently.

Perhaps it was because he was impressed by Nobunaga that Oda Nobuhiro, who originally harbored some ambition, has remained loyal to Nobunaga all these years. He only accepts what Nobunaga gives him. What Nobunaga doesn't give him, he not only doesn't steal, but also steadfastly protects Nobunaga's property and everything else.

That evening, Nobuhiro wouldn't let them leave, insisting that Shichibei and his wife stay for dinner. Surprisingly, after Shichibei's prompting, Nobuhiro actually stood up and toasted him.

Look, look, look! He's made it big! Even his father-in-law is toasting his son-in-law.

I call you Dad, and you toast me; it's such a common and unpredictable thing.

As Shichibei had guessed, Nobunaga dealt with the Jodo Shinshu sect's problems within his territory while simultaneously assigning various subordinates to Oda Nobuhiro.

After the valiant general Haigo Ieyoshi was assigned to Oda Nobuhiro by Nobunaga, everyone in Gifu Castle knew that Nobunaga intended to elevate Nobuhiro to the rank of regional commander.

Shichibei, who was discussing wedding arrangements with Oda Nobuhiro, couldn't help but sized up the valiant general when he saw Haigo Ieyoshi come to pay his respects.

Putting everything else aside, this man has very strong leg muscles, making him a master of escape. Haigo Ieyoshi himself admitted that he wasn't good at mounted combat, but he was skilled in foot combat, whether it was with a spear or a bow and sword.

Unlike Shibata Gonroku, who needed to make a display, Haigo Ieyoshi was already famous and didn't need to show off at all. Oda Nobuhiro presented him with five gold coins on the spot.

It wasn't a greeting gift, but rather something like a formal large company in Japan in later years, which would give two or three thousand yen for transportation expenses when inviting someone for an interview.

Of course, at this point, regardless of whether he passes the interview or not, since Nobunaga has sent him the man, Nobuhiro has to accept. This money can be considered a gift upon meeting him, a sign that he will work hard for him in the future.

After deciding to take over the reins, Oda Nobuhiro grabbed Shichibei and asked to borrow five hundred taels of gold. He didn't want anything else, just to cover this expense.

understand.

The annual tribute rice from the autumn harvest of both Nobi and Obi provinces ended up in Shichibei's pocket. Even the annual tribute rice from the territories of the various high-ranking officials was basically handed over to Shichibei for disposal. This time, he directly handled more than 600,000 koku of annual tribute rice, and the benefits from it instantly revived Shichibei.

Next year, let alone lending Nobunaga 100,000, even 200,000 would be more than enough to cover his expenses. Oda Nobuhiro only asked for 500 taels of gold; the interest alone wouldn't even cover the amount Shichibei would pay him.

Since it was ultimately a matter for his father-in-law, Shichibei had to handle it properly. So he went to the Kawamura-ya Gifu main store. Since it was a loan, he would make it a business-to-business loan and draw up a receipt.

The shop was as busy as ever, mainly handling the exclusive sales of the annual tribute rice. The first half of the year was spent breeding and trading horses, while the second half was spent managing the upstream and downstream of the annual tribute rice business. There was no rest throughout the year. Fortunately, they had brought in Inase Yoshinari to look after the shop, otherwise Shichibei would have been completely tied up.

He sat down next to Inase Yoshinari, who was guarding the money box, and instructed him to deliver five hundred taels of gold to Oda Nobuhiro's house. He also gave him the IOU for the five hundred taels of gold for safekeeping, saying that even close brothers should keep clear accounts, and those who support their fathers-in-law and sons-in-law should be even more clear about their finances.

Since it was a loan to Oda Nobuhiro, Inase Yoshinari would not refuse. He immediately called to the experienced servants in the palace to lead Oda Nobuhiro's retainers inside to collect the money.