Owari Yumeki Golden Day.

Sakuma Nobumori immediately shifted his focus to the Kawachi and Yamato regions to strengthen defenses on that side. This was to prevent the Miyoshi Triumvirate from colluding with Tsutsui Junkei and defeating the incompetent Matsunaga Hisahide, who would then flee to Sakai.

Ieyasu's Mikawa forces numbered five thousand, and he lost several hundred in the battle. Having fulfilled his duty as the younger brother of Mikawa, Nobunaga gifted him two thousand kan and instructed Tokugawa Ieyasu to return and properly strengthen the defenses of Hamamatsu Castle, just in case.

As for Azai Nagamasa, he joined forces with the armies of Kinoshita Hideyoshi and Hanawa Naomasa, totaling 15,000 men, and launched a full-scale siege and attack on Kamajima Castle. Taking advantage of the fact that Asakura Yoshikage's forces had suffered heavy losses and he was already counting down the days, he completely removed Hori Hidemura and Higuchi Naofabu, who were thorns in the side of Kobe.

Of the remaining 20,000 men, most of the mobilized troops disbanded and went home, leaving only Nobunaga's main force of 8,000 cavalry to enter Kyoto.

Although Nobunaga outwardly seemed indifferent to Mount Hiei, the burning of the temple meant the beginning of its various political, military, and economic repercussions. Responding quickly enough from Gifu was impossible; only by being stationed in Kyoto could a swift response be possible.

Shichibei had originally said he would accompany Nobunaga to Kyoto, but Nobunaga did not take Shichibei with him and instead gave him instructions.

You're going to help these townspeople and merchants, right? Then go all the way and help them return to Enryakuji Monmae Town to maintain order throughout the town.

Sigh...

Left with no other option, Shichibei ordered Aochi Shigetsuna and Ogawa Yutada to take two hundred men to Enryakuji Monzencho and summon two hundred men from Gifu.

Forget about maintaining order; let's first gather the fleeing civilians and collect the corpses. Even after the fire, thousands of bodies were scattered everywhere. And with the weather so hot now, a terrible plague could easily break out near Kyoto.

If the plague were to break out again, rumors detrimental to Nobunaga would surely circulate in Kyoto, where people's hearts were already unsettled.

The goodwill Nobunaga had accumulated by distributing rice to the townspeople of Kyoto and lending money at a 3% interest rate would probably be wiped out in no time.

In truth, Shichibei really didn't want to get involved in this matter anymore. No matter what he did, getting involved would only bring him trouble. He wondered how Ota Gyuichi would record this in his "Nobunaga Chronicle." If he could avoid it appearing in this chapter, Shichibei truly didn't want to be mentioned.

But since they were already here, they could only ask the followers of Otsu and Kusatsu to hire laborers to start burying the remains of the mountain gate and other places where the fire had already been extinguished.

The merchants of Otsu were quite obedient at this moment. When the Asakura army marched south earlier, some of the Katada navy and Otsu merchants welcomed the royal army. Now that they saw Nobunaga kill six thousand Asakura soldiers and set fire to Mount Hiei, their fear finally outweighed their speculation, and there should be no further back in their minds.

In addition, these people privately asked Shichibei, "If Enryakuji Monzen-cho is saved, who will Nobunaga grant this territory to?"

It would be best to bestow the title upon Shichibei. Firstly, the two sides have long been acquainted, and secondly, Shichibei comes from a merchant background and can understand the thoughts of small merchants like them.

understand?

I used to understand it, but now I really don't understand it at all.

Even the most foolish businessman should know the principle of not putting all your eggs in one basket. Some members of the Katsuda navy and the Otsu alliance defected to the Asakura family, and Shichibei didn't utter a sound. It was only natural, reasonable, and appropriate. Who knows whether Nobunaga or Asakura Yoshikage will win this messy war?

Where did your cleverness go, you bunch of idiots? Where did your agility go, from your father to the Asakura to your son to the Oda? How come it all vanished when you encountered Mount Hiei?

Why did they single-mindedly support Enryaku-ji Temple and ignore Nobunaga's words when it came to Mount Hiei?

So, Shichibei used to think that merchants were the most shrewd and morally flexible group these days, and that dealing with them would be very convenient. Now, looking back, he only has one thought: I won't sit at the same table with idiots.

Damn it, that's really damn it.

Not only did they try to persuade Nobunaga not to burn the mountain, but when Nobunaga was about to do so, they even led their entire clan and family to the mountain to help Enryaku-ji Temple oppose Nobunaga. These were no ordinary thugs; they deserved to be beaten by Nobunaga.

Even if a dog were to do the job of managing the town of Enryakuji Monzen-cho, Shichibei would never do it.

Dealing with a bunch of idiots whose brains are full of garbage? Shichibei wants to live a few more years and eat a few more bowls of rice. He has a wife and kids at home, a warm bed, and he's perfectly content. Why should he get involved in this mess?

Seeing Shichibei's resolute resistance, the local merchants panicked. Should they send other military generals to pacify Omi-Shiga District? What should they do?

What should we do? Hah, how despicable. You were the ones who instigated Nobunaga, and now you're afraid he'll send people to deal with you. Aren't you just utter bastards?

However, historically, Shiga District was handed over to Akechi Mitsuhide, who transferred him from Yamashiro Kuze-sho to Sakamoto Castle in Shiga District, Omi Province, where he built the prosperous Sakamoto town on the ruins of Enryaku-ji Temple on Mount Hiei.

Whether it will be handed over to Akechi Mitsuhide now is unknown. In any case, I saw Akechi Mitsuhide return to Kyoto with Nobunaga earlier, and he looked completely exhausted, not just physically, but also mentally drained.

Even a virgin who masturbates seven times in one night doesn't have the same ethereal look in his eyes.

If I had to find a suitable adjective, there really wouldn't be one. After all, Shichibei hadn't experienced any major upheavals, so his mind was completely blank to that indescribable degree.

Back in the Sunomata Campaign, when arrows whizzed past and pierced the wooden shield held by Shichibei, I never felt this way.

Meanwhile, in Kyoto, Nobunaga overheard many idle rumors circulating among the shogunate's retainers. These rumors were unpleasant to hear, and Ashikaga Yoshiaki's attitude towards Nobunaga was becoming increasingly hostile.

Previously, Ashikaga Yoshiaki's plan was to bring Nobunaga down to his own level, into his comfort zone, and let him decide the outcome. Now that Asakura Yoshikage is finished, the person he envisioned as a match for Nobunaga is gone.

Takeda Shingen and Mori Motonari were both too far away. Unless they could go to Kyoto, there was no other feudal lord in the entire shogunate central government who could directly confront Nobunaga face to face.

Upon realizing this, Ashikaga Yoshiaki's original intention of plotting a scheme was replaced by fear.

Nobunaga naturally realized this as well, and he could not tolerate the disgusting behavior of several thousand retainers surrounding Ashikaga Yoshiaki, plotting day and night.

Chapter 239 Chaotic Fluctuations After the Fire

Nobunaga openly courted the Ise family, the stewards of the shogunate whose household had been destroyed by Ashikaga Yoshiteru. According to the agreement between Nobunaga and the Ise family, the young Ise Sadaoki officially took over the title of steward from Settsu Harumono. However, due to his young age, his authority was temporarily assumed by Oda Nobunaga.

Ise Sadaoki, whose family had already fallen into ruin, and his old retainers readily agreed to Nobunaga's proposal and rushed to Kyoto to set up camp.

From this moment on, the public of the Muromachi Shogunate gradually began to split into the pro-Oda faction and the pro-Akikawa faction.

Nobunaga's situation continued to deteriorate after the burning of Mount Hiei. Besides the defeat and death of Wada Koremasa, a pro-Oda figure, in Settsu, which greatly shook the Wada clan,...

Matsunaga Hisahide, who had been given a strict order by Nobunaga that if he failed to capture Tatsuichi Castle and Tsutsui Castle within the year, would be transferred to a different fiefdom or even reassigned, led his generals and some of Miyoshi Yoshitsugu's reinforcements in a major battle against Ido Yoshihiro.

At the start of the battle, Matsunaga's army launched a fierce offensive, even breaking through the walls of Tatsushi Castle and entering the castle grounds. However, with the arrival of Tsutsui Junkei's main reinforcements and 500 monks from Kofukuji Temple, a full-scale melee ensued.

From dawn till dusk, the fierce fighting raged all day, and Matsunaga's army ultimately met its inevitable defeat. (The following is a fragment of a poem/narrative, not part of the narrative: "Tsutsui Matsunaga's two forces faced off, two sounds rang out, three times the combined bow and iron cannons were deployed, two sounds came from all directions, two echoes from the forest, and the earth shook and trembled (from the *Washu Shushoden*).")

The Tsutsui army alone captured 500 heads, and after the battle, the Matsunaga army, which fled to Tamonyama Castle, counted over 500 more missing. The Matsunaga clan suffered a devastating blow, marking its greatest defeat since Matsunaga Hisahide entered the Yamato region.

Taking advantage of the situation, Tsutsui Junkei surrounded Tamonyama Castle. Fortunately, Sakuma Nobumori arrived with his troops, otherwise Matsunaga Hisahide might have been taken away by this attack.

Meanwhile, the Miyoshi Triumvirate and the Ikeda Clan of Settsu had reached a consensus: the Ikeda Clan would attack Takatsuki Castle and the Ikeda Clan, while the Miyoshi Triumvirate would turn around and attack Kawachi Province.

Previously, Yusa Shinkyo of Kawachi had been driven away by Nobunaga, Matsunaga Hisahide, and Yasami Nobukuni. This time, relying on the support of the Miyoshi Triumvirate, he borrowed an army of 12,000 men and forcefully broke through Iimori Castle, which belonged to Hatakeyama Akitaka, bringing the entire northern part of Kawachi Province under his control.

This situation was already incredibly frustrating. Ashikaga Yoshiaki, filled with fear and hoping to buy Asakura Yoshikage time to recover and send more men to Kyoto, finally played one of his trump cards.

Yoshitsugu Miyoshi.

Miyoshi Yoshitsugu, the governor of half of Kawachi Province, rebelled and openly raised the banner of rebellion against Nobunaga. Together with forces such as Yusa Shinkyo in northern Kawachi, they began to launch a pincer attack on Hatakeyama Akitaka, located in central Kawachi.

The Oda faction of the Kawachi Province, which originally had the capacity to send troops abroad, has been completely disintegrated or can only barely protect itself, and the situation in the southern region is becoming increasingly turbulent.

On the other hand, the aftershocks from the outside also reached the Kinai region. After Shinohara Nagafusa withdrew from the Kinai region last year, he attacked the Mori army in Kodama County, which was under war preparation. Originally, the two sides were engaged in a large-scale struggle around the north and south coasts of the Seto Inland Sea. Now, with the sudden turn of events, Mori Motonari's eventful life came to an end.

Motoshi Mori passed away!

With Mori's death, the Mori clan's military forces, which had been attacking in all directions, were all withdrawn and returned to Yoshida-Koriyama Castle to protect and consolidate the power of Mori Terumoto, who had succeeded to the throne as a young man.

This led to the release of Shinohara Nagafusa's 20,000 troops from the Hazuki region once again. After supporting Yusa Shinkyo, the 10,000 Hazuki troops, together with Miyoshi Yasunaga, Iwanari Tomomichi, and others, launched a fierce attack on southern Yamashiro Province, intending to bypass Takatsuki Castle and march on Kyoto.

Nobunaga's main force of 8,000 men had to mostly move to the south of Yamashiro, where they joined forces with Hosokawa Fujitaka and other generals of the shogunate to begin resisting the attack of the Miyoshi Triumvirate.

The entire Kinai region was in chaos. Although the Asakura army was defeated, eliminating one threat, the morale of the Imperial Court and Kyoto was greatly shaken by the burning of Mount Eizan. Nobunaga had to appease the people and guard Kyoto against an attack by the Miyoshi army.

The situation not only failed to improve, but visibly deteriorated. In particular, the almost open and complete confrontation between Ashikaga Yoshiaki and Nobunaga, with both sides vying for the support of the shogunate's public, made the situation even more uncontrollable.

"The situation is extremely precarious." Although he was not in Kyoto, Takenaka Hanbei understood the situation clearly.

“Not necessarily…” Ota Gyuichi closed his little notebook.

"Does this mean that the tail is still intact and the foundation is solid?"

"Despite the chaos on Long Island, they are nothing more than thieves who sit idly by."

Ota Gyuichi's statement was not without basis. It wasn't that Nagashima Ganshoji Shoichi was short-sighted, but rather that his main objective in raising an army was to establish Nagashima, including the area around northern Ise, as a so-called "Buddhist kingdom on earth."

Ganshoji Temple hoped to emulate the successful model of the Ikko-ikki uprising in the Kaga region of Hokuriku and establish complete rule in northern Ise.

In addition to winning over believers, it was also necessary to suppress the originally independent or semi-independent local powerful clans in Kita-Ise and incorporate them into Ganshōji Temple.

After all, what use is relying solely on the common people? They don't know how to form ranks and fight. Kaga has always been a powerful force, not only because of the existence of the "invitations" (謊) religious local organizations with strong mobilization capabilities in each village and hamlet, but also because it has absorbed powerful clans and noble families from Kaga Province.

To maintain the Buddhist kingdom on the ground in northern Ise, it was necessary to assimilate and absorb the local powerful clans, using them as the backbone officers of the army, and supplementing them with a large number of Ikko-ikki followers.

If Ganshoji were to be incorporated, would those accustomed to independence in the northern Ise region be willing to accept it?

Initially, they were genuinely grateful for the restoration of Ganshoji Temple. Moreover, under the immense pressure from Nobunaga in the north, they banded together for mutual support.

Once Nobunaga's pressure lessens and he becomes bogged down in the war in the Kinai region, these people will inevitably revert to their old ways, begin to fight for autonomy and independence, and resist the absorption and suppression by the Ganshoji Temple.

This is why Cao Cao didn't attack Yuan Shang, who had fled north. If you push him too hard, he'll unite. If you let him off the hook, he'll turn on his men.

"Then, according to your opinion, what should the lord do?" Shichibei was just sitting there, looking through the work records of the burial team these past few days.

More than 2,500 corpses were recovered from outside, including those that were burned or buried in the ruins. A rough estimate puts the death toll at Mount Hiei at 4,000 to 5,000, though it could have been more, but Nobunaga certainly did not kill all 50,000 people.

"I will escort the Imperial Guard to Usayama Castle to quell the strife in Luoyang first." Ota Gyuichi had his own ideas.

"What happens after the Luoyang shogunate and the imperial court are at peace?" Shichibei continued to ask.

"First, completely annihilate the Asakura family, and then secure one wing."

“Even though Asakura suffered a major defeat at Anegawa, he is still a renowned family in the country, with tens of thousands of troops under his command. Can he be easily wiped out?” Takenaka Hanbei clearly disagreed.

"Isn't Imagawa a renowned family in the country? Isn't Ouchi a renowned family in the country?" Ota Gyuichi stretched out his hand and pointed to the east and west respectively.

Ouchi, or rather, Tao, was utterly wiped out after his defeat at Itsukushima. Imagawa's defeat at Okehazama only allowed him to hold out for a few more years. In fact, the Kawagoe surprise attack also wiped out the Yamanouchi Uesugi clan, but they simply resurrected themselves by changing their name and a shell company.

The Asakura family before us has suffered the same devastating defeat as the three families mentioned above, losing all the wealth accumulated over generations. They are now truly left with no choice but to wait for death.

“Asakura has no worries about its rear, and it is protected by mountains and rivers. Moreover, it has the support of Luoyang.” Takenaka Hanbei also stretched out his hand and pointed in the direction of Kyoto.

Ouchi has Otomo sticking his nose in his ass, Imagawa has Takeda sticking his nose in his ass, and Asakura has only just formed an alliance with Honganji Kennyo. If the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold. Kaga will at least not stick his nose in Asakura's ass in the present.

With the treacherous mountain roads of Echizen to rely on, and with Yoshikage Asakura rallying the people and reorganizing the army, even if they are no longer able to fight, they should be able to protect themselves.

“Hmm…” Shichibei didn’t participate in their argument, he just listened.

The men standing nearby—Tsuchida Chikakiyo, Kuwayama Shigekatsu, Aochi Shigetsuna, and Ogawa Suetada—listened quietly. None of them were powerful feudal lords; at most, Ogawa Suetada had a few thousand koku of rice. It was rare to hear debates that escalated to the strategic level of the entire shogunate or the entire Kinai region.

As for why Ōta Gyuichi and Takenaka Hanbei could argue, Ōta Gyuichi was Nobunaga's right-hand man and a former archer, while Takenaka Hanbei was a lord with a fief of 10,000 koku and one of the core figures of the Kawamura samurai group.

"Everyone! Everyone!"

Before the argument was over, Kotaro Mune, the manager of the Kyoto branch, rushed in. Judging from his anxious look, something terrible must have happened again.

"What is it?" Shichibei immediately stood up.

"The three members of the Miyoshi group have defected to the government, and Iwashiri has sided with the government!" Kotaro Sō brought some truly explosive news.

"What!" Everyone in the room was shocked.

One of the Miyoshi Triumvirate was Iwanari Tomomichi. How could this person possibly side with Nobunaga Yoshiaki and become an enemy of Miyoshi Nagayasu and Miyoshi Masayasu?

"Lord Iwashiro has arrived in Kyoto to pay his respects to the Lord and the Grand Master." Kotaro Muneko couldn't possibly lie to everyone, so he walked into the middle of the group and began to speak.

The reasons are complex, but I can make a long story short. Iwanari Tomomichi was the former lord of Katsuryuji Castle in Yamashiro, and no matter how grand his goals were, restoring the former territory of Katsuryuji Castle was certainly one of them.

However, the Settsu Ikeda clan and the Miyoshi Triumvirate had previously reached an agreement: the Settsu Ikeda clan would attack Takatsuki Castle, then advance along the route towards Kyoto, passing Katsuryuji Castle halfway there. In effect, this meant that Katsuryuji Castle was ceded to the Settsu Ikeda clan.

If that were all, and he could seize other territories, Iwanari Tomomichi probably wouldn't have thought much of it. But after conquering Kita-Kawachi, he only managed to revive the Yusa Shinkyo sect. And when he attacked Minamiyama Castle, he failed to capture it.