Owari Yumeki Golden Day.

Lady Takaya was simply too kind, having raised such a large child with such hardship. Shichibei had also received Lady Takaya's kindness, and couldn't just stand by and do nothing. So, if Toyama Nobutaka had any ambition, he could temporarily take on the role of Wakayama Castle Governor.

They should accumulate some experience so that if war really breaks out, Shichibei can personally organize the Kishu troops. Normally, given the Toyama family's influence in Kishu, they can't just give a call and have no one respond.

Of course, if Toyama Nobutaka had high aspirations and wanted to serve as one of Nobunaga's generals, that would be a good thing. His mother would be happy, Shichibei would save himself the trouble, and he would be viewed more favorably.

So what about Nobutaka Toyama?

In his fiefdom, Iwamuro Castle, Arita District, Kishu.

Not quite sure what to do himself, Toyama Nobutaka returned to Iwamuro Castle and summoned his cousin, Toyama Sadamatsu, who had separated from the family. Toyama Sadamatsu's father was Toyama Masahiro, who was Toyama Akio's second elder brother by blood, but not by patriarchal lineage.

Regardless of kinship, it's best to ask your cousin for advice now. Furthermore, Yukawa Naoharu, son of Yukawa Naomitsu, Toyama Takamasa's most important supporter and who fully supported the Toyama family in the Battle of Kyokoji, also came to pay his respects to the current head of the Toyama family's main branch.

By the way, the theoretical head family of the Toyama family should be the Nihonmatsu Toyama family, but they have declined and are now just a wealthy family in Oshu. Toyama Nobutaka inherited the current head family, the Toyama Kingo family, while Toyama Sadamatsu inherited the branch family, the Toyama Oshu family.

What to do? Tomiyama Nobutaka still doesn't really understand where his advantage lies, only that he has a territory of over 60,000 koku. It's usually managed by officials dispatched by Kawamura Nagayoshi, and he doesn't have any core retainers.

Toyama Nobutaka was very close to Yukawa Naoharu, who was an important retainer who helped the Toyama family maintain their status as a Sengoku daimyo until the Tensho era, without causing them to lose face.

Before he left, his mother gave him a final reminder. The history of infighting within the Toyama family is too long ago; one can listen to Toyama Sadamatsu's words, but not believe them entirely. One can trust Yukawa Naoharu's words to a certain extent.

The decision is yours to make; don't let others lead you. If you really don't know how to decide, come back to Kishiwada Castle and discuss it with your son. Now that we have Kawamura Nagayoshi as our backer, Kii Province won't descend into chaos, and no one will die if we don't make a decision right away.

Nobutaka Tomiyama still listens to his own mother, after all, the memory of her never abandoning him and carrying him to safety during the chaos is deeply etched in his mind.

Compared to the Toyama main family, who were usually based in Kawachi or Kyoto, Toyama Sadamatsu and Yukawa Naoharu, who were based in Kishu, were naturally closer. The two had already reached a tacit understanding when they arrived at Iwamuro Castle.

Nobutaka went to Kyoto to perform official duties, while the two remained in Ki Province as governors.

Shichibei's previous suggestion was for Toyama Nobutaka to go to Kyoto to serve Nobunaga, the difference being that one would serve in the Taka family, while the other would serve as a military commander. For both of them, it didn't matter what Nobutaka did in Kyoto, as long as he didn't remain within Kii Province.

Toyama Sadamatsu's thinking was that if Toyama Nobutaka were to suffer any mishap while serving Nobunaga, then it would be his turn to lead the Toyama main branch of the family. Ideally, he would be sent to war, then perhaps the wait wouldn't be too long.

Naoharu Yukawa didn't care about Nobutaka Toyama's situation. He supported the Toyama family and was loyal to them—that was beyond question, as clear as day. But loyalty was one thing, and having one's lord far away was another.

How did the Deputy Guardian come to power? It's just that the Guardian-sama assists the Shogun in governing the country every day in Kyoto, and the Deputy Guardian gradually gains real power in the local areas.

Anyway, you, Prince Toyama Kingo, can be a superior person in Kyoto, while we poor country folk can just be insignificant locals in the countryside.

The annual tribute rice will definitely be plentiful; it would be impolite to ask about anything else.

Naturally, in response to Toyama Nobutaka's inquiry, the two first recounted their family history during the feudal upheaval, highlighting the former glory of their Toyama family. They then proceeded to praise Toyama Nobutaka's wisdom and prowess, highlighting how he carried the hopes of countless retainers for the family's revival.

Finally, and most importantly, Your Highness, please be brave and enterprising, display your talents, cling tightly to the Oda clan, and make the Toyama clan great again.

After being flattered by the two old foxes, Toyama Nobutaka became somewhat smug. He now saw Shichibei's earlier "suppression" of him as genuine resentment towards his success. Clearly, the Toyama family still had a group of loyal retainers, and...

And they support me.

Fortunately, the child is still closer to his mother.

He didn't make any decisions on the spot, but simply appointed Toyama Sadamatsu as the castle magistrate of Iwamuro to remain and guard the territory. Castle magistrates are things that can be replaced at any time, so he didn't take it to heart.

When Todo Takatora and the other two came out of the palace, Toyama Nobutaka, who had finished his trip to Kishu and had a good talk with his mother, was sitting outside waiting.

Before Toyama Sadamatsu and Yukawa Naoharu, he was the head of the main branch of the family, the supreme leader of the clan. But to Shichibei, he was merely an ordinary servant, possessing no particularly noteworthy martial arts skills. At most, his family was noble; but noble? Could he be more noble than Lady Ashikaga?

She can only be Shichibei's concubine, so don't have any other thoughts about it.

Lady Takaya believed that it would be a good thing if Toyama Nobutaka could fight for the Toyama family again. However, she hesitated about serving Nobunaga directly. After all, Nobunaga might not take Toyama Nobutaka seriously, and Nobutaka was different from Mori Hideyori.

There's no problem that Mōri Hideyori's biological father was Shiba Yoshitomo. But his adoptive father was Mōri Jurō, a local tyrant in Owari. He changed his family name and became a core member of the Owari samurai group, a typical member of the old Owari, old Oda, and old Shimo-sōshi districts.

Promoting the Owari samurai was one of the core strategies of Nobunaga's regime, but Nobutaka was not included in this.

But it was a good thing that her son had this intention, so Lady Takaya ultimately expressed her approval. Lady Takaya also did not object to the appointment of Toyama Sadamatsu as the deputy of Iwamuro Castle, with the Toyama clan elder Yukawa Naoharu managing the territory.

There was no other way; all of the Toyama family's former retainers had died, making it difficult to find a suitable successor to manage their territory.

"Are you sure you want to go and serve the lord?" Shichibei didn't expect that Toyama Nobutaka actually had some ambition.

"Please grant my permission." After greeting Todo Takatora and the others, Toyama Nobutaka came in and told Shichibei his thoughts.

Since he was a subordinate daimyo of Shichibei, and his territory was actually conquered by Shichibei and Nobunaga, he needed Shichibei's knowledge and permission before he could directly serve Nobunaga.

"Since you have such ambition, how could I refuse?" Shichibei had no preconceived notions about the outcome of this matter, so he naturally agreed.

Now that this kid is gone, Wakayama Castle will need to find a suitable replacement. There's no rush; we can take care of this kid's matter first and then discuss the rest.

"I will certainly live up to your expectations." What he thinks in his heart is one thing, but Nobutaka Tomiyama will still say nice things.

"Your mother also has high hopes for this," Shichibei said kindly.

Thinking that he should just let his mother down, Shichibei never considered that Toyama Nobuhiro could repay him in any way.

As long as they don't cause trouble in the future, that's fine.

As for taking the child to work, Shichibei didn't need to do it himself. Lady Takaya told Shichibei that evening that she would personally take the child to Oda Nobunaga's side. As the youngest daughter of the third generation of the Dao clan and Nobunaga's adopted daughter, she, a woman, could easily win Nobunaga's favor by playing the victim, as long as her request wasn't excessive.

Lady Oichi's demand for Nobunaga to pardon Asai Terumasa was excessive. However, Lady Takaya's request for two hundred regular foot soldiers from Nobunaga was not excessive.

Furthermore, Lady Takaya's constant whispers in his ear at night eventually won over Shichibei, who then sent Toyama Nobutaka one hundred regular foot soldiers. And this was after the opening of the gates of the city.

All annual salary, the kind that comes with full armor and weaponry.

In this way, Toyama Nobutaka would have at least three hundred veterans protecting him. Even on the battlefield, he would have a degree of self-defense capability. How to fight? That depends on talent; how much he learns from Nobunaga depends entirely on his ability.

Those who learned quickly, such as Maeda Toshiie and Sasa Narimasa, earned 66,000 koku each, while Hori Hidemasa earned 50,000 koku—these were all senior figures. Those who learned slowly, like Nakagawa Hidemasa, had already been reduced to eight pieces at the foot of Azuchi Castle.

Leading a hundred regular foot soldiers gifted by Shichibei, and relying on his mother's influence, he managed to get a small loan of two thousand kan from Shichibei. Toyama Nobutaka then traveled to Kyoto in a grand manner to pay his respects to Oda Nobunaga.

Just then, Kita-Tomi Nobuo and Kita-Tomi Yuki parted ways, and he was actively trying to make a good impression. So not only did he not mistreat Yuki, but he also returned a large amount of her dowry, along with her servants, to her in double the amount.

Kita-fu Yuki-hime now possesses a huge amount of private property worth tens of thousands of kan (a unit of currency). It is likely that any public official in Kyoto who has access to her and does not have a legal wife would be willing to marry the divorced Kita-fu Yuki-hime.

A divorced woman, not yet twenty, from a prestigious family, beautiful, and with a substantial dowry...

Nobunaga glanced at Toyama Nobutaka and Lady Takaya, and smacked his lips.

One bite. If Toyama Nobutaka were sixteen or seventeen this year, this would be considered a good marriage.

Kita-Tomi Nobuo, however, was quite interested upon hearing that Toyama Nobutaka had come to serve Nobunaga. Nobuo, on the other hand, had no connection with the Hosokawa Kyōjō or Shiba Takee families for the time being.

Nobukatsu, who felt he was about to become the eldest son of the Oda clan, felt it was a disgrace that he didn't even have a decent guard by his side.

Niwa Nagahide originally supported Takeda Motoaki, the governor of Wakasa, but was later killed for rebelling. Now he supports Tomioka Yasutoshi, the governor of Kaga, making them both prominent figures. Kawamura Nagayoshi supports Ikeda Tomomasa, the governor of Settsu, who is also a legitimate governor of the Muromachi Shogunate.

Not to mention Hideyoshi, who also had Amago Katsuhisa, the governor of Yin and Yang. He came from a family that served as the guardians of eight provinces, which was a very prestigious background.

He Xinxiong also wanted it.

Because of Lady Takaya's repeated pleas, Nobunaga began to consider helping Toyama Nobutaka. Before he could figure out exactly how, he encountered Kita-Tomi Nobuo's request.

Should Nobutaka Toyama be assigned to Nobuo?

After dismissing Toyama and his son, Nobunaga questioned Nobukatsu and demanded the return of Nobutaka.

The reason is related to power. After all, Nobukatsu is still from the Kita region, not Oda, and his military achievements are not yet prominent.

As a result, Nobuo remained very calm and did not mention anything about being a mere decorative vase. Instead, he said that the Toyama Kingo family was a renowned family in the country and one of the most prestigious families in the land.

Afterwards, he would travel the world to fight for his father. If there were any negotiations, it would be much more efficient to have a high-ranking member of a martial arts family act as an intermediary.

Oh dear, hearing Nobukatsu say that, Nobunaga suddenly felt that this son of his was not so bad after all. Considering the recent handling of the land rights lawsuit in Azuchi, although it was not perfect, at least it was a proper judgment and no trouble was caused.

Nobunaga asked Kita-tomi Nobuo to step down first, as he needed to consult Shichibei's opinion. Although Shichibei had already sent a letter indicating that he had no complaints about severing the foster parent-child relationship, the subsequent arrangements still needed to be communicated.

At this time, the Oda regime needed the strong support of the important towns and villages in each of their families.

Upon leaving the palace, Kita-Tomi Nobuo immediately sought out Tomiyama Nobutaka. Whether it was because they shared similar tastes or for some other reason, it's unclear. Despite being nine years apart in age, the two found themselves quite compatible. Within a few words, they addressed each other as brothers.

Although they had only known each other for a short time, they had already agreed to have a meal together after leaving the Right General's residence. Tomiyama Nobutaka had a good impression of Nobuo, finding him quite interesting, unlike the other old men who were either lecturing, putting on airs, or full of malice.

525. Nobukatsu returned to the Oda clan.

what?

Shichibei was incredulous. How could Toyama Nobutaka have been transferred to Kita-Tomi Nobuo? Kita-Tomi Nobuo was still Oda Nobuhiro's ally.

No, because at the same time, news came that Kita-Tomi Nobuo had become independent and was no longer Nobuhiro's right-hand man. So, at this point, he started recruiting right-hand men?

Well, this is a good thing, isn't it?

At least Kita-Tomi Nobuo was born to Lady Ikoma, making him a full sibling of Oda Nobutada, and thus the second son of the legitimate wife. Returning him to the Oda main family and allowing him to inherit the throne as the second son would at least silence most people's objections.

When choosing an heir, one must either choose the eldest son of the empress or the eldest son of the patriarch. It's not that one cannot choose the most virtuous, but choosing the most virtuous can easily lead to a struggle for the throne among the sons. One of the fundamental reasons why the Tokugawa Shogunate was able to maintain stability for more than two hundred years was that it used the power of the Shogunate to guarantee the system of succession by the eldest son of the patriarch of the feudal lords.

If any illegitimate sons or high-ranking officials in the household dared to rebel or seize power, the shogunate would intervene to suppress them. Of course, in the early days, the shogunate used internal strife as a pretext to suppress the feudal lords. But after the shift from arbitrary politics to civil administration...

The role of the shogunate in maintaining the system of succession by the eldest son became apparent.

The Ōnin War, which triggered the chaotic Sengoku period in Japan, involved a struggle between the central government of the shogunate and local powerful figures, a division arising from the succession dispute, and internal strife within the shogunate itself. While there were many reasons, the overt antagonism between the successors provided the de facto pretext for the conflict.

After that, the Muromachi Shogunate saw a constant stream of new shoguns rise and fall, each entering Kyoto with the support of local lords, repeatedly humiliating the shogunate.

With the death of his eldest and most legitimate heir, Oda Nobutada, Nobunaga's best option, in order to maintain the balance between the Oda regime's central government and its outlying territories, was perhaps to appoint his second son, Nobukatsu.

I wonder if that kid Nobutaka Tomiyama can get along with Nobuo. Nobuo is the kind of person who uses people when he needs them and turns his back on them when he doesn't. Not only is he fickle, but he does it openly.

He calls Shichibei "brother" when he needs help, but when he finds Shichibei ineffective, he calls Kawamura Nagayoshi. In a sense, he is also a ruler whose emotions are always on display.

"My lord!" No sooner had Nobunaga put down his letter than Saegusa Morinaka's voice called from outside the gate.

"What is it?"

"Lieutenant General Ōkōchi and Princess Kita-fu have completed their separation and returned to their family." Saegusa Morinaka brought back news that was entirely predictable; it should have happened long ago.

Back then, Nobuo married Kita-fuyu Yukihime as her adopted son-in-law, becoming Kita-fuyu Yukihime's adopted son. It was a legitimate marriage, with a petition offered to heaven and earth and a vow made.

Divorcing now would mean forfeiting the Kita-Tomi clan's inheritance rights. Returning the inheritance to the Oda main family is reasonable, but what will Nobunaga's other sons think of returning it at this point?

Originally, Xinzhong died, and everyone was supposed to compete on the same stage, but before the competition even started, the rankings were already determined.

"Has a formal document already been issued?" Shichibei needed to confirm whether to first send someone to inform the senior officials and their families, or to issue a formal imperial edict to inform everyone.

“Immediately.” Saegusa Morinao’s answer was somewhat unexpected by Shichibei.

Nobunaga had previously held private, individual meetings with key figures in the Imperial Clan, including Oda Nobuhiro, Hashiba Hideyoshi, Niwa Nagahide, Takigawa Kazumasu, and Kawamura Nagayoshi. Now, he was consulting these important figures within the clan.

His opinions influenced the lower and middle-class Owari samurai groups.

According to Shichibei's plan, Nobunaga would first try to gather and unify the opinions of his senior retainers. Once the elders agreed, he would then use his personal prestige and the personal relationships with them to promote the idea within the Owari samurai corps of his hereditary retainers.

Finally, a basic consensus was reached, and then a full announcement was made.

To everyone's surprise, Nobunaga made his decision unilaterally after only consulting with his senior retainers. This showed he wasn't giving anyone else any time to maneuver.

There are pros and cons. The pros are preventing collusion and forming cliques. The cons? Those are obvious too.