Owari Yumeki Golden Day

In another historical dimension, Nobunaga had no choice. But in this dimension, Nobunaga did have a choice. Mino Ritsuji Temple still houses the Ogosho and the former Shogun Ashikaga Yoshihide.

Yoshiaki, think carefully.

187. Shigemitsu Igayagata Family

Shichibei thought Ashikaga Yoshiaki would fly into a rage, perhaps even scolding himself or Oda Nobunaga, but Yoshiaki held back, took the book expressionlessly, read it calmly, said "I understand", and stood up to leave.

It's as if this thing never happened and I don't care at all.

Could it be that this kid has already started preparing to rebel against Nobunaga?

Referring to Ashikaga Yoshiaki in another dimension, in fact, Ashikaga Yoshiaki's idea at the beginning was not to kill Nobunaga completely, because the Ashikaga Shogun's own strength was declining. Even if Nobunaga was killed, it would be difficult to seize and inherit Nobunaga's assets.

If it is impossible to seize Nobunaga's assets, then finding someone to kill Nobunaga will only result in the creation of a bigger "Nobunaga II" who will be even more difficult to contain.

At that time, Yoshiaki still wanted to bring together a few more equally powerful forces to jointly manipulate government affairs at the core of the shogunate. You can't kill me, and I can't kill you, so we can check and balance each other.

As the Shogun of the Muromachi shogunate, Yoshiaki could maneuver very freely among various forces, act as an "arbitrator", and further gain power.

It is similar to dragging heroes from all over the world into Ashikaga Yoshiaki's comfort zone of playing political conspiracies and intrigues. Yoshiaki is not good at killing people, but he is very skilled and adept at using political tactics.

Historically, after Nobunaga's retreat from Kanegasaki, even during the Battle of Anegawa, Ashikaga Yoshiaki did not explicitly express hostility or an attitude of attack against Nobunaga. He simply continued to instigate various factions, taking turns to fight Nobunaga.

It was not until Takeda Shingen officially announced his march to Kyoto and defeated Tokugawa Ieyasu in the Battle of Mikatagahara that the Oda army began to gather in Nobi to defend their stronghold, leaving Kinai completely empty, that Yoshiaki officially announced his break with Nobunaga and announced it to the world in the form of an imperial edict.

He accused Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu of being "criminals" and called on all the princes in the world to join in the fight against them.

At that time, he probably thought he could seize a considerable portion of the Kinai region and strengthen his power. Since Nobunaga and Shingen had fought a major battle at Nobi, resulting in both sides suffering heavy losses, he could, as the shogun, mediate and achieve his goal of suppressing Nobunaga and re-establishing his authority.

If Nobunaga was just a daimyo of the two countries with a million koku of affluence, with Asakura Yoshikage with 750,000 koku in front of him and Takeda Shingen with 1.2 million koku behind him, then it would be much easier for Ashikaga Yoshiaki to control the situation.

Where is Yoshiaki now?

After respectfully exiting the hall, Shichibei first chatted with his adopted father-in-law, Oda Nobuhiro. Nobuhiro spent his days guarding the gates of Kyoto, so he must have seen a lot. He was even able to write secret reports to Nobunaga, so he must have some experience.

Just as they sat down to chat, Hideyoshi returned from outside. He had been meeting with Akechi Mitsuhide to investigate with whom Yoshiaki was secretly communicating. Clearly, they hadn't uncovered any clues yet. After all, they could only conduct secret investigations, unable to arrest and torture Yoshiaki's retainers or Gimhou (a term not used for officials, but for the trusted servants of powerful and wealthy families).

Someone who was trusted by Yoshiaki and sent secret letters everywhere would naturally be tight-lipped. If you were to encounter him simply, it would be difficult to control him with just a few threats. The main reason was that Yoshiaki and Nobunaga had not fallen out yet, so Nobunaga had no way to resort to any trickery.

"What's your reaction?" It was actually quite difficult for Hideyoshi to do this kind of task.

"No reaction at all." Shichibei simply repeated the scene of presenting the Twenty-One Articles to Yoshiaki in the palace.

"Hiss..." Not to mention Hideyoshi, even Nobuhiro was helpless.

No matter what it is, if you have a clue, no matter how difficult it is, you can always move forward with it. Right now, this is all speculation, no real evidence. The point is, they want to cut the Gordian knot, but they can't because they haven't torn the relationship apart yet.

It's really difficult.

"Let's change direction. Since it's difficult to check here, let's check outside." Although Shichibei had foresight, the situation has changed now, and many things are not so certain.

"What do you mean?" Hideyoshi quickly responded.

"Think about it the other way around, do you understand?" Shichibei moved forward.

Because he could not break off relations with Yoshiaki, he could not arrest and torture Ashikaga Yoshiaki's retainers, not even servants. If he really arrested them, Nobunaga would lose his moral justification.

While we can't arrest Yoshiaki's men, we can arrest other suspects. Regardless of which feudal lord or messenger from any of the mountain gates, we will guard the Seven Gates of Kyoto and arrest any suspicious individuals we see.

The biggest taboo in a conspiracy like this is to delegate the task to someone else, leaving it to everyone. Both sides must have trusted personnel liaising back and forth. Send more people to guard the intersection. We'll use a human wave tactic.

Start catching!

And they arrested those with Awa and Echizen accents, with the focus on the Miyoshi Three and Asakura Yoshikage. Now, the main enemies of Nobunaga are these two groups, so who else should they arrest if not them?

Anyway, our Oda clan is strong and powerful. We don't have many other things, but we have a lot of people. Nobunaga can summon 75,000 men at the command of a single person. Kyoto has seven provinces, right? I'll assign you 100 men per province, divided into 10 teams of 10 people each, to guard it day and night.

I still can't believe that they can't catch a single suspicious person.

As for your question about wrongful convictions? Sorry, this is the Warring States Period in Japan, where judicial justice is a bummer. Besides, this is a case, a major one. Nobunaga doesn't care about random arrests; he only cares about whether anyone is actually arrested.

"Row!"

Hideyoshi was also a person who did not care about trivial matters. Although doing this was a bit of a big deal, he worked very hard to complete Nobunaga's task and did not care about anything else.

"I'll go mobilize the troops!" Oda Nobuhiro did the same, with almost no hesitation or objection.

"It's a big project, and the results won't come out in a day or two." Shichibei thought that this method was only slightly better than looking for a needle in a haystack.

Countless people enter and leave Kyoto through the seven gates of Kyoto every day. Perhaps the Ashikaga family knows some small paths or secret entrances. It will not be easy to catch them.

But no matter how high or low Shichibei's thing is, it is a solution, and it is definitely better than sitting in Myokaku-ji Temple and suddenly becoming dazed.

After delivering the 21 articles to the emperor, Shichibei should have returned to Gifu quickly to report Yoshiaki's reaction to Nobunaga. However, Nobunaga actually rushed to Kyoto on the day Shichibei was about to leave for Gifu.

Looking at that look, Shichibei suddenly had an idea in his mind: Brother Nobunaga was going to kill someone.

I don't know if it's true...

Seeing Qibing, Nobunaga naturally asked Yoshiaki what he would do. Qibing had no choice but to repeat what he had said to Hideyoshi, and Nobunaga just smiled.

The smile is quite scary.

Then, Nobunaga, in his capacity as regent, issued a letter of honor to the world, claiming that Nobunaga had made contributions to the shogunate and the country by funding the construction of Nijo Palace last year.

The Gokyosho was a formal document issued by three or more court nobles, the Shogun, and the Kantō Kubo. However, Nobunaga, as the shogun's regent, had previously been appointed "Tenka Kogi" by Ashikaga Yoshiaki, giving him the authority to issue official documents on Yoshiaki's behalf.

However, before this, Nobunaga generally did not issue the highest instructions of the shogunate on his own. He often issued them in the name of Ashikaga Yoshiaki in the form of normal imperial instructions.

The release of the Gopan Gokyo Sho this time means that he will make the judgment in writing, only signing his own name, and issuing an official document as a citizen of the world, which has the authority of interpretation of the highest military family in Japan.

This action not only told the princes of the world that Ashikaga Yoshiaki was already his puppet and that he would have the final say on all matters concerning the shogunate from now on, but the content was also shocking and could be called a heavyweight.

Restore and rebuild the "Muromachi Twenty-One Houses" system!

The so-called twenty-one yakata refers to the twenty-one daimyo who were recognized by the Shogun of the Muromachi shogunate. Their status was higher than that of ordinary shugo daimyo, and they were the pillars and important supporters of the Muromachi shogunate.

Or to put it another way, when Emperor Taizong of Tang ascended the throne, he ordered the revision of the Records of the Noble Clans, in order to rank the Longxi Li family first, surpassing those messy Fanyang Lu and Qinghe Cui families.

By the time the shogunate was established, most of the 21 daimyo, who had once served as the pillars of support for the shogunate, had fallen into ruin, with some even having their family names extinguished. Granting the Yakata title to such lords was clearly no longer in keeping with Oda Nobunaga's new era.

Therefore, according to Nobunaga's request, the "Gifu Twenty-one Houses" must be re-edited!

Only those who defended Oda Nobunaga and recognized his rule of the world were eligible to remain in or join this group. Those who were stubborn and rebellious, or those who were die-hard loyal to Ashikaga Yoshiaki, screw you.

Don't underestimate this thing, it's just a title, and it's a feudal remnant from the old days. But when Emperor Taizong of Tang had to play tricks on it, you know whether it is really useless.

Nobunaga, who held the power to reorganize the country, was the de facto new ruler. Regardless of the ruler's actual name, Hideyoshi's self-proclaimed "Taiko" (Taikou) made him the head of the samurai clans. Whether or not one was the Shogun was not a legal requirement for ruling the country.

When Ashikaga Yoshiaki learned of this letter, it had a much greater impact on him than the newly added five articles of the Twenty-One Articles, and it could even be said to be much greater.

The old framework, old order, and old legal system of the Muromachi shogunate were not transferred to Oda Nobunaga in an instant, but were transferred to Nobunaga step by step through various means and over time.

Reorganizing the various house forms at this moment is obviously a very important step.

Nobunaga not only issued official documents to the feudal lords who had requests from him, such as the Mori clan, Ukita clan, and Asai clan, asking them to come to protect and pay homage to him, but he also issued official documents to those feudal lords who lived in remote corners and valleys, or were unknown.

Characters like the Jinbo clan in Echizen and the Daihoji clan in Dewa, who would not survive more than three days in the game, have now received Nobunaga's documents.

It was not distributed indiscriminately, at least it was distributed to people who now hold actual power.

However, the Izumo Amago clan, on its last legs, also received the document. This move by Nobunaga was a bit hasty. After all, the Mori clan was friendly with Oda Nobunaga and was one of the first daimyo to come to Kaku to pay homage to Nobunaga and Yoshiaki's new regime. So, Nobunaga actually sent the document to the Mori clan's sworn enemy, the Amago clan. It can only be said that he was very anxious.

By the way, Takeda Shingen also received such a letter. I wonder what Takeda Shingen's reaction was, because his family really didn't have a house name.

The Takeda clan with a yakatagami name was the Aki Takeda clan, which had completely fallen into decline, even losing its name. Alternatively, the Takeda Tsuzushu clan, whose leader, Izu Saburo Takeda Nobutake, responded to Ashikaga Takauji's call and joined him in establishing a business, was rewarded by the Ashikaga clan and given a yakatagami name.

This branch of the family inherited the position of guardian of Aki and also had the official career of the Izu no Kami, so they were called the Tsuzu family. Later, they once competed with the Ishiwa clan, the Anayama clan and other branches of the Kai Minamoto clan for the position of guardian of Kai.

Thirty years in the east, thirty years in the west. I didn’t expect that the most powerful person back then is finished. Now it’s Takeda Shingen’s turn.

Takeda Shingen is also a bachelor. Since you, Nobunaga, have given me face, I beg you to continue to give me face, and give me more face.

There were two things he did. One was to request a name from Ashikaga Yoshiaki on behalf of Takeda Katsuyori, and the other was to petition the imperial court on behalf of Takeda Katsuyori to obtain a suitable official position.

At least you have to start from the fifth position so that you can be promoted to the fourth position in the future.

"Is there such a thing in history?" Shichibei was a little puzzled when he received Takeda Shingen's reply.

Because whether it was Suwa Katsuyori or Takeda Katsuyori, the name was definitely correct. In Shichibei's memory, there was absolutely no other name.

Considering Takeda Yoshinobu's ability, if Ashikaga Yoshiaki had given Katsuyori a courtesy name, then Katsuyori would have had to change his name to Takeda Yoshiyori. It is not impossible for Takeda Yoshikatsu to be named this way, but Katsuyori, who inherited the character "Ya" from the Suwa family, represented the political and legal basis of the Takeda family's territory in Shinano, so it is highly likely that he would not have given up the character "Ya".

Wow, it's Takeda Yoshiyori, right?

After muttering to himself, Shichibei presented Shingen's reply to Oda Nobunaga. After reading it, Nobunaga didn't refuse. It was just that because there were too many replies, he had to step back a little.

Moreover, Nobunaga and Yoshiaki were currently in an internal conflict, and for the moment it was really embarrassing to ask Ashikaga Yoshiaki to bestow the character "义" (justice) on Katsuyori.

Could it be that the two of them were trying to show off their talents, which is why the whole thing ended up falling apart? That shouldn't be the case. They were just sharing a bed but different dreams, far from being at odds with each other.

Normal official business will definitely continue.

Seeing Shichibei standing still, Nobunaga suddenly remembered that Shichibei still had some favor with the Takeda clan and assumed he was being asked to do something. After a moment's pause, he picked up Shingen's reply, which had already fallen back, and attached his own request to the back. He then instructed Shichibei to take it to the shogunate's Soga no Sukejo for processing.

Qibingwei was thinking about something and was puzzled. Why did he say not to do it just now, but suddenly did it again? Forget it, let's do it.

188. Takeda Shinano no Kami Yoshiyori

No matter what Nobunaga thinks, since he has approved the reply, Shichibei will do it. When the Takeda family warriors who came to hand over to Shichibei heard that Nobunaga had approved it, they were happy that the matter was basically settled.

He quickly pulled out five large gold coins. This wasn't a bribe for Shichibei. He didn't need these coins; he needed the fine horses from Kai and Shinano. The real deal was to sell Shichibei a few more fine horses in April and May.

As for the five large gold coins in front of them, they were naturally the lubricant for the shogunate officials. This was not the first time that the Takeda family came to Kyoto to buy official titles and bestowed characters. Takeda Yoshinobu had bought them before, and Takeda Shingen himself had also bought them before.

What was Shingen's real name? Takeda Harunobu. I asked Ashikaga Yoshiharu about buying the character "晴" (haru) and the official title of Daizen no Daifu. They were all things I'd done before, so how could I not understand?

It’s good that you understand. It’s easy to ask Yi Zhao about buying “righteousness”, but what about asking the court about buying an official position?

Shinano no Kami.

Oh, that's understandable. Shichibei understood immediately. The Takeda clan now holds both the Guardian of Kai and the Guardian of Shinano, two guardian positions. Kai's position is actually quite stable. Even Takeda Yoshinobu's suicide and Iitomi Toramasa's seppuku didn't shake Kai's power, demonstrating their impressive control.

Then, in order to strengthen the rule of another major territory of the Takeda family, it is reasonable to buy a Shinano no Kami. In fact, Takeda Shingen himself also bought the Shinano no Kami, that is, he bought it when he asked the shogunate for the position of Shinano no Kami.

In any case, the title of Kokugakure in Japan was already an honorary position. Oda Nobuhide was still the Lord of Bizen. Could he have defended Bizen? Mitsuhide would still be the Lord of Hyuga in the future, but it was just an honorary title that represented status.

Of course, if you control Shinano Province and then buy Shinano-no-Kami, you might be considered the real Shinano-no-Kami.

In theory, if a samurai guardian wants to obtain an official position in the imperial court, he needs to make a petition to the shogunate on his behalf. Now that both of these are confirmed, Shichibei went to Soga no Sukejo to handle the matter.

The same was true of the Edo Shogunate. If a samurai wanted to obtain an official position, they could only do so through the shogunate. This was also one of the means by which the shogunate controlled the samurai lords, similar to the model of "rewards come from me, not from the court."

Many of the Edo Shogunate's systems were inherited from Nobunaga and Hideyoshi of the Azuchi-Momoyama period, as well as from the previous generation of Muromachi Shogunate.

By the way, the person who came is called Atobe Katsusuke.

I don’t know if it’s the power of later novels or the power of games, but such a smooth, experienced and hardworking person was portrayed as a stupid, incompetent and treacherous scoundrel in later generations.

At this time, Atobe Katsusuke was the bearer of Takeda Shingen's red seal, and a general who was a close associate of Takeda Shingen, on par with Yamagata Masakage. He was one of the seventeen elders of the Takeda family.

In addition, his mobilization ability in the Takeda clan was second to none, and he was a general among generals with 300 men under his command.

The Takeda clan's yōko weren't just one yōko per person; they were similar to 300 peasants, rich farmers, or even landlords and village heads. Kosaka Danjo, who also had 300 yōko, was a yōkin general who could mobilize a maximum of 8,000 men.

Normally, if Jibe Shengzhi wanted to recruit people, he could easily recruit three to five thousand people.

Now that he has been assigned to Takeda Katsuyori, he will definitely be responsible for buying Takeda Katsuyori's official title and career. In this way, if Takeda Shingen had assigned Yamagata Masakage to Katsuyori as the assistant family elder last year, then Yamagata Masakage might have become the treacherous minister of Kai in the future.

During the Battle of Nagashino, Honda Tadakatsu should have shouted, "That man is Atobe Oeisuke Katsusuke!"

This was likely the result of Shingen's momentary lapse of judgment. Tragic heroes who die in battle are always more likely to garner sympathy, while those who die heroically are undoubtedly great and loyal ministers. Those who live a shabby existence to the end, continuing to control the government even after defeat, are simply treacherous ministers.

Forget it, this matter is not Shichibei's business. After confirming with Atobe Katsusuke, he rushed to Nijo Palace to meet with Sogasuke.

When I arrived at Nijo Palace and asked, I found out that Sogasuke's wife had given birth, so he had taken a few days off. Otherwise, I could ask Settsu Harumon to do it, it would be the same.

He took Atobe Katsusuke to visit Settsu Harumon again and presented him with 100 taels of gold sand. Settsu Harumon said that he would take care of everything and there was no need for Shichibei to visit Ashikaga Yoshiaki again.

Speaking of which, Yoshiaki actually sent a letter to Takeda Shingen, but due to the good relationship between Shingen and Nobunaga, he didn't say anything real and just tried to talk things over.

Perhaps it was Yoshiaki's tentative letter that made Takeda Shingen suspicious, so he sent Atobe Katsusuke to Kyoto to investigate the relationship between Ashikaga Yoshiaki and Oda Nobunaga in the name of recommending Katsurai for an official position.

At least for now, things look harmonious on the surface.

Even though Nobunaga issued the Twenty-One Articles of the Palace to Yoshiaki and bypassed Ashikaga Yoshiaki to revise the ranking of the Twenty-One Houses of Muromachi, at least on the surface, the two sides were still playing chess on the same table, and there was no sign of overturning the chessboard.

Having made up his mind, Atobe Katsusuke waited in Kyoto for another four or five days, and then good news came from Settsu Harukon: the imperial court had agreed to grant Katsurai the title of Shinano no Kami, rank 5th rank, below.

Atobe Seiji immediately understood what it meant and immediately presented fifty taels of gold dust to the court in the name of repair materials for the imperial palace. Thus, everything was settled, and both the shogunate and the court praised Takeda Shingen and his son for their understanding of the general situation and righteousness.

The imperial court and the shogunate will jointly send envoys to announce the decree to Takeda Katsuyori. After this incident, there will be no more Takeda Katsuyori, and we will have to call him Takeda Yoshiyori.

Takeda Shinano no Kamiyoshi was actually defeated. Shichibei was secretly shocked, thinking that he had flapped the little wings of history again.