Owari Yumeki Golden Day

Listening to the loud crying inside the house, it must be a healthy child. Although it is a girl, well, this is Hideyoshi's family matter, why think so much now?

Maeda Toshiie was still in the yard, helping Aci pour hot water to wash her hands. He asked her how she had "pulled" the child out.

Ah Ci, of course, said it was just like giving birth to a pony. He probed a little and felt her out, finding the correct position. In fact, as long as the position is correct and the mother pushes, the success rate of a natural birth is greatly increased. The OB/GYN doctor said that the feeling of a natural birth is partly similar to a bowel movement.

Of course, some cases are caused by the mother being young, her bones not fully developed, her pelvis not fully opened, and the baby's head being larger and stuck. In this case, forceps are needed, but in the situation just now, the head hadn't emerged yet, so even if you had forceps, it wouldn't be of much use.

Besides, the baby had been in labor for more than seven hours. If no immediate treatment was taken, danger could occur at any time. There was no time to get the forceps.

"Nanabe, I didn't expect your family has this skill." This was the first time Maeda Toshiie learned about it.

"That means it works. If it doesn't, something terrible will happen." The situation is urgent, so they have to take a risk. If someone else can't have a child in the future, Shichibei will never let Aci go through it again.

Just because this adventure was successful doesn't mean the next one will be successful. The area is huge, and so is the size of a person. If you stick your hand in there, it could be fatal.

"That's right." Maeda Toshiie nodded slightly and went to find his wife, Song.

"You didn't pinch the child's head, did you?" Shichibei asked Aci when he saw that there was no one around.

"No." Aci was puzzled.

That's good, that's good. If you molded the child's brain into a certain shape, Hideyoshi would have to ask about it when he got home.

After instructing Aci to take good care of his sister-in-law at home, Shichibei returned home. It was already midnight, but fortunately, he had already helped introduce Nobutsugu Yonekura today, so he didn't need to get up early tomorrow.

After this chapter, Hideyoshi returned to Komaki Castle two days later, presumably after sending someone to file a petition. He was overjoyed, as it was his first child. Especially since Hideyoshi was turning thirty, having his first child at thirty was incredibly rare in that era.

Some people even became grandfathers by the age of thirty. For example, Toyotomi Hideyori had his first son, Kunimatsumaru, at the age of fourteen. If Kunimatsumaru had emulated his father and also achieved success at fourteen, Hideyori might have successfully raised three generations of his family by the age of twenty-nine. With a bit of luck, it's not impossible for him to have six generations living under one roof.

Hideyoshi even went to Shichibei's house to express his gratitude, saying it was a blessing that Shichibei had helped him find a doctor. Ningning briefly explained the situation to him: with a family of little girls, the oldest sixteen or seventeen, the youngest twelve or thirteen, it was normal for them to be independent. But at least two people should be available to call upon when things get tough, and to be able to explain things clearly.

As a famous samurai with a wealth of 1,000 kan, it was indeed troublesome not to have two reliable people at home. Hideyoshi and Hidenaga were often away on military campaigns and garrisons, leaving them with little time to care about family matters.

Pat Hideyoshi on the shoulder, Hideyoshi must have remembered this and went back to find someone to replace it.

As they chatted, it was time for dinner, and Shichibei suggested they eat at Kawamura's house. It wouldn't be a banquet, just two dishes and a soup, and Hideyoshi didn't have anyone to cook for him at home, since he had to take care of Nene and the children.

"This must be the Sunomata Castle Dai Gishide." Yonekura Nobutsugu just walked in. It was not his first time in Owari, and he recognized a few people.

Shichibei quickly explained that it was Yonekura Nobutsugu who had just finished clearing out the mountain products he'd brought from Kai in Owari. After all, the lessons and learning hadn't been in vain. Driving hundreds of horses to Owari with nothing would be a waste, wouldn't it? He could bring some Kai specialties to Owari and sell them, and it would be a good deal.

Even if it wasn't earned for Takeda Shingen, earning it for myself was pretty good. Who would think their pockets were too full to have a few more big coins?

"Let's have dinner together." Shichibei casually called the person over, he was an acquaintance.

Yonekura Nobutsugu seemed to be enjoying the conversation, and he asked Hideyoshi many questions about the situation in Seino. Hideyoshi was now the head of the Seino region for the Oda army, so he knew everything about it. Since they were all things that had already happened, and since Yonekura Nobutsugu was an envoy from an ally, Hideyoshi didn't seem too wary.

The person lived in Shichibei's house, and the relationship was very close, so Hideyoshi would not think in any other direction.

Yonekura Nobutsugu repeatedly complimented Hideyoshi, saying how much he admired the feat of building the castle overnight. Hideyoshi had already had his first child, and Yonekura Nobutsugu was in high spirits, so the conversation was quite enjoyable.

After seeing Hideyoshi off, Shichibei asked Yonekura Nobutsugu when he would return. He had to return to Kai with thousands of kan (approximately $1,000) in cash for the horses, and Shingen was throwing money around in Suruga, the more gold the better.

The two walked one after the other, so Shichibei naturally didn't notice the evasive look in Yonekura Nobutsugu's eyes as he tried to find an excuse. He said he still had some Kai mountain products to sell, and he would leave as soon as they were sold.

OK, I understand.

Shichibei ignored Yonekura Nobutsugu and instead sent people to investigate the construction of post stations and stables at Inabayama Castle and Okazaki Castle. Although Nobunaga had not yet made a decision, Shichibei specifically instructed them to go to the stable house at Inabayama Castle and build a larger one, modeled after the one at Komakiyama Castle.

In theory, the Inabayama branch would become the central branch in Mino, but in reality, it was intended to prepare for Nobunaga's relocation. Once Nobunaga decided to move to Inabayama, the branch at the foot of Komakiyama could effectively be closed.

Honestly, Komakiyama Castle certainly served as a strategic military stronghold, but its commercial and transportation advantages were mediocre. If it weren't for the large concentration of Nobunaga's direct subordinates, including the ashigaru (foot soldiers), and the prosperity of the castle town thanks to the presence of his retainers, Shichibei wouldn't have even established a branch office in Komakiyama; at best, a stable station would have been enough.

As an 80-meter-high hill protruding from the extremely large plain of Kitaowari, it is indeed of great military significance only.

Historically, when Nobunaga decided to move, Komakiyama Castle was declared abandoned, and the materials were basically taken to Inabayama, where the castle was expanded. Even the castle town was moved away, which was very straightforward.

It happened that Inoguchi Town was burned down by Nobunaga, and the townspeople of Komakiyama took their belongings and rebuilt it immediately. The scale of the reconstruction would only be larger than before, not smaller.

On the other side, Yonekura Nobutsugu stayed in Owari for another two days. On the one hand, he received a reply from Takeda Shingen, and on the other hand, Saito Tatsuoki rode his horse back to Komakiyama from Kiyosu Castle to serve Nobunaga.

There was undoubtedly a Saito House beneath the castle, a place Nobunaga had given to Ryūō to live in and house his family. Covering over 2,000 square meters, it was considered a mansion even by today's standards.

However, the gates of Ryūshū were deserted, with few passing through. Even those who had once served as retainers of Minō Saito were somewhat wary of approaching. Who knew what the agreement between Nobunaga and Ryūshū had been, and what Ryūshū's future actions would be like? It was even more uncertain.

It's a bomb!

For Oda's retainers and Mino Saito's old retainers, Ryusei was a huge thunder and a topic that could not be touched, but for Yonekura Nobutsugu, it was not the case at all.

After learning that Ryūshū had been placed in Owari Kiyosu Castle by Nobunaga with 15,000 kan, Yonekura Nobutsugu immediately dispatched a messenger to Kai to inform Takeda Shingen. Shingen's reply had now reached Owari, signaling a reluctance to make any major moves for the time being.

Shingen had no idea when he would fall out with Nobunaga; he still had the Suruga Imagawa clan to contend with. Furthermore, whether his next move would be against Hojo Ujiyasu, Tokugawa Ieyasu, or even raising an army against Oda Nobunaga remained uncertain.

I haven't seen him until now, and I haven't played the Inuyama Tessai card.

Therefore, Shingen's core idea is only one, to first contact, to see if Long Xing still harbors hatred for Nobunaga. Or if he has been defeated by Nobunaga, his spirit has been defeated, and he has completely surrendered, married an Oda woman, and started to play badly.

If Long Xing still has some spirit left in him, there will be opportunities to play the Long Xing card in the future. After all, Long Xing is only twenty years old and can definitely thrive for another ten or twenty years. If Long Xing collapses, then forget about it, just pretend you didn't know, and just maintain a friendship.

Anyway, friendship comes at a price, and it’s just a matter of time before it’s repaid.

A Takeda samurai, while selling horse shoes on the street, happened to meet a retainer of the Saito clan. Horse shoes are handicrafts made of woven straw, used as a substitute for shoes for Japanese horses. The profit margin was very low, and there were no specialized shops. Instead, they were woven by farmers themselves and sold in Yokkaichi and Rokkaichi markets.

Some warriors, poorer than others, would even cut grass themselves and have their wives and children weave horse shoes for them. Purely consumables, after all, horses have four legs.

Selling this thing neither attracts attention nor draws attention to others, yet allows you to approach those you want to approach.

Having lost Inabayama Castle, Ryuxing was only allowed by Nobunaga to return to retrieve some of his personal belongings and the ancestral tablets of his father, Yoshitatsu, and others. The granaries, gold storage, and armory within the castle were all taken by Nobunaga, making it impossible for Ryuxing to return them.

That's why Long Xing was in need of everything and even asked Shichibei to buy him several horses for transportation. Anyway, once he reached the territory, he'd have money. Once he had power, he could issue orders. First, he'd collect this year's land tax from each region to use to settle the Saito samurai.

At this point, even if an uprising was provoked, Nobunaga would help suppress it. After all, Nobunaga was jealous of Ryusuke's relatively complete Saito Fudai samurai group.

Before Nobunaga had completely dealt with this samurai group, he would certainly show some leniency towards Ryuxing. Of course, as Nagai Michiri suspected, it wasn't impossible that Ryuxing choked to death after the Oda woman gave birth to a son. However, the prerequisite was that a baby boy was born, so Ryuxing would be safe for the next two or three years.

The Saito samurai, who wanted to buy a hundred pairs of horse shoes right off the bat, would have needed someone to sell them to the Saito residence. The rest of the story followed naturally, and even someone watching from the shadows would have thought he was just buying horse shoes.

After all, these days, Long Xing has to buy pots and pans; without them, he can't even light a fire, cook, sleep, or bathe. There are seven or eight delivery vendors a day, so questioning them one by one is unrealistic.

So, Long Xing and Yonekura Nobutsugu met, a very brief one. They quickly exchanged their opinions and attitudes. Needless to say, Long Xing was eager to raise an army and kill Nobunaga immediately. However, he didn't have the strength to do so, so he could only lie low.

Okay, Nobutsugu Yonekura is not going to make any promises, as long as he knows that Longxing has this idea.

The next day, several more horses arrived, laden with hay for the horses that Ryu-Hsing had just bought. Three hundred kan worth of gold was also hidden among the hay, a token of Shingen's friendship with Ryu-Hsing.

Let’s build a good relationship first, and when you need me in the future, just let me know.

The matter was done, and Nobutsugu Yonekura, believing he had acted very discreetly, mounted his horse and prepared to return to Kai. As Shichibei was an old friend, he had to escort him to the intersection.

At first, Shichibei didn't realize anything was wrong. The number of people was right, the heads were right, it was the same face, it was the same person, but something was not right.

The horse had sold for over a thousand taels of gold, some of which Shichibei had weighed himself, knowing exactly how much it weighed. Furthermore, Yonekura Nobutsugu and the others had also sold a batch of mountain goods from Owari. Although they were all worthless odds and ends, they should have been on hand.

At the very least, they would exchange their belongings for scarce goods like linen and silk to bring back to the Kai Mountains to improve the lives of their families. Their packages would inevitably become larger, not smaller. They would either contain money or cloth.

However, the number of money bags carried on the horse pulling gold did not match, so Shichibei did not say anything and sent Yonekura Nobutsugu and others away as usual.

When I got back to Kawamuraya, I asked the shop assistant if he knew where Nobutsugu Yonekura had been these days.

It's no wonder that Shichibei didn't pay attention. He had to expand Kawamura's business and take care of Ningning's childbirth. He was so busy that he almost had no time to rest. How could he have time to follow Yonekura Nobutsugu around every day?

When asked this, the waiter only said that in addition to going up the city to pay a visit to Nobunaga, Yonekura Nobutsugu also visited Sakuma Nobumori, Niwa Nagahide and Hirate Hanhide.

Visiting an important official of the Oda clan? Was he trying to bribe Sakuma Nobumori with money? There was no need for that. The alliance between the two sides was quite solid. At least Shingen wanted to attack Suruga, and Nobunaga wanted to flee to Kinai. They each had their own backs, so they had common interests and didn't want to cause trouble in their own backyard.

What else? They were also selling preserved fruit, beeswax, and horse shoes on the streets. The clerk thought about it and realized that the Takeda people had indeed brought some mountain products, nothing expensive. Perhaps Shingen hadn't thought about trading anything in Owari; the mountain products were all brought in by Yonekura Nobutsugu and his men.

They are all very ordinary mountain products, nothing special at all.

that……

For a moment, Shichibei was a little confused. Why did it seem that the money that Nobutsugu Yonekura received for the horse was less?

92. Change and move to the Yue Kingdom and follow the

As Qibingwei was sitting at home, he was worried when someone came in and said that he had been summoned by the palace and was to go up to the city immediately. Qibingwei could only suppress his thoughts, change his clothes and go out.

Many of the Oda clan leaders who were at the gates of the castle were summoned by Nobunaga. By the time Shichibei sat down, quite a few people were already seated in the large hall. More people were arriving in a continuous stream, clearly indicating that Nobunaga had something important to announce or discuss.

Small meetings are held for big things, and big meetings are held for small things.

Calling all the important officials together basically meant that Nobunaga had already made a decision and was about to announce it, or that it was still in the initial discussion stage and everyone was brainstorming.

When making decisions, Nobunaga would discuss them privately with a few of his retainers. For example, when Nobunaga was recruiting the Nishi Mino Trio, only a few of them discussed it with Nobunaga. Even Shichibei was only summoned to assign tasks after the mission was about to be carried out.

After everyone was seated on time, Nobunaga strode in and sat on the couch. Without wasting any words, he checked that everyone was present and then officially announced it.

Move to Inabayama!

As expected, Shichibei knew that Nobunaga, intent on stirring up trouble in Kinai, would relocate his main castle to Mino, which offered easier access to Kyoto and Kyoto. After all, Owari was his stronghold, especially the lower four counties, which were incredibly secure. The local lords had all grown up with him, and as long as Nobunaga didn't show signs of defeat, their support would remain unwavering.

Many of Nobunaga's important retainers had apparently discussed this matter with him. Nobunaga wasn't always dictatorial; even before the Battle of Okehazama, he consulted with his retainers. Ida Hiromashige strongly supported a surprise attack on Imagawa Yoshimoto, but most of his retainers believed a firm defense of Kiyosu would be the better option.

Do you have any different opinions? Of course not.

This was a precursor to the "retainers gathering together" and "separation of soldiers from farmers" that would later appear in games and novels. Those who followed Nobunaga to Mino included not only the Makai clan, the small clans, and the ashigaru clan, but also key members of the Oda clan.

Even if the territories of important ministers were in Owari, in order to serve Nobunaga and stay close to the power core of the Oda family, they would inevitably have to leave their territories for a long time.

It might not be a big deal at first, but after a long time, the solid feudal local power will inevitably have gaps and waver. The longer the time, the bigger the gap will be.

Not many years ago, Hayashi Hidetada and Shibata Katsuie could have gathered their forces and gone out to kill Oda Nobunaga openly. But after the important officials had been with Nobunaga for a long time and had left Owari, even if Hayashi Hidetada was the lord of Kiyosu with a hundred thousand koku and Sakuma Nobumori was the guardian of an entire country, they could just kill them all.

Furthermore, Nobunaga didn't just expel them; he also set up a camp for Nobutada in Nobi to eliminate the troublemakers. He also exiled Andō Morishi, mentioned earlier, and Niwa Ujikatsu, the lord of Owari Iwasaki Castle (Nobunaga's brother-in-law).

Look at all these people, who is going to raise an army to besiege the city?

I have been away from the territory for too long. The common people only know about Oda, but not you gentlemen.

However, Niwa Ujikatsu turned around and surrendered to Tokugawa Ieyasu. His two sons, Niwa Ujishige and Niwa Ujitsugu, faced the army of tens of thousands led by Ikeda Terumasagi and Mori Nagayoshi with only 200 soldiers in the Battle of Komaki and Nagakute. The sound of fierce fighting alerted Tokugawa Ieyasu who was behind them, and the surprise attack turned into a counter-surprise attack.

Hideyoshi immediately lost two key generals, Ikeda Terumasa and Mori Nagayoshi, which was more than just a loss.

The important officials bowed their heads in obedience. It was a victory meeting, a unity meeting, and the decision was passed unanimously by acclamation. As the ruler of two countries, Nobunaga's prestige was evident, and no one would cross his brow on such a matter.

Specific details will be notified separately.

The irrelevant people left the city first, and Nobunaga left behind six people: Niwa Nagahide, Sakuma Nobumori, Murai Sadakatsu, Sassa Narimasa, Shimada Hidemitsu and Shichibei.

Naturally, the entire relocation process was assigned. Niwa Nagahide was the first to be named, assigned to continue the construction of the Inabayama Castle's gables. This was work Nobunaga had already been doing since conquering Inabayama. Certain key areas needed to be further reinforced. Wherever walls needed to be erected, walls were erected; wherever trenches needed to be dug, trenches were dug.

The burned buildings in the city also need to be rebuilt. The gates, palaces, small castle towers and other buildings need to be built more magnificently so that they can accommodate more soldiers to garrison during wartime.

Ando Morishi and three others who had previously expressed their surrender to Nobunaga were immediately recruited to help build Nobunaga's new castle.

At this point, Nobunaga nodded to Shichibei. Shichibei had initially requested the Nishimino Trio contribute to Nobunaga's fortification efforts, a request Nobunaga considered a good one. Perhaps this was one of the reasons Nobunaga was so eager to move to Inabayama, to deplete and consolidate the Nishimino Trio.

The three families had just divided Nobunaga's 15,000 kan of money, including labor fees, and now they had to give back at least half of it to build the city. Furthermore, the local lords and their subjects had to continue to be conscripted, as clearly stated in the newly compiled military service account.

Another thing was to build a large number of samurai residences and ashigaru long houses under the castle. Previously, only samurai from half of Mino Province lived under the castle, but now Nobunaga had samurai and ashigaru from both Nobi and Nobi living under the castle. Therefore, a large-scale expansion of housing was necessary to accommodate this population.

It is only natural for samurai to carry guns for you to fight and for daimyo to provide you with housing.

It's a job that demands your life's safety. Who would want to work for you if you can't even afford a living? Not only did he have to expand the castle grounds, but he also had to add wells, plan streets, and strengthen fire prevention. Niwa Nagahide's job was no easy one.

The second, Sakuma Nobumori, had a similarly heavy workload, primarily responsible for demolishing the buildings at Komaki Castle. Where did Nobunaga and his family live? They lived at Sakuma Nobumori's residence.

Historically, when Nobunaga was building Azuchi Castle, he also chose to live in Sakuma Nobumori's residence. Up until that time, Nobumori must have been a trusted elder and important retainer of the family. What happened after that is unclear.

As for where Sakuma Nobumori would live? He found a temple near the city walls. As expected, the temple would eventually have to move. Temples depended on their followers and the land for survival, and Japanese temples at this time were particularly active participants in the struggle for secular power. They either relied on the powerful or were the powerful themselves.

When Nobunaga left, all the shrines and temples in the castle had to move. To put it nicely, it was called "moving the palace," but to put it more practically, it meant following the financial backers.

While Nobumori's job was simple, it required close coordination with Niwa Nagahide. Once the materials were dismantled, they had to be transported north to Inabayama. They had to ensure neither delays to the Inabayama project nor disruptions to the relocation of the others. It was a highly technical job these days.

Besides, demolition is something that only those with strong power or those with high prestige and connections can handle. With tens of thousands of people moving to Inabayama, demolishing one house today and another tomorrow requires strong coordination skills.

Only the family elder Nobumori Sakuma can do it. If other people come, who knows what will happen.

The tasks of Murai Sadakatsu and Sassa Narimasa were relatively focused. Murai Sadakatsu was responsible for bringing all the money, food, supplies and household items to Inabayama without omission.

There is a movie in Japan called "Moving Daimyo", which tells the story of the Echizen Matsudaira family's move. It shows the difficulty of moving all the belongings to a new territory.

What needs to be thrown away must be thrown away, and what needs to be taken must also be taken. On the way, there are also family treasures such as the "Ote-chi", one of the three spears in the world, which need to be transferred. The troubles are too numerous to count.

Even Owari's various documents and account books had to be kept safe by Murai Sadakatsu, and delivered safely to the library at Inabayama Castle. If anything was missing, it would be a serious problem.

Sassa Narimasa was primarily responsible for escorting Nobunaga's direct military personnel and their families. He led the horsemen and horses to organize the approximately 5,000 soldiers and over 20,000 Nobunaga's direct retainers and march several dozen kilometers to Inabayama.

The Makai, the small surnames, and the ashigaru, none of them can be missing, they are all Nobunaga's capital, Nobunaga spent money on every soldier. Although many soldiers are nobles of the Makai who are obliged to expand the army, they are also indirectly costing Nobunaga money.

These people, who brought their families with them and were armed, had to be led by their own generals. Who else but Zuo Zuo Cheng Zheng could lead the charge?

The tasks of Shimada Hidemitsu and Shichibei were more straightforward. Shimada Hidemitsu was responsible for maintaining the streets and bridges from Komaki to Inabayama, especially the floating bridge on the Kiso River.

With so many people and belongings to relocate, it was impossible without a good road. Fortunately, the summer floods had passed, and the flow of the Kiso River had not changed much, so we could make arrangements at our leisure.