Owari Yumeki Golden Day

Of course not. Firstly, after the Kannonji riot, the Kondo and Goto clans in Konan suffered heavy losses and were no longer able to maintain their status. Meanwhile, the Gamo clan, which was not originally a branch of the Rokkaku clan, began to rise and became the representative of local power.

When Nobunaga entered Hunan, he needed a military family that could surrender quickly and have enough appeal in the local area to come forward and pacify the people of Hunan.

The other story, of course, is the production of teppo in Hino, the town where the Minami-Omi merchant group originated. To gain complete control of the production of Hino teppo, Nobunaga sacrificed his own daughter without hesitation.

So, next time when you say that the Japanese gave away their daughters in order to get arquebuses, remember to mention Oda Nobunaga.

Leaving the castle, I once again gazed upon Nobunaga's residence in the Tilia Valley at the foot of Mount Gifu. It was a truly beautiful spring scene. A gentle spring breeze blew, fragrant flowers blossomed, and on the lakeside pebbles, a rock turtle, having emerged from its winter hibernation, stretched its neck. Even the turtles basked in the sun, but we couldn't rest; we had to gallop back to Tsushima.

There was no rush, though; I could slowly walk out the door. The horse was outside, and Shichibei couldn't possibly be riding inside the residence. There was a Forbidden City horseback rider next door, but in reality, he was still being carried by two people. Horses were animals, after all; no matter how well-trained they were, they were bound to offend a distinguished guest.

Just as he stepped out the door, before he even crossed the threshold, two horses rushed in at the gate. I don't know. Nobunaga's mother's clothing group wasn't always a fixed number of ten or nine; it fluctuated constantly. It couldn't be that Sasa Narimasa and Maeda Toshiie had already gone to Echizen and Kaga, leaving no replacements.

So, looking at the lists of the Red Mother Clothes Clan and the Black Mother Clothes Clan from different eras, there's quite a difference. In a sense, it's often said that the Xiaoxing Clan is the Army Officer School, while the Mother Clothes Clan is the Army University. The lowest rank that can graduate from the Army University is Lieutenant General. The lowest rank that can graduate from the Mother Clothes Clan is a county commander.

At one point, the two Mother Clothes groups together numbered as many as thirty people. With so many people coming and going, it's no wonder that we can't remember them all.

Even if you are a graduate of a real mainland university, you may not be able to memorize all your classmates from the ten classes before and after you. You need to interact with them more often and meet them face to face to become familiar with them.

The two nodded to Shichibei, who quickly saluted. It had to be the Mother Guardians. One of them looked familiar, like Oda Echizen-no-kami. Well, we'd meet again sometime, so I'd ask then.

Coincidentally, the person guarding the gate was actually Yamauchi Kazutoyo. He was such a good boy that he even managed to become the foreman who guarded the gate for the boss. How come I didn't see him when I first entered the door?

Standing near the door in a beautiful spring spot, the two chatted. Yamanouchi Kazutoyo had just been patrolling the compound. It wasn't that he was afraid of someone climbing over the wall to get in, but rather that the natural environment of Mount Gifu was beautiful and there were many wild boars.

After the spring, wild boars raided the water gates, searching for food and water. Our residence had a large pond connected to a canal outside, the kind you could go boating on. So, the wild boars dug up the water gates several times, until they broke them down.

So Sasa Narimasa, who was in charge of Nobunaga's guards, had everyone run around the residence twice a day. Not only was the water gate easily damaged by wild boars, but wild boars also scratched at the bottom of the stone walls of the residence.

In the wild, countless trees have been broken by bears, wild boars, and other large animals. If they really pushed hard, they could even crush the foundation of a wall.

It's also because Nobunaga has been busy lately and just moved here. It would be easy to wait until a large-scale hunt is launched. Thousands of people would rush in and kill hundreds of wild boars, eating the meat and eliminating pests at the same time.

Oh, Qibingwei shook his head after hearing this. It was outrageous that a gatekeeper had such a job.

There wasn't much else to do, just a few extra steps, so Yamauchi Ippo didn't think it was a big deal. As the conversation got lively, Yamauchi Ippo asked Shichibei if he had any business in Gifu, if he had already prepared the pack horses and equipment for the journey to Kyoto, and if he knew when the journey would begin.

"What should I know?" Shichibei was just a royal merchant with a salary of 2,500 kan.

"I thought you were here to report the progress to His Highness." Yamauchi Kazutoyo smiled. If they really had to go to Kyoto, Shichibei would definitely not come alone.

It would take thousands of horses and hundreds of retainers to form the logistics team for the army to go to Luoyang. We also have to recruit soldiers from within the territory and harness them to the carts to go together.

"You are also a foot soldier. How could you not know if a real war breaks out?" Shichibei patted his butt. He felt uncomfortable sitting with the weapon holder.

"But I think it will be soon. The two people who just went in are going to Ichijodani." When Yamauchi Ichifeng saw Shichibei stand up, he naturally stood up too.

"From Ichijodani?"

This did pique Shichibei's interest, but it was only a slight one. Nobunaga had to raise an army of over 60,000 men, so it must have been after the summer or autumn harvest.

It's not for any other reason, but simply because these two periods are harvest season. Last year's attack on Ise also waited until the autumn harvest was complete and the annual tribute rice was stored in the warehouses before the troops were mobilized. An army of over 40,000 men was called 60,000. It was impressive, but the food they ate was real food: rice.

Last year's military rations and rice were all used to conquer Ise, and this year's rice has not yet arrived. It is likely that the troops will not be dispatched until after the summer harvest, and will have to wait until the eighth or ninth month of the lunar calendar.

Soldiers carry their guns and fight for a bowl of rice. If you offer them wheat rice, they'll smash it. If the food is bad, they won't have the energy to fight.

"Maybe it was the Ichijodani Kubo who agreed." Yamauchi Kazutoyo also spoke up.

Whether Ashikaga Yoshiaki would agree or not was one thing, and whether his "guardian" Asakura Yoshikage would release him was another. After all, Ashikaga Yoshiaki was a rare and valuable treasure, and he might not be willing to let him go just like that.

According to the later "Eshu Gunki", during this period, Asakura Yoshikage countersigned the documents of Ashikaga Yoshiaki. Many people believe that during this period, Asakura Yoshikage was a "kanreidai" (kanreidai), with some power and righteousness in place of Ashikaga Yoshiaki.

If you say it is useful, it is of no use. If you say it is useless, after all, there are only a few people in this area close to the capital who will listen to this call.

Unfortunately, Oda Echizen was inside reporting to Nobunaga. For some reason, Echizen had been in trouble one after another since last year.

First, Sugiura Gennin of the Kaga Ikko Ikki launched an attack on Echizen, which is a common story. The two had been fighting for many years. The Kaga Ikko Ikki was very eager to defeat the Asakura clan and gain access to Kinai.

Asakura had already ordered Asakura Kageaki, Yamazaki Yoshiie, Uozumi Kagemoto, and Horie Kagetada to lead their troops to meet the enemy. Asakura Yoshikage himself did not go into battle, and soon after, news of Horie Kagetada's rebellion spread.

At the beginning of this year, taking advantage of the heavy snow, Horie Kagetada actually laid siege to the city and raised the banner of rebellion. There was no other way, so Ono Shu joined in and began a siege in the middle of winter.

Even more outrageous is that the Takeda clan in Wakasa was in internal strife, making it difficult for Takeda Motoaki to survive in Wakasa. So the Tsuruga clan of the Asakura clan, from which Asakura Sotoku was descended, marched to Obama.

The two main forces of the Asakura family are all out killing people.

At this point, the Asakura clan didn't have much money to go to Kyoto. But after all, the Asakura clan was a daimyo with 750,000 koku of wealth and controlled the northern trade, so they had a lot of money. It wasn't impossible for them to spend money to recruit 10,000 foot soldiers, ronin, and other miscellaneous soldiers.

Then Asakura Yoshikage personally served as the commander, and Ashikaga Yoshiaki served as the general-in-chief, summoning allied forces along the way. By the time they reached Kyoto, there would be at least 30,000 people, enough to fight against the Miyoshi Three.

Strangely enough, Asakura Yoshikage's legitimate son, Akunmaru, died suddenly.

Well, Asakura Yoshikage was 36 years old and had only this one underage son. After the child's death, Asakura Yoshikage suffered a mental breakdown. He confined himself to his home every day. Although he didn't say anything crazy, it's true that he has completely ignored government affairs recently.

The Asakura clan was thus paralyzed, with two external armies fighting each other and the central control center down and unable to do anything. Even if they wanted to send troops to Kyoto, it would be impossible.

Upon hearing this news, Nobunaga practically put his hand to his forehead, cheering with joy. It's said that success requires all of this, and more. It's not enough to be competent; you need a little luck. You don't need too much, just a little luck at the crucial moment.

After confirming that Nobunaga had already planned to march to Kyoto, Ashikaga Yoshiaki was also excited. However, he was still in Ichijodani and needed some time to get out.

This time, Nobunaga would first send a messenger back to inform him of the situation in Echizen. Once he was ready, he would send Wada Koremasa and Akechi Mitsuhide to Gifu to prepare the way.

"I agree, but we won't fight now. Where can we get enough rice to feed so many people?" Shichibei mounted his horse and prepared to leave.

"Hey!" The young man living in the house ran out and saw that Shichibei was still at the door. He was so happy that he immediately waved to Shichibei.

119. In the dream, Hideyoshi wanted to be a lobbyist

Well, it's nothing serious. Even if Shichibei isn't here, we can still do it. Didn't Nobunaga's mother, Oda Echizenmori, just come back and tell Nobunaga that Yoshiaki really wants to come to Gifu?

In order to make it easier for Yoshiaki to escape, Nobunaga asked people to go to Kawamuraya to buy thirty horses and send them to Ichijodani in Echizen, so that Yoshiaki could escape overnight.

As long as Yoshiaki ran away, Asakura Yoshikage would not risk the wrath of the world and kill the remaining shogunate retainers, magistrates and foot soldiers to vent his anger.

Doing something like this is useless except for adding to your reputation. Any sane person wouldn't do this. As for those who are not sane, are they just trying to vent their anger?

You all died a worthy death for the shogunate.

It must be given a great posthumous reward and praise.

Needless to say, Nobunaga would definitely call their descendants or brothers and employ them all, and show it to the whole of Japan as one of the facts that he was now following the shogun to Kyoto, respecting the king and expelling the barbarians.

Just like the Ako Domain Tadayukura Incident, where forty-six men were ultimately sentenced to commit seppuku, their descendants were recruited by the various daimyo (lords of the domains) with generous salaries. The lords were proud to have such loyal and brave samurai retainers, using them to portray themselves as "wise lords and virtuous subjects."

Using a dead person for publicity is the easiest way to promote it, because once dead, there are no variables. No matter how you promote it, it will still make sense, because there is no evidence after death.

Come on, go get Nobunaga's horses. It's just thirty horses, it's a small matter. The last time Hosokawa Fujitaka and Akechi Mitsuhide came to Gifu, I saw that their horses were very weak.

Nobunaga gave them two horses so they could return to Ichijodani. At that time, Shichibei grumbled that if they rode that horse again, it wouldn't be surprising if it died on the way.

With this mess, Shichibei won't be returning to Tsushima today. I'll send a clerk back to Tsushima to deliver the message. I'll also have a drink with Yamauchi Kazutoyo, who's off duty tonight, as we agreed last time.

In fact, after the Takeda family's horses were delivered to Tsushima and counted and settled, most of the war horses and riding horses would be rushed to Gifu for sale. Even if no one was sent to notify them, Tsushima would send people to deliver the horses within two or three days. Now they were just accepting an urgent order with a political mission.

This was such a small matter, there was no need to go back to the residence to listen to Nobunaga's instructions. Shichibei and Yamauchi Kazutoyo patted their buttocks, mounted their horses, and headed to the Gifu branch of Kawamuraya.

By the way, halfway through the journey, Shichibei asked Yamauchi Kazutoyo to invite Kuwayama Shigekatsu to come over.

Last time, I said I wanted to meet this person to understand the situation, and if I could do the job, I would ask Nobunaga to help me. There is never too many samurai who have been raised to learn to read and write, and practice shooting and archery.

During the Edo period, it seemed like samurai were everywhere, and a single domain would suddenly see 10,000 or 20,000 samurai become unrestrained. This wouldn't happen today. During the Edo period, even the regular ashigaru were considered samurai, so how could this number not be greatly expanded?

The ancestors of the Inoyama family in the Samurai's Household Account Book were foot soldiers who carried spears for Maeda Toshiie, so-called "disciples." Without even knowing how to do it, they were the lowest-ranking samurai who received salaries from the Maeda family.

Later, after obtaining 70 koku of zhixing, he immediately became a true superior person and was even promoted to work for the feudal lord, receiving an annual salary of 8 taels of gold.

Wait, is it possible that the ancestors of the Inoyama family were farmers from a village in Owari? There is a possibility of this, of course, it is also possible that they were farmers from Kanazawa.

It is unlikely that this person could be found, as Maeda Toshiie had not yet been sent out and did not have his own permanent ashigaru. The ancestor of the Inoyama family who became an ashigaru was still a nameless farmer, known in the village as Ooichiro or Koichiro.

Shaking his head to dismiss his wild thoughts, Yamauchi Kazutoyo had already appeared at Kawamuraya in a stately manner, accompanied by Kuwayama Shigekatsu. He was an old acquaintance; he'd bought his first warhorse there. He'd entered the shop, poking around and touching things, not treating himself like an outsider, even asking the staff if business was good.

Fortunately, the guy was knowledgeable and experienced. If he didn't know him, he would have thought that it was a leader coming to inspect just by the "style".

By the time Shichibei arrived to greet him, Yamauchi Ippo had already patted his horse seven or eight times. But it was hard to blame him; his devoted wife, Chiyo, was only about ten years old at the time. Yamauchi Ippo was probably twelve or thirteen years older than Chiyo, give or take. Since everyone was a poor, unknown samurai these days, it was understandable that there were few records of the early days.

There was no one by his side at home, just a few retainers, two of whom were old men of his father's age. No one would be happy to stay at home, and going out to pat the horse's head was better than sitting at home doing nothing.

The three of them sat down and introduced themselves, then the waiter brought the food and wine. It was just a few small dishes, though. Since there weren't many outsiders, they had roasted last year's dried sweetfish by the fire, making them fragrant and crispy, perfect for a snack.

Yamauchi Kazutoyo and Kuwayama Shigekatsu were both legitimate samurai with salaries, and would not lack for a meal. When they entered Shichibei's door, they knew that Shichibei had something to ask them.

Just ask.

Just now, when Shichibei was thinking about it, he also organized his words, thinking about what to ask the other person. Then he slapped his forehead and thought, I have 2,500 kan, and I am asking you a 50 kan one, do I need to organize my words?

When Oda Nobunaga questioned Shichibei, he never needed to be tactful or test his words; he simply spoke directly. He wasn't telling Shichibei to die, so perhaps he needed to be more tactful. In normal conversation, he basically spoke freely. It's not that Nobunaga was being true to himself; the difference in status between them was significant, and someone of Shichibei's rank didn't require Nobunaga to be tactful.

Similarly, why is Shichibei being so tactful now? He can just ask directly.

"Hikojiro has fallen into a low position, do you know why?"

"Huh?" Kuwayama Shigekatsu didn't answer. Yamauchi Kazutoyo let out a sigh first, but he immediately shut up and turned to check Kuwayama Shigekatsu's expression.

If you ask people why they are doing so badly right away, they might lose control and get angry.

"It's just because you have neither martial arts nor political talent." Kuwayama Shigekatsu was not angry at all, but just swallowed the bitter wine.

"Even fireflies have a ray of light, let alone humans." Shichibei didn't mean to look down on people, but wanted to get to know them through casual conversation.

"Does flickering count?" Unexpectedly, Kuwayama Shigekatsu asked Shichibei in return.

"Hahaha, it counts, of course it counts." Shichibei just wants others to chat with him openly.

"Then I am a firefly, sometimes bright, sometimes dark."

"Why?"

“When it is useful, it is bright; when it is useless, it is dark.”

"How is it useful?"

"It's useful when I sit down and chat with Kawamura-dono."

"Hahahaha..." Shichibei clapped his hands and laughed. This guy was really interesting.

You can't just say that your only skill is to chat with others. If that's all you have, then it's not uncommon for a forty-four-year-old to still have fifty ashigaru heads. Especially during Oda Nobunaga's period of rapid growth and expansion, it would be impossible to even get started.

Some people might say that this person is good at chatting, so don’t daimyos all have yuduozhong? Yes, they do, but to be a yuduozhong for a daimyos, you need to have status or fame.

Hideyoshi's entourage consisted of people like Yamana Toyokuni, Hosokawa Akimoto, Sasaki Yoshikin, Akamatsu Norifusa, Rokkaku Yoshitaka, and Oda Nobuo. Honestly, Oda Nobuo's inclusion in the entourage was a disgrace to the others, as none of them were not from prestigious families with centuries of history.

Chatting with them, on the one hand, showed off Hideyoshi's status, and on the other hand, these people had experienced a lot, knew a lot, and could chat with him on everything.

Chatting with Kuwayama Shigekatsu, he wasn't from a prominent family, so no one outside his home county would know him anyway. What kind of scenes had he experienced? What kind of scenes could he have experienced with fifty heads? Besides, he was a light-headed warrior, and in battle he would shoot arrows from behind a bamboo bundle.

"I'm sorry to have embarrassed you." Kuwayama Shigekatsu was still quite calm.

Oda Nobunaga is definitely the mayor now, right? Shichibei, as a senior official of Oda's direct council, certainly wouldn't be a member of the Municipal Party Committee Standing Committee, but a member of the Municipal Party Committee would be fine. Kuwayama Shigekatsu is just a low-level civil servant, and seeing a member of the Municipal Party Committee not only joking around but also being so natural and generous is quite interesting.

"Come on, have a drink." Shichibei thought that this was a pretty good guy, and it would be nice to chat with him and kill time.

As the two men toasted, Kuwayama Shigekatsu wasn't one to tell jokes or stories, but he was certainly adept at picking up on Shichibei's conversation. His attitude wasn't flattering, nor did it betray a sense of servility; it was as if he'd come just for the sake of chatting.

Time flew by during their conversation, mainly because it was natural and enjoyable. After sending two servants with lanterns to escort the two home, Shichibei began to hesitate.

Nobunaga's forces were limited, and once Nobunaga entered Omi Province, many Omi people would defect to Nobunaga's side, many of whom would become famous in the future. If he wanted a Kuwayama Shigekatsu now, would he regret it in the future?

No, this guy is really interesting.

Although he is neither very brave nor good at governing civil affairs, it would be great if he were a restaurant owner. Let him specialize in entertaining wealthy guests. This person should be quite suitable.

As for opening a stable, it seemed to be of little use. Shichibei continued to think about this until he lay in bed. As he was thinking, he had a dream: Nobunaga had invaded Kyoto, and he was sent to Sakai to jointly collect 20,000 kan of arrow money with Hideyoshi.

The assembled people in Sakai supported the Miyoshi trio and refused to surrender. The two men even threatened Nobunaga's army of tens of thousands, but they still refused to submit.

Firstly, Sakai itself had thousands of yojimbo, and tens of thousands of townspeople, boatmen, and sailors who could be mobilized. Secondly, the Miyoshi Trio had merely retreated, not been defeated, and still had 20,000 soldiers.

At this time, Hideyoshi muttered to Shichibei, "It would be great if there was a lobbyist." He persuaded the Sakai Kai with both reason and emotion.

120. Each side recommends one person

It's better to stay. Even a firefly's butt-sized light is still light. There's no such thing as a useless person. It all depends on how you use them. You never know when you'll need them.

Shichibei, having woken up early, was still quite impressed by his dream. Sometimes, after a night of dreams, they're still vivid in the morning, but by the afternoon, they've all faded. He had to hurry and deal with this matter while he could still remember it.

The horses waiting for Tsushima arrived one by one. If Nobunaga didn't ask for it, then he could sell him thirty riding horses. Now that he wanted to ask Nobunaga for it, Shichibei had to present the "Kai Kuro" that Yamagata Masakage had sent him.

It's a short-handed move to take our horse. Once we reach Omi, Shichibei will be able to ask for people more easily.

Nobunaga had no habit of sleeping in, and would wake up early in the morning to practice his spearmanship. After practice, he would have breakfast, and then he would sit down to work in the palace. So there was no need to get up too early. He would leave the store for the Linden Valley Residence at 9:00, and he would probably be the first one there.

As expected, the first group was waiting to be interviewed.