Japan's Warring States Period: The Rise of the Wakasa Tiger

Chapter 111 Dividing Dango
At first, Yi Jian Chang Hu could not agree with Yi Jian Chang Jing's explanation. He questioned:

"Father, do you think that with the current strength of our family, we can fight against Takeuchi? In the past, our family did resist twice through force and forced the Takeda family to compromise, but because of this, they were feared by the successive heads of the Takeda family.

You also said that Wuwei Hall is a great leader and will not allow the family to continue to rule one side. In this case, shouldn't the family be more cautious and keep a low profile? We should never give Wuwei Hall an excuse to take action.

And your raising of an army at this time is exactly what he wants, isn't it? With the current strength of the Takeda family and the Takeda family, plus those newly promoted trusted retainers, I am worried that they will not be able to hold out for a few days, and this Suidaoshan Castle will be burned down. By then, won't the fate of the main family be more tragic than that of Kuriya, Miyagawa Takeda and the like?
I am not afraid of death, I am just afraid that my father will be deceived by a villain and make a decision that will make his family sad and his enemies happy. If he regrets it in the future, it will be too late. "

"Don't you think I don't know how strong our family is?" Yijian Changjing loosened Yijian Changhu's collar and asked with a frown, "But do I have any other choice? Rather than being slowly weakened like a 'boiled frog', I might as well take a risk for the independence of the Yijian family. Under the current circumstances, I can only do this. But don't worry too much, our family is not fighting alone."

"Are you referring to Isshiki Yoshiyuki? Or the one sitting there, Uchizoku?" Yijian Changhu snorted coldly, "Even if they try their best, I'm afraid they won't be able to mobilize many people, right?"

Naito Katsutaka sat at the side, his face turning red and blue. Although he was angry, he could not get angry because he was living under someone else's roof, so he could only smile and respond: "Your Highness, you are wrong. In addition to my Naito family, most of the former retainers and samurai of the Awaya and Miyagawa Takeda families are also willing to serve. Judging from the current situation, there are at least 500 people."

"Five hundred people...this number of people is probably not even a fraction of the Takeda army." Itomi Masato said unhappily. He believed that Itomi Masatoshi was instigated by Naito Katsutaka to do such a stupid thing, so he disliked this former "Four Heavenly Kings of Takeda" very much.

"Genji, do you think I'm really unprepared?" Seeing that his "foolish son" was still stubborn, Yi Jianchang decided to reveal his plan: "A few days ago, Tian Jie Zhuang Yi from the Yamana family came to visit. Do you know why?"

"Aren't you on a diplomatic mission to the Takeda clan's mansion and visiting the main family on your way back?" Yi Jianchanghu asked puzzledly.

"I said I was on my way here, but actually I have something to discuss with you. Before, only your elder brother knew about it. Now that we are talking about this, I might as well tell you." Yi Jianchangjing said helplessly:

"This is Tanaka Shoyoshi. He was sent by Yamana Yutoyo, the head of the Tajima Yamana clan, to seek peace with the Takeda clan. However, he was treated coldly by the Takeda clan. On his way back, he came to Suidoyama Castle to meet me."

"Being treated coldly?" Yi Jian Changhu wondered, "Since Wu Weidian ascended the throne, he has not had much contact with Tajima. Why would he treat the envoy of the Yamana family like this?"

Not to mention the curiosity of Yijian and his son, two outsiders, even Tian Jiezhuang Shiyi, the envoy who personally participated in the visit to Yizhong, didn't know where he had offended him, causing him to be treated coldly for no reason.

In fact, Yoshishige did this intentionally. The reason was that he did not want to be on good terms with the Yamana clan, but hoped to annoy or anger Yamana Yutoyo and give himself an excuse to send troops.

As for why he wanted to send troops, only Yoshishige himself knew the reason.

"In less than three years, this poor and remote Tajima Province will be transformed into a wealthy country." Yoshishige knew that in 1542, a huge silver mine would be discovered in Ikuno-go, Asaki District, Tajima Province. At its peak, its size would be second only to Iwami Silver Mine.

In order to take the silver mountain before the Yamana family found out, Yoshishige deliberately neglected Tajie Shoyoshi and tried to provoke the dissatisfaction of Yamana Yufeng by intensifying the conflict. Once there was an accidental shooting in the border area, he could justifiably use force against Tajima. What Yoshishige didn't expect was that before he could figure out how to provoke, the Yamana family took the initiative to come to him and secretly communicated with Itsumi Changjing, which saved him some trouble.

However, Yoshishige has not yet decided when and how to send troops, whether to occupy the entire Tajima or only its eastern part. Everything depends on the intensity and scope of Itsumi Masajise's actions this time.

His gaze returned to Suidao Mountain Castle. Although Yijian Changjing had not figured out why Yoshishige neglected the Yamana clan, the facts were before him and he was not eager to know the reason.

"Although Tanaka Shoji suffered a setback at the Takeda clan's mansion, he was not discouraged as he had an important task at hand. Instead, he shifted his target and tried to make friends with the main family," said Itomi Masaki.

"The main family's territory is mainly at the junction of Tango and Wakasa. It has no border with Tajima. What's the point of making friends with the main family?" Yijian Changhu was quite puzzled by this.

"When Tanjie Shoji visited the main family, the reason why Daoming went to the Takeda clan was to reach peace with the Takeda clan, so as to stabilize the eastern border and allow Yamana Suketoyo to free up his hands to attack the Inaba Yamana clan in the west. You should know that this Yamana Suketoyo has always wanted to unify Tajima and the Inaba Yamana clan and restore the glory of his ancestors."

"But I still don't understand, what is the relationship between this and the Gen family?" Yi Jianchanghu was still confused.

"Of course it is related," Itsumi Masaru answered swiftly, "If we can take over Tango Province, they will no longer be bordering the Takeda family, but our Itsumi family. This will save a lot of unnecessary trouble and reduce the risk of invasion by the Takeda family. After all, they are also worried that Wue-den will stop at Tango and stop expanding westward."

"Take down Tango?!" Yi Jian Changhu took a deep breath. "On our own, we would be lucky to take down Gazo County, let alone Tango."

"Of course it's hard for us to accomplish this alone. It requires cooperation from many parties. A few days ago, when Tanjie Shoji visited me again, he told me Yamana Yufeng's idea. It's very simple. The Yamana family will attack Tango from the west, and we will attack Tango from the east. By attacking from both sides, we can accomplish our goal."

Seeing that Yijian Changjing looked so smug, Yijian Changhu couldn't help but worry: "I always feel that the Yamana family has bad intentions. Why would they send a large army to help the main family seize Tango just for the sake of peace in the east? Wuweidian just slightly neglected Tianjie Zhuangzhiyi, so this can be a reason for them to send troops?"

"It's really not as simple as helping the main family seize Tango." Itomi Masaki knew he couldn't hide it any longer, so he told the truth: "They also asked to take most of the two counties of Kumano and Takeno in the west of Tango after the success. However, they promised not to get involved in the three counties in the east, and they also recommended me to the shogunate as the guardian of Tango."

"This really kills two birds with one stone." Itsumi Changhu smiled bitterly and shook his head. "If this battle is successful, the Yamana family will not only gain land, but also our Itsumi family will become a buffer zone between the Takeda and Yamana families. By then, the Yamana family can rest easy, but we will have to face the wrath of the Takeda family."

How could Yi Jianchang not know what Yamana Youfeng's intentions were? He sighed and said, "At this point, there is really no other way. Apart from cooperating with the Yamana family, do I have any other choice?"

(End of this chapter)