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

Takeda Motomitsu served as the family head for twenty years after all. Although he did not govern Wakasa very well during this period, he had experienced many ups and downs.

In addition, the close relationship between the Wakasa Takeda clan and the shogunate enabled Takeda Motomitsu to develop a keen political sense and excellent diplomatic skills, allowing the small ship of Wakasa to barely sail in the turbulent times.

Those words of gratitude he just said to the Amago clan were actually said to Shinagawa Nobumasa. The purpose was to make him think that he also wanted to make friends with the Amago clan, so as to paralyze him and reduce his vigilance against him.

This move, in simple terms, is "speaking to people in a human way and to ghosts in a ghost way". Even though he is now praising the good things of the Amago family in front of Shinagawa Nobumasa, he may turn around and belittle the Amago family when he meets Kagawa Mitsuki.

By pleasing both sides in this way, he can not only enrich his influence, but also improve his own political reputation and effectively restrain the expansion of power of powerful retainers.

Takeda Motomitsu adopted this tactic when he was in Wakasa. He disguised himself as a "peacemaker" and jumped back and forth between powerful retainers such as Kumagai, Itsumi, and Naito, gradually accumulating his own political reputation and allowing these powerful retainers to maintain a delicate balance of power in his hands, thus ensuring the formal stability of Wakasa.

But then again, along the way, Akihisa Niwa did make things very convenient for Takeda Motomitsu and his party. Not only did he treat them to good food and wine, he also sent people to escort and guide them all the way before they entered Aki. From this point of view, Akihisa Niwa really wanted to win over Takeda Motomitsu, and it was not wrong for Takeda Motomitsu to say those words of gratitude.

However, the Wakasa Takeda clan had already decided to form an alliance with the Ouchi clan, so Takeda Motomitsu could only follow Yoshishige's decision. He could only pretend to be friendly with Shinagawa Nobumasa, who was close to the Amago clan, and focused his main energy on negotiating peace with the Ouchi clan and maintaining the survival of the Aki Takeda clan.

Shinagawa Nobumasa did not hear any clues from Takeda Motomitsu's polite words. Not only did he not notice anything unusual, but he continued to brag to Takeda Motomitsu about the current strength of the Amago clan, hoping that Takeda Motomitsu would stick to the current pro-Amago clan line while assisting Takeda Nobumasa.

Faced with Shinagawa Nobumasa's endless chatter, Takeda Motomitsu could only nod his head frequently to agree with him. This scene was also seen by Kagawa Mitsuki and Kiki Naoyuki, but their reactions to Shinagawa Nobumasa's behavior were different.

Naoyuki Kifi was a relatively straightforward person. Seeing Takeda Motomitsu and Shinagawa Nobumasa "having a good chat", he could not help but feel worried. While they were toasting, he confided in Kagawa Mitsuki, "Do you think that Sakyo Ryo is being so attentive, will he win over Hoshinjiden?"

Kagawa Mitsuki did not tell others, including Naoyuki Kiki, that Yoshishige was going to form an alliance with the Ouchi clan, so he could understand Naoyuki Kiki's concerns. But he knew that Takeda Motomitsu was just playing along and would not change the strategic plan he had set before just because of Shinagawa Nobumasa's words.

Therefore, Kagawa Mitsuki's reaction to Kifaki Naoyuki's worries was relatively calm. While drinking a little wine, he gently comforted him: "If a few words of courtesy could change Hoshinji's position and attitude, then Mueiden would not have sent him to Aki."

"You mean...Hoshinji-den is with us..." Naoyuki Kifaki was interrupted by Mitsukage Kagawa just as he was halfway through his words.

"Just know it in your heart and don't say it out loud." Kagawa Mitsukage reminded.

"I understand. I feel relieved when you say that." Naoyuki Jifami breathed a sigh of relief. The sadness on his face disappeared, replaced by a smile.

Happy times always pass by especially quickly, and before we know it, it’s already late at night.

Following Takeda Motomitsu's suggestion, Shinagawa Nobumasa announced the successful conclusion of the banquet, and everyone reluctantly left the residence in twos and threes, dragging their drunken bodies.

Seeing that most people had left, Takeda Motomitsu also came to the corridor and walked leisurely towards the dormitory.

But not long after he walked, he was stopped by a familiar voice. He turned around and saw that it was Kagawa Mitsuki.

"Why hasn't Lord Guangjing gone back yet? Do you want to have a few more drinks with me?" Takeda Motomitsu said with a smile.

"Your Highness, just now, a ninja from our family delivered a secret letter." With a serious expression, Kagawa Mitsuki took out a letter from his arms and handed it to Takeda Motomitsu.

At this moment, Takeda Motomitsu was no longer drunk and immediately took out the letter to see what it contained.

"Is the content of the letter reliable?" Takeda Motomitsu asked with a frown.

Kagawa Mitsui nodded and said, "It is very reliable. The person who wrote the letter is a spy planted by the main family in the Niwa family. He has been lurking for several years. The authenticity of the information can be guaranteed."

After receiving a positive answer, Takeda Motomitsu couldn't help but think:
"If it is true as stated in the letter, the Amago clan is preparing to mobilize the people of Izumo, Iwami, Oki, Hoki, Inaba, Mimasaka, Bitchu and the Shingu clan to attack Aki, then the total force should be around 30,000. Such a large army will not be able to hold the Mori clan's Yoshida-gunyama Castle unless the Ouchi clan sends troops to support it."

"In June, Amago Akihisa ordered the Shingu Party to attack the Mori clan with 3,000 men, but they were beaten back before they even reached the edge of the city. This time the Amago family mobilized the entire country to attack the Mori clan. In my opinion, they wanted to both save face and take the opportunity to remove the Mori clan, which was a thorn in the side of the Ouchi clan, eliminate the threat from their elbows, and thus consolidate and expand their rule in Aki Province." Kagawa Mitsukage analyzed.

Takeda Motomitsu agreed with his analysis, but there was one thing he didn't understand: "Since all the people in the territory were mobilized, even the recently conquered Bimasaka and Bitchu were mobilized, why didn't they issue a mobilization order only to the main family?"

"It must be that the main family is too close to the Ouchi clan, and they are worried that the main family's actions will cause the Ouchi's vigilance." Kagawa Mitsuki speculated, "After all, they are only preparing for mobilization now, and have not officially notified the people in various places. It is normal that the main family has not received any instructions."

"There is another possibility," Takeda Motomitsu reminded, "The Amago family may not trust me and Hikorokuro enough, and they are worried that the news of the mobilization will be leaked from Ginzan Castle to Ouchi-kan, so they did not inform the main family."

"It is indeed possible," Kagawa Mitsui nodded, "But no matter what, the information about conquering the Mori clan cannot be wrong. May I ask, Your Highness, what should we do next?"

"The most urgent task is to complete the peace talks with the Ouchi family and obtain their security commitment to the Takeda clan in Aki. In this way, no matter how big a storm the Amago family stirs up, it will not affect the main family next to Suo." Takeda Motomitsu replied.

"Your Highness, what you said makes sense. Let's go to the Ouchi Pavilion tomorrow without further delay, shall we?" Kagawa Mitsuki suggested. "We can go, but we need to find a suitable reason. After all, it will take four or five days to go back and forth. If we are not in the city for such a long time, Shinagawa Sakyo will probably notice something is wrong." Takeda Motomitsu said worriedly.

"I have an idea." Kagawa Mitsuki suddenly had an idea in his head, and suggested to Takeda Motomitsu: "Why not use this family heir succession ceremony as an opportunity to have Sakyo Ryo go to Tsukiyama Tomita Castle and invite the Amago family to send people to watch the ceremony. Taking this opportunity, Your Highness can go to the Ouchi Pavilion. If all goes well, you may even return to Ginzan Castle before Sakyo Ryo."

"What if the meeting doesn't go well and we return to Ginzan Castle later than Sakyo Ryo?" Takeda Motomitsu asked back.

Kagawa Mitsuki thought for a moment and quickly replied, "That's easy. Kifi Castle is right on the way to the Ouchikan. If Sakyo Ryo really asks, we can just say that Your Highness was invited by Bungo no Kami to Kifi Castle for a chat. After all, Bungo no Kami is on our side, and Sakyo Ryo won't bother asking him to tell the truth."

"Since you have made up your mind, let's do as you wish."

On the surface, Takeda Motomitsu nodded heavily to Kagawa Mitsukiji to show his approval and trust, but in his heart he was wary of this pro-Ouchi retainer. After all, the two of them could only be considered temporary allies. Once the storm of the Amago clan was over, there was a fear that the Takeda clan of Aki would fall into disagreements and split over what to do next.

After everything was considered carefully, the next morning, Takeda Motomitsu summoned Shinagawa Nobumasa to the castle lord's residence in the name of Takeda Nobumasa, and informed him that the family heir succession ceremony would be officially held on August 12. He asked him to go to Tsukiyama Tomita Castle in person and invite the Amago clan to send someone to watch the ceremony.

Shinagawa Nobumasa did not have any doubts about this, but agreed happily, and told Takeda Motomitsu that he would definitely invite important retainers of the Amago family to watch the ceremony to give enough face to the Takeda clan of Aki.

Takeda Motomitsu naturally praised him, but as soon as he saw him off, he prepared to set off for Ouchi-kan with Kagawa Mitsukage.

On the morning of August 5th, Shinagawa Nobumasa set out for the Amago clan, and in the afternoon, Takeda Motomitsu set out for the Ouchi clan. The two sides took advantage of the time difference.

On the way to Ouchi-kan, Takeda Motomitsu and Kagawa Mitsukage had a pleasant conversation, and from the latter's description, he learned that it was said that the Takeda clan of Aki and the Ouchi clan were "old enemies", but in fact they had only been enemies for more than 20 years.

Back then, Takeda Motoshige, who was called "the modern Xiang Yu" and the father of Takeda Mitsukazu, once followed Ouchi Yoshioki (father of Ouchi Yoshitaka) to Kyoto and was deeply trusted by Ouchi Yoshioki.

In order to further win over Takeda Motoshige, Ouchi Yoshioki adopted the daughter of Gon Dainagon Asukai Masatoshi as his adopted daughter after going to Kyoto, and married her to Takeda Motoshige, making her his son-in-law, thus further strengthening the relationship between the two families.

However, all this changed because of the Amago clan's covetousness for Aki Province.

In March of the ninth year of the Eishō era (1512), Ouchi Yoshioki was promoted to the junior third rank official position. At the same time, Aki Province was infiltrated by Amago Nobunaga.

In view of this, in 1515, Ouchi Yoshioki arranged for Takeda Motoshige to return to Aki to organize forces to fight against the Amago clan. Who would have thought that Takeda Motoshige would become more greedy and, at the instigation of Amago Nagahisa, decide to betray the Ouchi clan and join the Amago clan.

He first divorced Ouchi Yoshioki's adopted daughter, and then married the daughter of Amago Hisayuki (Amago Nobunaga's younger brother) as his wife. He began to expand his power in Aki frantically while Ouchi Yoshioki was still in Kyoto, which completely angered the Ouchi clan.

However, in 1517, the Battle of Tanaka Ide broke out. Takeda Motoshige, who wanted to annex the Mori clan, was killed along with his important retainers by Mori Motonari. From then on, the Aki Takeda clan never recovered, while the Mori clan, thanks to this battle, obtained a letter of commendation from Ouchi Yoshioki and officially joined the Ouchi clan.

From this we can see that, strictly speaking, the culprit for the feud between the Ouchi clan and the Aki Takeda clan should be Takeda Motoshige, who was the first to betray the Ouchi clan, while the mastermind behind the scenes was Amago Nobunaga. Without his instigation and instigation, Takeda Motoshige might have just been "having the will but not the courage", at least he would not have completely broken with the Ouchi clan.

After knowing the whole story, Takeda Yuanguang had a clear idea in his mind: "So, the feud between the two families originated from the time of Lord Yuan Fan?"

"That's right. It may be disrespectful to say this, but if it hadn't been for Lord Yuan Fan's betrayal, our family's status among the people who are vassal of the Ouchi clan would definitely be higher than that of the Mori clan." Kagawa Mitsukage replied.

"To put it bluntly, not only did Lord Yuan Fang suffer the consequences of his own actions, he also became a 'pledge' for the Mori clan to pledge allegiance to the Ouchi clan, which led to the current status of Mori Umato." Takeda Motomitsu continued.

"You deserve it..." Although Kagawa Mitsuki felt that it was a bit inappropriate to use this word to describe his former lord, his words made sense, so he nodded slightly to show his approval: "In short, if there hadn't been that incident during the Eishō period, the relationship between the main family and the Ouchi family wouldn't have become so tense."

"Since it is a grudge between the previous generations, it is easy to resolve." Takeda Motomitsu pondered for a moment and continued to ask: "When Lord Kōwa was in power, didn't he ever think about reconciling with the Ouchi clan?"

"Lord Yuan Fan died at the hands of the Mori clan, and the Mori clan was subordinate to the Ouchi clan. How can you expect Lord Mitsurugi to swallow his anger and work with the enemy who killed his father?" Kagawa Mitsukage asked back, and then changed the subject: "However, in the past few years, as the Takeda clan became increasingly weak, Lord Mitsurugi also wanted to change his mind. He even tried to test Ouchisuke's intentions through me. Unfortunately, he passed away before they could come to any conclusion."

"Based on your observation, what is Ouchisuke's attitude towards the Takeda clan in Aki?" asked Takeda Motomitsu.

"In fact, Ouchi-suke also wants to win over the main family, otherwise there would be no need for me to take you to Ouchi-kan." Kagawa Mitsukage replied, "The main family is adjacent to Suo, and is not only a thorn in the side of the Amago family, but also a threat to the Ouchi family. If the two families can restore harmony, the Ouchi family can greatly advance the front line. By then, the Amago family will be in a passive position."

"If that's the case, then this trip to the Ouchi Palace will surely be successful." Takeda Motomitsu responded confidently: "Mister Mitsuwa was unable to reach peace with the Ouchi family because of the hatred for his father's murder. But now this 'historical baggage' no longer exists. Neither Hikorokuro nor I have any old grudges against the Ouchi family. The two families can put aside their past grudges and make peace again."

"I think so too," Kagawa Mitsuki nodded affirmatively, "As long as the lord and Hoshinji-dono can make their stance clear, and with the support of us retainers, restoring peace with the Ouchi family should be a piece of cake."

With the support of Kagawa Mitsukage, Takeda Motomitsu was full of confidence in this trip to Ouchi-kan. Thinking that the task assigned to him by Yoshishige was about to be completed, the former head of the Wakasa Takeda clan unconsciously showed a smug smile on his face.

On the other side, in Tsukiyama Tomita Castle, Akihisa Niwa was having a fierce argument with Hisayuki Niwa about the expedition to Aki. (End of this chapter)