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

Although he was a little worried, Yamamoto Shigeyuki looked at Ukita Naoie in front of him, and then changed the subject: "Sending them out to hone their skills is not a bad idea. Compared to staying in Tango and Wakasa, the core areas of the main family, going out to Inaba, Mimasaka, and Harima, the newly acquired areas, will help them grow faster."

"Maybe," Kagawa Morihisa patted Ukita Naoie on the shoulder and said confidently, "But I believe that with Hachiro's ability, there should be no problem."

As he was speaking, he heard Xiaoxing coming to the corridor and calling: "My lords, the banquet is about to begin. Please take your seats quickly."

Hearing this, Yamamoto Shigeyuki, Kagawa Morihisa and others stopped talking, walked quickly into the hall, and sat down in the corresponding seats under the guidance of the young man.

Everyone sat down at the bottom of the hall. Among them, the special envoys from Kai, Aki, Kyoto, Maritani Takeda clan and Yamana main family sat in the front row, followed by Takeda Motomitsu, and followed by Yamagata Hidemasa, Shirai Mitsutane, Yamagata Morinobu, Takeda Kuninobu, Yamamoto Shigeyuki, Kagawa Morihisa, Matsumiya Kiyonaga, Kumagai Takanao, Kuriya Katsuhisa and other senior family officials.

In fact, after suppressing the rebellion of Itsumi Masatsune and the death of Kumagai Katsunao at the beginning of the year, the original "retainer rotation system" consisting of the chief retainer, the first retainer, and the rotating retainer was no longer suitable for the current situation of the Takeda clan.

Especially as Shirai Mitsutsu was getting old, he was often unable to do his job as the No. 1 family elder. Therefore, after seeking his opinion, it was decided to abolish the position of No. 1 family elder and adopt "flat management". Yamagata Hidemasa would still be the head family elder, and Shirai Mitsutsu would be incorporated into the rotating family elder, still directly responsible to Yoshishige.

Following closely behind were the representatives of the people in the territory, who were arranged in the following order of allegiance:
Wakasa group: Kumagai Motonao, Muto Mitsuhisa, Kagawa Eihisa (father of Kagawa Morihisa), Matsumiya Kiyonaga (father of Matsumiya Kiyonaga), Hisamura Mitsuaki, Hongo Mitsuyasu, etc.

Tango group: Sugi Sosuke, Inatomi Yuhide, etc.;
Tsuruga: Miyabo Nagazane, Toba Nobuniwa;
Tajima Clan: Otagaki Nobunobu;
Inaba members: Noriyoshi Yoshimi, Hidema Hatano (Ministry of Civil Affairs);
Harimazuna: Unomura Yori, Nagara Norizi;
Mei Zuozhong: Xinmian Zongzhen and Youyuan Zuoze.

Next came the important family officials promoted by Yoshishige after he succeeded to the throne, including Mutō Mitsuyuki, Hirai Toshimasa, Kuriya Katsuie, Shirai Kiyotane, etc.

The huge inner hall was basically full by the time the seats were up here, and the remaining retainers were sitting in the corridors and courtyards.

Among them, most were newly-joined retainers, or retainers who had been promoted from associate retainers to direct retainers, as well as retainers who had few military exploits but outstanding other achievements.

For example: Hisahide Imai, Masaaki Oniwa, Nagamasa Sakakibara, Nobumasa Nagasaka, Tsujiharu Yonezu, Kiyohide Takagi and Naoie Ukita. As for Hidemitsu Kuchiki who is away from home, he also belongs to this category.

However, Yunfeng Longxi, who is still in Suruga, does not belong to any of the above categories. Yoshishige is both his teacher and friend, so he is not considered a retainer. If he were present, his seat should at least be before the people of the country.

In addition, senior ninjas such as Tanabe Hikomitsu, Taroko Mitsuna, and Ukai Magoroku also participated in this event for the first time. Although their positions were relatively backward, the fact that they were invited to participate was enough to show that Yoshishige valued them, and they were also very satisfied in their hearts.

As everyone sat down one by one, after a while, Yi Zhong slowly walked out from behind the screen under everyone's expectant gaze.

He was seen wearing a dark brown straight-legged robe with "four-cut diamond" pattern on it, a folded black hat on his head, and holding a folding fan. Under the guidance of the young man, he walked to the main seat at the top and sat down. Looking at the people in the palace, his eyes were full of joy and excitement.

"Morihisa, let me ask you a question." Before the banquet officially started, Yoshishige suddenly asked Morihisa Kagawa who was not far away, which aroused the curiosity of everyone present.

"My lord, please ask." Kagawa Morihisa responded.

Yizhong then pointed at the straight dress he was wearing today and asked, "Does this dress have any impression on you?"

Kagawa Morihisa was stunned by Yoshishige's question, and answered embarrassedly: "It looks familiar, but I can't remember when you wore it." "Everyone here, can anyone remember it? If you answer correctly, I have a reward." Yoshishige smiled and raised the folding fan, waving it in front of everyone: "This fan can be used as a prize, the fan is painted by Kano Daisuke (Kano Motonobu) himself, it is not an ordinary thing."

As soon as these words came out, the palace was immediately noisy, and many retainers whispered to each other, eager to try, but after all the noise, no one could give an answer, which made Yizhong smile bitterly and said: "It seems that this fan cannot be delivered today."

Unexpectedly, just as Yi Zhong finished speaking, a familiar voice rang out: "Haha, it looks like this prize must go to your father."

Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw that the person speaking was none other than Takeda Motomitsu with a smile on his face.

"Does father remember?" Yi Zhongbao said with a smile.

Under the expectant gazes of the crowd, Takeda Motomitsu nodded and said, "If I remember correctly, you wore this straight-legged robe at the ceremony when you took over the position of head of the family, right?"

"That's right, it has to be father." Yi Zhong said with a smile.

Everyone suddenly realized what was going on, and Kagawa Morihisa also remembered:

"Yes, it is this set of clothes. When the civil war was just over, the lord wore armor to enter the Takeda clan's mansion. We thought that the succession ceremony should be formally dressed, but we did not bring any other clothes. Later, the temple took out this set of clothes and asked the lord to try it on. Unexpectedly, it fit well, so he wore it to attend the ceremony. Three years have passed in a flash, and I didn't expect that the lord still kept it."

"How dare I dispose of my father's clothes casually? Besides, they have a different meaning to me." Yi Zhong said with emotion.

"No wonder Fashinjiden was able to answer, it turns out they were your clothes." The outspoken Matsumiya Kiyonaga complained without restraint.

"You and Sheng Jiu were both by my side at the time. It's not right that you couldn't answer it." Yi Zhong teased with a smile.

"I, your father, never thought that you would have kept this dress until now." Takeda Motomitsu was deeply touched, and the civil strife in the Takeda family in the past appeared before his eyes again.

"This dress symbolizes a new beginning for me, so I will keep it well."

As he spoke, Yoshishige asked Xiaoxing to pass the folding fan to Takeda Motomitsu. The latter took the folding fan, but he did not feel happy. Instead, he said with some emotion: "Three years have passed. Seeing this dress reminds me of those things in the past. I didn't expect that in just three years, the Takeda family would develop to such a prosperous place today."

"The reason I wear this outfit today is to remind you, and myself, that even though the Wakasa Takeda clan is no longer what it used to be, we still have to remember the hard work we put in over the years and the hardships we have endured over the past three years. Only in this way can our clan continue to move forward."

Yoshishige spoke excitedly, his eyes sparkling and his tone sincere, which not only moved Takeda Motomitsu, but also His Highness's retainers.

In fact, not only these retainers of the Takeda clan, but also the guests who attended the Wakasa Takeda clan's banquet for the first time, all felt Yoshishige's unique qualities from his performance and began to understand why the Wakasa Takeda clan was able to rise so quickly. (End of this chapter)