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

However, Yoshishige then added: "From today on, unless otherwise specified, all positions in the family will not be hereditary. However, as a deputy official, in addition to the original magistrate, he will also receive a considerable annual salary as compensation for his hard work and dedication."

During the Kamakura and Muromachi shogunate periods, the shugo of each country often lived in the shogunate's seat (i.e. Kamakura or Kyoto), and entrusted the affairs of the territory to deputies, so there was a position of shugodai. Shugodai were often hereditary officials such as hereditary lords, who could form their own power network by exercising the powers of the shugodai.

After the Onin War, the phenomenon of shugodai controlling their fiefdoms was particularly common. The retainers of the Uesugi clan, the shugodai of Echigo, the Nagao clan, the retainers of the Sasaki clan, the shugodai of Owari, the Oda clan, and the shugodai of Echizen, the Asakura clan, all took this opportunity to usurp the power of the shugodai.

In order to avoid such a thing from happening, Yoshishige decided to abolish the "hereditary system" of the shugodai and adopt the "rokukan system", that is, only those who were formally appointed by Yoshishige could become the shugodai or sodaigao of a country.

This system was later extended to county magistrates and castle magistrates. In short, it completely separated the service positions from family inheritance, allowing Yoshishige or the Takeda clan to have absolute decision-making power in the local power structure.

Now that this point is explained clearly, it is not difficult to understand why Yamamoto Shigeyuki served as the guardian of Tango. After all, for a long time after the annexation of Tango, Shirai Mitsutane held this position.

Of course, Yoshishige would not treat the old minister Shirai Mitsutane unfairly. Not only did he transfer his fief to Tango and Yosa County Fuchu Castle, and increase his salary to 7,500 koku, he also gave him 500 kan of "pension allowance" every year to cover his daily expenses.

Such generous treatment made everyone present envious. You know, with the 2,000 koku in Tango Takeno County that Shirai Kiyotane had obtained before, the Shirai clan's wealth reached 9,500 koku, which was enough to make it look down upon other retainers.

The meaning of Yoshishige's doing this is very clear, that is, he must not let loyal ministers suffer losses.

Compared with former Takeda clan officials such as Itsumi and Naito, the loyalty of the Shirai clan was several levels higher. Even when they were surrounded by the Isshiki army in the difficult time, Shirai Mitsutune did not surrender, and he remained loyal and devoted to the Takeda clan ever since.

Giving Zhixing nearly ten thousand stones was not only a reward for them, but also a reminder to everyone: telling them that as long as they were dedicated to their work, they would be rewarded accordingly.

With nearly ten thousand koku of affluence, he was already the envy of everyone, but when the Yamagata clan's reward was announced, the retainers present were even more amazed.

"Hidemasa, the governor of Shimotsuna in Yamagata Prefecture, was transferred to Yagi Castle in Yafu County, Tajima, with a salary of 5,400 koku!"

Hidemasa Yamagata was Yoshishige's uncle and the family's chief patriarch. Seeing him transferred to Yagi Castle was a sign of trust and reliance. After all, before Yamana Yutoyo moved to Inaba, Yagi Castle was the actual main castle of the Yamana family in Tajima, connecting Inaba, Tamba, and Harima, and was of great significance to the stabilization of the southeastern part of the Takeda territory.

However, since Yamagata Hidemasa had been sitting on the ground and had not been with the army, he had not made any military achievements, so his fief was much less. However, Yamagata Hidemasa did not care. He thought that as long as the Wakasa Takeda clan could flourish, how much fief he got was secondary. This was also the awareness of the Ikamon clan.

However, what he did not expect was that in addition to the more than 5,000 koku Chixing given to him, Yoshishige actually gave another reward to his adopted son, Yamagata Morinobu, who was also the heir to the position of head of the Yamagata clan, and this reward was not small.

"Please invite Junior Assistant Minister of the Yamagata Prefecture to come to the palace!" The attendant glanced at the petition in his hand, and his voice became louder.

"Your servant is Yamagata Gennai!" Yamagata Morinobu quickly came to the hall and knelt down solemnly to Yoshishige.

"Yamagata Nakamiya Morinobu is transferred to Wakazakura Castle in Hatto County, Inaba, with a rank of 10,000 koku! In addition, you are appointed as the guardian of Tajima, assisting in the military and political affairs of Tajima."

"I, your humble servant, thank you for your grace. From now on, I will do my utmost to serve you and will never give up even if it means death!" Yamagata Morinobu's body trembled slightly, and he lowered his head to thank Yoshishige profusely.

Everyone in the palace was shocked. To be honest, everyone knew that Yamagata Morinobu would be rewarded greatly, but they did not expect it to be 10,000 koku! In this way, the total koku of the Yamagata father and son will reach more than 15,000 koku, which can be said to be unrivaled among the retainers of the Takeda clan.

Although Yoshishige said that it was because Yamagata Morinobu served as the general or the commander in all the wars and made great contributions that he was given such a large reward, Yoshishige actually had another reason in mind, which was to use this to strengthen the power of the Ichimonshu. After all, the Takeda clan was now small in number, and in order to stabilize the territory, the most important thing was to have a strong cohesive core, which was the Takeda Ichimonshu.

"Ten thousand koku! When can we obtain such a high level of knowledge and practice?" Upon hearing all this, Yonezu Tsuneharu couldn't help but open his mouth wide, fantasizing in his head that one day he could become a samurai with ten thousand koku of knowledge and practice like Yamagata Morinobu.

"As long as I serve the public with all my heart, I don't think it's something that's out of reach." Takagi Kiyohide responded. In his opinion, it wouldn't be long before Sakakibara Nagamasa and Nagasaka Nobumasa became castle lords with a salary of more than 3,000 koku. He now lacked the opportunity to make meritorious service. As long as he could go to the battlefield, he would surely receive a reward no less than that of Sakakibara and Nagasaka.

"I also think that as long as we follow the lord, in the future, let alone ten thousand, perhaps one hundred thousand stones will not be a problem." At this moment, Ukita Naoie, who was sitting next to them, couldn't help but interrupt.

"Who are you? We haven't met before, have we?" Yonezu Tsuyoshiharu and Takagi Kiyohide asked curiously.

"My name is Ukita Hachiro Naoie, and I have just joined the main family not long ago." Ukita Naoie replied.

"Ukita..." Yonezu Tsuneharu and Takagi Kiyohide looked at each other for a moment, shook their heads and said at the same time: "I'm sorry, we have only served in the family for a year, so we are ignorant. But you said 100,000 koku, that's probably impossible. If even samurai of our level can get 100,000 koku, then the lord must be the master of the world, right?"

"Is it impossible to rule the world?" Ukita Naoie asked back with a firm look in his eyes, "My lord is only 20 years old now, but he has already built such a family business. I think that within 30 years, my lord may be able to unify the world."

"Unify the world?!" Yonezu Tsuneharu felt that the young man in front of him was dreaming. After all, there were many people in the world who were stronger than the Wakasa Takeda clan. It was ridiculous to talk about "unifying the world" at this time.

"I hope so." Takagi Kiyohide didn't want to listen to Ukita Naoie's nonsense, so he and Yonezu Tsuneharu looked at each other and smiled, and no longer paid attention to the young man from Bizen.

As soon as the conversation ended, Yoshishige's attendant continued to recite, "Please invite His Highness Takeda Hikojiro Nobutsugu to the palace."

"Takeda Hikojiro?"

"Isn't that the eldest son of Honjoji-dono (Takeda Nobutoyo)? Why is he here?"

When they heard that Takeda Nobumitsu was summoned to the palace, there was an uproar among the retainers again. They looked at a handsome young man in formal attire squeezing through the crowd and began to speculate secretly, wondering why Yoshishige summoned the eldest son of the former head of the family into the palace.

"Your servant, Takeda Hikojiro Nobumitsu, pays homage to my lord." The young man knelt down in panic.

Shortly after the last conversation between Takeda Motomitsu and Yoshishige, Yoshishige held a coming-of-age ceremony for Takeda Hikojiro, officially changing his name to Takeda Nobutsugu.

"Takeda Hikojiro Nobutsugu was appointed as the doctor of Mimasaka Tohokujo County, and was granted the title of 1,200 koku." The attendant read out. "Why was he appointed as the doctor of Mimasaka?"

"Yeah, it's not close to the city."

"Don't say it's not close. This is the newly annexed territory of Meizuo. If this young man who has never experienced war is confined there, his future will be unpredictable."

Everyone was talking at once, each had their own doubts, but none of them were optimistic about Takeda Nobutsugu's reward.

However, he was at least 1,200 koku of official rank, and he was also the son of the former head of the family. Everyone felt that although the position was not good, it was not unacceptable to Takeda Nobutsugu.

Unexpectedly, in front of everyone, Takeda Nobutsugu politely declined Yoshishige's reward: "My lord, I don't want to go to Mimasaka. I will follow Imai Daisuke (Imai Hisahide) to learn the art of business..."

"The art of business? Hahahahaha..."

When they heard that Takeda Nobutsugu, a member of the Takeda family, actually gave up his glorious fiefdom in order to do business, everyone in the hall could no longer bear it and burst into laughter.

Yoshishige was not too surprised by Takeda Nobutsugu's answer, after all, he had heard about it before. Yoshishige sent him to Mimasaka to test his talent and see if he could make a name for himself as a member of the Ichimon.

But the reality disappointed him. The eldest son of the former family head was not willing to guard one side for the Takeda clan. No matter whether it was out of sincerity or insincerity, whether he was hiding his incompetence or was truly a businessman, since he said so, Yoshishige changed his original idea and temporarily gave up training him to become a qualified Ichimonji, allowing him to fight in the business world.

"Since you are not interested in this, I will not force you. I will grant you a fief of 400 stones in Xiangyue City, Ruoshayuanfu County. You can do whatever you want." Yizhong sighed helplessly.

"Thank you for your grace, my lord! Thank you for your grace, my lord!" Takeda Nobutsu was delighted after hearing this. This Xianyue Castle was located in the heart of Wakasa and was very safe. It was obvious that Yoshishige did this to make him a nominal lord of the castle and let him do business whenever he wanted.

After that, Takeda Nobutsugu left the hall in a hurry. This scene made Takeda Motomitsu, who was sitting next to him, shake his head repeatedly. He thought to himself: "If all the descendants of Takeda are like this in the future, it will be the end."

After watching Takeda Nobutsugu leave, the palace returned to silence. Everyone thought that the family had been rewarded and the evaluation was almost over. However, at this time, the attendant opened a letter, cleared his throat, and solemnly read: "Please invite Yonezu Fujizo Tsuneharu and Takagi Zenjiro Kiyohide to the palace!"

Hearing their names being called, both Yonezu Tsuyoshiharu and Takagi Zenjiro were very shocked. They pinched each other's cheeks at the same time. After feeling the real pain, they confirmed that it was not an illusion. They hurriedly trotted from the corridor into the hall, crawled on the ground and waited quietly.

"Yonezu Fujizo was appointed as the castle lord of Komaruyama Castle in Misaki Northwest Jo County, with an annual salary of 400 kan; Takagi Zenjiro was appointed as the castle lord of Horizaka Castle in Misaki Northwest Jo County, with an annual salary of 400 kan."

"Castle...Castle lord?" Yonezu Tsujiharu and Takagi Kiyohide could not help but feel a little disappointed, but then they thought, they had not made any military achievements and were not local samurai, so it was already a rare honor to be a castle lord. Therefore, they kowtowed to Yoshishige in unison to express their gratitude.

"Fujizo, Zenjiro, don't be disappointed. After all, you are still young and didn't participate in these wars. However, I hand these two cities over to you as a sign of my trust in you. I hope you will not let me down."

Seeing that the two were confused and did not respond, Yizhong continued:

"As a newly annexed state, our family nominally controls the eight northern and eastern counties, but in reality, undercurrents are surging in the territory, and there are many people who have ties with Nakamura and Urakami. The two cities you two are in are equivalent to the southern gate of our family's Mimasaka territory. As long as we defend these two cities, those coveters will not dare to take any action. So, do you understand my intention now?"

After hearing this, the two suddenly realized what was going on and nodded heavily, saying, "I understand. Please rest assured that we will never let you down!"

After hearing this, Yizhong nodded with satisfaction, and then added: "Don't worry, you won't be in vain as the city representative. After a year, I will inspect you. If you pass the inspection, you will be able to obtain the knowledge and practice land and have a city that truly belongs to you."

"Thank you, lord, for your grace!" The two of them once again kowtowed to Yi Zhong in unison to express their gratitude.

Then, Yoshishige waved his hand to signal the two to leave, and winked at the attendant, who understood and picked up one of the two remaining documents from the table and read it out again: "Please invite Ukita Hachiro Naoie to the palace!"

"Who is this?"

"Never heard of it?"

"Yeah, Ukita...you don't sound like a local noble."

……

Amid the curious gazes and questioning voices of the crowd, Ukita Naoie stood up nervously, walked into the hall with forced calmness, and knelt in front of Yoshishige.

"Some of you here may not know him yet. He is a wise man I have recently recruited, Hachiro Naoie from the Ukita clan of Kojima, Bizen." In order to allay everyone's doubts, Yoshishige solemnly introduced Ukita Naoie to everyone.

"Bizen Ukita?"

"Why would the lord recruit samurai from Bizen? Are you planning to attack Bizen?"

"Don't talk nonsense. This war just ended. How can we afford to fight Bizen again? Besides, Urakami and Shimamura there are not people to be trifled with."

When he heard the word "Shimamura", Ukita Naoie's nerves tensed up and he clenched his fists involuntarily.

"Ukita Hachiro Naoie, you are appointed as the lord of Washiyama Castle in Mimasakatsunan County. Your knowledge and actions...your knowledge and actions are to be determined?" When the attendant read this, he thought it was written wrong, so he turned around and looked at Yoshishige.

But Yoshishige did not respond, but asked His Highness Ukita Naoie: "Hachiro, are you satisfied with this appointment?" (End of this chapter)