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

Chapter 71: Neighbors Shocked
Those locals were mostly concentrated in the three counties of Kumano, Naka-gun, and Takeno in western Tango, with a total of 24,000 koku. After this assessment, most of them were moved to the relatively remote northern part of the Tango Peninsula and the central part of Kasa-gun, where the Takeda clan had greater influence, and their total koku also increased from 24,000 koku to 30,000 koku.

Of the remaining territories in Tango, except for those granted to Shirai Mitsutane and those locals who had defected to the Takeda clan in the early days, only about 50% of the territory, or 60,000 koku, remained in Nobushige's hands.

Among them, Nobushige also gave out the western part of Kasa County, most of Naka County, and Takeno County to reward those retainers who had made contributions in resisting the attacks of the Asakura clan and the Isshiki clan.

For example, Itomi Masatsune was granted an additional 2,500 koku, Shirai Mitsutane was granted an additional 3,000 koku, Kagawa Eihisa (father of Kagawa Morihisa), Matsumiya Kiyonaga (father of Matsumiya Kiyonaga), and Hisamura Mitsuaki (father of Hisamura Mitsuyasu) were each granted an additional 1,000 koku, and so on.

In the end, the land that Nobushige actually took over as his direct territory was only the central and southern part of Yosa County and Kumano County, with a total area of ​​about 31,000 koku.

In this way, together with the direct fiefdoms of Wakasa and Tsuruga, the total koku of the territories held by Nobushige was about 90,000 koku.

The stone price of Tango Province is 123,000 koku, the stone price of Wakasa Province is 85,000 koku, and the stone price of Tsuruga County is 21,000 koku, totaling about 230,000 koku.

In other words, internally, Nobushige controlled nearly 40% of the entire Takeda clan's territory. Although it was only half, it was already far ahead of all the retainers and firmly controlled the right to speak in the family.

As for the external situation, the "runaway" of the Wakasa Takeda clan made the people of neighboring daimyo all look at them with awe.

The first was his old friend, Asakura Sotei. When he heard the news of the Takeda army's defeat of the Isshiki coalition in the Battle of Kurabashi, it was already February 28th, and he was struggling to resist the attack of the Ikko clan on the Kuzuryu River.

The deaths of Asakura Kagetaka and Asakura Keireun left the old man without his right-hand man, and he was in a very difficult situation. Although there were rising stars of the younger generation such as Asakura Keiyuki and Asakura Kagetsuna, they lacked experience in leading troops and fighting, and the battles were still not satisfactory. Asakura Soteki also lamented: "The battle of Kuniyoshi Castle delayed the Asakura family for ten years!"

Late at night that day, the lights in the main camp of the Asakura army were on. The lord of Kitazho Castle, Asakura Kageyuki, and the lord of Oda Castle, Asakura Kagetsuna, sat on the left and right, watching Asakura Munetoki reading the secret letter in his hand with a serious face, and no one dared to disturb him.

"I didn't expect that the Tango Isse clan would be defeated so thoroughly!" Asakura Munetoki's sudden words surprised the young generals on both sides.

"Your Highness, are you saying that the one from the Takeda family defeated the Tango Isshiki clan?!"

Asakura Sotei nodded and said sadly, "Not only was he defeated, but nine Tango castle lords were killed in the battle alone, and... he also captured Tango guardian Isshiki Yoshiyuki and guardian dai Nobuya Harunobu. The entire territory of Tango is now under his control."

"How is this possible?!" Asakura Keiyuki stood up suddenly and asked in surprise, "Didn't they just fight a fierce battle with the main family in Kuniyoshi Castle? How come they turned around and wiped out the Isse clan? This is too unbelievable!"

"Yes, who is the new head of the Takeda clan? He has achieved such great results in less than half a year since he took the throne. I am really curious and can't help but want to meet him." Asakura Kagetsuna also interrupted.

"It's better not to meet him." Asakura Sotei said with a wry smile, "That prince will definitely be a big disaster for our Asakura clan in the future. You two should grow up quickly, as there may not be much time left for you to train." "Ha! We understand. Thank you for your guidance in the future, Your Highness!" Asakura Keiyuki and Asakura Keitsuna looked at each other, with frowns in their eyes, full of confusion about the future and deep worry about their "neighbor" the Wakasa Takeda clan.

If we talk about who was most worried about Nobushige taking Tango, the Asakura clan would be ahead of the last one, and the first one would be the Yamana clan of Tajima.

The Yamana clan is a branch of the Seiwa Genji clan. Their ancestor was Minamoto no Yoshikuni, the son of Minamoto no Yoshiie. Their descendant, Yamana no Yoshifumi, the illegitimate son of Nitta Yoshishige, was granted the title of Yamana-go, Tago-gun, Ueno Province, and thus called themselves the "Yamana clan."

During the period of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the head of the Yamana Tokiuji supported Ashikaga Takauji and took the opportunity to expand his power in the Sanin region. Later, he was listed as one of the "four positions" along with the Isshiki clan, the Kyogoku clan, and the Akamatsu clan. During the reign of Yamana Ujikiyo, the Yamana clan served as the guardian of eleven of the sixty-six countries in Japan, so they were called "Six-point One Palace".

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu felt that this was dangerous and started to split the Yamana clan. In the first year of Meitoku (1390), Ashikaga Yoshimitsu took advantage of Yamana Mitsuyuki's dissatisfaction with Yamana Tokihiro, the head of the Yamana clan at the time, and instigated him and his adoptive father Yamana Ujikiyo to attack the main family and drive Yamana Tokihiro out of Tajima Province. The following year, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu pardoned Yamana Tokihiro, and Yamana Mitsuyuki was furious and joined Yamana Ujikiyo and Yamana Yori to overthrow the shogunate, which is known in history as the "Meitoku Rebellion."

Although they invaded Kyoto at the end of the year, they were ultimately defeated by the shogunate army. Yamana Mitsuyuki was captured and executed after escaping, Yamana Ujikiyo died in the battle, and Yamana Yori became a monk. After this battle, the Yamana clan continued to exist, but its power was greatly weakened, with only three guardians left: Tajima guardian Yamana Tokihiro, Hoki guardian Yamanake Ujiyuki, and Inaba guardian Yamana Ujiie.

During the Muromachi period, the sixth shogun Ashikaga Yoshinori was assassinated by Akamatsu Mitsusuke, which was known in history as the "Kakitsu Rebellion". Yamana Munezen served as the general-in-chief in the expedition against Akamatsu and was awarded the title of guardian of five countries including Tajima and Harima for his merits. The number of countries protected by the Yamana clan was restored to ten, and the Yamana power expanded again.

Later, Yamana Munezen opposed the powerful shogunate governor Hosokawa Katsumoto, and the "Onin War" broke out. Yamana Munezen was the general commander of the Western Army, and Hosokawa Katsumoto was the general commander of the Eastern Army. With the death of Yamana Munezen in 1473, the "Onin War" came to an end, but the Warring States period had just begun.

During the Warring States Period, the Yamana clan declined again, and the states of Harima, Bizen, and Mimasaka were lost one after another. When the current head of the clan, Yamana Yutoyo, succeeded to the throne, the Yamana clan only had the guardian positions of Tajima and Inaba, and had split into two families.

Although Yamana Yufeng had the will to revive the Yamana clan, he did not have the power to do so. Especially when he was in conflict with the Inaba guardian Yamana Masamichi, who was allied with the Izumo Amago clan, he was always trembling with fear, fearing that he would be taken down by the Amago clan's grandson, Amago Nobuhisa and Amago Akihisa.

In addition, although Yamana Yutoyo was nominally the guardian of a country, the area he actually fully controlled was limited to Izushi County, while the remaining seven counties were filled with powerful people headed by the "Four Heavenly Kings of Yamana" such as Otagaki, Yagi, Kakiya, and Tanjiesho. The situation of the Yamana clan was slightly better than that of the Tamba Isse clan, but that was all.

I thought the opposition with Inaba in the west and the separatist rule of the people at home were depressing enough, and now the Takeda clan suddenly appeared in the east, which gave Yamana Yufeng even more headaches.

"Wasn't the Takeda clan plagued by frequent internal strife and fragmentation? How come they suddenly rose to power and not only annexed Tango, but also defeated the Echizen Asakura clan? What exactly happened?" Yamana Yutoyo summoned the "Yamana Four Heavenly Kings" to discuss countermeasures in his castle, Konumayama Castle.

"I am not very clear... I just know that at the end of last year, the Takeda clan had a civil strife and a new leader was replaced, and then..."

The person who spoke was Kakiya Tsunesari, who was nearly sixty years old and had served as the Shugodashi of Tajima for thirty-seven years. He was the most relied upon retainer of the Yamana clan and the one that Yamana Yoshitoyo respected the most.

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(End of this chapter)