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

Chapter 72: Confrontation in Kyoto
"I know that the leader has changed. Didn't they have a big fight over it? Logically, they shouldn't be able to recover so quickly. How could they be so strong? The Tango Kingdom that the Takeda clan had failed to conquer for so many generations has been taken over in one fell swoop?"

Yamana Yufeng couldn't help but frown, thinking that it seemed that he had been concentrating on conquering Inaba for some time and neglected the powerful enemy that had quietly risen in the east.

Another of the "Four Heavenly Kings of the Yamana" who had always been at odds with Kakiya, Tayu Shojiroshi, interrupted and said, "I think Kakiya-sama has been paying attention to the Amago family recently. Otherwise, how could he not have noticed such a big move by the Takeda clan?"

Tian Jie Zhuang is right. This is obviously a hidden meaning:
He knew very well that the other three "kings" including Kakiya Tsuneishi, Yagi Toyonobu, and Otagaki Asanobu, after learning that Yamana Masimichi of Inaba had defected to the Izumo Amago clan, were afraid that the Amago clan would use Inaba as a springboard to launch an invasion of Tajima and then spread the war to their own territories. They had already established "contact" with Amago Akihisa to varying degrees through Yamana Masimichi.

Although they did not directly turn against the Amago clan, this move undoubtedly posed a great challenge to the independence of Tajima and the authority of the Yamana clan. Therefore, the relationship between Tajie Shojiyoshi and the other three "kings" became increasingly distant, especially after Yamana Suketoyo decided to seize Inaba by force, he stood on the side of Yamana Suketoyo, and the two factions were on the verge of a war.

Of course, Tanjie Shojiro was not a so-called "loyal minister" who was loyal to the throne. He did this mostly because his territory was close to Yamana Yoshitoyo's castle, Kozumiyama Castle, and the Yamana clan had a great influence on his territory. Once the war spread to Tajima, his territory would inevitably become a place of war between the Yamana clan and the Amago clan. In order to balance the pro-Amago faction within the Yamana clan, he could only stand on the side of Yamana Yoshitoyo.

Kakiya Tsunari naturally knew the reason why Tanjie Shoji was so weird, but he had no choice at this time. After all, the Amago clan was now the overlord of Sanin. In order to avoid angering them, he had repeatedly suggested to Yamana Yufeng, hoping that the main family could achieve peace with Yamana Masamichi of Inaba.

However, Yamana Yutoyo was determined to unify the Yamana clan, and for this purpose he even contacted Ouchi Yoshitaka in Suo, trying to use the Ouchi clan to contain the Amago clan and create conditions for his own plan. Kakiya Tsunari was mature and prudent, and always thought that this approach was too risky, so he began to secretly contact the Amago clan, intending to act as a middleman to ease the conflict between the Yamana main family and the Amago clan.

However, this behavior was regarded as a shameful act of "playing both sides" by Tanjie Shojiyoshi, who often confronted him in public. In addition, Yamana Yutoyo's deliberate favoritism made Kakiya Tsunari's situation in Tajima quite difficult. However, after all, he was a hereditary retainer who assisted several family heads, so he did not betray Yamana Yutoyo, but used his old body to support the fragile peace in Tajima.

"Sakon, what do you mean by that?!" In response to Tanjie Shojiyoshi's sarcasm, Kakiya Mitsunari, the son of Kakiya Tsunari, could not help but stand up and retort.

Seeing that the two were about to fight, Yamana Youfeng, who was sitting at the top, couldn't help but sigh and loudly dissuaded them, "Please restrain yourself! It's already this late, and you're still arguing like this. Do you think my Yamana family isn't chaotic enough?!"

"Please calm down, my lord!" Seeing that Yamana Youfeng was furious, the ministers hurriedly knelt down to apologize.

"I've made up my mind," Yamana Yufeng told Tanjie Shojiyoshi, "Sakon, as the envoy of the main family, you will go to Wakasa and use the excuse of announcing the good news to find out what the Takeda family will do next. We must not allow any complications to arise at this critical juncture."

"Ha! I obey your command." Tian Jie Zhuang Shiyi glanced at Kakiya Mitsunari, snorted coldly, and a "good idea" popped up in his mind.

Tango is called Tango because it is located "after Tamba". As the country with the highest land area (nearly 290,000 koku) among Tango's three neighboring countries and the northwest entrance to Kyoto, Tamba has always been an important battlefield for the struggle for hegemony in Kinki.

At this time, Tamba Province was nominally under the control of Hosokawa Harumoto, and was one of the five rei-ji provinces that he served as guardian. But this was only "in name only". In fact, most of Tamba Province was under the rule of Hatano Hidetada, the lord of Yagami Castle. After years of fierce fighting and with the support of Hosokawa Harumoto, not long ago, Tamba Guardian Naito Kunisada was driven out of his home castle Yagi Castle by him and fled to the scraps of Tamba.

Although Hatano Hidetada did not have the title of Shugodai at this time, he already held the position of Shugodai in reality. He was full of pride and was listed as one of the three major forces under Hosokawa Harumoto along with Miyoshi Toshinaga and Kizawa Nagamasa.

Upon learning that Nobushige had taken over Tango Province, Hatano Hidetada did not feel too uneasy. After all, it is good to lean on a big tree for shade, and with Hosokawa Harumoto's support behind him, the current strength of the Wakasa Takeda clan would not cause much trouble.

Moreover, Tango has been divided for a long time, with various factions ruling the country. It would take time for Nobushige to integrate the factions. If he were to accidentally anger the people of Tamba and trigger an uprising, he would be in big trouble.

Of course, not worrying does not mean not paying attention. Hatano Hidetada still sent someone to report the matter to his "immediate boss" Hosokawa Harumoto, asking him to give instructions on the next steps.

On the other hand, at this time, Hosokawa Harumoto had already been overwhelmed by the remnants of Miyoshi Toshinaga and Hosokawa Takakuni and had no time to take care of other things.

It is said that since September of 1536, when he went to Kyoto with the support of Miyoshi Toshinaga, Hatano Hidetada, and Kizawa Nagamasa and officially inherited the "dual political system" of shogun and kanrei, Hosokawa Harumoto had been in power for more than two years. During this period, he became the nominal overlord of Kinki with his superb political skills and relatively strong strength.

But the happy time was short-lived. Just when Takeda and Asakura were fighting in Kokuyoshi Castle, the fledgling Miyoshi Toshinaga suddenly led 2,500 troops to Kyoto and made a bold request to Ashikaga Yoshiharu and Hosokawa Harumoto, namely to restore the Miyoshi family's position as deputy official in the middle stream of Yodo River in Settsu Province and 17 kosako in Kawachi Province. This act was tantamount to forcing a palace, which made Hosokawa Harumoto lose face.

The so-called Kawachi Seventeen-kosho were originally the imperial shogun's shogunate. During the Warring States Period, this place became a piece of fat meat that the guardians fought over. After Miyoshi Motonaga died, the deputy governor here was appointed by Miyoshi Masanaga's followers. Miyoshi Toshinaga wanted to get back his father's old territory, which would naturally affect Miyoshi Masanaga's interests. However, at this time, Miyoshi Masanaga was in a strong position, and Hosokawa Harumoto would obviously not agree to Miyoshi Toshinaga's request.

After Miyoshi Toshinaga's request was rejected, he confronted Hosokawa Harumoto and Miyoshi Masanaga. Ashikaga Yoshiharu tried to intervene as a shogun, but to little avail. Hosokawa Harumoto summoned the forces of Miyoshi Masanaga, Hatano Hidetada and others, and had small-scale conflicts with Miyoshi Toshinaga in Kyoto. At this time, Hosokawa Ujiyasu, the adopted son of Hosokawa Takakuni (Hosokawa Harumoto's old enemy, who had been defeated), also formed an alliance with the Amago clan with the support of Hosokawa Kuniyoshi and Hatakeyama Tanenaga, intending to take the opportunity to go to Kyoto.

It can be said that the battle of Kyoto was about to break out. At this juncture, Hosokawa Harumoto had no time to care about the war in Tango. However, the growth of the Takeda clan made him think of asking Nobushige to go south for support.

Note: The three good benefits will last for a long time, which means the three good things will last for a long time in the future.

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(End of this chapter)