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

Chapter 80: The Battle of the House
In fact, the Wakasa Takeda clan was one of the "Twenty-one Yakata" and had a fixed residence in Kyoto, which is the so-called "Yakata", which is also the origin of the "Yakata name".

The specific location of this residence is roughly between Tsuchimikado and Takasuka-koji, near the intersection with Karasuma-koji, which is the Jōkain area. In addition, it is adjacent to the inner area, which can be regarded as the core area of ​​Kyoto.

However, in 1504, the then Takeda clan leader Takeda Motonobu decided to return to Wakasa to launch an invasion of Tango, and thought that this house would be vacant anyway, so he lent it to the Rokkaku clan. Later, the Tango war went badly, and Takeda Motonobu stayed in Wakasa and never returned to Kyoto until he died of illness.

In the subsequent eras of Takeda Motomitsu and Takeda Nobutoyo, the daimyo began to transform from a guardian daimyo to a warring daimyo, and the focus was placed on Wakasa, and the residences in Kyoto were gradually forgotten.

It was not until this trip to Kyoto that Takeda Motomitsu remembered that the Takeda clan still had "ancestral property" in the core area of ​​Kyoto, so he thought of asking Nobushige to discuss with the Rokkaku clan to see if they could get the house back. After all, with such a large family in Kyoto, they couldn't just live in this small town outside of Kyoto, which would be unworthy of the dignity of protecting a country.

Nobushige wanted to bring Nagisa and a group of important officials to live in Kyoto to experience the luxury and prosperity of Kyoto up close. But Hosokawa Harumoto asked them to stay in Matsuzaki Castle for the time being. He was unfamiliar with the place and had no choice but to obey. After thinking it over again and again, he could only place his hope on Sanjo Konori, hoping that he could return to Kyoto immediately and report the matter to Ashikaga Yoshiharu and Hosokawa Harumoto on his behalf, asking them to mediate and return the house to its original owner as soon as possible.

In fact, the Rokkaku family also had a residence in Kyoto, and it was located near Higashi-Toin, very close to the Takeda family's residence. The Rokkaku family's residence needed to be rebuilt due to a fire caused by bandits. It happened that Takeda Motonobu was about to return to Wakasa, so the two families discussed it and Motonobu lent this "ancestral property" to Rokkaku Takayasu for use. Who would have thought that this would be used for more than 30 years.

Today, the Rokkaku clan's residence has long been rebuilt, but some relatives and retainers still live in the Takeda clan's residence.

Upon hearing that Nobushige was leading his troops to Kyoto, Hosokawa Harumoto, as the inviter, had already discussed with Rokkaku Sadanari, hoping that he could clean up the house and return it to the Takeda clan first, so as to avoid unpleasantness between the two families. However, Rokkaku Sadanari's attitude had always been ambiguous, and this time Sanjo Konori came to speak for Nobushige, so Hosokawa Harumoto had no choice but to visit Rokkaku's family again.

But Rokkaku Sadanori had other plans in mind. He said to Hosokawa Harumoto who came to visit him, "Does Kanrei really think that I am reluctant to return this house to the Takeda clan? You are underestimating me, Rokkaku Shiro. My Rokkaku clan now owns the entire Omi, and we have countless fields and properties in Kyoto. Do you think I would care about this dilapidated house?"

"What do you mean? I was the one who invited the Takeda family. You should give them the benefit of the doubt and return the house to them as soon as possible. Don't put me in a difficult position." Hosokawa Harumoto urged.

"Your Excellency has not forgotten the letter from Sanjo A-sama a few days ago, right?" Rokkaku Sadanori asked, "It seems that the Takeda clan is not very interested in marrying into the main family."

"Are you angry with them for this reason?" Hosokawa Harumoto thought that Nobushige's behavior was understandable:
"Izu-no-Kami has already started a family. You asked him to marry Rin as his principal wife, so it's normal for him to refuse. After all, the Kumagai clan is a powerful clan in Wakasa. By marrying into your Rokkaku clan, they will offend the clan power in their family, which is not worth the loss. As the saying goes, everyone has their own aspirations. We can't blame him for this. Look, didn't he come to Kyoto this time when we invited him? He's already given us enough face."

"Of course what you said makes sense, but I always feel something is wrong." Rokkaku Sadanori still frowned, "I heard that after the Takeda clan and the Asakura clan reached peace, the Asai clan began to stir again. Asai Shinzaburo (Asai Ryomasa) is not a pushover. I'm worried that he will take this opportunity to promote an alliance between the Asakura, Takeda, and Asai clans to counter our Rokkaku clan."

"Asai and Asakura do have a good relationship, and Asakura and Takeda have indeed reached peace, but as for the relationship between Asai and Takeda, I don't seem to detect any signs of them getting closer. This time when the Izu nobles went to Kyoto, they did not pass through the Asai's territory, but chose Kuchikidani. This should indicate that the two families have no contact yet." Hosokawa Harumoto analyzed.

"But I heard that Shinzaburo is also looking for a husband for his eldest daughter, Tsuruchiyo. I heard that the princess is also fair-skinned, beautiful, and graceful, attracting many powerful families and people from the surrounding areas to propose marriage, but he rejected them all. I wonder if he is waiting for the right opportunity..."

Rokkaku Sadanari's speculation made Hosokawa Harumoto a little helpless. He thought, "You can't suspect that the Takeda family and the Asai family are colluding just because your daughter was rejected, right? Besides, the princesses of the Asai family are all white, beautiful, and well-proportioned. They are all famous beauties. It's understandable that they have higher standards." Of course, Hosokawa Harumoto couldn't say it so bluntly. He took a detour and said, "You don't want A-Rin to be a concubine, and you're worried that the Asai family will take the opportunity to win over the Takeda family. Can you think of a way to have the best of both worlds? In my opinion, don't worry about things that you can't control, and hurry up to give up the house. Even if the deal fails, there is still righteousness. It can be regarded as a gesture of goodwill to the Takeda family. The two families will still have a long time to work together in the future. Don't make things unhappy because of this matter."

"What if I'm willing to take a step back?" Rokkaku Sadarai suddenly said.

"You mean... you are willing to let Alin be your concubine?" Hosokawa Harumoto was a little surprised. He didn't expect that Rokkaku Sadayasu was really going to make concessions.

Rokkaku Sadayoshi nodded and said, "If I agree to let A-Rin be my concubine, do you think the Takeda family will agree to this marriage?"

"Then I can guarantee that this marriage will be successful!" Hosokawa Harumoto promised: "When the time comes, I will personally act as a matchmaker and will definitely be able to facilitate the marriage between the two families!"

"But before that, I want to meet this Takeda Izu-no-kami." Rokkaku Sadanari smiled: "This is also the reason why I am reluctant to return the house."

"Do you want to use this as an excuse to see whether the head of the Takeda clan is worthy of Alin?" Hosokawa Harumoto asked tentatively.

"Alin is my treasure, how can I marry her off casually? If she cannot be my principal wife, I must make sure that she is worthy of my trust." Rokkaku Sadarai sighed and thought, "Alin, for the sake of the Rokkaku family's business, I have to let you down."

"In that case, I will send someone to invite Izu no Kami to come over, and you can meet and talk then." After saying this, Hosokawa Harumoto felt relieved. If the Rokkaku clan and the Takeda clan could form an alliance, his rule in Kinki would be more stable.

"Thank you, Governor." Seeing Hosokawa Harumoto's cheerful face, Rokkaku Sadanari was worried: "Is the new head of the Takeda clan worth such a big sacrifice?"

That evening, Sanjo Konraji personally went to Matsuzaki Castle and brought the news that Rokkaku Sadanari wanted to meet Nobushige in Kyoto.

Upon hearing this news, Xin Zhong was puzzled at first: "If you want to return the house, just return it. If you don't want to return it, just find a reason to refuse me. Just send someone to tell me. Why do I need to meet in person?"

"Because his father is worried, he still wants to talk about that marriage." Takeda Motomitsu analyzed.

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(End of this chapter)