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

Chapter 83 Takeno Shaoou
"Hey, bastard, come out quickly!" The leading samurai glanced at the Takeda cavalry not far away. He did not show any intention of giving way. Instead, he knocked on the cage with his sword and demanded that the people inside come out in a very arrogant tone.

After a long while, the door of the cage slowly opened, and a middle-aged man with a shaved head and dressed as a tea waiter walked out slowly.

"It's Takeno Jo'ou." Odate Harumitsu recognized the middle-aged man at a glance. He was Takeno Jo'ou, a famous businessman and tea lover who traveled between Kyoto and Sakai Port, and the master of Sen no Rikyu, who was later known as the "Tea Saint".

As one of the founders of the Japanese tea ceremony, Takeno Joo had many outstanding disciples, among whom the "Three Great Masters of the World" Imai Sohisa, Tsuda Soki, and Sen no Rikyu were all his disciples, but at that time Sen no Rikyu had not yet become his disciple.

Takeno Joou was studious since childhood. At the age of 25, he studied waka poetry with Sanjonishi Sanetaka of Kyoto, the "highest cultural figure" at that time. At the age of 31, he became a monk and took the name "Joou". At the age of 38, he inherited his family's weapons and leather business and became a famous merchant in Sakai Port. Through the weapons and leather business, he acquired a lot of wealth, and obtained the official position of "Inaba no Kami" by donating money to the court.

However, everyone only knows that Takeno Joo was born in Yamato Province and made his fortune in Sakai Port. In fact, he is a descendant of the branch family of the Wakasa Takeda clan.

Takeno Jo'ou's original name was Takeno Nakazai. His family declined after his grandfather Takeda Nakakiyo died in battle. His father Takeda Nobuhisa came to Sakai Port and felt unworthy of the Takeda clan's reputation, so he changed his surname to Takeno, which means "Takeda ga Shimonoshita", or "descendant of the Takeda clan."

Seeing that it was Takeno Shaoou who came out of the cage, the crowd couldn't help but sigh:
"This is Master Shaoou, how dare these warriors be so rude!"

"Yeah, Master Shaoou doesn't even know him. He's really a country warrior."

"Damn it, how dare these guys, ah..."

However, even though there were many voices of injustice, no one dared to stand up for Wu Ye Shaoou. After all, if they were not careful, the two Lu Chi on the ground might end up like them.

"Father, should we go upstairs..." Daguan Qingguang looked at Daguan Changxing standing aside.

Odate Changxing shook his head and said, "You can see that these are the warriors of the Miyoshi family, all wild monkeys from Awa. They have been arrogant and domineering in Kyoto recently. If we go up to persuade them, it will be fine if it works, but if it doesn't, I'm afraid we will lose the prestige of the shogun. The relationship between Miyoshi Iga no Kami and the shogun and kanrei is very delicate now. It is better to avoid direct contact if possible."

"Are we just going to watch Master Shaoou being bullied? Sigh..." Okuda Qingguang sighed unwillingly.

"Not really," Odate Changxing pointed to the Takeda army not far away, "Aren't there people who can mind their own business?"

"You mean the Takeda family will get involved?" Odate Harumitsu said in disbelief: "That's a samurai from the Miyoshi family. The Takeda family is new here. Do they really dare to..."

"After all, they are blocking their way. If they can't even handle these dozen guys, how can they have the face to visit Liujiao Danzheng?"

Speaking of the Takeda army, when they saw that their way was blocked by a dozen samurai and foot soldiers, the leader Yamagata Morinobu sent Kuchiki Hidemitsu to find out the situation and repeatedly reminded them to act with caution and not to cause trouble.

Kuchiki Hidemitsu nodded in agreement, then rode his horse to the front of the samurai, dismounted sideways, walked to the leading samurai, and greeted him in a friendly manner: "Sir, what happened?" At this time, a samurai was grabbing Takeno Joou's collar and sternly threatened: "You guy, are you looking for death? You've been shouting for so long before you crawl out?" Seeing Takeno Joou's terrified look, the surrounding samurai and foot soldiers couldn't help laughing.

"Who are you?" The leading warrior was "looking at the scenery" complacently. He only glanced at Kuchiki Hidemitsu out of the corner of his eye and asked casually.

"My name is Yahachiro Hidemitsu Kuchiki, and I'm the head of the foot soldiers of the Wakasa Takeda clan." Kuchiki Hidemitsu replied.

"Wakasa Takeda clan?" The leading samurai turned around and looked at Kuchiki Hidemitsu, then pointed at the Takeda army not far away and asked, "Is that your army?"

Kuchiki Hidemitsu nodded and said, "I have been ordered to escort the lord to visit Rokukaku Danzheng. Please be kind and make way for the army to pass."

"The head of your Takeda clan is here." The leading samurai also became more respectful and introduced himself, "I am Shinohara Sayobe, a retainer of the Awa Miyoshi clan."

Then, he pointed at Wu Ye Shaoou who was standing nearby and said unhappily, "Just now, we were all walking on the street, and this guy's carriage suddenly came crashing over from the side, knocking me over."

Shinohara Sakichibei pointed at the bruise on his forehead and continued angrily, "Even so, those Lu Chi still argued that it was not intentional. What's even more infuriating is that this guy hid in the cage and refused to come out. He also said, 'How much money do you want? I'll compensate you.' Tell me, if you were in my place, would you not be angry?"

"That's not true!" Wu Ye Shaoou from the group struggled to break free from the samurai's pull, and said nervously but impolitely: "This lord is wrong, my servant did trip over a rock, and he apologized to this lord, but the lord still refused to give in and cut him with a knife."

Wu Ye Shaoou pointed at Lu Chi who was curled up on the ground and said, "Not only that, another servant who stepped forward to stop the fight was also chopped. I was afraid that he would chop me again in anger, so I hid in the cage and refused to come out. As for the question of 'how much money do you want, I will compensate you', it was also because I wanted to settle the matter peacefully, and I had no intention of humiliating this gentleman. I hope you will give me justice."

"Stop yelling." Shinohara Sayoshi said impatiently, "I'm giving you two choices now. One is to let me beat you up and give you a taste of the pain. The other is to kneel down and kowtow to me to apologize and compensate me with 50 strings of cash!"

"Fifty strings of cash! That's really a lot of money!" The crowd was amazed and said, "No matter what, this shouldn't be the right way to extort money, right?"

"What? Who was talking just now? Stand up if you have the guts!" Shinohara Sayobei ​​looked around viciously, scaring everyone so much that they quickly took a few steps back.

Seeing this, Kuchiki Hidemitsu hurriedly stepped forward to smooth things over: "Master Shinohara, in my opinion, this master also did it unintentionally. The main family is in a hurry to go to Todoin. Please, for the sake of the Takeda family, be merciful and let him go for the time being."

"What about the face of the Takeda family? What about the face of my Miyoshi family?" Shinohara Sakichibei spat in front of Takeno Shoou, pointed at the ground and said, "Come on, Master."

Everyone, I am very sorry. I have been too busy with work recently and I only finished writing this chapter at around 2 a.m. So it does lack some useful information. If you have any opinions, please feel free to raise them and I can accept them.

Some friends want to support their books, which I can understand. Please be considerate of me, please!
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(End of this chapter)