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

Chapter 85 Making insinuations
For this visit to Rokkaku Sadanari, Nobushige prepared a generous amount of gold, silver, jewelry and gifts. The amount was so huge that it is no exaggeration to say that it was more than enough to buy the "ancestral property" of the Takeda clan.

But Nobushige understood that he was not here to do business, and it was not a so-called "equal exchange." Rokkaku Sadanari would not care about a house or a cart of jewelry. They both knew what they wanted.

The Takeda army arrived outside the Higashitoin Gate in a mighty force. Nobushige immediately dismounted and sent Kagawa Morihisa to deliver the gift letter and make a report.

The person who greeted them at the door was Gamo Sadahide, a senior official of the Rokkaku clan and the head of the Uramō clan. He participated in dozens of battles, both large and small, under the command of Rokkaku Sadanori. He was a fierce general of the Rokkaku clan and was deeply trusted by the Rokkaku clan. As an aside, the famous Gamo Ujisato in later generations was his grandson.

Gamo Sadahide took the gift from Kagawa Morihisa with both hands, glanced at the cart of gold, silver and jewelry behind him, smiled, then walked quickly to Nobushige and greeted him respectfully: "It is an honor for our family to have the presence of Izu no Kami. Tanjo Kazushiro (Rokkaku Yoshitaka) is waiting for His Highness in the courtyard, please follow me."

Then, Gamo Sadahide pointed to the middle-aged samurai on his left and said to Kagawa Morihisa, "All the Takeda family members, please follow Yoshida Sukeraburo of the main family to the annex to rest for a while. I will inform you before the next meeting when the visit is over."

"Oh? Is that Yoshida Izumo-no-kami?" Yamamoto Shigeyuki squeezed to the front of the crowd and greeted the middle-aged samurai with a smile.

"Oh, it's Kansuke!" The middle-aged samurai was quite surprised to see Yamamoto Shigeyuki, "Why, are you traveling in Kyoto again?"

Yamamoto Shigeyuki scratched his head and laughed heartily: "I am now a retainer of the Takeda clan. The lord gave me a name, and now I am called Yamamoto Shigeyuki."

After that, Yamamoto Kansuke turned to Nobushige and introduced him, "My lord, this is a good friend I met when I traveled to Kyoto, Yoshida Izumo no Kami Shigemasa. The Yoshida-style archery of their clan is considered the best in Kinki."

"I have long heard of your name." Nobushige bowed respectfully to Yoshida Tadamasa, "Thanks for your care when I was in Kyoto."

"Haha, that's not true." Although Yoshida Shigemasa was over fifty years old, he was still strong and energetic. "Izu no Kami really has a good eye to choose Kansuke. Please believe that he will never let Your Highness down."

"Yes, of course I believe it. If you have time in the future, please come to Wakasa and teach me the archery of the Takeda clan."

Nobushige smiled back, he knew that this famous archer would soon leave the Rokkaku clan and join the Asakura clan in Echizen due to the conflict with Rokkaku Yoshitaka. If he wanted to "intercept" this talent halfway, Nobushige had to establish a good relationship with him through Yamamoto Shigeyuki.

Then, at the reminder of Gamo Sadahide, Nobushige followed him and strode into the courtyard.

Watching Nobushige's receding back, Yoshida Shigemasa whispered to Yamamoto Shigeyuki, "Is this the head of the Takeda clan who defeated Asakura Sotei and annexed Tango in one battle?"

"Yeah, why, doesn't it look alike?" Yamamoto Shigeyuki said with a smile.

"Like, but not like." Yoshida Shigemasa said this out of the blue. While Yamamoto Shigeyuki was still thinking about what he meant, he said, "You are really too young."

"Young... not too bad. I heard that my lord is about the same age as the young master of your Rokkaku family." Yamamoto Shigeyuki responded.

"So what?" Yoshida Shigemasa laughed bitterly, "Haha, it's too far away."

After saying this, he walked up to the retainers of the Takeda clan and led them to the annex to rest.

Higashi-Dōin was not big. In addition to the large room for receiving guests and retainers, there was only a bedroom, a Buddhist hall, several side rooms and a small garden. Usually, Rokkaku Sadanari and several important retainers lived there, while Rokkaku Yoshitaka stayed in Kannonji Castle all year round.

Under the guidance of Gamo Sadahide, Nobushige passed through the corridor and garden and came to a thatched cottage deep in the courtyard. This was the tea room used by Rokkaku Sadanari to meet important people.

At this time, Rokkaku Sadahide and Rokkaku Yoshitaka were standing outside the tea room, welcoming Nobushige's arrival, but the former was smiling, while the latter was gloomy. "The one on the left is Danjo, and the one on the right is Young Master Shiro." Nobushige looked in the direction of Gamo Sadahide's finger, and after knowing the identities of the two, he hurriedly walked up to the Rokkaku father and son, and bowed respectfully to Rokkaku Sadahide.

"I'm sorry to have kept Your Highness Danzheng waiting for a long time." Xinzhong said politely.

"Of course not. I am so happy that the Lord of Izu has visited my humble home. Your Highness must have had a hard journey. Please come to the tea room for a cup of tea." Rokkaku Sadanari greeted Nobushige warmly, and at the same time, he looked at his face and clothes carefully, and nodded slightly.

"I thought he was so handsome, but he's just an ordinary guy." Rokkaku Yoshitaka muttered to himself, his eyes full of disdain.

"Your Highness Shiro, it's the first time we meet. Please take care of me." Nobushige was not angry at Rokkaku Yoshitaka's contemptuous expression. Instead, he greeted him more humbly.

"Mr. Izu, I have long heard of your great name. I am so sorry for the disrespect." Seeing Nobushige being so humble, Rokkaku Yoshitaka had no choice but to return the favor.

Rokkaku Sadarai glanced at his disappointing son, then smiled and led Nobushige into the tea room.

After the three of them sat down, Nobushige looked around the tea room and found that unlike the extremely luxurious tea room of the Kinki daimyo, Rokkaku Sadayasu's tea room was not only small in size but also very simply decorated.

Perhaps seeing Nobushige's confusion, Rokkaku Sadanori explained, "This 'Huian' was designed and built by the famous tea master Takeno Joou, whom I asked. Master Joou said that the tea ceremony should abandon all content that is not related to tea and seek inner purity in the wilderness. Too luxurious decorations will disturb people's state of mind and prevent them from focusing on the tea ceremony."

"That makes sense." Xinzhong nodded slightly: "Master Shaoou does have unique insights."

"I heard that Your Highness met Master Shaoou on the way here just now?" Rokkaku Sadarai asked casually as he handed the teacup to Nobushige.

"I didn't expect that Dan Zheng was so well-informed." Xin Zhong took the teacup and replied with a smile: "Indeed, Master encountered some minor problems at that time, but fortunately they were all solved."

Nobushige tried his best to avoid mentioning that it was the samurai from the Miyoshi family who were causing the trouble, but Rokkaku Sadanari changed the subject and directly named them, saying, "These rural samurai from Awa have caused chaos in Kyoto since their arrival. This time they are bullying Master Shaoou again, which is really despicable."

Nobushige did not respond directly to Rokkaku Sadanari, but instead wondered whether Rokkaku Sadanari's attack on the Miyoshi family was an attempt to win him over or to test him.

"It's all been resolved. Just treat it as a misunderstanding." Xinzhong responded calmly.

"Oh, Your Highness is indeed generous, but the Miyoshi Iga clan has stationed a large number of troops in Akutagawa Castle, which makes us Kinki daimyo uneasy."

After hearing what Rokkaku Sadanari said, Nobushige was finally certain that he had long been dissatisfied with Miyoshi Toshinaga, so he wanted to use these words to arouse a feeling of "sympathy" and create an atmosphere of "common hatred of the enemy."

If that’s the case, then the next step will be easy.

"Yes, Miyoshi Iga no Kami sent troops to Kyoto without consulting the shogun and the kanrei, and occupied several castles in Settsu. This is really too much. I led the army to Kyoto this time for this matter. We can't let them do whatever they want in Kinki."

Xinzhong's words caused Rokukaku Sadarai to nod repeatedly.

(End of this chapter)