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

Chapter 89 Council
On March 16, the day after his visit to Rokkaku Sadanori, early in the morning, Nobushige ordered people to prepare gifts and donations, and at the same time sent Kagawa Morihisa to the Muromachi Palace to request an audience with Shogun Ashikaga Yoshiharu.

But when Kagawa Morihisa was halfway there, he met Sanjo Konori who was on his way to Matsuzaki Castle, and the two exchanged a few words on the side of the road.

"Lord Morihisa, if I were His Highness Izu no Kami, I would never go to see the Kubo first." said Sanjo Konryū.

"Why?" Morihisa Kagawa was very curious.

"To make a long story short, it's been a while since Izu-no-Kami went to Kyoto. Why didn't he go to the court and ask for an audience with the emperor? To be honest, even though everyone knows that going to Kyoto is a cover, you still have to pretend, right? Going to Kyoto, going to Kyoto, if you don't go to the palace to pay homage to the emperor, what kind of going to Kyoto is that?"

"This..." Kagawa Morihisa was speechless for a moment.

"Lord Morihisa, listen to my advice. Send me to Matsuzaki Castle first, and then decide whether to go to the Muromachi Palace or the Forbidden City after you meet with Izu-no-Kami."

Seeing that Sanjo Konyori's words were sincere and thinking that his words did make some sense, Kagawa Morihisa immediately turned his horse around and escorted Sanjo Konyori to Matsuzaki Castle.

Upon hearing that Sanjo Konyori was coming to visit, Nobushige took it very seriously. After all, he was a meritorious minister who helped Takeda and Asakura achieve peace. In addition, he was an important official in the court, so he had to show due courtesy. Therefore, Nobushige and Takeda Motomitsu decided to go to the Otemon gate to greet him in person.

As the vehicle landed in front of the Ote Gate, Sanjo Konrai struggled to walk out of it. Dressed in the attire of a nobleman, he was still gentle and polite.

"Izu no Kami, Hoshinji-den, long time no see." Sanjo Konrai bowed and said.

"I didn't know that the Prime Minister would visit you today. I'm sorry for not welcoming you in person. Please forgive me." Xinzhong bowed in return.

"No way, Your Highness, are you free now? Could you give me a moment?" Sanjo Gonglai said straight to the point.

"What are you talking about? Since the Prime Minister is here in person, there must be time. Even if I have something else to do, I will just postpone it."

Hearing what Nobushige said, Sanjo Gonglai was quite satisfied. He didn't expect that a down-and-out noble like him could be respected like this. A sense of satisfaction suddenly came over him.

After that, Nobushige led Sanjo Konori to Hiroma. Takeda Motomitsu wanted to leave, but was stopped by Sanjo Konori: "If you have nothing to do in Hoshinji Temple, please sit down and have a chat."

So the three of them sat down in the room. Nobushige and Takeda Motomitsu looked at each other, wondering what the three of them were up to.

"Your Highness, it has been a while since you came to Kyoto, right?" asked Sanjo Gonglai.

Xinzhong nodded slightly: "It has been four or five days indeed."

"Then Your Highness, do you know what you should do first since we are going to Kyoto?" Sanjo Gonglai asked again.

"This..." Xinzhong heard that Sanjo Gonglai had something to say, so he humbly asked, "Please explain it to me, Prime Minister."

"I heard that Your Highness went to Kyoto and paid a visit to Rokkaku Tanjō first, so I rushed here in a hurry. I hope Your Highness will not make the same mistake again." Sanjo Gonglai said very sincerely.

"Making the same mistake again and again?" Xinzhong was confused.

"Yes, I just said it when I met Lord Shengjiu. If you don't go to the palace to pay homage to the current emperor, what kind of visit is it? Not to mention the distant past, in the past two years, the Ouchi family and the Asakura family have all gone to Kyoto. Which family didn't pay homage to the current emperor first, then to the shogun, and then to other daimyo?"

When Sanjo Gonglai said this, Xinzhong suddenly realized: "Oh, why didn't I think of it? I was busy with trivial matters today and forgot such important etiquette. It's really wrong." "Your Highness is young and doesn't understand, but why didn't you remind him?" Sanjo Gonglai complained: "Didn't Yuan Xingong follow this procedure when he went to Luoyang?"

"You are wrong to blame me." Takeda Motomitsu quickly defended: "Hikogoro is only the Izu no Kami, who is below the sixth rank. He is not even considered a 'person of the palace'. How can he be qualified to pay respect to His Majesty?"

The so-called "Palace Officials" usually refers to a group of people among ancient Japanese officials above the fifth rank who were allowed to enter the Emperor's side palace, the Seiryoden, to pay homage to the Emperor.

Going to the Seiryoden to pay homage to the Emperor was called "going to the palace." Most of those who were qualified were officials of the fifth or higher rank. However, Tibetans of the sixth rank and some servants who had to go to the palace for work could also be ordered to go to the palace and were included in the palace-goers. Therefore, the statement that "palace-goers were officials of the fourth or fifth rank" was not accurate.

Hearing Takeda Motomitsu say this, Sanjo Konori did not agree: "Back then, Lord Motonobu was only a junior assistant to the Fifth Rank, but he later became a royal official, didn't he?"

"That means he will be promoted to the third rank as an exception and will be qualified to meet His Majesty." Takeda Motomitsu replied.

"Yes, since Lord Motonobu can make an exception, why can't Lord Izu?" asked Sanjo Nobuyori in return.

"Then he must have someone in the court. My father had close relations with the court and the imperial court, so it was convenient. How can my Takeda family have such connections now?"

Takeda Motomitsu was also helpless. After all, he had squandered all the Takeda family's wealth, and his influence in the imperial court and the shogunate was not as great as before. Although the Takeda family had improved slightly under the leadership of Nobushige, at this point, where were the ready-made connections he could use?

"Where are the connections? Am I not qualified?" San Tiao Gong Lai said unhappily.

"The Prime Minister is willing to take personal action to secure an opportunity for my Takeda clan to ascend to the throne?" Takeda Motomitsu was overjoyed.

"After all, we have known each other for a while, and Izu no Kami and I get along well. As long as you are willing, I can give it a try." Sanjo Konraji replied.

"Of course I am willing. It is an honor I have never dreamed of to meet the current emperor!" Takeda Motomitsu was so excited that he quickly asked Nobushige to bow and express his gratitude to Sanjo Kuniyasu.

Seeing the excitement and sincerity of the Takeda father and son, Sanjo Konori felt that the time had come and put forward a small condition.

"When the present emperor ascended the throne last year, the prominent daimyo such as Ouchi, Imagawa, and Hojo all sent envoys to congratulate him, but the Takeda family was absent at that time..."

"You also know that Ruoxia was caught in an unexpected incident and didn't take care of this matter. It was really negligent. I have to make up for it when I go to Luoyang this time."

Takeda Motomitsu knew what Sanjo Konori meant, so he tried to test him: "I heard that the Ouchi family in Suo and the Ichijo family in Tosa both donated 10,000 pieces of gold to the imperial court and were appointed as the Grand Minister and the General of the Left Guard respectively. I was wondering if the Minister could say a few good words to the imperial court on behalf of our family so that Hikogoro could also receive this honor?"

After that, Takeda Motomitsu nudged Nobushige with his elbow, and Nobushige understood what he meant and respectfully asked Sanjo Konori, "Our family is willing to donate 20,000 pieces of gold to the court, asking for nothing else but to see your Majesty's face. If you can do it, I will reward you handsomely!"

"I am not seeking any reward, and the court is not seeking any donations." Sanjo Gongyori said solemnly, "However, since Your Highness is so sincere, I am willing to help the Takeda family."

After saying this, Sanjo Konori frowned and closed his eyes in deep thought. After a long while, he opened his eyes and said to Nobushige and Takeda Motomitsu, "I just thought about it for a while. After thinking about it, I think there is a vacancy for the position of councilor. The official position is the fourth rank. What do you think?"

San-yi is the vice-minister of the Daijokan, and his official rank is above the Sho-4th rank. It is the position below the Chu-nagon, and is the lowest official position in the highest decision-making level of the Japanese court at that time, and is also the lowest-ranking nobleman class. The Tang Dynasty called it "Prime Minister", "Xiang Gong", "Ping Zhang Shi" and "Jian Yi Daifu".

"Go up to the Fourth Position!" Takeda Motomitsu hurriedly approached Sanjo Konori and said excitedly, "I'll leave this matter to His Highness the Prime Minister!"

(End of this chapter)