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

Chapter 96 War of words
On the third day of April, Nobushige, accompanied by Kagawa Morihisa and Yamamoto Shigeyuki, led more than a dozen horsemen and arrived at Akutagawa Castle in a simple manner.

Although he didn't know what Nobushige's purpose was in coming, out of hospitality, Miyoshi Toshinaga still brought a group of important officials to the Otemon Gate to greet him.

"Your Highness Takee has come to Akutagawa Castle in person. Please forgive me for not welcoming you in person." In front of the Ote-mon Gate, Miyoshi Toshinaga showed full respect to the man who was only one year older than him but was already a trusted guardian of two countries.

"Don't say that, Lord Iga. It was I who was the one who disturbed you first." Nobushige looked at the young head of the Miyoshi family and thought, "Who would have thought that more than ten years later, he would dominate the entire Kinki region under the name of 'Vice King of Japan'?"

After the two men exchanged greetings, Miyoshi Toshinaga led Nobushige and his party to the Honmaru Palace. After everyone was seated, both sides introduced their retainers who participated in the meeting.

As for Miyoshi Toshinaga, they are Shinohara Nagamasa, Miyoshi Nagayoshi, Miyoshi Yasunaga, Miyoshi Renmori, Shinohara Nagafusa and Matsunaga Hisahide in that order.

Listening to these well-known names that will stir up huge waves in Kinki in the future, and looking at the two unknown retainers beside him, Nobushige felt a little ashamed: "I only brought two retainers this time, namely Kagawa Morihisa and Yamamoto Shigeyuki, and more than ten horsemen."

"Morihisa Kagawa? He's just a young boy. I've never heard of him."

"Yamamoto Shigeyuki? Is it that crippled guy? How could anyone accept such a person as a retainer..."

"Is this the only retainer of the Wakasa Takeda family? It seems that they are just like this..."

The retainers of the Miyoshi clan who were sitting on one side could not help but whisper to each other when they saw the young boy and the one-eyed cripple brought by Nobushige. Nobushige saw a kind of disdain and contempt on their faces.

Seeing this, Nobushige immediately spoke up to "clear the names" of the two men, saying, "This Kagawa Morihisa is one of the meritorious officials who helped me quell the 'Miyagawa Rebellion' and secure my position as lord; that Yamamoto Shigeyuki is a capable official whom I recruited from Suruga with a high salary. The surprise attack on Echizen Kinzan Castle and the defeat of Asakura Genbansuke were all his work."

"You can't judge a person by his appearance." Miyoshi Yasunaga, who had just looked down on the two, could not help but regret what he had said, and sincerely sighed: "I have been thinking that in less than half a year, Your Highness first quelled the civil strife and then defeated Asakura and Isshiki. He must have had the help of many capable ministers. I am honored to meet two of them today!"

"They are indeed talented people." Miyoshi Toshinaga thought that Nobushige looked down on him, so he brought two plain-looking retainers to the meeting. But after hearing Nobushige's introduction, he immediately changed his mind: "It seems that Takeda Takee is still very concerned about this meeting."

"Your Highness, let's get back to the topic. I wonder what brings you here?" Miyoshi Toshinaga asked first.

"Iga-no-Kami, since you are so straightforward, I will not hide anything. I came here this time to persuade His Highness to withdraw from Akutagawa Castle."

When Nobushige said this, except for Hisahide Matsunaga, all the retainers of the Miyoshi clan were surprised. Although they had persuaded Miyoshi Toshinaga to withdraw his troops the day before, the request from an outsider like Nobushige still surprised and even angered these retainers who thought highly of themselves.

"Buei-dono, are you here to lobby for Hosokawa Kyojo?" The young and energetic Shinohara Nagafusa was the first to question Nobushige.

"Yes, your Takeda family has lived in Hokuriku for a long time, why do you want to interfere in the affairs of Kinki? Could it be that you have received some benefits from the Kanrei family?" Miyoshi Renmori immediately launched an "attack".

However, Miyoshi Toshinaga, who was sitting next to Nobushige, did not show much surprise. He signaled everyone to stay calm and then asked Nobushige, "Your Highness, are you here on behalf of the governor to persuade me to withdraw my troops?"

"No." Xinzhong answered decisively.

"Oh?" Sanhao Lichang was stunned for a moment, and then continued to ask: "Could it be that His Highness came here on his own initiative?"

Miyoshi Toshinaga obviously didn't believe that Nobushige would come forward to speak up. He asked this question just to see Nobushige's reaction and to see if he would make up some excuse to deceive him. After all, in Miyoshi Toshinaga's mind, he had already determined that Nobushige must have been sent by Hosokawa Harumoto this time. "No." Nobushige answered straightforwardly, which made Miyoshi Toshinaga and everyone present a little confused.

"Please speak frankly, Your Highness." Miyoshi Toshinaga really couldn't think of anyone else who could move this guardian daimyo far away in Hokuriku.

"To be honest with you, Your Highness, I am here on the orders of the Imperial Court to demand that the Miyoshi clan withdraw their troops," Nobushige said frankly.

"The kōbō?" Miyoshi Toshinaga was very puzzled. "Your Highness is saying that the kōbō wants you, who is far away in Hokuriku, to come and persuade me to withdraw my troops?"

"That's right." Xinzhong replied.

"Don't you think this is untenable?" Miyoshi Toshinaga asked, "Your Highness has no official position in the shogunate, so why did you accept the order of the shogun and travel a long distance to come to Akutagawa Castle to persuade me, a guy who has nothing to do with you, to withdraw? To be honest, your statement that you were asked by the governor to come here is more convincing than the previous reason."

"Your Highness, don't you know?" Nobushige asked, "I was promoted to the rank of a minister of the shogunate not long ago, and I am not without a duty as you said. Moreover, you have repeatedly said that I was sent by Hosokawa Kyojo to persuade Your Highness to withdraw his troops. Why do you think I, a daimyo far away in Hokuriku, should listen to his request and get involved in the affairs of Kinki?"

"Your Highness is now the minister's attendant?! I am being rude." Miyoshi Toshinaga quickly bowed to Nobushige and thought to himself, "This seems to make sense."

"Since I am here to speak on behalf of the shogunate, please forgive me for speaking frankly. I will never withdraw my troops unless I achieve my goal this time. Please report this to the shogunate on my behalf and ask for forgiveness." Miyoshi Toshinaga was not stupid. What kind of a mess was the Muromachi shogunate now? It was simply wishful thinking to persuade him to withdraw his troops with empty words.

"May I ask, Your Highness, what is the purpose of your visit to Luoyang?" Xin Zhong asked.

"Of course we have to go back to Kawachi Shijuukesho. Since you are here on behalf of the government, you should know about this matter in advance." Miyoshi Toshinaga replied.

"Of course I know that, but I have a question."

"please say."

"As far as I know, those seventeen places are the imperial treasury offices of the government. How can you say they are to be 'taken back'?"

"Wu Weidian, do you want to play word games with me? If so, there is no need to continue talking." Miyoshi Toshinaga said in a firm tone.

"That's not the case. I just want to tell Your Highness that since the seventeen belong to the kung fu, the kung fu has the right to dispose of them. Moreover, before coming down, the kung fu has already informed me that he has decided to take back the area and hand it over to Odate Jibu (Odate Tsuneoki) among the inner danzhong for management." Nobushige replied.

"Excuse me for being frank, but is the Shogunate confident that it can take back the land from Miyoshi Sozan?" Miyoshi Toshinaga was skeptical. After all, it was obvious who was behind Miyoshi Sozan. Could Ashikaga Yoshiharu, that puppet, take back that piece of fat meat?
"It's not a question of whether or not I'm sure," Nobushige replied, "it's that I've already taken it back."

"What? It's been taken back?!" Miyoshi Toshinaga was surprised, "Miyoshi Sozo handed it over so readily?"

"The news we received last night was not so straightforward, but thanks to Hosokawa Kyojo's intercession, the royal court was able to successfully recover the area." Nobushige replied, "Now that things have come to this, should Your Highness withdraw the troops and return to Shikoku?"

"This..." Miyoshi Toshinaga was speechless for a moment as he lost the reason to send troops. His Highness's Miyoshi family retainers were also at a loss as to what to do with this sudden change.

(End of this chapter)