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

Chapter 99 Takeda Yoshishige
Seeing this, Nobushige quickly leaned over and helped Miyoshi Toshinaga up, saying sincerely: "Sunjiro (Miyoshi Toshinaga's common name), from now on we are brothers who will share weal and woe, life and death together."

Miyoshi Toshinaga nodded heavily, then turned to the Miyoshi clan and said to His Highness, "From now on, our Miyoshi family and the Wakasa Takeda family will be like brothers. You must remember this in your heart and never slack off!"

"Ha! We, the subjects, will obey the orders of our lord!" Shinohara Nagamasa and other retainers bowed down and saluted to Nobushige and Miyoshi Toshinaga in the palace.

"The sons of my Takeda family must always remember that we have such a family of brothers in Shikoku and Settsu. From now on, you must treat them as you treat me, and there must not be any partiality." Nobushige also instructed His Highness Kagawa Morihisa and Yamamoto Shigeyuki.

"Ha! We understand!" The two of them also bowed deeply towards the hall.

Seeing this scene, Nobushige and Miyoshi Toshinaga laughed heartily at the same time, and the atmosphere in the whole hall became really harmonious. However, Matsunaga Hisahide looked at Nobushige with suspicion and uneasiness, always feeling that there was something fishy about this matter.

On the fifth day of April, under the supervision of Nobushige and Hatano Hidetada, Miyoshi Toshinaga led his retainers and all 2,500 troops to evacuate Akutagawa Castle. While most of the troops disbanded and returned to Shikoku, Miyoshi Toshinaga headed for Koshimizu Castle in Settsu, where he would start a new journey.

Upon learning that Miyoshi's army had withdrawn, Hosokawa Harumoto immediately ordered Miyoshi Masanaga to advance to Akutagawa Castle. The rest of the Hosokawa coalition forces, including the Takeda army and the newly arrived Rokkaku army, also evacuated Yamazaki Castle.

On the seventh day of April, with the help of Nobushige, Miyoshi Toshinaga came to Kyoto and met with Ashikaga Yoshiharu and Hosokawa Harumoto at the Muromachi Palace, formally apologizing to them for his reckless behavior. With this step, Hosokawa Harumoto also took advantage of the situation and forgave Miyoshi Toshinaga and his retainers on the spot. The three-month turmoil came to an end, and Kinki also temporarily gained a period of peace.

In order to commend Nobushige for his important role in this crisis and to promote the prestige of the shogunate, he also thanked Nobushige for his donation of 100 kan. At the suggestion of the inner danshu Otate Tsuneoki, Ashikaga Yoshiharu decided to bestow the common character "Yoshi" of the Ashikaga shogunate on Nobushige, and held a formal ceremony on April 10. After that, Takeda Nobushige officially changed his name to Takeda Yoshishige.

For a long time to come, he will shine in the five provinces and seven regions under the name of "Minamoto no Aristocrat, Takeda Ubei Governor Yoshishige".

Yoshishige's trip to Kyoto was very fruitful, including being promoted to a companion, succeeding to a guardian, making friends with the three good friends, and receiving a pass. But there was one important thing that he couldn't do before returning to Wakasa, and that was to complete his marriage with Rokkaku Rin.

On April 16, Yoshishige and Rokkaku Rin's wedding was officially held at the Takeda family's residence in Kyoto.

Although it was a marriage to a concubine, both parties were prominent local lords, and Rokkaku Rin was the most beloved daughter of Rokkaku Sadanari. Therefore, it is no exaggeration to say that the grandeur of this wedding was even greater than that of Yoshishige's marriage to Kumagai Nagisa.

Long before the wedding, Yoshishige had handed over the arrangements for the house to Takeda Motomitsu and Kumagai Nagisa. The two of them were "facing a formidable enemy" and quickly directed their retainers and servants to decorate the house. In addition to hanging a human-shaped doll of "Takasago Ueba" on the niche in their home, they also placed decorations such as Penglai mountain bonsai with cranes and turtles symbolizing longevity. The whole house was auspicious and festive.

The wedding lasted for three days in total. On the evening of the first day, Rokkaku Rin, with tears in her eyes, bid farewell to her parents, got on a gorgeously decorated vehicle, and accompanied by Rokkaku Yoshitaka and escorted by a group of attendants, she came to the Takeda family with cartloads of dowry.

Arriving at the gate of the Takeda family, as the bride, Rokkaku Rin had to continue to be carried into the courtyard without touching the ground, passing through the middle room and into the inner room, and then stepped down from the carriage. The wedding was hosted by the noblewoman who was invited by Yoshishige with a large sum of money, the concubine of Prince Fushimi Sadatsu and the sister of Sanjo Konori.

She first led Rokkaku Rin, who was wearing a kosode with a lucky rhombus pattern, into the room where the blessing ceremony was held, then walked in with a gesture of respect. After the two of them had a brief ceremony of exchanging cups, they had their first meal as husband and wife in the presence of Sanjo Kaori, who witnessed it.

The two days before the wedding were a "honeymoon" for Yoshishige and Rokkaku Rin, during which they exchanged congratulations and got to know each other. It was not until the third day that Rokkaku Rin met Takeda Motomitsu, Kumagai Nagisa, and a group of Takeda family retainers and attendants, and only then was their marriage officially accepted by everyone.

On this day, Yoshishige held a grand banquet in his residence. In order to show off to the Takeda clan and the Rokkaku clan, he specially ordered his retainers to transport more than a hundred "hatsu bonito" from Wakasa Bay to the banquet for the guests to enjoy.

At that time, there was a saying that "eating the first food can extend your life by 75 days." The so-called "first food" refers to the first batch of seasonal crops or seafood that are available in the market that year. The so-called "first bonito" is the first batch of bonito that is available in the market every year.

Although bonito is generally not expensive, since the Kamakura shogunate, "bonito" has the same pronunciation as "katsuo" (katsuo), and has gradually become a favorite of samurai. People began to eat bonito to seek good omens, and bonito has also become a must-have food for major celebrations.

Hatsunabi was even more popular among the samurai. It was expensive, with one piece costing one to three taels of silver. However, many people, especially the samurai, would rather pawn or sell their belongings to buy it.

Therefore, when such a large amount of "Hatsuo-bonito" appeared at the banquet, it immediately caused a burst of cheers and exclamations from the guests. Even people with wealthy families and high positions like Hosokawa Harumoto and Sanjo Kuniyori could not help but sigh at Yishige's strong financial resources.

In fact, these bonito are rare in Kyoto, but in Wakasa, where seafood is abundant, they are relatively easy to obtain and the price is relatively low. Yoshishige took advantage of this asymmetry of information and resources to win a good reputation for himself and also won the satisfaction and praise of Rokkaku Sadanari.

After staying in Kyoto for about two months, Yoshishige felt that he had done what he needed to do, so he bid farewell to Ashikaga Yoshiharu, Hosokawa Harumoto, Rokkaku Sadahori and Miyoshi Toshinaga of Koshimizu Castle, and on the fourth day of May, he officially set off to return to Wakasa.

However, before leaving, Rokkaku Sadanori gave him, or to be more precise, gave Rokkaku Rin a "gift", which was Tarou Shirobei Mitsuna, the son of the 13th generation Tarou Mitsutoshi (Mitsutsushi is the hereditary name of the family head), one of the "Fifty-three Families of Koga".

The 14th generation Taro Mitsutoshi, who had helped Tokugawa Ieyasu escape back to Mikawa after the "Honnoji Incident", was only 25 years old at the time. Also given to Nobushige were the 38 Koga ninjas that Rokkaku Sadayasu relied on.

Ninjas were an indispensable resource for powerful local forces during the Warring States Period. However, there were only a handful of capable ninjas, and the Iga and Koga ninjas were the most outstanding. The "Koga Fifty-three Families" were the best among the Koga ninjas. Rokkaku Sadanori gave some of them to Yoshishige, which showed his appreciation and trust in Yoshishige.

(End of this chapter)