Japan's Sengoku Period: The Sanada Clan's Ambition

Chapter 147 A Realm of Vibrant Life and Flourishing Growth
Mino, Ena District, Iiwa Village.

Iihama Takeo ran home from outside, soaking wet, and his elderly mother quickly took his straw hat from him.

"Taro, how's the situation in the fields?"

"You weren't flooded, were you?"

Hearing his mother's question, Takeo Iihama sat down on the ground with a dejected look on his face.

He really didn't know how to start the conversation.

As the saying goes, no one knows a son better than his mother. Upon seeing her son's appearance, the old woman immediately understood everything.

"How about... how about we move?" Takeo Iihama tentatively asked.

“How can this be?” the old woman said resolutely. “Although the Iiwama clan has declined, these lands were all preserved with great difficulty by your ancestors.”

“Every piece of land has the blood of your ancestors on it, how can you give it up so easily?”

The Iihama clan was also a branch of the Toyama clan, but most of its members died in battle when the Takeda clan conquered Mino, and its territory was annexed by the Naegi Toyama and Iwamura Toyama clans. The Iihama clan no longer uses Toyama as its surname and has gradually declined.

"If we don't move, none of us will survive this year."

"If I had known, I would have preferred to go to Mikawa with Lord Toyama," Takeo Iihama complained dejectedly.

"Foolish!" The old woman glared at her son with exasperation. "Lord Toyama Hisahie and the others had the protection of the Tokugawa family. Even if they went to Mikawa, they would still be samurai."

"If you go to Sanhe, you probably won't even be able to be a farmer!"

“Now that Ena County has become the territory of the Sanada family, and the Sanada family is new to the area, they will definitely need to make extensive use of the local samurai in order to control Ena County.”

“Although our Iihama clan is no longer samurai, there are so many clansmen in Iihama Village. If you can lead everyone to serve the Sanada family, do you think the Sanada family would refuse?”

"As long as you can gain the Sanada family's approval, wouldn't that be better than going to Mikawa?" The old lady was clearly knowledgeable; although she was quite old, her insight into things was far superior to that young upstart, Iiwa Takeo.

Takeo Iihama seemed to wake from a dream and hurriedly crawled to the old woman's side. "Mother, we sold all our weapons before, and now the fields are flooded. Where will we get the money to buy new equipment?"

Even if it's to borrow, you can't miss this opportunity!

"Taro, don't forget what your father told you before he died."

Takeo Iihama stood there, stunned, muttering, "Father's words... that Iihama could be revived again?"

"It's good that you still remember!" After saying that, the old woman seemed to have made a decision and began to rummage through a box in the corner, staggering as she did so.

A moment later, the old woman handed a tightly wrapped object to Takeo Iiwama.

"Taro, these are all the things left in the house. You can take them all."

Takeo Iihama nervously opened the package, and stacks of documents slid out like snowflakes.

"With these, even the patriarch of the Sanada family will have to look up to you."

"I heard from your uncles that the Sanada family is recruiting foot soldiers in Naegi Castle. Why don't you give it a try?"

Looking at the letters of gratitude on the ground, which clearly recorded the heroic battles of the samurai of the Iihama Toyama clan, a sense of conviction ignited in Iihama Takeo's heart.

People like Iihama Takeo were commonplace in Ena County. Due to the continuous wars and natural and man-made disasters of the past decade, many farmers and samurai in Ena County were unable to make a living.

When news spread that the Sanada clan was recruiting foot soldiers in Ena County, all eyes in Ena County were on Naegi Castle, and a large number of people began to flock to the castle.

Sato Kentada has been extremely busy lately, inspecting the Kiso River while also renovating the town of Naegi Castle.

Fortunately, he had the help of Sanada Nobushige and Yamagami Michiki, otherwise even if he were split in two, he still wouldn't be able to handle it.

"Lord Genjiro, you and Lord Saizo are in charge of selecting young men, and those who can bring their own weapons and equipment will be given priority."

"Those without weapons or equipment will be assigned to the labor service. Lord Hatsushika will be in charge of counting the number of people. These people will be responsible for repairing the river embankment."

"Women, children, and the elderly who are not capable of fighting will be concentrated along the Kiso River. I have already planned the residential area and let them build their own houses."

"Leave the timber and stone to Lord Shimazu. Ena County is lacking in everything except timber. You can take your foot soldiers and go up the mountain to cut down as many trees as you can."

"But be careful about the area where the trees are cut down. It's better to go further away than to cut down trees near the Kiso River."

"understand!"

Inside the castle tower of Naegi Castle, after Sato Kentada finished conveying all the instructions, everyone began to take action.

Initially, the Sanada family members were skeptical of the newcomer, Sato Kentada, but after spending some time with him, they discovered that Sato Kentada was indeed very capable.

In just over ten days, they came up with a highly feasible plan, and personally handled every detail and made reasonable arrangements.

Sanada Nobushige and the others admired Sato Kenji and were willing to follow his orders. Sanada Nobuyuki had given them special instructions before he left.

"Hatsukano-sama."

Sato Kentada stopped Hatsushika No Shoji, who was just about to leave, and said, "You need to find out if anyone under your command can engage in other production activities, such as blacksmithing, handicrafts, or weaving."

"After the statistics are compiled, these people will be settled in the castle town. Agriculture alone is not enough to support the situation in Ena County. Commercial development must also be carried out simultaneously."

Although Hatsushika no Masatsugu had a fiery temper and a big ego, he still admired capable people, so he quickly said, "Don't worry, Lord Sato, this is the job of Den'emon-no-jo. Leave it to me."

After making the arrangements, Sato Kentada finally breathed a sigh of relief and slumped down in bed.

Now that this mess in Ena County has fallen into his hands, he absolutely cannot betray Sanada Nobuyuki's trust.

A few days later, more and more people gathered at Naegi Castle, and Sanada Nobushige and others began to get to work.

"Have you ever been a foot soldier?"

"Did you serve in that role? Did you have proper equipment and weapons?"

"No? Go to the left."

"What about you?"

"You can use a musket? Then go to the right." "Come on, everyone in the back, come over here and register your names and the villages you live in."

Looking at the dense crowd in front of him, Nobushige Sanada wiped his sweat as he gave instructions.

The people of Ena County are so enthusiastic that in just four or five days, more than 500 people have signed up to become foot soldiers and want to serve the Sanada family.

These people all share one characteristic: they either have no land or their land has been flooded, leaving them with no source of livelihood.

The Sanada clan paid each foot soldier a stipend of 5 koku, or 10 koku if they brought their own weapons and equipment.

For this group of people who can't even get enough to eat, it's incredibly appealing.

"Lord Yamagami, why did my elder brother do this?"

“These people have no land, they can neither provide military service for the family nor pay annual tribute, and now the family has to pay their salaries. Isn’t this a losing proposition?” During a break, Sanada Nobushige couldn’t help but find Yamagami Michiki, who was standing nearby.

Ever since he was taught a lesson by Yamagami Michiki during the conscription of laborers in Ina County, Sanada Nobushigeichi would consult Yamagami Michiki whenever he encountered something he didn't understand.

Yamagami Michiyuki assigned his work to a samurai, then pulled Sanada Nobushige aside.

"Lord Genjiro, this is the brilliance of our lord."

"What's so clever about you, elder brother?" Sanada Nobushige was completely bewildered. "What kind of explanation is that?"

“Look, these people used to be soldiers of the Toyama family. They were all foot soldiers and fought in battles. Some of them were even samurai.”

"The Toyama family has been frequently involved in battles over the past ten years or so, and these people are all foot soldiers and samurai with rich combat experience."

“If the soldiers are ordinary people who own land, they often cherish their lives and are unwilling to fight with all their might, so the combat effectiveness of such troops is naturally not high.”

"But these people are homeless; they come to serve their family so that their families can survive."

"They can only live if the lord provides them with a salary; if the lord does not provide them with a salary, they can only wait to die."

"If you want to keep your salary, you must fight hard and be accompanied by a capable retainer. These people are probably even more powerful than the Oda clan's regular foot soldiers!" Yamagami Michiki patiently explained the ins and outs to Sanada Nobushige.

During Japan's Sengoku period, most foot soldiers were composed of military servicemen, and only those who owned land could serve as military servicemen.

Simply put, these people all have "worries about the future" and are often "afraid of death" when it comes to fighting.

These people from Ena County were all landless, like ronin, and everything they needed was provided by the Sanada family.

To keep the livelihood provided by the Sanada family, they naturally fought even harder.

During the Siege of Osaka in history, a group of ronin almost defeated the Tokugawa shogunate. This was not only due to the presence of a fierce general like Mori Katsunaga, but also because they were all "proletarians".

In other words, since they have nothing left to lose, they'll definitely risk their lives.

After hearing Yamagami Michiki's explanation, Sanada Nobushige seemed to wake from a dream.

"Thank you for your explanation, Master Yamagami. I'll continue with the headcount now." Sanada Nobushige bowed and quickly returned to his post, where he worked even harder.

Previously unaware of the "importance" of these people, Sanada Nobushige had been working casually, but now he was paying close attention.

Yamagami Michiki, who was standing to the side, nodded repeatedly, "The Sanada family is indeed extraordinary."

"With such a powerful clan, what reason is there for the Sanada family not to become strong?"

Thinking of this, Yamagami Michiki suddenly remembered the Sano family, far away in Kanto. He wondered how the Sano family was faring in the face of the Hojo family's large-scale attack.

Although he became a retainer of the Sanada family, Yamagami Michiki still missed his former master.

July 9th, the twelfth year of the Tianzheng era.

The more than 60,000-strong Hashiba army stationed in Ise began to retreat, abandoning their plans to continue the offensive into western Owari. Sanada Nobuyuki, Ikeda Terumasa, and others within Ōgaki Castle also returned to their territories.

It's a good thing that no war broke out, at least it saves on military supplies.

During the retreat, Nobuyuki Sanada, Terumasa Ikeda, Sadamichi Inaba, Tadamasa Mori, and others marched together.

For some reason, Mori Tadamasa's gaze toward Sanada Nobuyuki was a little strange, while Sanada Nobuyuki was busy chatting with Ikeda Terumasa and Inaba Sadamichi and didn't notice it.

Needless to say, Terumasa Ikeda had fought alongside Nobuyuki Sanada, and Sadamichi Inaba had also met Nobuyuki Sanada in Shinano, so the three of them were quite familiar with each other.

"Sanada-sama!"

Just as Sanada Nobuyuki and his two companions were chatting enthusiastically, Mori Tadamasa suddenly called out to Sanada Nobuyuki.

"Is something wrong?"

Nobuyuki Sanada was not familiar with Tadamasa Mori, and because of the relationship between Sen Ikeda and Genban, Nobuyuki Sanada did not want to have anything to do with Tadamasa Mori.

"There is indeed something I must say."

"As for Tsumagi Castle, can it be returned to the main family?" Mori Tadamasa's intentions were clearly hostile.

Sanada Nobuyuki immediately understood upon hearing this.

During the previous battle against the Toyama Ikki, Sanada Nobuyuki directly expelled Hayashi Tametada, who was appointed by Mori Tadamasa, from Tsumaki Castle and brought Tsumaki Yoritada up to become the castle lord.

Afterwards, Tsumagi Yoritada naturally became very close to Sanada Nobuyuki, but the Mori family considered this to be a transgression.

Originally, Ena County was also under the control of the Mori family, but because they were powerless to resist the Toyama Ikki, they were promised to the Sanada family by Hashiba Hideyoshi. Mori Tadamasa had already suffered a loss.

Tsumagi Castle is a castle in Toki County, and therefore not under the jurisdiction of the Sanada family.

It could be considered a wartime expedient before, but now that the Toyama uprising has been quelled, the Sanada family's continued occupation of Tsumagi Castle is rather unseemly.

"Hasn't our main force already withdrawn from Tsumagi Castle? Why are we talking about returning it?"

Seeing that Sanada Nobuyuki was pretending to be ignorant, Mori Tadamasa became even angrier.

"It is true that the Sanada clan's forces have withdrawn, but Tsumagi Yoritada has consistently refused to obey the main clan's orders. Lord Sanada, can you say that this was not done without your support?"

(End of this chapter)