Owari Yumeki Golden Day.

"Speak." Nobunaga put down the seal and handed it to Mori Denbei, who was standing next to him, to put in a bag.

"One day, Asai Bizen-no-kami will become a retainer of our family." You're the one who made me say that, Shichibei, so just say it nicely.

"That's for sure." Sure enough, Nobunaga really did treat his brother-in-law as a local lord who could be turned into a retainer.

Previously, Nobunaga only had Owari Province, while Azai Nagamasa had over 200,000 koku in Kohoku. The two sides could naturally interact on an equal footing, and Nobunaga even needed to send his sister to befriend them.

Nobunaga is now the regent of the shogunate, with a national strength of at least two million koku, while Azai Nagamasa has only three hundred thousand koku. He can only wait to be turned into a retainer.

Whether you do it willingly or not, this is the inevitable trend.

“That’s how it should be.” Ah, yes, yes, yes, right, right, Shichibei just blurted it out.

"Have you ever fed eagles?" Nobunaga asked with a smile as he handed the sealed document to Shichibei.

"I am not accustomed to falconry." Shichibei carefully put away the official document and stuffed it into his chest.

"The Eagle of Jiangbei, huh? It seems Nobunaga really is training the eagle. He's afraid it'll become too saturated and fly away, so he keeps it hanging on like this, giving it small favors every now and then. This makes Nagamasa reluctant to leave, yet he feels he's not getting more than he's giving if it doesn't leave."

Perhaps, just perhaps, this can be considered a form of imperial strategy.

"You can learn it; you might need it in the future." Nobunaga stood up, tapped Shichibei on the forehead with his folding fan, and walked away happily.

That's impossible to learn. Shichibei has to learn the tea ceremony and waka poetry now. It'll take at least two or three years to master both. Hawk hunting will have to wait until later; our schedules are really tight, there's nothing we can do about it.

After securing the official documents, Shichibei left the camp and rushed towards Azai Nagamasa's residence. Azai Nagamasa had been secretly waiting, never leaving his quarters, merely standing at the camp gate every day, eagerly anticipating the arrival of the shogunate's envoy so he could assume the post of Deputy Governor of Kohoku.

When he heard from his subordinates that Kawamura-dono, a senior retainer of the regent Nobunaga, had arrived and had official documents to show him, Azai Nagamasa was so happy that he jumped up and down and asked his attendants if he was dressed properly.

As the official document slowly unfolded before him, it indeed granted Asai Nagamasa the position of Deputy Governor of Kohoku. The feeling was such that if he were to strip naked and run three laps around Nijō Street in Kyoto, he would be considered a true gentleman of refined taste.

To be fair, Azai Nagamasa was quite a figure; after his initial elation, he quickly suppressed his emotions. On one hand, he said he needed to prepare a return gift for Nobunaga and write a reply. On the other hand, he immediately ordered someone to fetch thirty taels of gold for Shichibei, as Shichibei had brought him such great news, and he certainly had to show his appreciation.

Shichibei, it doesn't matter. Go ahead and write it. Anyway, I have some free time lately, so I can wait here and write a reply.

163. Receiving and repairing the imperial palaces of feudal lords.

Asai Nagamasa probably didn't realize anything was amiss. As a leader of the local people, becoming the deputy governor was a wonderful thing. He was almost oblivious to the fact that this would create a new hierarchical relationship between the shogunate and its regents.

At least for now, Asai Nagamasa has shown no ambition to conquer the country. He does have ambitions for territorial expansion, but he also has a strong desire for stability within his own country.

Their family had worked hard for three generations to build a fortune of 300,000 koku, and now was the perfect time to unify their territory and transform into a powerful daimyo during the Warring States period.

I wish him success.

He had originally planned to write a reply on the spot, but perhaps due to being too excited, he ultimately didn't. Nagamasa told Shichibei that he needed to prepare a proper thank-you gift and that Shichibei didn't need to wait.

That's quite normal. After the Date family received appointments from the shogunate during the reigns of Tanemune and Harumune, they appointed local governors. These governors would then present the Date family with gifts such as a pair of eagles or ten gold coins. When the Ashina family of Kurokawa received their appointments from the shogunate, they presented a tribute of one thousand beeswax sticks.

It's unclear exactly when the practice of presenting a sword as a gift became fixed. However, during the Edo period, even on the seventh day of the eighth lunar month, feudal lords would present a sword as a gift when offering congratulations to the shogunate. Later, the practice became more direct, with cash being the acceptable form of payment.

Alright, Shichibei leisurely rode back to his camp. Nobunaga then asked Nagamasa how he was behaving, and the answer was, of course, ecstatic. Upon hearing this, Nobunaga revealed a perceptible hint of "nothing special."

As expected, it's one thing for Nobunaga to admire Nagamasa, but it's quite another to use Nagamasa like a hound.

With one matter settled, Nobunaga wouldn't let Shichibei sit idle. He'd start preparing to receive the feudal lords and their envoys who were coming to Kyoto from all over the country. He'd already asked them to participate in the repairs of the Imperial Palace, and the imperial edicts had been sent out. Judging from the last time the Shogun issued a decree, at least several dozen families would be coming.

Shichibei alone might not be able to handle all the guests. However, there's also Akechi Mitsuhide, and Hosokawa Fujitaka and Mibuchi Fujihide have been borrowed by Nobunaga and are all working. It's unlikely that Nobunaga will leave Kyoto anytime soon. He won't return to Gifu until this matter is finalized and construction of the Nijō Palace begins.

The former Lord Kanrei lost his former authority because he had been away from his duties for so long, and the appointment of deputy governors led to him being sidelined by them.

Fortunately, Nobunaga's management style was different; he had begun to sever the direct connection between his samurai and the land. Secondly, Gifu and Kyoto were not far apart, making travel between them convenient.

Alright, receiving envoys is always easier than going to Sakaimachi to collect debts.

Then Mizuno Nobumoto and Tokugawa Ieyasu arrived together. At this time, Ieyasu had probably just discovered that Imagawa Ujizane had taken up residence in Kakegawa Castle. However, due to the cold winter and snow, which was not conducive to combat, he had not yet committed all his forces to besiege Kakegawa Castle.

Upon hearing that his beloved elder brother Oda Nobunaga was in trouble, he immediately rushed to Kyoto. His purpose was not only to learn more about the details of the battle between Oda and the Miyoshi Triumvirate, but also to find out how much the Tokugawa clan needed to pay for the "serving of the samurai."

Those who genuinely came to repair the castle were assigned responsibilities according to their rank, layer by layer. For example, Nobunaga, being the highest-ranking official and the regent of the shogunate, would contribute 30%. The lords and daimyo would each contribute 5% or 3% depending on their contribution. The governors and powerful clans would each contribute 2% or 1%.

Don't underestimate the power of money; the amount spent can determine one's political standing within the new regime. When it comes to matters of political status, money becomes the least important detail.

Even in later generations, there were still frequent reports of standing committee members at the county and city levels arguing and being dissatisfied over seating arrangements. Logically, aside from the top three, the rest should be ranked according to their arrival time, but some people felt that the executive deputy director shouldn't be ranked before the propaganda minister, and that's how the argument started.

Ieyasu was now considered a daimyo, the ruler of a half-country, and had begun to care about his ranking.

Mizuno Nobumoto, on the other hand, was rather indifferent and didn't seem to care much about the matter. Logically, given the size of his territory and his status, he shouldn't have been on the list of those to be repaired by the royal court. However, because the Mizuno family had become an important ally of Oda during Nobuhide's time in the expansion of Mikawa, their status was far higher than that of ordinary local lords.

The situation couldn't be suppressed overnight once it came to Nobunaga. Perhaps Nobunaga had other ideas as well, such as having a reserve leader like Mizuno Nobumoto who could easily put Ieyasu aside and replace him with someone more obedient if Tokugawa Ieyasu became disobedient.

When Ieyasu learned that Mizuno Nobumoto's name was listed after his own, he was quite pleased. Mizuno Nobumoto didn't say anything, leaving everything to Nobunaga's orders.

In a few years, the Mizuno clan would be completely subjugated by Nobunaga, becoming his retainers. It even came to the point where Nobunaga held the power of life and death over them; suspecting Mizuno Nobumoto of colluding with the Takeda clan, Nobunaga directly ordered him to commit seppuku. All his territory was transferred to Sakuma Nobumori for his care.

A temple was temporarily requisitioned to house the two families in the left and right wings. Tokugawa Ieyasu then pulled Shichibei aside and asked how Nobunaga had managed to get the Miyoshi Triumvirate to Kyoto, while the Oda army arrived simultaneously and launched a strong attack.

Indeed, all sorts of rumors circulated, some even involving superstition and ghosts. In any case, Ieyasu, who was on the front lines in Tōtōmi, had no idea how Nobunaga had managed to get to Kyoto.

This matter? I'm familiar with this matter.

Shichibei didn't embellish the story; instead, he romanticized it, highlighting Nobunaga's foresight in matters such as road construction, the removal of checkpoints, the acceleration of commodity circulation, and the unification of horse management.

With all these preparations in place, if something really happens, starting from this city, changing horses at each stop but not changing riders, one can certainly travel to Kyoto in a day and a night.

hiss……

Ieyasu hissed and sat there deep in thought. Shichibei simply greeted Hiraiwa Chikayoshi, who was sitting next to him, "Where's your kid? That brat peed in front of me, and I regret not flicking him with it."

Hiraiwa Chikayoshi, however, composed himself and said seriously, "How can my lord and young master leave the territory at the same time? I heard that Oda's young master is also staying in Gifu Castle, so my young master must also be staying in Okazaki Castle."

Oh my, Ieyasu did a really good job in this respect. He understood this principle very early on, and even when the Edo period was over and the country was largely under the Tokugawa family's control, he still lived separately from Hidetada. One was in Sunpu, and the other in Edo, to prevent any major incident from happening without a respected leader in the Tokugawa family.

That makes sense. So how's Tokugawa Nobuyasu doing lately? Has he mastered both literary and martial arts, becoming a truly wise ruler? Anyway, chatting with guests is an important part of entertaining them, isn't it?

Speaking of this, Hiraiwa Chikayoshi, who served as the young master's tutor, boasted about it. He said that his young master was brave and strong, and was a worthy successor to the Tokugawa clan, a prestigious military family.

Who says Mikawa samurai can't boast? Here they are, boasting now. Shichibei, while humming "Yes, yes, yes," observed Tokugawa Ieyasu's expression. After a moment's thought, Ieyasu asked Shichibei again, "Where did all these horses come from?"

In fact, after the Tokugawa family was transferred to Kanto, they intended to revive the government-run horse breeding industry in the region. However, despite the efforts of two generations of shoguns, they only managed to restore the government-run horse breeding farms in Kanto to a production level of 2,000 horses per year.

Ultimately, Edo's samurai needs and the horses used for various industries, agriculture, and commerce still relied on Shinano and Oshu. The impoverished Oshu could provide two to three times the number of horses that the Kanto government-run horse farms could provide each year.

Clearly, Ieyasu was aware that Arima was fast, but he lacked the ability to accomplish the task.

At this point, Ieyasu had just begun to consider a rapid military maneuver, having only recently acquired two provinces, when Nobunaga arrived to reinforce Kyoto. Given that Shichibei, one of the parties involved, was present, this question arose.

Unfortunately, Otsu, the final stop on the trade route from Oshu to the Kinai region for transporting horses, was controlled by Nobunaga. This made it possible to amass a large number of horses and conduct high-speed maneuvers in a short period of time.

Oh, the Australian horse...

Nobunaga sent someone to invite Mikawa's younger brother to a feast. After the conversation, let's go and pay our respects to Nobunaga. On the way, Ieyasu asked if he, as the governor of Mikawa, could present a pair of deer and a pair of eagles to the Imperial Court.

If he were an independent daimyo, he could simply pay tribute himself. But his current status is somewhere between independent and not independent. Given Ieyasu's cautious nature, he would naturally use Shichibei to secretly inquire with Nobunaga.

It's nothing, you guys go to the banquet, I'll quietly ask for you tonight.

"Take him to see Yan Jiqing." Nobunaga changed his clothes without hiding it from Shichibei again, and this time he did it even better, changing his loincloth without hiding it from Shichibei.

It's unbearable to look at.

"Has the lord also approached the court...?" This time, since it was official business, Shichibei asked the normal question.

Since your subject is presenting tribute from a daimyo, shouldn't Nobunaga also reciprocate? After all, it's against the rules for the leader to not reciprocate while his subordinates do.

"Then take five hundred kan with you." Nobunaga must have just finished bathing, because Shichibei noticed that two pageboys, who had also changed their clothes, were kneeling beside the bed.

"Understood." Five hundred kan is a lot; in fact, according to Shichibei, two hundred would have been enough.

Given the state of the imperial court, giving two hundred coins would already be quite a show of respect. As the head of the imperial treasury, Yamashina Tokitsugu was already on good terms with the Oda clan; it was an old friendship, so there was no need for them to compete.

"As Yoshikiyo explained, it was to repair the roof damaged by the winter snow." Nobunaga put on his pajamas and slowly sat down.

"I see." It's not surprising that there's such a category.

If people in later generations were to visit the Nijo Imperial Palace in Kyoto, they would find that the roof of its main gate was covered with cypress bark, a type of roofing called cypress ridge. Although this material generally doesn't rot for ten or twenty years, the imperial palace had existed for far longer than twenty years. In winter, when snow melted and water accumulated, the roof might very well have leaked.

Sending someone to Kii to peel cypress bark to repair the roof would only cost about 500 kan. They said Nobunaga was very familiar with market prices, so they couldn't be fooled.

"Is there anything else?" The servants on both sides had already made up the beds.

"Your subject takes his leave." I'm so sorry to have disturbed your enjoyment.

Oh well, well, never mind, Japan's Sengoku period, right? It's fine, respect it, best wishes.

He quietly withdrew, closed the gate, and Shichibei heard the rustling sound of clothes being taken off. "If you're going to take everything off, why are you still wearing clothes? Just lie down in bed."

The two gatekeepers simply kept their eyes closed; they'd probably seen this scene before, so it wasn't anything surprising. It was only because Shichibei was such a bumpkin that he'd never seen anything like it before and was making such a fuss.

We withdrew respectfully. Kyoto winters are quite cold, the wind chilling us to the bone.

Turning to Tokugawa Ieyasu, he took him to visit Yamashina Tokitsugu. Tokitsugu was indeed getting old, but thankfully he wasn't hard of hearing. He was quite pleased to hear that Nobunaga had donated 500 kan to the palace to repair the roof. He was also pleased to hear that Mikawa no Kami-no-dono had come to present a deer and a hawk, and for some reason, he smacked his lips.

Well, the old man is craving venison, isn't he?

When someone comes to deliver money, they'll inevitably chat for a while to build rapport. Yan Jiqing then asked Shichibei if Nobunaga was going to send troops to Awa. It's somewhat unbelievable, but not long ago Nobunaga requested the Imperial Court to appoint Kuga Harumichi to Bungo.

Let's see if we can invite Ōtomo Yoshishige to attack Awa and Sanuki, the two bases of the Miyoshi clan on Shikoku Island, from Iyo, while Nobunaga advances from Izumi and Settsu.

The plan was good, but unfortunately, Ōtomo Yoshishige was busy fighting with Mōri Motonari over Moji Castle, so he probably couldn't spare any troops to attack Awa, even though Nobunaga promised to share the two countries equally with the Ōtomo clan.

It seems the planned joint attack didn't happen, but now that I'm chatting with Yan Jiqing, the answer is definitely yes. Before, when Iwanari Tomomichi attacked and killed the merchants of Tsushima, Nobunaga said he would attack Awa and kill Iwanari Tomomichi's entire family.

As they chatted, the conversation suddenly turned to Imagawa Ujizane. Yan Jiqing, who had also been to Suruga, asked Ieyasu about Ujizane's condition.

164. The construction of the Imperial Palace was carried out in a whirlwind.

Yan Jiqing's words were probably not for any particular purpose. After all, he had interacted with Imagawa Yoshimoto before, and since Yoshimoto was indeed the son of an old friend, he was just inquiring about the situation. If the son of an old friend had failed and died, sending ten or eight strings of cash to a temple would at least allow him to receive incense offerings and a few lines of scripture.

Furthermore, Tokugawa Ieyasu and Imagawa Ujizane didn't actually have any deep-seated hatred; there was no feud involving the murder of his wife and children. It was simply a common occurrence during the chaotic Sengoku period of Japan.

You kill me, I kill you, fighting for just a few inches of land.

Tokugawa Ieyasu was quite frank, stating that Ujizane had already gone to Kakegawa Castle to seek refuge with Asahina Yasutomo. Perhaps he was still striving to return to Suruga, but whether he would succeed remained to be seen. As for Tōtōmi? Due to the overall situation in Tōtōmi and Ieyasu's view of it as his own territory, he didn't mention it.

It's good to be alive; Yan Jiqing, already quite old, had seen it all before. Hearing that Imagawa Shizane was still alive, he moved on to the next topic.

We chatted for about half an hour, which was enough.

After exchanging a string of platitudes with Tokugawa Ieyasu about how loyal he was and how His Majesty had witnessed it, Yan Jiqing naturally rose to see the guest off. It was a pleasant affair for both host and guest; after all, Tokugawa Ieyasu showed no weakness in etiquette and did not act like a rustic samurai from the countryside of Mikawa.

This is one of the reasons why he needed Shichibei to take him along; Shichibei had learned a haphazard amount of stuff before. He'd dabbled in all sorts of things, so he could barely manage to mentor a newcomer.

After leaving Yan Jiqing's house, Tokugawa Ieyasu thanked him and told Shichibei not to escort him back to his temple. He felt a little embarrassed for troubling Shichibei for the past few days. "It's nothing," he said, "that's what Shichibei is doing these days."