Owari Yumeki Golden Day.

While waiting to withdraw money, a plain-looking, travel-worn young man entered the shop. The clerk greeted him and asked if he was there to rent or buy a horse.

An ordinary packhorse was worth only 2,500 kan in Koshin, and even in Owari, it wouldn't exceed 7 kan, usually 4 or 5 kan at most. Many villages would buy horses to use for plowing. On the paddy fields, oxen weren't needed for deep plowing; horses could plow shallowly and then plant soybeans and sesame.

“No, I’m here to see Kawamura-dono.” The young man waved his hand.

"Hmm?" The waiter didn't immediately look at Shichibei.

After all, Shichibei is now a key retainer of the Oda clan and doesn't usually have time to meet with ordinary people. Serving Nobunaga and carrying a gun has already taken a heavy toll on his life.

“I have a letter of recommendation from Lord Yonekura,” the young man said, mentioning the name of an old friend of Shichibei.

"Nobutsugu Yonekura? He introduced someone?" Shichibei immediately thought of someone. He stood up and walked over to the young man, introducing himself as Shichibei Kawamura's brother-in-law, and Inase Yoshinari, the head of the Gifu branch.

If you tell yourself something, it's the same as telling Kawamura Shichibei.

The young man carefully examined Shichibei before pulling out the letter of introduction. The signature on the letter was indeed Yonekura Nobutsugu, a name Shichibei had seen several times before. Upon unfolding the letter, he found only one thing: Shichibei had instructed him to find a minor official in Kai's Kanamori Mountains, someone who had to be a former monkey musician.

He searched for quite a while and finally found one that was pretty much right. Now, after asking for opinions, he has sent someone over.

Tsuchiya Shinnosuke, Nagasu.

Chapter 215 The Dark Clouds Remain, and a Series of Events Follow

"What instructions did Lord Yonekura give you before you came?"

Shichibei gestured for Tsuchiya Nagaan to sit down, ordered tea to be served, and also brought over a charcoal brazier. "Look at what this man is wearing," he said, "it's the dead of winter, he's so pitiful, he doesn't even have a thick coat."

"I have come to serve Oda clan's patriarch, Kawamura-dono, and to develop the Ikuno Silver Mine in Danshu." Tsuchiya Nagasu worked in the mines under the Takeda clan, and when Shichibei took him here, he naturally continued to work in the mines.

"Hmm." It seems that Nobutsugu Yonekura didn't come here to fool people; this person came willingly.

"Is Lord Kawamura in Gifu?" Tsuchiya Nagasu was quite eager; he had resigned from his position with the Takeda family and come to the Oda family seeking greater opportunities.

He certainly didn't have the ability or skill to commit murder or arson. His expertise lay in the mining and metallurgical industries; within the Takeda clan, he could at most rise to the rank of head of the merchant guild. However, within the Oda clan, Shichibei's success was undeniable.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Shichibei's ranking at this year's New Year's celebration will be second only to the chief retainer and the general of the Mankan.

It's not that the Oda clan was more open and tolerant; this term changes quickly from positive to negative depending on the social context. It's more accurate to say that the Oda clan expanded much faster than the Takeda clan, with greater opportunities for advancement and growth. A farmer could become the lord of Yokoyama Castle in Kohoku with 10,000 kan, and a merchant could become the 6,000 kan Oochi.

This is something that other great masters would never have dared to imagine, and no one has ever achieved.

To put it more bluntly, it has a bright future.

"I'm currently in Gifu. I can arrange for you to stay here first, and once my brother has some free time, I'll arrange for you to pay your respects." Shichibei is still pretending to be Inase Yoshinari.

"I entrust everything to you." Tsuchiya Nagayoshi had given up his salary at the Takeda family to come to Tokawa Village, which was naturally urgent.

Was he ambitious? Of course, he was a little. However, "ambition" is not a derogatory term, especially in the present day. Did Hideyoshi not have ambition? If he didn't have ambition, could he have become the lord of Yokoyama Castle? Did Shichibei not have ambition? If he didn't have ambition, he couldn't have built such a large empire.

These days, being ambitious is a good thing, especially for the Oda clan. How miserable were Hayashi Hideyoshi and Sakuma Nobumori, who were unwilling to make progress? They were exiled without warning.

Do you have any requests?

This statement was actually a bit of a test, because the Kawamura family had two systems. One was the Kawamura-ya system, where you worked hard and received a salary. If you succeeded, you would be eligible to become the head of Kawamura-ya. If you felt that Kawamura-ya was too small for you, you could buy back your shares to Shichibei and start your own business.

The other path is the normal samurai process, starting as a lowly servant who only receives a stipend and rice allowance. Of course, someone like Namae Sadaharu, skilled in both archery and horsemanship, could directly apply for the position of chief samurai. But Namae Sadaharu only wanted to be a guest samurai, so he worked with Shichibei first, and when he encountered a worthy lord, he would resign and leave.

A normal samurai who made meritorious contributions, or worked diligently for twenty or thirty years, would always receive a reward, large or small, of koku (a unit of dry measure). Perhaps thirty koku, perhaps fifty koku, the reward would be hereditary.

"I'm just following Kawamura-dono's instructions. I have no requests." Tsuchiya Nagao quickly shook his head. He was new here and couldn't possibly make any requests.

"Understood." Shichibei smiled and instructed the servant to settle Tsuchiya Nagaoya.

Judging from his appearance, he clearly doesn't even have a decent blanket. Even if Shichibei's place provides food and lodging, you still need a blanket to sleep.

Once outside, the shopkeeper told him he could get an advance of three strings of cash to buy all the necessities he needed in the city. He should buy a pound of charcoal, a spare pair of shoes, a raincoat, and a straw hat. He could eat at the shop and pay a monthly food fee.

As for housing, normally newcomers would stay in longhouses. However, there are plenty of empty houses in the city now, so we'll arrange a 150-square-meter room.

How to enrich and utilize it afterwards is a matter for Tsuchiya Nagasu.

Leave him out for two days.

Furthermore, it wasn't a matter of being forced to remain out of the public eye; the main reason was to participate in the marriage of Shibata Gonroku and his sister. Historically, after Mori Yoshinari's death in battle, Mori Nagayoshi inherited the Mori family business, and Nobunaga bestowed his own "Naga" title upon him. Similarly, when Nobunaga became Shibata Gonroku's estuary (cowboy), he also bestowed his own "Naga" title upon him.

Shibata Gonroku, upon reaching adulthood, was given the name Shibata Nagakatsu. What a good name! May he be healthy and victorious.

In addition to the 3,000 kan dowry given by Nobunaga, Oda Nobuhiro also contributed 1,000 kan, and Shichibei contributed 2,000 kan. With a dowry of 6,000 kan, not to mention establishing prestige or having a powerful backer, the mere fact that it replenished the Shibata family, which had suffered heavy losses, was enough to allow this younger sister to gain a foothold in the Shibata household.

Perhaps future history books will record that when Shibata Nagakatsu was young, his father died in battle, and the family was extremely poor due to the need for compensation and reconstruction. His virtuous wife then used her dowry to help Shibata Nagakatsu. This enabled the Shibata family to recover quickly, allowing Shibata Nagakatsu to establish his achievements.

By the way, my younger sister has a name; according to the old Kawamura family tradition, she's called Asahi.

It's clearly a homophone for the number five, and it even has a slight accent, so it's really not flattering.

The banquet was a grand affair, with Nobunaga himself in attendance. This celebration also served to alleviate the year's series of bitter battles and surrounding crises. "If we can't defeat Oda, we'll only become stronger."

At that time in Japan, there was no such thing as having to observe a three-year mourning period for someone who died in battle. In fact, observing a three-year mourning period was seen as a sign of weakness. During the Genpei War, it was said that the Taira clan was defeated because the fathers of the Taira clans lost their sons, and the sons lost their fathers, and they were so grief-stricken that they stayed at home for three years. On the other hand, the Genji clans fought bravely, with fathers burying their sons and sons burying their fathers, and they fought one after another, which is how they finally seized power from the Taira clan.

Just hold a proper funeral, bury the person and that's it. The son doesn't need to observe three years of mourning.

If the father were to die in battle, and the son were to observe three years of mourning, then based on the Oda clan's military losses this year, the Oda clan would have to stay home and observe mourning for the next three years instead of fighting.

Drink up! After we finish drinking, let's talk about how to handle this battle situation tomorrow.

It's highly likely that the Asakura clan won't send troops before April next year. The heavy snow in Echizen won't completely melt away until March, and they can use another month or so to assemble a large army and gather supplies—it's a reasonable calculation.

So after February, Nobunaga could start by giving a beating to someone who wasn't so obedient. After all, the previous orders were just for peace negotiations, not for any formal alliance. A six-month peace agreement was already quite good.

It's important to mention here that, compared to the historical Oda Nobunaga, Nobunaga, thanks to the seemingly limitless wealth of Kawamura Shichibei, had effectively recovered. Previously, Nobunaga would have needed to stay home and recuperate for a while.

With a shortage of 5,000 men, the recruitment flag was raised, and people were readily available. Thanks to the efforts of Niwa Nagahide and Sakuma Nobumori, the recruitment was almost complete, and even slightly exceeded the target.

Furthermore, Nobunaga still controlled Kyoto and Sakai, the two largest handicraft production centers in the country, which allowed Nobunaga's equipment to recover very quickly.

Even Honganji Ishiyamamon-mae, with a population of over 40,000, might not be able to recover at the same speed as Nobunaga in a real battle. Moreover, Nobunaga also had gun-fighting towns like Hino and Kunitomo, as well as commercial towns like Tsushima, Atsuta, Anotsu, and Otsu.

Even though he still owed Shichibei a few dollars after working for a year, it didn't stop Nobunaga from spending money very easily now.

If you have money to spend, you should spend it as much as you can; only money spent truly counts as money. Historically, at this point, Nobunaga had already besieged and killed Isono Kazumasa of Sawayama Castle. After the New Year, Isono Kazumasa surrendered to the Oda clan. He also adopted Oda Nobunaga's son, who became a lord of a castle with a fief of 60,000 koku.

Nobunaga now needs to eliminate Ryūkō first and push the battle line to Nagashima. Then he needs to restore northern Ise and establish connections with southern Ise, Kitabatake, and Yamato, Matsunaga Hisahide.

Forget about building those worthless fortresses. Nobunaga gave the order to go all in, summoning 50,000 men to start the attack and aim to take Kiyosu Castle within a day.

After capturing the castle in one day, we will immediately advance into northern Ise, aiming to achieve a swift victory within seven days. Once we have restored Shimo-Owari and northern Ise, we will conscript another 15,000 troops in preparation for a war with Asakura Yoshikage.

However, while Nobunaga was making empty promises to his senior retainers like Shichibei, others outside were also making empty promises.

Unable to bear seeing Nobunaga settle down and recover quickly, Ashikaga Yoshiaki saw Hatakeyama Akitaka return safely from Kyoto to Takaya Castle in Kawachi and felt he had to make trouble for him.

Hatakeyama Akitaka is now the head of the Hatakeyama clan's main branch, a noble family of three Kanrei (chief regents), and he follows Nobunaga around like a lapdog. This is a very good reputation for Nobunaga.

After all, even samurai from such noble families served by Nobunaga's side, so many ordinary samurai families would naturally think that Nobunaga was awesome.

We need to get a vote from Hatakeyama Akitaka to wake him up and stop him from being Nobunaga's lackey, sending troops to Kyoto time and time again to guard Nobunaga's gate.

The method was incredibly simple, almost unbelievably so. Ashikaga Yoshiaki sent a secret letter to Yusa Nobutori, mentioning his father, Yusa Nagakatsu, and his mother, Hino-hime.

Why bring this up? Because Hino Hime's maternal grandfather was named Hatakeyama Naojun.

The rest is just an implication: by killing Hatakeyama Takamasa and Hatakeyama Akitaka, Yusa Nobukyo would be qualified to inherit the prestigious Hatakeyama family as the heir apparent.

Yusa Shinkyo, who already controlled most of the Hatakeyama family's household affairs and had considerable influence, was tempted.

That's just how people are, especially when they reach a certain position, they develop that ambition. Although Yusa Shinkyo hadn't thought he had a chance to succeed Hatakeyama before, now that he had the support of the Ashikaga Shogun of the Muromachi Shogunate, everything seemed to fall into place.

Even Isshiki Yoshitatsu, who was able to obtain the Isshiki family name and become one of the four noble families of the shogunate, what is impossible in this day and age?

Moreover, Yusa Shinkyo and the Hatakeyama clan were indeed related by blood.

As a result, Yusa Shinkyo, who had initially been largely indifferent to the situation in the Kinai region, quickly shifted to an anti-Nobunaga and anti-Hatakeyama Akitaka stance.

Hatakeyama Akitaka was Nobunaga's son-in-law. He was so foolishly deceived by Nobunaga that he not only did not want to rebel against Nobunaga, but he even dreamed that if Nobunaga died, he could become the successor of the Oda clan, Oda Myokimaru, and become the chief minister.

The honorary position of Shogunate Kanrei, which Nobunaga looked down upon, was highly valued by Hatakeyama Akitaka. Once he became the assistant to the head of the Oda clan, the position of Shogunate Kanrei would be a piece of cake.

Openly attacking and killing Hatakeyama Akitaka is unacceptable. No matter what, Yusa Nobukyo is only the deputy governor of Kawachi. Hatakeyama Akitaka, on the other hand, is the true governor and his lord.

The only remaining option is assassination.

However, assassination cannot be accomplished with just a word, because the Hatakeyama family also has a powerful elder statesman—Yami Ukon no Nobukuni.

Yasami Nobukuni was also a supporter of the Oda clan, as his wife was the daughter of Sakuma Nobumori. The lord married Nobunaga's daughter, and the retainer married an elder daughter of the Nobunaga family; clearly, they were aligned in terms of both relationship and stance.

With a strong supporter like Nobukuni Amisami, even if Nobunori Yusa wanted to cause trouble in secret, he would have to consider whether he could pacify the entire family after killing Takamasa Hatakeyama and Akitaka Hatakeyama.

Therefore, to kill Hatakeyama Akitaka, one must first kill Yasami Nobukuni.

Anji Nobukuni, who wasn't a fool, had already foreseen the turbulent situation in the Kinai region and knew that plenty of dirty tricks were about to be played. That's why he remained hidden in Kono Castle in Kita-Kawachi, refusing to come out. If he didn't come out, there was no way to deal with him.

How do we lure him out? We'll use a calculated strategy!

The Ōtsuno Estate, the shrine of Iwashimizu Hachiman-gū, was located within the territory of Amitsu Nobukuni. Following Nobunaga's orders, estates formerly belonging to the Emperor, court nobles, and major temples and shrines were required to revert to paying "protection fees" to their former owners. Based on this, Iwashimizu Hachiman-gū demanded that Amitsu Nobukuni pay the daily tribute of rice.

The lawsuit was openly submitted to the shogunate, which then forwarded it to Nobunaga for review. After reviewing and deciding on the case, Nobunaga submitted his opinion to Ashikaga Yoshiaki, who then issued the final judgment.

Nobunaga, seeing it as such a trivial matter, casually handed it over to Matsu Hisahide, a seemingly unrelated official of the shogunate, for coordination and handling.

Do you understand? Economic disputes are not adjudicated or judged first; they are mediated first.

Matsunaga Hisahide received Nobunaga's letter, his face grim. He clutched the letter in his hand, the creaking sound of the folded paper particularly noticeable.

"Shichibei, after we take Kiyosu Castle, who do you think is suitable to be the castle magistrate?" Oda Nobunaga, sitting at the banquet, had no idea that the dark clouds over the Kinai region had not only failed to dissipate but had instead grown even stronger.

"Hayashi Shinjiro." (Hayashi Tongzheng)

Anyway, Shichibei wasn't willing to do it; he was just a castle deputy, not a castle lord. He was already too busy with these immediate matters, and soon he also had to organize people to develop the Faye Silver Mine.

Compared to Ikuno Ginzan, Shichibei no longer considered Kiyosu Castle's deputy a significant figure.

"Hirate-kun isn't suitable?" So Nobunaga's first choice was Hirate Hirohide.

"At this time of war, Kiyoshi needs to confront Nagashima directly, and he needs a brave and capable general. Hayashi Shinjiro is the best choice. After Nagashima is pacified, the best choice is to govern with the family's scholarly background and the ability to bring peace."

It's just gibberish, Shichibei can certainly understand it. Right now, during a war, we'll definitely use Hayashi Michimasa. When the war is over, we'll use Hirate Hirohide. Either way, it'll be a plausible explanation.

Chapter 216 Chang'an is My Hometown

Even in the dead of winter, Nobunaga didn't rest and began reorganizing his standing army. Although he recruited seasoned veterans, they were all ronin after all. He had them work together in different ranks, rehearsing twice to familiarize himself with the foot soldiers' leaders and captains.

What's the best way to rehearse? Hunting, of course!

He mobilized 10,000 men and began hunting wild boars across the mountains and plains. People living in some cities near mountains or forests should have already noticed this. Without human intervention, wild boar populations expand extremely rapidly. And once the population becomes large, it becomes a menace.

It's especially harmful to agriculture right now. Many fields are planted with crops like taro. If wild boars just root around and steal food, that's one thing. But they'll destroy the ridges and damage or kill anything they can't finish eating.

For a lord, reducing and suppressing wild boar herds within his territory each year is actually a routine administrative task that needs to be handled.