Owari Yumeki Golden Day.

War is war, and business is business.

Brother Oki is quite clear-headed. Since he kept his promise and let Shichibei and the others escape, he should just come and collect his money.

Later, he even went to Tsushima to buy foot soldiers and swords, and before long, he became a regular customer of Kawamura-ya. This storyline is still in the works for now, it's not time to activate it yet.

When Nobunaga raises his army to attack Nagashima, he'll have his own choice. And Shichibei's 1500 kan isn't so easy to earn, is it?

Right now, there's been no sign of Ōki Kaneyuki coming to Tsushima Town to replenish any weapons or equipment. Is Nagashima Ganshōji really just going to sit idly by and watch Ryūshō fall?

Or perhaps they were intimidated by the 15,000 troops Nobunaga had dispatched, and felt that they couldn't defeat the Oda army, so they didn't send troops to rescue Ryūshō?

In any case, it certainly won't be the case that the Changdao Yuanzheng Temple keeps its promise and treats the imperial edict as an inviolable rule, never to be changed.

"Master, our lord has achieved a great victory in the battle of Kiyosu!" Shichibei was reviewing the accounts when a young shop assistant ran in, saying that Nobunaga's messenger had returned to Gifu with news of the victory.

"Oh!" Shichibei looked up.

It's not surprising. Everyone says that Nobunaga has been in Owari Kiyosu for so many years. If he can't even handle Kiyosu, he might as well die.

Moreover, with Nobunaga's 10,000-strong main force, defeating Ryūshō's 3,000 men should have been a piece of cake. Kiyosu Castle was not a fortified castle either. Historically, after Fukushima Masanori left Kiyosu, Tokugawa Yoshinao, who was then enfeoffed in Kiyosu, directly demolished the low-lying and inconvenient Kiyosu Castle and moved to Nagoya to build Nagoya Castle.

"It just seems they didn't catch the traitor Saito." The guy was quite excited. There wasn't much news these days, so hearing news of a victory like this was a real treat.

"They actually got away with Longxing?" Shichibei was intrigued now.

To be fair, Ryuko does have a knack for escaping. Historically, he fled from Inabayama to Nagashima, from Nagashima to Noda-Fukushima, and from Noda-Fukushima to Ichijodani. Although he suffered repeated defeats, he managed to escape successfully time and time again.

He only died in battle when the Asakura clan was on the verge of destruction and he had nowhere left to run. Moreover, he was not the kind of coward who would run away at the first sign of battle; he fought with genuine courage and made several attempts to retake the former territory of Mino. Only when he could no longer prevail did he choose to retreat.

He's really not weak; Long Xing is a top figure.

He went into town to inquire about the situation and guessed that Ryuko had fled to Nagashima Ganshoji Temple. After all, Nagashima Ganshoji Temple was the closest anti-Nobunaga force to Kiyosu and could protect and shelter him.

Upon entering the Tondani Residence, the senior retainers and generals who remained in Gifu came to inquire about the news. Lady Nohime and Oda Kyokumaru sat upright, allowing the messengers to recount the news of Nobunaga's victory to everyone again and again.

In fact, Nobunaga also suffered over a thousand casualties when attacking Kiyosu Castle, so the losses were not small. Tatsuoki also fought desperately to defend the castle, but he was outnumbered and outgunned, and there was no reinforcements, which is why the castle fell.

According to the envoy, Ryūō, being quite formidable, led a thousand or eight hundred trusted retainers and samurai to break through the chaos and head straight for northern Ise. He would most likely run into Oda's army, which was blocking the Ganshō-ji Temple at the border of Ise, Owari, and Mino. Even if he escaped Kiyosu Castle, he might not be able to escape Owari Province.

Yes, I heard before that the Mino Trio went south along the Ise Road to set up defenses. It's certainly possible they could achieve the great feat of capturing Ryugo alive.

What kind of expression would an "old minister" have if he captured his former master?

Wow, just thinking about it makes me want to watch it. It's a pity Shichibei wasn't there, and there wasn't a camera either. If there had been a camera to film this scene, it would definitely have been a top-notch teaching material for film academies in the future.

In addition, many of the women and relatives of Saito's retainers were captured. The usual approach was either to keep them as wives, or to give them to subordinates for their pleasure.

Take Takeda Nobutora, for example; his wife was stolen. What was his father-in-law's name again? Oh right, Ōi Nobutatsu. The Takeda family seems to have a rather peculiar fondness for wives stolen; Takeda Shingen even stole his own niece to be his wife. It seems Takeda Nobutora and Takeda Shingen were truly father and son.

Another approach was centralized disposal. Takeda Shingen sent his family to the mines, the men to work in the mines and the women to do odd jobs and engage in other sexual activities. Uesugi Kenshin, on the other hand, abducted them and sold them at the labor market for a low price. In most cases, this was essentially kidnapping, meaning the family had to come and ransom them.

Not many were sold directly to strangers; most were sold to family members who came to redeem them. Or rather, they were sold to Hojo Ujiyasu, who had no choice but to redeem them because they were all family members of his Hojo samurai.

However, now that Saito Tatsuoki has run away, it's highly likely that these family members won't be able to be redeemed. If nothing unexpected happens, they will likely be given to single samurai foot soldiers as wives, or they might be taken home by burly samurai as concubines.

This was actually meant to let Lady Nohime know which of the lower-ranking samurai below the castle were still unmarried. Once the situation was clear, these captured families were all sent to Gifu.

In those days, as long as a woman was under childbearing age, there were plenty of bachelors willing to take her as a foot soldier from the lower classes. Those past that age either became nuns or did menial labor until they could no longer do it.

Basically, they couldn't capture many adult men. Those who could wield a knife had all gone to fight alongside Longxing. Those who were thirteen or fourteen had to carry guns and fight. The younger ones were lucky if they could go with their mothers to remarry; those who couldn't were sent to temples to become novice monks, which basically meant they were doing manual labor in the temples.

By the way, speaking of this, the envoy also mentioned that Nobunaga had captured Saito Tatsuoki's wife and two children as well.

Wow! Shichibei, kneeling to the side, was slightly surprised to hear this, because historically, Ryūgen seemed to have left no descendants, yet now he actually had a son and a daughter. However, according to the customs of this era, he would most likely be beheaded.

Chopping the grass does not remove the roots, but the spring breeze blows and regenerates.

How could Nobunaga not know such a simple truth? Historically, Azai Nagamasa's son was beheaded, and only Lady Oichi and her three daughters survived. The Hatano brothers next door were killed along with their entire families. Asakura Yoshikage also killed his entire family, and even Araki Murashige killed his entire family.

There was no reason why women shouldn't be killed; if a real fight broke out, Nobunaga would kill indiscriminately, regardless of gender or age.

However, Ryūō's principal wife was Nobunaga's adopted daughter and also a daughter of the Oda clan. The probability of her being killed would likely be slightly lower. But it's not certain. For example, Nobunaga's aunt, who married Tōyama Kagetoshi, was later forced to surrender to Akiyama Nobutomo. After Akiyama Nobutomo's defeat, this aunt was still killed.

Therefore, judging solely by blood relations is not entirely accurate.

It's unclear what Lady Nohime was thinking, but she immediately instructed her messenger that she had a letter to deliver to Nobunaga. Perhaps she wanted to preserve the bloodline of her own father, Saito Dosan; who knows? In any case, upon receiving the news, Lady Nohime hurriedly got up and went to write the letter.

"It has nothing to do with us," Shichibei remarked briefly before leaving the castle. Sakuma Nobumori then invited Shichibei to his house for a drink, and Shichibei, thinking it was nothing, went along. Sakuma Nobueki had also come of age by then, and they seemed quite happy chatting together.

To be fair, the Sakuma family did have some manners, having been established for several generations and no longer considered nouveau riche. According to European missionaries, Sakuma Nobumori was the most cultured, polite, thoughtful, and well-educated member of the entire Oda family.

Nobuyoshi wasn't much worse off. If these two hadn't failed to keep up with Nobunaga's pace, earning 500,000 koku, or even 1 million koku, wouldn't have been difficult at all.

It's a pity that he relied on his age and seniority; as he got older, he couldn't grasp Nobunaga's spirit.

He sighed casually, then went about his business. The following afternoon, the captured Saito family members and their families were sent back to Gifu Castle, which wasn't far. Many of them came by oxcart, as there were quite a few "noble ladies." Saito's elder's wife and daughters, and Tatsuoki's concubines—they were all captured.

Because Kawamura-ya was right at the intersection of the main street, many of the workers even crowded to the door to take a look. This was only natural, so Shichibei didn't stop them and even peeked at it several times himself.

Before the man had even finished walking, he heard Lady Nohime summoning him from inside the city. Once inside, Lady Nohime was very direct, saying she wanted to entrust Ryūgen's principal wife and their two children to Shichibei for temporary care.

ha?

Why is it me?

Lady Nohime stated frankly that the matter should have been entrusted to Oda Nobuhiro, the head of the Oda clan who was temporarily in charge. However, Oda Nobuhiro was currently bullying men and women in Wakasa, so as Oda Nobuhiro's son-in-law, Shichibei had to take care of her.

At worst, Shichibei can just wait for Nobunaga or Nobuhiro to return and then send them back.

Actually, there's something Lady Nohime didn't mention: Shichibei was someone who had little connection with the Saito family of Mino, so it's unlikely that he would secretly harm Ryūshō's children.

Since it was just an extra pair of chopsticks, Shichibei didn't refuse and took them to his home. Lady Saito and her two sons got off the oxcart and even bowed to Shichibei.

Just as she was returning the greeting, she heard Lady Saito's maid softly call to her, telling her to watch her step.

"Madam Mayor, this way."

Chapter 226 The Furious Tiger's Wrath Truly Devours People

Yup!

Shichibei couldn't help but raise his head. When Nobunaga married his adopted daughter to Saito Tatsuoki, Shichibei had heard that she was also called Ichihime.

Of course, she should now be called "Oichi no Kata" (Ichikata), since she has married and is no longer the princess she once was.

Shichibei remembered that back then he had secretly fantasized about Princess Oichi, who was to be married to Azai Nagamasa, but since he couldn't have her, he thought, "But there's another Princess Oichi in the Oda family. If only I had known, I would have done this and that." He never expected that this Princess Oichi would appear right in front of him now.

Tut tut...

However, Princess Oichi, or rather Lady Saito, had a rather unfavorable background. Who knew how Nobunaga would deal with her and her two children later? It was best to avoid them.

I should have refused Lady Nohime's invitation. Now look what's happened, we've brought this lady to our home.

Alright, alright, I shouldn't show it too much on the surface. I'll just treat them normally with courtesy. Perhaps Nobunaga will even take advantage of this mother and son to win over the former retainers of the Saito clan, who are now completely finished and have lost their territories.

Lady Saito saw Shichibei and bowed to him very respectfully, saying some nonsense about relying on Kawamura-dono for his care in the future. As for the little boy behind him, he was no more than three years old at most.

Three years old? If he were thirteen, Nobunaga would probably have killed him on the spot. You should know that Nobunaga came of age at twelve, became the lord of Nagoya Castle, and began to manage the people under the assistance of Hirate Masahide, and even went to war with the army.

His mother even made him bow to Shichibei, hoping to curry favor with him, but their lives weren't up to Shichibei. He did, however, hear that the child's name was Toyotaro, a rather unremarkable name.

His other daughter, still in his arms, was just over a year old. The weather was still cold, and they had experienced war; they had been driven to Gifu Castle—how pitiful!

"Please stay," Shichibei said, "of course you wouldn't have any ulterior motives. Lady Saito's status is special; is it possible for her to have ulterior motives? Impossible, right?"

As he lay in bed that night, the young general still asked about Shichibei. Hostages like Muto Tomomasu's mother were one thing; they were simply moved to a different place to live. As long as Muto Tomomasu didn't rebel, Nobunaga wouldn't do anything to her. But what about Lady Saito and her son? Shouldn't they be treated like hostages? Shouldn't they be thrown into prison?

That's true, but Lady Nohime must have been involved in this, since she was from the Saito family and perhaps wanted to preserve the Saito bloodline.

Despite being a fierce man, Isshiki Yoshitaka had seven children, but only Ryūhsing was his only son; the other six were all girls.

As for Yoshitatsu's own brothers, Saito Toshiharu had already been adopted into the Sato family, while his two younger brothers, Sonshiro and Kiheiji, were killed around the same time as Dosan. Only Saito Toshiaki's whereabouts remained unknown; some said he went to live with his younger brother, while others said he went to live with his maternal uncle, Inaba Ittetsu.

As for Dosan's nine daughters, who were also Nobunaga's eight brothers-in-law, they were not considered members of the Saito family.

So, even though the Saito family has been in Mino for three generations and their status has been elevated to that of a member of the Shogunate's Household Guard, making them a recognized guardian family of Mino, they are still just one man among many. If Ryūō were to be stopped and killed by the three Mino Guardians, Saito Tōtarō, who lives next door, would be their only legitimate male heir.

The young general, being from a military family, had some insights into such matters. The two chatted and sighed before finally falling asleep.

The next morning, Lady Saito surprisingly sent a maid to beg Shichibei to inquire about her husband, Saito Tatsuoki. She desperately wanted confirmation of whether he was alive or dead. If he was dead, she planned to become a nun and spend her life praying for Tatsuoki's well-being. If he was alive, she would have to pray for Saito Toyotaro.

What are you praying for?

Let's pray that Nobunaga will have mercy and not kill us.

Well, after thinking about it, Shichibei realized it wasn't really anything taboo. As one of Nobunaga's most trusted retainers, it was perfectly normal for Shichibei to know about Nobunaga's battle results.

However, it has been several days since Nobunaga captured Kiyosu Castle, and the prisoners and their families have all been sent to Gifu. Why hasn't he returned to the capital yet? He needs to rest for about two months before preparing to continue his campaign in the Kinai region to fight against other enemy forces.

Just as I was about to go out into the city to ask, I saw a continuous stream of Oda soldiers, or rather, "defeated soldiers," returning to Gifu in clumps and groups.

what happened!

He casually grabbed two foot soldiers, but they were both vague and incoherent, only knowing that they had been defeated, defeated in a way that was utterly disintegrated, and they couldn't even speak in a coherent order.

He hurriedly looked out onto the streets outside the city and suddenly spotted Nobunaga's vassal, Mori Hideyori, amidst the chaotic crowd. He grabbed him and learned that Nobunaga had been ambushed at the border of Ise and Owari, and his entire army had been utterly defeated.

Before long, Nobunaga was seen returning to Gifu Castle, surrounded by his cavalry.

At this time, the senior retainers and generals who remained in the castle also discovered the defeat of the Oda army. They all went up the city walls to inquire about Nobunaga's situation. The specific reasons for the defeat also became clear.

Under cover of night, Tatsuoki fled the castle. Nobunaga, determined to eliminate evil completely, left a portion of his troops to detain and control Kiyosu Castle and the Saito clan within its walls. He then led the majority of his army to pursue Tatsuoki.

If we don't defeat Longxing, it will be a thorn in our side sooner or later.

The action itself was correct, and that was the right thing to do. But the key point was that the Oda army had won, captured Kiyosu Castle, and knew that there were still 15,000 reinforcements blocking the Nagashima Ganshoji forces on the Owari border, so they were able to confidently pursue Ryūshō.

As expected, the Nagashima Ganshoji Temple sent troops to rescue Ryuki. It was a clear and anticipated enemy; a direct confrontation was all that was needed. Nobunaga, along with his younger brother Mikawa, fiercely attacked the Ikko-ikki. The Ikko-ikki, as anticipated, were overwhelmed and fled north to Ise. Ryuki, whom they had met there, also fled with them.

As they ran, things went awry. They retreated to the reeds on a barren beach near the coast, where an ambush was sprung. Hundreds of arquebusiers unleashed a barrage of fire on the pursuing Oda army, routing the Oda troops at the front.

The Oda army, which had already been scattered due to the pursuit, only now remembered to regroup. The northern Ise troops on the left and right also rose up and launched a fierce attack on Nobunaga's central army.

With the main force under attack, both the front and rear troops lost command and soon collapsed. Seeing the situation was dire, Nobunaga immediately ordered a retreat and fled towards Owari.

Because the Mino Trio moved relatively slowly, not wanting to be associated with the infamy of killing their former master Saito Tatsuoki, they were unaffected and the group remained intact.

So Nobunaga ran while ordering the Mino Triumvirate to cover the rear, and the rest of the army to retreat until they reached Gifu to discuss the matter.

and then?

And that's it.

Nobunaga almost got hit in the knee by an arrow.

As the servants helped Nobunaga remove his armor, they brought him tea and offered him a sip first. He had been on the run for half a day and a night without even a sip of water, and his mouth was parched.

Whether out of anger or not, Nobunaga slammed down his teacup and demanded, "Where are Ryuki and the families of those important retainers of the Saito clan? Bring them into the city immediately!"