Owari Yumeki Golden Day.

A bewildered Nakagawa Shigetsugu first confirmed Shichibei's identity, then bowed deeply to him. He offered Shichibei himself as a hostage to go to Ibaraki Castle first, then Nakagawa Kiyohide was willing to immediately defect, leading his troops away from the Takatsuki front. After the armies retreated, he could then go to Nobunaga's camp and personally pay homage to Lord Nobunaga.

I understand that when the peace negotiations took place at Ōkōchi Castle, Shichibei was sent into the castle as a senior retainer of the Oda clan, serving as a hostage to help both sides gain mutual trust before the peace negotiations were finalized.

Is it dangerous? Definitely.

In the chaotic Warring States period, people's hearts were treacherous. Nakagawa Kiyohide promised to visit Nobunaga later, so he would have to leave Shichibei and Furuta Shigenari behind to ensure his safe return.

Okay, I agree!

In less than twenty minutes, Nakagawa Shigetsugu decided to betray Araki Murashige on behalf of his brother, without much hesitation or doubt.

Of course, this was also related to the fact that Shichibei immediately agreed to all of his requests; you were quick to agree, and so was I. In short, it went very smoothly, even more smoothly than Shichibei himself had expected.

I never expected to be a hostage again. Later accounts say that Mitsuhide's mother was taken to Yagami Castle as a hostage by the Hatano family and was subsequently beheaded. While this was a characteristic of the Sengoku period, something we had to experience, it's certainly not pleasant for us to experience it ourselves.

After packing up, he sent a real attendant back to report to Nobunaga and Kawamura-ya that Shichibei hadn't even stayed a night in Sakai-cho before entering Ibaraki Castle with Furuta Shigenari.

The day after the two entered Ibaraki Castle, Nakagawa Kiyohide led a thousand soldiers and withdrew directly from the Takatsuki front. This immediately caused widespread turmoil and suspicion throughout the entire anti-Nobunaga coalition.

First, it's certain that Kiyohide Nakagawa has defected; second, it's unknown who else might defect.

Without hesitation, the troops began to retreat and flee, fearing betrayal and attack from other units. If a map were available, it might be seen that Takatsuki Castle was the gateway from Higashisetsu to Yamashiro, while Ibaraki Castle was located seven or eight kilometers southwest of Takatsuki Castle.

They are very close, and can completely support each other from both sides.

However, castles such as Ikeda, Itami, and Amagasaki were all built in the western Settsu area, along the border between Settsu and Harima, and were relatively far from the two castles.

By the way, Takatsuki City is also an international sister city of Changzhou City on the mainland.

Shichibei waited in Ibaraki Castle for a day before meeting Nakagawa Kiyohide, who had returned from his retreat. According to him, it was only an hour's walk to the Takatsuki front, making his return very convenient.

Because of his defection, the anti-Nobunaga coalition had to take a long detour to return to their territory. If he had five thousand men—no, three thousand—he would have launched a pursuit overnight, inflicting heavy casualties on the other forces.

Tsk.

You just betrayed your teammates, and now you're so eager to offer advice? But what use is your advice to us? You should give it to Oda Nobunaga; Nobunaga is the one who makes the decisions.

"If Sebei comes to surrender with courtesy, my lord will surely be overjoyed."

"A wise bird chooses its tree to perch on, and a person wielding power has a magnanimous spirit that is admirable."

"Haha, please go and pay your respects to our lord as soon as possible."

Chapter 258 Nobunaga's Promises Were Not Fulfilled

With Nakagawa Kiyohide's defection, the situation in Settsu could be considered to have calmed down somewhat. Takayama Shigetomo, who had been recovering from his serious injuries for a hundred days, also resumed his duties and became Nobunaga's corps commander in Settsu.

After receiving Nakagawa Kiyohide, Nobunaga presented him with a letter of guarantee, promising him a castle with an octogenarian salary of 80,000 koku. He also arranged for Takayama Shigetomo to find a suitable girl from the same clan to be betrothed to Nakagawa Kiyohide's eldest son, Nakagawa Toranosuke, thus strengthening the relationship between the two families.

This essentially meant that Kiyohide Nakagawa became a supporter of Shigetomo Takayama, playing a role in Settsu.

Upon hearing this news, Shichibei couldn't help but sigh inwardly. Why? Because Takayama Shigetomo had already ruined two of Nobunaga's sons-in-law's lives. Leaving aside Gamo Ujisato, who had already come of age, the current Nakagawa Toranosuke's wife was Nobunaga's daughter, Tsuruhime.

Because of the current turmoil, Nakagawa Toranosuke probably won't even be able to get close to Tsuruhime. Has their luck been absorbed by Takayama Shigetomo?

Could the chosen one of this world be Takayama Chongyou?

If it's a close friendship, then we'd better try to curry favor with them. Since our relationship is already pretty good, we can take it a step further later.

I took out my notebook to jot down this. Shichibei has been released back to Takatsuki Castle. The Nakagawa clan's strategy and surrender were very successful, and Nobunaga was finally able to extricate himself from the standoff at the Settsu front.

"I will reward you for your service and grant you an additional 1,000 kan in Jiangbei Inugami County." Nobunaga leaped onto his horse and happened to see Shichibei, who had been released.

"I will never forget your kindness!" In fact, Nobunaga had already promised Shichibei the boss a bright future last month.

At that time, it was said that Shichibei lent 3,000 cavalry from Kawamura's army to Nobunaga as his main force, so that he could lead them to Shizugatake to kill Asakura Yoshikage. However, after the kill, Nobunaga was quite unhappy because he probably didn't kill Yoshikage. He didn't mention it and returned to Takatsuki.

Now that the matter with Takatsuki has been resolved, Nobunaga has once again thought of Shichibei's cake. In addition, since Nobunaga's direct rank has increased, he has given Shichibei a new rank of 1,000 kan.

"Sasuke!" Just as Shichibei lowered his head, Furuta Shigeaki, who had also been released, was called out by name.

"exist."

"I will grant you an additional 150 kan of Kanzaki County." Nobunaga naturally did not forget Furuta Shigenari, who had acted as the middleman.

"I will never forget Your Majesty's grace!" Furuta Shigenari plopped down on the ground and bowed deeply to Nobunaga.

"Alright, keep up." With a flick of his whip, Nobunaga spurred his horse away.

Shichibei and Furuta Shigenari congratulated each other. Furuta Shigenari had finally earned 300 kan. With a salary of 300 kan, he could basically become the head of a hundred foot soldiers.

On the battlefield, the position of a hundred-man foot soldier captain was barely considered a "power". Our old acquaintance, Yamauchi Kazutoyo, first fought as a ronin to gain the first rank, and was rewarded for his merits. Later, he followed Nobunaga in battle as a "samurai". When he was appointed as the captain of a hundred-man foot soldier, he was assigned to Hideyoshi as a subordinate.

Now they are capable of independently defending certain small forts, which means they have basic independent combat capabilities and can undertake some small-scale military missions.

I wish you success!

The reason Nobunaga left first and Shichibei stayed behind was naturally because Kawamura's army was still in Sakamoto Castle, and Mitsuhide was confronting and maneuvering against the Kitayama Ikki, so Shichibei couldn't leave for the time being.

Furthermore, the situation in Kyoto is also confusing. The allied forces that were directly restraining Nobunaga have all withdrawn and returned home, yet Ashikaga Yoshiaki has not yet defected. Should he rebel or not? If he doesn't, it will affect Shichibei's business.

In this light, Ashikaga Yoshiaki really is a coward.

His ancestor, Ashikaga Takauji, had been defeated and routed more than once, yet he always rose up again. He was capable in favorable circumstances and capable in adversity; as long as his beloved Judge Sasaki was there, he would brave even mountains of knives and seas of fire. Looking at the Ashikaga Yoshiaki before him, he hesitated, wavered, and lacked decisiveness, truly lacking the qualities of his grandfather.

Useless snacks...

Well, Shichibei packed up and headed back to Sakamoto Castle. Todo Takatora hadn't returned yet, which meant fighting was still raging ahead. However, Hanawa Naomasabe, who had been patrolling the roads to and from Gifu, also joined the suppression of the Kitayama Rebellion. With Nobunaga retreating to Gifu Castle, there was no longer a need for troops to protect the passage between Gifu and Takatsuki.

The Kitayama Rebellion was quite formidable; Nobunaga's generals were repeatedly dispatched to suppress them. If this were a modern-day video game where everyone is a "small bucket" (meaning weak and ineffective), the generals of these rebellions would all have attributes averaging over 70.

Fortunately, Shichibei wasn't a general; he was only responsible for guarding the castle for Mitsuhide in the rear. He could sit down and continue chatting with Mizono Shigetomo. As Mitsuhide's magistrate, Mizono Shigetomo was now doing his best to procure military provisions to feed the troops, including Kawamura's army.

We're all colleagues, sent by Nobunaga to bolster his power, so we're bound to rely on Mitsuhide.

Mitsuhide was by no means a rich man. Last year, when he was granted the fief of Sakamoto, the money for building Sakamoto Castle was actually swindled from the town in front of Enryakuji Temple in Eizan by Shichibei.

The key point is that during the great fire at Mount Hiei, Shichibei was responsible for collecting the bodies and handling the aftermath. He also discovered the sake cellar and the "Library Cave" at Mount Eizan. However, he failed to find the more important locations: the treasury and the rice storehouse.

Yonezo later heard that he had been robbed and set on fire, which was understandable. Enryaku-ji Temple, as the first-class temple in the Kinai region, was the backing of countless wealthy merchants, and with the huge donations from the town in front of the temple, where did the money go?

Although it wasn't exactly a mental illness, Shichibei was still quite curious about it. Enryakuji Temple must have at least tens of thousands of kan in savings, since these days most money was in commodities—either gold, silver, or copper coins—which took up a lot of space.

When this matter was brought up, Shigeaki Mizono was taken aback, his expression becoming somewhat unnatural. He wasn't sure if Shichibei was asking on his own or if he was testing the waters on behalf of Oda Nobunaga.

Although Nobunaga granted the entire Shiga District to Akechi Mitsuhide, including the domain of Enryaku-ji Temple on Mount Hiei, it didn't mean that Nobunaga would ignore Mitsuhide if he amassed a fortune of tens of thousands of yen.

You're supposed to split it in half when you meet, right? There's a saying about finding money even when it's just picked up.

Shichibei, who had been observing Mizono Shigeaki, keenly noticed the change in his expression. Something was definitely amiss; perhaps Mitsuhide had discovered the secret treasure of Enryaku-ji Temple.

However, Shigeaki Mizoo's next statement was somewhat convincing: much of the savings at Enryakuji Temple were being managed in earthen warehouses within Kyoto.

In other words, the company has relatively little cash and readily convertible assets on its books, as most of the cash has been invested in production. Simply put, the profits are used for lending, so there isn't much money actually in the company.

Furthermore, there's no need to worry about Enryaku-ji Temple being gone. These earthen warehouses, taverns, and inns in Kyoto wouldn't dare to seize Enryaku-ji's property. That's because Prince Kakusho, the abbot of the Tendai sect, is still alive. He's the Emperor's legitimate younger brother. Look at Nobunaga burning down Mount Hiei, but Prince Kakusho is still swaggering around in Kyoto.

They are of noble birth; who would dare to renege on their debt?

That's true, but Enryakuji Temple is too powerful. Even if 90% of the funds were invested in reinvestment, the remaining 10% would still amount to tens of thousands, or even more.

uh-huh?

Mizono Shigeaki complained that he was late and suggested asking Akechi Hidemitsu about it. Akechi Hidemitsu was a close associate of Mitsuhide and also his son-in-law, so he knew a lot.

Sigh, Shichibei never said he wanted to split it in half upon meeting; he was just curious about where Enryakuji Temple's wealth went. Historically, Hideyoshi relied on Hidenaga to develop the Tajima Ikuno Silver Mine, acquiring a large amount of working capital. He also received support from Sen no Rikyu, enabling him to borrow heavily in Sakai, which gave him the funds to spend huge sums on the construction of the Takamatsu Embankment.

Shibata Katsuie's success was due to his acquisition of Tsuruga Port, and his initial grant of 490,000 koku (later 700,000) from the eight districts of Echizen. Hideyoshi's was 400,000 koku from Harima (later increased to 110,000 by Hideyoshi's brother, Hidenaga), and Mitsuhide's was 340,000 koku from Sakamoto and Tanba. Katsuie's koku was the highest.

So where did Mitsuhide get his money?

It is reasonable to suspect that he obtained the gold treasure of Enryaku-ji Temple!

Since Shigeaki Mizono wouldn't say, Shichibei didn't press the matter. He packed up and prepared to go see the heroic figure of their 1.92-meter-tall brother, Koko, as he chopped people down.

Shichibei's words terrified Mizono Shigeaki. As soon as Shichibei turned to leave, Mizono Shigeaki ran to find Akechi Hidemitsu. Akechi Hidemitsu, as the garrison commander of Sakamoto, did not dare to make a decision and immediately sent someone to contact Mitsuhide.

Mitsuhide, who was fighting in the Kitayama area, immediately deduced that it was Nobunaga who had come to inquire about this matter. He just didn't know what Nobunaga's valuation of the Enryaku-ji gold treasures was. If it was Kawamura Shichibei who made the valuation, then it was very likely that the valuation would be about the same as the amount of hidden gold treasures that he had found through several of the shogunate's retainers.

Because many high-ranking monks of Enryaku-ji Temple were killed, some of the gold treasures were likely kept secret forever, buried deep in the forests around Mount Hiei. However, what was found was still a vast amount of wealth, numbering in the tens of thousands.

The wealthy all think the same way: once they've saved up their money, they put it in a large urn and bury it. The landlords and officials on the neighboring continent even cast a silver gourd weighing a thousand taels to conveniently store and collect their gold and silver.

Even in 2025, the legend of Tokugawa Ieyasu's secret treasure still circulated in Japan. Many television stations broadcast programs and interviewed a family dedicated to finding this treasure. Over the past two decades, the family has not been without success; they have found at least a pure gold Buddha statue, as well as other clues.

Should we be honest with Nobunaga?

Just as he was hesitating, he suddenly heard that Kawamura Shichibei had visited the Kawamura army's camp. Mitsuhide immediately felt that Shichibei was referring to him, and immediately ordered Akechi Hidemitsu to go to Gifu to congratulate Nobunaga on his victory at the Battle of Takatsuki.

Shichibei was simply curious whether Takakura had killed anyone. Upon arriving, he immediately asked Takenaka Hanbei, "What's this kid like? Is he all show and no substance, or is he truly brave and courageous?"

Takenaka Hanbei praised him repeatedly, saying that Todo Takatsu was fierce and fearless in the face of war. He said that with his tall stature and the demon mask on, he could terrify the group of 1.4-meter-tall rebels to death.

Right now, the people of Kitayama Ikki are spreading rumors that there is a "Demon Warrior" in the Akechi army, and that they should never fight against him. If they encounter him, they should run away as soon as possible.

Upon hearing this, Shichibei clapped his hands repeatedly. "Great! Now we have a general who can bravely charge into battle!" he exclaimed. "When Watanabe Kanbei grows up, we can even have Todo Takatora charge to the left, Watanabe Ryo to the right, and then Shichibei leading the traitors in a frontal assault."

Now that they've even started using tactics, our Shichibei can be considered a "capable" general.

When history books list the Four Heavenly Kings of Oda in the future, there will definitely be five of them, and perhaps Shichibei will even sit in the fifth seat. Just thinking about it makes me happy; another chapter in history will be written for me.

Just as everyone was enjoying themselves, Takatora Toudou returned, and Shichibei quickly invited his younger brother to sit down. It's a shame that sworn brotherhood isn't common in Japan, otherwise Shichibei would have easily sworn brotherhood with him. Even if such a valiant man isn't sent to the battlefield as a vanguard, keeping him as a bodyguard would be wonderful.

Upon seeing Shichibei, Gao Hu immediately presented two severed heads, presumably those of enemy generals and samurai with names on their heads. He had come to Kitayama to prove that he was not just a tall man in name only.

Normally, Shichibei would never bother looking at these dead heads, but now, to give face to Todo Takatora, he solemnly opened it and even praised Takatora. Now, Todo Takatora could readily accept Shichibei's offer of 100 kan to serve him.

Keep up the good work! Nobunaga just granted me the title of governor of Jiangbei Dog-Kami County, a thousand kan. You, kid, will have your hundred kan granted right next to your house, so you can return home in glory.

Upon hearing this, those around him immediately came to congratulate Shichibei. Shichibei was considered their "commander," and receiving an official title from Nobunaga meant that Shichibei was still a favorite of Nobunaga. With Shichibei's position secure, their family's position was also secure.

Congratulations to Todo Takatora! He had been told he might be transferred to Mino. But now that he heard it was to his hometown, Inukami District, he was so happy that he immediately kowtowed to Shichibei, pledging his loyalty to Shichibei to the very end.

Oh?

Will you remain loyal to the end?

really?

And you know what? Shichibei was grinning from ear to ear. Everyone thought he was genuinely happy, but little did they know that Shichibei had made another note in his little notebook. "The Ferry Bird, on a certain day of a certain month of a certain year, promised me that he would never jump ship and would stick with me to the very end," and so on.

Meanwhile, Nobunaga, who had retreated to Gifu, was listening to Oda Nobutada report various developments. Nobunaga repeatedly urged Oda Nobutada to quickly produce a legitimate son with Princess Matsuhime of the Takeda clan.

If Nobutada and Matsuhime have a legitimate son, then the Oda family's lands will eventually pass to this son, who has half Takeda blood. Such great sincerity might just allow Takeda Shingen to suppress his restless feelings for a few more days.

Who knows, if we hold back too long, Takeda Shingen might just kick the bucket. Then Nobunaga's good son-in-law, Takeda Yoshiyori, could succeed him, and the two families could form an alliance. The eastern gateway of the Oda clan could then be entrusted to Takeda Yoshiyori's care.

Nobunaga would absolutely be willing to fully support Takeda Yoshiyori in making trouble in the quagmire of Kanto and playing a game of cat and mouse with Hojo Ujimasa.