Owari Yumeki Golden Day.

Judging from Nobunaga's expression, he is very concerned about the fighting power displayed by the Saiga clan. He probably wants Sakuma Nobumori to prepare for a violent attack on Kii.

Kii still has Ashikaga Yoshiaki, right? Only by breaking through can we possibly capture Ashikaga Yoshiaki alive. Of course, it would be best if Ashikaga Yoshiaki died in the chaos of war, then everything would be over.

Just then, Murai Sadakatsu and the other two came to report that the collection of the dan-sen, ya-sen, and tōbetsu sen, as well as the land survey, were all progressing smoothly. With Miyoshi Yoshitsugu's head practically stuck outside Wakae Castle, how could things not be going smoothly?

"My lord, those three in my camp..." Seeing that everyone had left, Shichibei had to find out the truth.

Which three? Ashikaga Princess, Miyoshi Senchiyo, and Princess Ichi, who was betrothed to Miyoshi Yoshitsugu by Nobunaga. Now that Miyoshi Yoshitsugu is riddled with holes and beyond dead, these three need to be dealt with again.

"A disciple of a martial arts family must have the awareness of a martial arts family." Nobunaga was better able to make a decision on this point.

Miyoshi Senchiyo had no choice but to commit seppuku or be executed in Kyoto. It's said that human nature is universal; if you don't nip it in the bud, it will grow back. As the eldest son of the Miyoshi clan's main branch, Miyoshi Senchiyo should have been prepared for this in the face of defeat.

I understand, they just settled the score.

That's just how things are these days. When Hojo Ujiyasu captured Uesugi Norimasa's three sons, he didn't hesitate to kill them. The sons of the Kanto Kanrei? Kill them without hesitation. After all, that title was just a facade, something that could be used to sway people's minds.

"Well..." There are still two women there.

Before asking, Shichibei guessed that Ashikaga Princess, due to her status, would definitely be destined to live a life of seclusion as a nun. After all, the Ashikaga name was prestigious, and since she had killed her husband and son, she couldn't possibly cause any trouble. He figured he could find a respectable nunnery, make her the abbess, and reward her with several hundred koku of temple funds.

Princess Ichihime, however, was a difficult one to deal with. She had already become a nun at the temple, but now they were forcibly dragging her back to marry Miyoshi Yoshitsugu. Halfway through the betrothal, Miyoshi Yoshitsugu rebelled, and her second husband died before the marriage could even take place. There was really no way to explain it.

"I remember you only have one legitimate son, right?" Nobunaga rubbed his temples and pondered for a moment.

"Yes." Doesn't he even look at how many days a year Shichibei is home?

Having even one son is already a blessing from our ancestors. Besides, we still have ten daughters who were given away for free. Once they grow up, they'll all be daughters of the Kawamura family, just as useful.

"Having few offspring is definitely not a good thing." Nobunaga was quite anxious, though, as he was very fertile, having had thirty or forty children in his lifetime.

"It would be good if the family name could be inherited, and that he could continue to serve the lord and the young master." Shichibei is no longer worried about his son inheriting a large share of the family property, but that's just how it is.

“How about this…” Nobunaga paused.

"Both of them will be given to you as concubines."

"what!"

Shichibei was completely taken aback by this outcome. He had never imagined that the solution would be like this. A daughter of the Ashikaga family could become a concubine? That's not a good idea.

"Let's do it this way. Princess Ichi will return to the main family and will no longer be my adopted daughter." Nobunaga seemed to have already made up his mind.

Ashikaga Princess was the daughter of Ashikaga Yoshiharu, while Ichi-hime was the daughter of a member of the Oda clan. She was adopted by Nobunaga in order to be betrothed to Saito Tatsuoki. Now that Nobunaga no longer needed her, and given that both of her so-called marriages had been disastrous, remarriage was almost impossible.

"No, no, no, how could Princess Ashikaga do that?" Shichibei quickly waved his hand.

The issue now isn't just whether or not to go public; it's that Ashikaga Hime is a hot potato. What would it mean if this thing came to their own house? The main point is still to make her a concubine.

“There’s nothing wrong with it. Ashikaga? Ashikaga is just a member of the samurai class.” Nobunaga raised his hand, signaling Shichibei to stop talking; he didn’t want to hear any more.

What Ashikaga? It's all bullshit. The world will belong to the Oda clan from now on, and the so-called Ashikaga noblewomen will only be able to serve as concubines to the important retainers of the Oda clan.

Chapter 316 Peace and tranquility at home

It's a somewhat indescribable feeling. Shichibei returned to his unit and informed the three of Nobunaga's decision. Ashikaga Hime collapsed to the ground, sobbing uncontrollably. Miyoshi Senchiyo had been directly taken away by Mori Nagayoshi and Shibata Nagakatsu; his father wanted to kill Oda Nobunaga, and he was still a boy—his fate was sealed long ago.

Princess Ichihime, on the other hand, reacted calmly upon learning that her adoption relationship with Nobunaga had been severed and that he had simply handed her over to Shichibei. She actually smiled—a smile that was hard to describe, a half-smile, not quite a smile.

In contrast, outside the camp came all sorts of unrestrained laughter. Tsunatomo and the other two, along with their confidants and cronies, were all executed. The hundred or so women in their families were all captured by Oda's generals. The old ones were simply abandoned and left to fend for themselves, while the young ones were divided among themselves, each becoming a groom.

In addition, I heard that several hundred women were captured in Iimori Castle, but those were all spoils of war for Hanawa Naomasa, who needed them to organize his army and establish a samurai corps.

It's become quite common...

Whether out of fear or a desire to conserve strength, the monk Kennyo of Honganji Temple petitioned the Imperial Court to send an envoy to request Nobunaga to temporarily cease hostilities. The reason was quite compelling: the autumn harvest was approaching in the Kinai region, and continuing the war would likely disrupt the harvest across the entire western Kinai area.

It's more like seeing Miyoshi Yoshitsugu's head impaled on a spear and displayed to the public, and Miyoshi Senchiyo being sent to Rokujo Kawara in Kyoto to be beheaded. Meanwhile, the Saiga clan, whose fighting prowess was second to none within the Hongan-ji Temple, couldn't even budge the Oda army. Nobunaga's army of over 60,000 was only ten kilometers away from the temple.

Oh, and there's another piece of news.

The Hokuriku Ikko-ikki suffered a devastating blow under the fierce attack of Azai Nagamasa, the vanguard of the Oda army's Hokuriku Army Corps. Shichiri Yoriyuki and Shimoma Yorimitsu were far less capable than Tomita Nagashige, who at least knew to set up camp at Kinoshige Pass, a key route from Tsuruga into Fuchu, to prevent outsiders from advancing into Echizen.

These two brilliant men, disregarding everything else, went straight to kill the three heretical disciples of the Shinshu sect. Only after Asai Nagamasa had led the charge across the Kiga Pass did they think to defend themselves.

Can they stop them? Obviously not, Oda's army of 40,000 has already invaded Echizen.

The two sides clashed in the palace. It must be said that the morale of the rebels was always high, and their numbers were indeed large. Even in this sudden encounter, they had amassed an army of over 50,000 men.

With the thought that those who should have been killed but had not been killed were piling up everywhere, what could be done? He had no choice but to be determined to kill, and he took the lead in charging into the great formation of the Ikko-ikki.

Then, Akechi Mitsuhide, Tokugawa Ieyasu, Hashiba Hideyoshi, and others swiftly flanked the Ikko-ikki from both flanks. Already ravaged and caught off guard by this sudden attack, the Ikko-ikki, though valiantly resisting under the call of religion, were ultimately defeated and forced to flee by such a formidable Sengoku army.

Of the three rulers of the Warring States period, two came to attack from the flanks, and their defeat was entirely justified.

It just so happened that the Hino River was flooded in the summer. Tens of thousands of Ikko-ikki members tried to escape by crossing the bridge, but they could not get away at all. Tens of thousands drowned, and tens of thousands more died from trampling and pushing. At least 30,000 corpses were scattered all over the Fuchu Plain. There were remains almost everywhere, and they were impossible to count.

Despite suffering such a heavy blow, the Ikko-ikki did not give up. They built rows of defensive palisades in Sabae, relying on the plateaus, rivers, and forests, and called on the local Ikko-ikki and Tsuchikki of Echizen to join them in resisting the Oda army's attack.

The people of Echizen Province were naturally outwardly obedient to the Oda clan but inwardly resentful, which was theoretically possible. Therefore, one after another, Echizen soldiers joined the defensive fortifications of Sabae Province to fight.

At this moment, it was once again the three disciples of the Shinshu sect who stepped forward. The remaining monks of the three disciples of the Shinshu sect, who had suffered great destruction at the hands of the "heresy" Jodo Shinshu sect, cried out loudly, calling on believers to support the Oda family and fight against the evil demons of Jodo Shinshu, the enemy of Buddhism!

As a result, many local lords and gentry in southern Echigo chose to submit to the Oda clan rather than participate in the defense of Sabae. Oda Nobuhiro promised the temple lords of the Shinshu sect peace and asked them to send their followers to join the defense of Sabae.

The generals on both sides agreed that it would be better to wait for the gate to open than to launch a fierce attack on the barricade.

Oda's army openly advanced for days, conquering various regions and intimidating Sabae. Secretly, several hundred Echizen natives who followed the Shinshu Sanmenko sect joined the defensive perimeter.

Oda's army launched a fierce attack, and at the height of the battle, the three disciples sent their followers to remove the barricades and shout their surrender. This immediately threw the entire Sabae defense line into chaos. The Ikko-ikki people thought that the Echizen people had betrayed them, and the Echizen people thought that the Ikko-ikki people had betrayed them.

Because the followers of the Three Disciples sect started carrying the "Namo Amitabha" flag, which was their original flag for battle; they had simply concealed it beforehand. Timur the Lame, who waged holy wars every year in West Asia, fought against opponents who also believed in Allah; it's quite possible that many of their flags were actually the same.

The movement of the people stirred up the morale of the army. Tokugawa Ieyasu was the first to seize the opportunity, ordering Honda Tadakatsu, Torii Mototada, and Ōsuka Yasutaka to charge together, thus disrupting the entire defenses of Sabae.

The KMT has suffered another defeat.

For them, this time there was at least one advantage: they no longer needed to cross the river, and they all fled as fast as they could. The entire population of Echizen province also collapsed, including Yasui Kageken and Tsuchibashi Kagekage, who had joined the Sabae defenses.

Tsuchibashi Kagekage immediately surrendered to Azai Nagamasa, hoping that Azai Nagamasa could speak to Oda Nobuhiro to save his life, and he was willing to hand over the territory of Ōno County.

Ha, he really looks down on Azai Nagamasa. Nobunaga's brother-in-law is a ruthless and ambitious man. He and Nobunaga had already made their deal; how could they tolerate any local lord with strong influence or bearing the name of the Asakura clan in Echizen?

That morning, Tsuchibashi Kagekage came to seek refuge with him, and before he had even had lunch, his head was delivered to Oda Nobuhiro. Nobuhiro nodded repeatedly and immediately ordered a messenger to send the head to Oda Nobunaga for his perusal.

As for Anju Kagetake, he fled with the Ikko-ikki and retreated directly into Kaga. He was well aware that the Ikko-ikki forces in Kaga had suffered heavy casualties, and with the Oda army's attack imminent, they definitely needed to place men in Kaga to resist Oda. Retreating to Kaga might offer them a place to stay.

His retreat conveniently provided Oda's army with an excuse to attack Kaga. Without pausing, Oda's army recaptured Kita-shō-kan and marched into Kaga Province. They not only captured Daisho-ji Temple in Enuma District, but their vanguard had already reached the border of Nomi District.

When the news reached Ishiyama-Osaka Honganji Temple, you, Kennyo Shonin, were you anxious?

On one hand, they had to deal with Oda Nobunaga, who was only ten kilometers away, and on the other hand, they had to save the Hokuriku Ikko-ikki, which was in a state of collapse. So they had no choice but to ask the imperial court to come forward and order peace talks.

Alright, you want to make peace, huh? Give me 20,000 kan, and Oda's army will stop advancing.

Even though it was painful, Master Kyou had to pay 20,000 kan to save his life. However, he had a condition: the money should not be delivered by the people of Honganji Temple, nor should it be collected by the people of Oda's army. Instead, it should be handed over to Oda Nobunaga by the big bosses of the Huihezhu in Sakai, in case any further trouble occurred.

Agreed, no objections. Nobunaga first took the 40,000 kan he had looted from Kawachi back to Gifu. He ordered Shichibei to collect the remaining 20,000 kan in Sakai, but not to bring them back; he was to use them to purchase arquebuses and other military equipment. The rest could be stored in the Kawamura-ya store, since it would all end up being Shichibei's money anyway.

However, this deal was a huge loss, because besides some money, Honganji used the firearms they could produce themselves to pay off the debt. Each firearm was worth 15 kan, so 500 firearms paid off 7,500 kan.

We can't profit from this anymore...

That bastard, Honganji is even more cunning than me. However, Shichibei also realized that Japan's arquebus production was increasing rapidly at this time, and it was no longer the case that they were hard to find as before.

After all, firing a musket shot costs two pounds of rice, which is a significant cost. As long as their firepower is sufficient, there's no need for every foot soldier to have a musket.

Historically, during the same period, Oda Nobunaga was already able to easily deploy 3,000 arquebuses to Nagashino for a major battle against Takeda Katsuyori. These 3,000 arquebuses certainly weren't Oda Nobunaga's entire force, considering that his army only numbered 30,000.

Nobunaga's current mobilization force is theoretically as high as 120,000 people.

The number of arquebuses in existence is at least in the tens of thousands. Shichibei alone handled tens of thousands of arquebuses. Kuniyu Village has developed into a scale of over seventy arquebus forging workshops with more than five hundred skilled craftsmen, producing more than three hundred arquebuses per month. If the money is available, five hundred arquebuses are not impossible.

The annual production was between four and six thousand units. Nobunaga received the majority of them, while the remainder were distributed among Tokugawa Ieyasu, Azai Nagamasa, and the commanders of Nobunaga's army.

Given the maturity of arquebus technology, a single arquebus could be fired hundreds, even two or three thousand times, before becoming unusable. Japan's arquebus inventory had reached a completely new level.

Considering the combined arquebus-making capabilities of Honganji Monmae and the Kishu Saiga party, their monthly output must certainly exceed 500 arquebuses. Using just one month's production could cover nearly half of Nobunaga's 20,000 kan of war expenses—a truly worthwhile deal.

It seems these monks are not only good at chanting scriptures and fighting, but also at accounting.

Nobunaga certainly wouldn't refuse this condition, so Shichibei had no choice but to accept it reluctantly. All five hundred arquebuses were to be transported to Gifu and given to Nobunaga to use.

Similar to the case of Hanawa Naomasa, since Sakuma Nobumori received a territory of over 200,000 koku in Kawachi province, the foot soldiers and vassals that Nobunaga had allocated to him, including some samurai, had to be transferred to Kawachi with him. This effectively saved Nobunaga the money needed to support 2,000 foot soldiers and vassals.

The roster couldn't remain empty. Nobunaga either had to hand over the personnel and funding to Nobutada, allowing him to start building his own power base, or he could recruit and expand his own army, increasing the size of Nobunaga's direct standing army.

Five hundred arquebuses were barely enough for Oda Nobunaga or Oda Nobutada to have a good time with; that was just five hundred arquebusiers.

Furthermore, due to this sudden war, Shichibei, who was originally only in Kyoto to handle the Tada copper mine and Lady Takaya's needs, was delayed in the Kinai region from the end of April to the end of July.

Haha, with this level of fieldwork intensity, Nobunaga couldn't have had a son even with eight wives.

Unless one is placed in Gifu, one in Kyoto, one in Sakai, and one in Tsuruga—basically one in every main castle and Ōmachi town—"the whole country is his home," Shichibei's descendants will never prosper; he'll just be working for Nobunaga his whole life.

The key question is, now that we're back in Gifu, how am I supposed to explain this to the young major general? He went out to look for copper mines, but ended up bringing back two concubines?

You should know that the young general is Oda Nobuhiro's adopted daughter. She has a good father and her family is very powerful.

He decided to let Noda Sanbei, who had been by his side and handling the news of the Flying Kick Clan and the gatherings in various places, return to Gifu a day earlier, while Shichibei himself would wait in Ogaki for one more day.

Ashikaga Princess and Ichi Princess have already returned to Gifu with Nobunaga's main force and should be staying at the Kawamura residence by now. If there is any fire or electricity, at least there will be some warning signs.

When Noda Sanbei returned, he reported that everything was fine at home and nothing serious had happened.

Princess Ashikaga, however, stayed indoors all day, refusing to see anyone. She also ate very little, which might indicate a problem. As for Princess Ichi, she was overjoyed to finally embrace her and Saito Tatsuoki's daughter, O-Matsuri. She was in high spirits every day, hugging and kissing the child.

tsk...

Clearly, something was still amiss, and Shichibei cautiously returned to Kawamura-ya. However, the young general was not home again. After asking around, he learned that Tojo and Lady Nohime had gone to a tea party.

"Fine, I'll take it one day at a time," Shichibei said, quickly handling the miscellaneous affairs at the shop. He had just lain down when he heard someone outside shout that the lady had returned.

He quickly got up, opened the accounts in front of him, and pretended to be busy.

Sure enough, upon hearing that Shichibei had returned, the young admiral sat down opposite him with a cup of tea. There were two things to discuss. One was that Princess Ichibei from Kotani in Kohoku had returned. Because she might be leaving for Kitasou in Echizen, her girlfriends had pooled their money to send her gifts; she needed at least 500 kan.

Not to mention five hundred strings of cash, five thousand strings would also be fine, madam, please take whatever you like.

The second thing is Ashikaga Princess, who just came to Shichibei's house. She originally had five maids who had grown up with her since childhood and followed her from the Ashikaga family to the Miyoshi family. Now, all five of them have been abducted by the lord of the Oda family.

Hopefully, Shichibei will step in and redeem these five people. For Shichibei, who is known as a good-natured man in the Oda clan and has friends and brothers everywhere, this should be no problem at all.

If any refuse to sell, just go to the slave market and buy two nicer ones to replace them. It doesn't cost much per person anyway, and it's a small matter for Shichibei.

Chapter 317 Asai Nagamasa Makes His Move

That's all?