Owari Yumeki Golden Day.

I wonder if he still maintains a strong fighting spirit and is prepared to continue fighting Oda Nobunaga? If the Takeda army really comes, then he will most likely be a member of the Mino Sengoku.

Hey, his wife, Ichihime, let's go check her out.

It's highly likely that Saito Tatsuoki will also be paired with a wife by the Takeda family, since Tatsuoki is the legitimate reason for the Takeda family's conquest of Mino. He has the proper recognition of the former shogun Ashikaga Yoshiteru, and his family name is of noble lineage.

Princess Ichi has been living at Shichibei's house for almost half a year now, but Shichibei hasn't touched her even once; she's just a decorative vase in the house. But it's not so bad, at least Princess Ichi has a mother. And with another woman in the house, the other nine daughters have someone to take care of them.

Since the children are all quite young, there's not much to say about education or discipline. Just changing diapers every day keeps several people busy. In the backyard, there are always hundreds of diapers made of homespun cloth, mostly pieced together from scraps of fabric. Although they've all been washed, they still have a lingering smell.

Avoiding the pile of diapers drying in the sun, Shichibei saw Ichihime playing with the children. Because it was so noisy, Shichibei preferred to sleep in the small room in the front yard at night, sharing the space with the men who fed the horses at night.

It was a rare treat to be able to enter the backyard. Upon seeing Shichibei enter, Princess Ichi led a group of children to bow to her. Most of the children recognized Shichibei; those who could call him "father" did, and those who couldn't didn't bother.

After sitting down, Shichibei asked the young admiral why he hadn't come along to help with the child. He learned that Shibata Nagakatsu's wife was about to give birth, and the young admiral had rushed to help. Shibata Nagakatsu's wife was none other than Shichibei's fifth younger sister, Ago—no wonder.

Shibata Nagakatsu had already retired from Nobunaga's page group, so he was definitely at the age where he should be having children. Shichibei was also preoccupied with many matters and didn't have time to care about everyone individually.

Fortunately, he married a young major general, a samurai woman with a proper family upbringing. She had just said she would help Takatora arrange his marriage, and now she's helping Shichibei take care of his relatives. This is what a virtuous wife is like—she neither complained to Shichibei about her troubles nor failed to handle everything perfectly.

"Is everything alright at home?" Shichibei casually picked up his son, who was also named Shichibei.

According to the custom of the samurai family, the eldest son inherits the childhood name of his father or grandfather, just like the Tokugawa family next door, who used the name Takechiyo for every generation. However, most of the eldest sons were daughters of the emperor or noble ladies of the imperial family. As a result, one was born and another died, so apart from Tokugawa Iemitsu, no other Takechiyo ever succeeded to the Tokugawa throne.

"Thank you for your concern." What could be wrong? Ichihime felt that everything was fine in this house.

"Um……"

Then an awkward silence fell, and Shichibei didn't know what to say. After all, he had absolutely no feelings for Ichihime, nor did he particularly like her. He wasn't even mentally prepared when Nobunaga simply shoved him into the room.

"As long as everything is fine." After a moment of awkward silence, Shichibei patted his behind, stood up, and left.

"Useless, Shichibei is truly useless. He can't even utter a word in front of a woman. He's not some virgin anymore." Shichibei cursed himself inwardly, "What a worthless piece of trash."

He acted like this when he visited Lady Takaya last time, and now he acts like this even when he sees a mere princess. He's utterly useless. However, Kitabatake Nobuo's uselessness is only on the surface, while Shichibei's uselessness is in his crotch.

Princess Ichi hesitated, but since Shichibei was leaving, she didn't say anything more, simply standing up to see him off. She didn't have much reason to stop Shichibei; he might have other matters to attend to outside.

As I turned out of the backyard, I saw Inase Yoshinari standing outside, peeking into the yard.

"So fast?"

"Ok?"

"Oh, it's nothing. The reply from Sakai Town regarding the requisition of ships has already been sent." Inase Yoshinari quickly changed the subject and handed over a letter.

Nobutaka and Nobusumi are about to lead their troops to attack Awa. Although they are escorted by Awaji Navy's Nobuyasu Ataka, the ships carrying tens of thousands of troops and supplies need to be dispatched from Sakai.

When Sakai surrendered to Nobunaga, there was an agreement that if Nobunaga needed to wage war, the Sakai followers would have to provide him with a sufficient number of transport ships.

Now is the time for them to serve, so Shichibei sent someone to inform them in advance to prepare. Not only must there be enough ships, but also enough boatmen and sailors.

The Oda army doesn't know how to row boats, and they don't pay for hiring boatmen; all of this has to be arranged by the members of the Sakai clan.

"You write back a letter, the initial estimate is 20,000 people, and prepare everything according to 20,000 people." In reality, it is more likely that there will only be 15,000 people, but it is definitely an exaggeration.

After all, Nobunaga was a man who only cared about results. He only cared about whether he had ships to send his eldest son, Nobutaka, and his eldest nephew, Nobusumi, to Awa. He didn't care about anything else. Without sufficient ships and supplies, even a veteran retainer like Shichibei would be in trouble.

"Understood." Inase Yoshinari took the letter back, carefully folded it, and tucked it into his pocket.

"What's wrong?" Shichibei had already left when he noticed Inase Yoshinari standing there awkwardly, as if he had something to say.

"You and Princess Ichi?" Thinking there were no outsiders around, Inase Yoshinari still asked.

"Ok?"

“It’s not good to just leave it like this. You have to, well, how should I put it?” Inase Yoshinari was getting anxious.

Shichibei probably understood what he meant. Someone like Ashikaga Princess was indeed a hot potato, so sending her away was normal and completely understandable. But Ichi Princess wasn't a hot potato; she had simply experienced two failed marriages. These days, it was common for samurai women to remarry, and levirate marriages were very common.

Leaving it at home without a clear purpose might actually cause some conflict. It's better to take it in quickly, clarify its purpose, and then everyone can face it more openly.

Not being able to obtain the title of concubine would make Ichihime feel uneasy, which would be detrimental to their relationship. Or rather, even without love, having a "resentful woman" would be far from ideal.

"Are you teaching me how to do things?" Shichibei wasn't averse to it, but he felt that there were still some social constraints from his previous life that he hadn't completely shaken off, so he felt that being forced was pointless.

"Does this even need to be taught?" Suddenly, Inase Yoshinari deflated, shook his head, and walked away.

"Hey you."

Shichibei was speechless for a moment, only able to point at Inase Yoshinari, then lower his hand and turn back to the front yard. There he saw his younger sister, Ai, running back joyfully, saying that Ago had given birth to a legitimate son for the Shibata family. Not long after, the young admiral also returned home.

Upon learning that both mother and child were safe at the Shibata residence, Shichibei quickly suggested sending a congratulatory gift, such as a fusoku (wrapping cloth) for the child. He also recommended sending sugar, rice cakes, and red beans to the mother for good luck.

Then Shichibei remembered his sixth sister, Midori, who had married into the Tsutsuzaki House in Kai Province. He figured that Atobe Katsuyuki and Akiyama Nobutomo should be returning from their humiliating trip to Kyoto by now. He asked them to deliver a letter of greeting and some gifts to Midori on their way.

Although she gave birth to a legitimate son for Yamagata Genshiro Masamitsu, the Oda and Takeda families are now at odds, and it's unclear what the situation is like for the Yamagata family. Even Takeda Matsuhime, who married into Gifu Castle, is now in an awkward position within the Oda household.

As expected, Atobe Katsuyuki and Akiyama Nobutomo returned to Gifu Castle before Nobunaga himself. Shichibei quickly sent someone to deliver the package to be taken back to Kai.

As a result, Atobe Katsuyuki visited Shichibei again, speaking very earnestly, expressing that Takeda Yoshiyori truly wanted to restore peace with Oda Nobunaga. Since the war between their former lord, Takeda Shingen, and Nobunaga was over, it was time to move on.

You think you can just turn the page like that? It's obvious Nobunaga isn't going to turn the page.

Or, to put it another way, if Takeda Yoshiyori were to cede all of eastern Mino, Totomi, and Suruga, and also give up two or three districts of Shinano, then perhaps negotiations would be possible. Want to negotiate without offering a single penny? That's pure joking.

Mori Terumoto, who lived next door, only gained the right to rule Bitchu, Mimasaka, and Bizen after acknowledging that Tajima belonged entirely to the Oda clan.

By the way, if we behead Ryūgen and send his head to Nobunaga, perhaps Nobunaga will be willing to negotiate.

Shichibei could only think of this one thing: Ryūō's position in Nobunaga's eyes was basically second only to Asakura Yoshikage. On Nobunaga's list of people he desperately wanted to eliminate, he was definitely ranked higher than Hori Hidemura. Now that Asakura Yoshikage was dead, the only people with a higher priority than him were probably Honganji Kennyo and Ashikaga Yoshiaki.

People like Araki Murashige and Miyoshi Nagaharu are ranked much later, and might not even be considered among the top.

Upon hearing this, Atobe Katsuyuki fell silent. What did Saito Tatsuoki mean? It was self-evident. The Takeda clan had effectively reached its limit of expansion, unable to establish any advantage in any direction. Moreover, his father, Takeda Shingen, had provoked them on every front, leaving them without a single decent ally.

If the Takeda clan hadn't mobilized all their resources and managed to muster 50,000 to 60,000 men, they would have been decimated by the surrounding lords who disliked them.

Even a full alliance between Oda, Hojo, and Uesugi wouldn't be necessary. Any two of them could form an alliance and launch a joint attack, overwhelming the Takeda clan and forcing them to defend multiple fronts. The Hojo clan could easily mobilize 70,000 to 80,000 men, while the Oda clan could mobilize a full force of 120,000. A pincer attack on the Takeda clan would leave them utterly helpless.

I've given you the idea; go back and do it.

Seeing that Shichibei said so, Atobe Katsuyuki really couldn't offer a price, so he could only take the package that Shichibei had given to Midori and return to Shinano via the Nakasendo.

No sooner had he left than Oda Nobunaga returned. Since he had already been appointed Junior Third Rank Grand Councilor and Right General of the Imperial Guard, he no longer needed to occupy the position of the head of the samurai family. Therefore, he formally announced to all the senior retainers of the Oda clan that he would pass on the title of head of the clan to Oda Nobutada, and that he himself would henceforth be the "Go-gaku-sama" (a title for a recluse).

With Gifu Castle handed over to Nobutada, he planned to build a new residence in the southern part of Omi Province. The overall person in charge of the project was naturally Niwa Nagahide, but Nagahide would likely also need to provide military assistance to Miyoshi Nobutaka and Kagawa Nobusumi, so Murai Sadakatsu, Takigawa Kazumasu, and Akechi Mitsuhide would provide assistance.

If Niwa Nagahide is present, he will take charge; if he's not, the three of them will discuss and decide together. The point is, the new castle must be built, and it must be built to the grandeur befitting the unification of the land.

At the same time, he spearheaded large-scale political and military campaigns such as the establishment of Oda Nobutada's army, the construction of Azuchi Castle, the conquest of Kishu, and the conquest of Awa Province, truly making the Oda clan illustrious. For most other families, accomplishing even one of these tasks within a year would be considered a sign of national prosperity. But Oda Nobunaga tackled them all simultaneously, leaving none unattended.

Who told him to have a wallet that made managing funds so convenient? He could do whatever he wanted.

Because of the announcement that Oda Nobutada would succeed as head of the clan, all the commanders of the Oda clan returned to express their respect and congratulations to Oda Nobutada once again.

There was a slight change here: Azai Nagamasa was now among the members of the main branch of the Oda clan. Although Oda Nobuhiro was still the chief retainer of the Oda clan, Azai Nagamasa surpassed Miyoshi Nobutaka, Nagano Nobukatsu, and others, and sat in a position second only to Nobuhiro.

When Azai Nagamasa knelt before Nobunaga, he gained 450,000 koku of rice from the six districts of Echizen, and also gained a powerful retainer.

His eldest son, Asai Manpukumaru, as the son of Nagamasa and Lady Oichi (this is disputed; some say he was the son of a concubine, but in this book he is the eldest son of Oichi), would unsurprisingly marry Oda Nobutada's daughter. However, since Nobutada currently has no daughter, he could adopt his own sister as his daughter and marry her off.

If they marry into the same family for three to five generations, they'll eventually become one family.

Of course, if the Asai family were to die out one day, the Oda family would certainly be happy to have their children adopted by the Asai. After all, the Oda family has a high-fertility gene; Oda Nobuhide had dozens of children, Oda Nobunaga had dozens of children, and if nothing unexpected happens, Nobutada should also have dozens of children.

Who knows, Shichibei's son might even end up with a biological daughter of Nobutada.

Another change was that Nobunaga's fourth son, Hashiba Otsujimaru, also attended the ceremony for the succession to the headship of the family. Although he did not sit in a position reserved for members of the main family, he sat openly behind Hideyoshi as the heir of the Hashiba family, thus fully establishing the Hashiba family's right of succession.

Tokugawa Nobuyasu of Mikawa also came to offer his congratulations. The boy had grown up to look remarkably like his father. Dark-skinned and plump, of medium build, with a round face and thick eyebrows, Elder Nobuyasu was pleased with this son-in-law and seated him before a group of high-ranking officials, even above his own son, Hashiba Otsujimaru.

He was second only to a few among the elite members of the same clan, and even higher than Oda Nagamasa, the future Inudou-sai Nagamasa. Oda Nagamasa was also given to Oda Nobutada as a retainer. It is said that later, half of Chita District in Owari Province would be second only to Oda Nagamasa, with a salary of about 20,000 koku.

You asked about Shichibei?

Shichibei sat in the fifth seat of the Imperial Family Elders, after Hayashi Hidesada, Sakuma Nobumori, Mori Yoshinari, and Niwa Nagahide, and above Hideyoshi and Mitsuhide.

Chapter 330 Instead of waiting for others to take the initiative, we should wait for them to take the initiative.

No one objected, and everyone sat firmly. After all, Shichibei was from Owari and had military achievements. It was just that conquering castles was not Shichibei's forte, but he had made great contributions to quelling the Kiyosu-Nagashima Rebellion and the Mikatagahara Rebellion.

This is completely different from the situation in Hideyoshi's regime later, when Fukushima Masanori and Kato Kiyomasa mocked Ishida Mitsunari for having no military achievements.

Shichibei was both meritorious and influential, and he was also the son-in-law of Oda Nobuhiro. If we really want to make a connection, Shichibei could be considered half a member of the Oda clan.

Let's congratulate Oda Nobutada on taking over as head of the clan. He kowtowed to the floor, which was a way of acknowledging Oda Nobutada's position.

However, most of the people present, including Shichibei, remained Nobunaga's retainers. Nobutada only had some retainers from Noo Province, but he himself was elevated to a relatively independent position, second only to Nobunaga and above the commanders of various armies.

In a sense, this can be considered a form of "two-headed politics." If handled well, it can facilitate a smooth transition of power. If handled poorly, it could easily collapse.

The transfer of power is a difficult matter throughout history and across the world.

After the ceremony, Nobunaga, along with his large and small detachments and regular foot soldiers, headed towards the south of the Yangtze River. He was likely preparing to succeed Hanawa Naomasa, as Naomasa would have faced the high morale of the Ishiyama Ikko-ikki, and a direct assault on a castle would have been unwise. Previously, Hanawa Naomasa had suggested building a large-scale fortified castle for a siege.

The reasoning is easy to understand. First, Osaka Castle has two to three thousand arquebuses and a magnificent temple tower, making a direct assault difficult. It's better to cut off Hongan-ji's internal and external communications, preventing them from obtaining food and thus starving them to death. The previous strategy of besieging and starving Nagashima was very effective, requiring almost no casualties; Oda's army's losses were negligible.

Secondly, there was the town inside Honganji Temple, or rather, the town in front of the temple. It had a population of over 40,000 and was home to a large number of artisans, including gun makers. Such a prosperous town must have given Nobunaga at least 10,000 kan of gold coins every year.

Nobunaga was determined to possess such a wealthy town, and Hanawa Naomasa naturally worried that a direct attack would completely destroy it. Therefore, he chose to build extensive fortifications for safety.

With only him and his 20,000 to 30,000 men, it would be impossible to construct fortifications simultaneously and comprehensively. Therefore, Naomasa petitioned Nobunaga, requesting that Nobunaga's personal troops also join in the construction of the siege fortifications. Once the fortifications were completed, Nobunaga could go wherever he wanted.

The rest can be left to Hanazawa Naomasa. With fortifications in place, there's no need for tens of thousands of troops to sit idly outside the city. Soldiers only need to be stationed at the main roads, forts, and access points of the long siege. A portion of soldiers should also be assigned to patrol regularly to ensure the siege remains intact.

That makes perfect sense; Nobunaga should have agreed.

After all, the Sakuma Nobumori army of Wakae Castle, which is relatively close to Hanawa Naomasa, is preparing to attack Kishu, and it is almost impossible for them to spare troops to support Hanawa Naomasa's attack.

However, Shichibei has a question that piques his curiosity. Naomasa Hanawa's plan to attack Ishiyama-Osaka Castle seemed quite sound, so how did it end up failing so miserably in history?

Nobunaga, who went to the rescue of Tennoji Fortress, was seriously wounded, and Akechi Mitsuhide fainted during the continuous battles, almost being thought to have died suddenly. Not only did Hanawa Naomasa die, but most of his entire faction of Ō-shu died as well.

What problems arose?

It can't be said that Shimoma Yorimitsu was too fierce. He was a peerless general throughout history, skilled in both martial arts and practical application, and was able to severely injure Nobunaga.

Those who know him understand that he commands the Shishan uprising. Those who don't might think he's commanding some heavenly army from somewhere.

Anyway, since Nobunaga was mobilized, Shichibei handled all the logistics. Later, someone will be sent to Wakae Castle to check on the construction of the siege fortifications around Osaka. These fortifications must have been completed, because later Osaka faced food shortages and rumors of cannibalism.

On one hand, Osaka requested the Mori clan to transport military rations, rice, into the castle by water, leading to two battles at the Kizu River between the Mori and Oda navies. On the other hand, the Honganji Temple purchased rice at high prices from surrounding forces, enticing Araki Murashige's retainers to sell rice at inflated prices. This indirectly resulted in Araki Murashige rebelling against Nobunaga, and Settsu was thrown into turmoil once again.

Well, let's just wait and see; there'll be an explanation eventually.

Returning to Shichibei, he finally had a moment of leisure. He mainly dealt with two things: first, he checked on the production recovery and expansion work at the Kamioka and Tada mines, which had been going on for more than half a year; second, he addressed the issue of Ichihime's role.

There were no problems with the young general's side. She believed that these were all concubines converted from prisoners of war, a characteristic of the era, and she wasn't particularly opposed to it. It was perfectly normal for samurai to seize enemy women after winning a battle; it was just that Shichibei's two concubines had rather special identities.