Owari Yumeki Golden Day.

After all, the two were brothers in a sense, and since Takeda Nobufusa hadn't run away yet, Yasuda Nobukiyo's vigilance wasn't that strong.

Not strong, huh? With a wave of his hand, he lured Yasuda Nobukiyo over, and Takeda Nobufusa stabbed him while stirring things up, instantly killing Yasuda Nobukiyo.

Lady Iwamura, watching from the side, was extremely surprised and swallowed hard. But Iwamura was not easily intimidated. Since Takeda Nobufusa had done such a thing, then if he was going to do it, he would do it thoroughly.

Nishina Morinobu is too far away; they can't kill him and his mother. Katsuyama Nobusada, however, isn't far, so they can escape to Suruga and might even find a resentment ship that's on good terms with Shichibei. With Midori in their hands, the resentment ship will definitely take them back to Owari. Then, based on their merit in killing two of Takeda Shingen's sons, they can easily earn at least 20,000 koku.

Do not!

To Iwamura's further surprise, Takeda Nobufusa rejected her proposal. He currently had about two hundred samurai troops. In the chaotic times, if he didn't seize this opportunity to establish his own merit, he would most likely have to return to being a servant of his brother Oda Nobutada, eventually dying an old man with a meager salary of ten or twenty thousand koku.

A typical example is Nagano Nobukatsu, Nobunaga's younger brother, who only has tens of thousands of koku of rice. If he has worked for so long without any merit or deliberate promotion or support, then his future is actually very uncertain.

Even Miyoshi Nobutaka and Kagawa Nobusumi would have to fight their way through Shikoku, wielding swords and spears, to gain new knowledge and skills. They hadn't achieved anything yet; their status as Nobunaga's sons was somewhat useful, but not much.

Therefore, we should immediately gather all available forces, pretend to be fleeing to Suruga for temporary refuge, and try to trick and kill Anayama Nobuhito's son, Anayama Katsuchiyo, and Shingen's sixth son, Katsuyama Nobusada.

Amidst the chaos, he seized Sunpu Castle and recruited ronin and prisoners. If he could hold out for ten days or half a month, his father would march on Kai, and the entire province of Suruga would be his reward.

What's wrong with being bold?

What's wrong with adventure?

So what if I'm impulsive?

If he succeeds, he'll receive his father's endless praise. If he fails? Failure is just death, which is better than being a useless nobody in some poor mountain village earning ten thousand bushels of grain.

Since that's the case, let's charge! Lady Iwamura simply took out all her savings to motivate the team of about two hundred people. Kawamura-ya originally had a shop in Tsutsuzaki-kan, but later the relationship between the two sides broke down again, and most of the servants left with their horses and account books, while a small number stayed in Kai as part of Midori's family.

Now, guided by these Kawamura-ya staff who regularly travel the Kai-Suruga route, we head straight for Suruga.

On the surface, Takeda Nobufusa was fleeing. Reaching Shimoyama-kan in Kawachi, Kai Province, he saw Anayama Katsuchiyo, who was left behind. Takeda Nobufusa said, "Kofu is in ruins, and Anayama Nobu-kun's fate is unknown. Brother, you should make preparations." Indeed, some of Anayama's family members returned saying that Anayama Nobu-kun was mixed in with the chaotic army and his whereabouts were unknown.

Terrified, Anayama Katsuchiyo was at a loss, and the main members of the Anayama family had all gone to Mino. The family was now without a proper leader, but fortunately, Takeda Shingen's daughter, and Anayama Nobuhiro's wife (Kenshoin), had some courage. She sent rice balls to Takeda Nobufusa and dispatched men out of the castle to gather information about Kofu.

After some inquiry, the castle staff asked Takeda Nobufusa where he planned to flee to. Takeda Nobufusa didn't pretend and told the truth: he planned to go to Sunpu to find a boat and flee back to Owari.

That's absolutely true; there's no doubt about it. Both Anayama Katsuchiyo and his mother thought the boy was honest. So when Takeda Nobufusa sent someone to ask if they could send someone to guide them to Suruga, the mother and son immediately agreed.

It's just a good deed, but who knows, if Takeda really does collapse, we might have to serve Oda Nobunaga from now on.

A moment of kindness and complacency led Anayama Katsuchiyo to leave the city. The inn had fewer than fifty adult men in total, and Anayama Katsuchiyo had only seven or eight attendants serving her.

Without a word, he was killed by Takeda Nobufusa, cut in two on the spot, and was dead beyond any doubt.

After killing the man, Takeda Nobufusa fled. The people at the Shimoyama Inn didn't even realize their young master had been killed; they simply assumed he was being escorted out of Kai province.

Having already defeated two enemy generals, Takeda Nobufusa fled directly to Sunpu Castle, where his deputy was naturally Katsuyama Nobusada. Similarly, the two were theoretically brothers. Katsuyama Nobusada also received news of the Kai army's defeat, and further news that Tokugawa Ieyasu was launching a fierce attack on Tōtōmi Province, having already crossed Lake Hamana.

This time, there was no need for the excuse of running away to Kai. Takeda Nobufusa stated directly that his father, Oda Nobunaga, had arrived in Suwa District, Shinano Province, and the vanguard of the Oda army had entered Kofu. He, on the other hand, had come as Nobunaga's advance party to receive Suruga Province.

If Katsura Nobusada surrenders with courtesy, then the Katsura territory in Kōdō can still be preserved. If he does not surrender, his few hundred men are merely the vanguard, and tomorrow Takigawa Kazumasu, Saji Kazunari, and Ikeda Tsuneoki will arrive with eight thousand cavalry. After the city falls, everything will be destroyed, and Katsura Nobusada's entire family will die.

What's true and what's false, what's false and what's true, how can one tell?

Just as they were filled with doubt, a bombshell message arrived. Okabe Masatsune, one of the generals of Suruga, had died in the Battle of Kamo, and only Okabe Motonobu, one of his relatives, had escaped back. He declared that Kiso Yoshimasa of Kiso-Fukushima Castle had already surrendered to Oda, and that the vanguard of Oda's army had indeed reached Suwa District.

Okabe Motonobu did not stay in Sunpu Castle; his family's territory was Okabe Estate in Shita District, Nishi-Surugawa. His brother, Okabe Masatsune, was dead, and the Okabe family was certainly in chaos; he had to return immediately to manage affairs.

Terrified, Katsuyama Nobusada lost his composure, for he only had one day to consider his options. The Oda army would arrive tomorrow, and even if they surrendered, nothing would be left.

The elder of the Katsura family, Miyakuchi Tomotsuna, immediately suggested that they should surrender, since Takeda Nobufusa was practically a brother, and besides, they might have to serve Takeda Nobufusa in the future.

There were only five hundred people inside Sunpu Castle, all of them from the Suruga clan. As soon as the castle gates opened, more than two hundred people immediately fled, which further solidified Katsurayama Nobusada's idea of ​​surrendering.

However, despite surrendering, Katsuyama Nobusada remained cautious. On one hand, he sent someone to surrender to Takeda Nobufusa, and on the other hand, he ordered Miyazaki Tomotsuna to mobilize all available forces at Katsuyama Fukasawa Castle in the east of the city to prepare for a siege.

Katsurayama Nobusada's plan was straightforward: he surrendered Sunpu to Takeda Nobufusa as a sign of submission. He himself would not remain in Sunpu but would return to Katsurayama's territory, awaiting the arrival of Nobunaga or Nobutada before coming out to kowtow and serve as a lackey.

The idea was wonderful, and then Oniyaku Tomotsuna took away about a hundred soldiers from the Katsurayama clan. The former head of the Katsurayama clan, Katsurayama Ujimoto, was executed by the Takeda clan three years ago on charges of treason, which actually caused a great deal of unrest within the clan.

Now that Oniyaku Tomotsuna has fled, Katsuyama Nobusada finds himself with only twenty or thirty guards. He had just handed over the castle, and before he could even say goodbye, Takeda Nobufusa's greatsword came crashing down.

Triple kill!

In the chaos, everything became irrational. Takeda Nobufusa, in Nobunaga's name, sent documents to the various provinces of Suruga, demanding that they send hostages to him to be handed over to Oda Nobunaga.

At the same time, they sent people everywhere to spread rumors that Takeda Yoshiyori had been killed, Kofu Castle had fallen, and the once prestigious Kai Takeda clan had been destroyed.

Anyway, with truth and falsehood mixed together, Okabe Motonobu escaped and returned, bringing news of the Kai army's crushing defeat and the heavy losses suffered by the Suruga people. Having experienced Shingen's brutal shaving of heads, Suruga couldn't even muster a decent leader for its powerful vassal states.

Neither Asahina Nobuki nor Ikushi Motoyasu were in Suruga, and Katsuyama Nobusada was already dead. Amidst the panic, within just one day and night, hostages were sent to Sunpu Castle.

Become!

"What?" Oda Nobunaga, Hashiba Hideyoshi, Takigawa Kazumasu, and Shichibei all spoke in unison.

The incident was so bizarre that no one could believe it was true. Even though it came from Masamitsu Yamagata, it was still astonishing.

"My lord has a son!" Shichibei searched for Takeda Nobufusa in Kai for three whole days, only to be told that Takeda Nobufusa had already seized Sunpu Castle and even taken many hostages, waiting for Nobunaga to come and take them over.

"..." Nobunaga didn't answer, but just shook his head slightly, as if he had never expected this.

“Two thousand men should be dispatched immediately to Sunpu,” Takigawa Kazumasu said.

"Indeed." Hideyoshi shared the same thought.

"Yes." Nobunaga readily agreed.

He then ordered his own men, Fukutomi Hidekatsu, to lead 500 arquebusiers, 1,000 long-handled arquebusiers, and 500 small-bodied men to rush to the aid of Sunpu Castle.

As for Suruga Province, there's really no need to say more. Takeda Nobufusa was so brave; he deserved to possess Suruga Province, and even Kai Province would be perfectly reasonable.

If Oda Nobunaga hadn't just received news that Takeda Yoshiyori was at Iwadono Castle, he would have definitely ridden to Sunpu to check on him.

Chapter 371 Tax Evasion and Evasion, Still Trying to Escape

There was no other way; Takeda Yoshiyori was at Iwadono Castle, and Nobunaga was determined to kill him. Not only did he want to kill him, but he wouldn't stop until he saw Takeda Yoshiyori's head right before his eyes.

Before this major event, Takeda Nobufusa's capture of Sunpu Castle was a minor matter.

By the way, Uesugi Kenshin is currently fighting in Etchu and Noto, so let's leave that aside for now. Hojo Ujimasa is also busy, and even his younger brothers, Oishi Ujiteru and Fujita Ujikuni, are quite busy. The Kanto gangsters are in trouble again.

Yoshihiro Satomi of the Boso clan formed an alliance with Kenshin Uesugi and once again marched on the Shimosa territory of the Hojo clan. Harutomo Yuuki, who had long maintained an alliance with the Hojo clan, and his brother Hidetsuna Koyama, defected together, relying on the prestigious Utsunomiya clan in Shimotsuke and the Satake clan, which was rapidly expanding its power in Hitachi, and launched a war.

Koyama Hidetsuna held firm to Gion Castle, while Yuki Harutomo defended Yuki Castle, their combined forces numbering between twenty and thirty thousand. This led to the Ōishi clan advancing and besieging Gion Castle. Meanwhile, Hojo Ujimasa personally led an expedition to confront the combined forces of Yuki and Satake.

Therefore, Hojo Ujimasa was not only not in Odawara, but he might not even have received news of Takeda Yoshiyori's crushing defeat at Mino-Kamono, let alone made any reaction.

Back at Tsutsuzaki Castle in Kai, Nobunaga led his main force, along with the troops of Oda Nobutada (whose forces in Kaizu were handed over to Oda Nobuhiro). The maintenance of security in Kai was to be handled by Shichibei and Yamagata Masamitsu, and everyone, including Takigawa Kazumasu and Hashiba Hideyoshi, was to attack Iwadono Castle, determined to kill Takeda Yoshiyori.

I understand, I completely understand.

Shichibei, naturally left behind, began managing affairs at Tsutsuzaki Castle. This wasn't the first time; Nobunaga was remarkably hands-off, even taking Shichibei's 600-strong archery unit with him. Left with Shichibei, he was useless in the castle; it was better to give him the role of infantry archers, perhaps useful in a siege.

He remained at Tsutsuzaki Castle for two reasons: first, to take hostages and suppress the local people; and second, to prepare for the land survey, as Oda Nobunaga intended to extort money from Kai, Suruga, and Shinano provinces according to custom.

Totomi has been given to Ieyasu, and Nishi-Ueno is too far away for the time being. After killing Takeda Yoshiyori, there might be a chance to visit Minowa Castle in Nishi-Ueno, but there are no plans for that at the moment.

"Lord Kawamura, the Eirin-ji Temple says that the temple is a sacred place and samurai are not allowed to enter. Besides, even a desperate bird will not be killed by a hunter. Ashikaga has come to seek refuge in desperation, so we have no choice but to shelter him."

As soon as he sat down in the palace of Tsutsuzaki-kan and began preparing to issue orders, the first report that Shichibei received gave him a headache.

Hey old bald monk, I can understand that you were kind to Takeda Shingen and that you protected the remaining retainers of the Takeda clan in history. But now, the people who have come to surrender are Makijima Akimitsu, a retainer of Ashikaga Yoshiaki, and his second son, Ashikaga Chitose-maru. Why are you making such a fuss about it? Do you still have any familial ties with the Ashikaga clan of the Muromachi Shogunate?

Besides, even if Nobunaga was an enemy of Buddhism, he was only an enemy of the Tendai and Jodo Shinshu sects. What did it have to do with you, Kaikawa Shōki, a monk of the Rinzai sect?

Japanese Buddhism doesn't preach nonsense about kinship; when sects fight, it's real killing and bloodshed. What happened to the earliest Otani Hongan-ji Temple? It was burned down by the Enryaku-ji Temple of the Tendai sect on Mount Hiei. What happened to the later Yamashina Hongan-ji Temple? It was burned down by the Hoke-ikki sect of the Hoke sect.

"Should we report to the Regent?" Seeing that Shichibei did not answer, Matsui Yukan, who was preparing to serve as the District Inspector, asked Shichibei.

"Hmm..." Shichibei thought there was no need for Nobunaga to burn another Rinzai sect national teacher, so he waved his hand to indicate that it was unnecessary.

Huilin Temple had no more than two hundred monks at most, which was nothing compared to Enryaku-ji Temple on Mount Hiei, which had three or four thousand monks. Could these two hundred men possibly stop the Oda clan's army? They were simply relying on the superstition of gods and Buddhas among the lower and middle-ranking soldiers, who believed they might suffer divine retribution after death, to resist the government troops.

The upper-middle-class samurai were captivated by the title of National Preceptor bestowed upon Kaikawa Shōki. Shichibei was still serving as the Left Kyosuke, an official position held by the Imperial Court. They were all in the same system. If you say that the title of National Preceptor bestowed by the Imperial Court is worthless, then our own title of Junior Governor of the Capital Region and Nobunaga's title of Right General of the Imperial Guard are also worthless.

We can't send anyone to persuade them anymore; the more we try to persuade them, the more they'll control us.

In short, religious groups must be "under the king," meaning divine right, with Buddha subordinate to the king. Religious forces that do not submit to Oda Nobunaga must be forcefully and severely suppressed.

If left unchecked, they will gradually become too powerful to control, and will then lord it over the secular monarchy, feeling perfectly justified in their actions. They will incite the ignorant masses to resist royal commands and build their own "earthly Buddhist kingdoms."

"I will handle this personally." Shichibei asked Matsui Yujian to stay at the palace for the time being, and then set off with Yamagata Masamitsu.

Erin-ji Temple is not far from Tsutsuzaki-kan, located upstream of the Fuefuki River, about 20 kilometers as the crow flies. However, due to the obstruction of mountains and rivers, it takes about 40 kilometers to reach it.

A round trip would probably take a whole day. Right now, thanks to the gathering of tens of thousands of Oda's troops, Kai has become slightly more stable. But the people's sentiments still cannot be ignored, so Shichibei simply brought his good brother-in-law, Hara Nagayori, along as a henchman, just in case.

"Oh, Takeda Nobufusa said that Yamagata Masamitsu's wife and children are with him and are perfectly safe," which relieved Yamagata Masamitsu and Shichibei Nagatoshi. They can bring them back once things are more peaceful.

After traveling for most of the day, Shichibei and over a thousand Kawamura soldiers finally arrived at the gate of Eirin-ji Temple. It was getting dark, and there were no suitable campsites nearby.

"Notify Huilin Temple that our army will be camping inside the temple," Shichibei said, changing his excuse.

"Understood." The messenger ran to the mountain gate as fast as he could and knocked on the door.

This temple gate will later become a National Treasure Cultural Property of Japan. As one of the Ten Temples of Kanto, Erin-ji Temple has quite a reputation. It was founded with funding from Nikaido Doun, the guardian of Kai Province during the Kamakura Shogunate, and has been around for over two hundred years. Currently, it is the cemetery where Shingen is buried, but historically, Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu will also be buried there in the future.

In front of the temple gate, there were more than thirty shops and houses. Erin-ji Temple was a major transportation route on the upper reaches of the Fuefuki River, and the Chichibu Road leading to Musashi passed through it. As a result, a town was built in front of the temple, with Mikaichi and Kukaichi markets. Although it was nowhere near the size of the town in front of Zenko-ji Temple in Shinano, it was still a "quite large" market town in Kai, a region where commerce was not very prosperous.

and many more!

"How many shops are involved in official business at Huilin Temple?" Shichibei suddenly thought of something.

"There were roughly sixteen rooms." (Erinji Temple Registrar's Diary of Rice and Grain Payments)

Yamagata Masamitsu thought for a moment. He was a local bigwig, but he couldn't be called an omniscient expert. Kai was such a large territory; it was impossible for him to remember everything clearly.

"Good good."

So you're going to pay taxes to Takeda Shingen, huh? Well, if you're going to pay taxes, then we'll have to talk about this properly. These days, I don't believe there's a lord who doesn't evade taxes.

Shichibei was certain that every single one of the "masters" or "landowners" in Japan—that is, all property owners—evaded taxes.

Even Shichibei himself didn't pay Nobunaga's military service entirely based on the actual output of his territory. After all, Nobunaga's land surveys were all just that—land surveys. You'd give a rough estimate, Nobunaga would collect a small amount, and then you'd be responsible for the military service.

Once military service is in place, Nobunaga doesn't care about anything else. If you have the ability to develop your 100,000 koku territory into 200,000 koku, that's your skill. Anyway, Nobunaga just requires you to build up your army to 100,000 koku, and it has to be a standing army, the kind that can be mobilized at any time.

When Lord Nobunaga blew his whistle, his army would gather.

If you don't show up when your name is called, Lord Nobunaga will really chop you down!

"Your Highness, the temple says that the gatekeeper has the right to refuse entry to anyone who does not comply, so we cannot welcome you." The envoy who went to knock on the door quickly returned, giving a not-so-unexpected answer.

The privilege of not losing or gaining is most likely real, but it wasn't granted by Oda Nobunaga. Regardless of whether it was granted by Takeda Shingen or Takeda Yoshiyori, what does the Takeda family's business have to do with the Oda family?

"He said he has the right to neither lose nor enter, hahahahaha..." Shichibei clapped and laughed, on purpose, but it was really funny.