Owari Yumeki Golden Day.

His son, Matsunaga Hisamichi, was captured alive and taken to Kyoto to be executed. Nobunaga sentenced him to "prison gate." Not only were they to be beheaded, but their heads were also to be displayed to the public. Dozens of members of the Matsunaga clan, men and women, whoever was captured were all beheaded.

The swift defeat of Matsunaga Danjo, who had been active in the Kinai region for thirty years, immediately raised everyone's opinion of Oda Nobutada. They all felt that this man had at least inherited his father Nobunaga's "speed"—speed in battle, nothing else.

As for why Oda Nobutada was in such a hurry, it's because he learned that Matsunaga Hisahide had amassed a vast fortune since becoming a magistrate under Miyoshi Nagayoshi. So much so that many famous tea wares in the land eventually...

He pocketed it for a large sum of money.

There must be a huge amount of savings, more than 100,000 kan, hidden in the gold storehouse of Shigiyama Castle. This was all accumulated by Matsunaga Hisahide over thirty years, by sucking the blood of Miyoshi Nagayoshi and making money in Sakai Town.

Although he inherited one million koku of rice from his father, Oda Nobutada needed to build his own power base, win over local lords, and replenish his equipment. There were countless places to spend money, and his father was unwilling to bestow the large sum of money on Kawamura Shichibei, so he had to find his own way.

The best way is to rob, but robbing others doesn't have the same effect. Only Matsunaga Hisahide, who had effectively controlled the finances of the previous Miyoshi family for many years, was able to amass such great wealth.

"That's good. At least Prince Gifu's 20,000 troops can be used as a mobile force." Hideyoshi didn't think about Matsunaga Hisahide's money; he only thought about Nobutada's 21,000 standing troops who could be mobilized at any time.

"Even if it's a wandering force, they won't come to Bozhou." Shichibei rewarded the envoy with 500 coins and sent him away.

Regardless of the less important places like Kishiwada Castle and Awaji Iwaya Castle, Settsu alone has Araki Murashige, who commands over 10,000 troops, and Nomi Munekatsu, whose strength is equally formidable.

One was defending Arioka Castle, and the other was defending Hanakuma Castle. Arioka Castle and...

Leaving that aside, since it's inland, Hanakuma Castle, which we've mentioned before, is what we now call Chuo Ward of Kobe City, Japan, right next to the sea. The Mori navy could come and go freely, and they might even send reinforcements and supplies to expand their offensive in Settsu.

Who could blame them when the Ishiyama Honganji Temple, with its tens of thousands of soldiers, stood in Settsu? After the siege of the Honganji was lifted, Jodo Shinshu followers from all over the country flocked to Ishiyama Osaka Castle, bringing food and supplies. This not only replenished the provisions for Kennyo Shonin, but also provided a large influx of manpower.

After clashing with Oda in the Kinai region, the Mori clan must have realized that to fully establish themselves in Kinai, they needed to rely on the Ishiyama Honganji Temple, which had a large military force.

Kobayakawa Takakage's forces will only be deployed towards Harima and Settsu. The situation in Harima is already at a stalemate; Hideyoshi's defenses are very solid, and further deployments would be largely pointless. The only exception would be to flank Hideyoshi by bypassing him at Eiga Gobō.

and many more!

Kobayakawa Takakage has a naval advantage, but he hasn't yet outmaneuvered Hideyoshi, indicating that his ships are busy elsewhere. Most likely, he's heading to Hanakuma Castle to cause trouble for Akechi Mitsuhide and his crew.

“Yes, I’m afraid Lord Gifu will go to Settsu.” Hideyoshi was clearly thinking the same thing as Shichibei.

"Anyway, you're safe now." Shichibei was quite confident in Nobunaga and his son Nobutada; he wasn't so weak that they couldn't even defeat Nomi Munekatsu.

"By the way, 100,000 koku of Shigisan..."

"I never expected that either."

The Matsunaga family was completely wiped out, and theoretically, this land should be awarded to Oda Nobutada, who conquered them. However, Nobutada now owns too much land to manage, and Yamato is quite far from Gifu. Sakuma Nobumori just received 80,000 koku from Tamonyama and won't be adding any more for the time being. Are there any other people nearby who could offer more?

Tsutsui Junkei? Akechi Mitsuhide? Oh right, Hachiya Yoritaka also did a good job this time, working quite hard, and might be granted a castle lord title of 50,000 koku. As for the remaining Tomoyuki, it'll be easier to divide them up, with some getting 5,000 and others 10,000.

It's impossible to be 100% certain; it's all speculation, so Shichibei didn't mention it again. This is too far off; let's think about how to completely besiege Miki Castle first.

Hidenaga returned to Hideyoshi's side, but Bessho Nagaharu, Hideyoshi's right-hand man, was temporarily assigned to Shichibei. As the previous lord of Miki Castle, he would certainly be the most suitable person to build the castle's fortifications.

Awakawa Sadanori, who went to Kyoto to visit Nobunaga, has also returned.

The Kawa family was brought up from Higashiharima by Shichibei, but now is the time to use locals. He is also the uncle of Bessho Nagaharu. The past is the past, and now we have to look to the future.

Nobunaga neither humiliated nor mistreated Awagawa Sadanobu, who surrendered. He merely exchanged a few words with him and kept one of Awagawa Sadanobu's younger brothers by his side. He gave him nothing else, rewarded him with 1,000 kan, and sent him back to Shichibei's command.

"The key to besieging the city is only one thing: cut off its supply lines. And Miki's supply lines are from Kakogawa to Minangawa." Now it's Bessho Nagaharu's home turf, and even Hachiya Yoritaka has to sit down and listen to his explanation.

The Minang River is a tributary of the Kako River, and neither Hideyoshi nor Shichibei had a navy. Without a navy, it would be impossible to stop the Mori army from supplying Miki Castle.

"So, does that mean we still have to break into Kakogawa Castle?" Hachiya Yoritaka was the most enthusiastic, as he was there to secure his future.

"Not only that, we also need to capture Takasago Castle and Beppu Castle, which stand on either side of the mouth of the Kako River, then conquer Kako River Castle, and finally capture Shohoji Temple, which is located at the confluence of the Minang River and the Kako River, before we can basically cut off the waterway." Bessho Nagaharu was also helpless.

Anyway, it's unclear how many generations ago his ancestors discovered this place was an ideal location, easy to defend and difficult to attack. So they built...

After building Miki Castle, the Miki Bessho clan not only survived for more than ten generations, but also gradually transformed into a powerful daimyo during the Sengoku period, embracing a new era.

While the success of Bessho no Narihito and other renowned lords in their constant conquests and consolidation of the clan is undoubtedly due to the efforts of Miki Castle, this very castle deserves credit. Even if Bessho is in dire straits, holding onto Miki gives them a chance to rise again.

Furthermore, Bessho Nagaharu hadn't made a definitive statement, even if these key locations were captured by the Oda army. Without control of the seas, the Oda navy was still not entirely secure.

In the simplest terms, there are about six or seven thousand people in the city, including their families. If the Maori army sends a small boat loaded with twenty shi (a unit of dry measure) of rice, which is about two or three thousand jin (another unit of dry measure), and one jin of rice is cooked with water to make two jin of cooked rice, that's five or six thousand jin of cooked rice. If everyone in the city has one jin of cooked rice, they won't starve.

These small boats, barely larger than dugout canoes, would rush in under cover of darkness, making them virtually impossible to defend against and stop. As long as there was a large ship in the Seto Inland Sea, towing a small boat that made 20 koku of rice round trips to Miki Castle every day, the castle could be defended until the end of time.

It's possible that in the end, Miki didn't starve to death, but rather died from diarrhea after eating raw rice because there was no firewood left.

The Seto Inland Sea is now completely controlled by the Mori navy, including...

The Iejima Islands on the Mosaka Beach. These islands are only a dozen kilometers by water from Himeji, so the Mori army doesn't even need a single ship to be dispatched every day. Leaving ten men and two small boats on Iejima allows them to deliver supplies to Miki Castle day and night.

How to play?

"How are we going to surround this?" Shichibei scratched his scalp. He hadn't showered for several days, and there was no suitable environment in the wild, so his scalp felt itchy.

"Isn't the Regent Hall rebuilding the navy?" Bessho Nagaharu asked Shichibei.

"Nonsense..." This matter, right? Who knows when the results will be released?

Historically, Kuki Yoshitaka did deploy ironclad ships and win the Second Battle of Kizugawa. But what's the current situation? Who knows? Anyway, Shichibei's request for Morimura Haru and Ataka Kiyoyasu to rebuild the navy hasn't yielded any significant results yet. We'll have to wait another year or two; don't even think about expecting a result before then.

That's right, historically Hideyoshi fought for a year and eight months, and that's probably why.

The second Battle of Kizugawa was won, and the Mori navy retreated to the western Seto Inland Sea. Osaka Bay and Harima Beach were once again controlled by the Oda navy. Miki Castle was completely cut off from supplies, and the Mori navy was starved to death, and an epidemic broke out.

"The matter of the navy needs further consideration; let's talk about the land first." Todo Takatora knew about Morimura Haru's affair and quickly moved on.

"On land, it is estimated that at least four to five miles long earthen ramparts will need to be built, along with at least sixty fortified posts, strongholds, passes, and small huts for viewing objects." Upon hearing this, Bessho Nagaharu said no more and turned back to the map.

"This is a large project."

That's for sure. Just building this long embankment will take two or three months. Taking into account the possibility that Bessho Yoshichika will definitely come out of the city to sabotage the construction, it will probably take four or five months to complete the entire project.

This year is over.

Do we have to besiege it for another year next year? What a waste of our precious youth, all for a city like Sanmu. So many beautiful, fair-skinned, delicate widows at home are waiting for me to sow my seed, but instead I can only play by myself in the wilderness.

"Could we persuade them to open the gates?" Shichibei added, thinking of his sisters-in-law at home.

"Unlikely." Not to mention Nagaharu Bessho disagreed, there were very few people within the shogunate who agreed.

Bessho Yoshichika did not suffer any major defeats; his main force remained intact, and even...

We can still try to capture more people from outside the city and bring them in. Hoping he'll open the gates and surrender is too difficult.

Either cut off Kakogawa's external support completely, or force Kobayakawa Takakage out of Harima; either way, we can't let Bessho Yoshichika have any hope. As long as there's even a sliver of hope, Bessho Yoshichika can hold on.

Tsk, let's just leave it at that.

Let's not even talk about the navy; Oda has no navy right now. Without a navy, nothing can be discussed, and talking about it would only cause trouble. Hideyoshi mobilized over three thousand laborers, and also made Shichibei recruit more at his own expense, covering all the costs of the fortifications surrounding Miki Castle. He's being extravagant again, isn't he? Konishi Ryōsō and Hihiya Ryōke appeared in Shichibei's ranks.

Although the land route was not as convenient as the water transport from Osaka Bay, the roads were accessible, and everything could be done. The two also hired several thousand odd jobs from Sakai to help build the long embankment.

Shichibei's army then began to conduct orderly, indiscriminate arrests.

Although it was somewhat unethical to do this in front of Bessho Nagaharu, Shichibei was a foreign soldier, and everyone had traveled hundreds of kilometers with him to fight in Boshu. Besides the spoils of war, they should also make some extra money.

Even if Nobunaga came, he couldn't stop this. Of course, it was by the time of the Seven...

The relationship between Hyōe and Bessho Nagaharu was certainly not one of chaotic, indiscriminate arrests. The main activity involved collecting "dōnggiri" and "yūnggiri." Dōnggiri was a poll tax, which is easy to understand; everyone had to pay it, even babies in their arms.

The "arrow money" is easier to understand; it's a temporary war tax. If you don't pay, they'll burn your rice paddies or farmhouses. If you don't have cash, you can pay with other things, or even give your wife and daughters to the army's small pack animals.

However, after receiving these two sums of money, no further harm to the people will be permitted, and a wooden sign indicating the prohibition will be erected. If any soldiers continue to harm the people, they can be reported to Shichibei for punishment.

This money was divided equally among the soldiers, considered as extra income. Collecting this money and provisions from the city walls and villages was also intended to reduce the amount of supplies Bessho Yoshichika might receive from the city walls.

After all, the farmers had handed over their money and grain to Kawamura's army, so if Bessho Yoshichika sent people down from the city to demand more, they would get nothing back.

As for whether any pushing or shoving or arguments occurred during the process, that's another story. The fact that foreign troops were able to collect war taxes in an orderly manner was already a great concession to Changzhi.

While collecting taxes, they also relocated all the residents of Bessho from within the long enclosure to prevent them from becoming soldiers and grain reserves for Bessho Yoshichika later.

The siege of Miki has officially begun.

419. The besieged city is boring and busy.

"Day after day, the walls were built high and heavy."

Shichibei was no longer wearing his Milanese children's plate armor. Instead, he was wearing straw sandals, shorts, and standing shirtless on the long wall, gazing at the rising smoke from the Miki Castle.

The siege was rather pointless, much like what was said in the military council: the Mori navy brazenly sailed their small boats into the Kako River to supply Miki Castle with military provisions.

Although Hideyoshi had been instructed to quickly conquer the branch castles along the Kako River to strengthen control over the river, Hideyoshi had limited mobile forces and could only eliminate them one by one. Shichibei's troops, on the other hand, needed to besiege the castle to prevent the five or six thousand men inside from launching a surprise attack, making the entire siege a slow process.

“You’re being a bit too reckless…” Takenaka Hanbei noticed Shichibei’s appearance, which showed none of the demeanor of a hereditary chieftain and lord of the Oda clan.

"Nonsense." Shichibei simply waved his hand, it was such a hot day, and he had nothing to do.

Nobunaga dressed way more provocatively than I did back then, so why didn't you try to stop him? He even dressed as a woman and danced for everyone, so what? Everyone was watching!

I'm very happy.

“My lord, it is really inappropriate to allow enemy ships to come and go.” Todo Takatora also climbed up from under the earthen mound.

This guy was also naked, all muscle, but riddled with holes—a veritable grand slam of knife wounds, gunshot wounds, and arrow wounds; it was a frightening sight. But these were all symbols of courage, and all the onlookers could do was gasp.

Ma Guocheng cursed at Tian Wenjing, calling him a bastard. Tian Wenjing didn't move; he didn't care about such profanity. But when Ma Guocheng stripped off his clothes, revealing his body covered in scars, Tian Wenjing stood up.

Because this scar was earned by Ma Guocheng in his desperate charge against Kangxi, it cannot be hit or scolded. Even if the fourth prince came, he could only take him away and have a private talk with the eldest prince at night.

"Should we insert the reverse-flowing wood into the water?" Although Shichibei didn't know how to fight, he had watched a lot of movies and read a lot of novels in his previous life.

It's just iron chains across the river and sticking bamboo and thorns into the water. These are old tricks; Shichibei knows them all too well. But now there's a problem: typhoon season is coming.

During Japan's typhoon season, river flow can increase tenfold or twentyfold in an instant. If you lay a steel cable across a river, it'll be pulled up. If you plant a log against the current, it'll be washed away.

If we work hard today, but a typhoon hits tomorrow, it'll all be for nothing.

The idea is good, but it's not suitable now. We should wait until at least October, when there are no more typhoons, before considering doing anything like that. For now, we can only focus on building earthen walls and constructing fortifications.

"Understood." Todo Takatora was immediately convinced by Shichibei. It was as if everyone in Japan had experienced a typhoon passing through their country.

"How's it going with Fujikichiro?" Hideyoshi was later praised as the greatest siege master of Japan's Sengoku period. How many of those outpost castles along the Kakogawa River had he breached by now?

"Himeji-dono is besieging Kamiyoshi Castle, but has not yet breached it."

"Tell him to hurry." Shichibei took a towel, wrung it out, and draped it over his head to shield himself from the sun and cool down.

"Why don't you urge your brother-in-law?" Todo Takatora waved his hand, explaining that Hideyoshi had returned to the Tatsuno front, leaving Hashiba Hidenaga to lead the attack.

What's the point of urging Hideyoshi? It's better to urge Hidenaga instead. Hearing that Hidenaga should be urged, Shichibei had no choice but to shut up. That's the gist of it; everyone, get to work. Hideyoshi is a king of ambition, but Hidenaga is not. These days, only Akechi Mitsuhide can compare to Hideyoshi; everyone else is a step behind and can't compete with either of them.

"Sometimes, warfare is just that tedious and boring." Someone else said, pointing to the hillside.

As I climbed up, I saw that the sun had shone brightly over Mulberry Mountain.

He didn't climb up alone; instead, he called several laborers to climb up with him. With a few bamboo poles and straw mats, they first built a shelter for Shichibei and the others.