Owari Yumeki Golden Day.

I don't understand it, I really don't understand it.

482. Lin Xiuzhen secretly negotiates peace.

At this moment, Lin Xiuzhen was not sitting inside the keep of Yoshida-Koriyama Castle. Instead, she rode her horse to the Mori army's main camp at Sarugake Castle to pay her respects to Mori Terumoto, as well as Terumoto's two uncles, Yoshikawa Motoharu and Kobayakawa Takakage.

Mori Terumoto and his two companions had some guesses about whether Hayashi Hidesada, the former chief retainer of the Oda clan, was exiled or placed in the territory of the Mori clan.

However, they felt that the speculation was unrealistic. Oda Nobutada needed to defeat the Mori clan's great achievements to solidify his position as the ruler of the land.

What is Lin Xiuzhen doing here?

Offer conditions.

The Mori main clan retained Aki Province and half of Bingo Province, the Kobayakawa clan retained half of Bingo Province, and the Yoshikawa clan retained half of Izumo Province. Everything else was surrendered, and the Oda clan accepted the Mori clan's surrender.

Hayashi Hideyoshi herself was held hostage to facilitate the implementation of the peace treaty. Mori Terumoto was asked to send someone into Takamatsu Castle in Bitchu to persuade Shimizu Muneharu to surrender. Hashiba Hideyoshi would then take control of Bitchu, followed by Oda Nobutada's grand campaign to Aki and Bingo, while Mori Terumoto would hold the castle as a show before surrendering.

clothes.

On the surface, Nobutada achieved a great feat by defeating the Mori clan, and in one fell swoop seized three sub-provinces: Suo, Nagato, and Iwami, as well as half of Izumo and half of Hōki.

Having seized such a large territory, Nobutada used it to promote and install samurai close to him. While the effect was not quite as good as killing Mori Terumoto's entire family, it was still quite sufficient. At least at this stage, it was enough to elevate Nobutada's prestige to a new level.

Hayashi Hidesada even secretly promised that the adopted sons of Mori Terumoto, Kobayakawa Takakage, and Kikkawa Motoharu would all marry women from the Oda clan. Nobunaga's own daughter was far too young; she would undoubtedly be a noblewoman from one of the many families of the Oda clan, and her father would certainly be a person of considerable influence within the family.

Oda Nobuhiro, Niwa Nagahide, and Nagano Nobukatsu all had daughters. At the very least, they were daughters of Azai Nagamasa, all born to Lady Oichi. Lady Oichi and Nobunaga were siblings, no different from Nobunaga's own children.

The conditions were quite open and honest, but this meant that the profit would only be equivalent to owning a territory of about 500,000 koku in two and a half provinces. From a peak territory of nearly 2 million koku (including 450,000 koku in Ukita), to suddenly plummet to only about 500,000 koku, that would be devastating.

Actually, it wasn't that fatal. The Shimazu clan simply cut their share of Kyushu from 2 million koku to Satsuma and Ōkuma, plus 620,000 koku in Hyuga.

What could they do if they couldn't win? The Shimazu clan even won their first battle, wiping out Sogawa Masayasu, Chosokabe Nobuchika, and others. However, in subsequent battles, they were still unable to withstand Toyotomi Hideyoshi's powerful offensive.

Can the Mori clan withstand the Oda clan's offensive now? They're already struggling to deal with Hideyoshi Hashiba, who only has a little over 30,000 men.

Once Oda Nobutada's 30,000-strong main force arrives, the Mori clan will have no chance of resisting; they will likely face certain death.

Choose.

Hayashi Hideyoshi, who had stirred up a great storm in the Kinai region, did not show any signs of dejection at this time. He had secretly obtained Oda Nobunaga's promise to negotiate with the Mori clan, ceding four provinces, and he could choose one to settle down first. His son, Hayashi Ichikichi, would later go to war with Nobutada, bringing along his retainers and troops, and they could settle down in one place.

As for why Nobunaga, despite having a significant advantage and being able to have Nobutada kill Mori Terumoto's entire family, would send Hayashi Hidesada to secretly negotiate peace.

Their only concern was that they couldn't achieve a quick victory.

The floods at Takamatsu Castle in Bitchu County have lasted for almost two months, yet Shimizu Muneharu remains inside the castle, encouraging his soldiers to hold out to the death. It's clear they will not surrender until their food supplies run out.

Given the disgustingly bad terrain of western Japan, even with the Mori clan's repeated and relentless attacks, it wouldn't be unreasonable for them to hold out for a year against Nobutada's 30,000 troops via the San'yō route and Mitsuhide's 30,000 troops via the San'in route. It wouldn't be unreasonable for Gassan-Toda Castle to hold out for a year either. It wouldn't be unreasonable for Bingo to hold out for a year either.

If Yoshida-Koriyama Castle is held to the death, the siege will last for a year.

It's not just 50,000 or 60,000 troops; the cost of besieging the city would be astronomical, even 70,000 or 80,000. This would prolong the siege and attack.

Nobunaga can't wait any longer!

If it takes another two or three years to completely defeat Mori, Nobunaga can neither afford to gamble nor wait.

Of course, Mori Terumoto and his companions were unaware of these circumstances, as even senior retainers of the Oda clan might not be aware of Nobunaga's health condition, let alone outsiders like themselves. Moreover, just last month, Oda Nobunaga was still engaged in a killing spree at Mount Koya; he certainly didn't seem to be incapacitated.

As Hideyoshi aged, his dementia became severe, but even when he was on his last breath and bedridden, no one dared to play any tricks on him. It wasn't until he regained his mobility that Ieyasu dared to arrange marriages with the various daimyo.

Without witnessing Nobunaga's death with my own eyes, I wouldn't even dare to think about doing many things, let alone accomplish them.

By the way, the surrender of Takamatsu Castle in Bitchu and Shimizu Muneharu's seppuku were prerequisites for peace talks. If the Mori clan is willing to negotiate, then Shimizu Muneharu should be killed first.

In this way, Aki and Bingo, the two core territories of the Mori clan, could be completely exposed to the military might of the Oda clan. Therefore, Mori Terumoto and his two nephews would have no room for repentance.

Bitchu was different. Although some of its territory belonged to Hoida Motochika, they had only recently killed Mimura Motochika and brought it under the control of the Mori clan. Their unification and control over the territory were not yet complete. Judging from Shimizu Muneharu's ability to mobilize 5,000 men, the Mori clan's rule in Bitchu was still indirect, implemented through the appointment of local warlords.

In contrast, Nobunaga had essentially wiped out all the major local powers and lords in the Kinai region. Apart from Tsutsui Junkei, there wasn't a single recognizable old native left in the Kinai.

Even Azai Nagamasa was transferred to Echizen Province, as were Miyoshi and Hosokawa.

The forces of Toyama and others either migrated elsewhere or were wiped out, and their territories were filled with Owari people who were Nobunaga's pagemen, retainers, and foot soldiers.

Otherwise, when Sanegori Morinaka and Shichibei had their secret meeting a few days ago, they said that Nobunaga and his son Nobutada had basically taken control of the situation in the Kinai region. With this situation, no one in the Kinai region could rebel anymore.

The layout of the Kinai region was completed by Nobunaga and his son Nobutada.

Compared to the Oda clan, the Mori clan started earlier but progressed much later, and they haven't fully integrated their domains yet. If they capture Kyoto and gain the support of the people, this integration process might accelerate. If they don't capture Kyoto? Then they'll only have two core territories left.

"Whose head was just sent to Kyoto from below the castle?" Shichibei was already at Kishiwada Castle, preparing to serve as Oda Nobutada's first logistics captain.

"I heard he's the lord of Ōnoyama Castle in Yoshu." Saegusa Morina quickly found out.

"Aww..." It's the head of Naomasa Ohno. It seems that Naoyuki Ohno and the Kagawa army really did storm the castle through the latrine.

"Not only that, there's also Hiraoka Totomi-no-kami."

"Good news, good news indeed." Shichibei nodded slightly.

It was previously said that they would borrow troops from the Chosokabe clan to quickly pacify the entire northern Iyo region. Now it seems that the plan is working very well. What might have taken a year or two to slowly sort out and suppress northern Iyo has been largely pacified in less than two months under the suppression of the Oda alliance.

"They also said that Lord Okafumi of Tosa sent someone to Kyoto to request the position of Governor of Tosa. He also took the opportunity to thank the daughter of the Regent for her marriage." Saegusa Morina's informant is quite sharp.

Historically, before and after the Battle of Sekigahara, Ii Naomasa was always the one who was constantly scrambling to get involved, protecting one side and supporting another, sparing no effort in his efforts. Of course, Kuroda Nagamasa was the same, sending letters to one person today and secret reports to another tomorrow. Doing this kind of thing probably requires a certain talent.

“If Tosa is completely pacified, then naturally they want Tosa to be defended.” Shichibei fully understood this operation.

To reiterate, in Japan, rank and official position are essentially separate. The reason it's not entirely true is that while the rank of Grand Minister of State (Dajō-daijin) is fixed for a living person, the rank of the Chief Minister (Seishō-daijin) assigned to a deceased person depends on the circumstances.

Chosokabe Motochika requested the position of Governor of Tosa, which could be six, five, or even four ranks, depending entirely on his negotiations with Nobunaga. Nobunaga usually granted such small requests, and sometimes even...

Offer to help.

By accepting an official position from the imperial court, you are essentially supporting the court. Furthermore, Nobunaga's act of upholding the court's righteous cause also enhanced his prestige.

For a daimyo like Chosokabe who occupied an entire territory, the position of provincial governor was an excellent honorary title, and anyone with the ability would try to obtain it.

In any case, the Chosokabe and Oda families are now on very good terms, so supporting the imperial court in exchange for the righteous right to rule the entire Tosa Province is a good deal for Motochika.

"So, does that mean our army is going to march into Yunzhou?" Sanegori Morinaka was still a young samurai eager to make a name for himself.

Furthermore, everyone in the Oda clan knew that Nobutada had killed Mori Terumoto's entire family, which suddenly freed up seven or eight vassal states, a vast territory called Chigyo. With such a large expansion of land, some of the spoils inevitably ended up in the mouths of the various participants in the war, including Kawamura's army who provided logistics for Nobutada.

"Anytime." Actually, Shichibei was still a little puzzled.

There's a major matter that hasn't been resolved yet. The plan was to promote Tokugawa Ieyasu and other key retainers of the clan, and then, under that pretext, invite...

Kawakita Ieyasu visited Azuchi Castle. Afterwards, Shichibei, a harmless and kind-hearted man from Owari, and Nobutada escorted Ieyasu back to his domain.

Given Nobutada's status and Shichibei's reputation, the people of Mikawa Province would undoubtedly welcome Matsudaira Nobuyasu without any precautions. This would be a welcome to both Tokugawa Ieyasu and Oda Nobutada.

Then came the massacre, slaughtering all the Mikawa garrison that had come to welcome Nobutada and Ieyasu. Good and bad were indiscriminately killed. In Tokugawa Ieyasu's eyes, anyone with even a shred of loyalty had been included in the first wave of the Hatamoto campaign, while the remaining Mikawa garrison were all outright traitors.

Not only should they be killed, but they should be killed ruthlessly. It would be best to follow the example of his grandfather and ancestors and send all these messy Matsudaira branch families to heaven.

Such a momentous event had been planned and arranged long ago, but due to a series of unforeseen events, Tokugawa Ieyasu had not yet been publicly invited to Kyoto. Instead, it was Nobunaga's own Junior Second Rank Right Minister and Nobutada's Junior Third Rank Left Vice-General who had arranged it.

Normally, once their official appointments are finalized, the focus should shift to dealing with their subordinates. However, at this crucial moment, Oda Nobutada and Kawamura Nagayoshi, the executors of the Mikawa affair, are both being transferred to Aki. How should this be resolved, and how should it be handled?

We can't just put this matter on hold, can we? We must know Matsudaira Nobu...

Yasuhiro had already privately written a clear document to Nobunaga, begging Nobunaga to preside over the division of the Matsudaira and Tokugawa families. Nobuyasu would remain in Matsudaira as before, while Ieyasu would go to Hamamatsu to do his own thing with the Genji and Tokugawa families.

This matter alone was difficult to delay, but Nobunaga was like a spinning top, tirelessly driving his generals to work for his great cause of unifying the country.

“Then I must write a letter to my mother.” Isn’t Saegusa Morinao’s adoptive mother, Ii Naotora, still in Kyoto?

If Saegusa Morinaka is going to battle, then he really needs to inform his mother. Perfect timing! Shichibei thought, "You don't need to write a letter; just go to Kyoto and see him. You can also help find out about Oda Nobunaga's current situation."

Oda Nobunaga is about to move to Azuchi Castle, and things will definitely be chaotic during the move. Perhaps we can find out some private information.

Matsudaira Nobuyasu shared the same thoughts as Shichibei. He had been writing to Nobunaga for over three months without receiving a reply, not even a verbal message or hint, which made him very anxious.

The longer something like dividing a family property drags on, the more likely unforeseen changes will occur.

No matter how secretive the letter, it was delivered to Ori through Mizuno Nobumoto.

Before Nobunaga, those around him would certainly be aware of the situation. After all, such a thing couldn't be accomplished simply by Nobunaga talking; it required the cooperation of other important retainers and the guarantee of execution by force.

Once the important ministers are informed, will they remain completely silent? Unlikely. They will likely discuss the matter with their trusted confidants.

A day or two doesn't matter, but it's been a month or two. If this gets back to his father, Tokugawa Ieyasu, what good will come of it?

Furthermore, the situation in the Hokuriku region has stabilized somewhat, the Kaga Triumvirate have been granted fiefdoms, and Noto Tomiyama Yoshiharu has also sided with Oda Nobunaga. The encirclement of the Uesugi clan has been established, and Oda Nobuhiro will soon order the Takeda forces from the Tokai region of the Tokugawa River to attack Izu and Sagami.

The troops from Kita-tomi and Takigawa, conscripted from both northern and southern Ise, would launch a strong attack on Higashi-Keno with the assistance of the Kaiyama Prefecture army.

By breaking the alliance between Hojo Takahiro in Higashi-Ueno, the direct link between the Uesugi and Hojo clans could be severed. Afterwards, Oda Nobuhiro could attack either side with greater ease.

Matsudaira Nobuyasu was very worried that once he left Okazaki Castle, his father Tokugawa Ieyasu might discover something and take away his command.

After all, his advisors, Ishikawa Kazumasa and Hiraiwa Chikakichi, were both promoted by Tokugawa Ieyasu. If Ieyasu were to give the order, the two would most likely choose to follow him. It was a consensus among the people of Mikawa Province to oppose Ieyasu, but deciding who would lead the charge would inevitably lead to a fight.

483. Who will inherit the old master's pen?

"Takamatsu Castle is open! Takamatsu Castle is open! Takamatsu Castle is open!"

On the main street below Azuchi Castle, an envoy shouted good news and galloped off towards the lord of Azuchi. Passersby, even senior retainers, gave way. Such good news, coupled with the joyous occasion of Nobunaga's relocation to Azuchi Castle, was truly fitting.

"Takamatsu opens the castle, Bitchu Hirohira." Akechi Mitsuhide's voice came from behind Shichibei.

"Hyuga no Kami," Shichibei greeted him quickly.

"Jingzhao".

"Having come to the castle eight times, I heard that Dan Province has also been divided into provinces?" Everyone here came to congratulate Nobunaga, so it was perfectly normal for Akechi Mitsuhide to appear next to Shichibei.

"It's nothing to mention." Logically, it should have been a joyous occasion, but Mitsuhide Akechi appeared indifferent.

With the reinforcements of Oda Nobunaga's two thousand cavalry, Yagami Castle finally fell. Hatano Hideka and her six hundred-odd followers were almost entirely slaughtered by Akechi Mitsuhide. Not a single member of her family, young or old, survived. As for the uprisings that broke out in Tanba province, they were swiftly and decisively suppressed by Akechi's generals.

Mitsuhide moved to Kameyama Castle and rebuilt Yokoyama Castle into Fukuchi.

Yamashiro was commanded by Akechi Hidemitsu. Saito Toshimitsu was stationed at Kuroi Castle, and Akechi Mitsutada at Shuyama Castle, thus firmly controlling the entire province of Tanba.

The situation in Tango was relatively simple. Isshiki Yoshisada fought desperately against the attacks of Hosokawa Fujitaka and his son, Tadaoki, as well as the Akechi army. He suffered a crushing defeat, with over a thousand men and horses killed in the struggle.

Thus, through the mediation of Akechi Mitsuhide, Isshiki Yoshisada married the daughter of Hosokawa Fujitaka, becoming the son-in-law of the Hosokawa family. He controlled the Naka, Takeno, and Kumano districts in northern Tango province and continued to reside in Yumiki Castle. Meanwhile, the Hosokawa father and son seized Kasa and Yosa districts and took control of Miyazu Castle.

The 100,000 koku of Tango was ostensibly granted to Hosokawa Fujitaka. However, the father-in-law and son-in-law each received 50,000 koku, dividing the territory between the north and south.

In any case, Tango Province is now basically pacified. Mitsuhide has a strength of two million koku under his command, and if all his troops are mobilized, he can easily reach fifty thousand.

"It is a great achievement that has greatly praised the world. How envied it is by the world."

"Haha." Mitsuhide Akechi finally smiled, but it seemed forced.