Owari Yumeki Golden Day.

If he can't even do something as simple as throwing money around, he can't hold onto his position.

"Thank you, thank you!" Ieyasu bowed quickly and gestured to Shichibei, who was standing slightly to the outside.

I've led the charge, what are you doing, trying to stir up trouble? The die is cast; if you don't say a word now, what are you waiting for?

"My lord, the weather is scorching hot, and tens of thousands of people have gathered in Osaka. Getting water is really difficult. Could you buy water carts, either five hundred or one thousand, specifically for the construction site?" Shichibei knew that Ieyasu had already pleased Nobuo, and if he didn't step in now, it would really be a disservice to his comrades.

"Oh! A thousand waterwheels?" Nobuyuki wondered where the money would come from.

Hiring thousands of boatmen and purchasing waterwheels and cattle would be a considerable expense. It's been said that Nobuo is not allowed to spend even a penny at the Osaka Grand Construction Site; if he spends even a single coin, it's considered a sign of insufficient prestige.

"I am willing to take on this responsibility." Ieyasu immediately agreed, indicating that he would pay for it himself.

"Very well, Lord Edo is extremely loyal. It has indeed been very hot these past few days. Osaka can rest for a few days before resuming work." Oda Nobuo smiled and nodded, then gestured to a few senior retainers before leaving calmly.

"Phew..." Shichibei and Tokugawa Ieyasu both breathed a sigh of relief; the matter was half accomplished.

At least Nobuo agreed to let the construction site rest for a few days, which is already quite good. As Osaka is his new capital city, it's already a good result that he didn't keep pushing for construction to start.

"Thank you for your help." Tokugawa Ikko thanked Shichibei again, and Shichibei finally chimed in to support him.

"No, no." It was indeed mainly Ieyasu who did the work; Shichibei had no credit whatsoever.

Chapter 616 Ieyasu bestows favors upon the people of the East (Zhu Xiucai, Sanjin Guan)

Oda Nobukatsu made no attempt to hide his voice, and those close by, including his senior retainers and close associates, heard him clearly. This included Hideyoshi and his men, as well as figures like Yoshikawa Hiroie and Narita Uchinaga.

Having received the promise, Tokugawa Ieyasu nodded to the crowd again and quickly left. Many people were waiting for his news outside; he needed to get out and share it soon.

Hideyoshi, however, approached Shichibei and walked a short distance until he was alone. Then he whispered to Shichibei, "This time, all the lords of the eastern provinces have benefited from his kindness."

That is indeed the case.

Shichibei paused, thinking to himself that this was indeed the case. But even so, what could be done? Even if the lords of the eastern provinces had received some favors from Tokugawa Ieyasu, they would not follow him in rebellion.

Even if Tokugawa Ieyasu had ulterior motives, Hojo Ujimasa, the head of a single household, and Uesugi Kagetora's entire family and clan, numbering four or five thousand, had only been killed a few days prior. How much power could Oda Nobukatsu mobilize? Even if the Eastern Provinces united, they couldn't muster half of that force.

Only someone who has lost their mind would think to jump out at this point and say such and such. Even if Oda Nobuo, who is only twenty-seven years old, only lives to thirty-eight, then Oda Saburo would be fourteen years old by then, which is about the age to govern the country.

Surely they wouldn't be thinking of outliving Oda Nobukatsu first, and then outliving Oda Saburo, right? Impossible, absolutely impossible. Shichibei wouldn't even consider that possibility. Tokugawa Ieyasu may have an honest face, and he might indeed have some ulterior motives, but that's all he had.

He wanted to gain some prestige and become the representative figure of the Oda clan in the eastern provinces. Ultimately, his real intention was probably to secure for his descendants to become the leaders of the Bando samurai.

After becoming the leader of the Bando samurai, a hundred or two hundred years later, the times might change, and another rebellion could rise. If you put it that way, I'll believe you; there are predecessors who tried and succeeded. Want to do it now? The practical conditions simply don't exist.

"Oh dear..." Hideyoshi was a smart man, how could he not understand this principle?

Was he the smartest one to see that Tokugawa Ieyasu was showing favor? But even if he saw it, what could he do? He had no opportunity to use it. At best, this was just building connections and preparing for future generations.

Furthermore, if you put it that way, then Shichibei is the most "suspicious" person, because Shichibei is the most honest and loyal man in Owari. Although he may not be considered a paragon of virtue in Owari, he is close enough. Just look at those feudal lords and Ōmi-no-hanamoto from Owari; which one of them doesn't praise Shichibei? Whenever anyone is in trouble, it's all thanks to Shichibei's generous help.

Some were borrowed, and some were given directly. For example, for important events like weddings and funerals, Shichibei would always send one. Some were sent by Shichibei himself, and some were sent by the junior admiral.

If we're talking about bestowing favors, Shichibei has been doing so for over a decade. Would Owari Fuyo follow Shichibei in a rebellion? The possibility is absolutely zero; it's simply not possible.

"Don't worry about it." Shichibei smiled. He had accomplished something and could now go and inform Yamagata Masamitsu.

Although Shichibei wasn't the main force behind it, he did get involved from various quarters, and quite a few people witnessed it. We're not going there to boast, but simply to let him know that Shichibei was involved. That's all; it's not for any future repayment or anything like that, just to inform you of this good news.

"Haha, as one gets older, one tends to overthink things." Hideyoshi racked his brains but still couldn't see any significant benefit that doing so would bring to Ieyasu himself.

He could only laugh it off with a self-deprecating laugh. Azuchi Castle was practically everyone's hometown, the very castle where Nobunaga unified the country, so Hideyoshi and Nene could finally reunite. Although they were an old married couple, it didn't hinder their strong bond; after all, she was his wife through thick and thin.

Meanwhile, at the Osaka construction site, on the afternoon of the second day, they received an order from Oda Nobuo to suspend work for seven days. The tens of thousands of workers on the site were overjoyed. Previously, Sawai Oshige had been relentlessly pushing them to stay by Nobuo's side, just to ensure his continued employment. They were practically working non-stop, whether it was sunny, rainy, or even by lamplight.

Once the order was given, Sawai Takeshige had no choice but to announce a rest.

Needless to say, everyone asked why he was suddenly allowed to rest. Sawai Yushige knew that Nobuo's true intention was to expedite the construction of Osaka Castle, and the dispatched samurai and laborers had also noticed this. Given this, why would he suddenly have a change of heart?

Before long, waterwheels purchased by Tokugawa Ieyasu from Kyoto and water carriers he hired arrived in Osaka one after another. The truth was immediately revealed: it was Tokugawa Major General Musashi-no-kami who had strongly advised Taira no Taira no Shogun to grant everyone the holiday.

Lord Tokugawa even personally purchased a thousand waterwheels to bring to the construction site, making it convenient for everyone to fetch water. He was truly a great philanthropist, far more benevolent than the bodhisattvas in the temple.

Cheers erupted both inside and outside the construction site camp, and various discussions filled the air. Upon hearing this, Sawai Yushige quickly composed a letter and wrote to Nobuo, warning him to be wary of Ieyasu's favors bestowed upon the people of the eastern provinces.

You ask Nobuo what he thinks? Nobuo, of course, sees with his eyes.

He bid farewell to Ieyasu, Shichibei, and the others, returning to his residence to prepare for further efforts with Princess Komatsu. Princess Komatsu had been resting for ten months after giving birth to her last child. During this time, Nobukatsu had also worked diligently with his many concubines, successfully impregnating one of them—not Princess Kai.

But others are others, and while Lady Koman was not pregnant, Nobuo still preferred to have a child with her. After all, if there was a throne to inherit, they would need another son to enrich the family of the Three Ministers.

Before he could even shower, Takikawa Yuutoshi, who was on duty, reminded him that Ieyasu was showing him favor. Nobuo blinked and replied, "So what?"

Instead, it stumped Takikawa Yutoshi; he really wasn't very good at it.

So Nobuo didn't take it too seriously, and happily took a bath, went to bed, and went to play with Koman-hime as usual. Everyone else also pondered the matter, but they couldn't see any risk involved. So they treated it as something they had seen or talked about, and that was the end of it.

Because of Ieyasu's interruption, Nobuo finally seemed to have a change of heart and allowed the construction site to rest one day every ten days. Anyway, there was no rush with the Osaka castle tower; no matter how fast the work was rushed, it would still take one or two years to complete. So let's just proceed at the normal pace. As long as Oda Nobuo can move into the castle town next year, that's all that matters.

The rammed earth work is now more than halfway done; the next six months will be spent tamping the foundation. Other structures like the city gate towers and the walls of the buildings will be much easier to construct. For typical wooden buildings, with the materials readily available and quickly assembled, it's not uncommon to see a house built in just a few days.

Chapter 617 Yi Yi Retires and Changes Hands

Shichibei was still quite hesitant; it was almost September. Should he go back to Kumamoto and then return to Azuchi in December? Or should he stay in the Kinai region and prepare to attend the New Year's greeting ceremony for Oda Nobuo?

The future is different now. In the future, a flight from Shanghai to Osaka will only take two hours, and a flight to Kumamoto will be much faster. Nowadays, it normally takes ten to twenty days to travel there and back, which is quite tiring and troublesome.

Like Shichibei, Takigawa Kazumasu also shared the same worries. He had mentioned a few days ago that he was nearing sixty, and now he truly was. He simply couldn't continue traveling between Masabashi and Azuchi year-round, so at the tea party hosted by Oda Nobuo for the four elders, Takigawa Kazumasu voluntarily proposed to retire.

He relinquished his position as a senior official and retired into seclusion.

Oh dear, Oda Nobuo paused in his tea-making, but still smiled and said that Major General Masahashi was a pillar of the nation, and that his sixties were the perfect time to serve the country.

You can still serve the country for another ten years!

Takigawa Kazumasu repeatedly thanked him, indicating that he was indeed no longer able to work. In any case, his eldest son, Takigawa Kazutada, was serving Nobuo without any excesses and was doing a good job. It would be better for him, the old man, to stay at Ueno-no-Masabashi and look after the house, while Takigawa Kazutada remained in Kyoto to serve the country. It would be a win-win situation.

As the eldest of the four current retainers of the Oda clan, Takigawa Kazumasu is indeed finding it difficult to continue his strenuous travels compared to the other three retainers, who are around forty years old on average.

Furthermore, by setting an example for the other three former officials by voluntarily retiring and stepping down to more capable people, he might still be able to maintain a good relationship with Nobuyuki.

In any case, a tea party is a relatively private, deliberately isolated small space where there is almost no possibility of leaks. Unless someone in the room is a blabbermouth and starts gossiping outside.

However, Nobuo still offered a few words of comfort to Takigawa Kazumasu, and they continued drinking tea without mentioning the matter. Nobuo believed that it was better not to make a decision immediately regarding such an important matter as the retirement of a senior retainer.

As for Shichibei and the other two, they simply drank their tea silently, offering no opinion. Their decision to withdraw was their own; there was no need to stop or persuade them at this point.

Soon afterward, it was learned that Takigawa Kazumasu had been summoned for a private audience, and the results of the audience were soon made public.

With the land of Ueno and the district of Shimotsuke, the lord of the Uenobashi Domain, Takikawa Kazumasu, a junior general of the Left Guard, officially announced his retirement. His territory was divided in two: his eldest son, Takikawa Kazutada, inherited 468,000 koku of Ueno. His former adopted son-in-law and nephew, Takikawa Masashige, received 25,000 koku of Ashikaga District in Shimotsuke and 21,000 koku of part of Tsuga District, totaling 46,000 koku, and became an independent daimyo.

It can be said that Takigawa Kazumasu handled the situation well. First, he reduced his own territory of over 500,000 koku, which to some extent aligned with Nobukatsu's intention to weaken his veteran retainers. Of course, Nobukatsu mainly weakened the veteran retainers politically, and did not drastically reduce their territories.

Nobukatsu approved of his father's strategy of placing veteran retainers in various locations to form the core of local Oda regimes. Otherwise, he wouldn't have tacitly allowed Niwa Nagahide to annex the territories of five powerful daimyo.

Secondly, Takigawa Kazumasu had also eliminated potential instability within his own family in advance. Takigawa Masushige, as Kazumasu's adopted son-in-law, had in fact been the heir to his powerful faction from the beginning. How could Takigawa Kazutada, only sixteen or seventeen years old this year, have commanded a large state with over 500,000 koku of rice and an army of over 20,000 men during the war-torn years of the past?

Now that the world is at peace and there is no need for war, Takigawa Kazutada was able to smoothly succeed to the throne and take over the Maabashi Domain. However, this has put Takigawa Masashige, who has always been relied upon, in an awkward position within the Takigawa family.

Therefore, the best course of action is to nip this threat in the bud before Takigawa Kazumasu dies. Separate the family immediately, and let Takigawa Masushige lead his loyal followers to establish the Ashikaga Domain in Shimotsubo.

Finally, there's one more point: Takigawa Kazumasu's assessment of his son suggests that his skills are far inferior to those of a ruthless and vicious yakuza/mercenary leader. It will likely be very difficult for him to continue working in the central government.

It would be better to temporarily resign from the position of head of the household and let someone else take over. The person who comes in later should at least owe Takikawa Kazumasu a debt of gratitude, and perhaps he can take care of Takikawa Kazutada this time.

In short, this has happened, and it happened quite quickly, immediately becoming known to the world.

Perhaps out of joy, or perhaps out of excitement, Nobukatsu also mentioned that Takigawa Masushige had rendered meritorious service in the earlier campaign against Echigo, launching a fierce attack on Ueda-Sakado Castle. He added that the current 46,000 koku was somewhat meager, and therefore proposed adding another 14,000 koku, making him a lord with 60,000 koku.

Takigawa Masushige naturally expressed his gratitude, understanding that he could not possibly inherit the Takigawa main family. To become an independent daimyo with a stipend of 60,000 koku was already a very good outcome.

Thus, a new political situation emerged, and the "Four Heavenly Kings of Oda" situation left by Oda Nobunaga became a de facto vacancy, requiring replacements.

Furthermore, taking this opportunity, Nobukatsu finally made public his plan to establish the "Three Elders." Of course, this was done in front of the three elders, and in effect, it was also made public to all the feudal lords.

Since all the feudal lords were under the walls of Azuchi Castle, everyone was inquiring about the outcome of this matter.

Before being summoned to the meeting, Shichibei anticipated that Nobukatsu might try to recruit his good father-in-law, Mori Terumoto, into the ranks of the chief retainers. Immediately forcing out all the retainers left behind by Nobunaga would be detrimental to unity and to the united front work with the Owari fudai. Retirement was something that had to be done step by step.

However, this did not prevent Nobukatsu from wanting to have his own mouthpiece and representative among the four elders. Before the country was unified, the only people he could rely on were the hereditary successors from Owari. Now that the country was unified, all land under heaven belonged to the emperor. Mori Terumoto had also become a de facto retainer, and he had a close relationship with Nobukatsu.

Therefore, it became possible to promote Mori Terumoto to the position of chief retainer of the Oda clan.

It's only a possibility, because the Oda clan's rule was based on the hereditary succession of the Owari clan. At its core were the old Owari, old Oda, and old samurai families from the four counties of Shimotsu, who had fought alongside Nobunaga for the longest time. On a slightly broader scale, it was only two or three thousand samurai families at the time of Owari's unification.

This is the core force that most staunchly supports the Oda clan's rule and assists Nobukatsu's administration. It would be necessary to gain the approval of the Owari fudai (hereditary chief retainers) before an outsider could become a chief retainer.

We still need to negotiate. At the very least, we need to get the three chief retainers—Hideyoshi Hashiba, Nagahide Niwa, and Nagayoshi Kawamura—who are all highly respected and popular among the Owari hereditary leaders, before we can possibly get Terumoto Mori into the family.

"I intend to restore the Seven Elders system that was in place during the time of the late Prime Minister!"

As a result, Shichibei thought about it for a long time. After entering the room, he saw Hijikata Yuhisa, Takikawa Yuri, and Ataka Kiyoyasu sitting on one side. Before he could figure it out, he heard Nobuo say something like that.

Depend on!

Nobuo's move is clever; he's directly expanding the ranks, further increasing the size of his retainers. Besides Terumoto Mori, there are three more openings, making it harder for the Owari rebellion to unite and resist Terumoto's appointments.

After all, a new emperor brings a new court, and Nobukatsu needed to promote a capable and compliant official like the Owari no Fudai to serve as his chief retainer. Only in this way could he effectively govern.

The same was true for the shoguns of the Edo shogunate. The senior councilors were definitely selected from the hereditary generation, but how and who to select depended on the shoguns' mood.

“It is only natural.” As the chief retainer, Hideyoshi knew that Nobuo would take this opportunity to replace him after learning that Takigawa Kazumasu had retired.

How could he possibly go against Nobukatsu's wishes? For Hideyoshi, this was even a good opportunity. Hideyoshi himself had a close relationship with Maeda Toshiie; the two were old friends who had known each other since their days as commoners. If he could use this opportunity to elevate Maeda Toshiie, then the Hashiba family would also be able to receive support for the next ten or twenty years.

When the next Oda Saburo monk reigns, the Hashiba family may rise again.

“That’s only right.” Niwa Nagahide then prepared to strongly recommend Nagano Nobu, for two reasons.

First, Nagano Nobukatsu's daughter was given to Oda Nobuo as a concubine, which was a plus for Oda Nobuo. Second, Nagano Nobukatsu's eldest son, Sanjuro, was engaged to Shiba Yoshigami's daughter, with Niwa Nagahide acting as matchmaker.

The marriage was approved by Oda Nobunaga at the time, since Shiba Yoshigane was Nobunaga's former lord. With this marriage as a condition for reconciliation, Shiba Yoshigane was forgiven.

"There are many national affairs to attend to, and there is indeed a need to fill vacancies." Shichibei did not have any particularly suitable candidates to recommend.

Anyway, he was the lowest-ranking chief retainer and Ōchikata, and Nobunaga elevated Shichibei's status mainly because Shichibei was so useful. He was truly incredibly effective at using Shichibei, so much so that by 1553, the unification of Japan was achieved. Supply was never an issue, and military provisions were never lacking.

Because of this, Nobuo will most likely still appoint Kawamura Nobuyoshi. It's simply a matter of Shichibei leaving and Kawamura Nobuyoshi taking his place – the same thing.

“Excellent. In addition, I intend to establish a senior official position to manage the affairs of the Heavenly Territory.” Xin Xiong indeed intended to appoint three senior officials.

Some say the first generation conquers the land, the second establishes the system, and the third maintains the dynasty. Upon closer examination, it seems that feudal regimes do indeed follow this pattern. The first and second generations have different roles, which is why both the founding emperor and the founding emperor are important; it's not that the achievements of the founding emperor were necessarily inferior to those of the founding emperor.

Only by establishing a long-term and effective system can a dynasty maintain its normal operation. Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many regimes that perished after only two generations. If the system established by the second generation is unstable, it will be difficult to operate by the third generation, because by then various interest groups have already formed, and it's hard to change course once the ship is large enough.

"It must be these three." When Nobunaga was alive, he directly handed these matters over to Murai Sadakatsu. After Murai Sadakatsu died in battle, he handed them over to Matsui Tomokazu, Hasegawa Soichi, and others. Now it's just a change of name and people.

The territory of the emperor definitely needs to be managed. Didn't they just set up the Silver Mine Chief Administrator and appoint Tsuchiya Nagayasu the other day? It's all to formalize the temporary or adjunct positions that existed during the Nobunaga era.