Owari Yumeki Golden Day.

"Endure?" What? Do I have to be able to accept it and hold on?

Shichibei received the imperial decree from Osaka in the name of Oda Katsuhoshi, and was utterly disheartened. These people were truly incompetent; how could they possibly let Tokugawa Ieyasu off the hook?

"Sigh..." Only Kiyoyasu Ataka could calmly talk to Shichibei like this. If it were someone else, it wouldn't be impossible for Shichibei to suddenly lash out.

"Please wait a moment." Shichibei thought for a moment and felt that this matter could not be left unresolved.

While I'm working hard on the front lines in Kanto for the unification of the country, people in the rear are already starting to be wary of me. In this situation, it would be a waste to do nothing.

Turning his head, Shichibei took out the Great Seal of the Unification of the Realm, quickly wrote out a certificate of peace and stability, stamped it with the Great Seal, and it took effect on the spot.

Granted a title of 250,000 koku to the Naritazaemon clan, Choezen Hokuso.

You're trying to mess with me, huh? Well, I'm not going to stay silent. Either I don't do it at all, or I do it head-on.

Although Oda Katsuhoshi has now been adopted by Mori Komatsu-hime and become Oda Nobukatsu's legitimate son, the fact that his mother was Narita Kai-hime and his maternal grandfather was Narita Uchinaga has long been known throughout the feudal lords.

Narita Ujinaga was certainly willing to sacrifice himself to protect Oda Katsuhoshi's succession. All his wealth and glory, as well as the success or failure of the Narita family afterward, depended on Oda Katsuhoshi.

But what if Shichibei increased his rank from 50,000 koku to 250,000 koku?

Will Osaka accept this or not? Moreover, Shichibei not only granted all of Echizen's territory to Narita Ujinaga, but also issued a second official document. On the grounds that Oda Nobukatsu's Oma-mawari and Ohatakemoto ashigaru had suffered heavy losses and could no longer control his direct territories of more than 3.5 million koku, Narita Ujinaga was to temporarily take over the 85,000 koku direct territories of Wakasa.

In effect, this elevated Narita Ujinaga to the status of a powerful Kunimichi daimyo with 335,000 koku of rice, giving him a position and strength that could rival Mori Terumoto.

As mentioned earlier, after Narita Uchinaga changed his position, he served Oda Nobukatsu as a stable boy with a stipend of 5,000 koku. Because Kai-hime gave birth to a son, he was granted a fief of 50,000 koku in Kitasho and was put in charge of the 200,000 koku territory of Echizen.

So he packed up the declining Uesugi and Ashikaga clans of Ueno, Musashi, and Shimotsuke, along with some retainers of the Hojo clan, and sent them to Kitasho. The Great Tensho Earthquake struck en route, but because they were traveling along the road, they suffered no loss.

The entire Narita retainer group was very strong, consisting of seasoned and shrewd Kanto samurai. Otherwise, Shichibei would not have ordered Narita Uchinaga to effectively serve as the regional commander of the Hokuriku region, blocking Oda Nobushige's general who might directly invade the Kinai region at Kita-sho.

I want to see how the Osaka people will be dealt with.

If this is approved, then Narita Ujinaga will inevitably have to compete with Mori Terumoto for control of the central government. Why not seize control of the central government while Shichibei is away, or wait until Shichibei returns to fight for it?

If you disagree? Haha, that would be an absolutely spectacular farce.

Even if someone were to kill Narita Ujinaga and Kaihime, unless they later kill Oda Katsufumi, Oda Katsufumi will definitely ask himself why his mother and grandfather died when he grows up.

Now that so many people know about this, if any one of them were to stand up and tell him, then those who oppose Narita Ujinaga and their descendants would surely be killed by Oda Katsuhoshi.

Unless he has the ability to usurp the throne while Shichibei is "watching him like a hawk," this is merely a period of time when the arrogant Oda Katsufuji is still a minor. Once Oda Katsufuji comes of age and takes power, then congratulations on your fortune, your whole family will rise to the top.

Damn it, you want to fight me? You guys go first.

Upon seeing the two red-stamped documents signed by Shichibei, Kiyoyasu Ataka's expression of surprise was no less than his earlier astonishment upon learning in Osaka that the Tokugawa family had been pardoned.

"I will pardon the Tokugawa family as predicted." Shichibei has now changed his mind. Since the Tokugawa family cannot be sent to heaven, he will take the opportunity to go to Aizu and send Aizu Kuniyoshi to heaven.

Aizu's territory of 500,000 koku is a tempting prize. Add to that the territories stripped from the feudal lords of Kanto, and the world is about to undergo a major upheaval.

"..." Kiyoyasu Ataka wanted to say something, but in the end he didn't say anything. He just put the two red-stamped documents in a bag and sealed them.

What to do? With just his small Atake family, he has no way to quell the chaos inside and outside the Oda regime.

What will become of our Oda Grand Chancellor's regime (choking up) (choking up again)?

Instead of immediately informing Osaka of the decision within Edo Castle, Shichibei began to deal with the Kanto faction. Yoshikawa Motonaga was replaced, Sakuma Nobueshige was replaced, Yuki Hideyasu was replaced, Utsunomiya Kunitsuna was replaced, Takikawa Masushige was replaced, Yamauchi Kazutoyo was replaced, Kanamori Nagashige was replaced, Satomi Yoshiyori was replaced, and the Nasu faction was replaced.

Takikawa will be dealt with temporarily, and the matter will be handled by Osaka. Ashikaga Yorijun and his son Kuniyoshi were completely loyal and did not join the rebels, and they continued to maintain their 10,000 koku of Koga province. Satake Yoshishige and his son Yoshinobu rushed to the aid of the Western Army and maintained their 560,000 koku of Hitachi province.

Takikawa Otoshi and Hijikata Osamu, whose territories had been previously seized, were each given a new fief of 75,000 koku. Whether to grant them additional fiefs will be discussed later.

Furthermore, Utsunomiya Asakatsu rushed to Osaka day and night to inform them of Oda Nobushige and Tokugawa Ieyasu's rebellion, and retreated to Yamashiro Castle. After Shichibei arrived in Kanto, he responded by coming to pay his respects to the general. For his meritorious service, he was rewarded, and Shichibei wrote him a letter of guarantee for 50,000 koku of rice, but could not guarantee the exact location.

After all, it still needs to be discussed. Anyway, Utsunomiya Asakatsu breathed a sigh of relief. Although the Utsunomiya family did not retain all 120,000 koku, at least the Utsunomiya family name was preserved.

So he pleaded repeatedly, hoping to be granted a post in Shimotsuke. He was also willing to lead troops into battle as the vanguard of Shichibei's campaign to pacify Aizu.

Young man, don't be in such a hurry. Shichibei still has to deal with other people. Edo Castle hasn't even opened yet.

With so many daimyo being changed and countless becoming ronin, a large-scale pacification effort is definitely needed. Those who should be disarmed should be disarmed, and those who should be captured should be captured. This is a good opportunity to seize the money and provisions that Tokugawa Ieyasu has distributed to them, to maintain the siege of Edo.

Every extra day the siege of Edo lasted, Tokugawa Ieyasu lived in constant fear. The goal was to keep Tokugawa Ieyasu living in terror, unable to sleep peacefully day and night.

Shichibei didn't handle the pacification himself; instead, he delegated the task to Satake Yoshishige and his son, Yoshinobu. It's better to let them be the villains than to do it ourselves.

The feudal lords who were later transferred to Kanto were not necessarily as powerful as the Satake family in Kanto. If you wanted to suppress them, you had to let the Satake family ruin their reputation in Kanto.

Satake Yoshishige and Yoshinobu, whose backsides were not entirely clean, mobilized their troops very quickly and immediately responded to Shichibei's call.

Chapter 663 Considering the Post-War Reassignment

Edo Castle was opened.

Shichibei did not convey the exact order from Osaka. Although he did not demand the extermination of the Tokugawa clan, he ordered all several hundred members of the Tokugawa family to pack their belongings and go to Osaka to pay homage to Oda Nobunaga. Before leaving, Shichibei gave Tokugawa Ieyasu a sealed document with the seal of 300,000 koku of rice as a guarantee of security.

That's settled then. Let's set off. Edo Castle is temporarily under the control of the Western Army.

After confirming that Shichibei did not intend to kill prisoners, and that Lady Oichi and Tokugawa Takechiyo had been released, Tokugawa Ieyasu, truly flexible and adaptable, immediately shaved his head and announced his retirement as a monk. After entrusting his business to Tokugawa Takechiyo, he took his entire family to Osaka.

We can no longer keep Ieyasu in Edo; we have to move him somewhere else. We could even send him to Bungo with 200,000 troops plus 100,000 troops in Hyuga, but we have to move.

If Ieyasu is not killed this time, he will naturally become the leader of the Kanto faction after Oda Nobushige's death. He already has considerable influence among the Kanto faction, and not taking any precautions would only lead to future trouble.

A fight is definitely brewing in Osaka; Shichibei merely slightly modified the orders they sent. What, at a time like this, do you think they'd dare reprimand Shichibei?

Even if you gave them eight times the courage of a bear and a leopard, they still wouldn't have the ability.

He met with Tokugawa Ieyasu, who was humble and respectful, repeatedly thanking Shichibei for sparing his life. The mountains of military equipment and provisions piled up in Edo Castle, along with Tokugawa Ieyasu's own vast wealth, were all handed over to Shichibei.

That's how it should be. Tokugawa Ieyasu's attitude was truly impeccable, and Shichibei couldn't really find fault with him even if he wanted to.

After all, in public, he was a member of the Oda clan, son-in-law of the Oda family, and a powerful daimyo with a fief of 800,000 koku. He deserved the respect due to the powerful clan.

Instructing Ataka Oyasu, who was escorting Tokugawa Ieyasu and Lady Oichi, not to treat them harshly, Shichibei prepared to pack up and head to Aizu. The Kanto region was temporarily handed over to the Satake father and son, along with some Western Army personnel.

For example, when Yoshikawa Hiroie took over the Yoshikawa family, and Sakuma Nobuzane (the third son of Nobumori) took over the Sakuma family, since the family name would not be interrupted, these defeated Eastern Army lords did not have much to fiercely resist. Some even speculated that these sons and nephews who were in the Western Army might have succeeded to the main family, becoming the new main branch of the clan, inheriting the territory and family name.

It's just a matter of serving a different master. Anyway, the new master is either the old master's brother or son, or at the very least, a cousin. It's perfectly acceptable.

Driven by his massive army, Shichibei set up his main camp at Harukiyoshi's Kuroba Castle in Ōtahara. The Nasu clan had undergone a complete transformation, making the local situation quite uncertain. However, Shichibei, having come this far, figured he might as well shave their heads all at once, and even secretly allowed the Nasu clan to defect to the Aizu vassal rebellion.

Killing them all would be the easiest solution. Shichibei, who had already been mired in the quagmire of Japan's Warring States period countless times, certainly possessed this much ruthlessness. How could one establish authority or rule if one dared not kill? Killing one was a crime, but slaughtering ten thousand made one a hero.

Oda Nobunaga's sword hilt was the hardest, which is why he gained control of the land. Even after countless betrayals, he never wavered in his determination to hold the sword hilt firmly.

How to do?

The only solution is to kill.

Because Shichibei had promised that strict military discipline wouldn't be necessary upon entering Aizu, and most of the officers and soldiers came from western Japan, and they weren't all exceptionally brave. Once in Aizu, everyone was eager to win, and everyone was warlike. Their momentum was unstoppable.

While they were advancing, Shichibei began to consider how to relocate the large amount of land that had been confiscated.

The Kanto region should ideally remain a system of multiple powerful states vying for dominance; we cannot allow another large domain like the Tokugawa with 800,000 koku to emerge. Reaching 400,000 to 500,000 koku would be the absolute limit.

But the problem is, with so many feudal lords changing hands all at once, where will people be brought in to fill these territories?

Shichibei had initially considered discussing the matter with his retainers, but he remembered Lady Oichi's earlier words: "Sometimes, you yourself may not have any particular thoughts, but once you've reached that point, your subordinates will try to push you to the top."

If we were to discuss this with Takenaka Shigeharu and Todo Takatora, their answer would undoubtedly be to establish large domains for Shichibei's sons-in-law and brothers-in-law, then protect Shichibei and vie for power.

Under the current circumstances, it is impossible for Shichibei to occupy a territory of four or five million koku. If he were to possess such a vast territory alone without any legitimate claim to power, he would quickly become a target of public criticism.

The system of feudalism should continue; it is a form of governance that aligns with Japan's national conditions and the trends of the times. At least under the current circumstances, any attempt to establish a centralized government in Japan is pure fantasy.

Still dreaming of a major overhaul? Dream on.

So when Shichibei sat down alone, he began to ponder this question. Besides bestowing titles and promotions upon those who had rendered meritorious service in the Battle of Kiso River, was there another possibility? To grant titles and promotions to our own powerful retainers based on their achievements?

Shichibei now needs a vassal state that is completely loyal to him, not like the current Western Provinces, who follow Shichibei's lead in everything except for Oda Katsufumi.

Afterwards, he will return to Osaka to fight for power. The people of the western provinces will certainly support Shichibei, but if things get involved with Oda Katsuhoshi later, it is hard to say whether this support will be 100% secure.

Even if it was just to have a group of loyal followers in Osaka who wouldn't be swayed by Oda Katsuhoshi's influence, Shichibei still needed to establish a group of lords who were entirely from the Kawamura system, so that he would have people wholeheartedly agreeing with him when he argued.

Selfish motives, absolutely self-interest. But if we don't do this, those people in Osaka will definitely do everything they can to remove Shichibei from the central leadership and strip him of his power.

At this point, the power no longer belonged to Shichibei himself, but was effectively shared by all those who were subordinate to and supported him. Shichibei was merely the one standing atop the mountain, tightly gripping power; the foundation of the entire mountain lay with the other feudal lords.

Over the years, although Shichibei did not deliberately gather talents from all over the country, he did indeed gather a group of talented people in the Kawamura household. Their talents were not limited to those earning 10,000 or 20,000 koku, and sending them out would allow them to perform on the Japanese stage.

Just like Goto Mototsugu and Watanabe Ryo, Goto Mototsugu led troops to cooperate with Shimazu Sanada and defeated the army of Yoshikawa Sakuma. Watanabe Ryo led troops to break the Eastern Army's Kinzan Special Forces and then launched a strong attack on Tokugawa Ieyasu's main force, capturing Ieyasu's shadow warrior, Sakakibara Yasumasa.

The merits of these two individuals are enough to raise their salary from 50,000 shi to 150,000 shi, or even higher.

Takatora Todo and Tanemi Akizuki broke through the Eastern Army's Kitano Special Operations Unit. Although it could not be called a first-class merit, it did protect the main camp. It was no problem to increase the number of troops from 30,000 to 100,000.

Similarly, Hara Nagayori also participated in the attack on Yoshikawa Motonaga and defended against Honda Tadakatsu's surprise attack; it was just a matter of turning 30,000 into 100,000 in a single sentence.

If someone wants to get promoted, there are always ready-made reasons.

If we get all the old guys involved, at least when we have a meeting in Osaka, there will be a lot more people cheering us on. We won't even need Shichibei to jump in and lead the charge anymore; we can let the underlings go first and see what the enemy is really like.

Having secretly put that thought aside, the placement of the other group became more difficult. Asking people like Shimazu Tadatsumi and Amago Katsuhisa to leave their old territories like Satsuma and Izumo would be tantamount to breaking ties with them.

Even if the reward went from 500,000 to 800,000, or from 300,000 to 500,000, they wouldn't be willing to change their titles. But they have all made great contributions, and if they are not rewarded, there will definitely be some friction.

They could only learn from the Tokugawa Shogunate's practices, such as the Date clan having a governorship in the Kinai region and even allocating 100,000 koku to Masamune's eldest son.

The main family remained in their ancestral homeland and old territory, so there was nothing to say about that. The other sons, including the second and third sons among their retainers, were separated to establish smaller, separate domains. This resolved the samurai problem within their own domain and also allowed them to establish another branch domain.

This means having an additional legitimate branch of the family. If the main lineage dies out, an heir can be chosen from a collateral branch. If conditions permit, feudal lords are willing to support several collateral branches.

Those without the means could only watch helplessly as their extra sons were given away for adoption or became monks. With a large family in one generation, the fate of the next was left to chance. Even a large clan like the Shimazu family experienced the extinction of the main branch in the late Edo period, requiring inheritance from collateral branches.

Poor people can't afford to marry and die out before the third generation, and the same goes for rich people. The most typical example is the Imperial Family, right? There's only one heir left, which has led to ongoing discussions about restoring a female emperor and finding an heir from the former imperial family, whose imperial lineage was stripped by Emperor MacArthur.

So Shichibei secretly approached Amago Katsuhisa and Shimazu Tadatsu to discuss it. Amago Katsuhisa waved his hand repeatedly, but Shichibei held him down and insisted that he accept it.

In this way, Amago Katsuhisa summoned his elder brother. Amago Katsuhisa was enthroned as the head of the Amago family, but he was not the eldest son of Amago Masahisa; he had older brothers.

His elder brother, Amago Ujihisa, had committed seppuku alongside him in the past. Now, he was short and stocky, with dark skin and a burly build. He had also fought alongside Amago Katsuhisa for many years.

At first, he was a little confused but impressed. Then Shichibei said that Amago Katsuhisa had attributed all the credit to him, so Shichibei promised to settle Amago Ujihisa with at least 70,000 koku, make him an independent daimyo, and add a new branch to his family genealogy. Amago Ujihisa immediately kowtowed to Shichibei and Amago Katsuhisa, almost shedding tears.

In this way, there would be no legitimate eldest son above Amago Katsuhisa, which wouldn't exactly be a problem. At least the household would be completely ruled by Amago Katsuhisa.

The situation was much simpler for Shimazu Tadatsumi; his family only sent six thousand men, all of whom were "volunteers." If it weren't for Shichibei's sake, they probably wouldn't have even sent that many.

So what I'm saying is, "Father, you've already given your son a few military funds; there's no need for any further titles. They're too ashamed to accept any honors. A great nation capable of mobilizing over 20,000 men only sent 6,000 in the end—that's shameful enough."

That's true, it's a bit disappointing that the Shimazu family only sent so few people.

Okay, money can solve this, it's that simple. Shichibei can easily give us 30,000 to 50,000 kan. Everyone can take a rice stalk and go to Osaka to take a boat back to Satsuma.

Oh, and there's also the matter of Nobutaka Hatakeyama.