Owari Yumeki Golden Day.

finally come!

No, three strings!

By this time, the rumors about flooding and crop failure in Mikawa were no longer important. What mattered was that only Inase Yoshinari controlled tens of thousands of koku of grain in Anonozu.

Whether you want to buy it or not, you have to buy it.

Of course, there was also a rice shop in Anonozu. The owner of that shop had an even better nose than Inase Yoshinari. As soon as Nobunaga arrived in Tsushima, he immediately closed the gates, transferred his property, and hoarded several thousand koku of grain, waiting for the right opportunity.

The man buying rice, upon hearing it cost three kan to one shi (a unit of dry measure), immediately wanted to punch Inase Yoshinari. The five samurai guarding Inase Yoshinari immediately placed their hands on their sword hilts. "Even if a deal falls through, we can still be on good terms," ​​they thought, "but if you resort to violence, don't blame us for drawing our swords too."

In addition, why did Shichibei repeatedly instruct Inase Yoshinari to spend money to rent warehouse space and store the purchased rice in the storehouse of the Annozu Association?

Of course, it's because the Anonatsu Association also has thousands of loyal followers, as well as two or three thousand men who can be armed at any time to protect the storehouses, rice granaries, and shops.

With just three villages and a hundred old, weak, and mixed peasant soldiers, you dare to come to Anongjin to rob?

The entire Ise region, including the Kitabatake clan and the former Nagano clan, possessed sufficient military strength to launch a solo attack on Anozu, which was administered by the Huiheshu (a powerful local confederation). Other local powerful clans, unless they formed a large alliance of twenty or thirty clans, would have no chance of attempting to attack Anozu.

Having struggled to survive through the chaotic Warring States period of Japan, the Anōtsu Guild would have been wiped out long ago if they hadn't maintained sufficient military strength. Merchants understand the principle that the stronger one's guns, the more assertive one's words will be.

At this time, Nobunaga had already set fire to Kuwana County. It was said that an army of 60,000 from five provinces (Owari, Mino, Mikawa, northern Omi, and Kai reinforcements) would arrive immediately. If they did not buy rice and go home, Nobunaga would tear down their doors.

Don't even think about the wonderful idea of ​​luring the peasants and soldiers into the city first. The peasants in the Warring States period were incredibly shrewd. They would only go into the city if you gave them rice. It was the most basic and natural principle.

In "The Castle of Puppets," the peasants, upon hearing that Toyotomi Hideyoshi's army was approaching, packed their belongings and fled. If it weren't for Narita Nagachika's reputation and prestige, Oshi Castle wouldn't have had three thousand men and women to defend it.

Only when there is plenty of rice will the farmers outside the city pick up the guns they "picked up" by the fallen warrior hunters and enter the city to participate in the defense of the city.

I had no idea who the rice buyer was. He paced back and forth at the door, then gritted his teeth and stamped his foot, instructing his servant to bring two large baskets of money from elsewhere. "I'll admit defeat," he said, "I'll immediately give you eighty bushels of rice."

"Money makes things easier; it would have been so much better if we'd done this sooner." Inase Yoshinari, also a former shop assistant, believed in making money through harmony and wasn't angry at all about the threat of being punched. He stuck to his word about the agreed-upon price of three kan and would never raise it later.

After the first person left, another entered. He was short and small, perhaps even shorter than Shichibei, and thin, but looked mature. This man introduced himself as Ueki Kurozaemon, a branch of the Ueki family of Genben District. He asked, "Who is Inase Yoshinari's master?"

master?

"If you're buying rice, I'd be very happy. As for who your master is? I can't say." Inase Yoshinari knew he wasn't making any legitimate money, so there was no need to flaunt Shichibei's name everywhere.

"Haha, boss, you're so young, yet you have tens of thousands of kan (a unit of currency) in capital. The people behind you are only two or three people." Kamiki Kurozaemon smiled and continued the conversation.

"What do you intend to do?" What they said was absolutely right.

At this time of year, those who could produce tens of thousands of kan (actually over 13,000) in cash were either Kitabatake Tomokori in the south or Oda Nobunaga in the north. Ueki's guess was actually quite accurate; he had probably already deduced most of the key to the rice purchase.

“If it’s the north, I’m willing to serve you faithfully, just to ensure your safety. If it’s the south, I’ll just buy rice and have no other plans,” Kamiki Kurozaemon whispered quickly into Inase Yoshinari’s ear.

"I cannot decide such a big matter. If you are willing, you should go to Tsushima to pay your respects immediately." Inase Yoshinari had never encountered such a situation before, and thought of pushing the person in front of him to his brother-in-law, Kawamura Shichibei.

He was being reckless. By pushing him, Shichibei would assume that this was a trusted patron of the country, someone he was willing to vouch for. And since Shichibei wouldn't doubt Inase Yoshinari, he would use his own position to push this person to Nobunaga, also vouching for him.

If nothing goes wrong, all will be well; but if something does happen, Shichibei will definitely be held accountable.

It's also Shichibei's fault for not anticipating this situation before Inase Yoshinari arrived, and for omitting a few words.

"I couldn't ask for more, I couldn't ask for more!" Kamiki Kurozaemon immediately took out two large gold coins and stuffed them into Inase Yoshinari's hand. He didn't even bother buying rice anymore, he just wanted Inase Yoshinari to send him to Tsushima as soon as possible.

Clutching the gold coin, Inase Yoshinari turned and instructed a waiter to take the wooden speedboat to Tsushima. The young man was quite efficient at collecting money, not feeling there was anything wrong with it, treating it as payment for the boat.

The transformation from deserted to bustling with activity took only half a day. Just two weeks ago, these wealthy families were eagerly selling grain, and now they were eagerly buying it.

The local rice shop owner from Tsushima went directly to Inase Yoshinari's door to form a price alliance. What others didn't know, he was well aware that Inase Yoshinari was backed by Kawamura Shichibei, and Kawamura Shichibei was backed by Oda Nobunaga.

Nobunaga was ruthless; he not only seized people's family businesses but also their wealth.

Nobunaga's ruthlessness is no match for this rice shop owner. Tomorrow, raise the price of rice to 3500 kan, 400 kan wouldn't be out of the question. Nobunaga's sword is about to strike; if we don't make a profit now, it'll be hard to earn this kind of cheap money again.

The man spoke with great candor, and Inase Yoshinari naturally accepted it sincerely. In a short period of time, thousands of koku of grain were sold, and both families made a fortune. With the involvement of this powerful and wealthy merchant from the Annozu Guild, Inase Yoshinari was very safe in Annozu, and could openly exchange gold and silver.

Equally successful for him was Nobunaga's advance into the three districts, with over 40,000 troops divided into several routes, attacking and plundering cities. Umeto Sanehide did not receive reinforcements from his good brother Rokkaku Yoshiharu, as he was attacked and killed by Takigawa Kazumasu, and his territories were confiscated.

The Asakura family, who resisted Oda Nobuhiro and the Mino Triumvirate's attack on Mofuku Castle, were completely wiped out; not a single member survived. Mofuku Castle was burned to the ground, becoming a ruin.

Nanbu Kanesuna, a member of the public faction under Nobunaga's command, initially adopted a defensive stance. However, upon seeing his son leading the way for Nobunaga, he casually slid down to his knees. He had at least informed Kitabatake Tomokyo, fulfilling his duty. But since he had "resisted," he had to be punished, and Nanbu Kanesuna was forced to become a monk. However, the family business was transferred to Nanbu Tadamichi.

With Nambu Tadaki as his traitor, he was willing to sacrifice his own friends rather than himself, and he sold out every family he could. Nobunaga greatly admired him, believing that the young man's self-sacrifice to the court and the public was a testament to his great loyalty to Nobunaga.

Thus, the three districts of northern Ise near Owari fell into Nobunaga's hands in just seven or eight days. The army quickly entered Mie and Suzuka districts, where Seki Morinobu was determined to resist Nobunaga's conquest to the death.

With the support of Seki Morinobu and Kobe Tomomori, Yamaji Dan, the lord of Takaoka Castle, bravely resisted the siege of Takigawa Kazumasu's army of several thousand, thus delaying the Oda army's offensive.

And indeed, Yamaji Danjo's resistance, which withstood an attack by thousands, immediately demonstrated its value in the united front. Nobunaga then allowed Yamaji Danjo to surrender, and not just any Yamaji Danjo, but the entire garrison he commanded.

Yamaji Danjo, who had been stubbornly resisting, had finally shown his loyalty to Kobe and Seki by surrendering the castle and joining the Oda clan's army. Yamaji's surrender greatly shook the branch families of the Seki family, and the Kokufu, Mine, Shikabushi, and Inao clans all collapsed and sided with Nobunaga.

Seki Morinobu was passable, but Kobe Tomomori was helpless when facing Nobunaga directly. Takigawa Kazumasu personally went into the castle to persuade him to surrender. The specifics of the negotiations are unknown, but Nobunaga ordered him to go to Gifu Castle immediately and bring his third son to him.

107. Entering Anon and collecting arrow money

From this perspective, Nobunaga was actually just an ordinary person. Or to put it more clearly, Nobunaga was still within the realm of "human," not to the point of being exceptionally intelligent to the point of being almost supernatural.

It turns out that Nobunaga was also taking things one step at a time, and only made a final choice when the time came.

Shichibei was quite pleased to suddenly realize that he actually had a certain "humanity," because serving a person was always better than serving a political machine. Humans have emotions and desires, so there was always room for negotiation. As long as there was room for negotiation, Shichibei, a small businessman, felt that life was full of sunshine.

It was only around this time that the Oda generals surrounding Nobunaga finally understood his plans for Ise. His earlier dispatch of Oda Nobukatsu south was intended to support a branch family within Ise, thus allowing him to control the region.

After gaining a comprehensive understanding of Ise, it became clear that the "Three Families of Ise" were all forces that needed to be controlled. They were the Seki family in the northern region, the Nagano family in the central region, and the Kitabatake family in the southern region.

Oda Nobukatsu had already explained to him his desire to be adopted into the Kudo family of Nagano. Having already promised his younger brother, Nobunaga couldn't easily go back on his word. Meanwhile, the Kitabatake family in the south wisely refrained from sending troops to confront Nobunaga. This was also related to Nobunaga's formidable army of 60,000; the Kitabatake family's mere 10,000-odd men wouldn't stand a chance against Nobunaga in open battle.

The remaining family is the Seki family in the northern region, but they are still fighting desperately in Kameyama Castle and refuse to surrender. So, we should support the Kobe family, a branch of the Seki family, to lead the surrendered local powerful clans in the northern region, replace the Seki family's position, and pacify the northern region.

Now, except for the area around Kameyama Castle, the five counties in the north have basically sided with the Oda clan. Nobunaga's decision to summon his ten-year-old son, Sanshichimaru, in order to establish his rule can be seen as a last resort.

Historically, the chaos in the Ise-Nagashima Rebellion was largely due to the fact that the current head of the Kobe family, Nobutaka Kobe, was quite young. Although he became the head of the Kobe family with his father's support, he was unable to effectively unite the Kobe retainers and suppress the powerful figures in the northern region.

If Sanjimaru were twenty years old this year, and had fought alongside them for three to five years, with dozens of trusted samurai he had promoted himself, along with the several hundred Northern Warriors who had joined him, he could easily muster an army of five thousand. With five thousand men holding Kobe Castle, even if a rebellion of ten or twenty thousand men were to break out, it wouldn't cause much trouble.

It's a pity that Nobunaga had too few sons and brothers who came of age.

In order to wait for Oda's Sanshichi-maru and to besiege Kameyama Castle, Oda's army of over 40,000 men halted. Nobunaga did not immediately enter Kobe Castle, as Kobe's Tomomori had just announced the surrender of the castle, and it would be extremely unwise to rush in.

First, Takigawa Kazumasu must be sent into the castle to gather all the castle soldiers and clear the castle. Only after ensuring that there is no one left inside will Nobunaga be allowed to enter the castle temporarily. The women and children who have been moved out of the castle will naturally become hostages. The male samurai will need to wait for Oda Sanshichimaru to arrive and pay their respects to the new head of the clan.

Soon, by boat and horseback, the message could be delivered to Gifu in just over a day. Oda Sanshichi Maru would arrive at Kobe Castle in four or five days at most.

On the contrary, how do we attack Kameyama Castle, which Seki Morishin is holding firm?

To be honest, this was Nobunaga's first time commanding such a large army, and he wasn't a god; he was quite flustered and overwhelmed. This was partly why Kameyama Castle was never captured.

After all, managing so many troops was enough to give Nobunaga a headache. He also had to win over the surrendered locals, support his allies, and install his sons in power. Anyone would have trouble managing so many things at once.

However, now that the five northern counties have been basically subdued and the army has set up camp around Kobe Castle, Nobunaga can now free up his resources to begin planning.

Takigawa Kazumasu pointed out to Nobunaga that many local powerful clans had been defeated and destroyed in Kuwana, Genben, and Asamei. Those smaller forces could be easily wiped out, and ronin could be placed to replace them. However, a large power like the Seki family had hundreds of retainers, from chief retainers and generals to foot soldiers, forming a complete samurai group.

Let's focus on absorption.

If Seki Morinobu is willing to surrender, Takigawa Kazumasu is willing to act as guarantor and asks Nobunaga to assign him a man to serve as his assistant.

Furthermore, the Seki family's power shrank dramatically after this battle. All the powerful local clans that had previously served under him now sided with Oda. The Seki family went from being able to gather over three thousand powerful local clans to being able to recruit only eight hundred to a thousand men—a tremendous reduction.

Seki Morinobu, who comes from the lineage of Taira no Sukemori of the Ise-taira clan and is a descendant of Seki Sakon no Shōkan Sanetada, will probably have to relinquish his status as the direct descendant of the Kobe family.

Later generations might think, "It's just a branch family of the main branch, what's the big deal?" Well, in modern Japan, this is a very significant matter. Below a certain social class, direct lineage branches are indeed meaningless. But at the level of Seki Morinobu and Kobe Tomomori, the main family is the main family. The main family holds the reins of the relationship between ruler and vassal, and in terms of legitimacy, they can command all branch families.

How many people would want to claim the coveted title of the direct descendant of the Seiwa Genji and the pillar of the family?

If someone splits up the main family and attacks the main family, regardless of whether they win or lose, they'll be labeled a rebel. Even if they win, they'll be accused of usurpation; if they lose, they'll be trampled underfoot.

If Seki Morinobu were to relinquish the title of the main branch of the family to the Kobe clan, the Kobe clan would then have the legitimate authority to lead all the branch families. This would be beneficial to both Oda Sanshichimaru, who would later become the head of the Kobe clan, and Takigawa Kazumasu, who hoped to gain a powerful retainer.

After some deliberation, Nobunaga agreed to Takigawa Kazumasu's request. He stated that if Seki Morinobu agreed to become a branch of the Kobe family and handed over hostages to Sanshichimaru, he would accept his surrender and ensure his safety.

"That's great..." Shichibei was genuinely envious, and with Kinoshita Hideyoshi sitting next to him, there was no need to pretend.

"It's nothing special," Hideyoshi smacked his lips, though he was actually quite envious.

Shichibei's forces were not large-scale samurai groups; they were either scattered individuals placed by Nobunaga or, like Takenaka Hanbei, only led a few dozen people.

Hideyoshi fared slightly better, as he had two core factions and forces: the Hachisuka Party and the Tsubouchi Party. The later figures, Makimura, Marumo, and Ikoma, were all from small provinces.

Therefore, Shichibei was particularly envious of Takigawa Kazumasu's samurai group, which suddenly gained hundreds of retainers, while Hideyoshi, though he didn't say it, was envious in his heart.

"In that case, Sakon will also become a samurai general." Shichibei watched Takigawa Kazumasu run out of the shogunate with great joy.

"At least he'll govern three counties, and perhaps five before the young lord of Sanshichimaru comes of age." Hideyoshi naturally understood this as well.

Oda Sanshichimaru is only ten years old; how could he possibly lead the people of northern Ise Province? It will definitely be Takigawa Kazumasu who handles this. The leadership will only be handed over to Sanshichimaru after he comes of age and completes his coming-of-age ceremony.

Of course, that's how it was ultimately done in history. Takigawa Kazumasu was transferred to Kozuke Province, and Kobe Nobutaka, after acquiring the local samurai group in northern Ise, made some preparations and prepared to attack Shikoku.

As it turned out, the Kita-Ise samurai were not familiar with Kobe Nobutaka. When news of the Honnoji Incident arrived, the tens of thousands of troops immediately collapsed, with most of the samurai and foot soldiers fleeing. Only a portion of Niwa Nagahide's army continued to follow.

Look at the mess this has made. Nobutaka's downfall was so quick, largely because he never built a large-scale, loyal samurai retainer group.

Takigawa Kazumasu's swift downfall was related to both his loss of Ueno and his entrustment of the samurai corps of Kita-Ise to Nobutaka, which resulted in the rapid disintegration of the samurai corps before it could be regrouped and was caught up in Hideyoshi's coup.

"Tsk tsk tsk..."

Doesn't this suggest that the latecomer surpassed the former? Shichibei and Hideyoshi served Nobunaga for many years before finally rising to the rank of general and retainer. Takigawa Kazumasu, on the other hand, seemed to become a samurai general and command five districts immediately after joining Nobunaga's ranks.

I wonder how many of you here disagree, and how many are unhappy about it.

"There's nothing to be sentimental about. They've been active in the Northern Frontier for many years." Hideyoshi composed himself, his expression remaining indifferent.

As the two were talking, a report came from outside that the young lord of Sanshichimaru had arrived. Then, several guards escorted the ten-year-old Oda Sanshichimaru to pay homage to Nobunaga.

With a "Your Majesty's pardon," Nobunaga had Sanshichimaru sit down next to him.

Regardless of whether he had loved this son before or thought he had great potential, Nobunaga now had to support his son and elevate his status.

Especially in front of a group of powerful figures from Ise Province, he helped Sanshichimaru establish his position. Kobe Tomomori, who had been standing to the side for a while, was instructed to bow to Sanshichimaru. From now on, they would be father-in-law and son-in-law, father and son, and ruler and subject.

Today we bow to each other as equals, but tomorrow we'll be sitting on the couch, bowing to Sanshichimaru as subjects.

Kobe Tomomori had a daughter (Suzu and Hime), who was outside the camp. Without discussing whether they were a good match or not, they immediately arranged their marriage and held a wedding at Kobe Castle. The bride, named Nobutaka, was born in her youth at Kobe Sanshichiro.

To ensure Nobutaka's safety in Kobe Castle and to build a trusted confidant group for him, Koda Hikoemon Takayuki, Okamoto Taroemon, Sakasensai, Miyake Gonemon, Sakaguchi Kindonosuke, Yamashita Sanemon, Suematsu Kichizaemon, and others were all transferred from Nobunaga Naotomi to Nobutaka's service.

Including the samurai retainers of the Kobe clan and the powerful families of Minamoto, Kokufu, Shikabushi, and Inao, the total number was six hundred. He immediately became the strongest and most substantial retainer group in the entire Oda clan.