In this troubled spring, the two Ji warriors who received the most attention in Guanbazhou turned out to be two pregnant women.
Shima Katsuo was pregnant and quickly and fiercely attacked Sekishuku Castle, which became the last straw that broke Satake Yoshige's will to fight.
Because the land of Higashi Musashi lacked the management of the Hime Warriors, she opened the door to convenience. A large number of rebels who went out to receive Yuen and were rewarded were recruited by Shiba and stationed in the Kanto Shiba Territory.
All the concubines cheered, naturally praising this loyal general of the Spo family who was both wise and brave.
With the grace of the saint above and the support of his tribe below, although Dao Shengmeng has been quietly raising his child recently, his prestige and reputation are getting higher and higher, and his power status has been further advanced.
The other pregnant woman was Hojo Ushimasa.
This weak governor, who had been suppressed by the Hojo retainers, had never been so easy to talk or so tough in life ever since he became pregnant with the saint's divine descendant and used his belly to control his retainers.
She first mobilized the Hojo army with all her strength, making the Hojo army the absolute main force of the rebel army in this rebellion of the Eastern People.
No matter how many members of the Hojo family went to the battlefield, this attitude alone was enough to help the Hojo family wash away many doubts inside and outside the Kanto Palace, and come ashore cleanly, claiming to be loyal ministers.
When the sage and the Kanto Minister had huge differences over the issue of dealing with the Oriental People, it was Hojo Ushimasa who rushed to Kawagoe Castle and took the initiative to invite Uesugi Kenshin and Takeda Shingen to come and talk.
At this moment, the eyes of the Kwanshu samurai family are focused on Kawagoe City, hoping that the Hojo clan's mediation will be successful and that the troubled land of Kanto will not be troubled and tortured again.
There are three important rivers in Musashi. The Narikawa-shaped river runs through the Musashi land from northwest to southeast, namely the Tama River, Arakawa, and Edogawa.
The Tama River is close to Sagami Province, the Arakawa is located in the central part, and the Edogawa is the lower reaches of the Tone River and is located on the geographical boundary between the two countries of Musashi Shimotsou.
Among them, the Arakawa River and the lower reaches of the Edogawa River merge into one, and exit to the sea in Edo Bay.
Kawagoe Castle, also known as Kawagoe Castle, has a very close relationship with Edo Castle. Both cities were built by the ancestors of the famous Ota family of Musashi Province.
Kawagoe Castle is located at the confluence of the Arakawa River and the Edogawa River, and Edo Castle is at the downstream outlet to the sea. The two formed the geographical defense line of the Musashi Kingdom facing the Lower Mainland.
The Ota family is the head of the Ogitani Uesugi family. The Ota ancestors made great contributions to the rise of the Ogitani Uesugi family. Therefore, the Ota family has a transcendent status in Musashi country.
During the period of conflict between the Kamakura Ashikaga family and the Ogitani Uesugi family, the ancestors of Ota built these two cities. The original purpose was to guard against the Kanto shoguns of the Furukawa domain.
But later, because they took advantage of the river, the two cities developed. Kagotsu Castle developed faster than Edo Castle and was located in a dominant position upstream, so it was called the father of Edo.
In this era, Kawagoe Castle was the largest city in Musashi, so the Hojo family was willing to dedicate Edo Castle and the land of Higashi Musashi to the saint. If it was Kawagoe Castle, the Hojo retainers would really not be willing to part with it.
The Hojo family has been complaining about the Kanto Shrine, hoping that the sage will move the offices of the Grand Council and the Standing Council of the Kanto Shrine to Edo Castle.
Although this was out of the Hojo family's selfish desire to be near the water, first-come-first-served, the Echigo Imperial Palace was too far away, and the Kanhachishu samurai family generally agreed.
Of course, the Uesugi family naturally opposed it with all their strength, and the two families had been secretly competing with each other.
The Hojo retainers group has such a good idea, but the core position of Kawagoe Castle in the Musashi Kingdom may soon be lost.
Because the sage had merged the Higashi Musashi land into the Kanto Shiba Territory, the pregnant Shima Katsuki regarded this land as a base for his children to settle down and live in the future, and was very concerned about it.
Edo Castle did not develop well in the past. On the one hand, it was because of the rivalry between the two Hojo tribes. Edo Bay was always at the forefront of the conflict and it was difficult to develop maritime trade routes.
On the other hand, it is also because the lower reaches of the Tone River are flooded. There are many swamps and reed beds in the area. It looks like a plain and fertile soil, but in fact there is a lack of arable land.
Commerce was hampered by battles at sea, and farming was hampered by floods on land. Even though Edo Castle occupied an excellent location at the seaport, it ended up being unable to develop Kagotsu Castle, which was an inland river transportation hub.
However, as the Satomi family bowed their heads and surrendered, and the diversion project of the middle and lower reaches of the Tone River was carried out smoothly, the two major unfavorable factors that hindered the development of Edo Castle were gradually disappearing.
Shima Shengmu is very optimistic about Edo Castle. The Dahu Territory is too small and too far away. The future of the Kanto Shiba Territory lies in the East Musashi Land, and the most suitable core city for development in the East Musashi Land is Edo Castle.
The place where Hojo Ushimasa received Takeda Shingen and Uesugi Kenshin is at the Hikawa Shrine on the east side of the outskirts of Kawagoe Castle.
After the imperial court was massacred by Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, Shintoism, which was closely related to the emperor, was also eradicated. Only a series of shrines such as Hachimangu Shrine, which worshiped the samurai god, were preserved.
The ancestors of Ota built Kawagoe Castle. This Hikawa Shrine has a detached status as a general guard outside the castle, so it has survived.
The local Hikawa Shrine is said to have a history of 2,500 years, and the name of the local Omiya comes from the Hikawa Shrine.
However, all the gods originally enshrined in the shrine were removed and replaced with the deity of the samurai god Hachiman Taimu. This was considered a pass.
The Omiya area where the shrine is located is a hundred miles away from Furukawa Castle and twenty miles away from Kagotsu Castle.
Takeda Shingen, who came to Omiya on horseback, looked at the torii gate outside the shrine and felt like laughing for no reason.
Things are changing so fast. Five years ago, during the Battle of Kawanakajima, Takeda Shingen and Uesugi Kenshin fought so hard in Hokushin that they wanted to bite each other to death.
During the Suruga invasion four years ago, Takeda Shingen tore up his alliance with the Hojo Imagawa family and swallowed Suruga City in one go. Hojo Ujiyasu also wanted to kill Takeda Shingen.
In just four or five years, the Takeda, Uesugi and Hojo families were able to sit in the system of the Kanto Shrine and discuss matters with Heqi.
What’s even more interesting is that Takeda Shingen’s daughter is four years old, Uesugi Kenshin’s daughter is two years old, and Hojo Ushimasa’s child is three months old. The children conceived by the three daughters are all from the divine seed of the saint.
I wonder what Hojo Uyasu, who is already in heaven, will think when he learns of this?
The three powerful clans fought to the death in Kanto, but in the end they were connected by a man named Gill, sitting at the same table, using the same pair of chopsticks to eat from the same pot.
Thinking of this, Takeda Shingen couldn't help but sigh, "What a bad fate, it's all because of that cute and hateful handsome boy."
The Hojo retainer who was greeting the guests beside her saw that Takeda Shingen was not moving, but was looking at the torii in a trance. She did not dare to rush him, but just waited silently.
After a while, Takeda Shingen came to his senses, touched the faint crow's feet at the corners of his eyes, and shook his head with a wry smile.
Every time I see the saint, I am amazed by his appearance.
Takeda Shingen is old, and so is Uesugi Kenshin, but Yoshigan Shiba will always have the handsome sixteen-year-old face, and the passage of time cannot leave the slightest trace on that saint's face.
Seeing that handsome face that is always youthful always makes Takeda Shingen nostalgic for the past, lamenting the ruthlessness of the years and the fickle changes of people's hearts.
It is rumored that when the saint was summoned, Uesugi Kenshin and Takeda Shingen fell out on the spot. In fact, it was only half correct.
The one who fell out was Uesugi Kenshin, who always had such a strong temper and was full of resentment like a resentful woman who was not satisfied with her desires. She was obviously a mother with a child, so how could she be so angry?
Takeda Shingen is one of the most powerful people in the city. Even when she kills someone, she stabs him with a smile. How could she fall out with the saint on the spot? At most, it was a soft knife thrusting, which made the saint unable to express his pain.
In fact, both Uesugi Kenshin and Takeda Shingen understood Uesugi Yoshigan's political intention of protecting the people of the East, but they were indeed in a dilemma.
The family property under the family name of the samurai family belongs to all Ji warriors under the family name. This is the traditional consensus of the samurai family.
The Hime Warriors are loyal to the family governor as retainers, and they actually safeguard the common interests of the entire Wu family group, including their own share.
Just like a modern joint-stock company, the family director is the chairman and can decide on development strategies.
But the major shareholders on the board of directors, and even the small shareholders who hold a small number of shares, the company still belongs to them, and they also have a share.
Retainers' allegiance to the master is similar to investing in shares, and allocating knowledge and deeds is similar to holding shares. The traditional evaluation system of the Wu family and the right to participate in the retainer group are, in a sense, restricted to the family governor.
Everyone is working hard with you in the hope of getting rich with you. If you can't make profits for everyone, then I will take my capital and invest elsewhere.
This is like a listed company. When the performance is good, hello, hello, hello, everyone, major shareholders and small shareholders laugh together and watch the stock appreciation in their hands.
If performance declines, stocks plummet, major shareholders reduce their holdings in various ways, and small shareholders want to cut off their shares and run away with their capital, how will they survive?
Therefore, the Wu family and listed companies actually have the same style. The leaders brag every day and improve their performance every year, but they dare not disappoint shareholders.
If a company collapses, it will result in bankruptcy at best. If a family business collapses, it will really kill the whole family, and the pressure will be even greater.
Shiba Yiyin forced each family in the Kanto Palace to help and relieve the people in the East. No normal family governor would dare to agree to this kind of thing casually, and the retainers group could not explain it.
From the perspective of a politician, Takeda Shingen understands that Yoshihiro Shiba is right, Kanhachishu needs to bridge the differences, and internal strife is the worst option.
But if you think of the Takeda family as a listed company, and look at those companies in the stock market that are eager for quick success, hype every day, and whose performance exceeds expectations at every turn, you can understand Takeda Shingen's embarrassment.
The Wu family's model of running a family business has no soil for outstanding politicians to display their talents. Small groups are selfish, and small hills only care about themselves. Who cares about the overall situation?
They quickly swallowed up today's benefits and realized the arbitrage. They would not be able to wait impatiently tomorrow, let alone consider long-term healthy development and invest a large amount first.
Forefathers planted trees, and future generations enjoy the shade. The reality is that no one is willing to plant trees. They are all thinking about cutting down trees to make money. Coerced by the short-sighted majority, what can be done well?
Bank of Japan supported the diversion project of the middle and lower reaches of the Tone River, using its own reputation as collateral to borrow large sums of money for water conservancy and production. Everyone tasted the benefits and were willing to follow up.
But when it comes to rescuing the people in the East, each family only sees the effort but not the reward. It must be said that there are benefits, and that is related to the overall political stability of the eight states.
Who cares about this stuff? Who is willing to use their own white grain to buy a so-called stable overall situation?
If the sky falls, there will be a tall man holding it up. Anyway, with the sage as the scapegoat, every family is naturally unwilling to pay, and they are all holding their money bags and pretending to be dead.
Yoshihiro Shiba summoned Uesugi Kenshin and Takeda Shingen, and mentioned that the strategy of counterpart assistance was to hope that his woman would have a longer-term vision and help take the lead and set an example.
But he didn't want to think about it. His woman was also the governor of the family, and she also had a group of Ji warriors behind her to eat. They were also in a difficult situation.
For example, Takeda Shingen, of course she understood that relieving the people of the East would be conducive to the stability of Guanbazhou and the future development of Shiba theocracy.
But can she be the standout? She can't!
Withdrawing from the Suruga Kingdom, suppressing the Kai people, and running the Hitachi Kingdom, many people in the Takeda retainers group were dissatisfied and felt that their vital interests were harmed.
Takeda Shingen even needed to use his daughter's future as an excuse to ask Takeda Nobutora, a mother with a notorious reputation, to help him calm down Koshin before he dared to focus on Hitachi Country's management.
If she supported the saint's counterpart assistance, and if the Takeda family became the leader, not to mention the dissatisfaction of the Kanto Palace families with the Takeda family, there would be twists and turns within the Takeda family.
Because his daughter was born irregularly and lacks morals, Takeda Shingen now wholeheartedly follows Yoshigan Shiba's strategy. He can be described as the most caring and iron ally.
How dare Uesugi Kenshin agree to something that even she didn't dare to agree to?
Although Uesugi Kenshin is unruly and has rough and direct methods of ruling the Echigo Group, she is just fierce-tempered, straightforward and not stupid!
In the past, Uesugi Kenshin may have paid a lot for Yoshihiro Shiba, and did many things for him to suppress the Echigo Group.
But things are different now. Uesugi Kenshin now has a daughter!
To put it mildly, Shiba Yoshigan and Uesugi Miyuki fell into the water at the same time. Who do you think Uesugi Kenshin will save first?
The Nagao family in the fuzhong had an unfair advantage in the country. They killed Echigo to protect the Uesugi family, and then defeated Echigo and took away the rule of Echigo.
Uesugi Kenshin had been fighting rebellions in her early years, and the unconvinced samurai family in the country were in rebellion one after another. She just relied on her super military talent to forcibly suppress the Echigo samurai group.
Although under the political guidance of Yoshihiro Shiba over the years, Uesugi Kenshin inherited the name of the Yamauchi Uesugi family and became the leader of Kanto, he was finally able to make his name justifiable and bring peace to the Echigo samurai family.
However, Uesugi Kenshin's governance methods were rough and rough, and the internal conflicts of the Uesugi family were worse than those of the Takeda family, let alone the Hojo family, which was known for its unity.
If Uesugi Kenshin dares to agree to help his counterpart, the Uesugi retainers group will immediately cause trouble.
Although those bastards in Echigo didn't have the guts to openly oppose the saint, they had many ways to disgust people secretly.
What Uesugi Kenshin values most now is Uesugi Miyuki's future. He doesn't want her inheritance rights to have any twists and turns, and he will try different methods in the country to torment the two unlucky guys Uesugi Kagetora and Uesugi Kagekatsu.
If the Echigo samurai group had disgusting thoughts and kowtowed to Uesugi Kagetora and Uesugi Kagekatsu a few more times, Uesugi Kenshin would find it difficult to accept it.
Uesugi Kenshin inherited his mother's family business, but the process of defeating the Echigo samurai family by family with swords was difficult and difficult for outsiders to understand.
She herself is suffering from PTSD, and naturally she doesn't want her daughter to go down the same old path again. Why should she be a useless leader for those bastards from the East?
Takeda Shingen shook his head. The saint's idea was correct, but the reality was that it couldn't be done.
She sighed again, walked up the steps step by step, passed through the torii gate, and saw Uesugi Kenshin standing tall and tall in front of the dance hall at the end of the steps.
Takeda Shingen smiled.
"Your Highness Uesugi arrived so quickly."
Uesugi Kenshin looked back and saw Takeda Shingen, and he didn't know what expression he should put on when facing this deep love rival.
Just three years ago, he was still planning to besiege the Takeda Territory at the Kanto Palace, vowing to chop off the head of this beast who had humiliated the saint.
But today, the two of them have to stand on the same side and be in trouble with the man they love.
This feeling is really disgusting.
Uesugi Kenshin didn't say anything, but Takeda Shingen took the initiative to join in the fun. He stepped forward and looked at the pebbles Uesugi Kenshin was playing with in front of the stage and asked.
"What is this?"
Uesugi Kenshin looked complicated, remained silent for a moment, and said.
"The trick of the shrine here is that it is a bonding stone. If you get it, you will have a beautiful marriage and stay with your lover for a lifetime."
The castle is as deep as Takeda Shingen, and when he heard Uesugi Kenshin say this with a melancholy tone, his expression became complicated.
The two love rivals who wanted to kill each other with a knife now met their eyes. After touching each other, they each turned their heads away, and their faces became unnatural.
Uesugi Kenshin threw the stone in his hand fiercely, and an arc disappeared in front of the two people.
"Pretentious and deceitful."
Takeda Shingen nodded.
"Nonsense."
Uesugi Kenshin made a gesture of invitation, Takeda Shingen responded politely, and the two of them moved forward side by side.
"I heard that Hojo Ushimasa has been ill for three months. He must be vomiting badly by now, right?"
"Of course I vomited violently, you and I know that all too well."
"...yes."
(End of chapter)
