On the night of March 17th, the fifth year of Tianwen (1536), at the fourth quarter of Hai hour, Anhara Castle in Anhara County, Suruga Province.
"Uncle?" Anhara Zhongyin, the lord of Anhara City, saw Taiyuan Xuezhai with a torch at the top of the city and hurriedly led him inside the gate. Anhara Masamori, the father of Taiyuan Xuezhai, was the first lord of Anhara City. The current lord of the city is Anhara Zhongyin, the grandson of Anhara Masamori and the nephew of Taiyuan Xuezhai.
"His Royal Highness the Governor died suddenly this morning. The cause of death is unknown. It is most likely related to the third son Xuanguang Huitan. He changed his name to Imagawa Ryozhen and returned to Imagawa Hall to seize the throne. He sent people to murder the fourth son. The poor monk took him and absconded here." Taiyuan. Xue Zhai got straight to the point, and Anhara Tadayin was completely stunned by the amount of information. It took him a long time to react, and he quickly wanted to send people to prepare the city defense.
"It's useless. If the Imagawa family's army comes, how long can the small Anhara Castle resist?" Taiyuan Xue Zhai shook his head and decisively stopped this act, "Burn the baggage in the city, take the Anhara family and all available soldiers in the city. , follow the poor monk."
"Understood." Anhara Zhongyin did not hesitate after hearing this and immediately followed the instructions. Half an hour later, a blazing fire broke out in Anhara City, and the family hurriedly fled eastward under the cover of more than two hundred soldiers from the Anhara family and dozens of followers brought by Taiyuan Xuezhai.
"Sir Anhara." After finally being free, Imagawa Ujimoto couldn't help but ask Anhara Tadayin, who obeyed Taiyuan Xuezhai's words, "Master, just one word from the teacher, you burned decades of accumulation and abandoned the city to follow. This is Why? Even if you are unwilling to report us to my third brother for the sake of fellow clan, you can still shut us out."
"Fourth Young Master, you have been following my uncle for so many years, but why haven't you understood my uncle and his abilities?" Upon hearing this, Anhara Tadayin showed a smile that reassured Imagawa Shimoto, "My uncle is already confident. With his talents, , our tribe just obeys orders, why do we need to think too much? Even my grandfather obeyed my uncle when he was alive, let alone this junior."
"You are confident..." Imagawa clan sighed and looked at the fleeing team, "I don't know where the old man got his confidence."
Soon after, the group arrived at Hengshan Castle in Anhara County. The Hengshan Castle Xingjin family is the natal family of Taiyuan Xuezai's mother. With Xingjin Port as its base, they command the Imagawa family's Xingjin navy and control Suruga shipping. Not long after Taiyuan Xuezhai entered the city, Hengshan City and Xingjin Port under the dark night were also ablaze with fire like Anhara City. The Xingjin family also took their family and abandoned the city and port to follow Taiyuan Xuezhai.
·
In the early morning of March 18, the fifth year of Tianwen (1536), at the fourth quarter of the Chou hour, Imagawa Pavilion.
"Report, traces of Taiyuan Xuezhai and Imagawa clan were found in Anyuan County! The Anyuan family burned the city and their supplies, and the Xingjin family burned the city and the port. They all abandoned the city and followed Taiyuan Xuezhai. The lord of Puyuan City, the Puhara Manshi According to reports, unidentified messengers were seen crossing the Fuji River to the east before nightfall, which is probably the deployment of Taiyuan Xuezhai. However, Taiyuan Xuezhai's team has disappeared after nightfall, and I don't know where it is now."
"Go east..." Imakawa Yoshizhin took a breath after hearing the news, feeling that the situation was gradually getting out of his control.
To the east...is Sagami Hojo.
·
In the early morning of March 18, the fifth year of Tianwen (1536), in order to bypass the surveillance of Puyuan Castle, Taiyuan Xuezhai and his party traveled through mountains and rivers and finally returned to Zentoku Temple in Fuji County. Returning to this temple, Imagawa Shimoto felt as if a whole world had passed away - only one day had passed. When he set out early yesterday morning to buy hangover medicine, he was just a layman monk who planned to spend his whole life in the company of flowers, birds, fish and insects. And one day later, he was already involved in a near-death battle for the family governor, and he had already been burdened with and would soon be burdened with the lives of more people. This sense of unreality tore at Imagawa Shimoto's will and caused him great pain.
"Master, what are your next plans?" Xingjin Zheng'an, the head of the Xingjin family, had just settled down with his family and came over in a hurry - and then discovered that he was actually the last one to arrive. Their subordinates, including Imagawa Ujimoto, Anhara Tadayin, brothers Anhara Tadōnori, and Tsuchikatsune, were already waiting in the reception room inside the temple.
"Yesterday I went to Imagawakan to see the flags of the important ministers in the city. Almost all of Nishi-Suruga and Naka-Suruga have arrived. Only the retainers and wealthy families of Higashi-Suruga have not arrived because they are far away. Maybe they have not yet confiscated them. I haven't heard any news from Imagawakan, and I don't even know that the late master is dead. Therefore, I want to cut off all communication between the Kadong area east of Fuji River and Imagawakan, and ambush all the ninjas, merchants and messengers coming and going. No one can Let it go." Taiyuan Xuezhai revealed his extremely ambitious goal, which greatly inspired the Imagawa clan.
"But teacher, Higashi is so big and there are so many roads, how can we lock it all?" Imagawa Ujimoto was the first to raise an objection, "Higashi Suruga has numerous wealthy families and people, including wealthy families like Katsurayama and Fuji. We only have a few hundred How can people cope with this?"
"Disciple, what do you think I am doing as a teacher at Shande Temple?" Taiyuan Xuezhai smiled confidently, even the two beards under his nose curled up, "Why do you think the First Master recalled us who were practicing in Kyoto? Shande Temple in Hedong? Because the Hedong area was unstable a few years ago, he wanted to secretly lay out the plan for me and manage the espionage here. I know all the big and small roads, ninja strongholds, and the preferred routes of each family's messengers in the Hedong area. I want to Lockdown, what’s the problem?”
Having said that, Taiyuan Xuezhai spread out the map, arranged tasks and assigned troops one by one, along a path, a tributary, and a hilltop, and deployed the hundreds of men under his command without leakage. After the evaluation meeting was completed, everyone was full of confidence.
"Then let's take action. The rumors came first, and Imagawa Yoshizhen is busy dealing with them, and there are no troops to clear the traffic lines and deal with us for the time being. And this fog of intelligence is the second son left behind by me, the poor monk." Taiyuan Xuezhai waved his hand. , and snapped his fingers in the direction of Imagawa Hall to the west:
"The poor monk will not receive a single letter from Hedong from Imagawa Hall within five days!"
·
After running around all day and staying up all night, Imagawa Shimoto fell asleep after finishing his work. When he woke up, Imagawa Shimoto, who felt that his body was smelly, muttered "he's so dirty" and hurriedly went to take a bath. When he came back, he found that Taiyuan Xuezhai was not in the temple, so he went down the mountain to look for it. However, on the mountain road, he happened to meet an old friend - yesterday's thief Koichiro. He seemed to be returning from going up the mountain to chop firewood.
"This young master!" Koshichiro was very surprised when he saw this. He put down the firewood and was about to step forward to thank him. However, Imagawa Shimoto had an idea and suddenly made a silencing gesture.
"I see that you have good footwork in the mountains. If you really want to thank me, why don't you do me a favor? After that, I will hire you to be my bodyguard." Imagawa Shigen leaned into Koshichiro's ear and whispered a few instructions. sentence.
·
On March 22, the fifth year of Tenmon (1536), the rumors in the Imagawa Hall had been basically controlled, but Imagawa Yoshizhin was worried about another thing.
Since noon on the 18th, there has been no news from Suruga east of the Fuji River. Not only did not a single messenger come, but none of the messengers sent by Imagawakan returned, and the entire army was wiped out. Imagawa Yoshizhin couldn't help but feel a chill - because the eastern part of Suruga is far away from Imagawakan and the terrain is dangerous, the relationship with the Imagawa clan has not been close enough. Previously, Imagawa Shihui died suddenly. In order to prevent the news from leaking, Shouguini did not send an envoy to the Hedong area. In other words, the Kadong area now knows nothing about what happened at Imagawakan. If Imagawa Ujimoto and Taiyuan Xuezhai really fled to Hedong - then the retainers and wealthy families in the Hedong area may have believed what they said.
"Why can't anyone come back..." Imagawa Yoshima was puzzled. "Taiyuan Xuezhai's subordinates have joined the Anhara family and the Xingjin family. The maximum number cannot exceed 500 people. With the strength of 500 people, no matter what Why is it impossible to complete the intelligence blockade? Then...could it be that all the retainers and lords of the Imagawa family in the Kadong area have surrendered to the Imagawa clan? That's why they neither sent messengers to Imagawakan, but also deducted all the messengers sent by Imagawakan Got off?"
"But how can the more than 500 people brought by Imagawa Ujimoto suppress the huge Hedong area and convince the local retainers?"
Could it be...
Imagawa Yoshima felt his heart twisting, and he had to realize that what he had been most worried about might happen.
Sagami Hojo is in the game.
In the history of his previous life, after the Huacang Rebellion broke out, Xuan Guang Huitan (i.e. Imagawa Liangzhen) and Mei Yue Chengfang once formed a stalemate, but Xuan Guang Huitan preemptively attacked Mei Yue Chengfang's side. Although Mei Yue Chengfang received the support of Shou Guini and many generations, the situation was still between 5 and 5 due to the hard work of Xuan Guang Huitan's side. What really changed the entire situation and caused Xuanguang Etan's army to be defeated like a mountain was the Sagami Hojo clan's dispatch of troops. They entered Suruga as Mei Yue Chengfang's reinforcements, and their huge military power instantly defeated Xuan Guang Huitan's side.
Is history going to repeat itself this time? Imagawa Ujimoto and Taiyuan Xuezai, who fled to Hedong, are about to repeat their old tricks. Please ask the Hojo family for support? If the Hojo family agreed, then everything happening in Hedong now would not be surprising. The most powerful wealthy family in the Kadō region, the head of the Katsurayama family in Juntō County's Katsurayama Castle, Hiro Katsurayama, is the adopted son of Hojo Soun's third son, and has always had a close relationship with the Hojo family. If the Hojo family sent troops to Kadong, the Katsurayama clan would be the first to respond, and then cooperate with the troops of Imagawa clan Moto and Taiyuan Xuezai. It would not be surprising to suppress the entire Kadong area and call on them to submit to the Imagawa clan Moto side. In other words, the most likely reason why there is no news from the Kadong area is that the Hojo family has decided to aid Imagawa Ujimoto and has even sent troops.
Since the Imagawakan has not yet announced the news of Imagawa Ujiteru's death and Imagawa Yoshima's succession to the entire Imagawa family, the document drafted by Sugini is still in the hands of Imagawa Yoshima - so the power of the Imagawa family in the entire Toe area is still against I know nothing about the disputes among the governors and cannot call them out. Retainers such as the Asahina family and the Sena family, whose bases were in Toe, did not have many troops stationed at Imagawakan. In other words, Imagawa Yoshizhin must rely on the more than 8,000 people he can mobilize to fight against the more than 2,000 people in the Kadong area controlled by Imagawa Ujimoto and the tens of thousands of reinforcements that may be sent by the Hojo family - this chance of winning is too low.
What's more, among the 8,000 people, there are still many people who are alienated from him because of the widespread rumors that "Imagawa Yoshima is plotting to kill the late master", and may not necessarily be willing to fight to the death for him.
In the original history, after the Hanakura Rebellion, the Hojo family was dissatisfied with the alliance between the Imagawa family and the Takeda family and sent troops to attack Suruga. The Imagawa family, which had just experienced civil strife, was unable to resist and threw the entire Kadong area to the Hojo family. This was known as the First Kadong Rebellion in history. And now, if Imagawa Yoshi is really going to fight against the coalition forces of the Imagawa clan and the Hojo family, the situation will only be worse than the first Kadong Rebellion in history - maybe even the Imagawa Pavilion will be lost.
"We must prevent the Hojo family from supporting Imagawa Yoshimoto (Imagawa Clan)..." Imagawa Yoshima was thinking silently in his heart. But if you want to turn the Hojo family who has decided to support Imagawa Ujimoto to your side, you must give enough benefits. What can Imagawa Yoshima give?
After thinking hard, Imagawa Yoshizhin seemed to have thought about it.
"Anyway, if history is not changed and Imagawa Yoshimoto succeeds to the throne, the Kadong area will be snatched away by the Hojo family immediately. In this case, it is better for me to cede the Kadong area to the Hojo family myself in exchange for the Hojo family. Give up Imagawa Yoshimoto and support me. As long as I can succeed to the throne, the future will be long. Relying on the knowledge of my time traveler, it is only a matter of time to recapture Hedong and dominate the world. If you are reluctant to let go of Hedong, then you can only watch Imagawa Yoshimoto. After succeeding to the throne, history will return to its original state, and the direct line of the Imagawa family will face the fate of destruction..."
After thinking about it, Imagawa Yoshizhin no longer hesitated. He summoned his close confidant Tatsuchi Yanakiro, intending to send him as envoy to the Hojo family and cede the Kadong area in exchange for the support of the Hojo family. However, he ran into trouble before leaving. To go from Suruga to Sagami, you must pass through Kadong. But the transportation lines east of Hedong are already under the control of Imagawa Shimoto. What will happen if the messenger is captured?
Imagawa Yoshima stood at the top of the Imagawakan castle, looking east of Suruga. To the south of the endless mountains is the only official road from Suruga to Kanto - which has been cut off by Imagawa Clan. But south of the official road, there is an endless ocean - Suruga Bay.
Imagawa Yoshizhin smiled. This was a unique advantage for time travellers—in this Middle Ages, which generally focused on land, how many people ignored the importance of sea control. In order to retreat, Taiyuan Xuezhai actually ordered the Xingjin Navy to burn their warships and give up the sea control of Suruga Bay - this was the innate prejudice that the heroes of the Warring States Period in the Middle Ages could not overcome.
"By taking the waterway, landing in Izu, and meeting the Hojo family, we will definitely be able to escape the blockade." Imagawa Yoshima gave an order to Yanagi Tatsuchi, "I want to instigate rebellion against Hojo and bring a blow to the bottom of the cauldron for Imagawa Ujimoto and Taihara Yuksai."
"Invite the Hojo family to hunt for rebellion on the banks of the Fuji River."
