(The map of Sanhe area has been uploaded to the book review area, please click "Writer Says" to view)
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Therefore, on September 18, the 9th year of Tenmon (1540), Imagawa Yoshimoto gathered his retainers in Enma Castle, Toe River. The army was accompanied by 1,200 Gomori Bei, 1,200 Shoudun Bei, 1,200 Kotobei, 100 Ma Huizhong, 180 Uden Bei, 360 Matsui Bei and 450 Osawa Bei, with a total strength of more than 4,700 people. , dominated by the Imagawa family's own team.
On September 19, Tenmo 9 (1540), the Imagawa army marched west from the official road south of Hamana Lake and officially entered the Mikawa territory. The Toda family of Tahara Castle, the Saigo family of Tsukidani Castle, the Makino family of Ushikubo Castle, the Okuhira family of Kubo Castle, and the Kanuma family of Noda Castle, among other wealthy Higashi Mikawa families who nominally submitted to the Imagawa family, sent envoys to express their condolences. At the insistence of the Higashi Mikawa wealthy family, they decided to hold a banquet at Yoshida Castle under the control of the Toda family on September 20 to honor Imagawa Yoshimoto.
"You can't go to the Hongmen Banquet." Yutaka Furunoji was ready to refuse the invitation on behalf of Imagawa Yoshimoto without even thinking about it. "These wealthy Higashi Mikawa families have always disobeyed the rule of the Imagawa family. The Toda family and the Okudaira family even joined the third brother's side before. Those who oppose us are not at ease at first sight."
"The five of them combined have less than 2,500 people. What are you afraid of?" Asahina Taitomo crossed his arms dismissively and swayed on the horse carelessly, holding a drink he had just finished drinking. Wine gourd.
"I'm afraid you don't want to go to the city because you want to drink. Let me tell you a joke, you Asahina family will die if you don't drink. It's not that your younger brother who was born this year is not happy drinking milk and has to drink. Are you going to sleep?" Okabe Momotsuna said sarcastically from the side, almost causing Asahina Taito to fight with him again.
"But when the noble family under his command invites us, as the master, we refuse to accept the invitation, doesn't it mean that we have no grace?" Kentaro Tianchen has always taken the honor of being a warrior very seriously, "I'm afraid that we will be laughed at by the world."
"That's right, someone kindly invited us, but we didn't come in. It's not the courtesy of being a guest." Imagawa Yoshimoto stuck his head out of the window of the sedan and smiled at the retainers discussing beside the sedan.
"But Yoshida Castle is under the control of the Toda family. If they set up an ambush in the city, it would be bad." Furunoji Yutaka was still worried, so he took a step back, "If they must hold a banquet in Yoshida Castle, We must lead troops into Yoshida Castle. If they don’t agree, forget it.”
"That's okay." Imagawa Yoshimoto nodded with approval and waved to Furunoji Yutaka, "Takeohmaru, I'll leave it to you to negotiate with them."
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It seems that they sincerely want to show their goodwill to the Imagawa family. When faced with the Imagawa family's request to "lead the army into the city", the Toda family did not object, but readily agreed - not worried that Imagawa Yoshimoto would take the opportunity to occupy his city. . In this case, Imagawa Yoshimoto had no reason to refuse, and he led his troops into Yoshida Castle generously on the evening of the 20th.
The wealthy families of Higashi Mikawa had already prepared a banquet in the Yoshida Castle castle tower, but to be on the safe side, Furunoji Yutaka sent Dou Atonsune to take the ninjas to check around, and only after confirming that there was no ambush and that there were no hands or feet in the meal, Let Imagawa Yoshimoto take the seat.
"Welcome to His Highness Imagawa!"
After seeing Imagawa Yoshimoto, the heads of several powerful families in Higashikawa came out to pay tribute. As the host, Yasumi Toda respectfully welcomed Imagawa Yoshimoto to the main seat and sat down, while the other people sat on the left and right sides in turn. The followers such as Furunoji Yutaka and others sat in the lower position.
"His Majesty Imagawa is here, the little Yoshida Castle is really flourishing!" Toda Yasumitsu welcomed Imagawa Yoshimoto with a smile. Those who didn't know better thought he was the loyal heir apparent of the Imagawa family - in fact He is a rebellious boy on the same level as the Ii family. Not long ago, he followed Imagawa Yoshima and beat Imagawa Yoshimoto for three years.
"cut……"
Before Imagawa Yoshimoto could respond, he heard a cold snort from the seat opposite. Makino Yasunari held his chopsticks tightly and stared at Yasumi Toda with eyes that could almost spit out fire. Before leaving, Imagawa Yoshimoto read the information prepared by Sena Ujitoshi and had a general understanding of the grievances and resentments among the wealthy families of Higashi Mikawa——
Not long ago, this Yoshida Castle was the residence of the Makino family. However, the Toda family, which has power throughout the Atsumi Peninsula, has been on the rise in recent years and invaded Yoshida Castle from the Makino family. Now, Yasumi Toda is here to welcome Imagawa Yoshimoto as the master of Yoshida Castle, and naturally Makino Hosei is very angry. He was straight-tempered and unequivocal, slamming his chopsticks on the table: "You guys, don't be generous to others!"
"How can you act wild in front of His Majesty the House Governor?" Yasumi Toda didn't expect that Makino Yasunari didn't even give him any formal honors, and he started scolding him in the first sentence at the banquet.
"I wonder who betrayed the Imagawa clan before to support the regicide rebellion, and now pretends to be a loyal minister?" Makino Yasunari unceremoniously reached the vital point, cursed, and at the same time turned to Imagawa Yoshimoto, bowed deeply and said: "Your Highness, the Governor of the Household, please forgive me. After our Higashi Mikawa people had rejoined the Imagawa clan, the Toda family privately used troops against their colleagues to rob the castle. Your Highness, please make the decision!"
"Oh?" Imagawa Yoshimoto became interested after hearing this, and looked at Toda Yasumitsu with great interest, "Is this true?"
"This..." Yasumi Toda was speechless for a moment. What Makino Yasunari said was indeed true, but at that time the Higashi Mikawa wealthy family only symbolically surrendered to the Imagawa family, and naturally they still fought on their own terms. But now that Imagawa Yoshimoto has led his army to Yoshida Castle, this explanation cannot be uttered anyway.
"Please make the decision, Your Highness, the Governor!" Makino Yasunari saw that something was going on, so he quickly added.
"I'm too lazy to go..." Just when Imagawa Yoshimoto was about to lazily excuse himself from ruling on this matter, Furunoji Yutaka saw that the situation was not good and had already spoken first: "Your Highness, the Governor, has many things to do, and he has important things to do during this trip. Naturally, I don’t have time to try it myself. However, the issue of the ownership of Yoshida Castle will be sent back to Imagawa Hall for the monks to settle. Before that, Yoshida Castle will be under the supervision of the clan. "
Imagawa Yoshimoto was interrupted by Furunoji Yutaka and had to give him a wry smile. However, Furunojitaka couldn't help but shook his head, obviously very dissatisfied with his brother's political indolence - such a great opportunity, both You can establish your authority in Mikawa and suppress the rebellious Toda family. How could you miss it?
After Yasumi Toda heard the verdict, his face immediately darkened—unexpectedly, he kindly held a banquet in Yoshida Castle to please Imagawa Yoshimoto, and wanted to wash away his previous crimes, but instead threw Yoshida Castle out.
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After the banquet broke up, Imagawa Yoshimoto had no regrets - anyway, he didn't expect to have a good dining experience at such a banquet with a strong political atmosphere.
"Takeohmaru, what did you do to cause trouble just now?" Imagawa Yoshimoto complained to Na Furunoji Yutaka with some dissatisfaction, "What does the matter of Yoshida Castle have to do with us?"
"Fourth brother, you are now the governor of the Imagawa family. All the affairs of the Imagawa family are related to you, and the wealthy families under the Imagawa family are no exception." Furunoji Yutaka looked at his brother's casual attitude and had to say He explained earnestly, "In Higashi Mikawa, the Imagawa family's rule is superficial. The wealthy families only surrender to us in name. In fact, they will neither send us hostages nor follow our orders. We The influence here is very weak.”
"Now we have a great opportunity. The Makino family took the initiative to bring it up, giving us the opportunity to intervene in the territorial dispute in Dongsanhe. And we just happened to bring troops over, control the cities involved in the territorial dispute, and have the ability to influence the situation in Dongsanhe. , how can we not take advantage of it? If we can succeed this time, we can not only suppress the Toda family who are in the limelight in Higashi Mikawa, but also be kind to the Makino family, and we can also extend our hands into Higashi Mikawa and intervene in territorial disputes in Higashi Mikawa in the future. There is also a precedent to be found! This opportunity cannot be missed, and it will never come back again!"
"They kindly invited us into the city for dinner, but we backhandedly robbed their city. Who will dare to welcome the Imagawa army into the city in the future?" Imagawa Yoshimoto shook his head and complained, but didn't say much, "I don't want to anyway. Don't worry, if you think this is appropriate, just do it and send an envoy back to tell my teacher."
"I obey, but I also need His Highness to leave a team here to supervise, to prevent the Toda family from taking the city back as soon as our army leaves." That Furunoji Yutaka added vigilantly.
"Then let Udenbi stay, their territory is also close to here." Imagawa Yoshimoto made a casual arrangement.
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On September 21, Tenmo 9 (1540), the Imagawa army set out again, crossing the Toyokawa north of Yoshida Castle and passing Ukubo Castle, the current residence of Makino Hosei. The enthusiastic Makino Yasunari wanted to invite Imagawa Yoshimoto to the city to express his gratitude, but Imagawa Yoshimoto did not want to have trouble again, so he declined the proposal. After a short stay in the forest, the Imagawa Army turned west and moved along the coastline of Mikawa Bay in the south. They were going to pick up Matsudaira Hirotada at Tojo Castle where Matsudaira Hirotada lived, and then headed north to Okazaki Castle.
On the evening of September 21st, the Imagawa army set up camp in Kamagata. If everything goes well, they will march for another day tomorrow and reach the Kira family Tojo Castle more than 30 miles to the west.
In the evening, in the camp, Ginkgo walked into the camp holding a basin of wash water and a towel hanging on her shoulders. She complained in vain: "Sir, I have begun to regret it. There is really no way..."
"After all, she is the maid brought out by me, so she can't do nothing as a maid. Right, 'Myolie'?" Imagawa Yoshimoto smirked and enjoyed Ginkgo's service, while looking at the things being arranged in the tent. Nao Hayasaka and Takaki Mochizuki said, "Look at Kochiro and Mochizuki, aren't they doing a good job? You, a newcomer, should also learn a lot from them!"
"Sir, just wait." Ginkgo rubbed Yoshimoto Imakawa's face vigorously with a towel, causing him to scream in pain.
"Forget it, for the sake of the scenery on the roadside and the snacks in Yoshida Castle these days, I'll spare you this once." Ginkgo smiled sweetly, and gently massaged Imagawa Yoshimoto's temples, watching him use a comfortable technique. Gradually relaxing, "I don't know if Miaomiao has eaten well at home."
"I entrusted Sena to take care of it. He was considerate and everything will be fine." Imagawa Yoshimoto enjoyed Ginkgo's service and muttered with satisfaction. At this time, a burst of rapid footsteps came, which made Imagawa Yoshimoto wake up from the massage with some irritability. Ginkgo also turned around carefully, pretending to pack her things so as not to be noticed by the visitors.
"Your Highness, we have military information." It was Okabe Motsuna who came.
"What happened?" Imagawa Yoshimoto sat up straighter with some vigilance, "It's so late."
"Let me tell you a joke. No one will really believe it. The head of the Tojo Kira family 'died' of illness at this time, right?" Okabe Momotsuna shook his head and handed the secret letter to Imagawa Yoshimoto, "Just now Received, an urgent letter from His Highness Matsudaira. His Highness Kira Mochihiro, the head of the Tojo Kira family who had been protecting him, suddenly passed away and was declared to have died of illness. And Kira Yoshihiro of the Saijo Kira family sent troops to Tojo late at night. Outside the city, I don’t know what to do.”
