On the evening of August 17, the 10th year of Tianwen (1541), I was in Yancheng. Takeda Harunobu prepared a banquet to entertain Imagawa Yoshimoto and Ginkgo.
"Goro, happy cooperation!" Takeda Harunobu picked up the wine glass and clinked it with Imagawa Yoshimoto.
"Happy cooperation." Imagawa Yoshimoto also responded with a smile, "Congratulations to Torachiyo for taking charge of Takeda. I heard that you issued decrees to reduce taxes and build water conservancy projects, which is a blessing to the people. What do you say you don't care about the sufferings of the people? But I’m still thinking about it in my heart.”
"Haha, it is indeed something you will pay attention to, Wu Lang. But what I said before is that I don't care about other people's people. Naturally, I have to take my own people into my heart. The wool comes from the sheep. Don't let them live a good life. Days, where do I get taxes? Where do I get soldiers? I can't just fish from the lake like my father did, right? If this continues, Kai will be drained by him sooner or later."
"Is it so difficult for you to admit that you also have a good heart? Are you still looking for such a long list of excuses?" Imagawa Yoshimoto said sarcastically with a smile, and then took another sip of wine.
"No matter what, I will ask you to take care of my father from now on. We will pay for the monthly living expenses." Takeda Harunobu said vaguely while taking a big mouthful of rice.
"How do you need to pay to take care of your father-in-law?" Imagawa Yoshimoto waved his hands repeatedly, "Don't be so polite, we are all a family."
"That's right." Ginkgo, who was sitting next to Imagawa Yoshimoto, also added, "Didn't he say he wanted to see the child? Then let him stay at home and help me look after the child."
"Haha, my sister is already married to Goro." Takeda Harunobu looked at the well-matched Imagawa Yoshimoto and Ginkgo, smiled and said with emotion, "Well Goro, the Junbei territory returned to you in this battle will be regarded as my sister's dowry. Now, please don’t let my sister suffer any injustice in the future.”
"Don't worry." Imagawa Yoshimoto looked at Ginkgo with a smile, and then looked at Takeda Harunobu, "Speaking of which, the plan for this battle is really wonderful. Without losing a single soldier, Kai will be able to change the world."
"What's this? It's just a little trick. Didn't Master Xuesai and your father realize it a few years ago?" Takeda Harunobu raised his eyebrows, leaned forward slightly, came to Imagawa Yoshimoto's side, and lowered his voice:
"Goro, my plan has just begun."
"What do you mean by this?" Imagawa Yoshimoto also asked seriously.
Takeda Harunobu paused, then smiled meaningfully:
"You are not the only son-in-law of my father."
·
"Is this true?"
On the same night, in the castle tower of Uehara Castle in Shinano Province, Suwa Yorishige exclaimed in disbelief after listening to the ninja report.
"It's absolutely true! How dare you lie to me? Just two days ago, Takeda Harunobu took advantage of his father Sakyo's trip to Suruga to launch a coup, seized the power of the Takeda family, and imprisoned His Highness Sakyo abroad in Kai. His Highness Sakyo then summoned reinforcements from the Imagawa family to force them back to resettle, and now the two armies are confronting each other at the foot of Minobu Castle at the southern end of Kai!" the Jonin who returned with the team reported back in fear.
"Okay... okay... something like this happened. If you are unfaithful and unfilial, everyone will punish you!" Suwa Yorishige paced back and forth in the room, talking about benevolence, justice and morality, but what he was thinking in his heart was It's all about family interests.
For generations, the Suwa family has been the patron of the Suwa Taisha Shrine, the most important shrine in the Koshinobu region, and has also relied on the power of the shrine to become a daimyo dominating the Suwa region. Suwa Yorishige himself is known as the "Four Shinano Generals" along with Murakami Yoshikiyo, Ogasawara Nagatoki, and Kiso Yoshiyasu.
Suwa Yorishige, like Imagawa Yoshimoto, was also the son-in-law of the Takeda family. He married Takeda Nobutora's third daughter, Mimi. In other words, like Imagawa Yoshimoto, he now has the right to "denounce the traitorous son of the coup and support the restoration of his father-in-law" and can march into Kai.
The Suwa area is adjacent to the northwest of Kai Country and is the only way from Shinano to Kai. Nowadays, the Takeda family is in civil strife, and the main force is confronting the Imagawa family on the southern border. If the Suwa family raises troops and goes south, they will definitely reach the castle of Ugasakikan as if they are entering uninhabited territory. The territory and luggage along the way will also belong to the Suwa family.
Thinking of this, Suwa Yorishige realized that he had nothing to think about anymore, and he waved his hand and said:
"Assemble the troops, we will go to Kai immediately to attack this unfilial son Harunobu on behalf of the gods, restore order, and support the return of His Highness Sakyo!"
·
On August 19, the tenth year of Tenmon (1541), Suwa Yorishige, who hastily assembled 1,500 troops, led his army on the journey and asked his uncle, Suwa Mitsuru, to quickly follow after gathering the remaining 1,500 troops. On the evening of August 20, the Suwa army had already invaded Kai territory. The Suwa Army marched along the valley from Shinano to Kai, and at noon on August 22, they crossed Wakamiko, the hub in the northwest of Kai - this is the junction of the official road from north and south Shinano to Kai. Going north is Kitashinano and Ueno, and going south is Kai.
However, on the official road heading south, I was shocked to see smoke and dust billowing in the distance. Suwa Yorishige instantly cheered up and ordered his troops to quickly form formation. When the enemy gradually approached, Suwa Yorishige realized that something was wrong - it was the Takeda army attacking Takeda Hisashi, numbering in the thousands.
"With so many people transferred back to the north, are they ignoring the Imagawa army in the south?" Suwa Yorishige was shocked for a moment, wishing he could immediately cut the ninja who came to report the news into pieces, "Are you crazy... Would you rather give up Kai to his brother-in-law than kill me, your brother-in-law?"
"Retreat quickly, retreat quickly, the mountain road is narrow, it is difficult for them to chase, leaving one behind to cut off the rear!" Suwa Yorishige did not hesitate, turned around and led the troops back. However, before they could retreat to Wakamiko, they saw a large army coming from the north, simply cutting off their retreat - and their banner was Imagawa Nibiryo. Apparently, they had already laid an ambush on Wakamiko's official road to Ueno. As soon as the Suwa army passed by, they rushed out to cut off their retreat.
Suwa Yorishige was completely confused and couldn't understand why the situation in front of him became like this.
·
The battle process became simple and monotonous. The 1,500 Suwa Army was no match for the 5,000 Imagawa Army and the 7,000 Takeda Army. They were wiped out with almost no power to fight back, and everyone from the head of the Suwa Yorishige to the following were captured.
"The Suwa family is finished." After the battle, Takeda Harunobu met Imagawa Yoshimoto in the camp and laughed with great satisfaction. "The plan was a perfect success. News was released that we were facing each other in the south of Kai, and the Suwa family I’m sure they can’t wait to invade, but we’ve already come to the north to ambush.”
"This time our Imagawa army entered the Takeda family's territory to support the strategy. This can be regarded as demonstrating the strength of the alliance between the two families. It will calm down the enemies who are ready to attack because of His Highness Sakyo's incident and kill two birds with one stone." Imagawa Yoshimoto has already taken off his armor. After taking a shower, I put on comfortable clothes and was fanning myself with a folding fan. "By the way, where is my brother-in-law?"
"You mean Suwa Yorishige? That loser?" Takeda Harunobu mentioned his brother-in-law who was 5 years older than him, but there was no respect at all in his words. He pointed to the right and said, "Where are all the prisoners."
Imagawa Yoshimoto looked sideways, and saw that the captured Suwa soldiers were all tied up into strings in disgrace, and all their clothes were stripped off, leaving only a rag wrapped around their waists to protect their private parts. Everyone's bare arms were covered with blood-red whip marks, and they were walking barefoot on the dirt floor with their heads hanging down. The knights of the Takeda family escorting them on both sides frequently waved their riding whips at the prisoners they regarded as "cheating and slipping", scolding them to move forward obediently.
"What are you doing? Why did you take off all the clothes?" Imagawa Yoshimoto frowned slightly.
"The Suwa people's clothes are pretty good, much better than our Kai's. Is it possible that we can leave them to them?" Takeda Harunobu laughed heartily, then bent down, picked up one and pulled it off the prisoner. Showed the clothes to Imagawa Yoshimoto, "Look, this fabric, this material. I also know that you Suruga people are rich. You must not like these, but we Kai like them very much."
Takeda Harunobu picked up his clothes and suddenly felt something was wrong. He then reached into his clothes and groped for a while, and pulled out a small paper ball. He peeled the paper ball apart three times, and found a small piece of broken silver wrapped inside. Takeda Harunobu put the broken silver into his arms and threw the paper ball casually into the muddy water at his feet.
"What is this?" Imagawa Yoshimoto asked in confusion.
"Oh, it's a custom here in Jiaxin. Soldiers who go on an expedition will carry a letter from home in their arms with a piece of silver wrapped inside. If unfortunately they die in battle or are captured and unable to return home, I hope someone can pick up this letter from home when cleaning the battlefield. , help him send it home, and the money wrapped in it is the reward." While explaining to Imagawa Yoshimoto, Takeda Harunobu waved to a young man who was responsible for the body search, and cursed at him:
"Gensuke, how the hell did you bastards do a body search? I casually found some broken silver, so how much of the clothes are left in the pile here? Don't you know how to search carefully?"
"Yes! You deserve to die!" The rather handsome young man was scolded so badly that he quickly led others to rummage through the pile of clothes again. He quickly found a dozen more letters from home, put the money into the bag, and put the letters into his arms.
"Gensuke, what's the point of keeping those things?" Takeda Harunobu got angry when he saw this. He stepped forward and grabbed Kasuga Torasuna (later Takasaka Masanobu) by his collar, pulled out the family letters from his arms, and threw them away. On the ground, he stepped on it a few times, "Don't waste time, search for me quickly!"
"Yes! Yes! My lord!" Kasuga Torasuna hurriedly followed the instructions. He was so frightened that he broke out in cold sweat and did not dare to delay for a moment.
Imagawa Yoshimoto picked up the letter from home that Takeda Harunobu had just thrown down from the muddy water. While wiping his dirty hands with a handkerchief, he glanced at it a few times - the handwriting was crooked and there were only a few columns in total, but there were a lot of typos. Quite a few, which probably means letting your family members have a good time and don't worry about yourself. There was also a home address at the end of the letter - but it was obviously of no use.
When Takeda Harunobu turned around, he found Imagawa Yoshimoto reading the family letter and couldn't help laughing, "No way, Goro, you don't want to send these family letters back to them, do you?"
"What will you do with these prisoners?" Imagawa Yoshimoto asked in a low voice.
"Needless to say? Take them back to Kai and work as slaves to mine. Don't you Imagawa family like to use slaves to defend the city (author's note: such as the future Chitate Castle). It is the habit of our Takeda family to let them mine." Takeda Harunobu said in the distance. With a fingernail in the direction, "Let them go in naked like this, and don't give them the chance to bring gold in their clothes to mine. But let me tell you, these people are really poor and crazy. Some people actually swallowed gold before." Someone who sneaked out, had someone cut open his stomach, and sent the gold back home. It was really unreasonable, and my whole family was killed by me."
Imagawa Yoshimoto glanced at the captives not far away. They all had pale faces and dull eyes - obviously they also understood that the fate of their lower bodies was destined. They worked day and night in dark and dirty tunnels where they could not stand straight up, without having a full meal or a good night's sleep, until they were tortured to death and buried in any hole they found. Be it parents, wife or children, we will never see each other again in this life. The scene of the family gathering around the table to eat again can only be seen in dreams. As for whether the sick parents and the children waiting to be fed can survive without being the breadwinner of the family - this may be the last question they think about before they die.
Tragedies like this happen every moment in these troubled times. No one could tell whether it was better to be captured and enslaved for life, or to die on the battlefield.
"Since they will never have the chance to go home, wouldn't it be good to send this book back to them? Anyway, we have to fight to Suwa, so along the way." Imagawa Yoshimoto made a suggestion, but he also felt a little uncomfortable. Sorry. But after imagining the scene of Taiyuan Xuezhai, Ginkgo and their three children suffering such torture, they couldn't help but said: "Tora Chiyo, aren't you just taking other people's money and getting paid? . Otherwise, his parents, wife and children will always miss him..."
"Isn't there really a fool who would do this? This tradition has been going on for so many years, and none of us in Kai have ever followed it." Takeda Harunobu was amused by Imagawa Yoshimoto's words and laughed, "Who cares about his mother, wife and children at home? "
"No one follows it, so why do people continue this habit?" Imagawa Yoshimoto was even more confused, "A piece of silver can be enough to feed the family for half a month, so why waste it."
"It's not 'no one', maybe you'll meet a fool like Goro. People are afraid of death, and they always want to keep their thoughts alive, even if they lie to themselves. Those parents, wives and children you mentioned are also worried The child and the husband will never come back, even if you live frugally for only half a month, you still have to scrape up a piece of silver to bring him." Takeda Harunobu laughed and patted Imagawa Yoshimoto on the shoulder, "You just want to send a letter. Go ahead, I won't stop you. Come on, didn't you just want to see your brother-in-law? I'll take you to see him."
