On September 16, the tenth year of Tenmon (1541), with the retreat of the Northern Shinano coalition forces and the reorganization of the Takato family, the Takeda family's suppression of most of Minami Shinano was declared successful, leaving only the Kiso family still resisting. However, it was time for the Takeda family to return home for the autumn harvest, and they had no time to stay in Shinano, so they returned to Kai. Takeda Harunobu left his cronies such as Baba Nobharu and Akiyama Nobyou to garrison at the Minami-Shinano stronghold, and planned to carry out a large-scale transfer of seals to the wealthy families of Kai and Shinano after the autumn harvest - he ate Minami-Shinano in one bite, which was almost as big as his ability. The Takeda family is really suffering from indigestion.
After saying goodbye to Takeda Harunobu, Imagawa Yoshimoto returned to Suruga with the gold and silver baggage given by the Takeda family as military compensation - and the refugees who brought his family with him. Fortunately, the casualties of the Imagawa Army in this battle were very limited, allowing Imagawa Yoshimoto to return home in peace.
On September 24, the tenth year of Astronomy (1541), the army arrived at Kabara Castle in Suruga Province and planned to rest for a night before returning westward. The former head of the Kamahara family, Mitsuji Kamahara, prepared a banquet to honor Imagawa Yoshimoto. In the previous Hanakura Rebellion, the Kamahara family joined Imagawa Ryojin's side and became the enemy of Imagawa Yoshimoto. During the Hojo family's invasion to the west of the Fuji River, the Kamahara family even surrendered to the Hojo family, and even sent Mazuozhong to lure Imagawa Yoshimoto into an ambush. It was not until the Imagawa family regained the west of the Fuji River and Fuji County in 1537 that the Kamahara family returned to the Imagawa family.
But the previous two crimes were serious enough to change the Puhara family. However, since the Umohara family is also a common member of the Imagawa family, and the Umohara family can be regarded as the descendant of the Imagawa family for many years, Taiyuan Xuezhai decided to spare the Umohara family once, but only cut off a lot of its territory. However, the head of the Kabara family, Kabara Mitsuru, was also forced to retire from the family and was succeeded by his son Kabara Tokoku. Now that Imagawa Yoshimoto is visiting Puhara Castle, the Kamuhara Mitsuru family naturally holds a banquet to accompany him in order to express his apology.
"I have disobeyed His Highness three times before. Although I could not help myself, I think I am still unpardonable." Before Imagawa Yoshimoto could make a move, Umahara Mitsuru left the table and knelt in front of him. He kowtowed deeply and said: "But Your Highness, you are magnanimous and spared the life of the guilty minister, so that the inheritance of the ancestors will not be destroyed. The guilty minister really has nothing to repay!"
"To be honest, it was not me who decided to punish the Kabara family, but my teacher. If you want to express your gratitude, Kabara Shimono should go to my teacher." Imagawa Yoshimoto's answer obviously exceeded Kabara Mitsushi's expectations, and he was momentarily stunned. I'm a little embarrassed and don't know how to proceed.
"But there is no need for Kamawara Shimono to apologize like this. In the past, I might have blamed Kamabahara Shimono for betraying his loyalty, but now I am more sensible." Imagawa Yoshimoto shook his head, and also stood up from the table. He helped him up, "Not all heads of families are as lucky as me. They can entrust all the burdens of the family to others and only follow the illusory 'justice' themselves."
"For you, and for most family governors in the world, the survival of the family is the most important thing. Kamabahara Shimono just made a choice for the survival of his own family. Although I don't agree with what you did, I can totally I understand your motives. Just like His Highness Takeda of Kai said: 'Everything is for the family.' People like me, who have no worries about food and clothing, and don't even want to worry about the punishment of retainers, have no right to condemn Kamabahara Shimono. .”
"Your Highness..." Mitsuya Kamahara's eyes turned slightly red at what Imagawa Yoshimoto said, and he couldn't help but bow down again, "The entire Kamahara family is really grateful... Your Highness's words today made the guilty minister seem to be watching. It has reached the demeanor of Soun Gong back then."
"My cousin?" Imagawa Yoshimoto heard that Kamahara Mitsuru mentioned the influential figure Hojo Soun, and he couldn't help but be a little surprised, "Have you seen him in Kamahara Shimono?"
"The sinner has no other ability, he just lives longer." Mitsuya Kamahara has shaved his head and become a monk. Naturally, his white hair is gone, but his gray eyebrows still tell the story of the years this samurai has experienced, "Then It happened during the Entoku period. At that time, Lord Soun, who was still called Ise Shinkuro, borrowed troops from his late old lord (a relative of the Imagawa clan) to attack Izu. The reinforcements sent by the old lord were none other than the guilty party. I saw Mr. Soun with only a few hundred people, and with repeated tricks, he actually defeated Mr. Horikoshi (Ashikaga Chachamaru)."
"The story of Mr. Soun sounds like a figure from the past era. I didn't expect that the people who witnessed it are still alive. Mr. Soun was born in old age, but now even my cousin (Hojo Utsuna) is already fifty. Even more, I don’t know how his body is getting in.” Imagawa Yoshimoto was also full of emotion, “When I was young, Iayan often told the story of Soun Gong to our brothers, so that we should not forget that critical moment. of life-saving grace.”
·
While chatting, something unexpected happened.
"Your Highness, Lord Yamamoto would like to see you."
Hayasaka Nao hurried to the reception room, knelt down outside the paper door, and reported to Imagawa Yoshimoto in a low voice.
"That confidant of Tora Chiyo?" Imagawa Yoshimoto frowned, slowly stood up, said excuse me to Kamahara Mitsuru and Kamahara Shitoku, and turned around to leave. He followed Hayasaka Nao to the samurai house outside the castle tower, only to find that Yamamoto Kansuke was already waiting a little anxiously.
"Your Highness, top secret news." Yamamoto Kansuke lowered his voice, and before he could even greet Imagawa Yoshimoto, he could not wait to say: "Hojo Sakyo is dead."
Imagawa Yoshimoto was shocked when he heard this.
Before he could react, Hayasaka Nao rushed over again.
"Your Highness, Lord Amano would like to see you."
"That disciple of the teacher... is in such a hurry..." Imagawa Yigen probably understood in his heart.
"Your Highness..." After Amano Keide entered the room, he found a stranger in the room and looked at Imagawa Yoshimoto with some caution. Yamamoto Kansuke wanted to resign, but Imagawa Yoshimoto shook his head and said he didn't have to.
"Hojo Sakyo passed away?" Imagawa Yoshimoto asked Amano Keitoku.
"Yes, Master Yuksai immediately sent me over to report the news after receiving the news." Amano Keitoku glanced at Yamamoto Kansuke and probably guessed the whole story - the Takeda family has probably also learned the news. , so someone was sent to inform Imagawa Yoshimoto.
"When?" Imagawa Yoshimoto asked again.
"September 22nd."
"September 20th."
However, Amano Keide and Yamamoto Kansuke gave different answers.
Imagawa Yoshimoto sat down on the tatami and looked at Kansuke Yamamoto and Keitoku Amano with some confusion. However, the two men looked at each other and then nodded slightly.
"Your Highness, the difference in death time makes this information more credible." Amano Kyoutoku also knelt down and whispered to Imagawa Yoshimoto, "If the death times detected by ninjas from different families are exactly the same, then either It means that the information sources of the ninjas are from the same source, or it means that this is a deliberately unified statement by the other party. The former means that independent evidence cannot be established, and the latter means that the other party is fully capable of controlling the situation, and will even spread false news to mislead. "
"It makes sense." Although Imagawa Yoshimoto affirmed Amano Keitoku's reasoning, he still asked Yamamoto Kansuke for confirmation, "What did His Highness Takeda say?"
"My lord is convinced of this information. He has led his troops to Sagami at this moment. I hope that His Highness can lead the army and cooperate to march to Suruga Province's Jundong County." Yamamoto Kansuke replied calmly, but the information in his words made Imagawa Yiyuan was really stunned.
"You still want to send troops?" Imagawa Yoshimoto felt that his brows had wrinkled. "Now that the troops are disbanded, the autumn harvest has been delayed for a while. The soldiers have been fighting in Shinano for so long, and they are not allowed to go home for the autumn harvest. Instead, they send out troops for expedition. ...His Majesty Takeda, isn’t he afraid of rebellion among his subordinates?”
"My lord said, compared with the gains from plunder, the few crops grown on one-third of an acre are nothing?" Yamamoto Kansuke did not mind Imagawa Yoshimoto's dissatisfaction, "The soldiers robbed a lot of money in Shinano. , the morale is strong at this moment, why not go and grab another game?"
"That's Sagami Hojo, not a soft persimmon like the Suwa family or the Takato family. It might be a bloody battle..." Imagawa Yoshimoto pursed his lips, obviously recalling the battle with the Hojo family in Yui. heavy casualties.
"That was while Hojo Sakyo was still alive." Yamamoto Kansuke once again relayed Takeda Harunobu's original words to Imagawa Yoshimoto:
"Now that Hojo Sakyo dies, the Hojo family will inevitably be in turmoil, so much so that the news of Hojo Sakyo's death leaked out so quickly. My lord has already informed the Yamauchi-Uesugi family and the Ogidani-Uesugi family, and the two families must be in trouble soon. They will also invade Musashi. When the time comes, our four families will attack the Hojo family. Your Highness, how do you think the leaderless Hojo family can resist? What's more, the Hojo family army has a large number of militiamen. It is the autumn harvest at this time, so it will be difficult to assemble. Where? We, like you and I, happen to have undisbanded troops available. If we rush to the battle, the Hojo family will definitely suffer a huge defeat. Not only can the Imagawa family take back the other half of Kadong, they may also be able to get their hands on Izu and Sagami."
"Your Highness, please lead the army eastward immediately! My Lord is already on his way to Fujiyoshida Castle at the moment."
·
However, on September 25, the tenth year of Tenmon (1541), the Imagawa family's army, which had crossed the Fuji River, stopped after marching to Zentoku-ji Temple and refused to go any further.
"Our army has marched here, and it can also contain part of the Hojo family's troops for the Takeda family. It can be regarded as fulfilling the friendship of allies." Imagawa Yoshimoto answered Yamamoto Kansuke.
"Your Highness, large tracts of land and population are waiting for you ahead, easily accessible..." Yamamoto Kansuke, who had always been calm and calm, was slightly embarrassed in front of Imagawa Yoshimoto, "Why stop at the border?"
"It's disrespectful to attack someone in mourning." Imagawa Yoshimoto said simply, then he raised his hand and pointed to the hoof of the horse he was sitting on.
"Go and repay His Majesty Takeda. Let's just say that the Imagawa Army will stop here."
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(PS: Yesterday I read a script about Hatsumi Asai, and I was emo-ed by her obsession with Kotani Castle, so I wrote a side story as an extra update for everyone’s Valentine’s Day. The side story has nothing to do with the plot of this game. I'm sorry to post it in the paid chapter of this work, so I sent it to the postscript of the ninth volume of the author's previous work "Jiban Hongye Supplement to the Warring States Period". "Extra Chapter 1: Asai Chacha's Otani Castle". Interesting books Friends can take a look!)
