The envoy sent for reconnaissance reported shortly after that all the Hojo troops had withdrawn, and at the same time, a strong defense line was set up near Mount Ashigara, Mount Hakone and Izuruyama Castle. It was the autumn harvest season, and the troops had been out for half a year. War-weariness spread. Imagawa Yoshimoto and Takeda Harunobu therefore did not choose to pursue. Instead, they withdrew their troops and returned west after ensuring the defense of the Hedong area. Takeda Harunobu led the army to leave first, while Imagawa Yoshimoto was still responsible for the affairs related to the Katsurayama family.
"Kazuyama, from now on, the position of governor of the Kazuyama family will be handed over to you." Imagawa Yoshimoto told the Kazuyama clan Kiyoshi before leaving, "As for your brother's disposition, after all, he once turned against the Hojo family... "
"If you dare, please Your Highness to continue to allow your brother to inherit the position of family governor." However, Katsurayama Shikiyoshi suddenly leaned down and knelt down, interrupted Imagawa Yoshimoto's words, and solemnly requested.
"What does this mean, Kazuyama?"
"I have never had any experience in running a family in the past. All I have learned are some weird tricks. It is really difficult for me to serve as the head of the family. The Geshan family is located in a strategic location in the east of the river. The territory is huge and it is very difficult to manage. , I'm afraid I won't be able to do the job." Geshan clan lowered his head and replied in a neither humble nor arrogant manner: "Compared to me, my brother is naturally more suitable."
"But your brother betrayed the Imagawa family nine years ago, and he didn't take the initiative this time anyway. How could he be retained as the family governor?" Imagawa Yoshimoto shook his head and looked at Katsuraji Kiyoshi meaningfully, "You once said However, everything you did was for the Katsurayama family, and so did your brother. Then your request must also be for the Katsurayama family. After all, your brother also has a relationship with the Hojo family. If he stays as the governor, he will The Katsurayama family can still be at the mercy of the Imagawa family and the Hojo family."
"Why did Your Highness say this?" Kazuyama Shiqing was shocked when he heard what he said. He quickly kowtowed and clarified: "I have absolutely no intention of doing so. I am just worried that my lack of talent and lack of knowledge will delay the Imagawa family's defense in Hedong."
"It doesn't matter. There won't be any war in Kadong for a long time. Katsurayama, you should also slowly learn and exercise. We have taken back Suruga and can rely on the terrain to establish a complete defense. It will be difficult for the Hojo family to launch an effective offensive. And ah , once the tens of thousands of Kanto daimyo's armies are organized into an alliance, they may be able to fight the Hojo family for several years."
·
After leaving Geshan City, Imagawa Yoshimoto led the horsemen back west, eager to inspect the newly recovered villages in the Hedong area. These are the places where he once left childhood memories. Now that Hedong is back under the rule of Imagawa Yoshimoto, the residents who have left their hometowns to escape the war over the years also have the opportunity to return to their hometowns. Imagawa Yoshimoto is quite pleased.
When he was a child, Imagawa Yoshimoto secretly ran away from Zentokuji Temple to play. He often went to the nearby Kawadong Village to buy flower and bird paintings, collections of Japanese songs, and sometimes some snacks. At that time, there was an uncle who seemed to have worked as a servant for the Kano family. Through some unknown means, he could often get some paintings left by the Kano family and sell them to Imagawa Yoshimoto, and he would also paint a few of them himself. Unconsciously, more than ten years have passed, and the uncle back then must have become an uncle. Those villagers probably never imagined that Yue Chengfang, who was once just a monk, would now become the name of the powerful Imagawa family - although Imagawa Yoshimoto did not think this was anything to be proud of.
Just when Imagawa Yoshimoto was thinking about the situation of his "returning to his hometown", what he saw was a messy village in front of him.
Imagawa Yoshimoto was shocked when he saw this, and hurriedly rode forward. When he entered Kawadong Village, he discovered that the soldiers of the Takeda family were conducting large-scale arrests. They rushed into every shabby and dilapidated residence of ordinary people and stole all valuable and worthless belongings. Some even started to rob women. Most of the people had fled the village in shock and ran back to the surrounding mountains and forests, but some unlucky people were still stuck in the village.
"Let everyone go." Imagawa Yoshimoto reined in his horse and scolded the Takeda family ashigaru in front of him. These ashigaru were stunned for a moment, and they were still a little angry at first, but when they looked up and saw the red bird horse seal behind Imagawa Yoshimoto, they all became silent and had no choice but to let all the captured women go. While Imagawa Yoshimoto sent his men to various parts of the village to suppress the rebels, he said to a Bushi from the Takeda family: "Where is your Highness Ozen? Where is he? Ask him to come see me."
Soon after, Takeda Harunobu and a group of attendants also came
Came on horseback. When he arrived at Kawadong Village, he found that the soldiers of the Takeda family had gathered on the official road outside the village, and were surrounded by horsemen from the Imagawa family who were supervising them.
"What does this mean, Goro?" When Takeda Harunobu saw such a scene, his face suddenly became confused.
"I should be the one asking you this, right?" Imagawa Yoshimoto's face was also livid, but he still worried about his friend's face and made a "please" gesture, "Let's go, let's find a place where no one is around. chat."
So, Takeda Harunobu followed Imagawa Yoshimoto to an uninhabited stream outside the village. Before Takeda Harunobu could speak, Imagawa Yoshimoto could not help but loudly said: "Torachiyo, what do you mean? Your I don’t care about military discipline in Shinano. It’s your own business to burn, kill, and loot as much as you want, but how can you do evil on the Imagawa family’s territory?”
"How can this be considered the territory of your Imagawa family? Isn't this the territory of the Hojo family? You just took it back not long ago." Takeda Harunobu retorted confidently without feeling guilty at all.
"This Suruga has been the territory of our Imagawa family for hundreds of years. We just lost it for 10 years. Don't quibble here." Imagawa Yoshimoto was not interested in discussing this with Takeda Harunobu. "Give back what you robbed."
"As for...it's just the property in a small ruined village, and no one was killed, as I told you." Takeda Harunobu saw that Imagawa Yoshimoto was really angry, so he rounded off his sentence.
"Did you also give instructions?" Who would have thought that Imagawa Yoshimoto would be even more angry after hearing this, "Did you give instructions to your subordinates to arrest people indiscriminately in the Imagawa family's territory?"
"What if...this expedition did not reach the Hojo family's territory, and there are no other towns and cities to rob. How can I let my sons go back empty-handed? They worked so hard to come out with me, and let them go back empty-handed. Is that true? Who is willing to go on an expedition with me next time?" Takeda Harunobu explained with a smile, while stepping forward to hold Imagawa Yoshimoto's shoulders, "Okay, okay, I will divide the captured baggage among you and make up for it. Your loss."
"You have captured baggage, why don't you reward the baggage to your subordinates instead of seizing the villages under my rule?" Imagawa Yoshimoto became more and more angry as he listened, while Takeda Harunobu became darker and darker:
"Then I didn't know you would react so strongly. Isn't it just a few villages? If you rob it, you will rob it. It's not your Imagawakan castle town." Takeda Harunobu was a little confused by Imagawa Yoshimoto and tilted his head. After thinking for a moment, he seemed to suddenly realize something, "You practiced at Zende Temple when you were a child, right? Do you often come to the village here? Do you know anyone?"
"Yes." Imagawa Yoshimoto nodded.
"I'm just telling you, I understand you." Takeda Harunobu laughed immediately after hearing this, and patted Imagawa Yoshimoto hard on the shoulder, "You are not the kind of bad person who wants to take care of everyone, but you won't Fall out with me for the sake of the people. As expected, it’s someone you know well that makes you anxious.”
"What you said is really irritating. Even if you are not an old acquaintance of mine, I would still be angry at your behavior of bullying the people in my territory." Imagawa Yoshimoto threw away Takeda Harunobu's hand and looked at it very seriously. Looking into his eyes: "I won't joke with you anymore. I'll give you back what I took. I won't force your people to apologize or anything. Isn't this bad for your prestige? But this is just this time. Don't let it happen next time. I saw Takeda soldiers running wild in the territory of the Imagawa family again. Next time this happens, I will directly deal with it according to the military law of the Imagawa family."
After hearing that the always gentle and gentle Imagawa Yoshimoto used vulgar words such as "being wild", Takeda Harunobu gradually realized the seriousness of the matter, laughed twice, and then imitated the way Imagawa Yoshimoto was usually scolded by Ginkgo, raised his hand He gestured with his hands that he was wrong. But he definitely couldn't bear to apologize to Imagawa Yoshimoto. He just shook his head, then turned and left to give instructions to the troops.
Soon after, Takeda Harunobu led his army to leave, and Imagawa Yoshimoto returned to the village. This village that he had known since childhood had finally regained its vitality after being occupied by the Hojo family for 10 years, but now it had been completely changed due to a random arrest by friendly forces - which was really hard for Imagawa Yoshimoto to accept. He patrolled the streets and found that almost no one was left in the village.
"Send someone to the mountain to persuade
Say residents come back. "Imagawa Yoshimoto sighed, waved to Hayasaka Nao and said.
"Yes." Hayasaka Nao took the order and left, while Imagawa Yoshimoto camped on the spot in the village, had a simple meal, and waited for the villagers to return. However, in the evening, no residents were seen returning. Instead, Nao Hayasaka returned in anger.
"Your Highness, we can't find many people. When we saw people who looked like warriors coming up, those residents hid. The mountains and forests are complicated, so I can't find them." Hayasaka Nao said with a very apologetic hand, "When I was going down the mountain, I met a middle-aged man. "Young man, I tried to persuade him to go down the mountain, but he didn't dare. He was afraid of another war and refused to follow me no matter what."
"I'll go there myself." Imagawa Yoshimoto then stood up from the horse and glanced at the setting sun. "No matter how you say it, this random arrest can be considered my fault."
