Mingsheng Castle is the basis of the Oshu exploration of the Osaki family.

Located in Shida-gun, Rikuzen Prefecture, this castle is one of the largest castles in the near and far, and a splendid four-story castle tower stands on the north side of the castle.

Now in the 15th year of astronomy (1546), the weather is still very cold, and Osaki Yoshinao visited the Bodhi Temple outside Meisheng Castle on January 11, as in previous years, which was the death day of Osaki's father, Yoshikane Osaki.

When it comes to Yoshikane Osaki, Yoshinao Osaki misses and hates it very much!

Hates that Yoshikane Osaki handed over to him is a dilapidated Osaki family, and the glory of the former Oshu Exploration and Spo is long gone, leaving Osaki Yoshinao with a mess that must have a headache.

At its peak, the Osaki clan owned almost the entire territory of Mutsu and Dewa provinces, and the lords of Oshu, such as the Nanbo, Date, and Kasai clans, worshipped the Osaki clan as their lords. However, the current Osaki family has only the territory of five counties, including Shida, Tamazuri, Kami, Toda, and Kurihara, and the total stone height is only about 70,000 koku. It's a joke compared to the heyday of dominating Ou before, and every time I think of it, Osaki's heart is bleeding.

However, the reason for the decline of the Osaki family is not because the previous generations of Osaki family owners are too wasteful, but mainly because of the situation and standing in line.

The Oshu Governor (Oshu Exploration) was originally a competition between four daimyo belonging to the Northern Dynasty, including the Spo (Osaki) clan, the Kira clan, and the Hatakeyama clan, and the Shita clan, and the resistance activities of the Daimyo such as the Kitabatake clan affiliated with the Southern Dynasty throughout Oshu meant that the area actually controlled by the Osaki clan was limited to a few prefectures such as Shida-gun.

Later, the Osaki family won the battle with several other daimyo and gradually controlled the entire Ou region, and then let the Mogami family take the position of Hashu Detective, and included Ida, Nanbu, Kasai and other forces into the match, and the Osaki family was in the limelight for a while.

However, after that, the Osaki clan was involved in a long period of confrontation and reconciliation between the Muromachi Shogunate and the Kamakura Prefecture (note: this Kamakura Prefecture was an institution established by the Muromachi Shogunate to assist the Muromachi Shogunate in administering the Kanto region, not the Kamakura Shogunate established by Minamoto Yoritomi), and for a period of time, the jurisdiction of Okuwa was subsumed under the Kamakura Shogunate, and the position of Oshu Governor was abolished, and the Osaki clan and other local lords were required to go to Kamakura Prefecture to serve on duty.

And when the shogunate once again turned against the Kamakura government, the Osaki clan chose to cooperate with the shogunate and openly rebelled. In the 7th year of Keei (1400 AD), the head of the Osaki family, Osaki Tsumoto, was appointed as the Okōshu Detective. However, due to the fact that the Ida clan, the Ashina clan and other national lords were directly subordinate to the shogunate in the name of the Kyoto supporters, and were granted the same authority as the guardians of each prefecture. As a result, the Osaki clan's dominance over Oshu was hollowed out, and the Osaki clan also declined into a national lord who only ruled the Osaki area.

The decline of the Osaki family continued until Yoshinao Osaki's father, Yoshikane Osaki, began to fall to the bottom.

When Yoshikan Osaki, the ninth governor of the Osaki family, succeeded to the throne, he was faced with rebellion in the territory and the instability of his retainers, and the once powerful Osaki clan became empty talk. In order to protect himself, Osaki Yoshikane found his uncle, the head of the Date family, Ita Mune (the grandfather of Date Minoru Mune), and with the help of Ita Mune, Osaki Yoshikane was able to pacify the territory.

After a relatively peaceful period of ten years, the Osaki clan rebelled again, and it was only thanks to the mediation of Ita Mune that the matter was resolved. However, the master-slave relationship between the Date family and the Osaki family was completely reversed with these two rebellions.

After Date Minoru succeeded to the throne, he became the first Mutsu guardian since the Muromachi shogunate by throwing money and befriending the Kyoto minister. In this way, the last fig leaf of the Osaki clan, the Oshu Detective Job, is almost useless.

Soon, civil strife broke out again between the Furukawa family and the Araida family, retainers of the Osaki clan. At this time, Osaki Yoshinao was no longer able to mobilize his family's forces to quell the rebellion, and more than half of his retainers disobeyed Osaki's orders.

In desperation, Yoshinao Osaki had no choice but to adopt the "tradition" of the Osaki family and ask the Date family for help!

And Date Minoru had just taken up the post of Mutsu Guardian, and when he wanted to take this opportunity to expand the influence and strength of the Date family, Date Minoru gladly accepted the Osaki family's request for help.

After the war, Date Minoru smoothly incorporated his son into the Osaki family and became the heir of Osaki Yoshinao, and the Osaki family officially became a "subsidiary" force of the Date family.

Just when Osaki Yoshinao thought that the Osaki family was going to be buried in his own hands like this, the Date family suddenly broke out in civil strife. Yoshinao Osaki really wanted to hug Date Harumune and kiss him fiercely, finally letting me see the hope of the Osaki family's recovery.

As a result, Osaki Yoshinao immediately began to confront Osaki Yoshinobu under the banner of supporting Date Harumune, hoping to uproot the pro-Date retainers in the family in one fell swoop and regain control of the family.

However, the battle has been going on so far, and it is still very anxious.

Date Minoru has a large number of Oshu forces on his side, especially the Osaki family's territory is located on the edge of the Ida's internal strife vortex, Date Harunzong himself has been beaten by Date Minoru and can't find the north, how can he care about Osaki Yoshinao?

On the Osaki Yoshinobu side, there is the Kasai family as a support, which makes the already dominant Osaki Yoshinao even worse!

.........

Inside the castle tower, Osaki Yoshinao reclined slightly tired on the tatami mat of the castle tower's side hall. Yoshinao Osaki suffers from severe "rheumatism", and every time the weather is cold and wet, Yoshinao Osaki's entire leg basically hurts and can't get off the ground.

"Bing Ministry! Bingbu! Come and add some charcoal to your house, this stove is not very warm anymore! Feeling the slightest chill on his legs, Osaki Yoshinao hurriedly shouted loudly outside the hall.

Shortly after Osaki finished shouting, a rush of footsteps came in, and a middle-aged samurai with a rough face ran in with a bag of charcoal, and then half-knelt at Osaki's feet and added some charcoal to the stove.

The soot stained the samurai's face and hands a little black, and combined with the samurai's physiognomy, it was a "black whirlwind!" ”

"My lord! Is it better? The samurai put aside the charcoal pocket in his hand, and then came to Osaki's side and whispered.

"Soldiers, it's really reassuring to have you by your side!" Osaki glanced at the samurai approvingly, and then said to himself a little lonely, "It's a pity, the affairs of this family are the most headaches for the family, even the military department can't share the worries of the family." ’

Hearing Osaki Yoshinao's words, the samurai also showed a look of helplessness, "That Date boy relied on the reinforcements of the Kasai family, and attacked the castle of his family several times before the winter, and the whole place was overwhelmed!" However, the strength of the family has been fighting for many years, and the losses are very serious. In the face of Date Xiaoer's provocation, even if he has the heart to fight, he is afraid that he will not be able to win the war, and he will only increase casualties. As he spoke, the samurai's eyes revealed resentment and dissatisfaction with the "Date child" in his mouth.

Looking at the samurai whose beard was almost up, Osaki Yoshinao smiled and said, "What? Are people scared of ghosts? ”