When I returned to the territory from Komakiyama Castle, I began to build a castle between Kaisan Castle and Shiyu City. At the same time, with my deliberate connivance, the news of Nobunaga's appointment of me as the head of Mie County spread, and the entire Mie County gradually stirred up. Chikusa Tadaji thought that the opportunity for restoration had arrived, and came to Crab River Castle many times to ask for a meeting. Every time I let Xiujing receive him, although I didn't promise him, I provided some financial support from time to time, so that he could drag Chikukind Zhongji back.

The influence of the Chikan family and the Akahori clan in Mie County is too great for me to keep. Historically, Takigawa Kazuki thought the same way. His method of handling is also completely in line with his specialty: forcing the Northern Ise Wealthy Clan, and after initially stabilizing the situation, under the pretext of colluding with the Omi Rokkaku clan, he exiled Tadaji's father and son, and ordered the Umezu family to kill Tadaji's son-in-law Masaburo on the way; Ordered the retainer Yamaguchi clan to trap the head of the Hazu family, Hazu Konmune, in Mofuku Castle, and then suddenly captured Hamada Castle under the pretext of rebellion against the Akabori clan, killing the castle lord Hamada Mototsuna and the head of the Akabori family, Akabori Keiji.

Such an action is too conspiracy. I hope to be able to be more open, or at least let them die like a samurai. In private, it is considered to strengthen my positive image, and in the public, I can maintain the righteous name of my family.

In July, a major event occurred in, when the head of the Miyoshi family and the head of the shogunate, Miyoshi Nagakei, returned to heaven.

From the fourth year of Yongroku, the Miyoshi family began to decline. That year, Sanhao Changqing's most trusted fourth brother Shihe passed away, and then Changqing began to sink, and family affairs were gradually controlled by Song Yongxiu; In the fifth year of Eiroku, Miyoshi Yoshiken went to war with the Hatakeyama family, and was begged for death by the people who came to help the Hatakeyama family; In the sixth year of Yonglu, his son-in-law Sanhao Yixing died of a sudden illness, and Yiji, the son of Shihe Yicun, was adopted as his adopted son, and ordered the second son of Sanhao Yixian to inherit the Shihe family and changed his name to Shihe Deposit; This year is the seventh year of Yongro, and in May, Miyoshi Changqing was confused by Matsu Nagahide's slander, and killed the commander of the Awaji Navy and the third brother Anzhai Dongyasu, and inherited it with Shihe and his adopted son, Shihe; By July, he himself had finally collapsed.

Although the last few years of Miyoshi Changqing, almost all of them were spent on the sickbed. But his personal prestige still suppressed the whole of. Even the general Ashikaga Yoshiki chose to forbear for the time being, and gave the five three tong side tattoos to Changqing, Yoshiko father and son, and Matsunaga Hide, in order to show the intention of wooing.

Before it was allowed to be used freely in 1884 and became the most widely used five major patterns in the book, the five three tongs were still very precious. If you can use Gosanki as a secondary crest, you are either a very noble family or a samurai who has been commended by the shogunate, and you cannot inherit the right to use it from a franchise family or an individual, except for a family that is exempt from using it.

In the family, the Mikawa Kira family and the Suruga Imagawa family can be exempted from use, and the Imagawa family's flag is the two leading two-five three tongs with black lines on a white background; In addition, Takeda and Uesugi also obtained licenses from Yoshiki; Later, Toyotomi Hideyoshi came to power, and specially designated the family crest of the Toyotomi family as a variant of Taiko Gosantong to show his family's "noble bloodline......

Personally, in the generation of General Yoshiki, Wusantong was given to four people, namely Rokkaku Dinglai, Miyoshi Changqing, Miyoshi Yixing and Matsunaga Xiu; When Nobunaga was in his time, he himself and the major army commanders under him were basically given five or three kiri; And when it came to the monkeys, in order to win over the generals, the flood was a little more powerful, and the three families of Kaga Maeda, Mitsu Oida and Tosa Yamauchi even obtained the license of the five seven paulownia patterns; And Wusantong is even more licensed.

As for the five-seven paulownia, there were several families that used it as a family crest in the Kamakura period, such as Oyaono, Shinyoshi, and Liushou, but later because of the beautiful symbolism of the paulownia pattern, it became a secondary crest of the imperial family and the imperial court, and only those in charge of the government could use it. During the Muromachi Shogunate period, only the Ashikaga clan, the Kamakura Ashikaga family, and the Hosokawa clan were exempt from use.

Even in modern times, according to the Constitution, only the Prime Minister and the Cabinet can use the Five-Seven Tree.

Therefore, it is a great honor for Sanhao Changqing to be able to use Wusantong.

As soon as he died, the situation in immediately changed a lot. Within the Miyoshi family, since the successor head of the family was only fifteen years old, Matsunaga Shu and the Miyoshi trio held the right to dispose of the family's affairs; Externally, several major forces that were originally suppressed by the Miyoshi family began to rebound, and the most powerful of them was naturally Shogun Ashikaga Yoshiteru.

However, Yoshiaki's own strength is not great, and if he wants to drive the Miyoshi family out of, he must rely on the assistance of other forces. Looking around the country, the Rokkaku family was originally the most suitable backstage. Since Rokkaku Yoshiji became the head of the family, he reversed the pro-Miyoshi policy of the Yoshiken era and went hostile to the Miyoshi family, which was in line with Yoshiki's needs. It's a pity that in the previous year, due to Yoshiji's killing of important ministers, there was already a civil strife in the Rokkaku family, and he was unable to assist the shogun at the moment.

As a result, General Yoshiki began to vigorously co-opt the anti-Sanhao forces from all sides in Kinai.

At the end of July, Ishitani Yorichen suddenly came to Crab River Castle and brought with him the Imperial Letters of General Yoshiki:

The Imperial Judgment of the Light Source Courtyard

Tosa Kira Nobunao ruins and other affairs. The purpose of the resignation. Kira Xuanjing continues to lead the palm, and it cannot contradict each other. It is the one who is a marquis of a high family. Five-three paulownia pattern is exempt. Can be the marquis of the house. Still insistent as a piece.

On the twenty-first day of the seventh month of the seventh month of the seventh year of Yonglu, he was charged

“…… What's going on? I asked Ishitani Raitaki with the Imperial Interior Letter.

"It's very well written! The Gongfang Hall recognized your inheritance of the Tosa Kira family, and in addition, because of your family's family character, you were granted a waiver to use the Gosan Kiulownia pattern. What a great grace! Ishiya Yorichen was beaming. His sister is the main family of the Wusan Tong Vice-Pattern family, and this incident makes him feel the same honor.

"I'm just asking, why is there such grace in the Gongfang Palace? …… I don't seem to have done anything for the general, right? I said.

"That's right. The last time I returned to Kyoto, I told the Shogun about your destruction of the Kitabatake, and the Shogun admired it very much. This time I specially gave grace in the hope that you would serve the Gongfang Hall and fight against the Awaji Naval Army of the Miyoshi family...... This is the secret edict of the Gongfang Palace, because the Imperial Cabinet is to be written by the Governor, so it is not convenient to write it in the Imperial Seal. Ishitani explained.

Against the three good water army, this is a fatal task!

I shook my head and handed back the imperial book to Ishiya Laichen: "I really can't serve the trouble of going to the Gongfang Palace, and I deserve this grace." ”

"Xuanjing, how can you say that? How can the Imperial Book of the Gongfang Hall be returned? As for the secret message, you can just do it, and I didn't let you go and fight the Awaji Navy right away......" Ishiya Yorichen advised.

"Then I'll be ashamed." I nodded.

Ishiya Laichen is right, the matter of secret oracles really does not need to be too enthusiastic. In real history, because Ashikaga Yoshiteru was too active, he would immediately invite death, and then my obligation was lifted. So, you might as well accept this title first.

Although I didn't need to ask Nobunaga about my family's inheritance and family crest, when it came to the general's secret message, I still sent someone to Komaki Mountain Castle to inform General Yoshiki of his actions.

Then, I gathered my retainers and read out the Imperial Letters of General Yoshiki. Unexpectedly, the reaction of the retainers was not ordinary, especially Xiujing and Xiao Xia, looking at that posture, they almost bowed to the imperial book devoutly.

"Congratulations to my brother for his family's business and family's integrity!" Xiujing took the lead in congratulating, "Please also ask my brother to set the style of my family's military flag!" ”

"Please set the style of your family's military flag!" All the people bowed together.

"Flags......" I nodded. It's really time to decide.

Originally, when I was a general and could lead an army alone, I should have decided on the style of the military flag. But for a while, I didn't get a territory, and I was always leading troops in Nobunaga's main camp, so I didn't need to think about the flag. After gaining the territory, it was either a sneak attack or a surprise attack, and he never officially raised his military flag.

I don't care about this question, but orthodox samurai like Kira Hidekei and Iwamatsu Noirai have always been a little ashamed. Now that they have the five or three tong sub-patterns given by the general, they can finally raise their eyebrows.

“…… Just use the black pattern on a white background of the five bone fan - five three tongs! It's the same with the flag. ”

"Yes!" The retainers were excited. The third samurai in the world who was exempted from using the Wusantong sub-tattooed military flag appeared.

……，……

After the communication, the retainers left the assessment room one after another, but Xiujing stayed.

"What's the matter?" I asked.

"Senkusa Tadaji is here again this morning. He said that he had received accurate information that Chikusa Tadaji was in contact with the Akabori clan and was preparing to unite with the Northern Ise clan against his family after the autumn harvest...... But I'm not sure if my brother wants to make the news public, so I didn't bring it up in front of the retainers. In addition, I think that if what he says is true, perhaps our opponents will not only be the Thousand Tadashi and Akabori clans, but also many other wealthy clans. ”

"Yes, the Senkusa family and the Akabori clan are the two backbones of the Northern Ise Hao clan alliance, and if there is any action, it will definitely lead a piece," I nodded in agreement, "but it doesn't matter. Even if they don't move, we'll move. I also hope that they can join forces and solve it all at once, which is a very ideal situation...... The pressure from the main hall is not small. ”

"Then I understand, go down and prepare now." Xiujing said.

"Yes, go ahead!" I replied tacitly.

-- The so-called preparation means the immediate dispatch of troops. There are a lot of standing troops in our family, and it is our good habit to bully opponents who are inconvenient to gather Ashigaru during the agricultural season.

As a result, half of the 2,000 Ise naval forces were summoned ashore to replace the 1,000 elite standing guards of Kaisan Castle, with Yoshiyuki Sawaki as the castle representative. Standing Guard, led by Wasuka Masakatsu, began to organize and arrange the situation of the battle after the autumn harvest.

Counting the preparations, my current military strength is close to 5,000, and I have basically been trained and honed. Even if it is prepared, compared to the average wealthy family, the combat effectiveness is very considerable. In the case of the Northern Ise Coalition Army, according to my estimate, the total number of people can exceed 10,000, but their combat effectiveness is not high, and the people are not evenly matched, so there are many orders. I'm pretty sure I'm going to win.

At the beginning, Omi sent 3,000 troops, and he was able to fight with the coalition forces without a win, and finally the commander-in-chief of the coalition forces, Chikusa Tadaji, had to sue for peace. And now the coalition forces are even more fragmented, and the Haruya clan and the Akabori clan have fought fiercely many times, and they have almost become mortal enemies. Compared with that time, the strength and cohesion of the Northern Ise Hao Alliance have decreased a lot.

The only thing I am worried about is our casualties. If the casualties are too large and they cannot recover for a while, they will not be able to continue to contain and deter the Kitabatake.

In that case, I will have to stop the Guan clan from sending troops. The alliance between the Guan clan and the Akabori clan is extremely close, and a few years ago, the Guan family was attacked by the Nagano family and the Kobe family, and they all relied on the assistance of the Akabori family, and if the Akabori family contacted the Guan family this time, it was likely that they would receive reinforcements of two or three thousand people.

In addition, the general leader of the Guan clan, Guan Shengxin, married Gamo Hyunhide's sister as the main room, and was Hyunso's brother-in-law, and Gamo Hyun-so married the sister of Senju Gaoji, who was Goji's brother-in-law...... Through these two layers of relationship, if the Guan family sends troops to help, maybe even the Gamo family will be involved. At that time, with Gamo and Guan as the backbone, there will be no chance of winning this battle.

There is only one way to resolve these concerns: to quickly eliminate the Akabori clan and cut off the ties between the Northern Ise coalition and the Seki clan and the Gamo family.

The three families of the Akabori clan joined forces, and the army could reach 2,000 people. If a combined force is formed, this clan will be the backbone. Destroying them will not only cut off foreign reinforcements, but also break one of the backbones of the Northern Ise coalition army. It's a win-win-win!

With this in mind, I ordered Masakatsu Bee and Shigeharu Takenaka to lead the Standing Guards and keep going to harass the Akahori family and harvest their grain.

In the face of our actions, the head of the Akahori family, Akabori Keiji, was powerless to resist, so he had to ask for help from the other two relatives.

Although the Akabori family is a clan family, the current head of the clan is Hamada Mototsuna, who is a division of the Hamada family. This person is quite ambitious, and he has been trying to take his place since the influence of the Thousand Species Family has weakened. In the past few years, he assisted the Guan family twice, and although he lost the battle, he left a reputation for being anxious for justice and righteousness, and not afraid of strong enemies. In the face of my attack, he was heartbroken, sent people to Guishan Castle to ask for help from the Guan family, and at the same time forcibly summoned the people who were harvesting in the autumn, gathered an army of 2,000 people, and went to the front line of Chibori Castle to wait for the battle.

When I heard the report from Monomiban, I immediately ordered Wasuka Masakatsu and Shigeharu Takenaka to lead the Standing Guard to invite the attack. This is the first time that the family has been dressed up in a neat battle, looking at the forest composed of a thousand five bone fans - five three tong by the flag, but there is a lot of military appearance and strict momentum.

Originally, I was going to temporarily transfer the water army and attack from the back. But the description of Monomi made me change my mind. The personnel on the other side are of different ages, they are already fully mobilized, and they are poorly equipped, not to mention protective gear, and some people are still using weapons such as sickles and hoes...... Maybe in Kita-Ise, once mobilized, all the troops that are called up are like this, but in the face of a well-equipped and well-equipped standing army, this is a completely vulnerable opponent!

What's more, our general is Masakatsu Wasuka, and the military commissioner is Shigeharu Takenaka, both of whom are generals who have left their names in the history of the Warring States period, and the opponents Hamada Mototsuna, Akabori Keiji and others are just the people of the country who have been arbitrarily manipulated by Takigawa Kazuki.

In less than half of the fierce battle, our side won a complete victory, beheading two hundred and thirty, and our own losses were very small. The Akabori clan was scattered, and Hamada Mototsuna and the head of the Hazu family, Hazu Jinmune, were killed in battle. Subsequently, Keiji Akabori abandoned his own Akabori Castle and fled to Hamada Castle.

In this battle, our side went into battle with 1,000 men and completely defeated the opponent's 2,000 troops, leaving an unforgettable impression on the wealthy clans of Northern Ise. The Guan family was originally going to gather troops, but they heard the news of the defeat of the Akabori clan's army, so they dispelled the idea of sending reinforcements.

I asked Wasuka Masakatsu to lead the standing reserve to surround Hamada Castle, and then sent someone to declare in the territory that the new lord's annual tribute this year would only be 30%. All of a sudden, the position of the peasants in the territory immediately changed direction, and even local samurai made a special trip to help besiege the city. Seeing this situation, Keiji Akahori in the city understood that the general trend had gone. He set a fire to the castle tower and seppuku with Shigetsuna, the son of Hamada Mototsuna. So the three families of the Chibori clan are extinct.

So far, the first step of my Mie County strategy has been successfully completed. At this time, it was already mid-August, and the autumn harvest was about to end. I understand that the battle with the combined forces of the Northern Ise clan is already close at hand.

But what I didn't expect was that it was not either of us who started the war first.