Japan's Warring States Period: The Rise of the Wakasa Tiger

Chapter 110 Confrontation between father and son
The Sugi and Inatomi families mentioned by Naito Katsutaka were the Tango natives Sugi Sosuke and Inatomi Sukehide. Although the two families were transferred by Yoshishige, their territories increased, so they were unwilling to get involved in the rebellion of Itomi Masatsune.

The so-called "the man from Katayama Castle" is Isshiki Yoshiyuki. At the beginning of the year, he was forced by Yoshishige to give up the position of the head of the Isshiki family to Ise Fukumaru, who was from the branch family of Yukute Isshiki, and then retired to Katayama Castle in Tango Kasa County.

Soon after Yoshishige completed his journey to Kyoto and returned to Wakasa, he held a coming-of-age ceremony for Ise Fukumaru. As his Eboshige relative, Yoshishige gave him the Takeda clan's common character "Nobubu", and he thus changed his name to "Isshiki Yoshinobu".

In order to prevent Isshiki Yoshiyuki and the old retainers of the Isshiki clan from doing anything bad to Isshiki Yoshinobu, and to help Isshiki Yoshinobu consolidate his position in the Isshiki clan, Yoshishige gave him Tanabe Castle in Kasa County, which was previously Tango Shugoso, as his residence. At the same time, he asked his main family, the Yukitetsu Isshiki clan, to send retainers to assist him, and selected more than a hundred Takeda soldiers to guard Tanabe Castle.

Not only that, the 1,800-koku territorial land originally held by Isshiki Yoshiyuki was forcibly transferred to Isshiki Yoshinobu after he came of age. All of the above made Isshiki Yoshiyuki completely marginalized, and he could only sigh and complain in the small Katayama Castle.

It was precisely because of this that the evil-minded Itsumi Masatsune sent Naito Katsutaka to Katayama Castle to instigate Isshiki Yoshiyuki to rebel, and at the same time promised to give him a certain amount of financial support so that he could recruit retainers or Tango people who had been replaced or exiled due to previous defeats.

"What a pair of old foxes." After listening to Naito Katsutaka's report, Itsumi Masaki despised Sugi Sosuke and Inatomi Yuhide. However, when he learned that Isshiki Yoshiyuki was willing to follow him in the uprising, he felt relieved:
"Now that the man from Katayama Castle has nodded in agreement, things will be much easier. After all, there are quite a few Tango ronin who have been scattered all over the place as punishment for their defeat in the war. As long as he raises his arm and calls, those ronin will definitely flock to him. Then, Tango will have a good show to watch."

"What about Wakasa?" Yijian Changjing turned sideways and asked his second son Yijian Changhu.

At this moment, Yi Jian Changhu lowered his head and dared not look Yi Jian Changjing in the eye. He replied in a low voice: "You asked me to go and find out the opinions of Matsumiya, Hisamura, Kagawa and other families. I went, but through talking with their leaders or important officials in their families, I found... found that they were not dissatisfied with Wuweidian. In this case, let alone persuade them to start a rebellion."

"What kind of medicine did Wuweidian give them?" Yijian Changjing thought with an unhappy face: "Just a few years ago, they followed the lead of Awaya Nagatsuka and me, and did many things to raise troops and put pressure on the Takeda family. Why are they so submissive now?"

"What about Tsuruga? What do Princes Miyabo and Toba say?" Itsumi Masaki asked his eldest son, Itsumi Masaki.

Yi Jianchangqing shook his head with a sad face at this moment: "Those two princes simply refused to see me. I couldn't even enter the city gate."

The Miyaho and Toba mentioned by Itsumi Masatsune are Miyaho Nagamasutra, the lord of Tsurugadoyama Castle, and Toba Nobuniwa, the lord of Goanyama Castle.

The two did not send troops to resist when Yoshishige attacked Tsuruga earlier, and they also cooperated sufficiently with the Takeda army's takeover of Tsuruga after the battle. Therefore, they became the few people in Tsuruga County who were not liquidated by Yoshishige.

These two people are not fools. During the critical moment when Takeda and Asakura confronted each other at Kirigei, they did not betray Yoshishige and backstab the Takeda clan. Now that the Takeda territory is gradually returning to stability and the economy is starting to pick up, they will not risk rebellion for no reason under this positive trend.

Moreover, the land of Tsuruga has been divided up by Yoshishige's trusted ministers. Doyama Castle and Goanyama Castle are located in the heart of Tsuruga and are tightly surrounded by the territories of these ministers. Under such circumstances, only a fool would raise an army to fight against the Takeda family.

"So, after all this trouble, only Isshiki Yoshiyuki of Katayama Castle is willing to join me in the rebellion?" Yijian Changjing asked in a cold tone.

Seeing this, neither Itsumi Masaki's two sons nor Naito Katsutaka dared to answer, and the entire hall fell into deathly silence.

"What a bunch of rubbish!" Yi Jianchang looked around and finally said this viciously. Facing Yi Jianchang's rebuke, Yi Jianchanghu was the first to lose his patience. He was a straightforward person and finally stood up.

"Father, you didn't see that when I went to inquire about the opinions of those families, they looked at me as if I were a fool. They probably thought, now that Wu Weidian manages Wakasa so well, why should I think and do such unrealistic things."

Yi Jianchanghu ignored Yi Jianchangjing's livid face and Yi Jianchangqing's whispered attempts to stop him. Based on the principle of "speaking completely and speaking completely", he continued to speak boldly:

"When I went to Obama on business some time ago, I found that along the way, people were working hard in the fields, merchants were shouting and hawking in the castle town, and children were playing and fighting on the streets. It was full of vitality, laughter, and prosperity. I haven't seen such a scene for a long time.

Father, our family's territory now spans Tango and Wakasa, and you are a family elder. Do you really have the heart to disrupt this peace and tranquility? I am not talented enough, so I really don't know why you would do this..."

"Stupid guy!" Before Yi Jian Changhu could finish, Yi Jian Chang Jing was furious and grabbed the teacup and threw it at him. Although the teacup only hit the pillar next to Yi Jian Changhu, this scene still terrified everyone present.

"Father, Genji must have been pissed off by the Kagawa and Matsumiya families, so he acted so recklessly. Please forgive me, father!" Yijian Changqing hurriedly pressed Yijian Changhu down and knelt down to apologize to Yijian Changjing.

"Yes, young people are naturally a little stubborn. After all, they are father and son. Don't create any grudges because of this." At this time, Naito Katsutaka also spoke up to persuade.

"Uchizoku, why are you pretending to be a good guy?" Itsuki Changhu said unhappily, "If it weren't for you instigating it, how could father have thought of rebelling?! I'm afraid that my Itsuki clan will follow in the footsteps of your Naito family."

"Why did I give birth to such a bastard like you?!" Yi Jianchangjing stood up suddenly, strode towards Yi Jianchanghu in anger, and kicked him to the ground with force.

As if he was still not satisfied, he grabbed his collar and lifted him up from the ground, and asked viciously: "Do you think I'm stupid? I did this for the Yijian clan?!"

Seeing that Itsumi Changhu was looking at him unconvinced, Itsumi Changjin continued, "My Itsumi clan has been in Oi County for more than a hundred years, serving the successive heads of the Takeda clan, but has any head acted like Takeiden?
Think about it carefully. After the two world wars, what did he do? He transferred most of the people in Wakasa to Tsuruga and Tango. In Wakasa, except for the main family and the Kumagai clan, no one could pose a threat to him. And the Kumagai clan was his wife's clan, so the only thorn in his eyes was the Itsumi clan.

Moreover, although we were granted an additional title after the last assessment, look at the map: except for a small amount of Shirai clan's territory in the west, the rest of the directions are surrounded by Takeda clan's direct territory. Isn't this enough to explain the problem?
I admit that Takeden is capable, resolute and courageous, and is an accomplished ruler that the Takeda clan has never had, but is this a good thing for our Itsumi clan?
He took advantage of several wars to confiscate the fiefs of Miyagawa Takeda, Awaya, Naito and a large number of Tango people. The meaning is very clear. The era of the "heavy ministers' joint decision system" in the past where the retainers acted independently no longer exists. In this case, the main family holds so many Zhixing lands, isn't it the next target?

My stupid son, it's not that I want to start a war, it's all forced by the situation. For the long-term survival of the Yijian clan, I have no choice but to do this."

I’m sorry everyone, I was busy until very late yesterday and had no time to update. Please forgive me. Xiong Zai sincerely apologizes here!

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(End of this chapter)