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

Chapter 133 Three Points Tajima
Yamana Yufeng thought about Tanjie Shojiyoshi's proposal again and again, and finally agreed. He thought that after all, he was the head of the Yamana family. If he bowed to Yamana Masamichi, not to mention whether he could preserve his authority in Tajima, even the position of the head of the family would be difficult to guarantee.

But it would be different to ask for peace from Yoshishige. First of all, the two families had no personal grudges, and perhaps peace could be achieved by making a slight concession; secondly, the Tajima family was surrounded by the Amago clan to the west and the Takeda clan to the east, and its own positioning was a buffer zone. Once it was destroyed, the Takeda clan would face the powerful Amago clan directly. This was something Yoshishige would definitely consider carefully.

However, there are still two important officials in the army, Kakiya Tsunari and Yagi Toyonobu, who are inclined towards the Amago clan and their strength should not be underestimated. In order to appease and confuse them, Yamana Yutoyo decided to send Yagi Toyonobu and Tanyu Shoyoshi to visit Takeda Kuninobu and Yoshishige respectively. On the surface, he wanted to hear whose price was more favorable to him, but in fact, he already had the answer in his mind.

That night, Tian Jie Zhuang Shiyi arrived at Asakura Castle, which was several miles away.

It is no coincidence that the name of Asakura Castle is related to the Asakura clan. This is the birthplace of the Echizen Asakura clan. In 1336, Asakura Hirokage, the first head of the Echizen Asakura clan, officially moved from here to Echizen, opening a magnificent history.

In this city with special significance, Yoshishige met with Tanaka Shoyoshi. Due to time constraints, the two did not exchange too many pleasantries and went straight to the point.

"Muke-dono, my lord promises you that as long as the Takeda army can withdraw to Tango, he is willing to give a large sum of money and send a hostage to Wakasa." Tanjie Shojiro was the first to throw out the price he could offer.

"Give a large sum of money? How much money is Yamana Jinwu willing to pay to redeem Deishi Castle, how much is he willing to pay to redeem Arikoyama Castle, and how much is he willing to pay to redeem Kusumayama Castle?" These three cities were originally important towns in Yamana Yufeng's direct territory, especially Kusumayama Castle, which was the main castle of the Yamana clan.

Yishige deliberately used the word "redeem" instead of "gift" in order to suppress Tian Jiezhuang's righteousness in terms of momentum.

His actions did have a certain deterrent effect. Hearing these three cities being read out by Yoshishige, Tanaka Shoji's face turned very ugly. He thought to himself, "Yes, now the direct territory of the Yamana clan is basically occupied by the Takeda army. How can they say 'redeem'? How can they say 'donate'?"

Seeing that Tanjie Zhuang Shiyi was in an awkward situation, Yoshishige continued to add fuel to the fire: "I heard that the Yamana army has gathered more than 3,000 people in Yagi Castle, but I wonder, this Yagi Castle is the residence of Yagi Toyonobu, and the King of the Guards is willing to support it with all its troops, so why doesn't it have any troops to guard its own castle? In the end, even if Yagi Castle is defended, wouldn't it be making wedding clothes for others?"

Yoshishige's words alerted Tanaka Shoji, who could not help but sigh: "That makes sense. Now the Yamana clan has lost their power, and my own castle, Tsuruga Castle, has also been lost. In this case, why should I spend so much effort and waste troops to defend the castle for the pro-Amago faction Yagi Toyonobu?"

Thinking of this, Tian Jie Shoji came to his senses. At this moment, for the sake of the Yamana main family and Tian Jie Shoji, this war must not be fought at all, otherwise it would be a waste of time in the end.

"Wu Wei Palace, I understand what you mean." Tian Jie Zhuang Shiyi bowed slightly and responded respectfully: "We came here to negotiate peace this time in the hope that the war can be stopped as soon as possible. To this end, our family is willing to make certain concessions to show our sincerity."

Now, Yoshishige understood that it was his turn to make an offer: "Time is running out, and I will not bargain with you. How about this, the three counties of Kinosaki, Izushi, and Asago, as well as the area east of the Enyama River in the two counties of Yafu and Taki, will belong to me. In exchange, I will negotiate with Inaba on your behalf and ask them to withdraw from the remaining parts of the two counties of Yafu and Taki. If possible, I will also secure part of the territory of Bihan County for Kingo. What do you think, sir?"

"This is putting my Yamana clan to death!" Tanjie Zhuang was so ashamed and indignant that he said with trembling lips: "You should know that my lord's direct territory is mostly concentrated in Izushi County, and the residence of the vassal is in Kinosaki County. If you divide these two places, it will be difficult for the vassal to explain when he returns!" "Do you have the right to refuse?" Since it has come to this, Yoshishige directly showed his "fangs": "To tell you the truth, I originally agreed to divide Tajima equally with the Inaba Yamana family. Now I am willing to hand over the Hesai land of the two counties of Yangfu and Keta to you. It is already a huge concession. For this condition, I will try my best to fight for it from the Inaba person, but you are not satisfied. It is really ignorant of the current situation."

"Your Highness, you don't know that the Kido County and the Yangfu County are the spheres of influence of the Kakiya and Yagi families respectively. What you did is, on the surface, you gave the main family three counties, but in fact, there is only one county, Mikan!" Tian Jie Zhuangyi complained, "Your Highness, please reconsider it. No matter what, you must return the Sumiyama Castle and the Tsuru Castle to the main family."

"The Kakiya family's power in Kida County has been almost wiped out by the Inaba Army. If you are willing, I can consider helping you clean up the Yagi family in Yangfu County, but the reward must not be small." Yoshishige said with a smile.

"Your Highness, aren't you afraid that if you do this, your main family will directly surrender to Inaba? The Takeda family will not only have to face the Inaba Yamana family, but also the Amago family behind them. Are you willing to see such a situation?" Tanjie Shoyoshi was at his wits' end and had to use his trump card, saying with a hint of threat.

"If you want to surrender, just surrender. Why are you still wasting your breath on me?" Yoshishige snorted coldly, stood up suddenly, and pretended to be angry: "Did I, Takeda Yoshishige, grow up to be scared? Back then, I relied on a small corner of Wakasa to first break Asakura, then swallowed the elixir, and now I have taken over the other half of Tajima. Do you think I'm afraid of the Amago family? Go back and tell Kingo that I'm not someone to be trifled with. I won't hesitate even if I have to turn Tajima into ruins!"

In fact, Yoshishige was indeed worried that Yamana Yufeng would surrender, but the more worried he was, the more he could not show it, lest he be controlled by Tanjie Shoyoshi. His statement of being fierce on the outside but weak on the inside was just to scare and trick him with his determination to fight to the death, and force him to compromise.

"But the horse is not yours, so you don't mind, but we will be miserable." Tian Jie Zhuangyi complained helplessly in his heart. At this moment, he was really frightened by Yizhong. He sat there in silence for a long time before he expressed his position to Yizhong: "This matter is of great importance. I can't make the decision. I can only take your conditions back and ask the lord to decide."

On this side, Tian Jie Zhuang Shiyi bid farewell to Yoshishige and returned to Yagi Castle. He happened to meet Yagi Toyonobu who was also returning to the city. The two looked at each other and smiled awkwardly, and walked into the hall together.

Yamana Yufeng asked Yagi Toyonobu to report the result of the peace talks first. The latter hesitated for a long time before saying, "Takedayama Castle Lord said that before leaving, Yamana Samasuke said that if the two armies negotiated peace, he would be willing to assign the land east of the Yadagawa River in Bihan County to the main family for governance, but the condition is that you must hand over the position of the head of the Yamana family to him..."

"Asshole!" Yamana Youfeng shouted, slamming the table and standing up, "Do you really think I'm at the end of my rope and have to beg for mercy from him? Rather than that, I'd rather fight him to the death!"

Seeing this, Tian Jie Zhuang Shiyi felt that the time had come, and hurried forward to tell Yamana Youfeng all the conditions offered by Yishige.

Compared with the conditions offered by Yamana Masamune, the price offered by Yoshishige was more "sincere", which made Yamana Yufeng tempted.

(End of this chapter)