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

"Ukita Hachiro Naoie, you are appointed as the lord of Washiyama Castle in Mimasakatsunan County. Your knowledge and actions...your knowledge and actions are to be determined?" When the attendant read this, he thought it was written wrong, so he turned around and looked at Yoshishige.

But Yoshishige did not respond, but asked His Highness Ukita Naoie: "Hachiro, are you satisfied with this appointment?"

"Excuse me, lord, where exactly is this Washiyama Castle?" Ukita Naoie did not answer directly, but asked about the location of the city. After all, he knew very little about places outside Bizen.

"This Washiyama Castle is located at the junction of Bizen and Bizen. To the south is Sasabe Kanjiro's Chausuyama Castle. It was originally the castle of the Hoshiga clan, who were vassals of the Urakami clan. When the main clan went on a western expedition, they colluded with the Kusakari clan and intended to take advantage of the chaos to occupy Katsunami County. They were defeated by the main clan's small army and fled to Bizen to seek refuge with Urakami Totomi-no-kami (Urakami Munekage), and this castle became vacant. What do you think of being appointed as the lord of this castle?"

Upon hearing that it was a castle on the border of Mimasaka and Bizen, and that to the south was the Sasabe clan, which was a vassal of the Urakami family, Ukita Naoie was already tempted.

The Sasabe clan originated in Settsu, and later migrated to the northern part of Bizen, where they settled at the junction of the Yoshii River and the Yoshino River, and became vassals of the Bizen guardian Urakami clan. After that, they built Chausuyama Castle and Daisenyama Castle, which became an important gateway upstream of the Urakami clan's residence Tenjinyama Castle in Bizen, and one of the forces that Mimasaka had to face when entering and leaving Bizen.

The most important point that impressed Ukita Naoie was that Sasabe Kanjiro was an important ally of Shimamura Morimitsu, who controlled Bizen from the north and south, almost sidelining the young Urakami Munekage. If the Sasabe clan could be defeated or even eliminated, it would not only cut off Shimamura Morimitsu's arm, but also create conditions for the subsequent march to Tenjinyama Castle and taking control of Bizen.

At that time, Ukita Naoie would be the vanguard of the Takeda clan in conquering Bizen, and after the success, he would definitely receive a handsome reward.

Thinking of this, Ukita Naoie decided to accept Yoshishige's appointment: "I thank my lord for his grace, and I am willing to go to Washiyama Castle."

"Oh?" Yizhong was a little curious, "Why don't you ask what this pending determination means?"

"My lord, is this what you mean? My knowledge and ability will be judged by how much I can conquer?" Ukita Naoie asked calmly.

"As expected of Ukita Hachiro." Yoshishige smiled.

"The three sides of Washiyama Castle are the territory of the Bizen Sasabe clan. After the Hoshiga clan was driven away, Sasabe Kanjiro wanted to seize Washiyama Castle while the main clan was still unstable, and then extend his power into Bizen, and thus created frictions on the border several times. I asked you to be the lord of Washiyama Castle, just to teach him a lesson and let him know how powerful my Takeda clan is.

In addition, Washiyama Castle is adjacent to Bizen and will serve as a bridgehead for future southward advances. Ensuring the safety of the area surrounding this castle is extremely important to the family's next strategic move.

After you become the lord of the city, I will give you an annual salary of 400 kan and 300 soldiers. However, unlike Fujizo and Zenjiro, I will only provide this annual salary for three years. Within three years, you must rely on your own efforts to obtain the Zhixing land and become a true lord.

I also promise you that within three years, all the land you acquire will be counted as your Zhixing land. To put it bluntly, it means 'Zhixing is yours', do you understand?"

"Knowing and doing are self-made?!" Ukita Naoie pondered for a moment, then answered with great certainty: "I understand, thank you for your grace, lord!"

"Hikogoro, he has just come of age. Should we reconsider sending him to such a dangerous place?" Takeda Motomitsu couldn't help but worry as he looked at this young man who was one year younger than Takeda Nobutsugu.

"I won't force him. Everything is up to him to decide." Yoshishige glanced at Ukita Naoie and continued, "If you still have concerns, I can also appoint you as the governor of a certain city and still give you an annual salary of 400 koku."

"No, my lord." Ukita Naoie said hurriedly, "I am willing to accept it. As long as my lord allows, I can go to Washiyama Castle at any time."

Ukita Naoie knew that Yoshishige wanted to test his ability and determination by awarding him this special title. In that case, how could he retreat and be laughed at by everyone? The only way he could do was to accept this "reward" and make a name for himself to have a place in the Takeda family.

Hearing Ukita Naoie's answer, Yoshishige nodded with satisfaction. Takeda Motomitsu was a little surprised. He did not expect that this young man would have such courage to take on this matter. Only then did he feel that there was indeed something special about Yoshishige recruiting this person.

After Ukita Naoie left, Yoshishige ordered his attendant to pick up the last document on the table. Everyone in the palace was very curious about the content of this document, wondering what kind of appointment or reward would be kept until the end.

"Please invite Takeda Hitachisuke Kuninobu to the palace!"

Under the gaze of everyone, Takeda Kuninobu was surprised and delighted. He quickly stood up and went to the hall to kneel down and wait respectfully.

"I now appoint Takeda Hitachisuke as the deputy governor of Sakushu. He will leave for Takayama Castle in the near future to take up his post."

As the attendant finished reading the letter of commission, not only the person involved, Takeda Kuninobu, but also the other retainers of His Highness were caught off guard.

"This Hitachisuke is incredible. First he was treated as an Ichimonshu, then he received a certificate of acceptance, and now he has been appointed as the general agent of Mimasaka. It can be seen that the lord values ​​him very much!"

"That's right. He has only been here for a short time, and neither Kumagai nor Awaya brothers have been able to receive this honor, but he has. The lord really has great trust in him."

Everyone was talking at once, making Takeda Kuninobu, who was already very excited, even more flattered.

"I am deeply apprehensive. I have only been in the service of my family for a short time and I am afraid that I cannot take on such an important responsibility." Takeda Kuninobu concealed his inner joy and pretended to be humble.

"Since you are a member of the main family, you must be aware of sharing the responsibilities of the main family. With the new annexation of Bizen, the various places are unstable, and we urgently need important retainers of the family to come forward to pacify them. I hope Hitachisuke will not refuse."

After hearing what Yoshishige said, Takeda Kuninori was naturally very happy, but he could only act very embarrassed and accept the job. Thinking of the promise Yoshishige made to him in Tottori Castle, he couldn't help but sigh inwardly: "This Takeshi is really a man of his words."

With this, the evaluation was considered to be over, but the impact it produced was far-reaching. It not only determined the ranking of the retainers of the Wakasa Takeda clan in the early period, but also laid a solid foundation for the construction of the retainer group.

For example, Yamagata Morinobu and Yamamoto Shigeyuki, one was brave and good at fighting, the other was resourceful, and from this moment on, they gradually became known throughout Japan as the "Two Walls of Wakasa" or "Two Mountains of Wakasa". The above two, together with Kagawa Morihisa and Matsumiya Kiyonaga, replaced the original four people of the Wakasa Takeda clan, Awaya Mototaka, Itsumi Masaki, Naito Katsutaka, and Kumagai Katsunao, becoming the new "Takeda Four Heavenly Kings".

Kagawa Morihisa, Matsumiya Kiyonaga, Kumagai Takanao, and Muto Mitsuyuki were Yoshishige's close associates in the early days, so they are also known as the "Four Close Associates."

The "Four Heavenly Kings of Takeda" plus Shirai Mitsutune, Takeda Kuninobu, Kumagai Takanao, and Kuriya Katsuhisa, a total of eight people, together constitute the early "Eight Famous Ministers of Takeda".

The above eight people, together with Mutō Mitsuyu, Kumagai Motonao, Shirai Kiyotane, Kuchiki Hidemitsu, Oniwa Masaaki, Sakakibara Nagamasa, Nagasaka Nobumasa, and Ukita Naoie, are collectively known as the "Sixteen Tiger Generals of Takeda".

Later, twenty-four people including Yonezu Tsujiharu, Takagi Kiyohide, Inatomi Yuhide and other "Takeda Sixteen Generals" formed the prototype of the "Twenty-Four Generals of Takeda".

It can be said that it was through this assessment that the structure of the retainers of the Wakasa Takeda clan was formally and clearly established, which created a solid foundation for the continued growth of the Wakasa Takeda clan in the future.

In the more than two months after the evaluation, the retainers all went to their respective territories that were granted or transferred to handle internal affairs. However, due to the restrictions of "living in the castle town", during peacetime, they had to spend most of their time in the castle town of Atagoyama Castle.

Only a few shugo deputies, sousagents, as well as Yonezu Tsujiharu, Takagi Kiyohide, and Ukita Naoie, were able to leave Atagoyama Castle and go to local government offices or castles to manage local affairs for the sake of stability.

Especially for Ukita Naoie. After learning that he had regained his fiefdom and became the lord of a city, many old retainers from the Ukita Noriie period came to Washiyama Castle from Bizen with their families and regrouped under the banner of "Komonji". Among them were Okaie Toshi and Osafune Sadachika, who were later known as two of the "Ukita Three Elders".

Just as Yoshishige completed the assessment and was preparing to recuperate and strengthen his rule over the newly acquired territories, the situation in the Takeda family in Kai changed far away.

On June 1541, , after a long preparation, Takeda Shingen finally went to Sunpu to visit his daughter and son-in-law Imagawa Yoshimoto with a few followers and samurai as planned. He also told him the Takeda family's next plan, hoping that he would give him full support, or at least remain neutral and not trip him up at this critical juncture.

Just as the group leisurely passed through the checkpoint between Kai and Suruga and entered the territory of Suruga, a team of samurai carrying several carriages were already waiting not far away.

Seeing this, out of curiosity, Takeda Shingen immediately stepped forward to ask these people why they were here. Unexpectedly, the words of the leading samurai were like a bolt from the blue, which blew up Takeda Shingen's heart.

"Your Highness, we are here on the orders of our lord to welcome you to Suruga to live out your retirement." The leading samurai replied respectfully.

"Retirement? Are you kidding me?" Takeda Shintora was furious and said, "Who is your lord? How can he allow you to talk nonsense here?!"

"Your Highness, my lord is Imagawa Osamu." The leading samurai replied.

Hearing this answer, Takeda Shintora's eyes went dark. He staggered twice before finally standing steady with the help of his attendants. He looked at the vehicle in front of him with surprise and asked in disbelief, "What do you mean by 'retirement'?"

"Your Highness, it was the young master of your Takeda family who discussed with my lord and hoped to take you to Sunpu to spend your old age. After several negotiations, my lord finally agreed and sent us to pick you up." The leading samurai was afraid of angering Takeda Shingen, so he only dared to answer respectfully.

After hearing the answer from the leading samurai, Takeda Shingen finally understood that his eldest son, Takeda Harunobu, seemed to be colluding with his son-in-law, Imagawa Yoshimoto, and planned to exile him to Suruga!
"You bastard!" After all, Takeda Shingen was a powerful ruler who had ruled the country for more than 30 years. How could he swallow this humiliation? When he thought that he was exiled by his inconspicuous eldest son, he became furious. He immediately turned his horse around and led the samurai accompanying him back to Kai.

Unexpectedly, just after walking a few steps back, he saw that the gate of the checkpoint at the Kai border was closed, and a team of elite warriors in full armor were standing in front of the gate ready for battle.

It was not until then that Takeda Shingen realized that he could never return to Kai, where he had struggled for most of his life.

"How can there be such a son in the world?"

Takeda Shingen, the lord of the Takeda clan who unified Kai and extended its influence to Shinano, looked at the closed gate of the Sekisho and the "Four-War Diamond" flag flying above it, and could not help but burst into tears and sobbed.

"Your Highness, please follow us to Suruga. There is no point in staying here any longer..." the leading samurai reminded cautiously.

Takeda Shingen sent everyone away and looked at the checkpoint in silence for a long time. Finally, under the repeated urging of the leading samurai, he turned around and "left" Kai behind.

"I'm a samurai and don't need this thing." Takeda Shingen glanced at the several vehicles parked not far away and said disdainfully.

After saying this, he mounted his horse, looked straight ahead, let out a long sigh, and rode along the Fuji River towards Sunpu.

Three days later, after learning that Takeda Shingen had arrived in Sunpu, Takeda Harunobu immediately swore an oath in front of his ancestral heirlooms "Tate no Kamo" and "Hinomaru" flags at Hachimangu Shrine, officially succeeding as the 19th head of the Kai Genji and the 16th head of the Takeda clan.

According to legend, Seiwa Genji had eight sets of armor that were family heirlooms, named: Hōgane, Gentachani, Zexie, Tōnmashi, Kūmaru, Hachiryū, Tsukishu, and Hiashishu.

Normally, these eight sets of armor were inherited and kept by the direct descendants of the Seiwa Genji clan. However, during his lifetime, Minamoto no Yoriyoshi passed on the "Tate no Armor" and another treasure, the "Hinomaru" flag, to Silla Saburo Yoshimitsu.

As the name suggests, "Tate no Kai" is a very strong armor that does not require a shield when worn. The Takeda family crest, the four-warp diamond pattern, is taken from the pine bark diamond pattern on the sleeves of the armor. Therefore, "Tate no Kai" and the "Hinomaru" imperial flag are also regarded as symbols of the Takeda family.

At the family head succession ceremony, almost all of the Takeda clan's members and important retainers, except Takeda Nobuyuki and Hara Toratane, were present. Under their witness, the Kai Takeda clan officially began a new era.

At this time, Takeda Nobuharu was completely unaware of what was happening at home. It was not until a few days later that he received letters from Takeda Nobutora and Takeda Harunobu that he realized that things had changed at Tsutsujizaki-kan. (End of this chapter)