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

"Dianjiu, you have been here for two months. It's time to go back." After the greetings, Yizhong said directly.

Takeda Nobushige didn't expect that Yoshishige would ask him to return to Kai so directly. He was at a loss: "Buei-dono, are you trying to get rid of me?"

"I don't mean that," Yizhong denied it at first, and then asked, "After all, such a big thing happened at home, don't you want to go back and take a look?"

"My father and brother are fighting, I should go back, but..."

"But what?" Yoshishige asked when he saw that Takeda Nobuyuki was hesitant to speak.

"But on one side is my father, and on the other side is my brother. I really don't know how to deal with it. Whether to go back to Kai or to Suruga, I can't make up my mind yet." Takeda Nobushige answered with an embarrassed look.

"This is indeed a difficult matter," Yoshishige nodded confidently, "Returning to Kai would mean being unfilial; going to Suruga would mean a quarrel between brothers. It is understandable that Your Highness feels embarrassed."

"Your analysis is correct." Takeda Nobushige nodded. "So, when I heard that you summoned me, I hurried here just to listen to your opinion."

"This is your family affair. It's not appropriate for me, an outsider, to get involved, right?" Yi Zhong pretended to refuse.

"You are the head of the Wakasa Takeda clan, and you are of the same blood as the main family. You are not an outsider." Takeda Nobushige said earnestly, "Besides, Your Highness is knowledgeable and experienced, and you must have unique insights. If you are willing to give me some advice, I will be very grateful!"

"Your Highness, thank you for your compliment." Yizhong said modestly, "But since you brought it up, I will help you analyze it. As for what to do in the end, it's up to you to decide."

"I am all ears." Takeda Nobushige bowed sincerely to Yoshishige to express his gratitude.

"In my opinion, Your Highness has three options," Yoshishige analyzed. "First, return to Kai; second, go to Suruga; third, stay in Tango. Your Highness is already very clear about the pros and cons of the first two options, so I won't go into detail. But has Your Highness ever thought about the third option?"

"To be honest, I have thought about it before," Takeda Nobushige admitted, "but considering that I have been bothering Your Highness for so long, it is really difficult to say it."

"Your Highness, you are worrying too much." Yizhong said to him, "I have said before that you can stay here as long as you want. What I want to ask is, why do you want to stay? Do you simply want to escape, or do you have other plans?"

"Tango is far away from Kojun, and I really want to stay here and don't want to get involved." Takeda Nobushige replied.

"Your Highness is the second son of Jing Zhao. As far as I know, you have as many supporters in your family as your elder brother, Doctor Daizen. In this case, Jing Zhao urgently needs your help to return to Kai, and Doctor Daizen hopes to use you to further consolidate the family's strength so that Kai can return to stability as soon as possible. Do you think I'm right?"

Listening to Yoshishige's analysis, Takeda Nobushige nodded repeatedly: "You are right, my family does have many retainers and people who support me, but I don't want to be the head of the family. I just hope that my father and brother can live in harmony."

"But now, they have broken up. Once you go back, it will definitely change the current situation. No matter whose side you stand on, it will hurt the other person. Therefore, I suggest that you continue to stay in Tango."

"I'm not asking you to escape," Yoshishige reminded him. "I want you to use this opportunity to mediate and resolve the conflict between the two parties fairly. After all, once you go to Kai or Suruga, there will be no 'justice' to speak of. At that time, it will be even more difficult for you to mediate between them."

Takeda Nobushige felt that Yoshishige's explanation made sense. Only by playing a neutral role would he have the qualifications and reasons to persuade his father and brother at the same time and better repair the relationship between them.

"You make sense." Takeda Nobushige nodded, "Then I will stay in Atagoyama Castle and not go back for the time being. But... if I do this, I don't know how long I will have to disturb you, and I feel really bad about it. Wuweidian, I can't eat and drink for free here, please allow me to do something for you, as a small reward for you."

"What are you talking about?" Yoshishige waved his hand indifferently and replied with a smile: "I still say the same thing. All Takeda people in the world are of the same blood. This is just a small matter, not worth mentioning."

"You may not mind, but I cannot accept your kindness so easily." Takeda Nobushige said with a firm look in his eyes, "Please give me a chance to repay you, otherwise, I will not be able to stay here for long."

"Since Your Highness said so..." Yizhong pondered for a moment and asked tentatively: "I wonder if Your Highness is willing to work for our family temporarily... Don't get me wrong, this is only temporary. If you don't want to, you can leave at any time. I will never make it difficult for you."

"You mean, let me serve your family?" Takeda Nobushige was quite surprised by Yoshishige's statement.

"If you feel embarrassed, just pretend I never said anything." Yoshishige understood that Takeda Nobushige was the second son of the Kai Takeda clan after all, and it was indeed inappropriate for him to serve the Wakasa Takeda clan as a guest general. However, in order to retain this great general, Yoshishige still expressed his true feelings with the mentality of giving it a try. As for whether Takeda Nobushige would agree, he could not predict.

"Wait a minute, Your Highness," Takeda Nobuyuki hesitated for a long time, and finally made up his mind and said, "Since I am staying in Tango, it is reasonable for me to serve you and the Wakasa Takeda family. However, I am still inexperienced, and I don't know how I can be of any use."

Hearing that Takeda Nobuharu agreed to his request, Yoshishige was very excited, but on the surface, he still tried to remain calm as much as possible: "If your highness is willing, I will give you the status and treatment of an Imonshu of the main family, just like Takeda Hitachisuke, and you will participate in the management of the internal affairs of the main family. When necessary, you will also serve as a general to deter rebellion and go out to govern."

"Ichimonshu?" Takeda Nobushige hurriedly said humbly, "I have only just come of age, how can I be compared with Hitachisuke? If Your Highness thinks highly of me, just give me the status of a guest general. I really don't deserve to be an Ichimonshu."

"After all, you are from the Kai Takeda family. As an Imonshu or Renedeshu, you are impeccable. Please don't refuse." Yoshishige persuaded patiently, "You also know that the main family is small and urgently needs the help of Imonshu to consolidate its status and authority. Asking you to participate in the affairs of the main family as an Imonshu will not only give you a status, but also provide more protection for the main family."

Hearing this, Takeda Nobuharu fell silent. He was not unwilling to serve the Wakasa Takeda clan, but was worried that his ability could not match the high expectations given by Yoshishige. At this moment, Yoshishige's explanation made him waver again. It seemed that he really had to do this for the sake of the Wakasa Takeda clan. "In this case, I will respectfully obey your order." After thinking about it, Takeda Nobuharu finally agreed to Yoshishige's request, and then knelt down to Yoshishige and said:
"Thanks to my lord's kindness, from today on, I, Jiro Nobuharu Takeda, will serve the Wakasa Takeda family. From now on, I will serve you wholeheartedly and will not hesitate to die!"

Seeing this, Yoshishige quickly bent over and helped Takeda Nobuyuki up, carefully brushed the dust off his knees, and said with satisfaction: "From now on, I will trouble you to take care of the family affairs."

"I will do my utmost and repay you with my death." Takeda Nobushige replied with a firm look in his eyes.

"It's really unlucky," Yoshishige corrected with a smile, "Right now, the area around our family is still stable, and it's far from the point of 'dying in retaliation'. Although you have been wandering around the family territory for two months and have a general understanding of the family's situation, compared to other retainers, this understanding is still insufficient. How about this, while Kagawa Shobe is still in Atagoyama, I will ask him to tell you the basic situation of our family, which can also be regarded as a good start for your future work."

"Thank you, my lord!" Takeda Nobushige nodded to Yoshinobu excitedly, "I will definitely learn a lot from Sawabe and the others, and try to familiarize myself with family affairs as soon as possible, so that I can serve you as soon as possible."

Hearing Takeda Nobuyuki's firm statement, Yoshishige was deeply moved: "It seems that this move was the right one."

In fact, an important reason why Yoshishige organized this castle relocation ceremony was to recruit capable and talented people from the Takeda clan branches from all over Japan to serve as the Wakasa Takeda clan's followers, to help consolidate their position and build up their authority.

But after looking around, except for Takeda Shigekiyo of the Aki Takeda clan and Takeda Nobuyuki of the Kai Takeda clan, the other Takeda clan members were either mediocre in talent or lazy, which forced Yoshishige to focus his attention on the only two remaining people who were still acceptable.

Unfortunately, due to the riots in Aki, Takeda Shigekiyo decided to return to Ginzan Castle ahead of schedule, which left Takeda Nobushige as the only potential choice for Yoshishige.

This led to the current scene. Yoshishige was willing to give the status and treatment of a member of the Ichimonshu in exchange for Takeda Nobushige's submission and his future understanding and control of the situation in Koshin.

With Takeda Nobuyuki's personal consent, Yoshishige finally put his mind at ease.

Shortly thereafter, Takeda Nobushige, who officially became a vassal of the Wakasa Takeda clan, wrote two letters in his own handwriting and sent them to Suruga and Tsutsujizaki-kan respectively.

In the letter, he tried his best to persuade Takeda Shingen and Takeda Harunobu to consider the Kai Takeda clan and the overall situation, find an opportunity to sit down and talk calmly, and resolve the family strife as soon as possible to restore peace to Kai. At the same time, he also told his father and brother that he would not obey their call to return to Kai or go to Suruga for the time being, but would temporarily serve the Wakasa Takeda clan and assist Yoshishige in handling military and political affairs as a member of the Imonshu.

Soon, Takeda Nobuyuki's handwritten letter was delivered to his father and brother. Takeda Harunobu immediately wrote back to express his respect for his choice.

Takeda Harunobu knew that his brother did not want to be caught in a dilemma and thus took this bad decision. Although Takeda Nobufusa still had many supporters in Kai, as long as he did not return to Kai, there would be no waves. Therefore, Takeda Harunobu did not feel that his choice was inappropriate, and even relaxed his vigilance a little, allowing him to concentrate on the governance and reconstruction of the Kai Takeda clan.

Out of understanding and gratitude for Takeda Nobushige, and hoping that Yoshishige would take more care of his younger brother, Takeda Harunobu sent Anayama Nobutomo to Wakasa again with heavy gifts, and asked him to be sure to hand over his handwritten letter to Yoshishige in person.

In mid-August, after more than two months' absence, Anayama Nobutomo came to Atagoyama Castle again. Yoshishige met him and a group of retainers of the Kai Takeda clan in the "Tora no Ma" of Hiryukan.

Just like the Takeda clan's mansion in Wakasa, Yoshishige divided the Hiroma in Hiryukan into three areas: "Tora no Ma" for receiving retainers and envoys of daimyo, "Tsuru no Ma" for receiving court officials, envoys of the Shogunate, and daimyo, and "Matsu no Ma" for discussing important matters with important ministers, hereditary successors, and the first-class families.

In "Tora no Ma", Yoshishige sat at the upper seat, Takeda Nobufusa and Anayama Nobutomo sat on the lower sides respectively, and most of the other accompanying retainers sat behind Anayama Nobutomo or in the corridor. The scene was not depressing, but it was not relaxing either.

After all, two months ago these guys were retainers of Takeda Nobutora, but two months later, they suddenly changed their identities and reappeared in front of Yoshishige as retainers of Takeda Harunobu. Moreover, the reason for this change was not very glorious, which made it difficult for Anayama Nobutomo to show a natural expression to Takeda Nobufusa in front of him.

But Takeda Nobuharu was different. He had long anticipated that something would happen in Kai, and he could understand the choices made by Anayama Nobutomo and others. Therefore, he always kept smiling at the retainers of the Takeda clan present, which made these retainers even more embarrassed.

In order to ease the awkward situation, Yoshishige took the initiative to open the topic: "Izu Mamoru, I haven't seen you for two months. How are you?"

"Thank you for your concern, Your Highness. I am doing well." After saying that, Anayama Nobutomo took the opportunity to ask Takeda Nobuharu, "How has Second Prince been doing recently?"

"I'm fine, Izu-no-Kami, don't worry." Takeda Nobuyuki replied with a smile, "The climate in Wakasa and Tango is very different from that in Kai. In the past few months, I have traveled around, seen a lot of scenery, and learned a lot. I can say that I have had a very fulfilling life."

Anayama Nobutomo could tell that Takeda Nobuyuki wanted him to relax and not worry about his situation or doubt whether he was really willing to stay in Atago Castle as he said in the letter. But as Takeda Harunobu's messenger, he still asked tentatively:

"Before I set off, my lord specifically told me to persuade you again after I see Your Highness. Why don't you take this opportunity to return to Kai with me? My lord and Lady Ooi are really worried about you drifting alone."

"I have made it very clear in my letter," Takeda Nobushige said solemnly, "I will stay in Tango for the time being to serve the Wuwei Palace. Please do not say too much, Izu no Kami. Just convey my intentions to my brother when you return."

"In that case, I understand." Anayama Nobutomo was quite satisfied with the answer and relaxed a lot. He then solemnly handed Takeda Harunobu's handwritten letter to Yoshishige and asked him to open it and read it personally.

After Yoshishige opened the letter, he read it carefully. This was his first contact with Takeda Harunobu, the new lord of Kai, although this contact was only indirect. (End of this chapter)