I am practicing in the Nianghua Warring States Period

As the vanguard, Beidou Xinwei's first task was to defeat the Asai family, who occupied a strategic position. He had even planned to establish seven or eight Jingguans on them during the first battle in Kyoto!

"...You are Asai Nagamasa?"

Then, a handsome young man, 1.7 meters tall, appeared in Beidou Xinwei's camp. With his height and appearance, his bald head might have been a bit of a letdown, but given the era and cultural context, he was definitely a truly handsome young man.

"Yes, my name is Asai Nagamasa, and I'm here to meet His Highness Hokuto Settsu no Kami." He bowed slightly, respectful but not humble. It was rare to find someone who was neither humble nor arrogant.

There is no need to say much about Asai Nagamasa's character, as he now seems to be extremely bold.

"Well, wherever my army goes, the people welcome it wholeheartedly. We've got the best timing. I can still vividly recall the vibrant atmosphere of the armed police." Sitting in the military tent, Beidou Xinwei looked at the dignified Asai Nagamasa in front of him and said, "On this trip to Kyoto, we'll need to borrow your passage a few times. If anyone disobeys my orders, how can I..."

Beidou Xinwei means to send the other party back.

"Your Majesty, Settsu no Kami, how could I possibly embarrass him?" Asai Nagamasa glanced at Hokuto Nobuyuki and suddenly smiled. "I have come here on horseback, hoping to join your majesty in seeking the commonwealth. Could it be that your majesty, with his ambitions to rule the world, cannot accommodate a mere man like me?"

"Oh...it's me, Meng Lang." Beidou Xinwei was rather perplexed by the audacity of the man before him. He smiled and said, "Come on, please have a seat. Then, let's sit down and talk."

"Thank you for your seat," said Asai Nagamasa, who was standing by, as the warriors of the Hokuto clan brought over a marching stool. "I've come here specifically to fix this for both families. I'd also like to inform you that, with the exception of our guides, all members of our clan have evacuated Aichi County. We've prepared a welcome drink at Ninsho-ji Temple—"

"Wait, wait—you're being too blunt." Beidou Xinwei waved the other party to stop, then said, "Since you're so blunt, I won't be polite with you. This time I intend to eliminate you in Aichi Prefecture in one fell swoop. I know that when we got the news of the attack on Kyoto, you should have already started preparing, right? Why, do you feel now..."

"The General's might is unmatched. However... it's true, our family has made preparations for both scenarios. However, we don't want to end up becoming someone else's bride." Asai Nagamasa spoke briefly, as did the young men. "Your Highness, having come to Kyoto, you probably don't want to waste your troops on unimportant matters, do you? We are willing to surrender and lay down our arms. I wish to marry the princess of the Oda family, and establish a harmonious relationship. I also have a younger sister who, since childhood, has said that rather than living a hundred years in obscurity, it would be better for her to marry a hero and become his slave. This time..."

"I understand what you mean." You're trying to find a good way to surrender, right? "Why? I heard you have a pretty good relationship with the Asakura family, right? Why don't you try to borrow troops from them?"

"Yes, our family and the Asakura clan have been allies for generations. However... we haven't seen each other in recent years. Munemasa died last year, and the Asakura clan has been plagued by internal strife and the Ikko Ikki, leaving them stretched out. Support for us... is unlikely." Asai Nagamasa was quite unconcerned, with a kind of casual beauty that allowed him to just lie back, legs spread, eyes closed—"Honestly, I really don't have any other options. A strong resistance would only buy time for the Rokkaku clan. Instead of that, I'd rather do you a favor and see the Rokkaku clan annihilated. The Rokkaku clan is certainly not as well prepared as we are, and they'll think we Asai should at least resist. If the Asai clan suddenly gives way... I'm sure the situation outside Kannonji Castle will be a complete mess."

"Well, that's a good point - Princess of the Oda family, which one do you like?" Beidou Xinwei took a last look at the other party, and the moment to decide the other party's fate had come.

"Anyone is welcome, except Princess Aichi." Asai Nagamasa's EQ suddenly shot up to a crescendo, and he said with a smile, "I heard that Princess Aichi became your disciple after becoming a female warrior. How lucky I am! Of course, I'm just a country boy, and I don't have much experience. If you think I'm wrong, please feel free to correct me. It would be best if she were a princess of childbearing age, so she can give birth to descendants of the Oda family sooner rather than later."

“…That’s no problem.” Beidou Xinwei nodded.

Oda Nobuhime had a lot of relatives, some of the men died, and some escaped.

The women's ones are generally well-preserved. If you say so, I kind of regret killing Oda Nobuhime's mother. If I keep this and give it to you, wouldn't I have less worries?

"I agree to this marriage. Lead an army of 3,000 and provide 5,000 men with supplies to assist us in our march to Luoyang. Is that okay?"

"Yes!" Asai Nagamasa knelt down smoothly.

As long as he could trick the Rokkaku family, he would be very happy: "I am willing to be a pawn in front of your horse and help Your Highness capture Guanyin Temple City!"

Chapter 241

Ashikaga Yoshiaki had strong feelings for Hokuto Nobuyoshi. Of course, this was largely driven by self-interest. If possible, every daimyo in the 11 districts would want a man like him—a truly powerful warrior, both civil and military.

Even if the shogunate was to be re-established, even if it succeeded in going to Kyoto, it would still need the support of daimyo who were loyal to the shogunate. From the very beginning, Ashikaga Yoshiaki did not expect Oda Nobuhime to solve all the problems alone. His initial plan was to divide the entire Oda clan.

Ashikaga Yoshiaki's idea was to have Oda Nobuhime and the Miyoshi Trio fight each other to the death, preferably as far away from his own capital. The ideal scenario would be a prolonged standoff between Oda and Miyoshi, allowing him to take advantage of both sides. While his idea was a good one, unfortunately, he was at best a hunter in the "Pin Shuo" who provoked powerful enemies to help him eliminate weaker ones.

"Your Highness, Settsu no Mori, Your Highness, Settsu no Mori."

Ashikaga Yoshiaki's envoy, Hosokawa Fujitaka, was extremely worried. That night, he learned that Hokuto Nobuyoshi had "captured" a new Pokémon—this Pokémon was called Asai Nagamasa.

He was originally the boss, but suddenly he was subdued and became a subordinate.

How envious was Ashikaga Yoshiaki when he heard about this? — He was the Shogun, the one with the most theoretical power in District 11 (Tian Nao's black card was magnificently ignored).

Hosokawa Fujitaka searched for Kitado Nobuyoshi in the military camp for a long time, and finally got a chance to "inadvertently" greet Kitado Nobuyoshi from a distance.

"Oh, the Minister of War." Beidou Xinwei was also puzzled as he looked at Hosokawa Fujitaka who was waving and jogging towards him from a distance.

You're in your 30s, how can you still be so cute?

"Huh, Your Highness Settsu no Kami is really nosy. And right, such an important matter as going to Kyoto cannot be done without Your Highness's hard work?" Hosokawa Fujitaka didn't want to greet him from such a distance, but under the rule of Beidou, the army was extremely strict. He couldn't enter the military tent without orders, and he couldn't appear too eager for quick success. So he could only wait outside the camp gate - "Your Highness, my lord, the general, heard that Your Highness defeated the enemy without fighting. There is also the military sage's method, one is to be happy for the stability of the world and the progress, and the other is to celebrate Your Highness's great achievements. He specifically instructed me to invite Your Highness to my lord's tent for a chat, to express my lord's sincere heart and admiration."

Hokuto Nobuyoshi had met Ashikaga Yoshiaki several times and did not have a very good impression of him.

Originally the second son of a monk, he was a down-and-out man whose fortunes had been shattered by the passage of time. If not for his brother's misfortune, his historical position would have been that of a monk, like no one else. He lacked magnanimity, even character, a mediocre aristocrat who had suddenly become rich.

"There are so many things to do in the army, it's really inconvenient." Beidou Xinwei didn't want to meet the other party alone at all.

"Your Highness—the General said that this time, we must invite Father to come as a token of filial piety."

"..." Beidou Xinwei didn't expect that he was so shameless. Back then, when he called himself godfather in the dormitory, he said, "Son, I can handle anything for you! Unless it's more than 200 yuan."

----------------

Beidou Xinwei did not go, but then he, the "father of the Warring States Period", sat firmly in his top seat.

A half-rolled red flag is near the water.

The Oda clan's army that went to Kyoto consisted of 20,000 Oda clan soldiers, plus 3,000 Tokugawa clan soldiers, and now they had to add 3,000 soldiers from the Omi Asai clan.

Asai Nagamasa is basically defined as an opportunist who infiltrated the Oda family and the biggest traitor in the history of the Oda family.

Generally speaking, Oda Nobuhime would show leniency to the samurai who betrayed her as long as she was able.

Dealing with a relative who betrayed me really brought back all the PTSD I'd had since childhood. I hate this kind of hurtful things.

Of course, traitors are endless. Desires are endless, and traitors are like weeds. Only when Oda Nobuhime was dying did she realize that Asai Nagamasa was nothing, and that Akechi Mitsuhide, the one who grilled her wings, was the greatest traitor.

"If you ask me, my lord, aren't you being too... humble?"

A large number of Asai clan retainers also wanted to join the Oda clan's team to Kyoto. There must be a priority order, and this is what the samurai of the Japanese Warring States period fought for.

Asai Nagamasa was surrounded by several retainers who had rallied around him over the years. Kaiho Tsunachika, the head of the Asai clan, was a veteran retainer for three generations. If even he was questioned, then naturally everyone was dissatisfied.

"My Lord, you hold the lifeblood of the Asai family, so it's natural for you to think more carefully. But shouldn't you at least maintain some authority as the head of the family?"

"I'm sorry to say that. I'm going to take you to meet Oda Kamisuke and Hokuto Settsu-no-kami. You must be polite and respectful, and don't get angry. Please." Seeing that the boss had said so, the retainers of the Asai family who followed behind Asai Nagamasa had no other choice.

"My lord, why do you want to boost others' morale and destroy your own prestige?" Anyone who says this is basically courting death. Amemori Kiyomasa, the most powerful of the three Asai generals, is the physical output leader of the Asai family. He is a very imposing figure, about 1.65 meters tall. Of all the Asai family members today, he has the most volatile temper: "Isn't he just Beidou Xinwei? Are you so afraid of him?"

"...I'll know when I see you." Asai Nagamasa sees things clearly. Why bother if you can't win? Of course, I hope he can always maintain this clarity.

"Your Highnesses, please enter." Several Oda retainers bowed respectfully to the surrendering faction from the Asai clan, signaling that they were now qualified to enter the main venue. After a burst of clamor, everyone finally found their own mats and sat down in three groups.

"Oh, this must be His Highness Mikawa-no-kami." Tokugawa Ieyasu also sat down with him, and Asai Nagamasa was polite when he came over.

"Oh! His Highness Bizen no Kami." Tokugawa Ieyasu saw a handsome man sitting down beside him. The fat man smiled and said, "Nice to meet you. I hope we can visit each other more often in the future."

"It is me." Asai Nagamasa smiled and nodded to Tokugawa Ieyasu and several of his retainers beside him.

"Why does Mikawa no Kami look a little haggard?" Asai Nagamasa was a little puzzled, and quickly asked, "Is the military busy?"

"Not really. We just follow Hokuto Settsu-no-kami's orders." Tokugawa Ieyasu shook his head, indicating that giving up his brain was a good idea. "It's just that... as you know, Hokuto Settsu-no-kami is extremely strict in his military discipline and holds a very high prestige. We in Mikawa are just country bumpkins, country folk who haven't seen much of a grand occasion. So, we're a little uncomfortable with it."

"I think it's too strict, isn't it?" Amemori Kiyomasa, still stuck in the feudal era of military construction, curled his lips. As the Asai family's top general, he said, "Soldiers don't need strict discipline. Authority alone won't achieve anything."

"..." Tokugawa Ieyasu looked at the troublemaker beside him in shock, and all the Mikawa samurai also looked at Amemori Kiyosada in unison.

The latter was directly shocked.

Especially when he saw the Mikawa warriors collectively sneered and then lowered their heads again and stopped looking at him, he felt completely insulted!

"What's wrong? I..."

"Dong, dong, dong!" At this moment, a drumbeat and a uniquely different call from the Sun Phoenix rang out: "Hokuto Settsu-no-kami, here you are!"

"Crash!——"

For about two or three seconds, the sound of bowing and shaking armor could be heard one after another.

All the warriors present lowered their heads, fearing that they would be taller than others.

"Everyone, get up." Beidou Xinwei's meaning of being second to none and above ten thousand people is already very clear.

"Today, everyone is invited here. The main purpose is to discuss whether we can capture Kannonji Castle within a day. Everyone in the Asai family is welcome to express their opinions."

Asai family: ...

Alarm radars rang frantically in the minds of many prominent warriors of the Asai family.

Chapter 242 I will win

The Rokkaku family felt relatively complicated when they learned that the Oda family was going to Kyoto.

That feeling is just like when Russia heard in 99 that its Slavic brothers were being bombed in Yugoslavia - when I was in my complete form, did you dare to jump out?

Since Rokkaku Sadarai's death, the Rokkaku family has been on a downward spiral due to the lord's incompetence and the current situation. Furthermore, this downward spiral has been driven by the accelerator pedal being pushed to the floor.

After Rokkaku Sadanori died, Rokkaku Yoshitaka issued a national telegram and came to power. However, there was a conflict between his eldest son Rokkaku Yoshiharu and his second son Rokkaku Takasada.

Rokkaku Yoshitaka's father died, but soon after, he was defeated by Omi's hawk, Asai Nagamasa. Omi Province was split in two, and its strength was greatly reduced. The eldest son was the successor, and the Warring States daimyo's main strategy was marriage, suppression, and war. Because "personnel = politics," Rokkaku Yoshitaka chose to marry into the Asakura family, hoping to stab Omi's hawk in the backside!

Rokkaku Yoshiharu refused to listen, and Rokkaku Yoshitaka was dissatisfied. The Rokkaku family's already fragile network of retainers relied entirely on marriages to support it. Coupled with the conflict with the Miyoshi family, fighting on two fronts, the family's power declined, which further aggravated the dissatisfaction of the retainers who were unable to get any benefits.

Under such circumstances, Rokkaku Yoshiharu suddenly killed his important retainer Goto Kentoyo and his father. This was a show of disregard for one's dignity, and soon all the retainers rebelled. Rokkaku and his son fled in disgrace, and later returned to Kanonji Castle after much deliberation. However, Kanonji Castle had been destroyed once, and this time faced the Oda clan's fierce attack! Rokkaku Yoshiharu was in the midst of internal and external troubles, with people's minds agitated and the army pressing in:

Don’t panic at all!

"It doesn't matter. I'll take action anyway." Rokkaku Yoshitaka calmly sat in Guanyin Temple Castle. His calmness was justified: "The Oda family is just a passing visitor. The world of Omi is still mine - I will win."

September 12, 1556, Guanyin Temple City.

Disgusted.

Yesterday, on the 11th, the Oda clan's army marched to Kyoto.

's vanguard troops.

There were about 5,000 men, 2,000 of whom were under the banner of the Hokuto clan and 3,000 under the banner of the Mikawa Tokugawa clan. They had just defeated Rokkaku Yoshihide's 12,000-man force outside Kannonji Castle, leaving corpses strewn across the ground. Not only did less than 10,000 men escape the battlefield, but even fewer, less than 5,000, made it back to Kannonji Castle.

What does this feeling resemble...

Just like the Empire organized a front-line force on the planet of Sentinel, it was discovered that the Tyranids were coming. It was a reconnaissance force that easily penetrated its own defenses.

The blow was too great.

"Father, isn't this too..."

Rokkaku Yoshiharu had severely damaged the Rokkaku clan, but this didn't mean he was mentally ill. During a nighttime conversation between father and son, Yoshiharu, a defeatist strategist, expressed a pessimistic outlook on the future: "Could it be that the Oda army will be too powerful this time when they march on Kyoto? Should we avoid the enemy for now?"

"No, in the hundred years since the Onin War, have you ever seen anyone actually go to Kyoto? Including that Tōkaidō's top archer a while ago." Rokkaku Yoshitaka made a mistake based on empiricism. The old man was less than fifty years old this year, with a full forehead, a square chin, and a chubby figure of 1.4 meters. "For others, this one goes to Kyoto, that one goes to Kyoto. When have I ever been afraid? It's just so-so, just so-so."

Rokkaku Yoshitaka has also grown old as he lets his beautiful concubine wipe the dust off his body.

"Omi can only belong to my Rokkaku family. No one else can be subdued." Rokkaku Yoshitaka expressed the problem of political ecology.

That's right. It seems that the local wealthy families have come together because of the presence of your Liujiao family.

But in fact, there may be another possibility: the local wealthy families are in disarray because of your Liujiao family.

If you don't believe me, just look at how righteous I was at the end of Daiming. Even Daiming was gone, and those righteous people turned around and ran to Daiqing. The righteous people who had been jumping around in Daiming were now obedient like slaves under the butcher knife of Daiqing. What does this show? It shows that bitches are just hypocritical, and a new reshuffle can actually bring about a new order.

"But father, this time the Oda family has no worries. Shouldn't we think about what to do next?" The son still couldn't let it go.

Even though Rokkaku Yoshiharu is already the head of the family, after the "Kannonji Incident", all power is now in the hands of his father Rokkaku Yoshitaka - of course, this power is not much anymore.

"The Oda clan claims to have sent 30,000 troops to Kyoto. This..."

"One million koku can't raise thirty thousand. You're just listening to his nonsense." Rokkaku Yoshitaka curled his lips in disdain. "This is no different from the Chōkyō-Entoku Rebellion. At most, we'll go to the Koga Mountains for a while."

The Chōkyō-Entoku War was a secondary war that erupted two years after the Onin War. The Rokkaku clan was driven into the mountains to wage guerrilla warfare, ultimately restoring their kingdom. In District 11, such examples of regional governments remaining unassailable abound, but...

Time has come to the Warring States Period in District 11, and many of the previous "truths" are no longer applicable.

"Tomorrow is the time to assemble the army." Rokkaku Yoshihide looked at his unworthy legitimate son and sighed, "Please take the trouble to gather the people. The important officials should be coming to Guanyin Temple City tonight. Have the servants prepare. This time, when we try to show a conciliatory attitude, we can't be too arrogant, understand?"

"Yes..." Rokkaku Yoshiharu's murder of his important minister and his son with a single blow was the trigger for the Rokkaku family's GG. Now, he had to give him many warnings.

Rokkaku Yoshitaka went to sleep.

I slept soundly, without anyone disturbing me. But the problem was, it was too sound. This night was exceptionally quiet.

"Father, something bad has happened!"

"What's wrong?" Rokkaku Yoshitaka woke up the next morning when his son Rokkaku Yoshiharu came to wake him up: "Are the Oda clan attacking?"

“No… but also…”

"What's going on?" Rokkaku Yoshitaka frowned, looking at his bewildered son, and sensed something was wrong: "Who on earth is coming?"

"No one came!" Rokkaku Yoshiharu said with a mournful face, "None of the important ministers came! Many of the retainers have also fled—Kannon…most of the foot soldiers from Kannonji Castle have fled!"

"...?!?!"

--------------------------

"I was originally a retainer of the Rokkaku family, the lord of Hino Castle, and the head of the Gamo family, Gamo Sadahide."

An old man, accompanied by several middle-aged men who looked very similar to him, knelt in front of Beidou Xinwei.