Chapter 117 5. Imagawa Osamu Has Ulterior Motives
The important officials of the Yamanouchi clan gathered again at the sound of the bells ringing in the city. They exchanged their views and opinions, as well as their expectations of the situation in Imagawa. The envoy rushed back so quickly that he should have brought back a lot of news. Of course, this news could be good or bad.
Kobayata looked at the weathered hatamoto, who had not had time to change his clothes, but just took off his thick and warm cloak and waited here. He looked very tired.
However, there was no time to take care of these at this time. Everyone held their breath and listened to the hatamoto.
It turned out that this hatamoto rode his horse day and night, followed the Lianchuan River to Ejiri and rested for a night, and then informed the guard of the Imagawa clan in Takatenjin Castle. After obtaining permission, he rushed to Suruga accompanied by an envoy of the Imagawa clan, and soon he galloped to Suruga Fuchu Castle.
As the saying goes, burn the right incense and worship the right Buddha. Some parents pray for their children to study well and end up worshipping the Four Heavenly Kings, while some shop owners pray for good business and end up worshipping Manjusri and Samantabhadra. You are kidding! This thing is not the right person at all!
This envoy is of course a wise man. He first asked to see the chief of the Suruga Imagawa family, Taiyuan Chongfu Xuezhai Zen Master, but he didn't see him at all. He just said he was sick and disappeared. This hatamoto was very angry. He was still advising Imagawa Yoshimoto in Odawara a few months ago, and he was not dragging his feet in seizing Izu. But after only two months, he was seriously ill and couldn't see guests. It's clear that Taiyuan Xuezhai didn't want to see anyone, and it was all an excuse!
This hatamoto had no choice but to break into the house of Okabe Sakyo Shinjinjin, the elder of the Imagawa family, the main assistant of Imagawa Yoshimoto to come to power, and now the central figure of Imagawa Yoshimoto's ruling class. That is, he broke in, and then stood in the corridor for more than two hours, and Okabe Shinjinjin couldn't refuse anymore.
But they did meet, and Okabe Chikanaga was also very enthusiastic, with good wine and food, and beautiful concubines flocking to him. But we have a mission, right? The envoy asked about the situation in Kanto very urgently. Okabe Chikanaga saw that he couldn't cover it up, so he played Tai Chi push hands with him, and he didn't know anything about it. In the end, he didn't ask anything at all, but revealed that Imagawa Yoshimoto led his troops to Xingguo Temple and refused to say more.
The hatamoto had no choice but to rush to Xingguo Temple that night, and then waited again. People didn't let him enter the city on the grounds that the city gates couldn't be opened at night, but they were allies after all, so they sent people to find a farmer outside the city to give him a full meal, and then they lit a fire and spread thick blankets.
But this situation was urgent, how could people sleep, and they were so anxious that their mouths were blistered. The next day, just after dawn, there was still frost, so this person hurried to the outside of the city to ask for an audience, and the city told him to come back after the city gates were opened at nine o'clock. He also understood that this was an excuse, so he sat on the cold floor tiles at the gate of the city for more than three hours. The Imagawa family saw that they could not delay any longer and welcomed him into the city.
First, they said that Imagawa Jibu Daisuke was having breakfast, and then they said that Jibu Daisuke had to change into a formal dress and wash before meeting the guests. In short, there were various reasons. Finally, Imagawa Yoshimoto came out late to meet him.
The hatamoto hurriedly presented the handwritten letter of Yamanouchi Yoshiharu, and hoped to go to Izu immediately to understand the specific developments in Kanto. Imagawa Yoshimoto only said to him that it was too late and he could not enter Izu.
The old retainers of the Hojo clan in Zuzhou and Sōsu suddenly swarmed up, 30,000 to 40,000 men, women, old and young, and the whole of Zuzhou and Sōsu were completely in chaos.
Hearing this, Kobayata came back to his senses. Sagami Province had been abducted by Uesugi Terutora for 60,000 people (Odawara Town had 50,000 people, and there were miscellaneous people in the country who did not go astray). How could there be 30,000 to 40,000 people who could still rise up. The hatamoto said that he was also surprised, but Uesugi Terutora wanted money more than life. When more than 60,000 prisoners were set out, they were first intercepted by Kobayata, and immediately released more than 2,000 craftsmen and their families. But this is nothing, mainly for the repair of the Kamakura Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine.
Not counting the people intercepted by Kobayata, more than 10,000 people were redeemed by the Hojo clan when they arrived in Kawagoe, and more than 30,000 people were redeemed or redeemed themselves when they left Musashi. When they arrived at Ueno Corridor Bridge, only a few thousand craftsmen and powerful merchants were left to sell, and only these few thousand people were finally taken back to Echigo Kasugayama.
After hearing this, the generals present sighed. Now, at least more than 50,000 people in Sagami alone have become the most determined anti-Uesugi Terutora forces. This is not the end. Due to the various transfers of fiefs that followed, the Uesugi family implemented the annual tribute of six dukes and four civilians, while the Hojo family implemented the annual tribute of four dukes and six civilians. This autumn was already a poor harvest (the war had been going on before, and the men in the places not affected by the war also went to fight, so there were not many strong laborers to farm the land). As a result, the Uesugi family also increased the annual tribute (that is, 20% more). If anyone fanned the flames, it would explode immediately.
Now Imagawa Yoshimoto, with Imagawa Sukegoro (Hojo Ujiki), has dispatched more than 3,000 people from Sunto to enter Izu to quell the chaos in Izu. Imagawa Yoshimoto has a big appetite and is ready to take over the entire Izu Kingdom. And Imagawa Sukegoro is his best bargaining chip for intervening in Sagami. He is the legitimate son of Hojo Ujiyasu. As long as he is used properly, he can play a miraculous role.
Needless to say, everyone understands these little tricks. Imagawa is trying desperately to take over the territory of Izu by not meeting the Yamanouchi envoy, suppressing or taking over the territory that belongs to the forces of Uesugi Terutora. This means that all the knowledge and actions of Kawada Nagachika in Izu will be taken over by Imagawa Yoshimoto, and Kawada Nagachika will become a commander without troops.
Xiao Pingtai couldn't help but say that Imagawa Yoshimoto is really a model of a white face and a black heart.
On the surface, he helped Uesugi Terutora to quell the rebellion in Izu, and he had a righteous, glorious and majestic image, but in fact, he was eating Uesugi Terutora's cream and drinking Uesugi Terutora's blood.
Let's not talk about the mess in Izu. The situation in Sagami is also very bad. The magnificent earthen ramparts with a circumference of five miles were completely destroyed in Odawara Castle, and the water moat with a width of more than four or five meters was also filled. After that, the three castles that were advanced were all demolished and the materials were transported to Kamakura to repair the shrine. Now Odawara only has a Ninomaru without a moat and the main castle tower. The defense is not outstanding. It is hard to say whether it can withstand the round-robin battle of the 30,000 or 40,000 Ikki. After all, Kawada Nagachika only has a few hundred foot soldiers left to him by Uesugi Terutora.
The matter of Odawara is already a mess. The old retainers of Hojo are stirring up trouble, and Imagawa Yoshimoto is eyeing it covetously. It is already a dish on someone else's table. Kota and the retainers of the Yamanouchi clan all felt sad for Uesugi Terutora, and Odawara was basically over.
As for the situation further ahead, whether Imagawa Yoshimoto was unwilling to say or did not know, it was unknown, but since Imagawa Yoshimoto was also a relative of the Takeda clan, he revealed that about 6,000 Takeda clan soldiers had entered Tsukui and Sagami!