Chapter 120 8. Old Hosokawa, Immovable as a Mountain

The situation in Kanto became clearer, and the haze over Hachioji gradually dissipated.

Finally, one of the samurai who disguised himself as going to Hachioji finally ran back after going through untold hardships, and Yamanouchi Yoshiharu finally got a handwritten letter from Hosokawa Harumiya, proving that he was still alive and kicking.

Why did Hosokawa Harumiya still hold on to Hachioji when the Uesugi faction in Kanto was in a state of defeat? This can't help but talk about his origin and family background.

The Hosokawa family and the Yamanouchi family are both branches of the Ashikaga family. They were all descendants of the Ashikaga family who came out of Ashikaga County in Shimotsuke Province. They have been top military nobles for hundreds of years and have 20 to 30 generations. Don't look at you being called Yamanouchi so-and-so and me being called Hosokawa so-and-so now. We must have had the same father 500 years ago.

Unlike the nouveau riche family of the later Hojo clan, which only had three generations of inheritance, Hosokawa Harumiya himself was a high-ranking samurai with a family salary of more than 1,000 kanmon. His father, his grandfather, and their family were all high-ranking samurai for 20 generations. The earliest one was the Kanrei. He was the one who handled the government affairs of the country on behalf of the young general. He had the glory of a noble family with three guan and four positions, and the pride of being a samurai noble family with a strict family education and a branch of the Genji family.

The biggest difference between this old-style samurai noble family and the samurai who came from mud legs was his own family education and proud origin. He believed that samurai should be born to be loyal and brave to serve their lord, and the people should work in the fields every day, grow rice and weave cotton cloth to support the samurai, and the samurai in turn used swords to protect their people. Everyone performed their duties and strictly obeyed the feudal order of respect and inferiority.

This is the biggest difference between the old nobles like them and the male protagonists who traveled through time and space and fucked the heavens, the earth, and the air. When Hosokawa Harumiya arrived in Hachioji, he did not think about expanding his power, fighting everywhere, and bullying the people.

He wanted to subdue the people of Hachioji within a few years, let them accept the rule of the Yamanouchi family, become the obedient subjects of the Yamanouchi family, and accept the fact that their master is Yamanouchi Yoshiharu physically and mentally.

Then Hosokawa Harumiya can work quietly for a few years and completely digest Hachioji into the chariot of the Yamanouchi family. After a few years of old age, his son Hosokawa Saijo will succeed him as the head of the Yamanouchi Hosokawa family, and maybe he will be given a few hundred kanwen, and he will happily continue to pass on his branch of the Hosokawa family name.

You can say that he is not enterprising or that he is benevolent and loves the people. Anyway, when Hosokawa Harumiya arrived in Hachioji, the first thing he did was to announce that he would not be disciplined for five years. The resistance of the remaining Hojo retainers in Hachioji was reduced a lot at once. Since the Yamanouchi family is so sensible, we, the land retainers, should also give face to them. No matter whether I accept your rule or not, and no matter what kind of person you are, Hosokawa Harumiya is great, good, and cool. He is a good lord.

Hosokawa Harumiya saw that the people were displaced and the spring plowing was delayed. He estimated that the harvest this year would not be very good. There were also several thousand kan of cash sent by Uesugi Terutora, so he simply exempted all the annual tribute this year. Everyone came to Hachioji to do the work for me. Help Hosokawa Harumiya to overhaul the steps from the foot of the mountain to the top of the mountain in Hachioji, and reinforced and thickened the wooden walls, and then added the demaru and the watchtower.

So Hosokawa Harumiya was an old aristocrat. It was a feudal obligation for the people to come to the general request for seven days every year, and they had to bring their own dry food and tools. However, Hosokawa Harumiya invited people to build a city on a large scale, which lasted for nearly two months. He not only exempted the annual tribute, but also gave each person two rice balls of coarse grains every day, so that they would have something to eat if they came to work. As a result, all the men of Hachioji came to work.

He was rich anyway, and had plenty of money. On the one hand, he went to Shimotsuma, Shimotsuke, Hitachi and other countries that had not been ravaged by war to buy food, and on the other hand, he stored food in Hachioji like an old hen. In addition, he had brothers and sisters, so he simply cut down the entire mountain of Hachioji, used the good wood directly to build the city, and collected the rest to be used by the people of the territory to make fires for heating.

As a result, Hachioji was built as solid as a rock. This solid and magnificent castle declared the wealth and power of the Yamanouchi clan, and made the people of Hachioji agree with the rule of the Yamanouchi clan.

What's even funnier is that the retainers of the Hojo clan came to castrate the powerful people of Hachioji, but there was not a single man in the whole village. All the men went to the Hachioji castle to eat Hosokawa Harumiya's rice balls. It doesn't matter where you work, and you can get rice balls if you work for Hosokawa Harunomiya.

As a result, the whole Kanto was undercurrent, and there were countless wealthy samurai in the former Hojo territories who were incited. The whole Hachioji didn't move, because there were no men left. You can't go to Hachioji Castle to move, right? Hosokawa Harunomiya has thousands of samurai foot soldiers watching there. Do you think the Yamanouchi family's swords are not fast enough?

When the weather got colder, Hachioji was ready, and Hosokawa Harunomiya recruited some bachelors or young refugees. The whole Hachioji Castle was full of 1,500 defenders, all of whom were regular foot soldiers, with 50 iron cannon foot soldiers and more than 200 bow foot soldiers.

Then, driven by his 40 years of experience in bad battles, he keenly thought that there might be something before winter this year, so he habitually closed the city and defended it after storing food and weapons and equipment, waiting for the heavy snow in Kanto or the small-scale riots or uprisings he expected to happen.

Sure enough, not long after, news of mobilization came from Takeda's territory. He was still thinking that there would be another bloody storm in Shinano. Before his idea came true, he heard that Matsuyama and Kawagoe were attacked. This was also within his expectations. It was just a small uprising, a small problem, and it would be over with a casual fight.

But what he waited for was the Hojo clan's 3,000 troops and countless tens of thousands of Ikki. While the road was barely connected, he immediately sent several envoys back to Yamanouchi to report the news and continue to defend.

The Hojo army that rushed over was also disgusted. Hosokawa Harumiya, the old turtle, built Hachioji Castle like a turtle shell. Then, due to the previous things, most of the countrymen and nobles in Hachioji chose to temporarily stand aside and watch. After all, these people were still fighting with the later Hojo clan more than ten years ago. If Ogidani Asada had not died inexplicably during the night battle of Kawagoe, they would not have fought with the later Hojo clan. Now the Yamanouchi clan looks good and unruly, and behind them is Uesugi Terutora, the world's number one golden leg. It is unclear who will win or lose, so it is best to watch the show first.

Although the Demaru and the outer city at the foot of the mountain were captured under the Hojo family's human sea tactics, the Honmaru on the hillside was easily defended, with sufficient manpower, and there was no problem at all. There was enough food, water, and weapons. It was snowing in Kanto, so the Hojo clan could only retreat with hatred. Fighting in the snow was impossible.

Upon hearing this news, the generals of the Yamanouchi clan could not help but breathe a sigh of relief. As expected, sending a 40-year-old expert in fighting bad battles like Hosokawa Harumiya would be as steady as an old turtle.