Chapter 124 12. Takeda Harunobu, My Old Enemy

People are short-sighted and numb animals. Sometimes they will ignore many things in front of them. Because they see and hear too often, they will have a blank memory of things that they are accustomed to. It is often common for fathers and mothers to introduce their children to others, but they only remember the children's nicknames but not the big names.

Takeda Harunobu was in Kai, and there was a Suwa County between him and the Yamanouchi clan. In the past few years, they were in a state of not interfering with each other. Later, Takeda Shintora unified Kai and began to fight and expand abroad year after year. After he entered Saku County, the Yamanouchi family began to gradually understand the Takeda family.

Later, Takeda Shintora married his daughter Ni (one of the two words is correct, please forgive my poor Japanese) to Suwa Yorishige, tied Suwa Yorishige to his chariot, and the two sides signed a marriage alliance and attacked Ogata County and Saku County. The forces in Shinano felt the ambition of the Takeda family to take over Shinano.

Of course, if Takeda Shingen continued to rule the Takeda family, he might not have broken the alliance to attack the Suwa family. He would probably slowly digest the alliance through marriage, and finally pressure the Suwa family to make it a member of the national community under his umbrella. But as luck would have it, Takeda Harunobu was at odds with his father, exiled his father Takeda Shingen, broke the alliance with the Suwa family, defeated the Suwa family in one battle, imprisoned Suwa Yorishige to death, and sent his son Shiro Katsuyori to inherit the family business (did he support Suwa Yorishige's son Toranomaru? But soon the child died inexplicably), and then part of the Yamanouchi family's territory inevitably bordered the Takeda family.

But fortunately, Takeda Harunobu's strategic goal in the past two years was to pacify Shinano Saku County (if he hadn't been so ruthless, causing Saku to rebel, he might have entered the small county long ago. Takeda Harunobu's sins in Saku could not be washed away at all), and to cooperate with his brother-in-law Imagawa Yoshimoto to suppress the aggressive Hojo Ujiyasu in Sagami, so there has been no major war with the Yamanouchi clan in the past two years. Everyone is used to having Takeda Harunobu around, and he doesn't come to fight Yamanouchi, so as before, there is little attention.

Everyone is more concerned about Yoshikiyo, who is defending the village of Murasaki in northern Shinano. He is the most qualified to be called the giant of the Shinano clan at the moment. He is also ruthless and has a good hand in fighting. He has cleaned up all the big and small forces in northern Shinano, and there is no one who can resist him. He can be called a terrible opponent.

As for Takeda Harunobu's current wife, who was not paid much attention to before (his first wife was the daughter of Ogidani Asaoki, the one who fought the Hojo family for fourteen times and was defeated every time), and the second daughter of the noble Sanjo Kuniyori. Because of the same father-in-law, Takeda Harunobu's sworn brother was the recently defeated shogunate kanrei and former Kinki overlord Hosokawa Harumoto, and his sworn brother was the contemporary leader of the Jodo Shinshu sect, the head of Honganji, Honganji Kenjo Mitsusa Shonin.

Everyone thought about it and realized that almost all the people in Echigo, from Uesugi Terutora to the landless poor, made a fortune from the war last year.

Those who robbed more could earn dozens of kanwen each, and those who robbed less could also get a lot of things. The money and goods robbed from several countries in Kanto were enough for the people of Echigo to have a good year, wear new clothes, eat rice cakes, etc.

In this case, ordinary people and low-level foot soldiers had no motivation and no need to launch and participate in the uprising. Then the reason for the outbreak of this uprising is obvious. It is the result of the secret manipulation by people with ulterior motives.

Many readers may have forgotten that the father of the original owner of Koyata died in battle four years before Koyata traveled through time. So which battle did he die in? This was only said by Kitabatake University. More than eight years ago, Takeda Harunobu tore up the marriage covenant with the Suwa Taisha Daishu family and brazenly attacked Suwa. For the reason of lips and teeth being cold, the Yamauchi clan hurriedly recruited 2,000 people to support Suwa. As a result, as we all know, the Suwa clan was humiliated and defeated, and was forced to surrender the next year.

And the reason why Koyata did not apply for the four consecutive years after his father's death was revealed. At that time, Takeda Harunobu beat the Yamauchi clan seriously, and only 600 soldiers died, which can almost be called a broken bone.

Koyata thought carefully, indeed, his original owner's father only remembered that he died in battle. But I had never carefully investigated who defeated them, and which powerful army overturned them. Now it is clear. Later, I heard from Kitabatake University that the Ina Takato clan and the Kai Takeda clan took advantage of the victory to enter Yamanouchi. Although Yamanouchi defended, Koyata's mother was also abducted and her life or death was unknown.

So Takeda Harunobu and himself, the original owner, are sworn enemies who killed his father? Koyata shuddered all over. No wonder the Yamanouchi clan never attacked Shinano. It turned out that they were almost broken by the Jia army in the battle of Lake Suwa. It was only because I was a young boy of thirteen or fourteen years old that I only remembered that my parents died, but I didn't remember how they died.

The current situation, on the surface, is aimed at Uesugi Terutora everywhere, but in fact, it is also aimed at the Yamanouchi family. Uesugi Terutora was injured, and Yamanouchi Yoshiharu was also in a dilemma.

Koyata finally understood that the chess game in Kanto had begun since last autumn. Takeda Harunobu is the chess player, and everyone is following his rhythm.

He first extended an olive branch to the half-dead Hojo clan, using the marriage of Takeda Kiku and Hojo Ujinao as a bond. He accepted Tsukui and monitored Odawara with a superior position. Although he did not succeed in turning the Hojo clan into a subordinate and subservient force, he also greatly restored the relationship between the Kai and the prime ministers, who had been fighting for years. (The Takeda clan was actually a sworn enemy of the Hojo clan. Takeda Harunobu's first wife was the sister of Ogidani Asanoda. Takeda Shintora helped his in-laws fight the Hojo clan for years, and a lot of people died on both sides.)

Then Takeda Harunobu helped his son-in-law recover Sagami and part of Musashi, so that he had allies behind him (Imagawa Yoshimoto was Takeda Harunobu's brother-in-law, and Takeda Shintora was still a guest in Suruga, and the relationship between the two sides was still good at this time). Then he instigated Murakami Yoshikiyo to take the initiative to seize the small county county and attack Nagano Yoshimasa and the people of the affiliated Kanrei Uesugi clan, angering Uesugi Terutora. Then he instigated the Ikko-ikki in Hokuriku, delayed the power of Uesugi Terutora, bought time for his son-in-law Hojo Ujinao, and cut off the main reinforcements of the eastern forces.

In this way, Takeda Harunobu got a perfect external environment. No force had the spare power and ambition to attack the Takeda family in a short period of time, while the Takeda family had sufficient strength to attack wherever he pointed.

So who was his target? It goes without saying and it is clear at a glance.