"Don't worry, this battle won't last long. I even doubt that it will be fought at all."
Imai Munehisa was stunned.
"What news did your Excellency get?"
Takada Yono nodded.
"The Maori family intervened.
I heard that the Maori family sent people to Ikeda Castle to assure Araki Murashige that as long as she was willing to fight the Oda family to the end, the Maori family was willing to provide the greatest help and would protect her even if she lost.
Haha, the Mori family feels that too few people died in Setsu country, and they don't want the Oda family to take over Settsu country easily.
In addition, there is also news from Ishiyama that the Maori family’s ships are transporting military supplies, helping Ishiyama Honganji Temple prepare for war, and supporting Kenjosho in resisting the Oda family’s aggression for a long time.”
Imai Munehisa asked in astonishment.
"How come the Mori family is involved? Doesn't her family never get involved in Kinki affairs?"
Although Maori is the overlord of the Western Kingdom and has nominal influence over the twelve countries, in fact, the Maori family is the leader of the Warrior Alliance and their real power is not great.
It is okay to defend the territory with the local martial arts family, but if they really want to conquer the Western Kingdom, the Maori family does not have this ability because of their inherent deficiencies.
The Maori family jumped left and right in the confrontation between the big names of Ouchi and Nizi, and grew and grew in the cracks. In the end, the small one swallowed the big one, and luckily won the hegemony of the Western Kingdom.
The status of the Mori family in the Western Kingdom is similar to that of Ashikaga Shogun, the nominal co-leader of the samurai family. Most of their subordinates are thorns in the side and do not expect to accomplish anything. It is good if they can stay together and not disband.
Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, the third generation of the Ashikaga Shogun family, was extremely clever in his methods. He used horizontal and vertical techniques to win over one faction and fight another, and he finally became addicted to dominating the world.
But the Mori family has not yet had a second-time entrepreneurial Sandaime like Ashikaga Yoshimitsu born. It would be tragic if a rubbish Sandaime were born.
All in all, the Mori family, which had never been involved in Kinki affairs, suddenly made a move, which surprised Imai Munehisa.
Takada Yono said as if you were making a fuss or something.
"The Saint and His Highness Oda concluded an alliance at Fushimi Castle, agreeing to work together to conquer all directions and end the troubled times.
The poor official went to the Maori family's territory to establish a new central government and then built a shogunate.
Now that the matter has come to this, can the Maori family still stay out of the matter?
Once His Majesty Oda conquers Settsu Province and Ishiyama, his next target will be Western Province.
The Maori family wants to defend their enemies from outside the country, so naturally they cannot let His Highness Oda casually take down Araki Murashige and Kenyoshi Shang, but they must at least let His Highness Oda shed more blood under the stone mountain wall."
Imai Munehisa said in horror.
"Ishiyama is very close to Sakai Port. If the war continues and spreads, I'm afraid Sakai Port will not be peaceful. After receiving such bad news, you still say that this war may not be fought?"
Takada Yono sneered.
"Bad news? The one who scored the score, this is the best news for the Oda family, bar none.
The Mori family had a beautiful idea, but by making such troubles, it actually helped His Highness Oda.
Originally, when the Oda family conquered Settsu Province and Ishiyama Honganji Temple, our Shiba family strictly maintained neutrality. The saint even traveled to Kanto to avoid it, because he did not want to get involved in the grudge between the Ichiko clan and the Oda family.
But as soon as the Maori family intervened, the nature of the matter changed. Do you know under what name the Maori envoy came to Kinki to stir up trouble? It was the imperial order of the shogun! It was the instruction of the poor official!"
Imai Sohisa suddenly realized.
"So that's it!"
Ashikaga Yoshiaki ran away and fled to the territory of the Mori family, still thinking of causing trouble. The Mori family just took advantage of her status to interfere in Kinki affairs.
But the Maori family miscalculated one thing, that is, the cooperation between the Shiba family and the Oda family was not as close as the Maori family thought.
Originally, the Shiba family did not want to get involved in the Oda family's conquest of Settsu Ishiyama, but when the Mori family brought out Ashikaga Yoshiaki, a troublemaker, the Shiba family had to react.
The Shiba family currently controls the Kyoto shogunate, and Ashikaga Yoshiaki establishes a separate central government and then builds the shogunate. In fact, it has formed an embarrassing political situation in which the two central centers of the Ashikaga shogunate are facing each other.
In this matter, the Spo family has no room for ambiguity and must act decisively.
Yoshigan Shiba's influence in Nishi Kinki is by no means comparable to that of Oda Nobunaga. Once the Shiba family takes action, the pressure on Araki Murashige and Kenyoshi will be too great.
Oda Nobunaga could only use swords and guns to force them to bow their heads and surrender, but Yoshihiro Saba could comprehensively suppress them from all aspects of politics, military, and economy.
Takata Yono sighed.
"The agencies were too clever in their calculations, and the Maori family seemed smart, but in fact they did an extremely stupid thing.
The defense system of Ishiyama Honganji Temple is extremely strong, with countless fortresses on the outside, and the believers' will to protect the temple is fanatical. The Oda army wanted to attack Ishiyama by force, but it took only a few years to achieve it.
The Oda family would have been in trouble here, but now, it might not be so troublesome.
The fact that the Maori family envoy participated in the Kinki incident on behalf of the poor government has been caught by His Highness Oda, and the Shiba Oda negotiation mechanism at Fushimi Castle was activated.
Mitsuhide Akechi, who is in charge of the foreign affairs of the Shiba family, has sent people to Tamba country to strictly demand the Hatano family to stand firm and not receive the Maori family's generals and puppets.
Without the backing of Tanba Kingdom, the Araki Village of Settsu Kingdom was unable to support itself, and it even lost the confidence to resist for a long time.
In addition, Akechi Mitsuhide personally went to Yamato Kingdom and Kii Kingdom to persuade the local clan members, especially Suzuki Shigehide of the Zaga clan, not to act rashly.
In addition, local lords such as Hosokawa Fujitaka of Izumi, Hatakeyama Takamasa of Kawachi, and Miyoshi Yoshitsugu were notified that any form of support for Ishiyama was not allowed, not even by the people of the country.
All foreign aid from Ishiyama Honganji Temple has been cut off. I think Master Xianru was really panicking this time, and that’s why he lost his mind and threatened me.
The Maori family is far away in the West. How useful can a few ships of military supplies be?
What can really help Ishiyama Honganji maintain its long-term defense are the powerful local samurai warriors from Izumi, Settsu, Kawachi and Mikuni who sympathize with the Ichibuki sect, and the strong local believers of Yamato and Kii who believe in the Ichibuki sect.
Now, all these people have been suppressed by the influence of the Shiba family, and the most unruly Zaga clan are stopped by Suzuki Shigehide from joining the war. What can Ishiyama Honganji do to resist the Oda army?
So, why are the Mouri family coming to join in the fun? Isn’t this helping the Oda army clear obstacles and accelerate the capture of Settsu Ishiyama?"
Takada Yono's complaint was fully recognized by Imai Munehisa, who sighed.
"The Maori family is far away in the West, and they misjudged the current situation in Kinki.
Her family thought that Kogokō still had influence in Kinki, but in fact, the shogunate samurai in Kinki only knew about Sōba Sage and not about Ashikaga Shogun.
However, Akechi Mitsuhide-sama is really attentive and works hard for the Oda family.
I heard that she has always responded to His Highness Oda's requests, and most of the documents filed to appeal to the Oda family from various places have been suppressed. The consultation system in Fushimi Castle is ineffective and has attracted a lot of criticism."
Takada Yono smiled slightly, his smile was a little weird.
"The Sage is not in Kinki, so the Fushimi Castle negotiation mechanism was entrusted to Akechi Mitsuhide by the Sage.
Each family has no way to sue, so they can only let Akechi Mitsuhide play nonsense and wait for the saint to come back to settle the accounts.
However, this matter has nothing to do with me. Akechi Mitsuhide has no business knowledge and rarely messes with me. Except for making me a little disgusted by asking questions, there is no problem.
Let's take care of ourselves and let her go."
Takada Yono looked on with cold eyes, always feeling that Akechi Mitsuhide was brewing something bad, and even had some expectations in his heart.
Not everyone can tolerate Akechi Mitsuhide's hospitality. The last person to enjoy Akechi Mitsuhide's considerate service was Ashikaga Yoshiteru.
