Seeing Kinoshita Hideyoshi beaming with joy, Oda Nobunaga was too lazy to care about her. Anyway, she would have to suffer a lot in the future, so let her be happy today.
Looking back at Niwa Nagahide, Oda Nobunaga complained.
"The civil strife in Meinong is a God-given opportunity, but I can only watch helplessly?
West Mino has a castle in Sumamata, and East Mino was also defeated by Quanliu and lost its foothold in the two cities. It’s a pity.”
Niwa Nagahide was unmoved and spoke further.
“Although there is chaos in Meinong, there is no major fighting and the fighting strength is still there.
If my family sends troops at this time, they will definitely put aside their prejudices and speak out unanimously.
It is better to wait and see what happens, and wait until the situation becomes serious enough to cause chaos, consume the strength of the Meinong family, and disperse people's hearts, then we can take action."
Kinoshita Hideyoshi made great contributions to West Mino, and Shibata Katsuie of Higashi-Mino relied on Maeda Toshiie's advice to conquer two cities in a row. The situation is indeed good.
However, there has not yet been an irreconcilable violent conflict within Meino, and Isshiki Yoshiryu can still hold his ground.
If the Oda family sends troops to invade the country, it will be easier for Mino to unite and fight against foreign enemies first.
Only when huge problems arise within Mino and the conflict between the East and West Mino samurai becomes too acute to compromise, is the time for the Oda family to enter the scene.
For the time being, I really have to sit on the sidelines and watch, or at most applaud.
Oda Nobunaga agreed with Niwa Nagahide's view, but she was really unwilling to watch the opportunity slip away and said.
"No matter what, you have to try.
I will send a document to Ando Mamoru, promising her half the country of Mino, and jointly deal with Isshiki Yoshiryu."
Niwa Nagahide sighed inwardly, he couldn't stop His Highness after all. Doing so would only make Isshiki Yoshiryu and Ando Mamoru alert to the direction of Owari.
There is no telling whether the civil strife in Meinong will end in a tailspin and end in a compromise.
But she could no longer persuade Oda Nobunaga, who was itching in her heart, so she could only watch her master make his decision.
Oda Nobunaga chuckled and said.
"Sent an envoy to inform Asai Nagamasa that my sending troops to Mino has caused civil strife and that Mino's threat to Kitanomi has been lifted.
Ask her, what do you think about my Oda City-kun's marriage?"
Niwa Nagahide was speechless. His master was so shameless that he naturally attributed all the results to his own merit and used it to inform the Asai family.
The Asai family is too important to Oda Nobunaga. It is the entry point to break into Kinji without breaking through the barrier, and must be firmly grasped.
The relationship between the Oda family and the Asai family is the starting step for Oda Nobunaga, who has great ambitions to lead the world.
No matter how shameless she is, she has to make Asai Nagamasa bow down, become her sister-in-law, and form a marriage alliance.
By taking advantage of the shortcut between the two parties and exaggerating their own contributions, the Asai family, who were enemies on both sides, valued the value of the Oda family and agreed to join forces.
This is very beneficial to the Oda family. Even if Niwa is dissatisfied with Nagahide, he will not say it out loud, and he also approves of his master's actions.
The two things were finalized, and Oda Nobunaga was in a good mood. He looked at Kinoshita Hideyoshi and Hachisuga Masakatsu, who were waiting silently, and waved his hands.
"What are you still doing here? Go back and do your work!"
"Hi!"
The two of them bowed and left as if they had been granted amnesty.
Oda Nobunaga squinted his eyes, looked at Kinoshita Hideyoshi's petite back, and said softly to Niwa Nagahide.
"Mi Wuniang, if the monkey is in trouble, please help if you can."
"Hi!"
Niwa Nagahide had originally intended to befriend Kinoshita Hideyoshi, but now that the master had ordered assistance out of consideration for restructuring, she naturally readily agreed.
Oda Nobunaga asked Niwa Nagahide to go back, and then he half-lyed on the main seat and smiled coldly.
Kinoshita Hideyoshi, don't let the Owari warriors kill you. As long as you persist and do your job well, I will promise you wealth and glory.
Kinoshita Hideyoshi and Hachisuga Masakatsu waited respectfully outside for Niwa to come out, and then bowed.
"Niwa-senpai, today is a good day for me to receive a reward. I would like to invite you to have a drink with me."
Niwa Nagahide smiled.
"Of course you can. You are also considered a hero under my command. You should do a good job in the future and share the Lord's worries.
If you have any questions, come to me and I will try my best to help you."
Kinoshita Hideyoshi was overjoyed and bowed to express his thanks.
Niwa Nagahide is Oda Nobunaga's great steward, with countless resources at his disposal, and he is deeply trusted.
With her kindness, Kinoshita Hideyoshi felt at ease.
———
Outside Sawayama Castle, the Rokkaku Honjin shogunate.
Rokkaku Yoshiken and his daughter Rokkaku Yoshiharu were sitting separately, with a letter for help from the south placed in front of them.
Rokkaku Yoshiharu saw her ugly face and advised her softly.
"Mother, why don't you retreat?"
"no!"
Rokkaku Yoshihide's voice was sharp and harsh. He was so angry that he swept the letter for help to the ground and cursed.
"Jiahezhong, huh, we usually ignore the master's family, but the fifty-three families have such great prestige!
But these useless things can't even survive the summer harvest, and they've already asked me for help in just a few days, which is really embarrassing!"
Rokkaku Yoshihide had to be anxious, her strategy was to advance from the north to defend from the south.
The Rokkaku Army's Northern Expedition and Isshiki Yoshiryu attacked the Asai family, and the Koka clan in the south used the mountains of Koka County to block the Shiba family's harassment and support.
Once the Rokkaku family captures the AI-dogs and reaches two counties, they will stop advancing and instead stick to the digestion territory.
As for Isshiki Yoshiryu, Rokkaku Yoshihide has plenty of ways to shirk responsibility.
These extraterrestrial samurai families are also stupid. The Rokkaku family regards Omi as a forbidden land. How could Rokkaku Yoshihide be willing to lead a wolf into his house?
She just wants to swallow up one or two counties to appease the retainers, win people's hearts, and regain the Rokkaku family's control over the retainers.
Isshiki Yoshiryu was just a pawn she used to contain Asai Nagamasa's military power. But at this time, her plan suffered a serious setback.
Isono Tamashiro strictly guarded Sawayama Castle, and the samurai family of the two counties of Aichi Inugami, under the call of Todo Torakan, strongly supported the Asai family, which hindered her northern expedition and put her in a dilemma.
Behind him, in Koga County, which is part of the Rokkaku Territory, Maeda led the Iga army and defeated the Koga people steadily.
She personally led five Vermillion Spearmen, two followers, and eight people to attack the Koka camp at night, causing an explosion and a stampede in the camp.
The Koga people were frightened and retreated for more than ten miles overnight, surrendering the Suzuka Pass, the most important pass in the prefecture.
Maeda's interests continued to attack, and the Koga people were frightened three times a day, and kept sending messages to Rokkaku Yoshihide for help.
Rokkaku Yoshiken was filled with hatred. The Koga clan always obeyed the master's orders but not the propaganda. It was a semi-independent force in Rokkaku's family.
They are good at fighting in the mountains and fields, and Koka County is mostly mountainous and hilly, so the Rokkaku family had no choice but to acquiesce in their autonomy within the county.
But I didn't expect that Maeda's interests were so powerful, and he captured Suzuka Pass from the Koga people in one battle.
Suzuka Pass is the pass from Koga County to Iga Country. The Iga Basin is surrounded by mountains. Among the four external passes, Suzuka Pass controls the Koka Pass, which is most suitable for material transportation.
Before Yoshigan Shiba took control of Iga country, the Koga people often used Suzuka Pass to embarrass the Iga people, so naturally the pass was built quite strong.
This important stronghold in recent times has been taken away by Maeda's interests, and the offensive and defensive momentum of Omi and Iga has been reversed. From now on, it will be the Rokkaku family's turn to have a headache.
The situation was dire, but Rokkaku Yoshihide did not dare to retreat.
The decision to send troops this time was a decision she made reluctantly despite the huge pressure from the opposition of her important minister, Goto Kentoyo.
She has retired, and Rokkaku Yoshiharu is the governor of the Rokkaku family.
If the war doesn't go well, Rokkaku Yoshiken will exercise his power to forcefully send troops on behalf of the family governor, but he will get no benefits and is even more disgusted by the retainers.
She was afraid that she would never have the chance to get her hands on power again, so she could only worship the Buddha and spend the rest of her life sadly. How could she give up so easily!
Rokkaku Yoshiharu saw that his mother was furious, but he remained calm.
She, the governor of the Rokkaku family, is a loser. Her mother is acting as a substitute, and Goto Kentoyo is domineering.
She endured silently and made secret arrangements, just to take back her own power, the power of the Rokkaku family governor.
Now that her mother's strategy has been thwarted and her prestige has fallen, she has the opportunity to kick her away.
However, if this Northern Expedition was too disgraced and had a great impact on the master's family's reputation, Goto Kentoyo would not be able to suppress it, and there would be a risk of the family business overturning.
Rokkaku Yoshiharu is also in a dilemma.
At both ends of the balance, one is Rokkaku Yoshihide and the other is Goto Kentoyo. No matter whether this battle is won or lost, one person will always lose and the other will gain.
So how should she choose to protect her own interests?
The two of them had different thoughts and remained silent.
At this time, warrior Ji came from outside with urgent news and kowtowed to the ground.
"Your Highness, Asai Nagamasa's flag appears outside Sawayama Castle, and reinforcements from the Asai family have arrived."
"What!"
Rokkaku mother and daughter stood up together, Rokkaku Yixian's face was ashen.
What happened to Isshiki Yoshiryu! Why didn't he stop Asai Nagamasa!
She also didn't think about the fact that she had ulterior motives and had bad intentions towards Isshiki Yoshiryu. However, the arrival of reinforcements from the Asai family in anger made her strategic plan go to waste.
Instead, Rokkaku Yoshiharu put aside the conflict in her heart and made a choice, she said calmly.
"Mother, retreat."
Rokkaku Yoshixian said angrily.
"No! I don't allow it!"
Rokkaku Yoshiharu looked at her and said calmly.
"Mother, you have to understand that I am the governor of the Rojia family.
I said, retreat."
Rokkaku Yixian looked at his daughter who suddenly became tough, like a bucket of ice water falling from his head, trembling all over, pointing at her and speechless.
