"Your Highness, Takeda Harunobu is stubbornly defending Satao Pass. It will be difficult for our army to break through Suruga Kingdom for a while."
Hojo Ujiyasu snorted.
"I sent people to besiege Omiya Castle, and the Takeda Army's way home has been cut off.
If Takeda Harunobu can sit still, can the Kaibi soldiers under her command sit still?"
Hojo Genan sighed.
"With Takeda Harunobu's prestige, as long as Omiya Castle is not lost, it is enough to suppress the Kai people until autumn and winter. But can my family accompany her until then?"
Hojo Ujiyasu remained silent. Although she didn't like hearing what Hojo Genan said, what she said was true.
Takeda Harunobu made a desperate move to instigate a rebellion against the Suruga people and march directly to Sunfu Castle. She dared to take such a risk because she saw through the instability of the Hojo family's rear and had no time to tangle with her repeatedly in the Suruga Kingdom.
The Suruga Kingdom to the west is no longer the focus of the Hojo family. Even considering the depth of defense, there is still the Kano River and Hakone Pass as defense lines to ensure that the places close to them will not be threatened.
The real troubles for the Hojo family are in the Kanto Plain to the east. Uesugi in Echigo, Utsunomiya in Shimono, Satake in Hitachi, and Satomi in Anfang are all watching with eager eyes.
Takeda Harunobu was sure that Hojo Ujiyasu couldn't afford to delay him, so he acted like he couldn't defend. Hojo Ujiyasu couldn't swallow this, but the situation became increasingly unfavorable to the Hojo family.
Hojo Genan advised again.
"Since the beginning of spring, Uesugi Kagenobu has been communicating and negotiating with the Ueno Musashi samurai families. Because of the incident in Suruga Kingdom, my family has relaxed its suppression of these samurai families.
Nowadays, the hearts of Ueno Musashi and Ueno are unstable. Once Uesugi Teruator goes south, the situation may change. If Satake Satomi and other daimyo on the periphery take advantage of the situation to take advantage of the situation, the family fortune will be in danger!
This year there has been a severe drought in the Guandong Plain and the harvest has been poor. The food and grass supplies at home cannot support the two-sided war. I also ask the governor to think twice before acting out of emotion."
After saying that, she bowed deeply.
Hojo Ujiyasu looked at his aunt lying on the ground, glanced at the silent reviewers, and sighed in his heart.
Hojo Genan's tone was very serious. To put it personally, Hojo Yasusu had to fall out. She had been in office for many years and had a high prestige. How could she tolerate others judging her like this?
But Hojo Genan is different. This aunt has always taken the overall situation into consideration. This time she came out to say something unpleasant, all because she was forced by the situation and had to do something that was contrary to her loyal words.
The Hojo family has been working hard in Kanto for three generations and has been able to develop and grow because of the unity of relatives and close relatives.
Ashikaga Yoshiji and Hojo Genan are the heads of the Hojo family.
Ashikaga Yoshiji, with the dignity of Kanto Shogun, married a son of the Hojo family and was respected as the leader of the clan. However, Hojo Genan was highly virtuous and respected, and was originally the leader of all Hojo relatives.
She came out to persuade, indicating that the Hojo family was very dissatisfied with the fact that Hojo Uyasu had fallen into the quagmire of Suruga Kingdom.
The Imagawa family is in trouble. Since the death of Shou Keisen, the Imagawa family has been unable to control the situation at all. The Suruga people defected before the battle in batches, and Sunfu Castle was lost without even fighting a battle.
Why should the Hojo family insist on the alliance and waste resources for this kind of waste? It's really not worth the gain.
Hojo Uyasu insisted on entering the Suruga Kingdom to fight against the Takeda family, not because of her anger at her son's embarrassment for escaping for his life, nor because of consideration for the loser Imagawa Ujima, she had more in mind.
On the one hand, due to the war, the Tokaido trade route was almost cut off, causing the Hojo family to lose the strategic resources they had continuously obtained from Tokaido transactions.
On the other hand, Takeda Harunobu’s ambition is by no means limited to Suruga. Suruga is only 150,000 stone tall, so how can it possibly satisfy Takeda Harunobu’s appetite?
Hojo Ujiyasu had to do something. She had to let Takeda Harunobu know that the Hojo family was not to be trifled with and that they should not go too far when doing things.
I originally thought that with my own troops to help, no matter how bad the Imagawa family was, they could regroup in the Toe Country, attack the Takeda family, and restore order in the Tokaido.
Unexpectedly, the Matsudaira family of the Mikawa Kingdom moved so quickly, taking over most of the Enjiang Kingdom in an instant, and the Imagawa clan was really blocked in Kakegawa Castle in the eastern Enjiang River.
The Suruga people voted for the Takeda family, and the Enji people voted for the Matsudaira family. The Imagawa family was such a fool that they didn't even notice it beforehand. It was really impossible to hold up the wall.
At this time, not only Imagawa was really scared, Hojo Uyasu was also in a dilemma.
If we fight, the Imagawa family is in such a bad state, it is really hopeless. If we don't fight, the Takeda family will easily take the Suruga country, which will only increase their appetite and become a threat to the Hojo family.
Hojo Ujiyasu fell into deep thought.
The Suruga Kingdom is in a quagmire, the retainers are dissatisfied. The core territory is experiencing drought and poor harvests, and people are unstable. The danger in the Kanto Plain is getting closer, and she has to deal with it.
Finally, Hojo Ujiyasu sighed and closed his eyes.
"Auntie, please go to Suruga Castle. I am willing to make peace with the Takeda family and even withdraw from the occupied Suruga country.
But I have two conditions.
First, Imagawa is really my daughter-in-law. She must leave Kakegawa Castle safely. I will prepare a residence for her in Izu Country.
Second, Takeda Harunobu must promise me that he will not launch an attack on the Shunto County samurai family who are loyal to the Imagawa family.
After all, the Imagawa family has been in alliance with our two families for many years. The Takeda family can be shameless, but I, the Hojo family, must live up to our alliance.
If the Imagawa family really retains part of the land in Jundong County, it can be regarded as leaving some dignity to the Imagawa family."
Hojo Genan nodded.
Hojo Ujiyasu's statement is very high-level, and it has both face and dignity.
Bringing the Imagawa family to Izu Country and holding her in your hands is tantamount to receiving the name of the Imagawa family.
The Imagawa family is an Ashikaga family with a noble family background. It has occupied the Three Kingdoms of Suruga, Toe, and Mikawa for many years, and has a great influence on the samurai families of the Three Kingdoms.
It's not a loss for the Hojo family to raise her.
Shutō County is the easternmost county of Suruga Country, adjacent to the core territory of Hojo in Izu Sagami.
Yasunobu of the Hojo clan is no better than Harunobu Takeda, so it is best to leave a buffer between the two territories. The samurai family in Shunto County who are still loyal to the Imagawa family comes in handy.
Aren't you Takeda Harunobu very fierce? I won't fight with you, just go and fight with the Matsudaira family.
Even if you defeat the Matsudaira family, there is still an Oda family behind the Matsudaira family who killed Imagawa Yoshimoto in Okezama.
By using the Three Kingdoms of Tokaido to entangle the Takeda family, the Hojo family can turn back to the east with peace of mind and deal with the threat from the Kanto Plain.
Hojo Genan thought carefully about the governor's intention and nodded in reply.
"I understand, I will definitely make Takeda Harunobu agree to these two conditions.
If she refuses to agree to even these two conditions, then she is showing no sincerity, and there is no need to discuss anything more."
Hojo Ujiyasu's conditions are not excessive. If Takeda Harunobu refuses even this, he must be preparing to unite with the Uesugi family to attack the Hojo family.
If this were the case, no matter how reluctant Hojo Genan was, he would still persuade the retainers to help the family governor defeat the Takeda family first.
To avoid fighting on both sides and becoming more passive.
