Takeda Shingen and Kosaka Masanobu circled around Reina, and the atmosphere between the three of them was warm.
After a while, Takeda Shingen pointed at the child and said proudly.
"Masanobu, Reina is only two and a half years old."
Kosaka Masanobu was stunned and looked at Takeda Rena who was fluttering in his arms. The child was mumbling and didn't know what she was mumbling, but she did have her own thoughts and ideas.
Kosaka Masanobu, who had not reacted just now, was immediately amazed.
While other children of the same age have just learned to walk and cannot even speak clearly, two-and-a-half-year-old Takeda Reina can already run, recognize relatives, and express wishes clearly.
Takeda Shingen looked at Kosaka Masanobu's shocked eyes and couldn't help but feel proud. He pinched Reina's cheek, making the child's face bulge in anger.
Kosaka Masanobu was stunned for a while and sighed.
"As expected of you and his blood, you are a very talented person, and the Takeda family will have no worries about the future."
Gao Banchang was still a little sad in her confidence, and her belly was really disappointing. At that time in Yantian City, she was always dragged along by her master to humiliate Shiba Yiyin, but in the end only her master got pregnant.
Come to think of it, this is life.
Takeda Shingen didn't know that she had inadvertently hurt Kosaka Masanobu's heart. She just wanted to show off.
Back then, she insisted on giving birth to Takeda Rena, which caused the retainers to be dissatisfied with her appearance.
But as Takeda Reina grew up, the retainers had to admit that the Takeda family might have taken a big advantage because of Shiba Yoshigan's extraordinary blood.
Reina is wise and intelligent early, and has a strong body, as if she has combined the genetic advantages of both the male world and the female world, unlike a mortal body.
The culture of the island country firmly believes in the theory of blood, which emphasizes that dragons give birth to dragons, phoenixes give birth to phoenixes, and the sons of mice can dig holes. Unlike the people of the Chinese dynasty, they dare to shout that they would rather have the seed.
Takeda Rena's excellence caused the Takeda retainers group to fall into a tangle of contradictions.
Takeda Shingen humiliated Shiba Yoshigan and robbed his seed and bloodline, which may cause great trouble for the Takeda family in the future.
But Rena is too good a child. If the Takeda family can really improve under her hands, it doesn't seem to be a bad thing.
With expectations for the future, it seems that it is not unacceptable for the family governor Meng Lang to take advantage of the opportunity to have a daughter.
Yoshigoshi Shiba's reputation is rising day by day, and he has become a heavenly figure that the martial arts families all over the world look up to. The Takeda family will enjoy it secretly if they can get his flesh and blood.
Even if this happens in the future, given Yoshigashi Ishiba's benevolent nature, he will not kill his own child, right? The worst result is nothing more than Takeda Shingen's personal misfortune.
From the Takeda family's perspective, if the family governor can resist all sins and let this child, who is not as smart as a mortal, lead the Takeda family to a more glorious future, this deal is worth doing.
Kosaka Masanobu glanced at Takeda Shingen worriedly. She was very aware of the psychological changes in Takeda's retainers in the past two years, and she became even more worried about Takeda Shingen's future.
Takeda Shingen now no longer thinks about housework and stays with Reina all the time. Has he foreseen that his future is not optimistic, so he wants to spend more time with his proud daughter?
Takeda Shingen felt Kosaka Masanobu's gaze and asked.
"What's wrong?"
Kosaka Masanobu shook his head, suppressed his worries, and changed the subject.
…
"Nothing, Your Highness, do you really want to use that imperial letter to send troops to Luo to become the enemy of the Oda family?"
Takeda Shingen took Reina off Kousaka Masanobu, patted Reina on the head and said affectionately.
"You're all sweaty and dirty from playing. Come here, take Reina to drink some water and change clothes."
The valet stepped forward to salute and took the child to wash up. Takeda Shingen looked at Rena's back and said.
"Oda Nobunaga disrespected the shogunate, humiliated the Ashikaga shogun, and tried to encroach on the samurai world.
As a descendant of the Genji family in Kawachi, I, Takeda Shingen, have the great trust of the general and granted the imperial letter, how can I just sit back and ignore it?"
Kosaka Masanobu looked at Takeda Shingen's righteous and awe-inspiring look and shook his head helplessly.
Takeda Shingen rolled his eyes at her.
"Am I wrong?"
Kosaka Masanobu asked in a low voice.
"Your Highness, do you miss Tsudo-dono?"
Takeda Shingen's eyes narrowed.
"Why do you think so?"
Kosaka Masanobu said seriously.
"The way you looked just now was just like the upright Tsutaden who stood before us back then."
Takeda Shingen took a deep look at Kosaka Masanobu and said to himself.
"It's not that I want to be an enemy of Oda Nobunaga, it's that I have to be an enemy of Oda Nobunaga.
Changxin, I have no choice.
In the past few years, our Takeda family seems to be peaceful, but there is a turbulent undercurrent. The three samurai families of Kai, Shinano, and Suruga are at odds with each other. They look down on each other and there are many conflicts.
In particular, with Takeda Noburen's tacit approval, Nobukun Anayama and Tokugawa Ieyasu started a smuggling business, which seemed to have brought us a lot of profits, but also laid greater hidden dangers.
The benefits of the Tokaido trade route are not as good as before, but they are still profitable. The Kaibi people are greedy and insufficient, which makes me very embarrassed.
Tokugawa Ieyasu, this person is not simple.
While doing business with Nobu-kun Anayama, she gave benefits to the Kai clan and excluded the Suruga clan from the benefits of the trade route.
On the other hand, she made good friends with the Suruga people and secretly used her share of the proceeds from the trade route to give the Suruga people a little benefit.
Now, the Kai people are happy to cooperate with the Tokugawa family, and the Suruga people also feel that the Tokugawa family is more suitable to be the ruler of Suruga country than the Takeda family.
Pity the idiots in the Kai family, they were used as a weapon by Tokugawa Ieyasu, and they still thought she was a good person.
Especially Nobu-kun Anayama, I'm afraid he is deeply involved with Tokugawa Ieyasu. Who knows if there is any shady deal behind the two of them.
But the Aneshan family has a special status, and I can’t easily touch Aneshan Nobu-kun."
Kosaka Masanobu frowned.
"His Highness should not have agreed at that time and let Anayayama Nobu-kun privately take charge of the Tokaido trade route and exchange information with Tokugawa Ieyasu.
Now, even if you want to punish Nobu-kun Anayama for collaborating with the enemy, the Kai people who have benefited will definitely have a backlash."
Takeda Shingen sighed.
"Although the income of the Tokaido Trade Route is declining year by year, it is still a piece of fat. Who doesn't covet it? If I insist on stopping it, can I stop it?
You can see it but not eat it, but it will arouse the resentment of the Jia Fei people, and the gain outweighs the loss.
Now, the Kai people claim to be conquerors and have enough to eat and drink. The Suruga people collude with Tokugawa Ieyasu and get a share of the pie.
The most dissatisfied are the Shinon people. They live in poverty in the mountains and their lives are never easy. Since they are still suffering from poverty, why should they surrender to me?
…
Masanobu, our Takeda family seems to be in a stable situation, occupying the land of the Three Kingdoms, and has a great momentum, but in fact it is already full of crises and cannot be optimistic.
If I don't move a little bit, I will die in a daze."
Kosaka Masanobu was silent for a while, sighed and nodded.
It is difficult for Takeda Shingen to be the head of a family.
The Kai Kingdom was small and weak, but it was able to fight its way out of the mountains and capture the Shinano and Suruga Kingdoms, which were far more powerful and wealthy than itself. It was all thanks to Takeda Shingen's strategic planning that the odds of victory were huge.
However, the nature of the mountain people of the Jia Fei tribe is hard to change. The most is that they cling to groups, xenophobic and domineering.
They always believed that their conqueror despised and suppressed the Shinano clan and Suruga clan, which caused many conflicts.
It was because Tokugawa Ieyasu saw this clearly that he would give benefits to the Kai clan and win over the Suruga clan, trying every means to intensify the division within the Takeda family.
Takeda Shingen has been tolerating it because behind Tokugawa Ieyasu stood Oda Nobunaga, a great celebrity with two million stone.
Compared with the Oda family, the Takeda family is too weak, so they can only endure temporarily, accumulate strength, and wait for the opportunity.
Nowadays, Oda Nobunaga has gone too far with his arrogance in recent years, which has attracted dissatisfaction from many forces.
Ashikaga Yoshiaki took the lead in writing the Imperial Letter, and everyone formed an alliance to besiege the Oda family. This was a God-given opportunity for the Takeda family.
The best way to resolve conflicts at home is to export them to the outside world.
As long as he can defeat the Tokugawa family, successfully backstab the Oda family, and allow the Takeda family to occupy the entire Tokaido, Takeda Shingen will have enough land and trade route interests to win over the hearts and minds of the Takeda family.
Kosaka Masanobu thought for a while and said.
"Your Highness has a far-sighted vision, which I am ashamed of.
But Oda Nobunaga came to the fore in just a few years and conquered a territory of two million koku. He was by no means an ordinary person.
Tokugawa Ieyasu was able to bend and stretch in his work, worked hard step by step, and was full of resilience. He was not an easy person to deal with.
If anything goes wrong in the battle of Shangluo, the consequences will be disastrous. Why don't we choose an enemy that is easier to deal with to expand our territory and ease internal conflicts?"
Takeda Shingen smiled bitterly.
"Of course I don't want to fight Oda Tokugawa unless I have to. If I don't fight Oda Tokugawa, in which direction can I break through?
Hida Country? The mountains there are higher and the land is poorer and useless.
Unless I intend to conquer China and pass through the Hida Kingdom. But the Hokuriku Road is managed by Tsutado-den like a metal barrel, so why should I go looking for that unpleasant experience?
The same goes for Nishi-Ueno.
When Nagano Yamasa died of illness, there was a good opportunity to intervene in the Kanto Plain, but it was a pity that Sanada Nobushige took the lead.
Today's Kanto is a piece of metal. From Uesugi in Echigo to Hojo in Sagami, they are all within the framework of the Great Council of the Kanto Palace.
The great talent of Tsutado-den made use of Ashikaga Yoshiji's Imperial Order of Peace in Kanto and brought all Kanto eight states samurai into the political circle of the Kanto Palace on the grounds of peaceful development.
In terms of trickery, I may be a little better than him. But in terms of heart and magnanimity, I am far inferior to him.
I missed the best opportunity to enter the Kanba Prefecture. If I plan to plot the Western Ueno Land now, I will be an enemy of all the Kanba Prefecture warriors. The wise will not take it.
To put it bluntly, Hokurikudo and Kanpachishu are already monolithic. I cannot afford to offend Tsutado-don, so I can only look for the bad luck of Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu and try to break through from Tokaido."
…
Kosaka Masanobu was speechless.
The situation of the Takeda family is much worse than that of the Uesugi family and the Hojo family.
Echigo Kuni of the Uesugi family was rich and powerful, and was the core ally of Yoshihiro Shiba in Kanto. No matter how the political situation in the eight Kanto states changed, Uesugi Teruhora would always make a profit without losing anything.
The Hojo family has been in business for several generations. Even if Yoshihiro Shiba suppresses his enterprising spirit now, the Hojo clan can still occupy a place in Kanto by relying on the family business accumulated by his ancestors.
In contrast, Takeda Shingen was very helpless.
She has neither reliable allies nor a family fortune accumulated over generations. The conflict of interests between the new and old members of the retainer group and the division of regions are not big problems that can be solved in one generation.
Kosaka Masanobu said worriedly.
"Your Highness, since no matter what you do, it's wrong, it's better not to do anything.
Although the conflict between the martial arts in the three places is fierce, you have enough prestige to suppress them, and they will not be able to overturn the situation.
As long as he manages his current territory well, waits for the young master to grow up, and gives her a stable Takeda family business, what's wrong?
Even if you cannot become King Wu of Zhou, you can still choose to become King Wen of Zhou without risking going to Luo."
The Zhou Dynasty complied with the destiny and conquered Shang Zhou. Although it was successful at the hands of King Wu of Zhou, the foundation was laid by King Wen of Zhou.
The Takeda family is facing so many difficulties now. Kosaka Masanobu feels that Takeda Shingen does not need to rush for success and can completely calm down and run the business.
Without the rule of Wen and Jing, there would be no glory of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. The predecessors planted trees and the descendants enjoyed the shade. This is the way to long-term peace and stability.
The Hojo family was able to run the business for three or four generations and gradually developed from Izu country to a great name in Kanto, and the Takeda family can do the same.
Although the three samurai families in Kai, Shinano and Suruga are full of conflicts, how can they be Takeda Shingen's opponents?
As long as Takeda Shingen can be patient, there will be enough time to slowly clear up these troubles before Reina takes over.
Kosaka Masanobu still felt that Takeda Shingen was too impatient.
Tokugawa Ieyasu's instigation within the Takeda family was because she was not sure of winning against Takeda Shingen on the battlefield. As long as Takeda Shingen saw his tricks, Tokugawa Ieyasu's estrangement may not be effective.
Takeda Shingen smiled slightly, not resenting the advice of a caring person like herself. She knew that Kosaka Masanobu was sincerely doing her best.
"Masanobu, do you know that the supply of salt from Echigo has started to stop intermittently again, and the supplies from Naoetsu to Zenkojidaira have also become less."
Kosaka Masanobu frowned.
"His Royal Highness Uesugi blocked it before, but later on, wasn't there an order from Tsuta-dono that strictly ordered Naoe Jinguan not to have a shortage?"
Takeda Shingen sneered.
"No matter how powerful Tsuta-don is, he is not omniscient and omnipotent. Uesugi Teruhora insists on tripping me up, what can Tsuta-don do?
Salt is distributed from the Uesugi family's salt farm, and Naoetsu is located in the Takata Plain at the heart of the Uesugi family.
Terutora Uesugi has great influence on the matter of transporting supplies to Hokushin Zenkoji Temple. If she is not happy, there are many ways to bypass Tsutado-den."
Kosaka Masanobu said.
"Fortunately, the salt fields in Suruga Kingdom have gradually recovered a lot. Our Takeda family does not have to use the salt from Echigo Kingdom now."
Takeda Shingen sighed.
"You haven't understood yet. What I'm worried about is not the salt and supplies, but Uesugi Teru's unyielding attitude toward me.
Think about it, why does Uesugi Teruhora show hostility towards me every time Tsutado-den leaves Kanto?
The cooperation between Tsutado-den and Uesugi Terutora in the Kanto strategy is very close, and there will never be any change of orders overnight or multiple political affairs.
Time and time again, Terutora Uesugi took advantage of the time when Tsutado-den left Kanto to cut off affordable supplies from Shinano Kingdom and create dissatisfaction among Shinano people against me.