There are few real fools in the world. When you treat others as fools, you are often exposing your true feelings.
Terutora Uesugi was eager for success and accidentally exposed a flaw. While the Three Princesses of Kanto were suspicious of this, far away in Gifu City in Mino Country, Oda Nobunaga was also having secret conversations with several important ministers.
In the twelfth lunar month of winter, even though the Nongwei Plain was not as bitterly cold as Kanto, enough braziers were lit in the four corners of the meeting hall to make the room as warm as spring.
Oda Nobunaga was half-lying on the main seat. Niwa Nagahide was reporting on his work. Sitting with him were Shibata Katsuie and Sakuma Nobumori.
The Minami-Omi Rebellion has subsided. The local samurai family was frightened by the killing of the Owari generals. In addition, Rokkaku's mother and daughter were defeated and disappeared. The rebellion lost its backbone, and the local samurai family gradually recognized the reality.
Shibata Katsuie and Sakuma Nobumori returned with their military exploits and were waiting for rewards. This was supposed to be a happy event, but Niwa Nagahide's report made them a little unhappy.
Rebellions broke out all over the Oda territory and wars continued. As the logistics manager, Niwa Nagahide complained endlessly.
Even though the Oda family was strong and their innovations had brought huge benefits, they still couldn't afford the constant conquests and the financial pressure was great.
Niwa Nagahide said.
"The land of Minami Omi has been in chaos for a long time. Last year's autumn grain storage was very unsatisfactory and far lower than expected. On the north side of Omi, Hideyoshi has also been asking for military supplies, and the quantity is very large."
Oda Nobunaga waved his hand and said.
"Let alone Hideyoshi, she did a very good job, far beyond my expectations.
Unexpectedly, she went to bed so quickly and rebelled against Masa Isono and Sasaki Aguki, forcing the Asai family to jump over the wall. They sent troops several times to break the siege, but she was blocked every time with all their strength.
Asai Nagamasa not only lost troops and generals, but also disappointed Asai's retainers, and many people have come to join him one after another.
Hideyoshi not only has to guard Yokoyama Castle, but also use money and food to buy off Asai’s retainers and ensure Isono Tamashiro and Aguki Sadaki’s combat supplies. You can’t miss her in this regard."
Niwa Nagahide reluctantly bowed and agreed.
She had no objection to Hashiba Hideyoshi. On the contrary, she had always admired this junior. But Hashiba Hideyoshi was so good at spending money that she didn't feel bad at all for him selling his father's land.
In order to complete the tasks assigned by Oda Nobunaga, Hashiba Hideyoshi worked hard to make friends with Asai's retainers and tried his best to betray him. On the other hand, she also led these traitors to surround Asai Nagamasa.
Oda Nobunaga was very satisfied with Hashiba Hideyoshi's approach and asked the former retainers who had deserted Asai to stop Asai Nagamasa's counterattack.
It can not only reduce the consumption of Oda's troops, but also create a blood feud between them, making these rebels unable to look back. It's perfect.
But this strategy has a big disadvantage, and that is that it really costs money.
Hashiba Hideyoshi was smiling in front of the stage to attract people, but behind the scenes was the Oda family's continuous money and food. Good people were robbed by her, and their hearts were also bought by her, but it was Niwa Nagahide who was paying for the money and food.
But no matter how difficult it is, Oda Nobunaga has already spoken, so Niwa Nagahide can only follow the instructions and continue to let Hideyoshi Hideyoshi spend money.
On the other side, Shibata Katsuie snorted.
"That little clever guy, I hope she doesn't waste the hall's supplies."
Oda Nobunaga glanced at Shibata Katsuie and didn't care about her rudeness.
As a lord, Oda Nobunaga never had a very good temper, but she was still very tolerant of Shibata Katsuie, a general of the Owari faction.
Not only because Shibata Katsuie could fight, but also because Oda Nobunaga needed to use Shibata Katsuie to balance the factions in his family.
The Oda family is known as the Two Million Stone Daimyo, but its core territory is still Owari Mino Ryogoku, which is dominated by the Noo Plain. The samurai families of these two countries are Oda Nobunaga's basic base.
As the war expanded, Oda Nobunaga increasingly needed to rely on the power of the Mino faction headed by the three people in Simino, but she was still wary of these locals who had great power in Simino.
During the Mino Conquest that year, Saito Yoshiryu died of a sudden illness, and Oda Nobunaga successfully captured Mino Country. However, because Owari and Mino were of equal size, the Oda family was unable to suppress the entire Mino Country.
Therefore, Oda Nobunaga chose to attack Higashi Mino, whose power had swallowed up the foundation of the Saito family, and showed mercy to the Nishi Mino samurai family headed by the three people, and followed him to conquer all directions.
To this day, the most powerful faction among the Oda retainers is the old members of the Oda family from the Shimo-Owari four counties, and the Mino surrenders headed by the three Nishi-Mino people.
Maintaining a balance between these two factions will help Oda Nobunaga control the Oda retainers group.
Even though she was dissatisfied with the slackers in the Oda family, she elected Hayashi Soo-sama from the Owari faction and Ando Mamoru from the Mino faction and banished them together.
Fight each of the two factions fifty times so that neither party feels they are at a disadvantage.
As the leader of the Owari faction and the number one general of the Oda family, Shibata Katsuie, Oda Nobunaga's deliberate preferential treatment was to show the Owari faction that the Owari Fellows Group was her foundation, allowing everyone to feel at ease to hang out with her.
Therefore, the Owari faction actually still slightly suppresses the Mino faction, so that the Mino faction must be loyal to her and seek asylum. This is Oda Nobunaga's technique of controlling people.
This time, Shibata Katsuie and Sakuma Nobumori returned with victory. These old Owari gangsters had made a lot of money by smashing, looting and burning in the Minami Omi area, but they still wanted more rewards.
.
Oda Nobunaga arranged for Niwa Nagahide to conduct a logistics report when they met, and also brought Hideyoshi out to praise him. His attitude was very clear.
Hashiba Hideyoshi's contribution is no less than that of Shibata Katsuie and others, and the Oda family is still in a difficult period now. Don't be too greedy and just think about sharing more. Let's make the cake bigger together first.
Of course Shibata Katsuie understood the meaning of Oda Nobunaga's words. No matter how unhappy she was, she did not dare to show her teeth at Oda Nobunaga. She could only scold Hideyoshi Hashiba and get over it.
Niwa Nagahide smiled bitterly as he watched Oda Nobunaga beat Shibata Katsuie, she was just a tool.
The sudden rise of Hashiba Hideyoshi may be due to Oda Nobunaga's intention to establish a new Omi faction in addition to the Owari faction and the Mino faction, so as to maintain her power to steadily suppress the Oda retainers group.
Oda Nobunaga praised Shibata Katsuie for his high moral integrity and selflessness, and blocked her from being able to offer any more rewards. Then he changed the subject and said.
"Kwon Liu, Takeda Shingen is going to Luo, did you know?"
Shibata Katsuie was stunned and said.
"Isn't that a rumor from Ise Country?"
Oda Nobunaga snorted and looked rather unhappy.
Her third sister, Kitahata Shinbao, was unwilling to be left alone, and wanted to get rid of Kitahata Gujiao, the prestigious former family governor, and secure the power of the Kitahata family.
However, Kitahata Shinbao's methods were too low-spirited and the scandal was really ugly. He even wanted to create rumors to slander Kitahata Gojio and kill Kitahata Gojio's whole family on unfounded charges.
If Kitahata Shinbao really accomplished this, Oda Nobunaga would just laugh and scold her for being shameless, and then help her clean up the mess.
Being able to remove the hidden dangers in the Minami Ise Land will be very beneficial to the Oda family's control of the entire Ise Country. Of course, Oda Nobunaga is happy to see it happen.
But the Kitahata envelope was half-baked and a mess, which made the utilitarian Oda Nobunaga immediately unhappy.
Kitahata Tomoko asked for help from Yoshihiro Shiba through Nobutora Takeda.
She, the retired former family governor, gave up her position by agreement. Now the Oda family has torn up the agreement and destroyed the tradition of the samurai family. Naturally, Yoshigan Shiba, the guardian of the order of the samurai family, cannot be tolerated.
Shiba Yoshigan also gave Oda Nobunaga face and did not give any strong instructions.
He only protected Kitahata Gujiao when he went to Nara to become a monk, and then adopted Kitahata's two daughters as minor surnames, thus preserving the descendants of Kitahata's line.
However, Yoshigan Shiba's detour was tantamount to confirming the Oda family's bad behavior of crossing rivers, demolishing bridges, and killing donkeys, which chilled the samurai who wanted to get close to the Oda family.
The samurai family has a strong admiration complex, and the Oda family is prosperous, so naturally the Hime samurai is willing to serve. But the Hime samurai joins the Oda family in order to get ahead and expand his family business.
The innovations of the Oda family have already caused a lot of discussion among the traditional martial arts family. Now they are going to break the bottom line and slaughter all the retired family governors who have made famous monks.
Dare I ask, how many people are willing to sincerely serve such a famous martial artist who has no spirit of contract? The essence of a reward is a contract. I will risk my life and you will give me money, and no one will owe you anything.
Kitahata's failure to steal the envelope caused Oda Nobunaga to lose face and the prestige of the Oda family. How could Oda Nobunaga not be angry with this incompetent third sister?
But now, the story about Takeda Kamiro fabricated by Kitahata Nobuho, a idiot, turned out to be true. Oda Nobunaga was angry but also found it funny, so he could only vent his emotions with a cold snort.
Seeing that Oda Nobunaga was sullen and silent, Shibata Katsuie turned his attention to Niwa Nagahide for help.
Niwa Nagahide bowed slightly to Oda Nobunaga and took over the conversation.
"The rumors about Minami Ise have been settled. The news about Takeda Kamiro this time comes from Kanto, not Minami Ise.
There is news that Takeda Shingen has obtained the general's imperial letter and will go to Kyoto in the name of the shogunate's righteousness to participate in the siege of my home."
Oda Nobunaga sneered.
"Takeda Shingen hasn't even started mobilizing yet. She is preparing to go to Luo after spring plowing, and the information on opening up the Tokaido is already on His Highness Tokugawa's desk.
Kanto is not at peace either. Some people want to bring bad luck to Takeda Shingen and expose her old background. In just a few days, His Highness Tokugawa has already sent two letters. He humbly asked me for advice, which is interesting."
Takeda Kamiro, the Tokugawa family bore the brunt.
Tokugawa Ieyasu has been running around with Oda Nobunaga honestly in the past few years, working hard to be an ally, isn't it just so that Oda Nobunaga can help his sisters at this time?
This letter was handed over, and it was written with great talent and wisdom, which even moved Oda Nobunaga.
But I was moved. Oda Nobunaga would not be used as a gunman by his younger sister. She naturally had her own considerations.
Shibata Katsuie thought for a while and said.
"His Royal Highness Tokugawa is so eager that he has already verified the authenticity of Takeda Kamiro. The Takeda family is coming in a menacing way, so the palace should prepare earlier."
Oda Nobunaga waved his hand and said.
"I'm not in a hurry, the Takeda family won't be able to reach me until I penetrate the two countries of Toe River and Mikawa.
To be continued...