Hojo Ujiyasu raised heavy eyes and glanced at his legitimate daughter Hojo Umasa under the seat.
She was in her early twenties, a time when she was in the prime of life. She argued vigorously and vigorously with the retainers, and her youth was invincible.
He looked at his daughter's pretty young face, and then looked at the skin on the back of his hands that was gradually withering, with the veins popping up like old tree canes.
An idea slowly emerged in Hojo Ujiyasu's mind. It seemed that the time had come to give his daughter greater power, allowing her to share more responsibilities for his lack of energy.
Pulling her empty thoughts back, she said.
"Did the Numata family in Ueno reply to my letter?"
Hojo Ushimasa stepped out and bowed before answering.
"Not yet. It is said that the dispute within the Numata family is quite fierce."
Hojo Ujiyasu nodded silently, a little disappointed.
After annihilating two Uesugi families and taking the Kanto shogunate into their hands, the Hojo family has occupied Sagami, Musashi, and Shimotsou among the eight Kanto states.
Except for the Sagami Kingdom, which has been in operation for many years, Musashi and Shimoso are not at peace. There is internal rejection of the Tobu family, and external provocations from the Satomi Satake family.
But these are not important. These Kanto samurai families cannot shake the foundation of the Hojo family. What Hojo Ujiyasu is most worried about is Uesugi Kensei who fled to the north.
The former governor of the Yamauchi Uesugi family had gone crazy. She betrayed her family name and her position as governor of the Kanto region, arousing the interest of the Lord of Echigo, Uesugi Terutora, in the Kanto plain.
News came from the Ise family in Kyoto that the Ashikaga generals were wary of the expansion of the Hojo family in the Kanto Plain. Uesugi Teruhora of Kamiro was recognized by the shogunate as the successor to the Yamauchi Uesugi family's name and service.
This is a very dangerous signal, indicating that Uesugi Teruhu has the strength and the reputation to come to the Kanto Plain to get a share of the pie.
Nowadays, there are rumors all over the Kanto Plain, all of which are the news that the Echigo army is about to move south, which makes the Kanto samurai families who were suppressed by the Hojo family ready to take action and have different ambitions.
Under this situation, Hojo Ujiyasu could only remain on the defensive against the Kanto samurai such as Satomi Satake. She prioritized the northward expedition to the Ueno Kingdom to expand the buffer zone in order to cope with the impending impact of the Echigo army.
The two countries of Echigo and Ueno are divided into the north and south by the Echigo Mountains. The plateau between Echigo Sakado Castle and Ueno Numata Castle is gentle and is the main thoroughfare connecting the two countries.
While Hojo Ujiyasu was conquering various Ueno families during the Northern Expedition, he also expressed his kindness to the Numata family in the far north of Ueno, hoping that her family would join him and become the first line of defense to stop Echigo from going south.
Now it seems that the Numata family has not yet reached a consensus and is not optimistic.
Seeing his mother's brows furrowed, Hojo Umasa followed.
"Mother, Fuma Oji-niang has sent word that the rumor circulating in the Kanto countries that Echigo's army is about to move south comes from Kai Takuha Shinobu."
Hojo Ujiyasu looked at his daughter with his eyes fixed, and when he saw her nodding her head in confirmation, his mind began to spin.
The Fuma Ninja are a branch of the Sagami Ranha Ninja. They have been recruited and used by the Hojo family for three generations. Their ancestral home is in the Hakone Mountain Kazama, and they have a very bad relationship with the Kai Toruha Ninja on the other side of the mountain.
These ninjas were all mountain folk and savages who could not survive. They were hired by the samurai lords to work in exchange for food and drink.
Over the years, Takeda Harunobu has become more and more powerful in controlling Kai, and Touha Shinobu has turned to her to work.
The rumors that are causing chaos in the Kanto Plain this time are probably caused by the Takeda family governor who admires grandson and pays attention to settling matters before fighting.
Its purpose should be to distract the Hojo family and reduce the difficulty of conquering Suruga Kingdom.
Touha Shinobi's arch-enemy, the Fuma Shinobi belonging to the Hojo family, was too familiar with his opponent's methods and quickly investigated the matter and exposed the details of the rumor.
Hojo Ujiyasu said.
"Ask Fuuma Xiaojiniang to take people to Echigo. We must find out whether Echigo will go south after the spring plowing."
Whether Echigo goes south now, after the autumn harvest, or even next year will have a great impact on the Hojo family's strategy.
Hojo Ujiyasu is still unable to decide how to deploy the troops mobilized after the spring plowing, because the Echigo army has an unsheathed sword.
Hojo Ushimasa cheered and made arrangements. Hojo Ujiyasu closed his eyes again and continued to wait for the news.
When you can't see the way forward clearly, choosing to wait patiently is not a bad choice.
———
The Hojo family is still wondering about the movements of the Echigo army. On the Hokuriku Road front line, spring plowing has not yet been completed, and the Jimbo family is already preparing to mobilize.
After receiving the news from the devout believers, the general of the Ezhong Ichigo Sect, Shimoma Yoriteru, was shocked. She personally went to Kaga and came to Oyama Gobo to ask for help.
Oyama Gobo is located in the Kanazawa Plain in the north of Kaga. Strictly speaking, this is the boundary of the Noto Peninsula, but the territory belongs to Kaga Country.
The generals of the Kaga Ichimu clan and Nanari Yorishu took advantage of the civil strife in Noto and moved north along the Kanazawa Plain last year, occupying a large area of the Noto plain.
The northern part of the Noto Peninsula is densely covered with hills, and most of the plain grain-producing areas are at the junction of the southern peninsula. The area occupied by the Kaga Ichimu clan is not large, but it is the essence of Noto.
The Onei family colluded with the Ichizu clan to invade, causing an uproar within the Noto Kingdom, and various families were quite dissatisfied.
Nanari Yorishu was still thinking of ways to tie up the Onai family and continue to encroach on the Noto land in the new year. Unexpectedly, Shimoma Yoriteru came in person and brought news about the alliance between the Uesugi and Jimbo families.
The two generals simply held a meeting to discuss countermeasures, convening the officials and leaders at Weishan Royal Square.
After listening to Shimona Yorizo's narration, Shichiri Laizhou frowned and said.
"The combined forces of the two Uesugi Jinbo families are mostly heading towards the Shiina family. What they want to carve up is the land of Echu Shinkawa County, and they cannot shake the foundation of our sect in Hokurikudo."
Qili Laizhou didn't want to meddle in this business.
The temple lords of the Yixiang Sect in Yuezhong are mainly in the west, and there are a few small temples of the Yixiang Sect in the east. They have impure thoughts. They want to expand their temple territory, and they even actively participate in the battles between the martial arts.
The two Jimbo-Shiina families were at odds with each other. What were they doing at the local temple? Now that they were being retaliated against, they rushed to Kaga for help.
In normal times, Qili Laizhou might have wanted to have a hand in the situation, but now is not the right time.
The Daishoji River in the southern part of Kaga was occupied by the Asakura Ono clan of Echizen. The foundations of the three Koso temples were destroyed, and the leader of the southern clan, Hoki Yorinobu, was killed by Nanari Yorishu and took the blame.
The Ishiyama Honganji Temple held their noses and admitted the matter, but Nanari's life was not easy.
Master Xianru of Shishan started out with the overall situation of the large sect suppressing the small sect and pretended to be dumbfounded, but the people within the Kaga Ichikai sect did not buy it.
Nanari Noraishu controlled a large portion of the forces loyal to Motoyama in Kaga and wooed the northern group, thus suppressing the doubts.
There happened to be civil strife in Noto, which gave her the opportunity to expand her territory and use Noto's land to win over people's hearts. At this important juncture, she had no intention of managing the conflict between the Yixiang clan in Yuezhong and the local martial arts family.
Seeing that Qili Laizhou was perfunctory, Hajian Laizhao quietly gave his daughter Hajian Zhongxiao a look.
In the next room, Zhongxiao came out and said sincerely.
"Sir Nanali, the Uesugi Teruhu's attack this time is a matter of life and death for our Hokurikudo clan. We must not underestimate it."