Chapter 523 22. Yamagata Genshiro Appears

While Kobayata was busy, the Takeda family was also arguing fiercely.

The root cause was that Iitomi Toramasa was killed by Kobayata with a cannon.

As the chief family elder of the Takeda family, his noble status was secondary. The key point was that Iitomi was also the owner of thousands of kan of territory in Iitomi Township, Koma County, Kai Province.

Although Iitomi Toramasa died in battle at the age of 62, his surviving son, Boumaro, was only 14 years old. Obviously, a group of bigwigs in the Takeda family also stubbornly believed that children were inexperienced and could not do things well.

You can't give such a 14-year-old child thousands of kan of territory in Iitomi Township and 700 troops!

Iitomi Toramasa had a younger brother in his thirties, Iitomi Saburobei Masakage, who served as Takeda Harunobu's close associate and was quite favored. He also served as the general who commanded the hatamoto and foot soldiers. He has participated in the war for more than ten years and has repeatedly made military achievements.

According to the convention of the Warring States Period, the daimyo would not allow any lord who was responsible for military service to have a vacant position. From the big one, the family heir of the Oyamada family with 2,000 soldiers and horses was left to inherit, to the small one, the father and son of a military service.

Takeda Harunobu personally also preferred Iitomi Masakage to inherit the title of Iitomi Toramasa, and from a younger brother to Iitomi Toramasa's stepson, not only to inherit the family name, but also to immediately lead 700 troops to fight for the Takeda family.

Everything is normal.

The bad thing is that Iitomi Toramasa was Takeda Yoshinobu's tutor.

The death of Iitomi Toramasa not only meant the death of Takeda Yoshinobu's teacher. It also meant the loss of a powerful supporter with 700 soldiers and thousands of kan of territory.

If Iitomi Masakage was a close confidant of Takeda Yoshinobu, or a good friend of Takeda Yoshinobu, then Takeda Yoshinobu might not have opposed it fiercely.

But Iitomi Masakage was the most standard neutral faction, supporting only the Takeda family and being loyal to the Takeda family. He would sacrifice for Takeda Harunobu, and also for the next head of the Takeda family, whether it was Takeda Yoshinobu or not.

Recently, due to the death of Mrs. Sanjo, Takeda Harunobu favored Suwakoihime. There are even rumors that in order to strengthen and consolidate the rule over Shinano, the Suwa Gosho may be promoted.

Takeda Yoshinobu knew it was impossible, but there was no smoke without fire, and there must be someone behind the scenes. Seek political prestige and even the status of the legitimate son for Takeda Yoshinobu's fourth brother Suwa Katsuyori.

What does the legitimate son represent in ancient and modern times, both at home and abroad, no nonsense is needed. The status of the legitimate son is the guarantee of inheritance rights, which is the confirmation of the successor.

Takeda Harunobu did not have only one son, he had six sons. Facing the huge family territory, you want to say that the other five have no ambition and are dedicated to assisting the eldest brother, is it possible?

Fathers are kind and sons are filial, brothers are friendly and younger brothers are respectful, but this has never been the style of the Kai Takeda family!

Many of the Suruga samurai group gathered under Takeda Yoshinobu's command. Among the Kai samurai group, Sone Suho, Nagasaka Genpachi, Anayama Nobukuni and others have clearly stood on Takeda Yoshinobu's side.

The Suwa samurai group undoubtedly stood behind Suwa Katsuyori, and many other Shinano samurai also turned to support Suwa Katsuyori, who was considered a "Shinano man".

Either the east wind overwhelms the west wind, or the west wind overwhelms the east wind.

Even if Takeda Harunobu was still alive, the struggle between the two sides would have surfaced. Although they had not yet torn their faces and started a war, the Suwa faction would never let go of such a great opportunity to weaken the Yoshinobu faction.

Anyway, Iitomi Masakage was a neutral faction, and the Suwa faction could get his gratitude and no loss if they supported him.

Iitomi Toramasa has a son and a younger brother, so it is impossible to choose another heir. The Suwa faction cannot fish in troubled waters. It is better to go with the flow and encourage Takeda Harunobu to push Iitomi Masakage, who slept in the same bed with him.

Takeda Yoshinobu turned his face at the evaluation meeting. He could not lose the full support of Iitomi. Even if Iitomi Bomaro was only fourteen years old, he had to help this child up.

Faced with the fierce confrontation between the retainers, Takeda Harunobu saw it, but he could not cut the Gordian knot and make a decision at will.

All aspects of the retainers must be taken care of in order to maintain the balance and balance of rule and ensure the stability of the territory. Once the Takeda clan had an internal conflict, the daimyo from all sides would rush in and feast on the Takeda clan.

And Takeda Harunobu's delay also led to the accumulation and precipitation of contradictions in the passing of time.

The final outbreak of the contradiction was sudden, but it was just a trivial matter of who entered the city first. The Suwa faction and the Yoshinobu faction refused to give in. Neither of them would give in.

Then dozens of samurai at the gate of the city started fighting, and the fight was so violent that hundreds of people were involved.

Fortunately, everyone had a bottom line. They did not draw their swords against each other, but only used fists and feet. When Takeda Nobuharu showed up, the two sides were completely separated. Who dared to be presumptuous in front of him?

The opinions on how to deal with it came down quickly. After the quarrel, both sides chose one person to come out and commit seppuku to apologize.

Things can't be delayed any longer!

In the end, the retainers agreed and Takeda Harunobu made the final decision. Iitomibomaro was personally dressed in his guise by Takeda Harunobu, and was named Iitomi Masatoki in accordance with his father's idea. He became the daimyo of Iitomi Township, Koma County, Kai Province, and increased his troops to 250 horses and 550 swords.

As for Iitomi Saburobei Masakage, he inherited the famous Yamagata clan of Kai and was called Yamagata Genshiro Masakage. The former Lord of the Yama Prefecture, Nagato Mori Torakiyoshi, was killed by Takeda Nobutora, and the family name was cut off, but now it is revived.

However, Takeda Harunobu's strategy is not limited to this. Since he occupied Koshuguchi Hachioji, which had nothing to do with him in history, such an important town must be guarded by a general.

So Yamagata Masakage was granted 5,000 kan in Tama County, Musashi Province, and the territory that once belonged to Koheita was divided and given to Yamagata Masakage. At the same time, Yamagata Masakage served as the governor of Hachioji Castle and guarded the eastern part of Kai for the Takeda family.

As for another legacy of Iitomi Toramasa, the position of the Takeda family elder was also transferred to Yamagata Masakage by Takeda Harunobu. Although he was not immediately promoted to the position of the chief family elder, Yamagata Masakage also jumped up and became the core power figure of the Takeda family.

As for Iitomi Masatoki, he could only serve as the general, and in the future, according to seniority, he would see if he would have the opportunity to become the family elder again.

After this turmoil, the power of Takeda Yoshinobu's side was quite shaken and weakened, and Suwa Katsuyori's side gained nothing. Instead, Takeda Harunobu promoted Yamagata Masakage, who was loyal to him, and took advantage of the situation to insert him into the important position of Hachioji.

As the head of the family, Takeda Harunobu's power increased significantly, and he still maintained his superiority over the various factions and people of his country, ensuring that he could still handle and unify the samurai groups of various countries under his command with a transcendent position and method.

But in the end, the opposition and contradictions among the Takeda retainers were inevitable, and they became more severe with the expansion of the territory and the increase of Takeda Harunobu's age.