Chapter 642 48. The Warrior Went to the Underworld with Dignity, and His Brave Name Will Be Forever Engraved on the Pine Mountain Moss

Uesugi Shizukata only had one son, Uesugi Norikatsu, so after Uesugi Asada of the Uesugi clan of Ogigayatsu died in Kawagoe, Uesugi Norikatsu of the Uesugi clan of Fukaya had the legal priority to inherit.

However, in the current situation, a "pro-Hojo" head of the Uesugi clan of Ogigayatsu who married the daughter of the Hojo clan is not in the interests of the Yamanouchi family. Then the best way is naturally to change someone to be the head of the Uesugi clan of Ogigayatsu.

It is difficult to gain support in Musashi by forcing a person with no blood relationship to come in. It is still better to have the blood of the Uesugi clan flowing in his body, or to be related to him.

If Uesugi Kenshin had an extra son of his own and sent one to inherit the Uesugi clan of Ogigayatsu, no one would be dissatisfied. But unfortunately, Uesugi Kenshin really didn't lay a single egg, and there was still a dispute over the successor in his own family.

Then the second best thing is to see if Uesugi Norikatsu's three sons are reliable.

"The eldest grandson Naomatsumaru is fourteen this year, born to the concubine Yumanzhifang." The old man began to count on his fingers.

"What is the origin of this Yumanzhifang?"

Everyone understood what Kobayata meant, which was to see which of the three grandsons was the most suitable to be supported, to be won over by the Yamanouchi clan, and to be close to the Yamanouchi family. So there was no need for Kobayata to ask this question, and Konishihara Saemon, who was sitting next to him, took the initiative to speak.

"She is the daughter of the retainer Yuda, and her father died in battle sixteen years ago."

This is good, and the retainers of the Yamanouchi clan all nodded. As long as they got the daughter of a retainer of the Yamanouchi clan to be a wife, this Uesugi Naomatsumaru would have to rely on the power of the Yamanouchi family.

"What about the second grandson?"

"Born by the Hojo clan, Kunimatsumaru, seven years old this year."

No one answered. Old man Uesugi Shizuken himself knew that for this child from the Hojo clan, being able to become a monk in the current situation would be the best outcome. Even if he met a cruel person, it would not be impossible for him to die suddenly.

"The youngest grandson is still young, three years old this year, born to the concubine Kasuga no Kata, called Nagamaru."

"The age difference is much greater......" As soon as Kobayata said this, Nagamaru was eliminated directly.

"It is said that Musashi no Kami is weak recently and can't do his job. He can't continue to be the guardian of Musashi. In my opinion, it is better to let Naomatsumaru succeed the head of the Uesugi clan of Ogigayatsu." Although the reasons are all made up, Kobayata said it righteously.

"It should be so!" Old man Uesugi Shizukata had no intention of objecting at all.

"Without further delay, His Highness will cut his hair, and His Highness Koga Kokata will crown him and succeed him as the head of the family." Yamauchi Taro himself has not yet come to his full age, so it is naturally impossible for him to really shave Naomatsumaru's head. It is not a retainer who does it for him, but just to occupy a great righteous position.

"First, the word "righteousness" can be granted to the first Yulindian, and the title of the righteous constitution can be enthroned?" Kobayata can still do this for Yamauchi Taro.

"Everything is up to you, Your Highness!" The old man left the stool and knelt down to salute.

Uesugi Kenshin retired directly and passed the throne to Uesugi Yoshikatsu. Yamauchi Taro and Kogumi Yoshizumi jointly recommended him as the new guardian of Musashi. Uesugi Kenshin himself and his two remaining sons all went to Fuchu Castle to "serve the public". Old man Uesugi Shizuka served as Yoshikatsu Uesugi's successor and actually managed the family business.

As for the wife, everyone looked around the tent. Konishihara Saemon's family had an eleven-year-old daughter. She was adopted directly and became Yamauchi Yoshikatsu's adopted daughter. If Yamauchi Taro was not too young, Uesugi Yoshikatsu would not be his brother, but his son-in-law.

After finalizing this matter, the coalition reorganized in Oshi Castle. The Yamauchi army gradually took in six or seven thousand people who fell behind, while the other teams fought for a day and were exhausted, so they had to rest for a day or two before they could move.

It was just right to wait for news from Ueno and news of using Tsuchiya to persuade him to surrender.

As the uncle of Hojo Ujinao, Yongtsuchi quickly persuaded the 4,000 people in Hirai Castle and Hachigata Castle to surrender, but something unexpected happened when he was taken to Matsuyama Castle.

Yamakado Shirozaemon said that although Yongtsuchi had good intentions, he shouldered the heavy responsibility of guarding the Hojo granary. The Yamakado clan had been grateful to the Hojo clan for three generations, and they could not easily abandon the important town of Matsuyama to the enemy.

Then Yamakado Shirozaemon opened the city gate to let the soldiers who wanted to escape and surrender out of the city, and only 70 or 80 people were willing to defend Matsuyama Castle with him.

This number of people was naturally useless. Kanai Aigoro beat three drums, and hundreds of people rushed in, and the city collapsed.

Yamakado Shirozaemon shouted loudly on the roof of Matsuyama Castle's palace, "The samurai will go to the underworld, and their brave names will remain in the moss of Matsuyama." Then he jumped off a cliff hundreds of meters high and died heroically.

The Hojo clan had been in business for five generations, and there were still loyal men.

"The samurai went to the underworld with dignity, and his brave name will be forever left on the moss of pine mountain."

Kobayata recited this simple farewell poem and ordered the search for Yamakado Shirozaemon's body at the foot of the mountain, and sent it to Odawara after it was sorted out, and handed it over to his family for burial.

With the surrender and fall of the branch castles in northern Musashi, more news about the Hojo clan came back.

Fujita Ujikuni, who went to Shimosa to rescue Koga, heard the news of the defeat in the Battle of Oshi Castle before he even arrived at Koga Castle, and immediately ordered his army to retreat to southern Musashi and Sagami. Along the way, he was attacked by the Shimosa people who heard the news, and finally lost hundreds of people and evacuated in a mess.

Oishi Ujiteru and Hojo Ujinao did not flee together. It is not known where Hojo Ujinao went, but Oishi Ujiteru had already fled all the way to Iwatsuki Castle. Ota Ujifusa was the younger brother of Hojo Ujinao, and was still a half-grown child, so he could not effectively resist and rule.

The reason why he was able to hold Iwatsuki Castle firmly was because he had the support of the Hojo clan and vigorously purged the original Iwatsuki Ota clan retainers and enriched the Hojo clan retainers.

Now the people in Iwatsuki Castle were in panic. Seeing that three or four thousand defeated soldiers had been gathered, Oishi Ujiteru took Ota Ujifusa and ran to Edo Castle without saying a word. At the very least, Ota Ujifusa was the biological son of Hojo Ujimasa, so he was also a safety. Iwatsuki Castle, one of the three most important branch castles in Minami Musashi, was directly abandoned like this.

It was a pity that Ota Sukemasa was not there. If he was, he could immediately take over Iwatsuki Castle. Moreover, the coalition forces were still out of reach, so they had only just reached Matsuyama, and were still far away from Iwatsuki.

At this time, Nagano Yoshimori finally arrived with more than 4,000 people. When he saw Yamauchi Taro, Hosokawa Saione, and Kobayata who had repeatedly come to rescue the Nagano clan, his face turned red and he felt very embarrassed.

Kobayata comforted him a few words, saying that victory and defeat are common in the military, as long as he tried his best, no one would blame him.

The 45,000-strong army finally arrived at Kawagoe Castle again, threatening Edo Castle and looking at Sagami Province from afar.