Chapter 755 3. Recalling the Past Strategy for the Western Kingdom

The spring day on Shitara Plain has ended, the grass and trees are happy, and the entire banks of the Rengo River can no longer be seen as a battle that determined the fate of the world seventeen years ago.

Hundreds of riders are gathering on the Danshodai. The shrine built by the Yamanouchi family is now quite noisy. The lush greenery covers the entire shrine.

"The battle seventeen years ago is still vivid in my mind..." A heroic man sitting by the shrine's washing pond expressed a feeling that was not in line with his age.

"Did my father fight here back then?" Another young man looked around the shrine.

"Uncle Dansho fought against Gifu Saburo by this river back then."

The one sitting is the current shogun of the shogunate, Ashikaga Yoshihide, who has changed his name. The one standing is Aesokji Dansho Shosuke Yoshitsugu, who recently served as the shogun's troupe, and who just turned 18 four years ago and was awarded 51,000 kan in Awa.

"If it weren't for my uncle, there would be no Ashikaga's revival today." As if he had sat enough, Ashikaga Yoshihide stood up and walked down the stairs on the terrace.

"Your Highness, don't leave the shrine." Higuchi Hidekane (Naoe Kanetsugu), who was already handsome and admired by the talented, advised.

"It doesn't matter. The sea route is the shogunate's territory. If you can't even travel freely on the sea route, how can you talk about the world?"

Sanada Masayuki, who has established a new family and was granted 6,500 kan of Mino gold, has not returned to his hometown in Shinano for a long time. Now he also followed with a smile: "Yamashiro no Kami is too cautious, hahahahaha."

Except for the 40,000 kan Takanari family in Kaizu, Shinano, Kai, Totomi and other places all became direct territories of the shogunate, and most of the local nobles were sent far away.

Even Sanada Masayuki's elder brother Sanada Nobutsuna was transferred to Tenjin Mountain in Bizen Province with 25,000 kan. As for Ashikaga Yoshihide's partner Kakegawa Castle Lord Asahina Yoshiyasu went to Kishu Yukawa with 30,000 kan, and Fukashi Castle Lord Ogasawahara Yoshisada was transferred to Sanuki Half Province with 40,000 kan.

Matsushita Yoshimasa has also gradually increased his rank to Sawayama in Jiangnan with 25,000 kan. Even the most inconspicuous Kasuga Yoshimoto was granted 5,000 kan at Yamato Tamon Mountain and served as the shogun's Kyoto Town Bugyo.

The whole world gradually became clear after the Battle of Shitarahara. The most powerful resistance force in Kinai, Ishiyama Honganji's head priest Kenyo, immediately withdrew from Ishiyama after seeing hundreds of cannons that could isolate land and sea, and marrying the shogun's daughter for his son.

According to the plan, Honganji needed to be divided into two, and the shogunate funded the reconstruction of Honganji's main temple in Luoyang. However, the Honganji Temple was separated from religion and politics. One of the two sons of Master Kenjo returned to secular life and became a daimyo, the Otani clan, while the other continued to serve as the chief priest.

As for the Otani clan's territory, it was really magnificent. It included five counties in half of Echizen and the entire country of Kaga, totaling 183,300 kan, ranking second among the outer daimyo. Such an unprecedentedly large territory caused a sensation in the Honganji Temple. The officials who were originally very dissatisfied with the withdrawal from Ishiyama Castle immediately stood still and began to make a decision.

Compared with a chief priest, a top-level powerful daimyo with more than 180,000 kan is the life pursuit of a good man.

Besides, the shogunate only promised a marriage, but it was not certain which son would marry or which son would be the daimyo.

Secondly, the Ikko clan in Hokuriku was originally very independent. Would they be willing to have a daimyo fall on their heads?

After the pacification of Echizen and Master Kenjo's entry into Hokuriku, the approximately 20,000 believers who followed him from Kinai gradually came into conflict with the local Ikko clan in Hokuriku.

But the shogunate ignored him!

Ashikaga Yoshihide invited Kenshin Uesugi to serve as the regent of the shogunate, and Kenshin Uesugi was extremely happy and went to Kyoto happily.

Before leaving, he summoned an army of 110,000 in Kanto, and took advantage of the spring famine to pressure the Hojo clan together with the shogunate envoys.

Either die! Or be transferred to Harima Province!

The general trend of the world could not be stopped, and the Hojo clan was scared and handed over the territory obediently. Kenshin Uesugi, who followed Kenshin Uesugi to Kyoto, became the vanguard of the shogunate army's Sanyo Road crusade.

Kenshin Uesugi ranked first among the shogunate's relatives because of his adopted son and marriage with Yamanouchi. But after this big man went to Kyoto, he also knew that after the world was pacified, the Uesugi clan might be too big to be eliminated.

So on the surface, the Uesugi clan rose instead of falling, but in fact, his adopted son Noto Hatakeyama Yoshiharu became independent, his son-in-law Ueno Nagano Yoshimori became independent, and his uncle Kaizu Takanari Masayoshi became independent. Even the 50,000 kan of Higashiueno, the pension of his adoptive father, Uesugi Norimasa, was separated and handed over to his own son.

After the death of the Kanto hero, Uesugi Yoshinori, the son-in-law of Yamanouchi Yoshikatsu, became the shogunate's hereditary heir. Uesugi Norimasa's youngest son separated and inherited the Fukaya Uesugi clan and became the lord of Kawagoe Castle.

Ota Masakage of the Edo Ota clan and Ota Sukemasa of the Iwatsuki Ota clan had long been separated, but the father and son were transferred to Sagami Province. They suppressed the old Hojo territory for the shogunate and supervised the local areas.

Kanto and Kinai were all settled, and there was no need to mention the rest. The Hojo family could not beat Uesugi Kenshin, but they were still very powerful in beating the Mori family without the old Mori Motonari.

Under the attack from land and sea, the Mori family surrendered with 250,000 kan of territory in the five countries of Nagato, Aki, Iwami, Bingo, and Bitchu.

As for why Suo and Izumo are missing? Ashikaga Yoshihide revived Ouchi and Amago under the advice of Sanada Masayuki!

With these two staunch anti-Mōri brothers, even if the Mori clan became the world's number one foreigner, it would be impossible for them to defect at will.

The situation in Kyushu was much more complicated. The Ryuzoji clan defeated the Otomo clan in the Battle of Imaya, and the Shimazu clan began to attack southern Kyushu. The shogunate wanted to intervene in the affairs of Kyushu, but in fact it was somewhat unreasonable.

So in the end, in the name of reviving the Shoni and Kikuchi clans, the shogunate mobilized 120,000 troops to Kyushu. The Ryuzoji clan, which had not yet fully risen, was very fierce. Without saying a word, they started fighting. More than 10,000 people blocked them and tried to defeat the 55,000 troops of the Mori, Ouchi, Amago and shogunate coalition forces that landed.

As a result, they were washed away by more than 200 naval guns at sea, and Naoshige Nabeshima, who proposed to attack them halfway across the river, was killed on the spot. Ryuzoji clan's retainer Ryuzoji Nobushu was the rear guard and was killed by the chaotic army. Important samurai generals died in the pursuit. When they rushed back to Hizen Saka Castle, Ryuzoji Takanobu burned the entire city and retreated to Matsuura.

The Matsuura Party was originally in the shogunate's elimination plan. With their small broken ships, they were not enough to wash the decks of the shogunate navy's Portuguese guns. They all died in glory.

After the shogunate settled in western Kyushu, the shogunate adopted a little kid from the Chikushi clan, the son-in-law of Shoni Sukeyori, and named him Shoni Hidetoshi, and granted him the title of Shoni Hidetoshi to the Chikugo half-country. In fact, it was to secure the Chikushi and other places. The army entered Higo one after another, preparing to support the Kikuchi clan to revive the family.

On the other hand, the shogunate held all the officials of the Tosa Ichijo clan in Tosa, Iyo, and Awa accountable for their rebellion against Otomo and their resistance to the royal army. Although this was obviously an unreasonable request, the shogunate was in its heyday, and right and wrong were not important. The forces in Shikoku rose up in resistance, which was expected by Ashikaga Yoshihide. The expeditionary army, with the help of the two guides, Awaji Ataka and Miyoshi Yoshitsugu, went directly to the island.

Sweep!

Shikoku was pacified, and the army landed on the island from Bungo and attacked the Otomo clan with the Western Kingdom Army that entered Higo.