different warring states of japan

Chapter 2164: Owari People's Feeling of Unworthiness
Ishikawa Suzemasa is dead.

The situation was chaotic, and no one would care if a worthless traitor died. People were busy enough trying to figure out their own side, so who would have the time to care about other people's lives?

The war has not yet begun, but the two sides have been fighting back and forth, and the secret confrontation has already become fierce.

Because both Sasaki Yoshikin and Ichijo Hideyoshi were from Owari, the exchanges between the Owari samurai under their command became closer.

From the perspective of unifying the world, this was the decisive battle between the Sasaki family and the Ichijo family.

But from the perspective of the samurai who originated from Owari, the superior status that the people of Owari had gained after eighteen years of struggle and conquest of the world cannot be snatched away by bastards from other places.

---

Miki Castle, Harima Province.

Miki Castle was once the residence of Bessho Nagaharu, a powerful military family in Harima. Because Oda Nobunaga appointed Ichijo Hideyoshi to be in charge of the conquest of the western region, Bessho Nagaharu was dissatisfied with this and joined forces with the Mori family to launch a rebellion.

Hideyoshi Ichijo eliminated Bessho Nagaharu with a counterattack, and secretly had an affair with Akechi Mitsuhide, slandering the Hatano family, with whom Bessho Nagaharu was married, as accomplices of the rebellion.

As a result, Hatano Hideharu was killed by the furious Oda Nobunaga, and Tamba Province rebelled again. Akechi Mitsuhide's cheap old father, who was held as a hostage, also lost his life.

Hideyoshi Ichijo and Mitsuhide Akechi teamed up to perform a play within a play, each getting what they wanted.

Under the pretext of suppressing the rebellion of Bessho Nagaharu, Ichijo Hideyoshi sold out Amago Katsuhisa who was fighting on the front line, which completely ruined the plan of Sasaki and Oda to join forces to conquer the west, and left Ichijo Hideyoshi to take on the responsibility alone.

Because of her father's death, Akechi Mitsuhide had a reason to make everyone believe that she would take action against Oda Nobunaga. Various anti-Oda forces conspired with Akechi Mitsuhide and finally carried out the Honnoji Incident.

Both sides got the results they wanted, but it was a pity that countless innocent souls died.

Miki Castle is located in the eastern part of Harima Province, adjacent to the border between Tamba and Settsu, and is a bridgehead for an army to enter Kinki.

At this time, the leading general stationed in Miki Castle was the veteran general Hosuka Masakatsu under Hideyoshi Ichijo.

This man was born in Tokai County of Minami-Owari. In his early years, he sailed on the Kiso River and made profits by relying on water transportation.

After meeting Ichijo Hideyoshi, he helped build the Sunamata Castle overnight. From then on, he served Oda and became Hideyoshi Ichijo's right-hand man. He participated in the conquest of Mino, the conquest of Echizen, and the suppression of the Ikko Ikki.

Hachisuka Masakatsu was a thoroughgoing Owari samurai, one of the Owari people who followed Oda Nobunaga in expanding everywhere and eventually reached a peak in life that even they themselves could not believe.

After Oda Nobunaga's death, Hosuka Masakatsu continued to follow Ichijo Hideyoshi and experienced the conquests of the western province, Shikoku, and Kyushu. He was granted the land of Awa Province for his merits and became the lord of a country.

She was also grateful to Hideyoshi Ichijo for his recognition and gave the throne to her daughter, while she continued to fight for Hideyoshi Ichijo. Naturally, she was favored by Hideyoshi Ichijo and entrusted with important tasks.

Miki Castle was the bridgehead for the army's advance, so Hideyoshi Ichijo would definitely send his direct subordinates to garrison there. Hosuka Masakatsu took the lead and stationed there waiting for orders.

But at this time, Hosuka Masakatsu was being advised by someone and was in a dilemma.

There were only two people in the inner room: Hosuka Masakatsu and Inada Uemoto.

Inada Uemoto was a ronin buddy who used to play around with Hosuka Masakatsu in the countryside of Owari before he became successful. The two even imitated Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei of the Celestial Empire and became sworn brothers.

Hachisuka Masakatsu followed Ichijo Hideyoshi in his campaigns, and Inada Uemoto served the Hachisuka family and also made a lot of contributions.

Ichijo Hideyoshi once wanted to enfeoff Inada Uemoto as an independent daimyo, but was rejected by Inada Uemoto.

Inada Uemoto refused to be independent and continued to fight for the Hachisuka family on the grounds that Hachisuka Masakatsu was his sworn sister and he would go wherever she went.

This friendship gives Inada Uemoto an exclusive status in the Hosuka family, and she can be said to be Hosuka Masakatsu's closest comrade-in-arms and sister.

But today, Inada Uemoto was advising Hosuka Masakatsu not to fight too hard, saying that Owari people should not fight against Owari people.

Hosuka Masakatsu sighed.

"The Kanpaku has done me a great favor."

Inada Uemoto said bluntly.

"No matter how great the Kanpaku's kindness is, can it outweigh that of the Saint and Oda-sama?

Lord Oda led the Owari people to conquer the world and conquered a territory of 4 million koku.

The saint even conquered Kinki and Kanto, making half of the world submit to the Owari people.

You have followed the Kanpaku for many years, so you should be very clear about the mess the Kanpaku is in.

Among the Mori of the west, Chosokabe of Shikoku, Otomo of Kyushu, Ryuzoji, and Shimazu, which one of them truly submitted to the Kanpaku?

The Saint and Lord Oda actually conquered the territory and gave it to us Owari people to rule.

The Oda clan used to have 4 million koku of land, and they were upper and middle level lords, nearly half of whom were from our Owari samurai family.

The two Maeda families in the Owari-Shiba domain in Kinki are also the pride of us Owari people.

Xiaoliu, today I will not treat you as the master, and I will say a few presumptuous words.

Are you going to take us, your old sisters who have fought with you for many years, to fight with your own people who came from Owari?

The Kinki Sasaki domain is the territory of His Highness Maeda Yoshitsugu, and the Owari Sasaki domain is the territory of Maeda Toshiie. Most of the elite Sasaki troops in the Kinki region are from our Owari Takeie family!
The Kanpaku has already lost. She can't do anything to the Ming army on the peninsula. If the army returns to Kinki, can she defeat the saint?

She is simply trying to drag us down with her family!"

Hosuka Masakatsu frowned.

"Be careful with your words! The Kanpaku has been very kind to me. If you say something like that again, don't blame me for turning hostile."

Inada Uemoto sneered, tore open his clothes, revealing a body full of scars.

"The Chancellor has been very kind to you, but what about us old sisters?

After all these years of fighting, you know very well, Xiaoliu, how many sisters we brought from our hometown are left.

We all left Owari together that year and followed Lord Oda to conquer the world. We lived happily and died proudly.

But what about now? The Kanpaku turned his gun around and pointed his knife at our own people in Owari! It makes our loved ones sad and our enemies happy!

Okay, if you want to be loyal to the Kanpaku and you want to kill us Owari people, then start with me. Take your knife and stab it into my heart.

Come! Sister! Give me a quick death! "

Hosuka Masakatsu rubbed his temple and said with his head down.

"Let me think about it. The war hasn't started yet."

Inada Uemoto snorted. "His Highness Maeda Toshiie has already made it clear that if you turn from darkness to light before the battle begins, it will be considered as rebellion. If you turn around in the middle of the battle, it will be forced surrender, and the treatment will be completely different."

Hosuka Masakatsu was extremely confused and shook his head and sighed.

"I know, I know everything. Go back first and give me some time."

Inada Uemoto was not the first person to persuade her, but she was the most caring old sister, which made Hosuka Masakatsu feel uneasy.

It’s okay for Maeda Toshiie, that arrogant guy. Maeda Toshiie has been running the business for many years and is very popular in the circle of old samurai in Owari and Mino, but no one expected that she could convince so many people.

Even Inada Uemoto had come, and Hosuka Masakatsu was really worried that if he still refused, he would be shot by someone in front of the battle line, or even his own army would be overthrown before he even reached the battle line.

Inada Uemoto was quite straightforward. He said everything he needed to say, bowed, and left without caring that Hosuka Masakatsu was still having a headache.

As soon as she left the yard, she was surrounded by a group of female warriors, who asked her about the situation.

"Master Inada, what did the head of the family say? Is she still unwilling to give in?"

"No way, what should we do? We have bought a lot of real estate stocks in Spo County over the years. If a fight breaks out..."

"Real estate and stocks are fine, but I'm afraid we'll lose everything if we lose the war, and then we'll all be idle and starving."

"No way, His Highness Maeda Toshiie wouldn't be so harsh. The Saint is kind and merciful. At most, he will reduce some of our territory after the war. He won't leave us Owari people with no way to survive, right?"

"The saints are kind, but those outsiders are hard to talk to. We, the Owari people, have fought to the death and wasted our strength. If we turn around and let outsiders laugh at us before taking over, all our efforts over the past decade will have been in vain!"

"Yeah, yeah, that's nothing!"

Inada Uemoto pressed her hand hard, and everyone fell silent, watching what she would say.

She said coldly.

"Don't talk nonsense, the head of the family will not ignore our lives. We all came out of Owari and crawled out of the pile of dead bodies. The head of the family has seen our hard work over the years.

Give the head of the family some time, she will definitely make the right choice."

After Inada Uemoto finished speaking, a low voice suddenly came from the crowd.

"What if... the head of the family really doesn't care about us..."

Inada Uemoto twitched his eyebrows, narrowed his eyes to hide the fierceness in his eyes, and said lightly.

"No, don't worry."

---

Iga country, Ueno Castle.

Maeda Toshiie visited for several days, and Maeda Toshihisa and his daughter Maeda Yoshitsu warmly entertained them.

It was said that it was a gathering of the two Maeda families, but in fact it was Maeda Toshiie and Maeda Toshihisa who met to discuss writing letters and kept sending messages to all directions.

Maeda Toshiie's territory was in Hokuriku Road, too far away from the core areas of Oda's former territory, including Owari, Mino, Ise, Omi and Shikoku, so he was unable to react in time.

She simply ran to Iga Ueno Castle, and together with Maeda Toshihisa, she continued to use her old connections in the Oda family to divide the Owari and Mino samurai.

In fact, it was not just Hachisuka Masakatsu. All the elderly people from Owari and Mino were within their persuasion range. Letters were scattered in all directions like snowflakes, and all the connections they could find were used.

As the saying goes, it takes a thousand days to train an army and only a moment to deploy it. In fact, the same applies to interpersonal relationships.

Maeda Toshiie has been kind to others over the years, shared so much money, made so many friends, and accumulated so many favors, wasn't it all for the purpose of using them today?

Seeing that Maeda Toshiie and Maeda Toshihisa discussed interpersonal relationships every day, carefully considered their words, and wrote letters of persuasion without stopping, Maeda Toshiie became a little annoyed.

There was a hint of arrogance in her nature that belonged to a cultured person, and she hated these kinds of relationships the most. After taking a few sips of wine, she couldn't help but make a sarcastic remark.

"Owari people don't fight Owari people... It's amazing that you can write such a statement.

When the saint fought against Oda Nobunaga, were there not many Owari soldiers under the command of both sides? Didn't the blood flow like a river?
Can you write so many letters? If words work, what good are swords? "

Maeda Rikyu shook his head helplessly, he was really at a loss what to do with his stubborn daughter.

Maeda Toshiie smiled gently and spoke casually.

"It is precisely because too many Owari people were killed in the battle between Sasaki and Oda that they are grasping at the lifeline that Owari people don't fight Owari people.

In the final analysis, it was because they were afraid of being killed by the saints.

Without the saint's overwhelming might in that battle, they wouldn't be feeling the fear and anxiety they have today.

We are just using their power to help them convince themselves to abandon Ichijo Hideyoshi with a reason they cannot refuse."

Maeda Rikyu followed up.

"His Majesty Oda swept across the world and brought the people of Owari to unprecedented heights. How many talents can there be in a country? Most of them are mediocre.

The territories and positions they hold today, the Sibo Real Estate and the Hokuriku Road stocks in their pockets, which one was obtained by their real ability?
Were the samurai from other places not working hard enough? Or were the people of Owari particularly outstanding?

They knew very well in their hearts that these were all obtained by Lord Oda. Without Lord Oda, they would still be a group of bumpkins from the countryside of Owari.

So, if even Lord Oda couldn't defeat the saint, how could you expect them to believe that Hideyoshi Ichijo could do it?
If they follow Hideyoshi's defeat, they will lose everything they have already gained. Can they accept it?"

Maeda Yoshi nodded silently.

Owari produced Sasaki Yoshikin and Oda Nobunaga, who brought the people of Owari to the highest stage in the world. But how many of these Owari people who became middle and upper-level leaders were real talents?
Most people are just filling in the gaps. Just because they follow the right person, they become famous and marry beautiful, rich and beautiful women, and reach the peak of their lives.

A pig can soar into the sky if it steps on the right wind, but is that the pig's ability?

Therefore, most Owari leaders feel filled with a sense of unworthiness.

Although they are reluctant to admit it, they know very well in their hearts that their abilities are not worthy of their current status, and it is their booming luck that has helped them.

If they were given the chance to do it all over again, they would not have the confidence that they could seize the opportunity and regain the power they have today.

But they are absolutely unwilling to give up the power they have already obtained.

Maeda Toshiie and Maeda Toshihisa took advantage of their complex psychology of being unworthy of their positions but unwilling to lose power, and continued to divide the Owari samurai under Hideyoshi Ichijo, and even the Mino samurai.

Maeda Yoshiro is not stupid, of course she understands what they are doing, but the arrogant Maeda Yoshiro is also a man of real ability, she just disdains it.

When incompetent people occupy high positions, they are simply too worried and overthinking, making them easy for others to take advantage of them.