A tour of Japan's Warring States Period

The situation in Kanto is getting clearer day by day, and the haze over Hachioji is getting thinner.

In the end, one of the samurai who pretended to go to Hachioji finally ran back after all the hardships. Yamauchi Yoshiharu finally got a personal letter from Hosokawa Harumiya, proving that he was still alive and kicking.

When Uesugikata in Kanto was in a state of defeat, why did Hosokawa Harugong still hold firm in Hachioji? This couldn't help but talk about his origin and family background.

The Hosokawa clan and the Yamauchi clan are both branches of the Ashikaga clan. They were both descendants of the Ashikaga clan who came from Ashikaga County in Shimono Province. They have been top samurai nobles for hundreds of years and have 20 or 30 generations. Don't look at the fact that your name is Yamauchi so-and-so and I am Hosokawa so-and-so now. Five hundred years ago, he must have been the same father.

It is very different from the inheritance of upstarts like the Go-Hojo clan who are only three generations old. Hosokawa Harumiya himself is a high-level samurai with a family income of more than 1,000 kanwen. His father and grandfather were all in their family for twenty generations. A senior warrior, the grandfather's grandfather was the leader in the past. He is the one who handles the world's government affairs on behalf of the young general. He has the honor of being a high-ranking Tsinghua University official with three or four positions, a strict family education and the pride of being a direct descendant of the Genji clan.

The biggest difference between this old-style martial aristocrat and the mud-legged warriors is his own family education and proud background. He believed that warriors were born to serve their lord loyally and bravely, and the subjects should work in the fields every day, growing rice and weaving cotton cloth to support the warriors, who in turn protected their subjects with swords. Everyone performs their duties and strictly obeys the feudal order of superiority and inferiority.

This is the biggest difference between the old aristocrats like them and the male protagonists who traveled through time and space and fucked the air. When Hosokawa Haruge arrived at the Eighth Prince, she didn't just want to expand her strength, fight everywhere, fight, and prey on the common people.

What he wanted to do was to surrender the people of the Eighth Prince within a few years, let them accept the rule of the Yamauchi clan, become obedient subjects of the Yamauchi clan, and accept the fact that their master was called Yamauchi Yoshiharu both physically and mentally.

Then Hosokawa Haruna could work quietly for a few years, completely digesting the Eighth Prince into the Yamauchi clan's chariot. After a few years of being whipped, his son Hosokawa Kaname will succeed him as the head of the Yamauchi Hosokawa family, and perhaps add a few hundred kanmon titles to his family name, happily continuing to pass on the Hosokawa family name.

It doesn’t matter whether you say he doesn’t want to make progress or whether you say he is benevolent and loves the people. Anyway, when Hosokawa Haruna arrived at Hachioji, the first thing she did was to declare a five-year period of indiscretion. All of a sudden, the resistance level of the local Hojo retainers in Hachioji was reduced a lot. You Yamauchi family are so understanding, and we, the local servants of the country, have to give you face. It doesn’t matter whether I obey your rule in my heart or not, and I don’t care about the fate of Hosokawa Shungu. What kind of person is he, but he is great, he is good, he is happy, and he is a good lord.

Hosokawa Harugong saw that the people were dispersed and the spring plowing was delayed, so she guessed that this year's harvest would not be very good. In addition, Uesugi Teruhora sent several thousand kanmon in cash, so even this year's annual tribute is exempted. Everyone, please come to Hachioji to help me. I helped Hosokawa Spring Palace to overhaul the steps from the foot of the mountain to the top of the Hachioji Temple. The wooden walls were also reinforced and thickened, and demaru and watchtowers were added.

Therefore, it is said that Hosokawa Spring Palace is an old noble. It is a feudal obligation for the subjects to come to visit for seven days every year. They must prepare their own dry food and tools. However, the Hosokawa Spring Palace was a large-scale city building and a general invitation. For nearly two months, he not only exempted the annual tribute, but also gave each person two grain rice balls a day, so that they could eat when they came to work. As a result, all the men from the Eighth Prince came. Got to work.

Anyway, he was very wealthy and had plenty of money. On the one hand, he went to Shimo Hitachi and other countries that had not been affected by the war to buy grain. On the other hand, he was like an old hen in Hachioji Tun. Coupled with other people's hands and feet, they simply cut off the entire mountain of Eight Princes. The good wood was used directly to build the city, and the rest was collected to make fires for the people to keep warm.

As a result, the Hachioji built an impregnable castle. This sturdy and magnificent castle declared the wealth and power of the Yamauchi clan, and made the people of Hachioji recognize the rule of the Yamauchi clan.

What’s even more funny is that the retainers of the Hojo clan came to challenge the power of the Hachioji family. As a result, there was no man in the whole village. All the men went to eat rice balls from the Hachioji castle. It's not a job to work anywhere. I work for Hosokawa Harugong and still have rice balls to eat.

As a result, undercurrents surged throughout the Kanto region, and countless nobles from the old Hojo territory were incited. The whole Hachioji was stunned and didn't move, because there were no men anymore, so they couldn't go to Hachioji Castle to move. Thousands of samurai ashigaru from the Hosokawa Spring Palace were watching there, because they thought the Yamauchi family's swords were not fast enough. ?

When the weather got colder and the Hachioji preparations were completed, Hosokawa Spring Palace recruited some young bachelors or homeless people. The entire Hachioji Castle is filled with 1,500 garrison troops, all of whom are standing ashigaru. There are fifty iron cannon ashigaru and more than 200 bow ashigaru.

Then, driven by forty years of experience in bad wars, he keenly believed that something might happen before winter this year, so he habitually closed the city after stocking up on food and weapons and equipment, waiting for the heavy snow in Kanto to come or what he expected. Small-scale riots or sudden disturbances may occur.

Sure enough, it didn't take long for the news of mobilization within the Takeda clan to come out. At that time, he was still thinking that there would be another bloody storm in Shinano. Before his idea could be realized, he heard that Matsuyama and Kawagoe were under attack. This was also what he expected. It was just a trivial matter. It was a small problem and could be dealt with casually.

But what he was waiting for was the Hojo clan's three thousand troops and countless tens of thousands of soldiers. While the roads were still barely connected, he immediately sent several envoys to rush back to the mountain to report the news, and continued to hold on.

The Hojo Army who arrived were also disgusted. Hosokawa Harumiya, an old turtle, built Hachioji Castle like a turtle shell. Then, due to the previous events, most of the Eighth Prince's fellow countrymen and nobles chose to sit on the sidelines for the time being. After all, these people were still fighting against the Go-Hojo clan more than ten years ago. If Ugitani Asada hadn't died inexplicably during the night battle in Kawagoe, they wouldn't have fought against the Go-Hojo clan. Nowadays, the Yamauchi family seems to be a good and unruly person, and behind him is Uesugi Teruhora, the world's best golden leg. It is not clear who will win and who will lose, so it is best to watch the show first.

Although Demaru and the outer castle at the foot of the mountain were captured by the Hojo family's human wave tactics, Honmaru on the hillside was easily defended and had enough manpower, so there was no problem at all. Food, drinking water, and weapons were all enough, and it was snowing in Kanto. The Hojo clan could only retreat with hatred. There was no way to fight in a snowy day.

After hearing the news, the Yamauchi clan generals could not help but let out a sigh of relief. Sure enough, sending someone like Hosokawa Harugong, who has been an expert in fighting for forty years, is as safe as an old tortoise.