CHAPTER 234: CHAPTER 166 FORWARD

The journey through Harano in Owari was smooth and unobstructed, and by midday on the second day, he had already arrived at the outskirts of Qingzhou City. Now, his status was different: he was the legitimate son-in-law of the Oda Danjo Chonosuke household, also a publicly declared ally. Without even the need to give prior notice, Oda Nobunaga saw to it that he received high-level hospitality—the magistrate of the Oda Danjo Chonosuke household personally settled him and his troops in a manor, sparing them the trouble of pitching camp themselves, and immediately sent over a batch of comfort goods.

Yuanye didn’t have to worry much about settling the troops now—the Wanjin Army already had a fairly mature command system and corresponding manuals, so these trifling tasks were naturally carried out by officers at all levels according to the manuals. He simply gazed toward Qingzhou City, observing the changes of the past year—when it came to economics in this era, Oda Nobunaga really knew what he was doing. From the looks of it, the castle town of Qingzhou City, which had been burned down twice, had already regained its vitality, and the scale seemed to have expanded considerably.

It could be said that as Oda Nobunaga’s power increased, he carried out his "rakuza rakui" (free markets and guilds) policy even more skillfully. Owari’s industry and commerce were developing rapidly, though his relationship with the temple families and wealthy merchants appeared to have deteriorated further.

At the very least, the faction of Hosokawa Guanyin Temple probably hated him even more—likely wishing he’d drop dead as soon as possible.

Yuanye watched Qingzhou City for a while from afar, silently marveling that Oda Nobunaga hadn’t been idle this year—he’d surely raked in a lot of money. Yuanye also felt a burst of envy at his population numbers. Just as he was about to look away and take a rest, he suddenly saw a group of mother’s robe horsemen speeding toward the manor, flying the "Yongle Large Coin Standard."

This banner was generally used only by Oda Nobunaga himself. Other detachments, when traveling alone, mostly used the "Five Melon Flags." Yuanye raised his eyebrows in interest and called over a few men to join him in greeting the guests at the manor gate.

Sure enough, as the riders entered the manor, it was Oda Nobunaga himself, still in the "Three-Phase Moon Armor" and eagle-feather helmet from Yuanye’s betrothal gifts, with a red feathered robe draped on top—looking as flamboyant and unruly as ever.

But after a year apart, he’d grown a short beard and looked somewhat more mature. Reining in his horse before Yuanye, he glanced down with his usual hint of displeasure, yet just slapped his riding whip without making any snide remark, swung down from the saddle, and asked coolly, "Is Inu doing well?"

"Everything’s fine," Yuanye replied, reaching back to take a letter from A-Qing and handing it to Oda Nobunaga. "This is a letter from her for Your Lordship."

"Hmm..." Oda Nobunaga grunted vaguely, his face relaxing a bit. He tore open the letter, glanced at a couple of lines, then passed it off to Ikegami Keisuke, lifting his legs to stride inside. "It’s noon—let’s eat here!"

The second half of that sentence wasn’t for Yuanye; as soon as he finished, Ikegami Keisuke was already directing other personal attendants to unload goods from their horses and calling on the manor’s steward and magistrate for help, getting preparations for the midday meal underway.

Soon Oda Nobunaga and Yuanye were seated together in a large room, each with a small table in front of him, several dishes and a jug of sake on each, and Ikegami Keisuke had even specially prepared an excellent pot of tea for Yuanye, greeting him with a warm smile.

This was, after a year, the first time Yuanye and Oda Nobunaga had sat down together.

Yuanye was prepared for settling old accounts—discussing why he’d chosen to set up independently. But Oda Nobunaga didn’t even mention it. He simply picked up his sake cup, took a sip, stared at him for a while, and, in the tone of a big brother-in-law, said, "You’d best treat Inu well!"

Yuanye didn’t mind his tone nor had any objections; after all, that’s just how big brothers-in-law are, and besides, Princess Inu was a bit of a pushover—Yuanye wasn’t the type to bully pushovers anyway, where was the fun in that?

Seeing Yuanye so amenable, Oda Nobunaga’s expression softened further, as if the previous resentment had faded quite a bit.

He picked up his sake cup and drank again, then continued: "Wasn’t bad, your speed in getting here!"

"Your Highness flatters me. I’d already promised mutual support, so of course I had to get here early." Yuanye had no wish to dwell on family matters, so he sipped his tea as a show of politeness before getting to business, asking with concern, "How are your preparations here, Your Highness? When do you plan to hold the war council?"

Oda Nobunaga’s face grew somewhat less pleasant at this—his emergency mobilization had gone poorly. The powerful families didn’t dare openly oppose him now and would obey orders, but how quickly they moved was debatable. There were always this or that issue. Yuanye, as an ally, had already rushed to the scene, while most of the others were still on the road!

But family shame shouldn’t be exposed to outsiders, so he simply replied, "I still need a few days on my end. Don’t trouble yourself with the war council—set out ahead of time, and cross the Kisogawa River for a look!"

This was to have the Wanjin Army act as the vanguard, opening the way for his main force (if anyone tried to block it). This had always been Nobunaga’s plan, anyway. After all, the Wanjin Army only had four to five hundred men—hardly enough to form a real wing, but perfect as vanguard. Any retinue able to stand up to the Imagawa family was worth trusting in terms of combat effectiveness.

But only after he’d finished did Ikegami Keisuke tug his sleeve lightly from behind, reminding him that Yuanye was now an ally—even if a weaker one, using such an imperious tone wasn’t quite right—so Oda Nobunaga gave a dry cough and added, "How would you like to proceed?"

Yuanye had no objections—the Saito father and son were busy with their own inner strife, and the border at Nongwei was doubtless unsettled, unlikely to offer much organized defense. Even if he ran into determined resistance from Minoh’s local gentry, he wasn’t an idiot—he wouldn’t throw himself at a wall of spears. He could always wait until Oda Nobunaga caught up with the main force.

At worst, people would laugh at him a bit—he wasn’t proud anyway, so who cared?

"No problem, I’ll set out shortly," Yuanye agreed without hesitation, but soon asked, "But how is the situation over in Minoh... currently?"

He’d wanted to ask whether anything had changed, but it was awkward, so he changed the phrasing—whereupon Oda Nobunaga immediately had Ikegami Keisuke lay out a map to brief him on the current state: Saito Dosan had sowed too much evil in years past, and now all of Minoh was against him. He couldn’t stand firm around Turtle Mountain Castle and was heading south (i.e., fleeing), hoping to join up with Oda Nobunaga as quickly as possible.

Yuanye studied the simple line-drawing map of the era, estimated Saito Dosan’s approximate location, then discussed the marching routes with Oda Nobunaga. He also borrowed some horses, pack mules, and grooms from him, and with that, they’d concluded a simple war council—basically, since Saito Dosan was now being chased by his own son and finding all doors closed to him, no local power willing to take him in, it was impossible to say where he’d be by the time they reached Minoh. They’d have to play it by ear.

After the war council, Oda Nobunaga saw how cooperative Yuanye was and felt extremely satisfied. Even if Yuanye had fled to the Chita Peninsula to set up his own domain, he was still more reliable than the local Owari powerhouses—if Yuanye the ally had insisted on dragging his feet and moving with Nobunaga, things would have been much trickier. Reinforcements are always a race against time—a powerful unit arriving first as a fulcrum is always welcome.

Yuanye was behaving ideally now; Oda Nobunaga’s resentments faded away still further.

He planned to reduce Yuanye’s taxes (the shipping fees at Atsuta Port, as Yuanye was now depending on sales there and his nitre trade with the Oda clan to stave off a fiscal deficit) as a reward, and, becoming more willing to share real plans, tapped the map at Ogaki Castle, pointedly saying: "Once you reach Minoh, pay extra attention to this area!"

Yuanye shifted his gaze to Ogaki Castle and pondered briefly, hardly surprised.

Minoh Province belonged to the East Mountain Road and was full of mountains. In the south, the area adjoining Owari directly to the north forms a figure-eight shape, flanked on both sides by mountain ranges gradually spreading apart. Ogaki Castle sits atop the upper junction of that "eight," making it the key fortress controlling southern Minoh and the link to the north. Whoever takes Ogaki basically controls the northern edge of the Nongwei Plain, plus substantial stretches of the Changliang and Kisogawa Rivers—a real military chokepoint. In the future Battle of Sekigahara, a showdown for the country, Ogaki is the western army’s main stronghold.

Looking at things now, one aim of Oda Nobunaga’s supposed rescue mission for Saito Dosan was in fact to use the opportunity to enter Minoh, or at the very least, to emulate his father—the "Tiger of Owari," Oda Nobuhide—by capturing Ogaki, and thus extend his influence into southern Minoh. Oda Nobuhide had occupied Ogaki for a time, but as he pushed north toward besieging Inaba Castle, several assaults failed to take it. When he withdrew, Saito Dosan counterattacked, chasing him in retreat all the way back to Owari, and Ogaki was lost.

Yuanye nodded, accepting this mission and feeling it entirely reasonable.

This was the Warring States Era: there was no such thing as a free lunch, even for allies. Everything was pragmatic. With father and son Saito newly at each other’s throats, even as a son-in-law comes to mediate, everyone’s already looking to grab what they can.

......

While Oda Nobunaga was eyeing his father-in-law’s territory, Yuanye was also eyeing his big brother-in-law’s father-in-law’s population, brimming with energy. Seeing time was still early, he didn’t intend to spend the night at Qingzhou City; instead, he planned to rush straight to Minoh, first seeking a spot from which to ferry out some of the population to Owari, and then raiding a few local Minoh gentry households in passing.

He’d expended much effort on the Wanjin Army—despite his lack of military experience, he’d kept trying different things, and the Wanjin Army could only be described as "small but elite." At his command, the troops who had just made camp were on the move again, quickly making preparations to depart. Even before Oda Nobunaga’s promised pack animals and grooms arrived, the Wanjin Army’s advance scouting units were already gone.

Yuanye sent Ah Man ahead to scout, keeping A-Qing with him at the rear. After a while, he finally saw Maeda Toshie, resplendent in armor, red mother’s robe streaming behind him, leading his retainers, followers, and a string of grooms and pack mules to the scene.

Yuanye waved, signaling the support unit to take over these temporary logistic hands, then moved to greet Maeda Toshie himself—per previous arrangements, Maeda Toshie would be accompanying him as Oda Nobunaga’s liaison and guide.

Maeda Toshie dismounted and said in surprise, "Already about to set out?"

"Of course. Didn’t I already say it? We’re heading off immediately," Yuanye replied offhandedly, his eyes scanning Maeda’s followers and noticing quite a few new faces. It seemed Toshie had also done well for himself these past months, his power having grown.

"I thought at the earliest we’d move out tomorrow," Maeda Toshie exclaimed, glancing at the already departing Wanjin main force. He couldn’t help but praise, "No wonder they call you Saburo—a true general’s style—swift as the wind, fierce as fire!"

Yuanye, familiar with him, laughed and scolded, "Quit with the bootlicking," then mounted up with A-Qing and called to him, "Let’s go—make camp at Upper Songkou!"

Maeda Toshie’s expression turned serious. He assigned his footsoldier followers to the Wanjin Army’s transport corps, mounted up with a handful of his own retainers, and swept his whip to set off after Yuanye.