Chapter 147 36. Hosokawa Harumiya Is Extremely Happy
Compared with Yamanouchi Yoshiharu, who won a brilliant victory after a hard battle, and Uesugi Terutora, who casually defeated 60,000 men with only 300 cavalrymen, Hosokawa Harumiya has not had a very smooth life since the end of last autumn. At his old age, his hair has become a little grayer.
This 58-year-old samurai who has been in the army for more than 40 years (58 years old is considered old, after all, the average life expectancy of samurai in the Edo period was only in their early 60s, not to mention that it is the Warring States period when people die in battle every day.) is now pacing in the main castle tower on the top of Hachioji Mountain. Although it seems calm on the surface, the hands behind his back are shaking unconsciously.
There is no Ikki army or the old Hojo party at the foot of Hachioji Mountain. The entire Hachioji territory is also calm. Spring plowing is proceeding in an orderly manner. The small Hachioji Basin is filled with a quiet and peaceful atmosphere. Obviously, our Lord Hosokawa Harumiya is not worried about the Hojo old party uprising that swept across Kanto at the end of last year, or other scoundrels who took the opportunity to cause chaos.
Since the end of last summer, when he was ordered by Yamanouchi Yoshiharu to serve as the governor of Hachioji Castle and the governor of Musashi Tama, Hosokawa Harumiya has worked hard and put in a lot of effort. He appeased the poor people who were exiled due to the looting of the Uesugi Terutora coalition, and showed favor to the former retainers of Ogidatsu in Hachioji. Although this series of good policies did not completely bring Hachioji back to his heart, there was no resistance.
At least during the large-scale Hojo rebellion before the beginning of winter last year, the Hachioji people stood in a neutral position from top to bottom, and did not help either side, so that the fierce national uprising did not affect and spread to Hachioji.
However, the external environment, which was originally surrounded by reinforcements from the Uesugi clan, is now in a precarious situation. The nearest reinforcements were at least dozens of miles away. Ueno had 20,000 to 30,000 soldiers, but they were also sandwiched between Murakami Yoshikiyo and Hojo Ujinao. Nakajo Fujisuke of Shimosa was also quite powerful. After all, Koyomi Yoshizumi's father had some face in the past, and in the end he still managed to cover the situation of Shimosa and Utsosa. But at the same time, distant water cannot quench immediate thirst.
Hosokawa Harumiya was of course confident that with his decades of experience in bad battles, as long as there was no desperate attack from tens of thousands of troops, he could defend the Hachioji Castle, which was famous for its solidity in the Warring States Period, until the sky darkened. (Have you seen that Ota Suke of the Iwatsuki Ota clan fought against Hojo Ujiyasu for so many years in Musashi with only 1,500 cavalrymen, until Ota Ujike exiled his own father to the Satake clan, which was considered to be the surrender of the Hojo clan.)
Apart from these completely unfavorable external conditions, the biggest disadvantage is that the connection with the Yamanouchi clan is now almost severed (it is still possible for a few messengers to deliver letters. Although there are no such ninjas who are boasted to the sky, Ranba can still do this.), which makes people worry.
Several Hosokawa attendants standing in the castle tower dared not breathe or look around, just watching Hosokawa Harumiya walking slowly. It just so happened that Hosokawa Harumiya didn't know whether he was really old or had too many things in his mind, so he walked really slowly. It seemed to slow down the time in the entire castle tower, making everyone except him feel particularly unbearable.
"Is there any news today?" Hosokawa Harumiya suddenly stopped and looked at a performer standing at the door. (Generally, military regimes have such a group of people who help the lords and even generals deal with the news reported, and then report it to the higher authorities according to the priorities.)
"No news has been received." The man answered without emotion.
"Perhaps no news is the best news, I hope so." Hosokawa Harumiya nodded and picked up a Chinese book from the armrest beside his seat. The cover was written with "Mencius". The pages of the book have turned yellow, but it is not completely the old and withered yellow caused by the passage of time, but the oily yellow caused by the constant reading of the book.
"Mencius met King Hui of Liang. The king said: "The old man has come from a thousand miles away, will he benefit our country?" Hosokawa Harumiya obviously read the book by heart, without looking at the book, holding the book with his hands behind his back, and began to recite it by himself.
"Beneficial, beneficial, naturally beneficial! Castle lord, your highness won a great victory over the Jia army in Uedahara, killing 22 enemy generals and 2,919 miscellaneous soldiers. "A samurai with white hair walked in with a happy face. He was really energetic. Maybe some people remember that a few years ago, when Hosokawa Saime fought her first battle at Shimoyama, Kobayata also participated as a small flag bearer. This old samurai was the samurai who actually commanded Hosokawa Saime's troops.
The scroll in Hosokawa Harumiya's hand fell to the ground with a clatter, "What? Your Highness has already defeated the Kai Takeda clan?" Hosokawa Harumiya ignored the scroll that fell on the ground, walked quickly to the door, and grabbed the old samurai's hand.
"Your Highness has already defeated the Kai army at Uedahara six days ago. It will take only a few days to completely destroy the Kai Takeda clan and come to Hachioji to support the castle lord." The old samurai repeated, and his face was full of joy that could not be concealed at all.
"Your Highness's military fortune is prosperous, great! "Hosokawa Harumiya's old face also turned red, and he clapped his hands with joy.
"I heard that Zixiaoji Danzheng used the retreat tactic to relax the first mover of the A army, Itagaki Suruga-no-kami, and then launched a surprise attack, killing the famous general of the A army, Itagaki Suruga-no-kami, on the spot." The old samurai obviously knew some family affairs of the Hosokawa family, and especially mentioned Kobayata's performance in Uedahara.
"Kobayata is really talented!" Hosokawa Harumiya replied with a satisfied smile. Obviously, he was very happy to hear that Kobayata had made such a great contribution, and his tone was full of praise.
"Matsumi (not his name is Matsumi, but this old samurai has become a monk at an old age, and he doesn't need to shave his head. He can enter the world by cutting off the pigtail on his head, so this old samurai is generally called Nyudo Matsumi-sai), should we mobilize all the eight princes to support your army?" Hosokawa Harumiya quickly calmed down and began to think about maximizing the interests of his lord, Yamanouchi Yoshiharu.
"Don't worry, the castle lord. Just five days ago, the Kanrei Dansho of Echigo defeated the 60,000-man Ikko Ikki army with 300 cavalry in a battle. I believe he will send troops to Kanto soon to wipe out the small forces." Nyudo Matsumi-sai said another great news.
"This, this, this, God bless my Yamanouchi clan! God bless my Yamanouchi clan!" Hosokawa Harumiya was so excited that he could no longer speak. He was so happy that he seemed to be 20 years younger and laughed like a child.