Chapter 98 22. Sanhe Suddenly Changes Its Owner
After hearing the news, Xiao Ping stood up in shock, sweating all over, and the little bit of alcohol on his body immediately dissipated completely.
Yamanouchi Yoshiharu, Yamanouchi Yoshiharu, how could you be so foolish to lend the road to Imagawa Yoshimoto. Now that Imagawa Yoshimoto has overthrown the Mikawa Kira clan, it will take less than a year or two to integrate the long-dispersed hearts of the Mikawa people, which is equivalent to a sudden increase of 70,000 to 80,000 kan in territory.
And what is the combat effectiveness of the Mikawa people? To be fair, since the Onin Civilization Rebellion, almost all the branch countries have been at war, but where is it 100% certain that there are wars every year? That's right, it's Mikawa Province, and the officials in this country.
Since the founding of the Kira Man clan, the Mikawa officials have been going to Kyoto and Beijing year after year, fighting foreign wars abroad and civil wars at home. There has been no year without a bad battle, and they have seen all kinds of scenes. Their combat effectiveness is at least above the average level.
Imagawa Yoshimoto can raise an army of more than 18,000 people. Now with the support of the public in Mikawa, 35,000 troops are within reach. With this strength, he has the possibility of going to Kyoto to conquer the world.
According to Xiao Pingtai's observation, given Imagawa Yoshimoto's character and ambition, Imagawa Yoshimoto will go to Owari one day after he has conquered Mikawa. The 100,000 kan in Owari is a big piece of fat meat. Oda Nobunaga of Owari has always been called the "Big Fool of Owari". Who wouldn't go and take a bite if he has a chance.
If Imagawa Yoshimoto went to Owari, this thing, the big fool would overthrow him with a strong attack, and the whole Kaido would be over. Mikawa is a new annexation, and the power of the people in Totomi is strong. The retainers of Suruga will also take advantage of the young lord to cause unrest.
On the surface, maybe some big guy will rise up to unify the Kaido, and the huge territory of 300,000 kan can be obtained in an instant. This may be the opportunity of the Yamanouchi family. But think about how long it took a certain turtle to grab the land of Kaido. Which one is easier to deal with, the entangled Ikko clan, the powerful forces of the country, and the covetous Kai Takeda Harunobu?
Well, even if he is capable, he can suppress Totomi and Mikawa, unify the two countries, and fight a fierce battle with the tiger occupying Suruga, and finally win miserably. At least he has the Kaido in his hands, and he will gather for another three years, support the soldiers, store food and grass, and then look up at the world.
The one who pacifies the chaos in the Kaido will only find that Oda Nobunaga, the stormy man of Owari, has conquered Mino. At that time, he will gather the economic and military power of the Nobi Plain, and 30,000 to 50,000 soldiers and a year's money and food will be at his fingertips. It is hard to say who will belong to the world.
"No, I have to go back to my country quickly." Xiao Pingtai made a decision immediately.
After sending Sukezaemon away, he packed his luggage overnight and told his three followers to go to bed quickly and take the regular return ship to return to Ejiri tomorrow morning.
The next day, with Sukezaemon's face and a few dozen coins, he got on a round-trip ship that went to Ejiri and Surpu. He went to Minami-Ise smoothly, and then continued to take the ship back to Ejiri without stopping.
When he arrived at Ejiri, it was exactly as Kobayata had expected. He saw teams of Imagawa soldiers with high morale heading to Suruga with large and small bags full of harvest.
Kobayata hurried into the city to find the Ejiri Castle Lord and the Gofudai family elders, all of whom were Miyauchi Shosuke, to understand the situation. Just a little inquiry, all the news was clear.
After the end of the Odawara War, Imagawa Yoshimoto also considered preparing to marry the Yamanouchi clan. Originally, the five-year-old daughter of Yamanouchi Yoshiharu was also suitable, but the Imagawa clan was really not young and could not wait for ten years. The other son, Imagawa Ujiki, was the son of Hojo Ujiyasu. In addition to having some small thoughts, he brought him back to leave a descendant for Hojo Soyun, and he would not use him.
Later, Imagawa Yoshimoto found out that Yamanouchi Yoshiharu had a younger son, so he immediately betrothed him and his daughter to Yamanouchi Saburogoro. Although both children were still young (in their early teens), it did not prevent their father from deciding their marriage.
Now the Yamanouchi and Imagawa clans had a formal offensive and defensive alliance, and they were related by marriage and had cooperation, so the foundation of trust had been established. So the passage was finally agreed to, and of course Yamanouchi Yoshiharu also guarded Futamata Castle.
Then Imagawa Yoshimoto led 13,000 people from Suruga Fuchu Castle and attacked the Mikawa Kirara clan without hesitation. Kirara Yoshiyasu was not spared for nothing, as he was a first-class family in the world, Ashikaga Go-ichimonshu. Although the Kirara clan was also divided into the Tojo and Nijo clans, they attacked each other during internal strife, but they were still united when there were external enemies.
This is a common problem among people. When there is no external threat, it is good to sleep in the same bed but have different dreams, it is normal to fight against each other, and it is not impossible to perish together. But once there is an external enemy, then the two people who were originally fighting against each other will undoubtedly work together.
This is also the reason why Wei Wu took Hebei and settled Wuhuan. After Yuan Shao died, his sons fought for the throne. If Cao Cao rushed to attack Hebei, no matter how stupid Yuan Shao's sons were, they would know to beat Cao Cao back first and then fight in their own family. Hebei would definitely be rotten in the Yuan family's pot. But Cao Cao withdrew his troops and stopped attacking Hebei. This thing, what a guy! Yuan Tan led the people of Qingzhou to Jizhou to fight his good brother, just fulfilling Cao Cao's wish.
When they encountered an external enemy, the people of Mikawa, who had been fighting to the death, immediately shook hands and made peace with each other at the call of Yoshira Yoshiyasu. Then the 32 families of the Mikawa Fenggong Shangbanzhong came in a rush, and 7,000 people occupied the advantageous terrain of Bamianshan and lined up against the mountain and the city. They had enough combat experience and were fighting at home, so they fought vigorously.
On the other hand, Imagawa Yoshimoto had to fight a long expedition across the country, and the reserves of food and grass were insufficient because the autumn harvest had not yet arrived. Faced with the united Mikawa coalition under threat, Imagawa Yoshimoto's 13,000 men were temporarily helpless.
Unable to make progress in the frontal battle, Imagawa Yoshimoto listened to the advice of his teacher, Taiyuan Zen Master, and lobbied several of the three public servants with a large sum of money. As a result, Mikawa really had a traitor. The general of Western Mikawa, Udono Nagateru, eventually colluded with Imagawa Yoshimoto and turned against him in battle. The three armies of the Kira clan were defeated, and many relatives and important officials from the family, including the Okawachi clan, the Isshiki clan, the Arakawa clan, and the Okayama clan, died in the battle. The Kira clan was almost completely cut off, and many of the public servants in Mikawa suffered devastating casualties.
As for the 1,600 casualties, it was nothing.
Imagawa Yoshimoto successfully fought his way to the outskirts of Saijo Castle, then kidnapped the last male of the Kira clan, Kira Yoshiyasu, and took him to Suruga. Then, in the name of Kira Yoshiyasu, Zen Master Taihara Sessai unified the Mikawa people and completely officialized them, thus starting the process of Mikawa becoming a territory.