Chapter 199: The Oda Family’s New Ally
In the northwestern Pacific Ocean, about thirty typhoon clusters form annually. Around eight of these affect southern Kyushu and Shikoku Island, while about three invade the Kansai, Guanzhong, Kanto, and Hokuriku regions.
Particularly the autumn typhoons of August and September, as the transition from summer to autumn causes the sun to move from north to south, leading to warmer sea temperatures, accumulate more energy, resulting in greater destruction.
The type that generally invades the Owari region is this kind of autumn typhoon.
And perhaps because the Little Ice Age is approaching—the precursor to the Little Ice Age catastrophe, which greatly impacted Ming Dynasty society, is said to be traceable to the early Jiajing period and became more pronounced starting from the thirteenth year of Wanli （1585）.
At this time, the world seemed to be preheating for the catastrophe. For about two years after the Battle of Okehazama, the temperature in the Owari region of Japan fluctuated violently, with extremely hot summers and extremely cold winters. Autumn typhoons also became very strong, with gales carrying torrential rain across Ise Bay to impact the Owari region, causing widespread wind and flood disasters.
Among these, the situation in the year before last was the most severe. More than two-thirds of the villages on the Chita Peninsula were affected, with houses collapsing, rivers overflowing, and countless fields destroyed, in addition to significant casualties.
After the autumn and winter of the year before last, a small-scale drought occurred last spring, delaying spring plowing, as if heaven and earth detested Yuan Ye, the transmigator, and delivered a combo punch against him.
Yuan Ye finally understood how the Ming Dynasty fell; natural disasters like these were truly deadly in this era.
Therefore, after Yuan Ye seized the Chita Peninsula, he didn’t focus on anything else, dedicating most of his energy to disaster relief and production recovery.
The Wanjin Army not only failed to expand further but was forced to contract its organization. Hundreds of veteran soldiers and junior officers were urgently ordered to retire and transfer to the administrative system to strengthen management and disaster relief efforts in various villages.
Military investment was also significantly reduced to provide more financial resources to support the Chita Peninsula through the period of famine and production recovery. Even large numbers of personnel were drawn from the Wanjin Army to participate in disaster relief in the affected areas, causing many delays.
Being a Local Lord is not easy. However, thanks to his active disaster relief efforts, his reputation among the Commoners of the Chita Peninsula soared. Over the past two years, the Commoners have had an extremely high acceptance of their new Local Lord, with everyone considering him a rare and great benefactor. Even refugees in the mountains were willing to serve him—in fact, there were hardly any refugees left, as continuous natural disasters made it impossible for them to survive in the mountains, and they all returned to the lowlands.
In short, for about two years after the Battle of Okehazama, Yuan Ye did not have a smooth time. He only managed to consolidate popular support; there were basically no other gains.
…………
“According to daily observations and multiple inquiries, the temperature and rainfall at the beginning of this year are basically similar to normal years. Many elderly locals believe that the autumn typhoons will not be too strong this year, but this cannot be confirmed. Disaster prevention work remains the focus of the next phase. At the same time, grain reserve work must not stop. We should take advantage of the spring natural conditions to organize more digging for wild vegetables and fishing for shrimp. Propaganda should also continue to emphasize the importance of saving grain, finding substitutes as much as possible, and eating one less mouthful of grain whenever possible to prioritize filling reserves…”
Endo Chiyo was holding a meeting with the internal affairs officials, and Yuan Ye was present as an observer. Hearing this, even though he had read related reports intermittently, he felt a slight sense of relief—it seemed the abnormal climate was over. After all, it was a rehearsal before the arrival of the Little Ice Age catastrophe, and the scale of the disaster was not large. If there had been nine years of drought or floods inundating the peninsula, he would have truly been driven to hang himself.
It was only because he could trade saltpeter for grain at high prices from unaffected areas like Kanto and Hokuriku that he was able to get through this period with relative ease.
He mused to himself and did not interrupt Endo Chiyo’s work arrangements; these were all routine matters, and he wouldn’t have done better than Endo Chiyo even if he had personally handled them. As the meeting was nearing its end, he left early for his office, preparing to enjoy a brief moment of leisure, when A Man arrived in a hurry.
Yuan Ye sighed inwardly, feeling that even half a day of rest was impossible now, but of course, important matters came first. He immediately asked, “Running so urgently, what happened now?”
A Man did not delay and directly stated, “Two matters. The first is that Oda Nobukiyo, the Castle Lord of Inuyama Castle, has rebelled and has already formed an alliance with Saito Tatsuoki.”
“Here we go again…” Yuan Ye rubbed his temples and sighed softly.
In the early summer of the year before last, the Battle of Okehazama took place. In the autumn of that year, wind and flood disasters occurred, affecting coastal areas from Owari, Mikawa, Tōtōmi, and Suruga to varying degrees, which immediately brought everyone to their senses.
However, last year, Saito Yoshitatsu, the “schemer” of Mino, died of leprosy while assisting his ally the Rokkaku Family in dealing with the Azai Family. He passed the position of Head of the Family to his fourteen-year-old son, Saito Tatsuoki.
His death immediately excited Oda Nobunaga. Regardless of the severe damage in Owari, he immediately led his direct forces across the Kiso River to “offer condolences.” As a result, Nagai Moriyasu and Hibino Kiyosuke, two of the Saito Family’s “Six Retainers,” fought desperately and died on the spot, barely preventing Oda Nobunaga from advancing further.
After the Battle of Moribe, another of the Saito Family’s “Six Retainers,” Takekoshi Naomitsu, also passed away from illness, leaving only Inaba Ittetsu, Ando Morinari, and Ujiiro Naomoto to support Mino and the Saito Family, who were then referred to as the “Three Retainers of Mino.”
Since then, the Oda Family and the Saito Family have not engaged in large-scale battles. This was mainly because Owari was suffering from disasters and famine. Even if Oda Nobunaga were determined to launch a full-scale attack, it would have been impossible—it wasn’t that the Owari Local Lords were unwilling to contribute, but they were genuinely unable to do so at the time, lacking the grain to support them in gathering Followers and Ashigaru.
However, Oda Nobunaga did not give up his ambitions for Mino, continuously sending small units for sporadic raids, which greatly annoyed Mino. Now, with Oda Nobukiyo, the Castle Lord of Inuyama Castle, suddenly rebelling, it is likely that the Saito Family has once again resorted to their signature tactic, employing cunning schemes by instigating internal conflict within the Oda Family to alleviate pressure on Mino.
Yuan Ye was not particularly concerned about Oda Nobukiyo’s rebellion. This person was not very famous in history; at least, he had never heard of him, so he assumed it would not cause much impact.
Besides, Inuyama Castle is located at the northernmost tip of Owari, bordering Mino, while he is at the southernmost tip, facing the Pacific Ocean. The distance is so great that it would be impossible to affect him.
He set Oda Nobukiyo aside and said to A Man, “You continue to follow up on this matter. What is the second matter?”
“Matsudaira Motoyasu sent someone to Kiyosu Castle, seeking an alliance with Oda Nobunaga. It currently appears that Oda Nobunaga is inclined to agree,” A Man reported.
Matsudaira Motoyasu, who is the future Tokugawa Ieyasu.
This person is now Yuan Ye’s legitimate neighbor. However, Narumi Castle and the “Tōkaidō Road” are controlled by Oda Nobunaga, and the territory controlled by Wanjin is only a tiny sliver bordering Western Mikawa in the northeast corner. Nevertheless, he is indeed a legitimate neighbor; he can charge into Western Mikawa at any time, and Matsudaira Motoyasu can quickly enter the Chita Peninsula.
Yuan Ye had previously thought of secretly striking Matsudaira Motoyasu, not to change history, but to facilitate his expansion of territory towards Western Mikawa. However, he was unsuccessful. After the Battle of Okehazama, Matsudaira Motoyasu was the first to flee, and he never even saw the man.
After Matsudaira Motoyasu fled back to Western Mikawa, he immediately occupied the empty Okazaki Castle. Furthermore, the Imagawa Family consistently used the Matsudaira Family as cannon fodder, assigning them any difficult tasks first. They were not even treated as allies, let alone as people.
This led to the Matsudaira Family harboring resentment towards the Imagawa Family. As a result, as soon as Matsudaira Motoyasu raised the “flag of independence” at Okazaki Castle, the Matsudaira branch families, relatives, and old acquaintances in Western Mikawa responded one after another. Within two months, Western Mikawa fell into Matsudaira Motoyasu’s hands.
At that time, the Imagawa Family was busy with internal strife to elect a new head, so no one paid attention to him. Yuan Ye, on his end, was busy digesting his new territory, encountering severe natural disasters, and also needing to guard against Oda Nobunaga’s erratic behavior. He was also unable to intervene, which allowed Matsudaira Motoyasu to firmly establish his footing with ease.
Truly worthy of being the old turtle who eventually conquered the world; his luck can only be described as extremely good.
If Matsudaira Motoyasu were to form an alliance with Oda Nobunaga…
Yuan Ye pondered for a moment, sighed, and felt that there was no longer any opportunity to expand into Western Mikawa. The natural disasters of the past two years had caused him to miss the best window of opportunity.
It was indeed impossible to expand territory into Western Mikawa anymore. Because he had forcibly occupied the Chita Peninsula, his relationship with Oda Nobunaga had turned cold. It was only because the typhoons and floods of the past two years had made the Owari region incapable of launching a major war, coupled with the death of Saito Yoshitatsu diverting Oda Nobunaga’s attention, that Oda Nobunaga hadn’t given him a hard time.
However, even though Oda Nobunaga hadn’t attacked him, he still caused him some trouble. He significantly increased the “Kan-sen ship tax” on goods exported from the Chita Peninsula through Atsuta Port, essentially revoking all previous preferential policies for Wanjin, causing Wanjin to lose a considerable amount of money.
Incidentally, even though Oda Nobunaga was suffering from disasters and plotting against Mino, he was also extensively building rock fortifications at Narumi Castle and north of the Odaka River. It seemed he was already very wary of Yuan Ye, intending to completely confine him to the Chita Peninsula and never let him out.
With Oda Nobunaga already on guard, if he were to attempt to seize land in Western Mikawa, it would most likely result in Oda Nobunaga and Matsudaira Motoyasu joining forces to attack him.
And his military strength had not grown much in these two years, so he would likely suffer a great loss in a fight.
Yuan Ye began pacing around the low table again. He was not familiar with Japanese history and had not expected natural disasters to follow Okehazama. When he encountered natural disasters, he could not abandon his people to their fate and go to war while lacking food and clothing. As a result, his idea of further expansion into Western Mikawa was completely shattered.
However, stagnation was absolutely impossible. If land routes were blocked, perhaps he should try the sea.
He now possessed a peninsula, with a large population and abundant resources. His subordinates were also becoming increasingly capable. With just one or two years of recovery, he would have enough resources to build a fleet and seek new territories across the sea.
A Man had finished her report and was waiting for his instructions. However, Yuan Ye had started pacing in circles again, and she couldn’t help but ask curiously, “What’s wrong with you now? The alliance between the Matsudaira Family and Oda Nobunaga is not a big deal. As long as we guard the Odaka River, they won’t be able to get in easily.”
She was now second only to Yuan Ye on the Chita Peninsula, living a life she had never dared to imagine before, and was extremely satisfied with her current life. She felt that living like this for the rest of her life would be acceptable—she felt that this foundation was more than enough to ensure the Yuan Ye Family’s prosperity for three generations, as long as they defended it and didn’t strive further.
It was just that Yuan Ye was unwilling to have children, which made the Yuan Ye Family’s lineage sparse, causing her some worry. She felt that Yuan Ye was wasting his energy pacing around when he should be returning to his room to have children, and that worrying about such matters all day was simply a waste of energy.
Yuan Ye glanced at her. He couldn’t explain to her that he didn’t seek personal glory or power and enjoyment. He couldn’t simply settle in a corner and live in peace. Only by continuing to expand outwards and seek larger territories and strength could he complete his plan.
After all, establishing a nation is not that easy; a single county like the Chita Peninsula would certainly not be enough.
“You don’t need to worry about this kind of thing. Hurry up and get back to your work!”
Yuan Ye dismissed A Man and continued to ponder where else he could expand. Less than half a month later, an envoy from Oda Nobunaga arrived, inviting him to Kiyosu Castle to meet Oda’s new ally, Matsudaira Motoyasu.
