Chapter 101: It’s Too Hard to Be Oda Nobunaga in Charge!
After Oda Nobunaga achieved a great victory over Shibata Katsuie and Hayashi Hidesada near Shinogi Castle, his entire army continued to advance shortly thereafter, beginning to approach Suemori Castle while dispatching envoys to demand surrender.
Two days later, Suemori Castle, defended only by rookie ashigaru, opened its gates. Oda Nobuyuki and Shibata Katsuie knelt at the castle entrance, signifying their surrender.
Oda Nobunaga acted magnanimously, forgiving all past transgressions. He continued to acknowledge Oda Nobuyuki as his brother and recognized Shibata Katsuie’s position as senior retainer. However, he gathered their families, as well as his own mother, the Tsuchida Clan, and his sisters, and brought them all back to Nagoya Castle with the army. By the time they returned to Nagoya Castle, Hayashi Hidesada had once again become a senior retainer of the Oda Danjō no Chū family, though he no longer held the chief position.
A Qing could not accept this, clenching her fists tightly, unable to comprehend how the perpetrators responsible for so many deaths could be forgiven. She asked Yuan Ye, “Why?”
Yuan Ye had anticipated this. He gently pried open her clenched fists and sighed, “Because they are powerful Owari local lords. The relationships among the Owari local lords are deeply intertwined. Killing two of them would be easy, but it would signify that Oda Nobunaga could not forgive the rebellion of the Owari local lords and would have to continue fighting until one side was annihilated.
However, the current situation in Owari can no longer tolerate greater upheaval. With external enemies like the Oda Kiyosu Main Family, the Imagawa Family, and the Matsudaira Family watching covetously, they reached a new compromise.”
A Qing, unable to grasp the concept of politics, remained stunned for a while before asking blankly, “Then what about A Man’s revenge…”
“A Man’s revenge will naturally be ours to exact. We cannot rely on outsiders for such matters,” Yuan Ye said softly. “Don’t rush. We can take our time. Hayashi Hidesada won’t die anytime soon.”
A Qing gradually calmed down and gently squeezed Yuan Ye’s hand, indicating her trust in him. At that moment, Yayoi’s excited voice could be heard from outside: “Lord Saburo, Lord Maeda Sunshirō has arrived, and he’s brought Momorokuro and the others back!”
Yuan Ye was taken aback and quickly got up to greet them. Maeda Toshiie’s arrow wound had not yet healed, with half his head bandaged. Behind him followed more than ten battle-weary followers, including the Momoi Brothers. Upon seeing Yuan Ye, they immediately burst into tears, indicating they had suffered greatly during their captivity.
Yuan Ye quickly stepped forward to comfort them a few words, then looked at Maeda Toshiie. Maeda Toshiie explained, “Your Highness severely reprimanded Lord Hayashi Hidesada and ordered him to hand over all captured personnel. These are your people, though… only this many remain.”
“Thank you.”
“It’s nothing. Lord Hayashi Hidesada also captured many of Your Highness’s men; this was done incidentally,” Maeda Toshiie said after a moment’s thought. “Also, the money and livestock you lost earlier, Lord Hayashi Hidesada has returned a portion of the stolen goods. Those are with Lord Niwa and will be distributed to the affected families and the widows of the deceased… You should go find him later, though how much you can recover is uncertain.”
“I understand. Please thank Your Highness on my behalf.” Yuan Ye didn’t care much about money. It was enough that Oda Nobunaga remembered to help him get his people back.
“Alright, I’m leaving!” Maeda Toshiie’s business was concluded, and he prepared to depart without even sitting down.
Yuan Ye escorted him, asking as they walked, “How is Lord Sawaki Tohachiro’s injury recovering?”
The Aragiko Maeda Family had made a losing bet on both sides this time. Their second son had died, and their fifth son, Sawaki Yoshizane, had his right forearm severed. With the medical conditions of this era, even with Yuan Ye’s best efforts, it was impossible to guarantee his fingers would remain as agile as before. There was a high probability he would be unable to wield a sword again.
Maeda Toshiie sighed, saying with distress, “It’s much as you said before. It’s unlikely he’ll be able to fight on the front lines again…”
Yuan Ye also sighed with him, reminding him to tell Sawaki Yoshizane to come for a follow-up examination, then stopped and watched him leave.
Upon returning to his temporary residence, he found A Qing questioning the Momoi Brothers about their experiences after they parted that night. He heard Momorokuro say mournfully, “…A Man told us to escape first, so we split up and ran along the river bend. But we hadn’t gone far before I was captured. Then… then I saw A Man shot dead from a distance.”
This was expected. After all, it was incredibly difficult to survive in such a situation. However, knowing something was possible was one thing, and hearing the tragic news was another. Yuan Ye’s heart ached, not much less than the legendary heartbreak. He managed to maintain his composure and gently embraced A Qing’s trembling body to prevent her from impulsively rushing out to confront Hayashi Hidesada.
He remained calm, holding A Qing to prevent her from moving erratically, and asked Momorokuro, “What about A Man’s… body?”
“I don’t know. I only got a glimpse from afar before I was dragged away.”
A Qing wiped away her tears and, having recovered slightly, said to Yuan Ye, “I’ll go look by the river bend… Sister.”
“Go!” Yuan Ye saw that she had calmed down and didn’t stop her. He continued to ask Momorokuro, “And then you were held by the Hayashi family until now?”
Momorokuro and Ichishiro nodded together. Then Momorokuro stammered, “The Hayashi family kept asking us about the soy sauce workshop. We… we didn’t tell them, so they beat us. But… we didn’t say anything. Uh, then we were locked up.”
In the past, they only knew how to prepare ingredients and transport them. They had no idea what Yuan Ye had added, so they couldn’t say anything even if they wanted to. They had simply endured several beatings for nothing.
However, it was necessary to speak heroically rather than just saying they couldn’t say anything, as being captured was not an honorable thing.
Yuan Ye understood but didn’t care. He immediately asked again, “Were only people from the Hayashi family asking you, or were there others?”
“This… we’re not sure.” The Momoi Brothers exchanged glances and shook their heads in unison. They had been beaten into a daze at the time and were not familiar with the Hayashi family members, so they couldn’t tell if outsiders were present.
“Were there any bald heads?” Yuan Ye asked again, his suspicion piqued. He suspected some kind of deal between Aragiko Kannon Temple and the Hayashi family. If so, he would have to add another person to his list of enemies.
The Momoi Brothers looked at each other, then recalled for a moment, and shook their heads in unison: “It doesn’t seem like it.”
Yuan Ye nodded slightly. For now, it seemed the monks were not involved. It was just that the Hayashi family’s greed had gotten the better of them, leading them to chase him so desperately that night. Five thousand koku a year was indeed a significant sum, equivalent to the output of seven or eight villages. It was understandable that the Hayashi family wanted to obtain it.
He had always feared such incidents in the past, fearing forceful seizure by local lords or temple families. He had lived cautiously within Takeuchi Manor, never drawing attention to himself. He never expected to be unable to avoid it in the end.
He made another note of the Hayashi family’s debt. He then noticed the extremely fearful expressions of the Momoi Brothers while he was lost in thought. He quickly comforted them with gentle words, telling them to rest and recover from their injuries. He assured them that he remembered their sacrifices and the risks they had taken, and as long as the Yuan Ye Family existed, he would never treat them unfairly.
He then ordered people to take them away for treatment and bandaging. He went to comfort the more than ten followers who had returned alive, promising that the rewards and conditions A Man had pledged before her death were still valid and he would fulfill them all in the future, ensuring their near-death struggle would not be in vain.
After handling these miscellaneous matters, he thought for a moment, found an account book, and went to see his temporary superior, Niwa Nagahide. Niwa Nagahide was very pleased to see him, as Yuan Ye had been a great help during this period, and many things would not have been sorted out so quickly without him.
He was not very busy at the moment and was in a good mood. He ordered tea soup to be served to Yuan Ye and then asked with a smile, “Lord Saburo, you’ve come about the lost property, haven’t you?”
They had been interacting daily during this period, and their personalities were both refined and generous, to the point where they could address each other by their tsūna. However, Yuan Ye was considerably older than Niwa Nagahide, so Niwa Nagahide still added a respectful suffix.
Yuan Ye nodded and said with a smile, “I heard from Lord Maeda, so I came to take a look.”
Niwa Nagahide was aware of Yuan Ye’s heavy losses and had already prepared for him. He went to the low table and handed him a list. “There’s not enough to go around, but… of course, we must prioritize our own people. Please take a look at this first!”
Yuan Ye took it and saw a long list with a jumble of items, including rice, buckwheat, cattle, horses, donkeys, and copper coins. In total, the items he received were worth about two to three hundred koku.
These items were far from enough to compensate for his losses. However, even though Hayashi Hidesada had been forced to return a significant amount of stolen goods after his surrender, it was certainly not enough to compensate all the victimized samurai and their widows. This was merely a political gesture. The fact that he received this much was already due to Niwa Nagahide looking out for him.
Of course, if he had wanted a little more, Niwa Nagahide would likely have given him a bit more, but it was unnecessary.
He glanced at the list for a moment, put it away, and smiled at Niwa Nagahide, saying, “Thank you.”
“Not at all, these are Your Highness’s orders,” Niwa Nagahide did not take credit. Only Oda Nobunaga would do something so unconventional, ordering Hayashi Hidesada to compensate the victims in a manner that was almost humiliating. According to custom, there was no such thing as compensation; if one’s home was looted during wartime, it was simply bad luck.
“Then thank you, Lord Kazusa-no-suke,” Yuan Ye echoed his words and took out his account book to give to him, using the opportunity to discuss work matters. “This is the amount of saltpeter collected during this period. See if it’s enough.”
Niwa Nagahide was very concerned about this matter. He immediately took the account book and carefully reviewed it. Finally, after looking at the summary, he said with disappointment, “Is this all there is?”
“That’s all for now,” Yuan Ye asked calmly. “Is the shortfall still significant?”
“It’s far too little, less than a third of what Your Highness requires,” Niwa Nagahide said, very disappointed. He carefully reread the account book from the beginning, realizing that Yuan Ye had already considered all the places he could think of. He couldn’t think of any other source for saltpeter and hesitantly asked, “Are there no other solutions?”
“None for now,” Yuan Ye was not in a hurry. There was no point in being overly eager, and the request he was about to make would be difficult for people to accept. It would only be feasible when everyone was in a state of panic, thus minimizing resistance.
This was not difficult. Oda Nobunaga was very skilled at making his vassals frantic. He just had to wait.
Niwa Nagahide finally began to understand Hirate Masahide’s feelings. Serving Oda Nobunaga was truly difficult. He couldn’t help but sigh softly, “This is troublesome!”
