Chapter 91: This is what it means to have just lost your father!
Hirate Masahide died, and Yuan Ye initially didn’t pay much attention. After all, this person had no special merits to be passed down. The reason he became famous was more because he was the teacher of “Sixth Heavenly Demon King” and “Japan’s Number One Person of the Warring States,” Oda Nobunaga.
But in reality, the impact of Hirate Masahide’s death far exceeded Yuan Ye’s imagination. The news of his suicide soon spread throughout Owari Province. People from all eight districts of Owari came to mourn him, and the number of attendees alone was comparable to the funeral of “Tiger of Owari,” Oda Nobuhide.
Yuan Ye hadn’t interacted much with Hirate Masahide before. Looking at the endless stream of mourners before him, he realized he had been negligent. He quickly asked A Man, and only then did he understand the status of the Hirate family in Owari Province. The Hirate family was a local lord who had migrated from Echizen Province along with the Oda family. The Oda family’s ancestor served as the Shugodai, and his deputy was the Hirate family’s ancestor. The two were genuine colleagues. It was only later that the Oda family split, the times became increasingly chaotic, and the Oda Danjō no Chū family rose to prominence that the Hirate family became vassals of the Oda Danjō family.
So, if we only consider justice, reputation, and legality, the Shiba Clan is the number one family in Owari, and the Oda family is the second family in Owari, then the Hirate family should be considered the third family in Owari Province.
This family’s foundation is already very deep. Furthermore, Hirate Masahide is sixty years old this year. Since he entered service at the age of thirteen, he has been refined, noble, meticulous, gentle, and talented, excelling in both Renga and Chinese Classics. Most families in all eight districts of Owari have received his care to some extent, and many heads of families have received his guidance. Over decades, he has accumulated immense popularity, and not a single person speaks ill of him. Even the gossipy wild child A Man, when mentioning him, has no negative stories to tell and speaks with some respect.
Looking at it this way, the loss for Oda Nobunaga due to Hirate Masahide’s suicide is several times greater than expected, not just the loss of a Senior Retainer who supported him.
“That’s exactly right. If it weren’t for Hirate Masahide’s desperate efforts to protect him back then, and personally persuading Saito Dosan to marry his daughter, Oda Nobunaga would definitely not have been able to secure the position of Heir to the Danjō no Chū family and might have been deposed long ago!” A Man strongly agreed with his view and sighed repeatedly, “Moreover, if it weren’t for this old man constantly keeping the vassals in check and cleaning up his messes, his vassals would have already strung him up, the Big Fool of a Lord. So, Oda Nobunaga is really in trouble this time.”
Yuan Ye nodded slightly, not sighing any further. Ever since his transmigration, he hadn’t seen Oda Nobunaga have a smooth time; he was always entangled in troubles, truly a mess.
He had almost gotten used to it and couldn’t sigh anymore. He walked towards Hirate Masahide’s mourning hall first, “I’ll go offer some incense too!”
He was just following the crowd. After all, all the Samurai in Takeuchi Manor had come voluntarily, even though many were just subordinate officials of the Danjō no Chū family and had never met an important person like Hirate Masahide. They had all formed groups to come and mourn, and they had also called out to him, so he didn’t want to appear too unconventional and followed along.
He had no prior relationship with the Hirate family, so his mourning was purely for the sake of it. After offering incense, the family kowtowed to him, and he returned the gesture, and that was that. Then, as he left, he hesitated for a moment, thinking that since he was already out, he might as well visit the Asano family on the way and have a cup of tea, deepening his “relationship” with Asano Nagamasa, thus maximizing the value of his outing.
So, he took A Man and A Qing and rode their horses towards the Asano family’s residence. But as they were nearing the Asano house, a follower suddenly called out from the roadside, “Lord Yuan Ye?!”
Yuan Ye looked closely and after recalling, remembered that it was Mura Hachiro, a follower of Maeda Toshiie. Immediately after, Maeda Toshiie poked his head out from the izakaya next to them and called out, “Lord Yuan Ye, what a coincidence! Come in and have a seat!”
Yuan Ye had nothing else to do today and wanted to ask about the current situation of the Oda Danjō no Chū family, so he went in.
In the izakaya, Maeda Toshiie requested a small private room. His younger brother, Sawaki Yoshizane, was also present.
The three of them were acquaintances, and Maeda Toshiie was not one for strict formalities. Yuan Ye sat down without much ceremony. Maeda Toshiie remembered that he didn’t drink alcohol and ordered a pot of hot tea soup for him, and also instructed Mura Hachiro to take care of A Man and A Qing, telling them to eat and drink whatever they liked.
Yuan Ye didn’t pay attention. After taking a couple of sips of tea, he casually asked, “Have you gone to mourn Lord Hirate Danjō no Chū yet?”
Maeda Toshiie casually refilled his cup and said directly, “Of course, we have. We came here for a drink after that.”
“Nothing to do?” Yuan Ye was a little surprised. Logically, as minor retainers, they should be by Oda Nobunaga’s side all day. “Why do you have nothing to do? Where is Lord Kazusa-no-suke?”
Maeda Toshiie trusted Yuan Ye and didn’t mind revealing Oda Nobunaga’s whereabouts. He sighed, “His Highness wants to build a Seishū-ji temple for the old Lord Hirate and erect a monument of merit. He personally took the master craftsman to choose the site. Moreover, he is in a bad mood now and doesn’t want a chaotic presence around him, so he gave most of us leave.”
“Seishū-ji temple?”
“Yes, it will probably be built in the area of Kōki village in Kasugai District. That’s where the old Lord Hirate was born.”
“I see…” Yuan Ye nodded slightly. No wonder he hadn’t heard any news from Oda Nobunaga these past few days. So he was busy with these matters. It seemed he was very sad about Hirate Masahide’s death and took his posthumous affairs very seriously, even building a temple specifically to enshrine him.
Honestly, this was much better than how he treated his own father. When his father died, he caused a scene at the funeral, performing an inverted incense lighting, leaving no dignity for his father at all.
As he was pondering this, he suddenly heard someone in the next room faintly mention the term “Lord Kazusa-no-suke” and lament Hirate Masahide’s loyalty, saying that he was able to admonish his lord to return to the right path by sacrificing his life, writing the text “Five Admonitions”《》, truly a model of a samurai…
The speakers seemed to be several old local warriors, and they had been drinking, so their voices were not quiet and they were not being discreet at all.
There was nothing to be discreet about; they were praising Hirate Masahide, which was normal idle chat. However, Maeda Toshiie vaguely heard it and his face immediately turned angry. He stood up as if he was about to rush over and give them a good beating, but his younger brother Sawaki Yoshizane pulled his sleeve hard, and he sat down resentfully, but still with a look of indignation.
Yuan Ye looked at him, then listened carefully to the discussion next door, and asked him, “This ‘Five Admonitions’《》 is…”
Sawaki Yoshizane sighed and answered for his brother, “It’s a new rumor. It says that the old Lord Hirate sacrificed his life to admonish His Highness, and before he died, he left a scroll of admonitions for His Highness, containing five points of advice, the content of which…”
He found it inconvenient to elaborate on the content. He was now a minor retainer of Oda Nobunaga, and it would be inappropriate to speak ill of his lord. However, Yuan Ye could probably guess that it was likely advice for Oda Nobunaga not to act recklessly, not to be unconventional and arbitrary, and to respect the important retainers in the family, respect his mother, and care for his younger brother, and so on.
Yuan Ye asked, “So, Lord Hirate did not leave behind any admonitions?”
“Of course not!” Maeda Toshiie interjected, his voice not quiet, but he was quickly tugged at the sleeve by Sawaki Yoshizane, and his voice lowered again, “The old Lord Hirate was not admonishing with his death at all, how could he have left behind admonitions!”
“Not admonishing with his death? Then why did Lord Hirate…” Yuan Ye did not expect there to be an inside story to this matter. After all, besides admonishing with his death, he really couldn’t think of any reason why Hirate Masahide, who was fine, would commit suicide.
“That’s because…”
Maeda Toshiie was about to answer, but was immediately stopped by Sawaki Yoshizane. Sawaki Yoshizane apologized to Yuan Ye, “I’m sorry, Lord Yuan Ye, His Highness has issued a gag order, and we are not allowed to reveal it.”
Maeda Toshiie, however, shook his head, “Lord Yuan Ye is fine, he’s not an outsider.”
Sawaki Yoshizane hesitated for a moment, recalling that Oda Nobunaga seemed to care a lot about Yuan Ye’s affairs, asking about him from time to time. Moreover, Yuan Ye had participated in every campaign and saved many lives. Even though he hadn’t officially joined the Oda Danjō no Chū family yet, he seemed to be one of them.
At least he was half one of them. Furthermore, even if Yuan Ye knew about this, it would not harm his lord. His lord concealed the truth more out of personal reasons, and he actually opposed it, but all the minor retainers could not sway Oda Nobunaga, their lord.
He no longer stopped them, thinking it would be good to dispel some rumors for a half-insider. Maeda Toshiie, regardless of what he thought, directly told Yuan Ye, “The reason the old Lord Hirate committed suicide has nothing to do with His Highness; it was all Hirate Nagamasa’s fault. Didn’t you notice that bastard didn’t show up today? That bastard has already been locked up!”
Hirate Nagamasa?
Yuan Ye knew that this was Hirate Masahide’s eldest son and heir. He had even been ambushed in the market town by people sent by Oda Nobunaga and beaten up, but he had never met this person. He hadn’t noticed at the mourning hall whether he was present or not, but it didn’t matter. He was just curious, “What does he have to do with it?”
“A lot! He colluded with the Imagawa family. The ambush of the flanking force at Shirakawa Entrance was his leak of information.” Maeda Toshiie gritted his teeth in hatred when he mentioned this, took a big gulp of wine, and said, “Otherwise, if over five hundred people had taken the planned detour to enter the battlefield and launched a surprise attack, even with the Imagawa family’s superior numbers, the outcome of the Battle of Shigeno would have been uncertain. As a result, this bastard not only caused the deaths of four to five hundred of our men but also caused us to lose an entire district. He deserves to be cut into a thousand pieces!”
“So it was him?” Yuan Ye finally began to understand. No wonder Oda Nobunaga’s last battle was so disastrous. “Who discovered he was a spy? Could it be…”
Maeda Toshiie sighed, “It was the old Lord Hirate. He discovered something was wrong and tied up Hirate Nagamasa, that bastard, and handed him over to His Highness, along with a letter of apology. At that time, His Highness sensed something was amiss and rushed us to the old man’s residence. But it was too late. The old Lord Hirate was already in the tea room…”
He paused, then added in a low voice, “So, please don’t misunderstand His Highness. The old Lord Hirate did get angry with His Highness sometimes, but he never lost hope in him. Those rumors are probably… some people in Suemori Castle are taking advantage of the situation to cause trouble. They have always liked to tarnish His Highness’s reputation in private. Also, you should keep this matter to yourself. His Highness does not wish for the old man to be pure in life and yet bear infamy in death—His Highness said that the old man only had merits, no faults!”
Yuan Ye was not one to gossip, so he naturally had no objections and nodded slightly, “I understand. I won’t mention this to anyone.”
Maeda Toshiie also nodded, indicating he believed him, then took another sip of wine and sighed somewhat dejectedly, “With the old Lord Hirate gone, I don’t know what will happen in the future…”
With Hirate Masahide alive, Oda Nobunaga still had a restraint. No matter how much the minor retainers advised him, it was useless. Only Hirate Masahide could say a few words. And even if Oda Nobunaga insisted on his own ideas, with Hirate Masahide present, many things had a buffer. But now that Hirate Masahide was suddenly gone, even this straightforward person began to feel troubled, seemingly worried that Oda Nobunaga would completely let loose, ride freely, and truly fly to the heavens and earth.
Yuan Ye shook his head. Being in the midst of history, he realized that some matters were so complex that they could not be explained by a few lines written by some scholar in later generations. He could no longer predict the future either—everything had its hidden reasons, and it didn’t align with many explanations from later generations. The “historical materials” he possessed were almost useless.
He didn’t pick up Maeda Toshiie’s gloomy topic and instead asked about the situation in Suemori Castle. He found that apart from some minor disturbances, Suemori Castle seemed to be stable. Then he asked about Niwa Nagahide and found that Niwa Nagahide had gone to Sakai to purchase matchlock guns and had not yet returned. It was likely that the production there was also poor, and it was not an easy task to gather three hundred matchlock guns with quality and quantity guaranteed, and it was highly possible that he would not return this year.
After chatting idly for a while, he took his leave and, with A Man and A Qing, continued towards the Asano family’s residence. However, his mind was still on Hirate Masahide—no wonder Hirate Masahide committed seppuku; it was to atone for the Hirate family causing the Danjō no Chū family to lose a district. Moreover, the young Oda Nobunaga was quite humane, willing to endure infamy rather than attribute the responsibility for the defeat to his teacher, to prevent the entire Hirate family from being purged.
Perhaps to him, Hirate Masahide, who had been with him since he was two years old, and his wet nurse Lady Ikeda, were more like parents than Oda Nobuhide and Lady Tsuchida!
In that case, Oda Nobunaga had just lost his father!
