Chapter 67: Like Being Trapped in Mud!
The next morning, as soon as Yuan Ye got up, good news arrived. The Matsudaira family had abandoned their raid, retreated along the Kasuga River after burning their camp, and not long after, Oda Nobunaga also issued an order to return to Nagoya Castle.
Finally, this battle of Dongjin Ye ended. They had nominally repelled the Matsudaira family and killed an enemy general. The results seemed acceptable, but in reality, they had suffered a major defeat. Not only did they return home in disarray, but Oda Nobunaga might also be criticized by the old retainers.
Of course, this had little to do with Yuan Ye. How Oda Nobunaga was scolded was none of his business. However, he couldn’t return to Takeuchi Manor to continue his soy sauce business for a while and needed to stay in Nagoya Castle for some time—he was a doctor who had been paid, and he had to wait until the injured were mostly recovered before he could leave.
Fortunately, Oda Nobunaga valued these followers greatly and did his best to provide all conditions conducive to their recovery. Not only did he designate a small area for the injured with strict hygiene measures, but he also assigned more than ten female servants to help the injured with cooking and laundry. He even assigned a small courtyard specifically to Yuan Ye, and it was unclear whether it was temporarily lent to him or given to him outright.
However, Oda Nobunaga himself did not reappear, nor did Maeda Toshiie and other close attendants and pages. They seemed to have vanished.
Yuan Ye didn’t bother with these matters and continued to be the “Medical Magistrate.” After two days passed like this, a samurai he didn’t recognize suddenly visited him and presented him with a horse, and it was a fine horse. Its height at the shoulder was nearly 1.4 meters, its legs were thick, and its physique was very robust—by modern standards of 147, it was still a pony, but in Japan, it was indeed a first-class horse.
“It’s a stallion, and quite large. No wonder its physique is so magnificent!” A Man peered under the horse’s belly and exclaimed immediately.
You wild child, you really make people…
Yuan Ye quickly grabbed her collar and lifted her up, afraid she would cause a scandal of harassing the horse. However, patting the horse’s plump hindquarters, he felt that this horse was worth at least forty *kan*. He was very satisfied—no wonder Japanese samurai loved to fight so much. War profits were indeed easy to make. This trip hadn’t been too arduous, and he had earned one hundred and forty *kan*, almost as much as he earned selling soy sauce for a month.
A Man was also happy. Given Yuan Ye’s usual behavior, with this fine horse, the three-flower mare would surely be hers and A Qing’s to ride from now on. She couldn’t help but pat the horse’s hindquarters with satisfaction and asked curiously, “Who was that guy who just came? Why did he give you such a fine horse for free?”
“He’s Hirate Masahide’s vassal, saying it’s a thank-you gift!” Yuan Ye waved his hand, signaling A Qing to take the horse to the stable, and then explained the general situation to A Man.
Well, there wasn’t much to explain. Hirate Masahide, as a senior retainer of the Oda Danjō no Chū family and the teacher of the new head of the family, didn’t have much to say to a “rōnin.” He simply sent a vassal to deliver a thank-you gift, expressing gratitude for his active participation in the “Battle of Dongjin Ye,” and that was it.
Perhaps Hirate Masahide knew the details of the “Battle of Dongjin Ye” and also knew that Oda Nobunaga’s awkward attempt at hospitality had failed, and Yuan Ye had received no reward. So, he quickly came to rectify the situation, so as not to chill the hearts of a meritorious official.
A Man suddenly understood after listening and exclaimed, “So he’s cleaning up after the Big Fool. As expected, the old man is considerate, much better than the greenhorn Big Fool!”
After speaking, she glanced at Yuan Ye meaningfully and said, “Indeed, having an elder at home is like having a treasure. The Big Fool should really listen to the elders at home more and not be so autocratic. That way, life will get better and better!”
Yuan Ye understood. There were no outsiders here, so he didn’t need to pretend. He directly gave her a sidelong glance and said irritably, “Stop being sarcastic. Do we have any elders at home?”
“I’m quite old!”
“Old my foot! I’m seven or eight years older than you!”
“What’s the use of being seven or eight years older!” A Man retorted directly, then her expression became a little melancholic. “Just looking at you, you’ve never really suffered much hardship since you were little. I’ve suffered a lot more… If you really count, I should be seven or eight years older than you!”
Hearing her say this, Yuan Ye was stunned for a moment and also said melancholically, “I suffered a lot of hardship when I was a child too, you just didn’t know about it.”
“What hardships did you suffer as a child? Tell me about it?” A Man became curious.
“Let’s not talk about it, let’s not talk about it!” Yuan Ye didn’t want to compare who had a more miserable childhood. He felt he probably wouldn’t win—he was often subjected to domestic violence as a child, which would be quite tragic in the modern era, but insignificant in ancient times. A Man, on the other hand, had lost her entire family. Her “misery” was written in human lives, and he didn’t have the confidence to compare.
He quickly changed the subject and asked her seriously, “What’s the situation outside now?”
“Not good. The Danjō no Chū family is in an even worse state than before.” A Man said with a hint of schadenfreude. “The Danjō no Chū family claims to have repelled the Matsudaira family, but the truth of what happened can’t be hidden from anyone. Oda Nobunaga, that big fool, has lost face again this time. People are all discussing it outside, making all sorts of jokes about him. I estimate that the local powerful families will respect him even less.”
“Is that so…” Yuan Ye pondered for a moment, thinking it was normal. After all, he was now unsure himself and strongly suspected that he had transmigrated to a strange parallel universe. His confidence in Oda Nobunaga had greatly diminished—Oda Nobunaga had unified Owari Province in history, but now he was being beaten to a pulp, and there was no sign of unification in Owari.
It was very strange, very unlike history, making it impossible not to doubt.
He pondered for a while and then asked, “What about Oda Nobunaga? What is he doing now?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t heard of him appearing in the last two days. He’s probably hiding at home playing dead!” A Man said, then asked, “Should I sneak into his house to see what he’s doing?”
“That’s not necessary. Causing trouble wouldn’t be worth it.” Yuan Ye was just asking casually. It didn’t matter if he didn’t know, it wouldn’t have a big impact. After thinking for a moment, he instructed A Man, “You’re free these days, go find some bean cakes. It’s best if you can find one or two merchants who can supply bean cakes stably in the long term. Also, see where we can get high-quality sulfur and alkali.”
Let Oda Nobunaga worry about his own affairs. Yuan Ye couldn’t manage it even if he wanted to. He still had to worry about his own business and look for raw material suppliers for the future.
“It’s a small matter, leave it to me! If I can’t find them in the market towns of Nagoya Castle, I’ll make another trip to Atsuta!” A Man patted her chest and agreed. She was also very dedicated to Yuan Ye’s soy sauce business. After chatting with him for a couple more sentences, she turned and ambled out to get to work.
Yuan Ye also turned back into the house, preparing to ponder what other ways there were to make money, so he could start them all when he returned home.
…………
During the day, Yuan Ye managed his temporary hospital and worried about his business. At night, he continued to hold his “night school,” teaching A Man, A Qing, Yayoi, and others to read. In this semi-idle, semi-busy state, five or six days quickly passed. The injuries of the wounded had also stabilized generally, as they were mostly minor injuries. Even if left unattended, most of them wouldn’t die.
Yuan Ye felt that his task was basically completed and prepared to inform Oda Nobunaga before leaving. However, before he could even step out, he heard the sound of conch shells, which were short and seemed to be for an urgent assembly of important retainers.
He immediately felt an ominous premonition, thinking that he might not be able to leave for a while.
As expected, not long after, A Man came running like lightning, her face and hair covered in sweat. From a distance, she shouted, “It’s bad, it’s bad! Someone’s attacking again!”
Yuan Ye quickly asked, “Who’s attacking? Has the Matsudaira family returned?”
“It’s not the Matsudaira family, it’s the Shiba family… No, it’s not the Shiba family, it’s the Kiyosu Oda family attacking!” A Man wiped the sweat from her face, also feeling that going home was unlikely, and sighed, “The Kiyosu Oda family suddenly sent troops and captured Matsuba and Fukada castles within a day. The castle defenders, one was captured, and the other has disappeared somewhere. Now the Oda Danjō no Chū family is in some disarray.”
“Let’s talk inside!” Yuan Ye quickly pulled her into the house and took out a map, asking her, “Where are Matsuba and Fukada? Isn’t the Kiyosu Oda family the main family of the Danjō no Chū family? Why did they suddenly attack?”
A Man glanced at the map and pointed northwest of Aragiko Castle, saying, “They’re probably here. They are two small castles, but Matsuba Castle controls Matsuba Entrance, and Fukada Castle controls Sanbonmoku. They are two important passes.”
She paused and added, “Why the Kiyosu Oda family suddenly attacked is still unclear. They probably saw that the Big Fool had just inherited the position of head of the family and had suffered a defeat, so their morale was unstable, and they wanted to take advantage of the situation. Moreover, they are not using the name of the Kiyosu Oda family for this expedition; they are using the banner of the Owari Shugo, the Shiba family. Strictly speaking, it’s not the main family attacking a branch family.”
Yuan Ye carefully examined the map and found that the locations of Matsuba and Fukada castles were indeed crucial. From there, they could split the territory of the Danjō no Chū family in half at any time to the south, or at least cut off the land transportation routes between Shimazu and Atsuta, reducing the economic strength of the Danjō no Chū family by half.
It seemed that this battle was also inevitable…
This is truly a turbulent time. I don’t even have time to do business and make money. It’s killing me!
He sighed deeply. A Man, having gathered the news, ran back and was very thirsty. She picked up his tea bowl, saw there was still half a bowl of leftover tea, and drank it down in two gulps. Then, wiping her mouth, she asked, “What do we do now?”
She also wanted to go home and make soy sauce, but now fighting had broken out again.
“I don’t know either. Let’s first prepare to leave Owari for refuge at any time, and then see what the Oda Danjō no Chū family does!” Yuan Ye sighed again. He had been in trouble for only a little over a hundred days, and Owari Province was already at war, with the scale of the war growing larger and larger. He really had no good solution—if he had a year, he was confident he could move freely, but in just over three months, he had only just adapted to the environment and had no time to do anything, which was somewhat helpless.
At this moment, he, a modern person born into peace and stability, finally deeply understood how precious stability and peace were!
Once war begins, all your actions lose their freedom, like being trapped in quicksand!
