Chapter 201: Re-establishing the Alliance
Old Wanjin was Yuan Ye’s starting point, but after Yuan Ye forcibly landed on the Chita Peninsula, it was reclaimed by Oda Nobunaga.
Subsequently, Yuan Ye contributed greatly to the Owari unification war, and Oda Nobunaga gave it to him as a garrison. However, after the Battle of Okehazama, it was reclaimed by Oda Nobunaga again, as a warning—it was too close to Atsuta Port, and Oda Nobunaga would not allow him to continue garrisoning there, let alone allow his army to land there again.
Therefore, this was the first time Yuan Ye had returned here in two years. Stepping onto the pier, he found Old Wanjin completely desolate—the soil was poor, agriculture was failing, and with no industry and commerce, it had become dilapidated.
And on the pier of Old Wanjin, a group of people were already waiting for him, led by two acquaintances and one stranger.
The acquaintances were Niwa Nagahide and Maeda Toshiie, and the stranger was Mikurō, also known as “Second Monkey.”
This was a formal meeting. Niwa Nagahide, representing the Oda family, stepped forward to greet him with a slight bow, “Lord Saburo, you have worked hard.”
Yuan Ye bowed in return, “Lord Gorōzaemon, thank you for waiting.”
Indeed, with his rising status and fame, Niwa Nagahide had also changed his tsūna. He and Maeda Toshiie had changed theirs together; his new tsūna was Gorōzaemon, and Maeda Toshiie’s was Matazaemon.
After the formal greetings, Yuan Ye’s gaze immediately shifted to Mikurō, and he asked knowingly, “And who is this…”
Niwa Nagahide immediately introduced him, “This is Nakamura Mikurō. This time, our Lord has ordered the three of us to escort Your Highness to Kiyosu Castle.”
Mikurō scrutinized Yuan Ye, seemingly curious about this ally of the Oda family and Oda Nobunaga’s brother-in-law, but he was also quite composed. After a glance, he immediately lowered his head and respectfully greeted, “Lord Yuan Ye, please take care of me in the future.”
Yuan Ye smiled gently and nodded, “Thank you for your hard work this time, Lord Mikurō.”
Although he had been bogged down by various natural disasters for the past two years, he had paid considerable attention to this “Second Monkey.” This individual had achieved a remarkable feat at the Battle of Okehazama, rising to the rank of samurai, and was subsequently betrothed by Oda Nobunaga, becoming the adopted son-in-law and heir of the Nakamura family.
The Nakamura family, much like the Kinoshita family, was a declining clan with only the samurai title remaining. Oda Nobunaga had initially considered marrying Nene to him, making him Kinoshita Mikurō, but ultimately did not do so—Nene had been helping Yuan Ye manage the shops in Kiyosu Castle and Nagoya Castle and had been influenced by Yuan Ye. Oda Nobunaga seemed unwilling to have Mikurō become related to Yuan Ye. In the end, he chose the Nakamura family, which was on the verge of extinction, and married their widowed daughter, who had returned to her maiden home, to him.
This prevented Mikurō from receiving the support of the Asano family as he did in history, and his personal strength did not increase as much as in history. However, it did not affect the overall situation. Oda Nobunaga himself continued to provide him with extremely high support. Mikurō was now serving in the “Kawana Group,” operating in the Kiso River and Nagara River areas, frequently leading the Kawana Group in sneak attacks on Mino, accumulating considerable military achievements.
Once he developed further, Oda Nobunaga would likely be able to use him to check the Owari local lords, just as in history.
Now that Yuan Ye had finally formally met the “Second Monkey,” he did not chat with him for long. After exchanging greetings, he exchanged pleasantries with Niwa Nagahide, and then the three of them led their troops to escort him to Kiyosu Castle—Oda Nobunaga probably knew that he was disliked by the people of Owari and was worried that he might be ambushed by the local lords, so he specially sent his confidants to prevent any unpleasantness.
Yuan Ye rode on horseback, surrounded by guards, and soon Maeda Toshiie darted over.
Yuan Ye signaled the guards to make way and joked, “Long time no see, Lord Yazaemon of the Spear. Congratulations on your return to the Oda family.”
“Yazaemon of the Spear” was Maeda Toshiie’s new nickname.
In last year’s Battle of Moribe-guchi in Mino, he followed Shibata Katsuie into battle as a ronin, killed the renowned swordsman of Mino, Adachi Roppeibei, known as “Neck-taker Adachi,” led the charge in breaking the formation, and also killed two Ashigaru leaders of the Saito family, achieving great merit again. With Shibata Katsuie’s earnest plea, Oda Nobunaga finally “forgave” him, took him back into his service, and increased his annual salary to four hundred and fifty koku.
To outsiders, this was Maeda Toshiie’s turn for good fortune, but the actual situation was likely known only to a few, including Oda Nobunaga—Maeda Toshiie’s mission was successful. For the past two years, he had become Shibata Katsuie’s confidant, calling Shibata Katsuie “Fatherly Figure.” Now that Maeda Toshiie had returned to Oda Nobunaga’s side, Shibata Katsuie was probably delighted to have placed one of his own men by Oda Nobunaga’s side.
Therefore, Maeda Toshiie was actually a double agent now.
Maeda Toshiie, hearing Yuan Ye mention his military achievements and return, couldn’t help but laugh heartily, still appearing cheerful and guileless, repeatedly saying, “It is all due to the Lord’s grace, all due to the Lord’s grace!”
Yuan Ye also laughed along, “Don’t be so reckless next time. If you get driven away again, you won’t be able to come back.”
“No, no, from now on… I won’t.”
Maeda Toshiie seemed to have lingering fear. His ronin life of the past two to three years had taught him the harsh realities of life. After a few affirmations, he lowered his voice, “Thank you, Saburo.”
When he was down and wandering, even his wife, A Song, had to be placed with Shibata Katsuie. However, Yuan Ye remembered A Song and from time to time sent people with provisions. He also wrote to Nene, asking her to teach A Song business, and helped A Song open a “Weaving Shop” to purchase cloth and resell it to Nene in Kiyosu Castle, as well as to sell high-end dyed cloth from Xin Wanjin. She had earned quite a lot over these two years, making A Song a small rich woman who had not suffered any hardship.
Maeda Toshiie only learned of these things after he brought A Song back to Kiyosu Castle. He felt that Yuan Ye was a very loyal friend.
“With our friendship, there’s no need to say such things.” Yuan Ye had acted out of convenience, mainly pitying A Song for being so badly treated. But then he looked at Maeda Toshiie and asked, “Nene wrote to me, that matter… is it true?”
Maeda Toshiie’s face immediately became embarrassed, and he coughed dryly, “That… I have already handled it.”
“You rascal…”
Yuan Ye was speechless. He had initially thought it was false, as the free love between Maeda Toshiie and A Song was often praised in historical dramas as a model of unwavering love, but it turned out…
Maeda Toshiie had an affair during his marriage. While he was a guest at the Matsuoka family, he got involved with Otoku, the widowed sister of Matsuoka Sukenaga, and got her pregnant.
Yes, it happened about two years ago. The child had already been born by now and was named Kyūdai.
Maeda Toshiie had kept this matter a secret, but walls have ears. A widow suddenly having a child could not be hidden. The news spread from Atsuta all the way to Kiyosu Castle, and then circled back to Kasugai District. It was said that A Song cried bitterly, and Nene, as a good friend, wrote a letter to Yuan Ye, scolding Maeda Toshiie and essentially equating him with a dog.
Maeda Toshiie’s face became even more embarrassed, and he sighed, “Indeed, I have wronged A Song, but… I have confessed to A Song anyway, and… the child has been arranged for. He is now the adopted son of Lord Matsuoka. A Song has also sent a sum of money to the child. This matter… is in the past.”
“Alright, it’s your and A Song’s business anyway.”
Yuan Ye did not dwell on the matter. In his estimation, that child was likely Maeda Toshiie’s “pledge of allegiance.” Getting involved with Otoku was probably for the mission—without offering himself or providing a hostage to the local lords, why would the Owari local lords consider him one of their own, why would they trust him?
Being a spy is not easy either. Maeda Toshiie had truly served Oda Nobunaga, his Lord, with all his might.
Yuan Ye did not bring up the melodramatic affair of the couple again and instead asked, “I heard that Lord Kazusa-no-suke plans to move his castle to Komaki Mountain?”
Maeda Toshiie did not want to discuss his illegitimate child further and quickly followed Yuan Ye’s lead, “That’s right. Inuyama Castle has rebelled and is in league with Mino. Our Lord plans to move his castle forward to the plains around Komaki Mountain to avoid being caught off guard. However, many people opposed it. Later, the Lord said he intended to move his castle to Ninomiya Mountain, next to Inuyama Castle, and more people supported moving to Komaki Mountain. It has now been decided to build a castle on Komaki Mountain. Our Lord probably hopes you can help.”
“Helping is not a problem, but being caught off guard?” Yuan Ye was very concerned about this matter and immediately asked, “Is the pressure from Inuyama Castle very high?”
Maeda Toshiie did not hide anything. He had come precisely to inform Yuan Ye in advance on behalf of Oda Nobunaga, “The pressure is not high, but it is troublesome. If we directly send troops to Mino, our rear will be exposed to Inuyama Castle once we cross the Kiso River. Therefore, our Lord intends to deal with Inuyama Castle first.”
Yuan Ye nodded slowly. No wonder Oda Nobunaga was no longer angry with him and was actively trying to mend relations. It seemed that after Oda Nobukiyo and Saito Tatsuoki joined forces, Oda Nobunaga began to have troubles and intended to call upon his brother-in-law to help in the fight.
This was to be expected!
Yuan Ye also wanted to ease relations with Oda Nobunaga. Otherwise, with Oda Nobunaga amassing heavy troops along the Odaka River, his own pressure would be immense.
He then inquired in detail about the recent battles between the Oda army and the armies of Nobukiyo and Saito, as well as the attitude of the Owari local lords towards participating in the war. At this point, Niwa Nagahide also arrived and chatted with him for a while, stating that Oda Nobunaga had assigned him the task of building Komaki Mountain Castle and hoped Yuan Ye could provide some manpower and cement to quickly complete Komaki Mountain Castle and its associated branch castles.
It would be best to finish within one or two months. Oda Nobunaga could no longer wait to deal with Oda Nobukiyo. However, dealing with Oda Nobukiyo would surely involve rear attacks from Mino, so the defensive fortifications along this line would need to be built quickly.
Uh, volcanic ash cement has virtually no technical content, as it is a pre-Christian era technology. However, how to manufacture concrete and how to build a castle with concrete still requires technical expertise. Moreover, according to Niwa Nagahide, some troops from Wanjin would be needed to assist in the defense, to ensure Oda Nobunaga could focus his full attention on attacking Inuyama Castle.
This was likely Oda Nobunaga’s request, but it was being made through Niwa Nagahide to probe Yuan Ye first, to avoid an outright refusal that would make things awkward.
Yuan Ye understood this and immediately began to discuss and negotiate in detail with Niwa Nagahide.
In a sense, this could be considered the renewal of the alliance between the Oda and Yuan Ye families.
