Chapter 231: Endure
Oda Nobunaga had actually shown considerable respect to Azai Nagamasa, inviting two allies early to demonstrate the sincerity of their alliance. However, Azai Nagamasa showed him no such courtesy, breaking their prior agreement on a whim, as if he didn’t consider Nobunaga a person at all.
Yuan Ye hadn’t expected such a monstrous complication to arise midway. Purely from a historical perspective, the initial cooperation between the Oda and Azai families was quite pleasant. During Oda Nobunaga’s campaign to conquer Mino, Azai Nagamasa had indeed held back the Rokkaku family firmly, making the Oda’s annexation of Mino unusually smooth. He hadn’t anticipated that even forming an alliance between the two families would be so fraught with difficulty.
This didn’t seem quite right. Oda Nobunaga needed Azai Nagamasa’s help, and Azai Nagamasa equally needed Oda Nobunaga’s support. Furthermore, in terms of strength, the Oda family far surpassed the Azai family; it should have been the Azai family begging the Oda family. Azai Nagamasa could muster at most a little over ten thousand troops, while Oda Nobunaga could easily deploy an army of that size now.
If they added Matsudaira Motoyasu and Yuan Ye, a three-on-one situation would crush the Azai family in minutes.
Yuan Ye was somewhat perplexed by Azai Nagamasa’s actions and asked A Qing, “What new demands did the Azai family make of the Oda family? Has that been investigated?”
This was not difficult to investigate. Oda Nobunaga had been furious at the time, kicking over his low table. With many people present, A Qing directly took out her small notebook and said softly, “It has been investigated. The Azai family demanded that the Oda family not advance towards the Asakura family during the alliance. If there were special circumstances requiring an attack on the Asakura family, they would need to be notified and obtain permission from the Azai family beforehand.”
“The Asakura family?”
Yuan Ye blinked, surprised that the Asakura family of Echizen Province was involved. He stroked his chin and pondered.
The Asakura family and the Oda family shared a common origin, having both served under the Shiba Clan previously. After the Onin War broke out, with the great battle between the Eastern and Western armies, the Asakura family seized the opportunity to defect and occupied Echizen Province, the former stronghold of the Shiba Clan.
The Shiba Clan then fled to Owari, causing the Oda family to split into the Upper Four Districts and the Lower Four Districts, leading to decades of chaos.
To this day, the Shiba Clan has been nearly wiped out in the Oda family’s civil wars. However, nominally, the Oda family still supported the Shiba Clan, recognizing them as the nominal Shugo. Thus, there was naturally an implicit hostile relationship with the Asakura family, the traitors to the Shiba Clan.
Indeed, the Asakura family had consistently supported the Saito family. During the era of the “Tiger of Owari,” when Oda Nobuhide fought against Saito Dosan, the Asakura family frequently went to Mino to assist.
Yuan Ye was lost in thought, while A Qing, thinking he was asking her, continued without looking up, reading from her notes, “Yes, it is said that since the Azai family began ruling Northern Omi, they have been on good terms with the Asakura family for three generations. They received numerous rescues from the Asakura family when confronting the Rokkaku family, and their important retainers frequently intermarried. Therefore, it is rumored that many of the Azai family’s relatives and important retainers opposed the alliance with the Oda family, causing significant turmoil recently.”
She paused, closed her notebook, and added, “This information also comes from Oda Nobunaga’s residence. Some Oda samurai have publicly declared their intention to teach the Azai family a lesson.”
“So that’s how it is…” Yuan Ye nodded slowly, finally understanding the situation. Azai Nagamasa was different from them.
Oda Nobunaga had been implementing “separation of soldiers and farmers,” wishing to eliminate all second-tier lords to consolidate his power. Although he hadn’t achieved great success, he had always focused on cultivating his direct forces, sufficient to suppress all of Owari. His subordinates, such as Shibata and the Hayashi clan, dared not make a sound, while minor local lords like Maeda and Sassa dared not even utter a peep, holding back any complaints.
Yuan Ye, needless to say, had driven away all the samurai on the Chita Peninsula and dismantled any temples or shrines that were even slightly improper. He was a true “one-man rule,” with no second-tier lords under him, living the most comfortably.
Matsudaira Motoyasu was slightly less successful in this regard, having many second-tier lords who also liked to act independently. However, due to the presence of the even more troublesome Imagawa family and his own considerable skill and charisma, the Mikawa local lords currently obeyed him, with virtually no instances of feigned compliance.
However, Azai Nagamasa’s situation seemed different; he appeared unable to control the local lords of Northern Omi.
This was perhaps normal. After all, Azai Nagamasa’s rise to power was due to the local lords of Northern Omi exiling his father. If they could exile their head of the family, the Azai family’s direct forces were likely very weak, or even nonexistent. Moreover, Azai Nagamasa was only seventeen or eighteen years old, still a young man. In such circumstances, it wasn’t strange that he couldn’t keep his subordinate local lords in check.
When Oda Nobunaga was seventeen or eighteen, he was also troubled by the local lords of Owari, a fact Yuan Ye had witnessed firsthand. It was likely that Northern Omi was not much better than Owari.
In a sense, Azai Nagamasa was probably a puppet put forth by the local lords of Northern Omi. This “Eagle of Omi” was actually undeserving of his reputation, as his word often meant nothing in many matters.
If not for the immense pressure from the Rokkaku family, forcing the local lords of Northern Omi to unite, perhaps the throne of the overlord of Northern Omi would not have fallen to Azai Nagamasa. It would have devolved into a chaotic free-for-all until a true strongman emerged.
Currently, it seemed that Azai Nagamasa greatly desired an alliance with the Oda family, as it would help him maintain his ruling position in Northern Omi. However, some of his subordinate local lords might not like it, likely not wanting the head of the family’s power to grow too strong. This was probably why such a bizarre situation arose, with last-minute demands that seemed like a joke.
The Azai family was not to be feared. Such a force, not even unified internally, lacked resilience and could be easily broken!
Having understood the internal situation of the Azai family, Yuan Ye couldn’t help but underestimate them slightly and promptly put the matter out of his mind.
Whatever, the Azai family had no future and was irrelevant to him, even useless. He would let Oda Nobunaga handle it himself. Moreover, historically speaking, Oda Nobunaga endured this slight, so let him endure it.
…
Although Oda Nobunaga was an “eccentric” with peculiar tastes and a unique way of doing things, as a Warring States Daimyo, he was quite competent and could be incredibly patient at times.
He could tolerate the rebellion of his chief senior retainer, whom he had watched grow up, without killing him, and even continued to grant him the position of nominal senior retainer to keep him around.
When local lords assisted in rebellion, such as Shibata Katsuie, he could forgive them magnanimously, not only sparing their families from confiscation and extermination but also bestowing high positions upon them.
Even when his own brothers rebelled, he could overlook it. His own brothers, who rebelled twice, were merely placed under house arrest. Of course, his own brother did die, and it was rumored he had him assassinated, but there was no proof, and it couldn’t be ruled out that he died of a sudden illness or depression.
His mother, who disliked him and wanted to strip him of his inheritance right, was merely confined without much mistreatment. Even when Yuan Ye preemptively seized Chita District, he didn’t rashly cross the Odaka River to deal with the disobedient troublemaker Yuan Ye. Instead, to stabilize the situation and ensure the continuous supply of gunpowder and weaponry, he married his sister to him.
Oda Nobunaga was actually a person with clear goals. To achieve them, he could sometimes endure what others could not. And now, to contain the Rokkaku family and prevent them from causing trouble during his conquest of Mino, he endured again. This was not the Oda Nobunaga from history books who would kill a bird if it didn’t sing, relying solely on killing and acting on impulse; he would not have survived this long.
After Oda Nobunaga spent a night raging in his residence, as Yuan Ye expected, he agreed to the Azai family’s new conditions. He even agreed to hold the alliance meeting in the wilderness near Matsuba Castle, as requested by the Azai family.
If the meeting were held at Komaki Mountain Castle, the alliance leader would naturally be Oda Nobunaga. However, the Azai family insisted on him coming to them, which, in a sense, was a demand for equal treatment, telling Oda Nobunaga not to assume he would be the dominant party in the future.
Alternatively, it was possible that some individuals within the Azai family intended to sabotage this alliance, thus repeatedly challenging Oda Nobunaga’s bottom line, hoping he would lose his temper and expel the Azai family.
From a historical perspective, this was an act of near suicidal recklessness, yet the Azai family did it. Throughout this, Azai Nagamasa seemed indecisive, wavering back and forth, sometimes sending attendant vassals to apologize and show goodwill, and at other times sending envoys to urge Oda Nobunaga to hurry to Matsuba Castle, acting like a madman.
Rumors even spread in the vicinity of Komaki Mountain Castle, claiming that Azai Nagamasa had resolved to assassinate Oda Nobunaga during this alliance meeting to please a more important ally, the Asakura family.
Oda Nobunaga seemed to see and hear none of this. Even though his good mood was completely ruined, he still put on a dark face and, bringing Yuan Ye and Matsudaira Motoyasu, personally went to ensure this alliance was formed.
It had to be said that Oda Nobunaga was a man of firm conviction. When he set out to do something, he would give it his all, not caring about losing face, much like how in history, to obtain enough gunpowder, he could swallow his pride and study under wealthy merchants affiliated with the Hongan-ji Temple.
Yuan Ye was indifferent. Oda Nobunaga wanted Mino; he was merely bound by an oath and had to show up to support him. He let Oda Nobunaga fuss about. Matsudaira Motoyasu remained dutiful and obedient, agreeing with whatever Oda Nobunaga said, not feeling it was shameful to eagerly pursue an alliance.
All three families had the capability to defeat the Azai family individually, yet they were actively seeking to curry favor with them. It could only be said that the ways of the world were truly strange; this world was a giant makeshift stage where all sorts of absurd things happened.
However, Yuan Ye was certain of one thing: Oda Nobunaga harbored resentment towards the Azai family. It was highly likely that he would show them no mercy later, intending to kill Azai Nagamasa, his son-in-law and brother-in-law, and exterminate the Azai family. The root of this was here – the Azai family was capable of exhausting Oda Nobunaga’s patience in one go. Otherwise, given Oda Nobunaga’s personality, even after the “Bag of Beans” incident, Azai Nagamasa might not have died.
Yuan Ye had lost interest in Azai Nagamasa, considering him an unsuitable partner for cooperation. He simply followed along to watch the spectacle, and indeed, there was no shortage of drama. During the alliance meeting, the Azai family caused another stir, stating that while a marriage alliance was acceptable, it could not be Princess A’ichi.
The reason given was that Princess A’ichi had a bad reputation. Her biological father, Oda Nobumitsu, was a god-forsaken individual who violated “sacred oaths,” and his descendants were destined for ill fortune. Many Azai family retainers opposed Azai Nagamasa marrying such a woman, fearing the Azai family would also suffer disaster. They disregarded the fact that Princess A’ichi was Oda Nobunaga’s cousin and chief adopted daughter. Princess A’ichi held a special place for Oda Nobunaga; during Oda Nobunaga’s most difficult times, his uncle Oda Nobumitsu was his most steadfast supporter. Without Oda Nobumitsu, Oda Nobunaga might have perished.
Now that Princess A’ichi was subjected to such insult, Oda Nobunaga was furious. He was willing to marry Princess A’ichi purely to demonstrate sincerity, hoping to gain a reliable ally in the Kinki region to ensure the smooth progress of his conquest of Mino. This was why he had invested so heavily, only for his sincerity to be thrown to the dogs.
However, he was now in a difficult position. Whether he continued to endure and be humiliated or directly turned hostile, both would be disadvantageous to him. He privately cursed the Azai family incessantly. Fortunately, Azai Nagamasa was aware of Princess A’ichi’s special status within the Oda family. To prevent his own family from being truly sidelined by the local lords below him and to secure the strong support of Oda Nobunaga, he showed rare assertiveness, forcefully suppressing the dissenting voices and declaring that he would marry none other than Princess A’ichi.
Just discussing the marriage contract alone caused the two families to bicker for nearly three days. During this time, several minor farces occurred before it was grudgingly finalized. Princess A’ichi was still young, so it was a temporary engagement, with the actual marriage to be considered in a few years. In the interim, Azai Nagamasa would return to divorce his current wife and send her to become a nun.
Their son could remain, to be adopted by Princess A’ichi.
What a mess of bizarre affairs this was! Yuan Ye’s eyes were opened once again. Even after living in this era for nearly ten years, some things still seemed incredibly surreal to him.
With the marriage contract between the two families established, the alliance was set in stone, and subsequent matters proceeded much more smoothly. Oda Nobunaga and Azai Nagamasa swore oaths before their respective guardian deities, vowing to support each other and work together with one heart.
Specifically, the Azai family would exert all their effort in Omi to tie down the Rokkaku family, while simultaneously persuading the Asakura family to cease their aid to the Saito family. In return, Oda Nobunaga would marry off his most beloved chief adopted daughter and guarantee that after dealing with the Saito family, he would help the Azai family deal with the Rokkaku family.
This could be considered a case of both sides getting what they needed!
Once the alliance was formed, the Azai family noisily departed the way they came. Oda Nobunaga finally had free hands to begin executing his father-in-law Saito Dosan’s dying wish and prepare to reclaim Mino.
The first order of business was to eliminate Oda Nobukiyo, the traitorous Castle Lord of Inuyama Castle in Owari!
