Chapter 68: That Old Beast A Man, Is She Dead Already?
Oda Nobunaga made a serious mistake by letting A Man into Nagoya Castle. And A Man, worthy of being the sole successor to the Life Preservation Style Sun Technique, integrated with the castle’s laborers and maids in just seven or eight days. She could indirectly obtain any information she wanted, and even piece together “military secrets.”
Yuan Ye also played a crucial role in this. Oda Nobunaga gave him a “Kawase” worth one hundred Kan, which he let A Man sell in the market town. His funds immediately became more ample, and he directly allocated twenty Kan as “activity expenses” for A Man, greatly increasing her ability to network and leading to an ever-growing circle of drinking and eating friends.
Of course, these twenty Kan were not given to her directly. She indulged in all four vices: eating, drinking, whoring, and gambling. As long as Yuan Ye had a shred of sense, he wouldn’t dare put the money in her hands. Therefore, the money was given to A Qing, with instructions for A Man to find A Qing and explain the reasons for any expenses, sign and seal the documents, keep proper accounts, and be reimbursed for actual expenses, ensuring a clear distinction between public and private funds and preventing embezzlement. A Qing was a stubborn person who would neither help A Man falsify requests for funds nor be easily deceived by her, making her the most ideal supervisor.
A Man was naturally displeased with this, feeling that Yuan Ye didn’t trust her at all and it broke her heart. She protested to Yuan Ye for several days, even attempting to go on a hunger strike to prove that she would never embezzle funds, let alone gamble them away. However, she couldn’t endure it after half a meal and the matter eventually fizzled out.
In short, A Man had only been in Nagoya Castle for seven or eight days, but she already had a group of drinking and eating friends, both men and women, old and young, and even a circle of gambling buddies. Her information network was quite extensive; a single outing could bring Yuan Ye the latest news from the Danjō no Chū family.
Oda Nobutomo of Kiyosu, under the banner of Owari Shugo Shiba Yoshimune, suddenly advanced, capturing Matsuba and Fukada Castles. He then began constructing fortresses at Matsuba Entrance and Sanbonmoku, seemingly intending to take a share of the trade route from Shimazu to Atsuta and taste the spoils that were unavailable during the “Tiger of Owari” era.
Oda Nobunaga naturally could not tolerate this. Once fortresses were established in these two locations, and used as a base to advance south, the Danjō no Chū family’s territory could be cut off at any time, posing a grave threat. The situation was far more serious than the incursions from the Matsudaira family. Therefore, he immediately ordered the local powerful families under his command to mobilize and launch a strong counterattack as quickly as possible.
However… all the local powerful families, without exception, began to complain, stating that it was the spring plowing season and mobilization was extremely difficult. If they were forced to mobilize, not only would the commoners scatter, but about eighty percent of their followers would also flee, making them utterly incapable of fighting.
Of course, they didn’t completely shut the door, emphasizing that it wasn’t that they wouldn’t fight, but that they were temporarily unable to. They hoped to wait a few months until after the spring plowing.
In essence, they intended to stall for time, observe the situation, and consider their options. After all, Oda Nobunaga had just suffered a major defeat and didn’t seem reliable. They didn’t want to go to their deaths.
Reportedly, upon receiving the news, Oda Nobunaga’s face turned darker than a dung beetle’s. He cursed the local powerful families one by one using extremely vulgar rural slang and smashed the low table with a candlestick, reaching the peak of his fury.
“Wait, is this news reliable? This ‘reportedly’ sounds a bit like your tone. You didn’t make it up, did you?” As Yuan Ye listened, something felt off. The mention of dung beetles was very familiar.
“Reliable, absolutely reliable! I heard it from A Chun. Her mother works as a servant in the Big Fool’s residence and personally heard the Big Fool smashing things and cursing while serving food and drinks. I even gave A Chun several boiled eggs for this information, so it’s definitely correct!” A Man quickly asserted that the money wasn’t wasted and that even without A Qing’s supervision, she could use the intelligence funds effectively. Then she added, “I just embellished it a little to make it more interesting.”
“Alright!” Yuan Ye didn’t argue with her much, as long as the information was accurate. He mused, “So, this means there won’t be a fight for now?”
A Man shook her head. “Not necessarily. The local powerful families are disobedient, and Oda Nobunaga is quite stubborn. He plans to attack using only the strength of Nagoya Castle. However, both of his senior retainers disagree, and they are currently in a dispute. It’s unclear who will persuade whom in the end.”
“Oh? Hirate Masahide and Hayashi Hidesada also don’t want to fight? Then what about Matsuba and Fukada Castles?”
“They both want to resolve it through negotiation. I heard they want to send a princess, just like Oda Nobuhide married a daughter of the Kiyosu Oda family, so the two families can become in-laws again and restore peace, and also get Fukada Castle back. But Oda Nobunaga disagrees and absolutely refuses to send his sister, still wanting to resolve it by force.”
“And what about Matsuba Castle and Matsuba Entrance?”
“They probably won’t get them back. With the Danjō no Chū family in this state, it’s uncertain if they can even get Fukada Castle back with a princess. There’s no point even thinking about Matsuba Castle.”
Yuan Ye nodded slightly, speechless for a moment. However, he felt he should practice his horsemanship again. Given Oda Nobunaga’s chuunibyou personality, asking him to seek peace with his sister was absolutely impossible. Even if he attacked with only his followers, even after suffering a major defeat, he would still fight the Kiyosu Oda family.
…
A new round of war was indeed unavoidable. A Man went out for another stroll and brought back new information: Oda Nobunaga somehow persuaded Hirate Masahide and, with a 2:1 advantage, overruled Hayashi Hidesada, deciding to fight. Even if the local powerful families were unwilling to contribute, and the Danjō no Chū family’s forces could not be fully mobilized, they would still fight with the strength of Nagoya Castle alone!
This time, it was a large-scale mobilization. That day, a large number of rookie ashigaru began to gather at Nagoya Castle. There was even an unexpected contingent: the lord of Moriyama Castle, Oda Nobunaga’s own uncle, Oda Nobumitsu, arrived with his vassals and followers without a word.
Oda Nobunaga issued repeated orders, but only Oda Nobumitsu responded. This greatly increased his favorability towards his uncle, and he felt ashamed about having set fire to his stable when he was a child. He immediately hosted a banquet for him. Once the troops and horses were ready, Oda Nobunaga, valuing speed, set out from Nagoya Castle at dawn the next day with the Guard Unit and his vassal pages, without even rallying the ashigaru to boost morale, leading the way along the Odaigawa River upstream.
The other troops followed in batches. Yuan Ye couldn’t escape either, being forced to accompany the army. After all, he was still the “Medical Magistrate” and couldn’t resign for the time being, otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to live in Takeuchi Manor in the future. He really had no choice but to go. Oda Nobunaga had called for a group fight, and only his own uncle had come to help, which was already frustrating enough. If he were to say he wanted to go home now, Oda Nobunaga would probably eat him alive without even needing soy sauce.
So, it was better not to court disaster and just go along for the ride!
He still commanded his thirty ashigaru and a string of ox carts to participate in the war, moving slowly along the Odaigawa River. He was contemplating whether to visit Hibitsu Village along the way when a page, about fifteen or sixteen years old, wearing an exquisite dōmaru, a sun and moon helmet, and carrying a “Eiraku coin flag” on his back, galloped over. From a distance, he kept shouting, “Lord Kazusa-no-suke has ordered everyone to speed up and camp at Inaba Land.”
As he approached and saw the “Blue Gourd Flag,” he didn’t continue shouting loudly. After a slight hesitation, he slowed his horse and nodded gently to Yuan Ye, politely saying, “Lord Yuan Ye, Lord Kazusa-no-suke has arrived at Inaba Land and ordered the following troops to speed up. Please hurry as well!”
“I understand, thank you for the reminder, Lord.” Yuan Ye, finding him unfamiliar and rather delicate-looking, curiously asked, “May I ask who you are…?”
“My apologies, I am Niwa Nagahide, styled Gorōzaemon. Lord Yuan Ye can call me Manchiyo.” He politely clasped his hands in greeting on horseback, his demeanor quite refined. However, he hesitated for a moment, then gently tugged on the reins and said with a shy smile, “Lord Yuan Ye, I am on military orders and truly cannot… I must take my leave now.”
“Of course, Lord Niwa, please proceed!”
Niwa Nagahide nodded to Yuan Ye again, then smiled at Maeshima Shichiro beside him, and galloped away to urge on other troops.
Yuan Ye watched him leave and couldn’t help but murmur in surprise, “Why is he so young?” He felt a strange sensation.
He knew of Niwa Nagahide. When Hideyoshi changed his family name for the second time to “Hashiba,” the character “-Wa”
(Ha) seemed to come from this person. Moreover, this person had a good career under Oda Nobunaga, becoming a senior retainer and one of the army commanders later on. It was just that in “Taiko Risshi Den 2,” his portrait looked older than Shibata Katsuie, with a very long beard, leading him to believe Niwa Nagahide was around the same age as Shibata Katsuie, at least in his thirties. Unexpectedly, he was only fifteen or sixteen, seemingly just starting to serve as a page to Oda Nobunaga.
A Man loved to join in the excitement. Noticing Yuan Ye staring at Niwa Nagahide’s retreating figure, she couldn’t help but ride her three-flower mare over and take a look. She didn’t find anything strange and asked him, “What’s wrong with this kid? Is there a problem?”
“No, he just looks like a good person.” Yuan Ye withdrew his gaze and casually asked, “Do you know him? Niwa Gorōzaemon Nagahide.”
“I do!” A Man, as expected of a professional, immediately replied, “You can tell from his family name. He’s from Niwa District, and his family is a powerful local family in Niwa District. Their overall strength is a notch above the Maeda family’s. It’s just that the family is too old, and their strength is quite scattered among seven or eight branches. He’s from the main branch, belonging to the noble Niwa family… the third or fifth son, I think? In any case, he has no inheritance rights.
As for him personally, he is the son-in-law of Oda Nobuhiro, Oda Nobunaga’s eldest illegitimate son, the one who was captured by the Imagawa family in Mikawa’s Anshō Castle. He seems to have gotten married just last year, making him a nephew-in-law to the Big Fool, though it’s unclear if the Big Fool acknowledges him—the Big Fool has always looked down on his eldest illegitimate son.”
Yuan Ye listened and stroked his chin, feeling that Oda Nobunaga wasn’t randomly recruiting pages. The pages seemed to be sons from local powerful families who had no inheritance rights, and there was likely some deeper meaning behind it.
With this thought, he instructed A Man, “Keep an eye on him for me from now on. Let me know if anything happens.”
Niwa Nagahide developed very well in the future. Yuan Ye felt he could serve as a model. If he mingled with him and Maeda Toshiie in the future, he should be able to avoid many pitfalls.
“Why!” A Man didn’t immediately obey but became curious instead.
“Just keep an eye on him as I told you to, why so many questions!” Yuan Ye first chided her, then fabricated a reason, “I see he has a distinguished appearance and will surely achieve great things in the future. It’s never wrong to pay attention to him in advance.”
A Man looked at him, then glanced in the direction Niwa Nagahide had left, suspecting Yuan Ye was acting crazy again. She couldn’t help but say, “Really? I don’t see much meat on him! Someone like him, A Qing could take down three at once. He probably won’t amount to much!”
“Enough, stop talking nonsense!” Yuan Ye didn’t want to get sidetracked with her; arguing with a chatterbox was pure self-inflicted humiliation. He said directly, “In any case, it’s definitely not wrong for you to pay more attention to this person in the future. Since you’re idle now, go hurry them up. We need to get to Inaba Land quickly… By the way, where is Inaba Land?”
“Inaba Land is about sixteen or seventeen ri northwest of Aragiko Castle. Didn’t you go to Aragiko Castle before? Aragiko Castle is about ten ri further upstream along the river, and then it’s Inaba Land Castle. Inaba Land Castle is about four or five ri west of that, and that’s Inaba Land.”
A Man answered, then rode away, whipping her horse and immediately switching roles from ninja to elder. She shouted loudly, “You bastards, hurry up! Even dung beetles move faster than you! Don’t dawdle, start pushing the carts. If I don’t see Inaba Land Castle within an hour, none of you will eat today!”
She had a naturally domineering air, and coupled with the fact that she had beaten up a few lazy and shirking ashigaru before, these middle-aged and elderly ashigaru also obeyed her. They began pushing the ox carts without a word, showing no signs of displeasure. In Japan, as long as one’s status was low, being scolded was normal and not worth caring about.
A Man rode back and forth, urging them on, and the caravan’s speed immediately increased by 35%. It suddenly sped up, heading straight for Inaba Land. As the caravan moved further away, a small head emerged from the bushes by the roadside. Her face was delicate and her fox-like eyes were charming, but she was dressed as a young boy, with a small topknot on her head constantly trembling.
Another head popped out beside her, identical in appearance and dress. She squinted for a moment and then shook her head, chuckling, “It shouldn’t be. A dōmaru costs tens of Kan, a matchlock gun nearly a hundred Kan, and that horse also costs over ten Kan. A Man couldn’t possibly have that much money. You must have misheard, A Yu.”
“That’s true, I must have misheard.” A Qian nodded. Watching the small figure in exquisite dōmaru, a peach-shaped helmet, and a small flag on her back disappear into the distance, she felt that the poor A Man couldn’t possibly be so extravagant. However, she couldn’t help but lower her head and ponder, “Where did that old beast go? Why hasn’t she joined us yet? Could she be dead?”
