Chapter 74: Legendary Creature: The Sucker
Yamaguchi Noritsugu was instigated by the Imagawa family to rebel, which had a significant impact on the Oda Danjō no Chū family. After all, whether it was the Matsudaira family attacking or the Kiyosu Oda family taking advantage, they were all external enemies. This was common in the Japanese Warring States period; everyone except Yuan Ye, a modern person, was already accustomed to it.
However, the rebellion of a key retainer like Yamaguchi Noritsugu was different. This was an internal family conflict, indicating that many people in the Danjō no Chū family had completely lost faith in Oda Nobunaga, believing that following him would lead to no future, and they might not even be able to protect their own small families, making it time to seek their own way out.
Oda Nobunaga seemed to have keenly sensed this. Instead of flying into a rage and shouting about fighting and killing as he had before, he sent an envoy to try and persuade Yamaguchi Noritsugu to return. After the envoy was killed, he even personally went to the Tenpaku River line with his Riding Guard and Pages to talk with Yamaguchi Noritsugu.
The talk didn’t happen. Yamaguchi Noritsugu was busy building fortifications along the Tenpaku River line, having firmly decided to follow the Imagawa family. A small conflict erupted between the two sides, with each side losing twenty to thirty lives before they stopped. Oda Nobunaga retreated first. When the Imagawa family heard about the fighting, a large contingent of mounted samurai immediately rushed over, and he would have suffered greatly if he had continued fighting.
However, after returning, Oda Nobunaga still showed no intention of launching a large-scale offensive. He displayed rare composure, only dispatching some of his retainers and followers to build fortifications along the Tenpaku River line to strengthen local defenses. This was considered an acknowledgment of the Yamaguchi family’s rebellion, and from then on, the border between the Danjō no Chū family and the Imagawa family was redrawn to the Tenpaku River area.
With one person setting a precedent, many local powerful families in Chita District also began to waver, either openly or covertly leaning towards the Imagawa family. After all, one of the gateways to the Chita Peninsula was controlled by the Imagawa family, and the reputation of “Owari’s Big Fool” was truly terrible. Even with the current record of one to one, these people were still uneasy and began to seek their own escape routes, wanting to quickly align themselves with the strong.
At the very least, they had to hedge their bets. Otherwise, in this unfortunate era, the more loyal one was, the faster they would die!
Thus, a strange scene unfolded. The Imagawa family had not yet formally engaged in battle with the Oda Danjō no Chū family, yet the entire Chita Peninsula showed signs of a complete change of allegiance.
For a time, the Danjō no Chū family was once again in turmoil, with its actual controlled territory about to be reduced by 25%.
At this moment, the widow of “Tiger of Owari” Oda Nobuhide, Lady Tsuchida, Oda Nobunaga’s mother, accompanied by Shibata Katsuie, led over a thousand elite troops to Nagoya Castle. After a deep conversation with Oda Nobunaga, she made a public appearance, showing a readiness to jointly attack the next rebel with Oda Nobunaga, which barely managed to control the unrest among the people.
“So, Oda Nobunaga and Oda Nobuyuki, the two brothers, have made up again?” Yuan Ye was still waiting to be sent out on campaign again, but he didn’t expect things to turn out this way. The Matsudaira family, the Kiyosu Main Family, and the Imagawa family had taken turns beating up Oda Nobunaga, and the Danjō no Chū family’s rule was on the verge of collapse. Yet, the two brothers who were supposed to be fighting for the position of Head of the Family had shaken hands and agreed to deal with external threats first.
It was a bit magical. At first, everyone thought these two brothers were going to have a fight and were eagerly awaiting the outcome. In the end, they didn’t fight, but quite a few messy battles did occur.
A Man scratched her face and said hesitantly, “Probably. Otherwise, if they fought again and both suffered heavy losses, the Danjō no Chū family would be completely finished. Besides, if Oda Nobuyuki were to take down Oda Nobunaga now, he probably wouldn’t be confident either, given how easily Oda Nobunaga defeated the Kiyosu Army. His strength is still there. It’s better to let Oda Nobunaga deal with the Imagawa family for now.”
“That makes sense!” Yuan Ye nodded slightly, thinking that was probably the case. Even if Oda Nobuyuki could defeat Oda Nobunaga and successfully seize the position of Head of the Family, he would most likely be taken advantage of by the Imagawa family. It would be better to let Oda Nobunaga wear down the Imagawa family first, while he himself accumulated strength at Suemori Castle.
In that case…
It seemed not bad. The power of the Danjō no Chū family had been reunited, as if “Tiger of Owari” had been revived by seventy to eighty percent. The deterrent effect was still there, at least the local powerful families would not dare to act rashly anymore, lest they be made an example of.
The Imagawa family also became wary. Having already gained an advantage, they were unlikely to launch a large-scale offensive, lest they backfire and make the Danjō no Chū family more united, or even provoke the Danjō no Chū family into a desperate fight, allowing others to reap the benefits.
Yuan Ye pondered for a while and then, with great curiosity, asked A Man, “What did Oda Nobunaga and his mother talk about? Were there any other agreements?”
“I only vaguely know that that old woman Tsuchida scolded Oda Nobunaga fiercely. Her voice was very sharp; even the dogs on another floor would tremble. Also, Oda Nobunaga’s expression was very grim after he came out, and he smashed a lot of things after returning.”
A Man could only speak in general terms. She practiced the Sun Technique, which was about openly gathering information; infiltration and eavesdropping were not her forte. She was powerless in such confidential conversations. “I don’t know anything else. Ordinary people wouldn’t dare to get close to listen; one wrong move could lead to the death of their entire family. Everyone would naturally stay as far away as possible, so I couldn’t find out the detailed content.”
Yuan Ye was a bit disappointed at not getting any gossip. It was mainly because ancient times were too boring, with no entertainment activities at all, so he really wanted to see a dramatic, melodramatic family saga unfold in Oda Nobunaga’s household. But it was okay if he couldn’t. This wasn’t a particularly important matter; as long as Owari could regain peace, that was enough.
Even if it was temporary peace, the two brothers Oda Nobunaga and Oda Nobuyuki would eventually fight for the position of Head of the Family. But being able to temporarily restore peace was already quite good!
…
Since there would be no more fighting, Yuan Ye peacefully continued his role as “Medical Magistrate.” It took him about ten days to stabilize the condition of the wounded, thus delivering another at least satisfactory report. This time, there were severely wounded, and over twenty died intermittently, including three samurai. He scratched his head, wondering how to prove he had done his best and how to explain to the families of the deceased. However, no one pursued the matter; the bodies were simply sent away.
On the contrary, his reputation as a “Divine Doctor” became even more renowned. Everyone unanimously agreed that his medical skills were superb, that he could save nine out of ten patients, which was like a miracle. Many uninjured lower-ranking samurai even came to him for treatment or brought gifts to ask him to make house calls to treat their family members.
Yuan Ye, being idle, did help. In addition to treating patients, he also inquired with great interest about the “family secret medicinal powders” of these samurai. He was eventually astonished to find that he was indeed a “Divine Doctor”; the word “Mongol” could be removed. Most samurai were hesitant to reveal their family secrets, but a few were more generous and told him, which truly opened his eyes.
The most normal of these prescriptions was ground ginger and mugwort leaves, applied to wounds to stop bleeding. This prescription was somewhat useful, at least harmless.
The next, barely normal one, was egg white mixed with gypsum, applied to wounds to stop bleeding. This one was less certain, as egg white contains many miscellaneous bacteria, leading to a high possibility of wound infection. It was actually worse than using plant ash.
The next, not very normal one, was horse dung soup and horsehair soup, made by boiling horse dung and black and white horsehair. The horse dung soup was taken internally for internal injuries, and the horsehair soup was used to clean wounds for external injuries. A Man had this secret recipe; consuming it would likely lead to death.
The most abnormal was using a woman’s menstrual cloth, soaked in coarse salt, to bandage wounds. There was no doubt that this would be fatal.
After inquiring around, Yuan Ye decisively transitioned from “Mongol Divine Doctor” to “Legitimate Divine Doctor.” After all, looking at these unfortunate secret recipes, if he wasn’t a divine doctor, who was? He finally understood why Oda Nobunaga had hired him with money to be the “Medical Magistrate.” Without him, at least two-thirds of these wounded would have died. The fact that only twenty-odd died was indeed a miracle.
Of course, his treatment of these lower-ranking samurai was not solely for the purpose of inquiring about “Japanese Medieval Period medical secret recipes”; those were just out of curiosity. He was more interested in finding sources of goods. After all, the relationships among Owari samurai were intricate, and anyone could be connected to local powerful families with fiefs. Through them, he could easily obtain cheap bean cakes, sulfur, and crude alkali, opening up a new channel for raw material procurement, which would lay the foundation for expanding soy sauce production.
After these miscellaneous matters were finished, he directly submitted a letter to Oda Nobunaga. Even though he had caused over twenty deaths, he shamelessly demanded his payment and permission to go home. Oda Nobunaga seemed to be in a very bad mood and did not invite him for drinks or meals to chat. He only sent someone to deliver a “Kawase” to him. Without requiring him to find change, his task was considered complete, and he was allowed to leave and return to Takeuchi Manor.
Yuan Ye was finally free. Fearing further trouble, he packed his belongings that very day and fled with his entire household. But as they were hastily leaving the castle town of Nagoya Castle, A Man slapped her forehead and called out to him from a distance, “Wait, those people are still in town!”
Yuan Ye looked back at her, not understanding, and asked strangely, “What people?”
“Don’t you remember? The eighty-nine old, weak, sick, and disabled people you carelessly spent money to buy!” A Man had been very unhappy with that group, thinking the “quality of goods” was too poor. Now, Yuan Ye dared to forget them, which was too much. She couldn’t help but start complaining, “If I hadn’t asked Maeshima Shichiro to send them a few bags of beans and buckwheat, they would have starved to death! Sometimes, I’m not just saying this, but you really don’t take care of any trivial matters. If it weren’t for me, this thirty Kan of money would have been wasted. I don’t even know if this is your household or mine, yet I have to worry about this for you…”
She went on and on, and Yuan Ye had nothing to say, unable to retort. He had been too busy during this period and had indeed forgotten about them. Only after she stopped talking did he hesitantly ask, “They are still there?”
“Of course, they are. The day before yesterday… well, I think it was the day before the day before yesterday, I passed by and took a look. All eighty-nine of them are still here.”
“None of them escaped?” Yuan Ye couldn’t understand. He hadn’t sent anyone to watch them. Logically, they should have scattered over ten days ago. Why hadn’t they escaped yet? Did he have to explicitly tell them to leave, perhaps by holding a farewell party?
“Of course not!” A Man seemed a bit surprised by his reaction but was used to it, as he was often strange. She said directly, “And why would they escape? You are their master now!”
“I am their… master?” Yuan Ye thought about it and realized it was true. He started to feel troubled and asked hesitantly, “Haven’t they thought about going home?”
“Their homes have been burned down, and there’s nothing to eat if they go back. Without you, they can only starve. At least most of them wouldn’t be able to survive this winter.” A Man looked at him increasingly strangely. “What are you thinking about? Hurry up and take them back!”
Yuan Ye was speechless. He felt that doing good deeds in this era was truly difficult. He had just been kind-hearted, not wanting these innocent civilians to die in vain or be sold into prostitution, but now these people had become his burden.
Did he have to be responsible for helping them start families and careers to consider the task complete?
But now that things had come to this, he couldn’t just say, “Let them fend for themselves in Nagoya Castle.” That would be too inhumane. Moreover, there was no such thing as doing good deeds halfway. He could only stifle his frustration and wave his hand at A Man, A Qing, and the Momoi Brothers, signaling them to bring the people and go back first.
What an unfortunate era. The worse the era, the harder it was to do good deeds, with no logic at all!
It should be the opposite, shouldn’t it!
He was grumbling incessantly. Not long after, these people were brought over by A Man and the others. A Man responsibly counted them carefully, confirming that all eighty-nine were present and accounted for, worth thirty Kan, which could be exchanged for fifteen donkeys. The seven and a half Yayoi “goods” had not been lost, which somewhat reassured her.
Yuan Ye also looked at this group of people with fearful expressions, who didn’t even dare to look him in the eye. He shook his head, ordered them to follow behind the ox cart, and then turned his horse to head home. However, the further he rode, the more he felt his head swelling, as if he had transformed into a legendary creature – a sucker!
