"Hmm, hmm, worse than pigs and dogs, and then, tell me about the Oda family." Echizen is right next to Owari, so there's a need to understand the situation, but there's no rush. Right now, Haruno isn't concerned with whether the Asakura family is better than pigs and dogs; she wants to hear about the current status of the Oda family first.
"Just like you, I used to find my grandpa's ramblings annoying, but if I don't explain it clearly, you might not understand later on. You don't seem very bright!" Aman retorted quickly, then continued seriously, "After Shiba Yoshikiyo and Shiba Yoshimoto were betrayed and sent to Kyoto by the Asakura family, they weren't executed due to their status and managed to escape to Owari, which resulted in Owari being divided into two factions.
The descendants of Oda Naomatsu, Oda Toshimasa (also known as Ise Guardian), supported Shiba Yoshikiyo.
The descendants of Oda Chotake, Oda Minshin (also known as Yamato Guardian), supported Shiba Yoshimoto and his son Shiba Yoshikata.
These two factions fought fiercely in Owari, and later, Oda Minshin, a descendant of Oda Chotake, defeated Oda Toshimasa, a descendant of Oda Naomatsu, and drove Shiba Yoshikiyo out of Owari, also seizing the position of Guardian of Owari Province from the Naomatsu faction.
For the next several years, the Naomatsu faction and the Chotake faction of the Oda family continued fighting each other with the powerful clans in Owari until the East and West Armies ceased fighting, and the two sides agreed to a truce, dividing the Eight Provinces of Owari.
The Oda Ise Guardian of the Naomatsu faction occupied the Upper Four Provinces of Owari, namely Yakuri County, Nakajima County, Kasugai County, and Niwa County, with Iwakura Castle as their residence.
The Oda Yamato Guardian of the Chotake faction occupied the Lower Four Provinces of Owari, namely Haixi County, Haidong County, Aichi County, and Chita County, with Qingzhou City as their residence.
This is the general structure of Owari. Can you understand it?"
Back then, Aman was baffled when she heard her grandpa talking about these old stories, with various Oda family members spinning in her head. It was only after continuously learning to identify family crests that she barely understood these family conflicts and their origins. Now, she was a bit doubtful if Haruno could grasp the whole picture at once.
If not, for the sake of the dinner chicken, she could explain it to him again.
Of course, Haruno could understand. After all, high school wasn't for nothing; high school teachers wished they could finish three years of courses in one year and spend the other two years preparing for college entrance exams. What Aman said was nothing.
Moreover, he had taken notes, a glance could clarify everything. To put it bluntly: The Ōnin War, the East and West Armies' great battles, the Asakura family's betrayal of the Hoshina family, taking their old nest, forcing two Shiba family heads to flee to Owari, leading to the split of the Oda family into two, each occupying four provinces.
He directly stated, "I understand, go on. Is it time to talk about the Tiger of Owari?"
Aman glanced at him with skepticism. She couldn't believe this spendthrift could be so clever, but she continued, "Yes, during the rule of the Chotake faction in the Lower Four Provinces of Owari at Qingzhou City, three family heads from branch families held the position of Magistrates (originally meaning those who acted on higher orders, here referring to assistants or courtiers not yet recognized by the Court), known as the Qingzhou Three Magistrates."
Yes, they are now the Oda Inaba Guardian, Oda Fujisawaemon, and Oda Dan Zhengzhong families.
In the following decades, these three families gradually gained real power over the Lower Four Provinces of Owari. Then, about twenty-three years ago, Oda Nobunide took over as the head of the Oda Dan Zhengzhong family, becoming the lord of Shoban Castle when he was sixteen or seventeen; he is the Tiger of Owari."
Haruno nodded, matching the timeline with Maeda Toshie's age, roughly deducing that this "Tiger of Owari" was probably the father of the "Great Fool of Owari," Oda Nobunaga.
He noted it down, gesturing for Aman to continue the story.
Talking about the "Tiger of Owari" Oda Nobunide, Aman's expression grew cautious, "Oda Nobunide, this person, although called the Tiger of Owari, he was actually just like Saito Dosan of Minoh; both were very sly. The two should be called the Twin Serpents of the East Sea Road."
She made a quip and marked the location of Shoban Castle on a handmade map, furrowing her brows, "How to tell you about this person... um, do you know how Nagano Castle ended up in Oda Nobunide's hands?"
Haruno didn't speak, signaling with his eyes for her to get to the point.
He genuinely traveled through time; otherwise, in a historical novel on a web novel site, even if background information is essential and useful for the future, readers would still curse when encountering large sections of ancient stories in a five-thousand-word chapter.
He refused to play along, making Aman a bit displeased, but for the sake of that chicken, she continued, "Nagano Castle was built by the Imagawa family. The Imagawa family originated in Jumogawa Province, then annexed western neighboring Tone Province, and continued westward penetration, invading Sankei Province, even seizing Nagano in Owari during the internal conflict of the Oda Yamato Guardian family, where they built a large castle, now known as Nagano Castle.
At that time, the head of the Imagawa family, Imagawa Shishin, settled his youngest son, Imagawa Shitoyama, there and forced the nominal Guardian of Owari Province's Hoshina family to marry a princess over, intending to slowly devour Owari just like Sankei.
By then, Oda Nobunaga had already subdued the Qingzhou Oda main family and the other two Magistrate families. The main family married a daughter to him, and they reconciled. The Iwakura Oda family of the Upper Four Provinces also submitted, and then Oda Nobunaga grew greedy for the Nagano Castle and Atsuta Port beside his territory, but he dared not attack this grand castle directly, so he pleased them by diligently learning linked verse (a traditional Japanese literary activity where several people or a dozen people each recite a line of poetry).