Biographies CXI: The Shōguns, Part VI

Ashikaga Takauji

¶Ashikaga Takauji was first named Takauji (高氏) (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku) and styled Matatarō (Note: following the Taiheiki and the Ashikaga Kaden). He was a man of Shimotsuke province. His ancestors descended from Minamoto-no-Yoshiie. Yoshiie begat Yoshikuni; Yoshikuni's eldest son Yoshishige became the founder of the Nitta house, and his second son Yoshiyasu became the founder of the Ashikaga house. Yoshiyasu's son Yoshikane took a daughter of Hōjō Tokimasa as his wife and begat Yoshiuji. Yoshiuji begat Yasuuji, and Yasuuji begat Jibu-no-taifu Yoriuji; these too were all born of Hōjō mothers. Yoriuji begat Shikibu-no-jō Ietoki, and Ietoki begat Sanuki-no-kami Sadauji. Sadauji too was a maternal grandson of the Hōjō, and he was Takauji's father (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku). In the first year of Gen'ō (1319) Takauji was granted Junior Fifth Rank Lower and appointed Jibu-no-taifu (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin). In the first year of Genkō (1331), when the emperor raised troops to strike Hōjō Takatoki, Takauji happened to be in mourning for his father, but Takatoki forced him into service and made him attack Kasagi and Akasaka. Takauji had no choice but to go; when the castles fell he returned. When the emperor was at Mount Senjō, Takatoki again ordered Takauji and Nagoe Takaie to lead the full army westward. Takauji had just fallen ill, but Takatoki pressed him repeatedly. Takauji said in anger, "Earlier, when I was in mourning, they paid it no heed and instead hurried me into the field. Now, when I am sick like this, I am pressed again. To what lengths will their cruelty to others go!" (Note: compiled by comparing the various variant texts of the Taiheiki and the Baishōron. According to the Jōrakuki, it is firmly attested that Takauji's father Sadauji died in the ninth month of the first year of Genkō; the Baishōron, which places the mourning for Takauji's father in the third year of Genkō, and the current text of the Taiheiki, which treats the mourning and the illness as simultaneous, are both mistaken.) It was only then that he first conceived the intention of going over to the other side. His grandfather Ietoki and his father Sadauji, though of the senior line of the Minamoto, had resented being kept down by the Hōjō and had always harboured a design to destroy them, but in the end had been unable to accomplish it (Note: following the Nan-Taiheiki). Takauji resolved to seize this opportunity to fulfil the aim of his forebears (Note: following the Baishōron), and so, rising in spite of his illness, he prepared to lead his clan westward. Nagasaki Enki, Takatoki's aged retainer, heard of this and said to Takatoki, "The Ashikaga are the main house of the Minamoto. That they should now be allowed to lead their whole clan on this campaign makes their intentions hard to fathom. Why not have them write a pledge and take their wives and children as hostages?" Takatoki therefore said to Takauji, "The eastern provinces are settled and there is nothing more to fear, so it would be well for you to leave your wife and children behind in Kamakura. Moreover, the Ashikaga and the Hōjō have for generations been as fish and water, and you have already formed a marriage tie with the Akahashi Sagami-no-kami; how could I harbour doubts? But now we have met with calamity and unrest, and men suspect one another. I ask you to write a pledge and set the minds of the people at ease." Takauji consulted his younger brother Tadayoshi, who said, "A vow extorted by force is not accepted even by the gods. Now that we are raising the banner of great righteousness to strike down men without principle, small scruples of loyalty are not worth considering. Let the young child be guarded by retainers, and let your wife be left in the keeping of the Sagami-no-kami; that too need cause no anxiety." Takauji agreed, and sent Takatoki a pledge which said, "Military affairs are pressing at the moment; how could I take my wife and children with me? I leave my young child here now, and ask that, should anything happen, you protect him. Groundless rumours are surely not worth believing" (Note: the passage from "Military affairs" onward follows the Kinshōin text). Takatoki was overjoyed and held a banquet; as a parting gift to Takauji he presented the white banner said to have been used by Yoshiie, adding a saddle, a horse, armour and a sword, and said, "This banner is a treasured heirloom handed down in your house from generation to generation, and the Nii-no-ama transmitted it to my family. Now I yield it to you." Takauji inwardly rejoiced in secret. Together with Tadayoshi and the clans of Kira, Uesugi, Niki, Hosokawa, Imagawa and Arakawa, he left Kamakura with three thousand soldiers and reached the capital ahead of Nagoe Takaie (Note: following the Taiheiki). The next day he secretly sent Ebina Sueyuki to the temporary palace at Mount Senjō to ask permission to submit. An imperial edict came in reply: "When the rebels have been pacified, rewards will be given as you wish" (Note: following the Kōmyōji Zōsho Zanpen). Sueyuki was granted the estate of Ibara in Bitchū (Note: following the Tenshō-bon Taiheiki. The Baishōron says that Takauji first sent a man to request a rinji, an imperial decree, and obtained it when the army reached Ōmi; which is correct is unknown). Takaie came up behind him and did not detect the scheme. At that time Minamoto-no-Tadaaki, Sakonoe-no-chūjō, Middle Captain of the Left Palace Guards, and Akamatsu Norimura were attacking Rokuhara. Hōjō Nakatoki and Hōjō Tokimasu, the commanders guarding Rokuhara, received the two Retired Emperors Go-Fushimi and Hanazono together with the Kōgon-in, gathered troops and defended against them. Tadaaki and Norimura took up positions at Otokoyama and Yamazaki; Takaie and Takauji fixed a day and attacked them, but Takaie was struck by an arrow and died (Note: following the Taiheiki). Takauji led his troops to Ōharano and held a banquet for a time. Nearby stood an old temple called Shōji-ji. Takauji was greatly pleased and said, "I am to win and hold it" (Note: following the Tenshō-bon Taiheiki). Hearing that Takaie had been defeated and killed, he turned to Sasamura in Tanba, planted his banner on a willow tree beside the Hachiman shrine, and for the first time raised the righteous army (Note: compiled by comparing the Taiheiki and the Baishōron). Kuge Tokishige, a man of his home province (Shimotsuke), led his troops and was the first to come in, and the word "First" was written on his banner. Takauji summoned his steward Kō-no-Moronao and asked about it. Moronao answered, "Long ago, when the Minister of the Right and General Yoritomo raised troops at Sugiyama, he saw Tokishige's ancestor Shigemitsu ride in ahead of all the other commanders. He said, 'If I achieve my ambition, I shall make you first in reward,' and wrote the word 'First' there and then with his own hand and gave it to him, and from that time it has been written on the banner." Takauji said with delight, "This is an omen that our house will flourish." From then on those who surrendered and joined him came one after another; he gained more than twenty thousand men and led them into the capital. As he set out he prayed at the shrine and offered one arrow. Tadayoshi and the other officers and men all followed his example, and soon the arrows were piled up like a hill. Marching on and gathering in surrendered troops, he gained a further thirty thousand men (Note: following the Taiheiki). As he passed Mount Ōe, a dove flew over the banner. Takauji took this as an auspicious sign and ordered the army to march in the direction it flew. He halted at the old site of the Jingikan, the Department of Divinities, and made camp there. Hōjō Nakatoki and Hōjō Tokimasu sent out twenty thousand troops to oppose him, but Takauji fought them and defeated them, and at last joined forces with Akamatsu Norimura and Minamoto-no-Tadaaki to surround Rokuhara. The rebel army held out to the death, but Takauji adopted a stratagem proposed by Hosokawa Kazuuji and purposely left one corner of the encirclement open, and in the end many of the rebels came out and surrendered. Nakatoki and Tokimasu, escorting the Kōgon-in, tried to flee to the eastern provinces, but both were defeated and killed on the way, and Rokuhara was pacified (Note: compiled by comparing the Taiheiki and the Baishōron). Messengers were at once sent to Mount Senjō to report the victory; the emperor's carriage returned to the capital, and the Kōgon-in was deposed (Note: following the Taiheiki). For this service Takauji became Chinjufu-shōgun, General of the Pacification Office, was advanced to Junior Fourth Rank Lower, was appointed Sahyōe-no-kami, Director of the Left Gate Guards, and was permitted Naishōden, admission to the inner court. Soon afterwards he was granted Junior Third Rank, concurrently became Musashi-no-kami, and by imperial edict changed his name to the present one (尊氏). The character "Taka" (尊) was taken from the emperor's personal name and was bestowed as a mark of favor (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin. The Taiheiki places the bestowal of the character "Taka" at the time of the campaign against Hōjō Tokiyuki, but that is not followed here). In this year Imperial Prince Narinaga, Kōzuke-no-taishu, went down to Kamakura as Kantō Kanrei, Superintendent of the East, and Tadayoshi became Shikken, Regent (Note: following the Jinnō Shōtōki and the Taiheiki. Placing this in this year follows the Jinnō Shōtōki).

¶In the first year of Kenmu (1334), the merits of the restoration of the emperor's direct rule were reassessed, Takauji was ranked first, and he was made shugo, Protector, of Musashi, Hitachi and Shimōsa (Note: following the Taiheiki). He was granted Senior Third Rank and appointed Sangi, Consultant (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin). At that time the realm had only just been settled and government had returned to the court, but the court nobles, wishing to realize the substance of direct imperial rule, abruptly altered the institutions governing the troops and horses of the provinces and sought only to return everything to ancient practice. They greatly suppressed and thrust aside the warriors; apart from the meritorious servants of the Restoration, those who bore the bow often lost their posts. The authority of the shugo was not enforced, and everywhere retainers of the shogunal house were reduced to the status of ordinary commoners. Moreover, petitions pressed through women were openly entertained, and the handling of rewards was disordered. Even great men who had raised the righteous army were in some cases passed over in the granting of ranks and appointments, and those who were permitted to keep their old lands soon had them taken away again. As a result the people's hearts were filled with anger and resentment; they hoped that power over the realm would once more issue from the warrior houses, and many placed their expectations in Takauji. At just this time civil and military officials hated one another, and in truth were like water and fire. Takauji had always harboured great ambitions and, considering himself of exalted birth, was not satisfied even though favor and promotion gathered swiftly upon him; he was resolved to attain a position equal to that of Minamoto-no-Yoritomo. He constantly watched for an opening in the times, planning to fulfil his long-held desire. Tadayoshi devised schemes for this, but outwardly displayed loyalty and flattered the court, and the emperor did not notice. Imperial Prince Moriyoshi, the Seii Taishōgun, Barbarian-Subduing Generalissimo, was gifted in intellect and valor and of great stature, deeply detested Takauji's conduct, and repeatedly asked that he be removed. But the emperor would not listen. When Moriyoshi secretly gathered troops in order to act against him, Takauji curried favor with the emperor's beloved consort, of the Fujiwara, and through her accused Moriyoshi of treason, causing documents purporting to prove the treason to be submitted. The emperor believed this, exiled Moriyoshi to Kamakura, and had him escorted by Takauji's retainers. At this Takauji's treacherous designs grew ever more extreme (Note: compiled by comparing the Taiheiki and the Baishōron). In the second year of Kenmu (1335), when Hōjō Tokiyuki rose in revolt and attacked Kamakura, Tadayoshi fought but could not win; he sent a man to put Imperial Prince Moriyoshi to death, and, escorting Imperial Prince Narinaga, fled westward. Tokiyuki's forces grew stronger by the day (Note: following the Taiheiki. That this was in the second year follows the Genkō Nikki Uragaki). Takauji asked to go and put down the rising in person, and an edict permitted it. He further asked to be appointed Seii Shōgun and Superintendent of the East (Note: following the Jinnō Shōtōki. That he asked to be Superintendent of the East follows the Taiheiki), but the court would not grant this and instead appointed him Seitō Shōgun, Eastern-Subduing General (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku and the Yoshino Kotogaki-an. The Jinnō Shōtōki and the Hōreki Kanki are mistaken in writing "Seitō" as "Seii"). Takauji was angry and set out without taking leave (Note: the Taiheiki says that when the emperor sent a messenger to order the campaign against Tokiyuki, Takauji submitted a memorial saying, "In the disturbance of Genkō, I was the first to raise the righteous army; the officers and men gave me their hearts, and the unification of the realm was achieved, so my merit is not small. From ancient times the post of Seii Shōgun has been held by the Minamoto and the Taira in turn. I beg to be allowed to sully that office, to aid the court above and to bring honor to myself below. Moreover, nothing is better for quelling disorder than swift reward. If rewards must await enactment after a memorial has been submitted, the road is long and the soldiers will be disappointed. I humbly ask that you entrust me with the superintendence of the eight Kantō provinces, and let me act as convenience requires. If these two requests are not granted, I venture to decline the eastern campaign"; whereupon the emperor permitted the superintendence and also ordered that "as for Seii Taishōgun, it shall be granted when the rebels have been subdued." This account is probably mistaken). The warriors who had lost their posts therefore resented the court and rose as one to follow Takauji (Note: following the Baishōron). When the army reached Yahagi it joined Tadayoshi's army and advanced together; Hōjō Tokiyuki sent troops to defend at Hashimoto, but Takauji broke them. Fighting his way onward to Kiru in Sagami, he again won a great victory. Tokiyuki's troops at last fled and collapsed, and Takauji advanced and entered Kamakura (Note: following the Baishōron and the Taiheiki). The emperor, from afar, granted him Junior Second Rank (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin) and sent Minamoto-no-Tomomitsu, Kurōdo-no-tō, Head Chamberlain, to console him and to urge him to bring the army back to the capital. Takauji was about to obey the edict, but Tadayoshi strongly opposed it, and Takauji yielded to him. He then opened and established a government office on the old site of Minamoto-no-Yoritomo (Note: following the Baishōron, compared with the Hōreki Kanki). He signed himself Seii Shōgun and Superintendent of the East, promoted and rewarded those who had done meritorious service, and accepted and reassured those who surrendered and submitted, so that people were minded to give their all. Even the remnants of the Hōjō turned their hearts to him and vied to submit. At that time Nitta Yoshisada was also of the senior line of the Minamoto; the prestige of his house matched Takauji's, and both were meritorious servants of the Restoration. Takauji had always harboured disloyal designs, constantly obstructed Yoshisada's merits, and deeply detested him. Now, ensconced in the land of the eight Kantō provinces and holding tens of thousands of elite troops, his power was especially great, and he thought to himself, "If I use this opportunity to remove Yoshisada, my strength will be enough to overawe the court, the affairs of the realm can be turned in the palm of my hand, and I shall achieve my long-cherished aim." He further hoped that the emperor would help him strike Yoshisada, and sent up a memorial listing Yoshisada's offenses. He also seized all the holdings of the Nitta house in the eastern provinces and distributed them among his subordinates. Tadayoshi secretly sent letters in all directions and summoned and gathered soldiers (Note: following the Taiheiki). Thus the provinces divided into factions, and even friends and old acquaintances eyed one another with suspicion. Those whose hearts remained with the court abandoned the Kantō and went up west; those who sympathized with Takauji left the capital and hurried to him; the comings and goings were confused, and the roads were like a woven cloth (Note: following the Baishōron). The court nobles repeatedly reported Takauji's signs of rebellion, and the emperor ordered the monk Echin to go to Kamakura to convey his intent and also to sound out the situation. Before he had set out, Hosokawa Kazuuji arrived bearing a letter from Takauji. Its general sense was as follows. "At the beginning of Genkō the traitorous ministers of the east made light of the court's law and sought to overturn the state. I, Takauji, unworthy as I am and heedless of that, raised an army and served the royal cause; the officers and men strove with sincerity to answer the call of righteousness, and the rebels harboured thoughts of turning their spears, so that victory was gained in a moment and the rebels were driven out beyond the capital region. Yoshisada Ason, reproached over his unpaid taxes, arbitrarily killed the envoy from Kamakura; knowing the gravity of his own crime and having nowhere to flee, he had no choice but to raise troops. Only when he heard that I had already pacified the capital did he first put forward the pretext of striking the rebels. He fought three battles without winning and was about to withdraw and hold his ground. Relying on my son Yoshiakira, who while still a child raised troops in Shimotsuke and whose prestige resounded far and near, Yoshisada was able to borrow his forces and defeat the rebels. Although that battle was fought in that place, the merit in truth lies with me. Yet Yoshisada has dared, above, to cloud the sacred hearing and, below, to seek ranks and rewards without restraint; he is what may be called a ruinous rebel of the age and a scourge of the state. I am now pacifying the remaining rebels and have long been wearied by the eastern campaign. But the flattering ministers at court fawn upon and follow Yoshisada, and slander and calumny arise one upon another. If Your Majesty does not perceive this, then what was seen in the old tale, in which Zhao Gao wielded power within and Zhang Han surrendered to Chu, will come about even today. Extinguishing the signs of disorder before they appear is what the court ought to undertake. I humbly beg that, with Heaven's mind, you look upon your subjects below, swiftly grant an imperial permission, exterminate the rebellious villain, and bring peace to the four seas." Yoshisada also submitted a memorial, accusing Takauji of the fact that he had ordered Tadayoshi to kill Imperial Prince Moriyoshi. The provinces of the Nankaidō and the Saikaidō likewise submitted letters in which Takauji urged them to raise troops (Note: following the Taiheiki). By imperial edict, therefore, the offices, ranks and titles that Takauji held were stripped from him (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin). Yoshisada was sent, escorting Imperial Prince Takayoshi, to strike Takauji. They advanced side by side along the two roads, the Tōkaidō and the Tōsandō. Tadayoshi, with the generals in full armor, met Takauji and asked that troops be sent out to meet them. Takauji was silent for a while, and then said slowly to Tadayoshi and the others, "Though I am of the main house of the Minamoto, I have been kept down by the Hōjō ever since the Jōkyū disturbance. Only today have I at last attained Second Rank (Note: "Nihon" (二品, Second Rank) follows the Kugyō Bunin; the present text gives Third Rank), and I am graced with the post of commander-in-chief of a region. Though it came through slight merit, this too is the emperor's favor, and in right conduct I cannot go against it. The reason for the present censure is precisely that I had the Prince killed and that I called up troops. But neither of these two things was my doing. I shall only state the circumstances and appeal, hoping that the suspicion may be cleared. If I am not heard, then I shall shave my head and flee the world, and clear myself by showing that I am without guilt. You should think carefully about what you will do. I shall not dare to draw the bow against the king's army." Before he had finished speaking he rose, his face changed. Tadayoshi and the others looked at one another in astonishment and bewilderment, but the generals secretly consulted with Tadayoshi, sent out troops to meet the enemy, and, not gaining the advantage, Tadayoshi too took the field and fought at Koshigawara, where he was heavily defeated (Note: the Baishōron says that when Takauji heard of Yoshisada's attack he had Kō-no-Moroyasu defend against him at Yahagi; Moroyasu fought without gaining the advantage, Tadayoshi was then sent to relieve him but was defeated, and withdrew to Hakone and set up camp; which is correct is unknown). The imperial army pursued as far as the provincial capital of Izu. Hearing that the generals had sent out troops, Takauji, loath to take on himself the disgrace of being a rebel, left military matters to Tadayoshi and shut himself up in Kenchō-ji (Note: the Baishōron gives Jōkōmyō-ji). He cut his topknot, intending to become a monk, but was dissuaded by the remonstrances of his attendants. Before he had shaved his head, Tadayoshi and the others returned from their defeated army to find all the gates of the residence shut; after they had knocked at the doors for some time, only Suga Kimiyoshi came out to meet them and told them the whole story. Uesugi Shigeyoshi, having consulted with Tadayoshi, forged documents purporting to be imperial rinji sent down to all the roads, which said: "Sangi Ashikaga Takauji and Sama-no-kami Ashikaga Tadayoshi have arbitrarily boasted of their military might and have slighted and disdained the court. We therefore order the Six Armies to sally forth in haste and chastise the rebellious ministers. Even if the brothers Takauji throw themselves into the gate of the Buddha or hide in mountains and forests, they are to be hunted down thoroughly everywhere, strictly seized, and the law of the court upheld. They must not be allowed to escape." Having copied out several tens of these, he took them to Kenchō-ji, showed them to Takauji, and said, "These were captured at the battle of Tegoshi. This is the will of those above, and even if you flee into the Buddhist gate you will not escape. Please consider a plan to preserve your house." Takauji rose in a fury and said, "Whether I live or die, I shall do it with you." He then took off his monk's robe and appeared in a brocade hitatare. The army rejoiced greatly, and all cut their topknots to look the same as Takauji, so that the imperial army could not distinguish them. The soldiers who had fled heard of this and vied to return, and within a single day the host was said to number three hundred thousand (Note: following the Taiheiki. The Baishōron says that when Takauji heard that the Tōkaidō army had been defeated he said to the generals, "If Tadayoshi should die, what use would it be for me alone to live on? To disobey an imperial command was never my true intention. Heaven must surely know it," and then led out his troops and went into battle; which is correct is unknown). Tadayoshi went ahead to Mount Hakone. Takauji reflected, "If we combine our forces and meet them, we can scarcely hold them, but we shall not win a great victory," and, taking a separate steep road, came straight out at Takeshita (Note: following the Baishōron). Ashikaga Takatsune and others formed the vanguard and struck the front army of Imperial Prince Takayoshi and drove it back, and Wakiya Yoshisuke pressed on further and fought fiercely (Note: following the Taiheiki), but more than seven hundred men under a certain Yūki were killed in battle (Note: following the Tenshō-bon Taiheiki). Just then Ōtomo Sadatoshi and Enya Takasada came over and surrendered, and by this means they caught the enemy between two forces and greatly defeated them. Yoshisuke fled westward, and when the imperial army at Hakone heard of it, all broke and scattered during the night. Takauji left Yoshiakira to hold Kamakura and himself went up west with Tadayoshi, following in the rear of the imperial army (Note: following the Taiheiki).

¶In the first month of the first year of Engen (1336), he reached Ōmi and attacked and took Ikisu Castle (Note: following the Taiheiki). The imperial army held the strategic points, removed the bridges and set up water barricades. Takauji dispatched his forces in separate bodies to attack Seta and Imoarai, and himself led an army toward Ōwatari, where he faced Yoshisada across the river; each time he pressed forward, hundreds and thousands drowned. Just then Hosokawa Jōzen gathered troops from Shikoku and, together with Akamatsu Norisuke, advanced and attacked Yamazaki and broke the army of Wakiya Yoshisuke (Note: compiled by comparing the Taiheiki and the Baishōron), and then marched far and entered the capital. Yoshisada and the imperial armies of the various quarters all broke and fled, and, escorting the emperor's carriage, shut themselves up in Enryaku-ji. Jōzen and the others set fire to the palace buildings, and Takauji, commanding all the armies, entered the capital (Note: following the Taiheiki). He took up residence in the mansion of Fujiwara-no-Kinkata (Note: following the Baishōron). Onjō-ji and Enryaku-ji had long been on bad terms; Takauji sent a letter to Onjō-ji, summoned its monks, and enticed them with the promise of establishing an ordination platform at Maya. The monks gladly complied. Takauji then sent Hosokawa Jōzen and others to occupy Onjō-ji and press upon the emperor's temporary residence. When Kitabatake Akiie, Chinjufu-shōgun, entered with a great army in support, Jōzen repeatedly asked for reinforcements, but Takauji would not allow it. Before long Akiie and Yoshisada attacked Jōzen and defeated him heavily. Takauji, seeing the dust cloud from afar, said, "Onjō-ji has been defeated; we must send relief at once." He went out in person to the Sanjō riverbed and deployed his officers and men, but Yoshisada, pursuing the fleeing enemy, had already entered the capital; dividing his army, he took positions at the foot of the Higashiyama hills and secretly had soldiers disguised as the defeated troops of Onjō-ji mingle among Takauji's forces. Takauji did not notice; he too drew up a broad line and waited, saying to the generals, "Yoshisada likes fighting in the open field. Now that he holds the mountain and does not come down, I suppose his troops must be few." He had Kō-no-Moroyasu attack the camp at Shōgunzuka, but was beaten instead. Takauji fought Yoshisada for dozens of engagements. When ambushers sent out by Yoshisada suddenly rose on both flanks, Takauji's own force was thrown into confusion and in the end was heavily defeated and fled west. The imperial army pressed hard in pursuit. By the time he reached the Katsura River Takauji was so hard pressed that he was on the point of taking his own life, but, as night happened to fall and the pursuers turned back, he barely escaped. That same night Jōzen attacked and defeated Yoshisada's force and put it to flight, and Takauji entered the capital again. After a few days the imperial army came attacking by separate roads. He sent Ashikaga Takatsune and Utsunomiya Kintsuna and others to defend against them, and himself fought Minamoto-no-Akiie at the Shijō riverbed. When Yoshisada's troops attacked from three sides, Takauji was heavily defeated. Yoshisada pursued by separate roads. Twenty-six horsemen of the Satomi and Toriyama clans left the main body and pressed on alone; Takauji's troops turned back to the Katsura River, fought, and annihilated them. At dusk the imperial army withdrew, and Takauji again entered the capital (Note: what the Baishōron records from the defeat at Onjō-ji onward differs greatly from the Taiheiki. Probably the Baishōron was written by a retainer of Takauji and cannot be wholly trusted. Here this work, the Taiheiki, is followed). The next day Kusunoki Masashige sent a spy to say that "Yoshisada and the others have been killed in battle at the Katsura River." Takauji believed it and, to block the escape of the defeated enemy, sent his troops out in separate directions, so that his own headquarters was left thin. The imperial army watched for the opening, set fire to the place and made a sudden attack. Takauji was heavily defeated and at last fled to Tanba. Hearing that the scattered troops had gathered at Hyōgo and were waiting to receive him and attack the capital again, he went there and joined them (Note: following the Taiheiki). Akamatsu Norimura said, "The terrain here is disadvantageous; we should enter Maya Castle and hold it." Among the generals some said, "This is merely a plan to preserve ourselves. Now the realm is divided in two, and they and we stand opposed. If the general once shuts himself in a castle, the provinces will be disappointed. The imperial army will press on with that momentum, so we should not follow it." Takauji therefore gave up the idea (Note: following the Baishōron). Just then Akiie and Yoshisada led their troops to attack, and Tadayoshi fought in defense at Teshimagawara but without success. The next day Ōtomo Sadamune, Kōtō Sōsai and Ōuchi Hirosei arrived with more than five hundred warships; Tadayoshi led them and fought at Minatogawa, but was defeated again (Note: following the Taiheiki). Soon afterwards Takauji advanced his troops to Segawa, and Hosokawa Toshiuji and others, leading Sadamune and the rest, fought Yoshisada but could not win. Norimura urged Takauji, "Go west, rely on the troops of Kyūshū, and take back the capital again" (Note: following the Baishōron). Sadamune also said, "Let me offer more than three hundred of my ships as the means for going west." Takauji agreed, and hastily put out to sea, but the soldiers fought over the boats and shoved one another aside; about two thousand drowned, and armor and horses were all abandoned (Note: following the Taiheiki). He reached Muroitsu in Harima, halted the army and held a council. Someone said, "The imperial army will surely pursue us; we should send the generals out in separate directions and have them hold the provinces to prepare for it," and Takauji said, "Very well" (Note: following the Baishōron. The Taiheiki has a similar account). He therefore sent Satake Yoshiatsu to the Kantō, Niki Yoriakira to Tanba, Hosokawa Kazuuji, Hosokawa Jōzen and others to Sanuki, Uesugi Noriaki to Iwami, Imagawa Norikuni to Momoi in Bitchū, the Kobayakawa to Aki, Ōuchi Hirosei to Suō, Kōtō Sōsai to Nagato, and Ishibashi Kazuyoshi to Bizen, leaving Akamatsu Norimura in Harima, and all were to watch for the opportunity and raise troops together (Note: compiled by comparing the various variant texts of the Taiheiki and the Baishōron). Takauji, together with Tadayoshi and with only about five hundred soldiers still at hand (Note: following the Taiheiki), came to Akamagaseki, where Shōni Yorihisa met him with five hundred picked men. When he reached Ashiya in Chikuzen (Note: following the Baishōron), Munakata Masasuke, the Munakata Daiguji, High Priest, came out to meet him and lodged him in his residence (Note: following the Taiheiki) and provided armor and horses, so that the army at last recovered its composure. When Kikuchi Taketoshi came attacking with tens of thousands of troops, the generals urged that Takauji and Tadayoshi advance together. Takauji said, "It is only now that we have reached Kyūshū and are to engage the enemy for the first time. If we two advance together and stumble even slightly, the whole army will perish. It is better to remain in the rear of the army, so that the vanguard has something to depend on. If things go badly, it will not be too late then to lead up my own force at leisure." He first sent Tadayoshi to defend against them, and a great battle was fought at Tatarahama. Tadayoshi's soldiers lacked sufficient armor and arms and went into battle on foot. All were resolved to die, and there was not one who did not match a hundred men by himself. Taketoshi was defeated and withdrew, but when Tadayoshi pursued him as far as Hakata, Taketoshi turned back and fought sharply, whereupon Takauji directed his troops forward and defeated Taketoshi heavily (Note: following the Baishōron). The Matsura and Kōda, seeing Takauji's army from afar, thought that a great host of tens of thousands had arrived, and furled their banners and surrendered. Taketoshi fled back to Higo and shut himself up in Kikuchi Castle, so Isshiki Yoriyuki and Niki Yoshinaga were ordered to storm it. Taketoshi fled and hid, and when Yatsushiro Castle was also taken, Kyūshū submitted like grass bending in the wind. At this time Niki Yoriakira enticed the Kuge, Nagasawa, Ogino, Haba and Hakase clans and took up position in Kōzanji Castle in Tanba. Akamatsu Norimura held Shirahata Castle in Harima. Ishibashi Kazuyoshi raised troops in Bizen and built the two castles of Kaigawa and Mitsuishi. The Tai, Akura, Matsu and Tatonomiya clans followed him. Thereupon the local strongmen of Mimasaka and Bitchū rose together and all answered Takauji. The emperor ordered Nitta Yoshisada to attack the west; Yoshisada led a great army and surrounded Shirahata Castle, and sent out troops by various roads to attack Nagi-no-sen, Bodai-ji and Mitsuishi Castle (Note: following the Taiheiki). When Takauji had remained at Dazaifu for over a month, some said that he should take advantage of the momentum and enter the capital at once, others that he should wait for the autumn harvest, and the discussion was not settled (Note: following the Baishōron). Just then Akamatsu Norimura sent his son Sokuyū to Dazaifu to urge him to head swiftly for the capital (Note: following the Taiheiki). A messenger from Ishibashi Kazuyoshi also arrived to report the emergency, and Takauji therefore left Isshiki Yoriyuki and Niki Yoshinaga to guard Kyūshū (Note: the Taiheiki says that Yoshinaga together with the Ōtomo and the Shōni were left behind, but the account in this book [another text of the Taiheiki], saying that Shōni followed Takauji to the capital, is the most detailed and reliable, and is therefore followed), and set out in haste from Dazaifu and, reaching the provincial capital of Nagato, inspected the ships. Now in the Jūei years Minamoto-no-Yoshitsune, with twelve boats from Kushizaki in Nagato, had defeated the Taira at Dan-no-ura, and for that reason the families of the boatmen who supplied vessels were ordered to be exempt from levies in perpetuity. Takauji took this as an auspicious sign and ordered the shugo Kōtō Sōsai to send out all those boats (Note: following the Baishōron). Reaching Itsukushima, he prayed and held rites for three days. Now when Takauji had taken the capital, he had planned to set up a descendant of Emperor Go-Fushimi as emperor, but the imperial princes had all gone with the emperor's progress into Enryaku-ji, and it could not be done (Note: following the Taiheiki). When he was defeated at Hyōgo and fled, Akamatsu Norimura also urged this (Note: following the Baishōron). At that time the Kumano Bettō Dōyū (Note: the Tenshō-bon Taiheiki writes "Dō" as "Tsū") was serving in the army and was an old acquaintance of Fujiwara-no-Sukena. Takauji said to Dōyū, "My army has been defeated many times and, because of that, resists the king's army. I wish to request an inzen from the Retired Emperor of the Jimyōin line and have the two lines contend for the realm." He therefore sent Dōyū to make the request through Sukena. Dōyū agreed and left (Note: in this book there are passages that identify the Retired Emperor of the Jimyōin line as Emperor Go-Fushimi, but this is a mistake, and it is corrected here). At this point the monk Kenshun of the Sanbō-in arrived bearing a letter from the deposed emperor of the Jimyōin line [the Kōgon-in] (Note: the Baishōron says that when Takauji fled to Tsukushi he obtained the inzen at Tomo-no-tsu in Bingo, while the Hōreki Kanki says he obtained it after reaching Tsukushi; which is correct is unknown). Takauji rejoiced and said, "My cause is accomplished" (Note: following the Taiheiki). He then had a brocade banner made with a sun disk affixed to it. As a result the soldiers of Shikoku and the western provinces gathered in great numbers, and his forces grew ever stronger. Following the counsel of Shōni Yorihisa, Takauji led seven thousand naval vessels and Tadayoshi led two hundred thousand infantry and cavalry, advancing side by side by water and by land. Tadayoshi advanced and took Fukuyama Castle, and Yoshisada lifted the sieges of Mitsuishi and Shirahata and withdrew to Hyōgo to take position. Takauji and Tadayoshi advanced to Hyōgo; the brocade banner shone in the sun, and the sound of gongs and drums shook the earth (Note: compiled by comparing the Taiheiki and the Baishōron). Wakiya Yoshisuke took position on Kyōgashima, and Kusunoki Masashige encamped at Minatogawa. Yoshisada, leading twenty-five thousand troops, set up his line at Wada-no-misaki, and the two hundred or so troops of Hosokawa Jōzen first fought Yoshisuke and were all killed. Jōzen further led several hundred warships along the shore toward Konbehama. Yoshisada and Yoshisuke left their positions empty and went east in pursuit of the ships. Takauji's troops then all disembarked together and climbed up to Wada-no-misaki. Tadayoshi had already attacked and broken Masashige at Minatogawa, so the forces united and fought a great battle with Yoshisada at Ikuta no Mori and defeated him. Yoshisada fled back to the capital, escorted the emperor's carriage on a progress to Enryaku-ji, and urged the Retired Emperor [the Kōgon-in] and the deposed emperor of the Jimyōin line to come to the temporary residence (Note: following the Taiheiki). The deposed emperor of the Jimyōin line declined, pleading illness (Note: following the Kōnendai Ryakki and the Taiheiki). Takauji advanced and took position at Otokoyama (Note: following the Baishōron), received the Retired Emperor and the deposed emperor of the Jimyōin line, and, escorting them, established himself at Tōji (Note: following the various variant texts of the Taiheiki). The court nobles gradually gathered there as well. Takauji sent the Kira, Ishidō, Shibukawa and Hatakeyama clans forward from Higashi-Sakamoto, the Niki, Hosokawa, Imagawa and Arakawa clans from Mudō-ji, and the Kō, Nanbu, Iwamatsu and Momonoi clans from Nishi-Sakamoto to attack Enryaku-ji. The imperial army defended, struck and broke them; the armies fell into great disorder and trampled one another, and the dead numbered a thousand. Kō-no-Moroshige was captured, and as the imperial army pressed on in victory, Takauji sent out weak troops to lure them. When the imperial army pursued into the capital, he then sent out his main force, blocked the streets and attacked from all directions, killing more than five hundred men. The imperial army further planned to attack Tōji from east and west in a pincer. Takauji detected the plan, divided his army into three, set one division at the Higashiyama Shichijō riverbed, one at the foot of Funaoka-yama, and posted the third as a mobile reserve at Nishi-Hachijō. The imperial army indeed came in force, setting fires as it attacked. Takauji's armies struck together and defeated it heavily. At this time the emperor sent an edict to Enryaku-ji and had a message sent to Kōfuku-ji to arrange for it to assist the imperial army. Kōfuku-ji complied. Thereupon many troops of the Kinai region rose and joined the imperial army and cut the supply routes by water and land. Takauji's army fell into great hardship; at first they sold armor and horses to pay for food, but in time, as this dragged on and they could not provide for themselves, he let his soldiers loose in all directions to plunder food and strip people of their clothes. The inhabitants of the capital, repeatedly visited by the fires of war, had already lost their livelihoods and were further subjected to cruelty; they often fell to begging and collapsed starving on the roads. Even the court nobles could not escape wandering in hunger and thirst, and the misery caused by the war reached its extreme (Note: following the Taiheiki). The imperial army further sent troops out to Amidagamine and Imahiei, and, lining up great numbers of torches, prepared to attack. Takauji sent Hosokawa Jōzen and Imagawa Norikuni to drive them back (Note: compiled by comparing the Taiheiki and the Baishōron. Norikuni's part follows the Nan-Taiheiki). Yoshisada further arranged with the various armies to attack Takauji on an appointed day, using a raised fire as the signal. Just then a house in Kita-Shirakawa accidentally caught fire (Note: the Kinshōin text says that Takauji detected the fire signal and therefore burned the houses). Fujiwara-no-Takasuke, Gon-chūnagon, Provisional Middle Counsellor, saw it from afar and advanced straight on, attacking the south gate of Tōji; Kō-no-Moronao met him and defeated him, whereupon Takasuke pressed on in victory and suddenly closed on the arrow-tower. At this moment the troops had all gone outside, and those who remained were only the old and the weak, who were startled and terrified and did not know what to do. But Takauji recited Buddhist sutras and showed no fear whatever. Just then Toki Yorinao, hearing of the emergency, rushed up and fought a great battle outside the Rajōmon. Moronao too arrived, and together they struck fiercely and drove the enemy back. Soon afterwards Yoshisada pressed straight to Tōji and proposed to settle matters with Takauji in single combat. Takauji said, "I do not wish to overturn the state; I only want to remove Yoshisada. A single combat is truly what I desire. Open the gate at once, and I shall go out," but Uesugi Shigeyoshi remonstrated strongly and stopped him. Toki Yoritō and others came out behind Yoshisada and surrounded him in several rings. Yoshisada broke through the encirclement and escaped. Takauji intended to restore the deposed emperor of the Jimyōin line to the throne, but people said, "This ruler was once set up by Hōjō Takatoki. Within a year the realm was thrown into disorder and overturned, and the Hōjō perished. To set him up would be inauspicious" (Note: following the Taiheiki). He therefore enthroned the latter's younger brother Imperial Prince Toyohito as emperor; this was the Kōmyō-in, and the era name Kenmu was to be used (Note: following the Kōnendai Ryakki and the Kugyō Bunin). Among the people it was commented, "How fortunate the sovereign is, who without fighting a single battle himself is granted the throne by a shogun." Earlier, because Kōfuku-ji had been assisting the imperial army, Takauji had enticed it with grants of land. Thereupon Kōfuku-ji turned to Takauji's side. He then sent Ashikaga Takatsune to hold the Hokurikudō with troops (Note: following the Taiheiki). Ogasawara Sadamune, leading the troops of Kai and Shinano, encamped at Nōji in Ōmi (Note: following the Baishōron) and obstructed the supply convoys of the imperial army. The monks of Enryaku-ji repeatedly came to contest it, but Sadamune drove them back. Takauji sent Sasaki Takauji far into Ōmi, and Takauji [Sasaki] encamped at Mikami, but when Wakiya Yoshisuke came and fought, he drove him back. Within, the imperial army was short of food, and its attacks without were unsuccessful; its position was isolated and relief cut off, and hunger and distress grew ever worse. Takauji secretly sent an envoy, asking the monk Chūen to feign a plea for surrender, and had a written oath submitted to the emperor which said: "Your servant was earlier entrapped by slander and brought under reprimand. I was about to shave my head and become a monk and respectfully await the clear punishment. But Nitta Yoshisada and his brother, borrowing the awe of Heaven, plotted to satisfy their private grudge. I had no choice but to raise troops, and I never dared to harbour a heart that goes against and defies my sovereign. I wish only to execute the treacherous ministers and so to warn the future. I humbly beg that, with your imperial heart, you recognize that your servant is without guilt, return your carriage to the capital, and hand down the imperial line for ten thousand generations. As for all the subjects who accompanied the progress, I do not dare to seek any further resentment. Their offices, ranks and lands I shall restore entirely as before. All the government of the realm I entrust to the court." The emperor granted it. Takauji was delighted and said, "Who called the sovereign shrewd? He has already fallen into my plan." He further sent letters to the generals who had accompanied the progress, inviting and soothing them. In winter, Yoshisada escorted the Crown Prince north to flee to Echizen, and the emperor's carriage returned to the capital and reached Hōshō-ji. Takauji ordered Tadayoshi to meet him, and in the end confined the emperor in the Kazan-in, stripped all the court nobles who had accompanied the progress of their offices, ranks and titles, seized and bound the officers and men, and demanded that the Three Sacred Treasures be handed over to the new emperor. The emperor then gave him counterfeit treasures. Further, in the name of a forged imperial edict, he sent Ashikaga Takatsune, Niki Yoriakira and others to attack Yoshisada at Kanegasaki Castle. Soon afterwards the emperor slipped out of the Kazan-in by night and went in progress to Yoshino. The capital was thrown into uproar (Note: following the Taiheiki). When the generals hurried to him, Takauji said, "When I heard earlier that the emperor was in the Kazan-in, I had the generals take turns guarding him, which was truly troublesome. But if, following precedent, he were moved to an island in the sea, that too would not be at ease. I am greatly concerned about it. Now that the emperor has gone out of his own accord, it may unexpectedly not be a bad thing. We shall only devise measures to deal with it as befits wherever he is." By this means people's minds were at last set at rest (Note: following the Baishōron). In this year the Kōmyō-in appointed Takauji Gon-dainagon, Provisional Major Counsellor (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Sonpi Bunmyaku). In the second year of Kenmu [the period when the eras Engen and Ryakuō ran in parallel], Ashikaga Takatsune took Kanegasaki Castle, captured the Crown Prince and sent him to the capital. Takauji confined him. Yoshisada entered Somayama Castle and brought the northern provinces under his sway, so that his military strength again flourished. Takauji ordered Takatsune to attack him. In winter, Minamoto-no-Akiie, together with Hōjō Tokiyuki and Nitta Yoshioki, attacked Kamakura, and Yoshiakira fled. In the third year, Toki Yoritō, Momonoi Naotsune and others fought Minamoto-no-Akiie at Aonogahara and were heavily defeated. Takauji was greatly alarmed and ordered Kō-no-Moroyasu, Kō-no-Morofuyu, Hosokawa Yoriharu, Sasaki Ujiyori, Sasaki Takauji and others to lead more than ten thousand men as reinforcements. Yoritō and the others followed Akiie as far as Kuroji and attacked him from front and rear. Akiie turned his course toward Ise, and Moroyasu pursued and fought at the Kumozu River but could not win (Note: from "Yoritō attacked from both sides" onward follows the Nan-Taiheiki). Akiie entered Nara, and Naotsune and his younger brother Naonobu were sent in haste to strike him, but again could not win. At this time Yoshisada took the provincial castle of Echizen, and Takatsune was heavily defeated and fled to Asuwa, where he shut himself in. Now when Takatsune had captured the Crown Prince, he had tried by guile to find out where Yoshisada and Yoshisuke were, and the Crown Prince had falsely answered, "They have all taken their own lives," and for that reason the attack on Somayama had slackened. Now Takauji learned for the first time that he had been deceived and, consulting with Tadayoshi, had poison administered, murdering the Crown Prince and Imperial Prince Narinaga. Minamoto-no-Akiie repeatedly sent troops out to Izumi and had his younger brother Akinobu guard Otokoyama. Takauji sent Kō-no-Moronao to attack him; Moronao divided his troops and surrounded Otokoyama, and himself led soldiers and fought Akiie at Abeno. Akiie was defeated and killed, and Otokoyama fell soon after. Takatsune and Yoshisada faced one another for a long time, until Yoshisada was struck by an arrow and died, and his head was sent to the capital. Thus the strength of the imperial armies in all the provinces declined day by day, and officers and men came over to surrender one after another (Note: following the Taiheiki). The Kōmyō-in granted Takauji Senior First Rank and appointed him Seii Taishōgun (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Tenshō-bon Taiheiki. The current text of the Taiheiki, which says he was appointed Seii Taishōgun in the fourth year of Kenmu, is mistaken). In the fourth year of Ryakuō (1341), Takatsune fought Yoshisuke in Echizen and was defeated. Takauji sent Kō-no-Moroharu, Toki Yoritō, Sasaki Ujiyori, Enya Takasada and other generals to help him. Just then, because Kō-no-Moronao desired Takasada's wife, Takasada fled to Izumo, and Yamana Tokiuji and his son Moroyoshi were sent to pursue and kill him. Takatsune, Moroharu and the others at last took Somayama Castle and seized all the castles of the northern provinces. Yoshisuke fled to Neo Castle, but Toki Yoritō stormed and took it. In this year Emperor Go-Daigo died and Emperor Go-Murakami ascended the throne, issuing a final edict ordering the destruction of Takauji (Note: following the Taiheiki).

¶In the sixth year of Kōkoku (1345), when Kojima Takanori raised troops in Bizen and Ogino Tomotada raised troops in Tanba, Takauji had Yamana Tokiuji attack them. Tomotada surrendered, while Takanori, escorting Wakiya Yoshiharu, secretly entered the capital. Takauji sent Tsuzuki Hirotoshi, the shoshidai, Deputy of the Office of Administration (Note: "Hirotoshi" follows the Kinshōin text), to lead troops and seize them. Yoshiharu and the others fled to Shinano. In the second year of Shōhei (1347), Kusunoki Masatsura sent troops out to Settsu and threatened the capital. Takauji sent Hosokawa Akiuji and others to defend against him, but they fought at Kondanohayashi and were defeated. He sent Yamana Tokiuji to help, but they fought at Uryūno and were again heavily defeated. He then sent Kō-no-Moronao and Kō-no-Moroyasu, leading tens of thousands of picked troops. In the spring of the following year, Moronao and the others fought a great battle with Masatsura at Shijōnawate, and Masatsura was defeated and killed. Moronao and the others advanced and pressed upon Yoshino; the emperor went in progress to Anō, and Moronao burned the temporary palace and turned back. Moroyasu advanced and faced Kusunoki Masanori across the Ishikawa. In summer, when the imperial army rose in Kii, Takauji sent his son Tadafuyu to strike it. In this year the Kōmyō-in abdicated in favor of the Crown Prince Okihito, who became the Sukō-in. In the summer of the fourth year of Shōhei (1349), Tadafuyu was sent to Bingo and made Chūgoku Tandai, Commissioner for the Chūgoku region. Tadayoshi plotted with Uesugi Shigeyoshi and Hatakeyama Naomune to kill Kō-no-Moronao, but the matter leaked; Moronao in anger summoned Moroyasu back from the Ishikawa and prepared to attack Tadayoshi, and many of the generals responded. Takauji was greatly alarmed and sent an envoy to tell Tadayoshi, "The Kō brothers indulge in extravagance and are arrogant and unruly, they no longer observe the proprieties between lord and subject, and the course of events is hard to foresee. Come at once and let us share safety and danger together." Tadayoshi at once set out and went to him, but the soldiers who accompanied him fled along the way, and those who remained, Munekiyo, Nobuchika and others, were only about a thousand. The next day Moronao and Moroyasu led their troops and surrounded him in several rings. Takauji was angry and had Suga Kiyohide rebuke Moronao, saying, "You have been a retainer of my house for generations. Now you forget kindness and betray righteousness and arbitrarily raise troops; do you mean to use some pretext to seize my house? If not, withdraw your troops at once and then withdraw and lay your complaint." Moronao answered, "Your servant has no other intention; I only wish to seize the ministers who speak slander." He directed his army to press on still further, and Takauji became angrier still and was about to sally out himself. Tadayoshi remonstrated strongly and urged him to grant Moronao's demand, and Takauji complied. Moronao lifted the siege and withdrew, and Takauji then dismissed Tadayoshi, called Yoshiakira into the capital to take charge of military government, and exiled Shigeyoshi and Naomune to Echizen. Moronao pressed upon them and had them killed, and, further, resenting Tadafuyu's presence in Bingo, secretly ordered the soldiers of Bingo to kill him. Tadafuyu escaped and went to Higo. In the fifth year of Shōhei (1350), a certain Misumi responded to him and Tadafuyu raised troops in Iwami. Takauji sent Moronao and Moroyasu to attack him (Note: following the Taiheiki). At this time Toki Yoriaki rebelled against Takauji in Mino, so Takauji summoned Moronao and Yoshiakira back and together they put it down (Note: following the Entairyaku, the Gion Shugyō Nikki and the Tenshō-bon Taiheiki). Tadafuyu's strength grew gradually greater. In winter, Takauji led eight thousand cavalry under Kō-no-Moronao and others to go and strike him. That same night Tadayoshi secretly slipped out and fled (Note: following the Taiheiki). Moronao asked that they stay and hunt for him, but Takauji did not listen and set out (Note: following the Entairyaku, compared with the Gion Shugyō Nikki), halted his army at Fukuoka in Bizen, and called on troops of the various provinces. Just then he heard that Tadayoshi had turned to the other side and was planning to retake the capital, and hastily turned his army back. In the sixth year of Shōhei (1351), in spring, Tadayoshi took position at Otokoyama and Momonoi Naotsune at Enryaku-ji, intending to attack Yoshiakira. Yoshiakira abandoned the capital and fled. When Naotsune entered the capital, Takauji met Yoshiakira in the western suburbs, divided his army and attacked Naotsune and put him to flight. He then met him again at Kita-Shirakawa and defeated him once more. Takauji entered the capital. That night many of his officers and men surrendered to Tadayoshi. The next day Takauji fled west together with Moronao. When he reached Shosha-zan, Moroyasu arrived, having lifted the siege of Misumi. Tadayoshi sent Ishidō Yorifusa to attack, and Takauji led troops in person and struck him but without success; Tadayoshi further sent Hatakeyama Kuniyoshi and Uesugi Yoshiyori to assist Yorifusa, and Takauji met them at Mikagehama and was heavily defeated, and in confusion fled into Matsuoka Castle. At night he summoned Moronao and asked, "How many troops are left?" Moronao answered, "At present there are five hundred; all the rest have fled." Takauji sighed and said, "My affairs are finished," and took off his armor and sat down. The generals sat in rows with him, intending to take their own lives together. Just then Aeba Ujinao knocked at the east gate of the castle and called out in a loud voice, "A peace has been arranged. Gentlemen, do not lightly throw away your lives," and, entering directly and meeting Takauji, said, "Does the general think that your servant is dead? Seeing that the army's morale had collapsed, I went secretly to Kuniyoshi's camp and negotiated a peace. Kuniyoshi says that Lord Nishikikōji [Tadayoshi] wishes to punish the Kō brothers for their unrighteousness but has no intention of necessarily putting them to death. Moreover, when I read the letter that your servant had given to Kuniyoshi, the depth and warmth of its feeling showed in every phrase. General, do not doubt." Takauji was glad. He therefore led the generals back to the capital, but Moronao and Moroyasu were killed along the way. Tadayoshi withdrew his troops from Otokoyama and Yoshiakira from Tanba, and each returned to the capital (Note: following the Taiheiki. The name Ujinao follows the Entairyaku). He then dismissed Yoshiakira and again let Tadayoshi take charge of government (Note: following the Entairyaku). But although Takauji and Tadayoshi were reconciled on the surface, within there was no ease. Before long Niki Yoriakira, Hosokawa Yoriharu, Toki Yoriyasu and Sasaki Takauji, together with Ishidō Yorifusa and Momonoi Naotsune and others, grew suspicious of one another, and each harboured doubts and fears. Thus groundless rumors boiled up and the seeds of strife arose again. Yoriakira, Yoriharu and the others each fled back to their own domains; Tadayoshi, hearing of it, likewise fled to Echizen, and many officers and men followed him. Yoshiakira, fearing on the contrary that he would be attacked, asked for preparations against it. Takauji said, "Fortune lies with Heaven," and remained calm and unperturbed. In autumn, receiving the command of the Sukō-in to strike Tadayoshi, he reached the Kagami post-station in Ōmi with some two hundred troops. Sasaki Takauji and his son Hidetsuna, Niki Yoshinaga, Toki Yoriyasu and others each led troops and joined him (Note: following the Taiheiki). He fought Tadayoshi's generals Hosokawa Akiuji, Hatakeyama Kuniyoshi and Momonoi Naotsune at Hassōyama and defeated them. Kuniyoshi and Akiuji urged Tadayoshi to make peace, but he did not accept, and so they led the troops under them and came over to surrender. Tadayoshi fled to Kamakura. Takauji then returned to the capital, but again planned to go in person to strike Tadayoshi. Yet, fearing that the capital would be left weakly defended and be attacked by the imperial army, he repeatedly sent envoys to Yoshino, asked that the Sukō-in be deposed, and sought to receive the emperor's carriage back to the capital, but the emperor would not grant it (Note: following the Taiheiki). At that time Akamatsu Sokuyū was at Yoshino. Takauji again sought through Sokuyū to submit. The emperor feigned consent (Note: following the Entairyaku) and granted an edict for the destruction of Tadayoshi (Note: following the Taiheiki and the Tera-chōja Bunin). Takauji then left Yoshiakira to hold the capital and himself set out leading the generals. Reaching Suruga, he called for troops from the neighboring districts. At that time the provinces of the northeast already largely belonged to Tadayoshi, and he could gather only three thousand troops. Advancing, he camped on Sattayama, and Utsunomiya Ujitsuna raised troops in Shimotsuke and lent him support. Tadayoshi led a hundred thousand troops and took position at the provincial capital of Izu and sent Uesugi Noriaki with two hundred thousand (Note: the Tenshō-bon Taiheiki writes one hundred thousand) and Ishidō Yoshifusa with one hundred thousand (Note: the Tenshō-bon Taiheiki writes fifty thousand) to surround Takauji on Sattayama. Momonoi Naotsune defended against Ujitsuna, but Ujitsuna won every one of a series of battles and advanced as far as Kōzu. Noriaki and Yoshifusa broke and fled. Niki Yoshinaga pursued as far as the provincial capital of Izu, and Tadayoshi fled and hid on Izusan. Takauji sent Hatakeyama Kuniyoshi, Niki Yoriakira and others and sent letters to call him in. In spring of the seventh year of Shōhei (1352), Takauji entered Kamakura, confined Tadayoshi, and soon afterwards poisoned him. Before this, Nitta Yoshioki, Nitta Yoshimune and Wakiya Yoshiharu had raised troops in Kōzuke and Musashi. The generals, judging that they could not match the enemy's numbers, asked that they first go to Awa and Kazusa, summon the troops of the provinces, and then strike. Takauji said, "To avoid the enemy and only afterward gain victory comes about perhaps once in a thousand times. If we leave Kamakura even once, all of Bandō will fall into the enemy's hands. It is better to strike first and take the initiative against the enemy," and, leaving his son Motouji to guard Kamakura, he himself sallied out with five hundred horse. By the time he reached Kumegawa, the troops that had gathered numbered nearly ten thousand. He divided them into five divisions and fought a great battle with Yoshioki and the others at Kanaigahara, with casualties about even. Aeba Ujinao fought the Kodama band and was heavily defeated and fled into Takauji's center. The armies fell into disorder and defeat, and, pressed by Yoshimune, fled as far as Ishihama. Takauji tried to take his own life, but some twenty horsemen of his personal guard fought in defense and were killed in battle. As it happened, night fell and Yoshimune also withdrew, and Takauji crossed the water and escaped. Niki Yoriakira and Niki Yoshinaga fought Yoshioki and Yoshiharu and defeated them. Yoshioki and Yoshiharu again gathered their defeated troops and turned to attack Kamakura. Motouji fled. At this time Yoshimune was camped at Fuefuki Pass. Takauji thought, "If I first defeat Yoshimune, Yoshioki and the others will collapse of themselves," and led troops to Fuefuki Pass, met Yoshimune at Kotesashigahara, and fought dozens of fierce engagements. Yoshimune fled to Echigo, and his soldiers all surrendered to Takauji. Yoshioki and Yoshiharu indeed ran off, and Takauji entered Kamakura. In summer of the eighth year of Shōhei (1353), Yamana Tokiuji submitted to the imperial army and attacked Yoshiakira in the capital. Yoshiakira escaped to Mino escorting the Go-Kōgon-in. Takauji left Motouji in Kamakura as Kantō Kanrei, and himself led the armies west (Note: following the Taiheiki. This book places Takauji's entry into the capital in the spring of the following year, but here the Entairyaku, the variant Taiheiki, the Rekidai Kōki, the Kōnendai Ryakki and the Zoku Jinnō Shōtōki are followed). He met Yoshiakira at Kagami post-station (Note: following the Entairyaku) and together they escorted the Go-Kōgon-in into the capital (Note: following the Entairyaku and the Zoku Jinnō Shōtōki). He made Niki Yoriakira shitsuji, steward. In the ninth year of Shōhei (1354), earlier, Tadafuyu had submitted and, together with Yamana Tokiuji, received an edict and set out to strike Takauji. Ashikaga Takatsune and Momonoi Naotsune led the troops of the northern provinces and answered them, and their military strength was very great. Takauji had Yoshiakira camp at Ikaruga post-station in Harima to guard against Tokiuji. In winter, Tadafuyu, Tokiuji and the others advanced to Tanba. Takauji judged that there were few troops in the capital and that it could not be held, and so, escorting the Go-Kōgon-in, he fled to Musa-dera in Ōmi and shut himself in (Note: placing this in this year follows the Rekidai Kōki). In spring of the tenth year of Shōhei (1355), Tadafuyu and the others entered the capital. Niki Yoshinaga, Toki Yoriyasu, Sasaki Ujiyori and others led troops and joined Takauji at Musa-dera, and he then fixed a day with Yoshiakira to attack the capital from east and west in a pincer, and defeated Yamana Tokiuji at Kannan. Takauji took position on Higashiyama, Niki Yoriakira on Arashiyama and Yoshiakira at Yamazaki, blocking the roads in all directions. Tadafuyu and the others had their supply lines and reinforcements cut, and when Takauji sent generals to attack suddenly, Tadafuyu and the others were at last put to flight (Note: following the Taiheiki). Takauji received the Go-Kōgon-in and entered the capital (Note: following the Entairyaku). In the fourth month of the thirteenth year of Shōhei (1358), Takauji fell ill with a carbuncle (a malignant swelling) and died. He was fifty-four (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Taiheiki. The Chōrakuki gives fifty-nine). His posthumous temple name was Tōji-in, also called Chōju-in (Note: following the Ashikaga Kaden). His Buddhist name was Ninzan Myōgi (Note: following the Entairyaku). The Go-Kōgon-in granted him posthumously Junior First Rank and Sadaijin, Minister of the Left (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Taiheiki). At the beginning of Chōroku (1457) he was posthumously raised to Daijō-daijin, Chancellor (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku and the Ashikaga Kaden). His wife, Taira-no-Tōko, was a daughter of Akahashi Hisatoki, and she too was once posthumously granted Junior First Rank (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku).

¶Takauji was broad and great in capacity, and his plans were far-reaching. When facing an affair he seemed slow and as if he would be too late, yet in truth his arrangements were already clear and his structure laid out in advance, and though at times he used stratagems and artifice, none could glimpse his true intent. In employing men he did not doubt them, and he regarded gold, silver and treasures as earth and stone. Once, at the Hassaku celebration on the first day of the eighth month, the goods that his officers and men presented amounted to an enormous quantity, but he distributed them all on the spot and scattered them without keeping any. Once, on his way back from Tsukushi, since Nitta Yoshisada had lifted the siege of Shirahata Castle, Akamatsu Norimura arrived at Muroitsu bearing more than a hundred banners that had been left behind there. Takauji saw them and, noticing that many of them bore the insignia of his former subordinates, said, "These men have probably only avoided trouble for the time being. They will likely come again before many days," and later it indeed turned out as he had said. Takauji constantly admired the achievements of Minamoto-no-Yoritomo and, whenever he opened his mouth, invariably cited him. He once said to Tadayoshi and Kō-no-Moronao, "Long ago the Minister of the Right and General [Yoritomo], while in Izu, labored in mind and laid his plans for some twenty years. Only when the Taira's crimes were full to the brim did he first raise troops and proclaim righteousness. In five years, from first to last, he pacified the four quarters. His practice of rewarding the deserving and punishing the guilty inspired awe and submission in men's hearts and is told as a fine example down to the present. But his use of punishment was harsh, he was suspicious, and he killed people without hesitation. That even his own kin could not escape unnatural deaths is a thing to be regretted. I am not so. If there are those who surrender and submit, then even if they are great enemies with deep grievances against me, I do not ask about it; I do not move them from their lands but confirm them in what they had. All the more, for ministers who have done meritorious service, I intend surely to repay them with generous stipends and rewards. In assisting me in governing, I would have you embody this resolve well" (Note: following the Baishōron). He ordered the monks Zeen and Genne to draw up a code of seventeen articles, which was called the Kenmu Shikimoku (Note: following the Kenmu Shikimoku). At the outset, because he had raised troops in defiance of what was right, he feared that people's hearts would not submit, and outwardly honored the Kōmyō-in, always seeking his approval on every matter. But once he had achieved his aim, he no longer had anything to restrain him; he treated his sovereign like a useless ornament, and depositions and enthronements were all accomplished by his own hand. Throughout the provinces of the realm, whether they were the fuko, household allotments, of shrines or the fiefs of court nobles, he seized them by force and kept them to himself, divided all of it among his subordinate generals and aides, and levied one fiftieth of it as a tax to cover military expenses. Even the sovereign's own provisions were at times lacking and he paid no heed. Those of his kin who held high rank and high office numbered some forty-three, and those who served as shugo or in administrative posts were beyond counting. Even the nobles of distinguished old houses were subjected to his invasions and insults and ended by fawning on his very servants. Even the warriors of the Guards and of the northern quarter all learned the clothing and speech of Bandō, thereby trying to escape being mocked and laughed at. Since the outbreak of the wars, for more than twenty years in all, the capital had been a field of strife. The palace gates and halls were all burned to the ground. Famine and plague followed one upon another, robbers abounded, and the dead lay piled one on another. Yet Takauji's officers and men spent their days in tea-tasting contests, gambling and drinking parties, vying with one another in luxury and display. Cash, silks, utensils and curios were all scattered among singing and dancing girls and entertainers. The cost of a single entertainment was so enormous as to exceed what would be given as a reward. Levies were made from all quarters and the common people were squeezed dry. Unjust lawsuits arose again and again, bribery was practiced openly, and high and low were exhausted. In the end fathers and sons and brothers crossed spears with one another day after day, the realm was in turmoil, and there was never another peaceful year. In the early years of Kōkoku, a great epidemic spread in the capital and the provinces and calamities and portents appeared one after another. Takauji and Tadayoshi looked on with indifference and said, "This is a disaster of Heaven, and not something that human strength can remedy" (Note: following the Taiheiki). The monk Musō Soseki, who had at first been revered and trusted by Takauji and Tadayoshi for his Zen teaching (Note: following the Taiheiki, the Baishōron and the Zenrin Shoso Den), planned to make use of their power to found a temple. Seizing the occasion of the calamities, he urged, "Of late I have often seen in dreams the former emperor at Yoshino [Emperor Go-Daigo] riding a golden dragon across the Ōi River, and at the same time portents have appeared. This is probably his curse. Please build a temple, offer prayers for his repose in the next world, and soothe his anger." Takauji believed this and so levied taxes on Aki and Suō and, using the revenues of the two provinces, founded a temple on the old site of the Kameyama Palace. He further sent men carrying treasures to go and trade with the Yuan, and obtained many great timbers and rare goods (Note: these six characters follow the Zenrin Kokuhōki). The profits obtained by the trade also amounted to several times over, and all were put to the costs. After about six years, in the first year of Shōhei (1346), it was at last completed. The expenditure ran to an enormous sum; it was named Tenryū-ji, a thousand monks were placed there, and Soseki was made its head. The Kōmyō-in was asked to attend in person to celebrate it, and the temple was to be treated as equivalent to a chokugan-ji, an imperially sponsored temple. The Kōmyō-in granted all of this. The monks of Enryaku-ji, holding that the flourishing of Zen teaching was disadvantageous to the Tendai teaching, petitioned, "Abolish Tenryū-ji and banish Soseki far away. If this word is not heeded, we shall carry the sacred palanquins into the capital." Takauji and Tadayoshi said angrily, "To build a temple and revere the Buddha's law is for high and low alike to take refuge in the Buddha. Anyone who wears the monastic robe and shaves his head should rejoice in it. Moreover, this temple was built by us, and what is it to you? If you come carrying the sacred palanquins, we shall simply send troops to oppose it. Or if the palanquins are abandoned by the roadside, we shall confiscate the property of the Sanmon monks in the capital and use it to rebuild the temple." The monks were furious and sent a letter on this matter to Kōfuku-ji and the great temples of Hiraizumi and elsewhere, planning surely to see their demand carried out. The minister of the Fujiwara also petitioned the Kōmyō-in and had their demand granted, so the order that the temple be treated as equivalent to a chokugan-ji was withdrawn. Takauji and Tadayoshi then each rode in a hachiyō carriage (Note: "hachiyō carriage" follows the Entairyaku and the Tenryū-ji Kuyōki by Nikaidō Dōhon. This book says that Takauji rode in a hachiyō carriage and Tadayoshi in a small hachiyō carriage, but the Saigen-in text says that Takauji rode in a small hachiyō carriage), and, leading their kin and officers, went to celebrate it. The next day the two Retired Emperors Hanazono and Kōgon likewise visited. The magnificence of the ceremony was such as had not been seen in recent ages (Note: following the Taiheiki). He also once composed a text offering sacrifice to Emperor Go-Daigo, speaking at length of the emperor's kindness and giving words to his grief (Note: following the text of Takauji's sacrificial address to Emperor Go-Daigo preserved at Shōmyō-ji in Kanazawa).

¶Takauji's children were Tadafuyu, Takewakamaru, Yoshiakira, Motouji and Shōō (Note: "Shōō" follows the Jōrakuki). Takewakamaru lived in childhood on Izusan with his uncle, the monk Ryōhen. When Takauji went over to the other side, Ryōhen secretly took Takewakamaru toward the capital, but was killed on the way by troops of Hōjō Takatoki (Note: following the Taiheiki. The Meisō Ryakuden calls the Nanzen-ji monk Kaiju a son of Takauji, but as there is no other source to examine, it is not adopted). Shōō died young in the sixth year of Kōkoku (1345), at the age of seven. The Kōmyō-in suspended court business for seven days on his account (Note: following the Entairyaku). Tadafuyu, Yoshiakira and Motouji each have separate biographies.