inaka into Echigo, Etchu, Noto, and
Kaga.

DISSENSIONS AMONG THE MINAMOTO

Meanwhile discord had declared itself between Yoritomo and Yoshinaka.
It has been shown that the records of the two families afforded no
basis of mutual confidence, and it has also been shown that the
Takeda clan of Kai province were among the earliest adherents of the
Minamoto cause. In view of Yoshinaka's brilliant successes, Takeda
Nobumitsu proposed a marriage between his daughter and Yoshinaka's
son, Yoshitaka. This union was declined by Yoshinaka, whereupon
Nobumitsu suggested to Yoritomo that Yoshinaka's real purpose was to
ally his house with the Taira by marriage. Whether Nobumitsu believed
this, or whether his idea had its origin in pique, history does not
indicate. But there can be no hesitation in concluding that a rupture
between the two Minamoto chiefs was presaged by Yoritomo's entourage,
who judged that two Richmonds could not remain permanently in the
field.

Things gradually shaped themselves in accordance with that forecast.
The malcontents in Yoritomo's camp or his discomfited opponents began
to transfer their allegiance to Yoshinaka; a tendency which
culminated when Yoritomo's uncle, Yukiiye, taking umbrage because a
provincial governorship was not given to him, rode off at the head of
a thousand cavalry to join Yoshinaka. The reception given by
Yoshinaka to these deserters was in itself sufficient to suggest
doubts of his motives. Early in the year 1183, Yoritomo sent a force
into Shinano with orders to exterminate Yoshinaka. But the latter
declined the combat. Quoting a popular saying that the worst enemies
of the Minamoto were their own dissensions, he directed his troops to
withdraw into Echigo, leaving to Yoritomo a free hand in Shinano.
When this was reported to Yoritomo, he recalled his troops from
Shinano, and asked Yoshinaka to send a hostage. Yoshinaka replied by
sending his son Yoshitaka, the same youth to whom Takeda Nobumitsu
had proposed to marry his daughter. He was now wedded to Yoritomo's
daughter, and the two Minamoto chiefs seemed to have been effectually
reconciled.

ADVANCE OF YOSHINAKA ON KYOTO

Yoshinaka's desire to avoid conflict with Yoritomo had been partly
due to the fact that the Taira leaders were known to be just then
straining every nerve to beat back the westward-rolling tide of
Minamoto conquest. They had massed all their available forces in
Echizen, and at that supreme moment Yoritomo