Nobunaga ventured to move westward,
the Kai baron would probably seize the occasion to lay hands upon
Owari. It is true that the alliance with Tokugawa Ieyasu constituted
some protection. But Ieyasu was no match for Shingen in the field.
Some other check must be devised, and Nobunaga found it in the
marriage of his adopted daughter to Shingen's son, Katsuyori.

THE COURT APPEALS TO NOBUNAGA

In Kyoto, at this time, a state of great confusion existed. The
Emperor Okimachi had ascended the throne in 1557. But in the presence
of the violent usurpations of the Miyoshi and others, neither the
sovereign nor the shogun could exercise any authority, and, as has
been shown already, the Throne was constantly in pecuniarily
embarassed circumstances. Nobunaga's father, Nobuhide, had
distinguished himself by subscribing liberally to aid the Court
financially, and this fact being now recalled in the context of
Nobunaga's rapidly rising power, the Emperor, in the year 1562,
despatched Tachiri Munetsugu nominally to worship at the shrine of
Atsuta, but in reality to convey to Nobunaga an Imperial message
directing him to restore order in the capital. The Owari baron
received this envoy with marked respect. It is recorded that he
solemnly performed the ceremony of lustration and clothed himself in
hitherto unworn garments on the occasion of his interview with the
envoy. It was not in his power, however, to make any definite
arrangement as to time. He could only profess his humble
determination to obey the Imperial behest, and promise the utmost
expedition. But there can be no doubt that the arrival of this envoy
decided the question of a march to Kyoto, though some years were
destined to elapse before the project could be carried out.

Two things were necessary, however, namely, a feasible route and a
plausible pretext. Even in those times, when wars were often
undertaken merely for the purpose of deciding personal supremacy,
there remained sufficient public morality to condemn any baron who
suffered himself to be guided openly by ambition alone. Some
reasonably decent cause had to be found. Now the Emperor, though, as
above stated, communicating his will verbally to Nobunaga, had not
sent him any written commission. The necessary pretext was furnished,
however, by the relations between the members of the Saito family of
Mino province, which lay upon the immediate north of Owari, and
constituted the most convenient road to Kyoto. Hi