Chapter 270: Taking Over the Peerage Connections

The name of the Sendai Date Clan naturally rings like thunder in Japan; the famous "unifying the world twenty years early alongside Nobunaga," "Vice-Shogun of the World," and "One-Eyed Dragon" all refer to Date Masamune, the first Feudal Lord of the Sendai Date Domain. Although his life was not marked by exceptionally illustrious achievements or military prowess capable of turning the tide, he was generally considered a decent up-and-comer of the Japanese Warring States period. This guy was ambitious, but by the time he rose to prominence, it was already the end of the Warring States period, leaving him no room to maneuver, so he could only hibernate and act as a local Daimyo.

The Sendai Date Clan also relied on their crucial alignment in the late Warring States period and their submissiveness after the establishment of the Edo Shogunate to win themselves the title of Marquis during the Abolition of the Han System and Establishment of Prefectures.

The current head of the Sendai Date Clan is the 34th generation, Date Yasumune.

However, this Date Yasumune does not have a very good reputation.

To put it simply, this head of the Date Clan has done the following things to date:

He brought NHK and archaeologists to dig up Date Masamune's ancestral grave and displayed Date Masamune's skull in all directions as a souvenir in the opening sequence of a Taiga Drama.

He cosplays as Date Masamune to hold the Sendai Festival every year, engaging in "Masamune cultural tourism."

He opened lectures on the history of the Date Masamune family.

He participates in Sendai youth activities to preach the spirit of his ancestor, Date Masamune (Uesugi Muneyuki doesn't even know what kind of spirit that is; is it annihilating friendly forces or shooting one's own father?).

He authorized the production and sale of "Sendai Station Masamune Sake."

He authorized the production and sale of "Sendai Masamune Tea."

He holds Date Masamune-themed lectures all over the country.

He published books such as *Research on the Date Clan's Family*, *The Excavation of Lord Masamune's Mausoleum*, and *Masamune-kun's Revenge*.

He registered the Date family crest and the Hasekura family crest as trademarks.

He participates in every possible event as a descendant of Date Masamune.

So, everyone should be able to roughly understand why the Japanese public and those within and outside the Peerage do not have a very good impression of Date Yasumune.

To put it bluntly, you can mooch off your ancestor's IP a little, and you can use your ancestor's reputation a little, but Date Yasumune's approach is really going too far. This isn't mooching; he is essentially acting like a bloodsucker, clinging to his ancestor's bones to suck blood, so it is no wonder he is despised by everyone.

However, there is no help for it. Because the Sendai Date Clan lacks outstanding descendants, they are much more down-and-out than the Yonezawa Uesugi Clan. By the generation of Date Yasumune, they were long unable to support the cost of living in Tokyo and moved back to Sendai City. While he has earned quite a bit of money over the years by frantically selling IP, he still hasn't moved back to live in Tokyo.

Seeing Uesugi Muneyuki looking at him, Date Yasumune felt slightly uneasy. Facing the sharp gaze of the second son of the Uesugi family, he subconsciously wanted to check if his semi-old Armani suit was not washed clean, or if his hair oil wasn't groomed well, and he sounded somewhat lacking in confidence: "Um, Uesugi-kun, could we speak in private?"

"Sure." Uesugi Muneyuki saw his grandfather not far away give him a look, and he nodded.

Date Yasumune led him and Minami to a corner of the wedding venue and whispered: "Please forgive my presumption, Uesugi-kun, Watanabe-san, I came here today mainly to ask you for a favor."

"I heard that your Metropolitan Police Department Special Mission Unit is planning to become a permanent fixture, is that right?" Date Yasumune said somewhat embarrassedly: "I previously asked Commissioner Maeda of the Imperial Household Agency to inquire, but I haven't received a response yet..."

Uesugi Muneyuki listened, completely confused, and spread his hands like LeBron... ahem, he subconsciously looked at the young lady Minami.

As it turned out, the young lady Minami nodded, indicating that there was indeed such a matter, but...

"That guy is from the Self-Defense Forces..." the young lady Minami whispered in Uesugi Muneyuki's ear, looking troubled.

Damn! Self-Defense Forces!

Sure enough, as soon as Uesugi Muneyuki heard this term, his face immediately showed difficulty.

After the war, Five-Star MacArthur revised the constitution, stipulating that Japan, as a defeated nation, could not possess an army.

But everyone also knows that no matter how trashy or backward a country is, national defense is politically correct. Furthermore, a police organization cannot completely replace the functions of an army; otherwise, the militarization of the police would be even more terrifying.

Thus, the Self-Defense Forces came into being. The Japanese found a loophole, stipulating that the Self-Defense Forces are not an army, but a fuzzy thing between an army and the police, like "armed police" or "military police," thereby bypassing the constitution.

Let me emphasize here: the Self-Defense Forces belong to the Public Servant sequence, not regular soldiers. Let me emphasize again: the status of the Self-Defense Forces in Japan is that of Public Servants, not regular soldiers.

But even by exploiting this loophole, the Self-Defense Forces are still not considered "normal public servants." Their treatment, accommodation, food, and allowances are all very poor. It is the kind of place you only go to become a "Self-Defense Official" if you really have no books to read and no way to make a living. The monthly salary is only 150,000 yen, and even with improvements in recent years, it's only about 200,000 yen, so one can imagine the quality of the recruits.

Whether official or civilian, the reputation of the Self-Defense Forces is extremely poor, especially since the Self-Defense Forces have to participate in suppression activities from time to time. All Japanese people have no good feelings toward them. Retired soldiers cannot find jobs when they come out and can only work in construction sites, as delivery or seafood workers, or as gatekeepers and security guards.

Retiring from the Self-Defense Forces in Japan is about the same as having a criminal record from being in prison; the vast majority of jobs in society reject them instantly.

Damn it, you Date people want to stuff a retired Self-Defense Official in here?

Uesugi Muneyuki's face immediately darkened, and even the young lady Minami's expression was not good.

What do you take our Special Mission Unit for?

Sure enough, seeing that the couple's faces were very ugly, Date Yasumune became even more restrained. After thinking it over, he decided to speak plainly.

You have to accept this person, because your grandfather already promised us!

The head of the Sendai Date Clan explained the ins and outs of the matter.

The person who wants to enter the Special Mission Unit is the eldest son of the Uwajima Date Clan, Date Nagamune. He retired from the Self-Defense Forces after three years and is only twenty-three this year, having already spent a year at home preparing for the local Public Servant exam.

In order to allow his grandson to serve in the Metropolitan Police Department, the head of the Uwajima Date Clan, Date Munetada, made a decision that went against his ancestors.

He agreed to let Tokyo University and Waseda University jointly excavate the tomb of his ancestor, Date Hidemune (the eldest illegitimate son of Date Masamune and the first Feudal Lord of the Uwajima Date Clan)! To contribute to national archaeology and the study of Japanese history and culture!

And this excavation work, of course, is to be handed over to Uesugi Muneyuki's older brother, Uesugi Sadanori, to do!

This is a national-level archaeological project, and his grandfather, Uesugi Kuninori, has already smoothed things over in all aspects. Once this project is completed, Uesugi Sadanori will officially enter the Tokyo University History Department as a researcher based on this project!

And as a condition for agreeing to excavate his own ancestor's tomb, Uesugi Kuninori promised to find a way to stuff the eldest son, Date Nagamune, into the Special Mission Unit where Uesugi Muneyuki works.

It really is a decision that goes against the ancestors!

Uesugi Muneyuki was speechless. He looked at Date Yasumune's face and stammered for a long time, unable to say a single word.

"I seem to have heard 'Special Mission Unit'?" Just then, the head of the Tokugawa Clan, Tokugawa Tsunenari, slowly leaned over and smiled: "I still have to thank you for the Yokohama Case last time, Uesugi-kun! Come, as the chairman of the Yokohama Revitalization Association, I toast you, and the lovely Minami-chan~"

"Ah, it's Grandpa Tokugawa! Hello~" the young lady Minami replied sweetly.

"Hello, Grandpa... Tokugawa." Uesugi Muneyuki toasted. Uesugi Kuninori and the head of the Tokugawa Clan are cousins.

"No one can refuse the Special Mission Unit, Uesugi-kun." I don't know when, but the Director of the Imperial Household Agency and head of the Kanazawa Maeda Clan, Maeda Toshisuke, also appeared: "A Samurai should be firm and stoic. Lord Toshiie would definitely like a straight shooter like you! Come, Grandpa toasts you."

"Hehehe, we are all very proud that such a descendant can appear in the Peerage." The head of the Higo Hosokawa Clan, Hosokawa Morihiro, also appeared. Compared to his years as Prime Minister, Hosokawa Morihiro is now a bit frail, but his spirit is still very good: "Uesugi-kun, thank you for your consistent contributions to solving cases."

"Hoho, being at a disadvantage is the real thrill of the battlefield~" The head of the Shimazu Family, Shimazu Nobuhisa, pushed the crowd aside: "What are you guys doing here in secret? Not bringing me to the Battle of Sekigahara? Watch me, Shimazu, charge the enemy line and break through from the front!"

"Hahahahahaha~" Many bigwigs of the Peerage surrounded Uesugi Muneyuki.

"Give us some face, Uesugi-kun."

"That's right, compared to those outsiders, we of the Peerage are the real insiders."

"Regarding the Date matter, Munetada knelt and begged us... For the sake of your Uesugi Clan, Munetada even agreed to dig up his ancestors' graves. Uesugi-kun, how about giving us old guys some face?"

These bigwigs kept their posture relatively low, and after these true bigwigs appeared, Date Yasumune, as the person involved, could only retreat obediently, leaving the good spots for the real bigwigs while observing secretly.

It seems that Kuninori-san's calculations were wrong... the head of the Date Clan calculated in his heart.

That old geezer Kuninori Uesugi wants to use this wedding to have Sadanori Uesugi take over the entire Peerage network, yet in reality, the one who truly has the ability to take over the entire Peerage network is not Sadanori Uesugi.

It is his young grandson, Uesugi Muneyuki!

(End of this chapter)