Spoilers regarding Oda's brother-in-law, Azai Nagamasa.
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Okay so for anyone who's read Nobunaga no Chef, you'd know about how Oda ended up being betrayed by Azai & how Oda's sister, Oichi, sent Oda a message to warn him of the betrayal even though she remained loyal to her husband, Azai.
Because of Shizuko's influence, Oda communicates better with Azai & they don't end up splitting because Oda invaded the Asakura clan (a long-time ally of the Nagamasa clan). In fact, Azai supports Oda in this endeavor (even in Nobunaga no Chef, Azai's POV mentions how he would have supported Oda if he had just TOLD him about it & not invaded the Nagamasas behind Azai's back).
However, the rest of the Nagamasas are against this & they actually disown Azai, Oichi & their 3 daughters. Azai's father takes over as the new head of the Nagamasas & they join the Asakuras against Oda (so the alliance/betrayal still happens, just minus Azai).
Azai & his immediate family are forced to flee to Oda's residence for safety. Oda has Shizuko educate Oichi's daughters. Meanwhile, Azai swears loyalty to Oda & vows to defeat his own father, no matter what, even though patricide is a huge stain on his honor.
As the war progresses, just like in history, Oda pushes back the Nagamasas & the Asakuras until they're at the brink. Azai opts to join Oda's final invasion force & he faces his own father in one-on-one combat. Azai keeps trying to talk his father out of the war as it is very obvious that Oda's might is just too strong & it's futile to even fight against him.
Azai's father refuses & this causes Azai to hesitate on the final blow. He prepares himself for his father to strike him down, but instead, Azai's father impales himself on Azai's blade. Shocked, Azai questions his father about this & he reveals that this is to restore Azai & Oichi's honor so they can retake the Nagamasa name. Azai's father knew that it was futile to fight against Oda, but the bond between the Nagamasas & the Asakuras was too important for him to throw away. He tells Azai that he's proud of him & to uphold the Nagamasa name in the future.
Azai weeps as his father passes away in his arms.
[(even in Nobunaga no Chef, Azai's POV mentions how he would have supported Oda if he had just TOLD him about it & not invaded the Nagamasas behind Azai's back).]
CORRECTION, I meant "& not invaded the ASAKURAS behind Azai's back).". Sorry!
Okay yeah I said tomorrow, but I had to go back & reread the raws since I forgot some names/events & had to go google some names. The only confirmed names are Uesugi & Takeda, other names got mangled in google translate. FTR, they are the main daimyos standing directly in Oda's path. However, Oda's main enemy is still the Buddhist Temple. Sorry!
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Okay, so piggybacking off my first thread about Ashimitsu, I mentioned how Oda went to pay respects to him back when he was still Shogun. Well, Nouhime figures out Ashimitsu's identity (he really doesnt like her for how perceptive she is & considered killing her at one point) so she arranges for him & Oda to meet. Oda's shocked by Ashimitsu being alive & he confirms that Shizuko is from the future. They end up having a lot of chats together as Ashimitsu is still a wise strategist & warrior. Ashimitsu moves from the temple (where he worked as a caretaker) to having his own unit. It's essentially a secret service dedicated to protecting Shizuko against spies & doing a lot of dirty work during war.
Ashimitsu was fascinated by modern psychology & boy does he exploit his knowledge of it. His men capture enemy soldiers/spies & viciously torture them & even turn them into suicide warriors via drugs & such. When Konoe's ex head & Uesugi Kenshin meet up with him, Kenshin is shocked by Ashimitsu's blatent disregard for religious icons (he kicked a small shrine totem) since he used to be very devout. Konoe assures him that deep down, Ashimitsu is still the same great man he used to be & he wouldn't stay friends with him if Ashimitsu had changed THAT much.
There's a lot of chapters where Ashimitsu viciously kills spies & enemies to Shizuko. He tries to keep his whole drug operation secret from Shizuko as he wants her to stay happy & innocent to the horrors & filth of war, but she finds out & doesn't comment on it, showing him that she's mentally matured into that of an adult & general.
In one chapter, Ashimitsu becomes particularly furious when discovering an assassination plot against Shizuko. An inn in one of Shizuko's cities alerted the police that they had some suspicious guests muttering about Shizuko & after interrogating them, Ashimitsu found out that that the current puppet shogun, Ashiaki (aka his brother), was gathering the disgruntled rebels & Anti-Shizuko civillians to stir up discord in her territories & kill her. They could only gather up some really sexist thugs since most people were content with Shizuko's rule.
Ashimitsu busts into Ashiaki's place, beats him up in front of his terrified retainers & uses him as a chair. He then threatens to kill Ashiaki if he even so much as THINKS about harming Shizuko again (can't kill him since he's current Shogun). Everyone's freaked out by this & Ashimitsu's wrath & loyalty to Shizuko kinda spreads a rumor (amongst the feeble minded nobility) that she's like a fucking necromancer/witch that brought back the Asura from hell. IDK if Shizuko finds out about this but she & her men don't really treat Ashimitsu differently.
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So when Frois first meets with Oda, Oda has Shizuko (disguised with her chest bound & a hood over her face) at the meeting by his side. When Frois offers konpeito as a gift, Shizuko explains to Oda what it is & Frois notes that Oda seems to be very different from the rumors - as he actually listens to his subordinates & takes counsel from them. Shizuko then directs a question at Frois, quoting the phrase from the Bible about treating thy neighbor well. Frois is surprised that she knows this & answers that even if he is treated poorly in Japan, he will still persevere & treat others well. He then offers Oda many silver bars for his protection but Oda denies it as he does not want to be bought. So while the missionaries don't have Oda's protection, he will help them at times.
Frois does still have prejudices & biases though. He wrinkled his nose when Shizuko offered him a meal of potatoes & chicken (since potatoes are just ornamental crops) but he was pleasantly surprised by the taste. He was also turned off when Shizuko asked for coffee beans since that's a pagan drink (the Arabs still have the holy land right now), but brought them to her anyway.
Frois later brings another famous Jesuit, Organtino, along with him, too. Actually at this point, Shizuko doesn't have to keep disguising herself but Oda totally forgot he had her do so & so she never stopped & Frois still thinks she's a dude. Organtino immediately figures out that she's a she just from the first meeting & is able to posit that since Frois didn't tell him, this must be a secret that Oda & Shizuko have, so he should do the smart thing & not mention it. Organtino & Nouhime have like +100 perception, they're practically cheats.
There's a split between the Jesuits later on though - between Organtino/Frois & Francisco Cabral. Cabral's a hardcore Euro-centric Jesuit, which means that he views converts as inferior (author mentions how there's a derogatory name for them), shames non-Europeans for their pagan beliefs & preaches that all missionaries should discard vanity & should go around wearing the barest of monk attire. However, since they're trying to convert Asians (even the most poorest of peasants has enough religious knowledge of their own beliefs), this is NOT the best way to go about & Organtino/Frois going for the more tolerant route assimilation route (& also dressing up properly & bathing daily), Cabral is arguing against them that they've succumbed to vanity. Yes, this was also a result of Frois engaging in the cultivated pearl trade. Frois argues back that the culture here demands that they do this & yeah this is ongoing in the background.
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Also in regards to Shizuko pondering on the effects of cannabis & opium in the markets, the author inserts a whole gigantic lecture about how he personally is anti-pot legalization & he goes on a whole tangent about the Netherlands (this is before the US legalized weed) before going back to the story. Evidently, the dude's pretty passionate about this.
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So what changes in history because of Shizuko? Well when Takeda Kenshin besieged Ieyasu's manor, Shizuko & her squad were able to help them fend off Takeda. Takeda's army successfully destroyed Mori Yoshinari's unit in history, but here, he barely escaped death thanks to Shizuko. Shizuko faked his death so they could do a surprise attack later on. Oda & Katsuzou mourned Yoshinari until Shizuko showed up with him. Shizuko's not a doctor though, so Yoshinari's arm is unable to use his beloved polearm in battle anymore & he's effectively dead in that sense. Katsuzou takes over the military side of the Mori clan while his brother handles the political side.
In history, Takeda died from illness before he was able to reach Kyoto with his forces, but here, Shizuko's unit (equipped with gun/bow cavalry & special anti-arrow armour made from glass fibres) is able to completely decimate Takedai's forces & his main generals. Katsuzou, Keiji & Saizou face off against the generals in their own battles. Saizou has a Damascus steel western halberd, Katsuzou becomes infamous as a demon with his morningstar bashing people's brains in & in Keiji's fight, the enemy offers him a position if he turns, but Keiji declines since being with Shizuko is too much fun.
Insert anime battle scene where they both lunge & strike at each other, Keiji falls to one knee after a moment & then the enemy collapses entirely. Keiji asks him why he even bothered with the duel if he knew he was going to lose, the enemy general tells him that he just wanted to die with honor in a man-to-man fight, he didn't want to die to some nobody with a gun & he hates that guns are ushering the end of honorable samurai warfare. Keiji acknowledges this before beheading him. A few enemy soldiers show up & one of them (adopted son of the general) offers himself as a hostage if Keiji allows them to bring back the general's body. Keiji accepts & totally forgets to tell Shizuko that he's bringing a hostage. The hostage thinks that this is a life-for-life trade, but Keiji tells him that he's not killing him & that Shizuko's pretty chill about these things.*
*I think Shizuko puts him to work later as a spy to check on Takeda's territory. They don't invade it right away, they spend quite a few months building up their resources first (since Takeda's first battle where he kept forcing Oda to retreat did a number on them), plus with Shingen gone, his son (who has no accomplishments) & the nobles left behind started a huge struggle for power & this severely weakened the territory as a result.
Shingen gets captured after the battle & requests to see Shizuko before his execution. Ashimitsu refuses but Shizuko okays it. When they meet, Shingen snorts that he was beaten by such an idiot (Shizuko: why does everyone call me an idiot!? :<<<) but actually acknowledges her & even gives her his prized katanna as a reward for breaking his "never lost in battle" streak. Later, he is executed & his head is returned to the Takeda clan.
His defeat shocks the entire nation & permanently cements Shizuko amongst the male nobility as they have no choice but to acknowledge her now. Uesugi, who was considering either allying with Oda or his long-time rival Takeda, is now firmly pushed to ally with Oda & this even further shocks the nation. He offers one of his sons as a political hostage to Oda & the dude basically becomes yet another guest at Shizuko's mansion. He's impressed by, but wary of, everything he sees & Keiji takes him on a tour of Shizuko's fields & such. His mission is to essentially report to his father about Oda & Shizuko's might.
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Okay so I mentioned before how creating glass almost fucked over Shizuko. There are 2 factions in Oda's court - pro-Shizuko & anti-Shizuko. The anti-Shizuko faction is led by Hidenaga (no not the one introduced in the manga, I mean his brother. I'll just call him Hidenaga 2 for clarity's sake).
The thing is, he is not actually anti-Shizuko, he's just controlling the faction for his own purposes. If Shizuko loses Oda's favor because of the failure with glass, then Hidenaga 2 will offer her patronage so she can bring her knowledge & ability to his side. But she finally succeeded with glass & it brings so many endless benefits (binoculars, fieldscopes, crystal glassware, arrow-proof armour, microscopes, etc.), he convinces the anti-Shizuko faction to better their relations with her. His endgoal is still to get Shizuko for himself but since he can't, he's just bettering relations with her by giving her gifts (rare exotic animals, objects of historical/cultural value, etc.) to get benefits in return.
A lot of Oda's men go to ask Shizuko for advice. Mitsuhide for example, asked her for advice to improve relations with the recently conquered Biwa territory that he was put in charge of. She advised him to construct a harbour so that the people would become more prosperous but accidentally goes into a whole tangent about Life, Liberty & the pursuit of Happiness, thus unintentionally instilling ideas of democracy in him.
A similar almost happens with fireworks, the craftsmen working on it didn't finish in time for the fireworks showing for the Emperor, but due to outside events, the Emperor had to postpone all celebrations for the time being. So they were pretty relieved to get extra time.
And later all the nobility were shocked by the massive display of wealth & power with Oda firing off so much gunpowder such for a festival.
Speaking of explosions, Shizuko strikes fear into both her own men & the enemy when she uses a bomb to completely blow an iron castle-gate right off the wall.
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Shizuko's established herself in the society of men, but in the eyes of women, she's a total outcast. If not for Nouhime's support, they'd shun her even more. Thus it's time for her to integrate with the women of nobility. She gets all dolled up & Oda's men are shocked to see her actually dressed like a woman for once. She also promotes her new fashion styles, makeup & cloth from her factories to the noble women (along with glassware & ceramics) & she earns a lot of popularity as a result.
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A running joke is that whenever Oda rewards Shizuko (since who wants a boss who doesn't reward subordinates that perform well), she uses it the wrong way by investing it into new industries that in turn, just generate even more profits for Oda. So he just tells her to give it to her subordinates (Keiji, Katsuzou & Saizou) instead. He's also annoyed that she never takes a vacation. He forced her under house arrest when she collapsed from exhaustion after the whole "rescuing Yoshinari from Takeda" mission & she was bored out of her mind. She only asked for a vacation when her oldest pet wolf died.
As a side-note, Katsuzou now fears Saizou somewhat as during a mock military competition amongst Oda's men, Shizuko gave Saizou permission to totally let loose & berserk Saizou was REALLY something.....(if you're wondering why he's such a rule-abiding perfectionist stick in the mud, it's cuz he was worried about shaming Shizuko by acting out).
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As for the Buddhists, once Oda wins over Takeda & Uesugi, there's the whole peace settlement overseen by the Emperor. However, unlike in history, Oda has the advantage & demands for the right to issue official currency from the Buddhists. Shizuko told him to do so as this was something seemingly minor but offered tremendous sway & without it, the Buddhists would weaken significantly. Oda also drives hordes of refugees towards the Buddhists in order to drain their resources (as they can't just ignore starving Buddhist civilians).
They do send quite a few spies into Oda's territory to investigate Shizuko, but they all mysteriously vanish after some time, so the head of the spies goes to investigate in person. He finds that the cities are so prosperous & peaceful (with Oda's symbol everywhere advertising stuff even more than Disney does) that it's no wonder that the spies weren't able to stay vigilant & the ones who weren't discovered/killed off, most likely deserted as to keep their peaceful lives. He realizes with horror that there is basically no way to weaken Oda & Shizuko since they've drawn power from so many industries & have so much support that there is no way to fully weaken them unless they just raze the whole thing to the ground.
Which is impossible since the Buddhists don't have the resources or manpower for it. BTW some of the Buddhist heads still refuse to acknowledge Shizuko since she's just a mere woman, but the other heads told them off for that, saying that the fact that they disregarded her as "just a woman" in the first place was what led her beat them. The head of the spies realizes that all the reports about Oda just playing around (Shizuko introduced board games) were legit & that whenever Oda & Shizuko go quiet, it means they're building up massive amounts of resources for an all-out attack.
The head of the spies showed up during one of Shizuko's Autumn festivals, where she goes on a huge shopping spree & introduces new dishes to the populace. It's very popular & the merchants rush over in droves to sell stuff to her. Saizou notices the Buddhist & asks Shizuko for permission, but she waves him off & says that it's fine since she expected spies anyway. Let them report back, they can't beat her. Saizou is disgruntled by her carefree attitude towards her own safety but obeys.
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There's a minor kerfuffle when Shizuko's men discover a peasant who was creating her own manga with a ballpoint pen. It turns out that there was a leak from Ieyasu's side as prototypes for pens were being produced there. The peasant is worried for her life, but Shizuko offers her a job as she was intelligent enough to figure out how to use the pen in the first place.
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Shizuko's Jewish slaves are also getting along well with their Japanese coworkers as they aren't discriminatory towards them for their beliefs (they were wary at first but that's because they're gaijin, not because they're Jews). In fact Keiji can't really picture the whole "one dominant religion" situation going on in Europe.
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Shizuko DOES get "punished" at one point. She was supposed to assist Nobutada in a conquest, but they had to retreat because of a freak typhoon. Oda was okay with this because it taught his son a valuable lesson about victory & luck, but he still had to "punish" them for their failure. He basically gave Shizuko a forced vacation & this also served to make his men more vigilant since even a valued vassal like Shizuko would be punished for failures.
During her downtime, she gets authorization from the Emperor to collect & preserve historical/cultural objects. She also asked Oda for his men not to destroy those things in raids. Her reputation as an art/literature collector (& an eccentric sword collector) is what encourages Uesugi to introduce a famous painter to her for patronage. (Basically this dude's like the Picasso or Monet of Japanese painting - he established his own school of it). However, this is when the dude is just a young fresh painter & Shizuko's worried about influencing him the wrong way since he's so important to Japan's art history. She does become his patron after mulling it over & when he presents his first piece to her, she gives him more time to work on his style since yeah, there's an effect. Basically, imagine if Da Vinci painted you the Mona Lisa but it had a completely different color palette & whatnot. She doesn't want to destroy his confidence so she's kinda lost on how to deal with him.
Oda introduces her later to the monk who established Japan's tea ceremony culture & he springs this on her without warning (like he doesn't tell her who the monk is until the ceremony is over). Shizuko laments this since she just did her regular no-frills necessary tea ceremony in one of her ordinary tea houses, but the monk assures her that it's completely fine & he actually was very impressed by how down to earth & yet refined her style was.
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Latest chapters have Shizuko & Oda gearing up for an invasion into Takeda's territory. Their army has to wear special waterproof resin shoes in order to be safe from blood flukes when they march through the swamp.