granted the imperial court rank of the Junior Fifth, Lower Grade in remembrance of his ancestor Ōe no Hiromoto's title. Ōuchi Yoshitaka approved of this and paid the stipend for the position. Although this place at court had become only a sinecure, Motonari nevertheless demonstrated to the other lords in Aki Province that he had the backing of both the imperial court and the Ōuchi clan. Consolidation of Mōri's holdings In 1534, Motonari began consolidating the Mōri's holdings in Aki, gathering local allies, chief among these being the Shishido, Kumagai, and Amano. He also married one of his daughters to Shishido Takaie (宍戸隆家). In 1535, Tagayama Castle (多賀山城) surrendered to Motonari. Over the next twelve months Motonari defeated the Miya and Tagayama clans. Motonari also made ties with his former enemies, the Aki-Takeda clan and Kumagai clan, creating a strong network of power. By the end of the decade the Ōuchi and Amago families began to see the Mōri with new respect and suspicion. The Amago clearly would not have any faith in Motonari as he had betrayed them and defeated their allies. The Ōuchi were also growing suspicious of the Mōri's growing power, so in 1537, Motonari's eldest son Mōri Takamoto was given as a political hostage to the Ōuchi clan to strengthen their relationship. He would stay until 1540. In 1539 Ōuchi Yoshitaka fought the Ōtomo clan and Shōni clan of northern Kyūshū, defeating the Shōni clan to win control of the area. In the same year, Sato-Kanayama Castle (佐東銀山城) owned by the Takeda clan on the Amago side fell to the Ōuchi clan despite reinforcements from the Amago clan. The family head Takeda Nobuzane (武田信実) escaped to Wakasa (若狭) where the Takeda had a branch family and later took refuge with the Amago clan. Siege of Koriyama Amago Tsunehisa had nominally retired and turned over the leadership of the clan to his grandson, Haruhisa (also known as Akihisa). Amago Haruhisa conceived of a plan to destroy Mōri Motonari and bring Aki province under the sway of the Amago. When a council of the Amago retainers was called to discuss the planned campaign, almost all spoke in favor of the attack. Amago Hisayuki, however, considered the risks to be too great and spoke out against it, but was derided by Amago Tsunehisa as a coward and publicly humiliated. Amago Hisayuki was given the task of harrying the Mōri's