"It's a bit hard." Imagawa Yoshimoto then refused, "The Matsudaira clan and the Imagawa clan don't recognize what you call the 'Nishi Matsudaira clan'. We define them as rebels, but due to the situation, we can't put down the rebellion immediately.
, had to temporarily cease the war. This is not a negotiation between two independent and equal families, this is a negotiation between the real family governor and the rebels in the civil strife. How can there be any reason for the family governor to hand over the hostages in his family to the rebels? "
"Your Majesty Imagawa, don't get hung up on these superficial claims." Masahide Hirate had clearly shown signs of impatience, "As you can see, our Oda family has no interest in asking you for exorbitant prices and will pay you back on the spot.
The conditions I did not offer are all normal demands of the Oda family. I don’t understand why the Imagawa family disagrees. You must be clear that in the previous battle, the Imagawa family was not the victor. As long as you agree to the conditions, the Oda family will withdraw immediately.
.If you don’t agree, we will have to fight again.”
"It's not me who has the final say." Imagawa Yoshimoto did not mean to make a decision for the Matsudaira family, but looked at Matsudaira Hirotada, "Your Highness Matsudaira, what do you say?"
Imagawa Yoshimoto's original intention was to help Matsudaira Hirotada as a stepping stone for him to refuse. But after seeing Matsudaira's expression, Imagawa Yoshimoto realized that the latter was obviously thinking about this issue seriously.
"I can return the hostages." After pondering for a moment, Matsudaira Hirotada gave the answer, "But that is only to return the hostages to the Matsudaira branches, not to Anxiang City. The Oda family cannot force them.
Requesting hostages, if the Oda family can do it, I can take them."
After Hirate Masahide heard this, he immediately looked at Imagawa Yoshimoto, trying to find an expression of depression and anger on his face - tell him that you have to drag the Matsudaira family to negotiate, now it's good, it's hard to ride a tiger, right? However,
Imagawa Yoshimoto did not get angry, but said seriously to Matsudaira Hirohito: "Your Highness Matsudaira, you have to think clearly that we have no measures to ensure that the Oda family will fulfill its promise."
"Yes, Your Highness Matsudaira, please think twice, this is definitely not feasible." Ohara Zhenmi also hurriedly followed suit.
"Your Highness Imagawa, could you please take a moment to speak?" Matsudaira Hirotada looked troubled, so Imagawa Yoshimoto stood up in agreement, and Masahide Peace and others left the tent after making their confession.
"Hirotada, is there something unspeakable?" Imagawa Yoshimoto and Matsudaira Hirotada came to a deserted place.
"Brother, it's like this. Many of the children of the separated family are still children and have not experienced the world deeply. I don't want to involve them in disputes. If there is a fight between swordsmen in the future, even if I don't want to embarrass them, the family may
There will be hard-liners who will harm their lives, and then we, the Songping people, will be completely unstoppable. In this case, it is better to send them back to their respective homes first, leaving a sense of kindness. When they are unified in the future, there will not be deep hatred.
ocean."
Matsudaira Hirotada was talking nonchalantly, as if he was a little embarrassed. He had just said that he was too cowardly, but he made the same mistake again. However, Imagawa Yoshimoto himself was not a competent family governor, and he had no position to condemn Matsudaira Hiroshi.
He nodded: "After all, it is your family matter. If you want to do this, I have no reason to stop you. But this is obviously not a good choice."
"Brother, you can stop me." Matsudaira Hirotada looked at Imagawa Yoshimoto, but his own eyes were a little dodgeful, "The Matsudaira family is so weak right now. Whether they can survive depends entirely on the Imagawa family. I dare not say that I am an equal brother to the Imagawa family.
We have formed an alliance. My brother still maintains formal respect, and I am already grateful, but I still have self-awareness. If the Imagawa family has instructions, the Matsudaira family can only follow them."
"Then do what you want to do, as long as you don't regret it later." Imagawa Yoshimoto smiled with relief. Yes, he himself is not willing to be a good superintendent, so how can he force others to do it?
June 22, the 11th year of Astronomy (1542), Okazaki Castle in Mikawa Kingdom.
Following Matsudaira's compromise, the Imagawa family and the Nishi Matsudaira clan also shook hands with the Oda family and the Higashi Matsudaira clan and made a temporary truce. The Imagawa family and the Oda family each withdrew their troops from the banks of the Yahagi River. In order to thank the Imagawa family for their repeated assistance, Lin
Before leaving, Imagawa Yoshimoto and the retainers of the Imagawa family were invited to the Okazaki Castle Castle as guests, and Matsudaira Hirotada led the retainers to host a banquet in person.
During the dinner, Asahina Yasuno kept pouring himself wine one after another. After drinking a bottle of wine, he asked the Matsudaira family to continue to add more. The economic situation of the Matsudaira family was not very good, and the wine was still somewhat limited.
It's a small luxury consumer product. Seeing Asahina Tai can drink endlessly, Imagawa Yoshimoto couldn't help but said: "Binakamori, a small drink is pleasant, but drunkenness is harmful to the body. Please exercise some restraint when you are in the guest's house."
"Your Highness, what do you know?" Asahina Taihe laughed heartily, and did not forget to burp the wine. He said with a red face, "People are in high spirits when happy events happen, and I am happy, so I can't drink too much.
Cup? You, the lord, don’t give this freedom to your retainers, so be careful and you’ll get a slap in the face!”
"Obviously everyone is saying that it was our Imagawa family who lost the battle. The guardian of Bichu is still here happily drinking the 'celebration wine'. Could it be that he was betrayed?" Imagawa Yoshimoto couldn't help but joked, which made people laugh.
The retainers of the Imagawa family laughed loudly, "Shouldn't a shameless samurai shed tears after a defeat, practice martial arts every day, and plot revenge? Why did Bei Chushou drink the general's belly instead?"
"Your Highness, what do you know?" Asahina Bichu raised her neck and took another sip of wine, laughing and changing the subject.
"I'm so sorry, brother." After the banquet, Matsudaira Hirotada and his retainers reluctantly personally sent Imagawa Yoshimoto down to the castle tower and then out of the gate of Okazaki Castle. On the way to see him off, Matsudaira Hirotada said that he had just mentioned
He apologized to Imagawa Yoshimoto for the rumors that had arisen in the Mikawa area in the past few days, "Because our Matsudaira family returned the hostages, everyone thought that the Imagawa family was defeated in the Battle of Shodozaka, which was a disgrace to my brother's martial name."
"I have never heard of the rumors. I just mentioned them casually just to show off my quick words with Asahina Bichu. Don't worry about it." Imagawa Yoshimoto has been living in seclusion these days and has not listened carefully to the ninja's report. Naturally, he does not know these things.
What exactly were the rumors talking about? Of course, he didn't care about his martial name. "After our army leaves, the defense of the Yahagawa River will be yours. Please be careful."
"Originally, our military strength was stretched thin. Thanks to my brother for helping us rescue nearly a thousand captured soldiers, otherwise the Matsudaira family would have been really unsustainable... We lost half of the men in the army at once." Hiroshi Matsudaira.
Tadashi was filled with emotion and thanked Imagawa Yoshimoto again and again, "Originally, countless families inside and outside Okazaki Castle who had lost their mainstay were crying day and night, but now they finally have a member."
"That's great." Imagawa Yoshimoto showed a comfortable smile, rode out of the east gate of Okazaki Castle, and returned eastward with the army that had been staying in the castle town. At this time, he suddenly found that the roads in the castle town were crowded on both sides.
The crowd was filled with onlookers, and the long queue was estimated to number several thousand people, extending outside the castle town.
"Is this?" Imagawa Yoshimoto asked with some surprise to Matsudaira Hirotada beside him, "Having a banquet to entertain us monarchs and ministers has already fulfilled the etiquette of a guest and a host, so why do you need to send us off with such a big parade? Isn't it?
It wastes people and money."
"It was not arranged, they all came spontaneously to see my brother off." Matsudaira Hirotada showed a faint smile, and the admiration in his tone could not be concealed, "Most of them are members of the family who were rescued from the battlefield by you.
Soldiers and civilians who were randomly arrested and kidnapped by the Oda family. They and their families heard that you were leaving today, so they came here to see you off. They had been gathering here since early morning. They were afraid that they would not be able to get a seat on the roadside, so they were already waiting.
It’s been half a day.”
Imagawa Yoshimoto was stunned, feeling that even the smell of the air was warm.
Thousands of Mikawa people gathered spontaneously and lined up in long queues on both sides of the official road. They looked at Imagawa Yoshimoto's Red Bird Horse Seal with gratitude and a bit of respect. Most of them were just ordinary people and did not dare to interact with them.
The samurai did not dare to come forward to talk to each other. They just looked at Imagawa Yoshimoto from a distance and silently, not daring to speak, but their eyes and the length of the sea of people already showed their intentions.
Imagawa Yoshimoto rode his horse and walked among the people, but it was difficult to express the thoughts in his heart. This strange feeling made him unfamiliar, but it also made him happy, but after the happiness, there was a faint sadness, and with these struggles in troubled times
They sympathized with the fate of the poor people here. For them, it was Imagawa Yoshimoto who saved them and their families. These honest and kind-hearted Guizhou leaders had no other way to repay but to express their gratitude in the simplest way.
Those loyal and brave soldiers, due to their status as soldiers of the Matsudaira family, could not directly express their inner gratitude to Imagawa Yoshimoto, so they could only choose to watch from a distance.
In the crowd, Imagawa Yoshimoto recognized at a glance the girl named "Xiao Kui" whom he met on the battlefield that day. However, there was neither father nor mother beside her, but she was alone, with tears in her eyes.
Squeezed into the crowd, her thin figure seemed to be submerged at any moment.
Imagawa Yoshimoto immediately understood what had happened to Xiaokui, and he did not dare to think about how this five or six-year-old girl had survived in the past few days, and he did not dare to look at how many other people in the surrounding crowd were also lonely.
A war orphan. He then got off his horse and came to the roadside, walked towards Xiaokui, held her sleeves, and helped her onto his horse, intending to take in this poor person. Xiaokui was speechless and just crawled on the Imagawa
Yi Yuan cried on his back.
However, Imagawa Yoshimoto's thoughts were far away, and he was talking to himself in his heart:
"If Tora Chiyo (Takeda Harunobu) were here, he would definitely say that I am a hypocritical hypocrite. There were so many people waiting for relief, but I only saved one little girl. But I just felt compassion.
, I just can’t bear to see a little girl suffer, but I just can’t help but want to help her. What’s wrong with me? I don’t have the ability or awareness to save everyone, so is it wrong for me to save one of them? Limited kindness is also goodwill.
, what’s wrong with that?”
Asahina Asahina suddenly rode forward, holding his own wine gourd in his hand, and put it on Imagawa Yoshimoto's shoulder. The smell of alcohol hit his face: "You know, Your Highness, you know what the rumors are in the world these days.
?"
"What is it?" Imagawa Yoshimoto asked.
"Haha, although the people are stupid, they are also the best at distinguishing between good and evil. They know very well who is a good person and who is a bad person." Asahina Asahina laughed and patted Imagawa Yoshimoto on the shoulder:
"What does Your Highness think the world is spreading? Everyone in the world is spreading rumors that His Highness Imagawa was willing to give up the victory he had won in order to save the people! He has a kind heart, which is rare in ancient and modern times! He is well-deserved as the most benevolent man in Tokaido!"
"Your Highness said, have you lost this battle? The hearts of the people of Mikawa and the soldiers of the Matsudaira family all belong to you! The Oda family thought they had won by taking some small profits, but little did they know that you picked the rest.
Do you think we, the ministers, can be unhappy? Can we not drink too much?"
After that, Asahina Taino took a big gulp of wine, and then, using the strength of the wine, he shouted at the top of his lungs:
"Long live your highness Imagawa!"
The originally silent queue and crowd suddenly became restless.
"Long live His Majesty Imagawa!" The soldiers of the Imagawa family cheered for their governor for the second time in several days.
This time, even the crowd seeing him off became noisy. Sporadic shouts of "Long live His Majesty Imagawa" rang out, and finally turned into a roar of thousands of people.
"Long live your highness Imagawa!"
That moment was the most satisfying moment in Imagawa Yoshimoto's military career.