The first thousand and fifty-seven chapters are all in search of Luo
Hosokawa Fujitaka persuaded the Hosokawa Mibuchi family to come to Sakamoto Castle to express his goodwill to Ashikaga Yoshiaki.
She wanted to help Yoshiaki Ashikaga take over before Yoshigan Shiba came back. Only when the Ashikaga Shogun position was settled, would she be qualified to talk about a common future with Yoshigan Shiba.
If Yoshigan Shiba took the lead in the birth of the new shogun and controlled the shogunate, what qualifications did Hosokawa Fujikoichi and his ministers have to talk about love and marriage with the newly promoted Odaisho?
Hosokawa Fujitaka's decisive stance established trust between the former ministers of Ashikaga Yoshiteru and the Hosokawa Mibuchi family, and cooperation between the two parties could be achieved.
Ashikaga Yoshiaki openly informed Hosokawa Fujitaka that he was going to Echizen Country to seek help.
Hosokawa Fujitaka thought for a while and said.
"Your Highness is wise.
As long as the Asakura family on the northern front is willing to go south, the Asai family will definitely follow. On the southern front, our Hosokawa and Mibuchi families join forces to go north, and the Miyoshi family will be attacked from both sides, so great things can happen.
The Hosokawa Miyoshi family still has some old relatives and friends in Beijing, and this winter will not make it easy for Miyoshi Yoshitsugu.
She cannot get enough supplies in Kyoto, and when the battle begins in the spring, the Miyoshi army, which has been exhausted all winter, will definitely not be our opponent."
Ashikaga Yoshiaki clapped his hands.
"Heroes and women think alike, and Wada Hime also means the same thing."
Hosokawa Fujitaka and Wada Weimasa looked at each other, smiled and bowed slightly.
The two couldn't help but sigh, thinking of Ashikaga Yoshiteru. If she hadn't been a strong dictator, why would Miyoshi Yoshitsugi occupy Kyoto and humiliate the shogunate.
The Ashikaga Shogunate has been in decline for a long time, but its internal structure is actually a fairly stable triangle. The Ashikaga shoguns, ministers, and local powerful factions support and restrict each other.
The Ashikaga shogun is the arbiter of the samurai world. The shogunate is responsible for the operation of the shogunate and collects the administrator's profits. Local powerful factions use their status as guardians to rule the local samurai clan.
The three parties each took what they needed, jointly maintained the operation of the shogunate, and ate together at this table. Although they fought openly and secretly all day long, they at least lived a good life.
But Ashikaga Yoshiki completely tore up this structure in order to revive Ashikaga. She suppressed the ministers and local powerful factions in an attempt to monopolize power.
The powerful local factions have left the country, the shogunate has evil intentions, and Ashikaga Yoshiteru only relies on his own direct ministers. How can he support the mess of the shogunate?
In the end, she met a tragic end. No one from the Ashikaga family, the shogunate, or the local powerful factions ended up well. It was a three-loser ending.
Although there is Akechi Mitsuhide's conspiracy, but without Ashikaga Yoshiteru's wanton behavior, how could the stable shogunate triangle be easily disturbed by Akechi Mitsuhide?
In the final analysis, it was Ashikaga Yoshiteru's great ambition and lack of talent who broke the long-term tacit understanding within the shogunate and was unable to suppress the situation, which made this tragedy unavoidable in the end.
But today, after a conversation, a new tacit understanding emerged between Hosokawa Fujitaka and Wada Yaimasa.
Ashikaga Yoshiaki, a descendant of Ashikaga who grew up in a Buddhist temple, is not familiar with samurai politics and the emperor's mentality, and seems to be very easy to fool.
As long as she stays calm and doesn't make trouble like Ashikaga Yoshiteru, the direct ministers of the Ashikaga family, the shogunate ministers, and the powerful local factions in the shogunate can continue to play according to the original rules of the game.
Whether it was the Ashikaga Naoomi and Hosokawa Mibuchi families who were present, or the shogunate in Kyoto who was perfunctory with the Miyoshi family governor, few people actually wanted Yoshigan Saba to become the new leader of the shogunate.
Yoshigan Shiba is too powerful. If he inherits Ashikaga Yoshiteru's legacy and continues to weaken the power of the ministers and local powerful factions, who can defeat him?
This matter has nothing to do with blood and family status, gender, or universal justice. These reasons are all excuses. In the final analysis, it is about the distribution of interests.
Yoshigan Shiba's reputation is too great and his ability is too strong. He will lead the new shogunate and must be a strong ruler, far more terrifying than Ashikaga Yoshiteru.
The vested interests of the shogunate who had suffered enough at the hands of Ashikaga Yoshiteru naturally stood together, hoping to support Ashikaga Yoshiaki in power and gain more benefits for their own family.
Ashikaga Yoshiaki was a political amateur who had just returned to secular life. She also had flaws in her status and was destined to be a weak general who was easy to manipulate. She met the political needs of everyone in the shogunate, except the Shiba family.
Although the vested interests of the shogunate cannot get more from her, they are not easy to lose more. Judging from the current situation, Ashikaga Yoshiaki is their best choice.
As Hosokawa Fujitaka and Wada Noimasa reach a tacit understanding, both parties will communicate with the Kyoto shogunate through their own channels, further integrate the shogunate, and promote Ashikaga Yoshiaki to take office.
The Miyoshi family will not be an obstacle. These four-country turtles fighting far away from homeland cannot effectively control the Yamashiro Kingdom. The only thing they can threaten the ministers is to raise the butcher knife and destroy the wealth of Kyoto.
All parties in the shogunate who have reached a consensus now only need to find a powerful foreign daimyo to join Luo, so that the Miyoshi family has no time to destroy the center of Kyoto, and this chaos can be brought to an end.
Luo's plan in this scene must be completed before Sibo Yiyin comes back.
Hosokawa Fujitaka thought carefully and finally said to Ashikaga Yoshiaki.
"If the Asakura family is willing to send troops, we can ask His Highness to return to Kyoto at the beginning of spring and inherit the position of Ashikaga Shogun.
This matter is of vital importance, I am willing to accompany you to Echizen Country and work with you to persuade the Asakura family to go to Luo."
Ashikaga Yoshiaki was overjoyed and grabbed Hosokawa Fujitaka and said words of gratitude.
Hosokawa Fujitaka, on behalf of the Hosokawa Mibuchi family, accompanied Ashikaga Yoshiaki to the Asakura family, which could provide her with a strong endorsement.
This shows that this Ashikaga orphan who lacks status has the full support of the shogunate officials, which is very helpful in persuading the Asakura family.
The arrival of Hosokawa Fujitaka added another bargaining chip for Ashikaga Yoshiaki. She went to Echizen Kingdom in high spirits, determined to win the position of Ashikaga Shogun.
———
Three good things go to Luo, and regicide is a great rebellion.
Just as the country has been in chaos recently, Ise Country, which is across the Suzuka Mountains from Omi Country, is not at peace either.
In recent years, the Kitahata family of Ise Province has grown in strength and is unparalleled in Minami Ise.
On the other side of the Suzuka Mountains, the Rokkaku family encroached on the eight northern Ise counties, and the local samurai families led by the Kobe family and the Seki family succumbed one after another.
Kobe Gumori and Seki Nobumori even married the Rokkaku important ministers, the Kamao family, and became the main tributaries of the Rokkaku family in Kitai Ise.
In the past two years, the power of the Rokkaku family has declined greatly, and their influence on Northern Ise has become weaker and weaker. The Oda family, which rose to the east, took over Mino Country and turned its attention to the wealthy Northern Ise.
Oda Nobunaga conquered Mino last year. In order to smoothly engulf the Saito family's old territory in East Mino, she ordered the samurai families of West Mino to attack North Ise.
The various families in West Mino had no choice but to send troops, allowing Oda Nobunaga to digest the land of East Mino without any worries. But this attack also made Oda Nobunaga aware of the weakness of Kitai Ise.
After the spring of this year, the Simino samurai family led by four people from Simino sent troops to North Ise, and the results were much greater than imagined.
Faced with the invading Mino samurai, the Kitaise samurai family had almost no power to fight back. Oda Nobunaga, who was pleased with his hunting ambitions, personally led the army after the autumn harvest and invaded Kitaise again.
The samurai from Northern Ise were unable to resist even the four men of Mino, and they were even more vulnerable to the armies of the two countries led by Oda Nobunaga.
Oda Nobunaga successfully advanced to Kameyama Castle. Nobumori Seki, the lord of Kameyama Castle, and Kobe Gumori who came to support asked for help from the Rokkaku family several times, but received no response.
With the recent chaos, Rokkaku Yoshiharu had no time to take care of the life and death of the samurai families in places like Northern Ise. Therefore, Seki Nobumori and Kobe Gumori made up their minds to surrender to Oda Nobunaga.
———
Oda Honjin.
Oda Nobunaga shook the letter in his hand and laughed.
"Kobe Gumori and Seki Nobumori jointly wrote a letter, willing to surrender to our Oda family, following the precedent of the Rokkaku family, and surrendering as a vassal."
The Oda Princesses all bowed in congratulations.
"Your Highness is mighty!"
Oda Nobunaga said with a cold face.
"Congratulations for what? Did I agree to accept it? Do I lack the money and food for a few of them?
I want the land of Kitaise, I want the people of Kitaise, and I want Kitaise to become the new territory of my Oda family!
Imitate the Rokkaku family’s precedent? Who do they think I, Oda Nobunaga, am? I’m daydreaming!”
Oda Nobunaga was furious on the throne, and the Oda retainers below looked at each other, but they were used to it.
Since Oda Nobunaga conquered the Mino Kingdom, his temper has become more violent and arrogant, and he is right to the point. Kitai Ise and other samurai families think that they can get through with some face and some money and food, but they are too naive.
When Oda Nobunaga saw the concubines cheering for her, her crazy personality started to show up again. Just when she was about to get angry, someone suddenly rushed in from outside the formation and bowed to her.
Oda Nobunaga's displeased expression at being interrupted suddenly froze, and she waved to the man. The man walked up to her, presented a letter with both hands, and then left quickly.
Oda Nobunaga read the letter in her hand at a glance, then looked up into the distance and wondered what she was thinking. The letter in her hand was almost broken, which made all the girls present feel frightened.
The concubines looked at each other, as if they wanted to find clues from the faces of their colleagues. Who is the visitor? What news does he bring? Why is the master so gloomy?
As Oda Nobunaga's family business grew, the samurai families present also came from complex sources. The various samurai families in Owari Mino sat together in separate groups, each speculating on uneasiness.
Only a few of Oda Nobunaga's close confidants were barely aware of the source of the letter. Niwa Nagahide felt that the person who came was somewhat kind-hearted, and vaguely thought of the two words in his mind.
Since his marriage to the Asai family in Kitaomi, Oda Nobunaga began to extend his tentacles to Konki. Although he was unable to do so for the time being, she could not hide what happened in Konki.
Could it be that something happened recently? What could happen that would shock the Lord so much? Is there something wrong with the Asai family?
Oda Nobunaga quickly recovered. She put away the letter that she had crushed into pieces of paper, and glanced at the ladies present. The ladies were sitting on their knees with their backs straight, not squinting, as if they were respectfully waiting for orders.
She coughed and said.
"I have always been a tolerant person. Kobe Gumori and Seki Nobumori are willing to surrender, and I don't want to push them too hard.
Since they are indeed sincere in their service, well, then I will accept them."
Before Oda Nobunaga finished speaking, the thought came to everyone's mind that something big had happened.
If something had not happened and the master was greedy, the Kitaisei samurai family would not have had such an easy time. They would have been ripped off and stripped of most of their benefits.
Oda Nobunaga waved his hand and shouted impatiently.
"Let's break up, let's break up. That's it for today. I'll think about the specific conditions for surrender."
All the concubines bowed to the ground and left one after another.
Oda Nobunaga whispered to Niwa Nagahide who was about to leave.
"Mi Wuniang, please stay for a while."
After all the ladies left the formation, Oda Nobunaga and Niwa Nagahide walked to the back of the formation, where the previous visitors were waiting.
Oda Nobunaga couldn't hide his excitement and stepped forward to ask urgently.
"Is everything in the letter true?"
The visitor bowed and made a decisive decision.
"Your Highness, it's true.
Miyoshi's family went to Luo, and General Ashikaga died in Nijo Castle. Miyoshi's regicide has shocked the whole of Japan.
I rushed here from nearby, this is the first-hand news. I believe this news will spread all over the world soon, so please make your decision early."
Niwa Nagahide was stunned, she couldn't believe her ears. Are the Miyoshi family crazy? That man is the pillar of the samurai family, General Ashikaga, how could her family dare to regicide?
Oda Nobunaga patted Niwa Nagahide's shoulder hard with his hand, pulled her and said.
"Mi Wuniang, the general was killed and the shogunate was in chaos. This is a God-given opportunity!
You go back to Konji with her, and I grant you full authority to help me find out the current situation of the shogunate.
What will happen to the Miyoshi family after they go to Luo? Who will be the next Ashikaga Shogun of the shogunate? You must help me find out!"
Niwa Nagahide was still immersed in the shock of Miyoshi's rebellion and had not come back to her senses. She was pulled by Oda Nobunaga and babbled in urgent words, which made her head buzz.
After a while, she came back to her senses and said solemnly.
"Your Highness, do you want to go to Luo?"
Oda Nobunaga nodded, smiling a little ferociously.
"Good opportunity, really good opportunity.
Asai Nagamasa of Kitaomi is my sister-in-law, and the eight samurai families in Kitaiise are already frightened by me. There are two roads to the north and south of my way to Raku Kyoto, and the only stumbling block left is the Rokkaku family of Minamiomi.
Ashikaga Shogun was dealing with the Rokkaku family before he died. This time the general was killed, the Rokkaku family couldn't be cleansed, so they would definitely be involved.
If I can win the support of the shogunate and support a new general to take office, it will be very beneficial to me.
Think about it, I have a legitimate excuse to go to Luo, and I can't miss this piece of meat from Minami Omi Rokkaku's family.
The Rokkaku family must be involved in the scandal of killing the general, help me find some evidence. It doesn’t take too much, just fool outsiders, and I can take over Minami Omi!"
Niwa Nagahide nodded silently. No wonder Oda Nobunaga's attitude towards the Kitaise samurai family changed drastically just now. It turned out that he wanted to prepare for Shangluo.
The Oda family occupies the two countries of Mino and Owari. If you want to enter Konku, there are two most convenient routes.
First, there is no way to break through the pass from Mino Country and enter Kitaomi through Sekigahara. Kitaomi Asai Nagamasa is the sister-in-law of Oda Nobunaga.
Second, take Suzuka Pass from Kita Ise and enter Minami Omi. Maeda interests in Iga country have promised to give Suzuka Pass to Oda Nobunaga in order to help Shiba Yoshigan buy grain.
Now that the Kitaise samurai have surrendered, as long as Oda Nobunaga doesn't force them too much, this route can work.
The Asai family is hostile to the Rokkaku family. Once the Oda family has the right to support the shogun, they can attack the Minamiomi Rokkaku family in the name of Luo, killing two birds with one stone.
On the one hand, he supported the general in Luo and gained the righteousness of the shogunate. On the other hand, he attacked Minami Omi and obtained this strategically important land that was richest in the world.
Oda Nobunaga's world ambition has never been so within reach as it is today. No wonder she was so excited that she grabbed the most trusted Niwa Nagahide and asked her to go to Koki at all costs to find out the situation.
Oda Nobunaga needs to know how the shogunate warriors of the shogunate are going to deal with the Miyoshi family? How are they going to establish another general? She needs this information to plan for the Oda family to go to Luo.
Niwa Nagahide said resolutely.
"Don't worry, Your Highness, I will go to the nearby area and I will definitely investigate it for you."
Oda Nobunaga's eyes were shining, he held Niwa Nagahide's shoulders tightly with both hands and said.
"Mi Wuniang, it all depends on you!"
Niwa Nagahide asked calmly.
"Your Highness, the Kyoto Incident caused a disaster for the general. Will the Shiba Kenshin Guild rush back from Kanto? Should we communicate with the Shiba family?"
Oda Nobunaga was stunned for a moment, his expression was complicated and unclear, he thought for a long time, and finally shook his head.
"Our interests are no longer consistent with those of the Spo family, and we cannot reveal our intentions to the Spo family.
Sibo Yiyin, Sibo Yiyin, his wife died before he got married."
There was an indescribable strange flavor in Oda Nobunaga's tone, which made Niwa Nagahide unable to guess her thoughts.
