Yang Nai was very worried, she knew Xue Nao's temperament best, and she would definitely bleed to death.
Yukino is a pure swordsman who moves forward bravely and achieves the goal directly, but Yangno is not as open-minded as her.
Yang Nai couldn't help feeling resentful in his heart.
My lord, my lord, do you still care about us sisters? If you just leave such an offensive thing to us, how can the Takada family hang out in Shiba's house in the future?
Yang Nai has been in business for a long time. Although he is extremely talented in all aspects of business, he still has a superficial understanding of the nature of Wu family politics.
In her view, peace is the most important thing, and the long-term solution is to win over interests. However, the Wu family suppresses the world with violence, and it is their nature to bully the weak.
She was worried that the Western Owari faction would hold grudges against the Takada family, but would forget who was the real strong one. As Yukino said, wouldn't it be good to just listen to the master as before?
As the old saying goes, if you hit an egg with a stone, you will not know what you can do. So who is the egg? Who is the stone? Who should be afraid?
———
Iga country, Ueno Castle.
Ueno Castle was built as a settlement by the manpower and material resources of the nearby Shiba Territory where Maeda's interests were concentrated. It is also the most important military town in Iga.
The Iga Basin extends in all directions, connecting Yamashiro, Omi, Ise, and Yamato Shikoku. There are many mountains around the basin, which are easy to defend and difficult to attack. The geography is difficult and has extremely high military value.
Yoshigan Shiba took 200,000 koku from the Konkika-Shiba Territory and sealed the Maeda interests in Iga country. Then he left for Kanto, and the military power of the Konkika-Shiba Territory was in the hands of the Maeda interests.
After the construction of Ueno Castle, it became the most important military town in the Shiba Territory in recent times, always threatening the Minami Omi Rokkaku family.
At this time, the Rokkaku family had already declined, and the Oda family occupied northern Ise, southern Omi, and Ueno Castle's importance to the Konkishwa Territory did not decrease but increased.
In the residence hall of Ueno Castle, Maeda was singing harmony with several cultural figures, and was in high spirits.
Suddenly, there was a heavy coughing sound outside the door. Several people turned around and saw Maeda Riku standing on the porch with a gloomy face.
The cultural people looked at Maeda anxiously. She smiled and waved her hand. Several people were relieved and bowed and left.
After everyone left, Toshihisa Maeda slowly walked into the room. He stood up and said with a smile.
"Mother, why do you have time to come here? Aren't you busy these days?"
Maeda Riku rolled his eyes and cursed.
"You still know I'm busy?
You are very comfortable in your position as house governor. You leave everything at home to me and you are free and at ease. I heard that you even secretly changed your clothes and went to Kyoto to participate in the Renge Competition, and your skills shocked everyone.
What's the matter with a good martial artist who doesn't know his dignity? Are you planning to run away and become a rogue, a wild and charming person?"
Maeda Yoshida stepped forward and hugged his mother, smiling and saying.
"Mom, don't be angry. Sit down first, and my daughter will pour you tea and apologize."
Maeda Riku had no choice but to deal with this shameless adopted daughter. He grunted twice and was still dragged to sit down by her.
Seeing Maeda's action of pouring tea and water, Maeda Toshihisa suddenly asked.
"Takada Yukino was ordered to investigate the Shibachu Fund. Do you know?"
Maeda paused for a moment and smiled.
"My mother knows that I am busy with military affairs on weekdays, and occasionally I hang out with cultural people in my spare time.
We leave all our own housekeeping to you, and I rarely get involved in the domestic and business affairs of Sibo in recent years."
Taking the tea that Maeda Yoshida handed over respectfully, Maeda Toshihisa put it on the table, stared at his daughter's face, and said.
"Don't be evasive, you know what I'm asking.
Those people are all relatives and friends I brought over from Owari Country. Although they did something inappropriate, they are our own people after all."
Seeing that she couldn't get through it, Maeda Yoshi was silent for a long time, poured herself a cup of tea, and drank it all. Then she exhaled and said.
"Just because they are the people you brought back and have made contributions to the Iga Maeda family, I tolerate them until now.
But what about them? They have their own merits. They first put their hands into the armament, asked me to interrupt this path, and then begged you to go to the Spozhong Fund to do something.
What good things do you think they can do there? Dogs can't change their habit of eating bad things, so they are getting worse. They want to drag the Iga-Maeda family to die with them."
Maeda Riku shook his head and said.
"After all, they are our own people from Owari, and they are all talented elites, and they think very highly of themselves.
Now that you are a famous person, you must be tolerant of others and use their strengths to tolerate their weaknesses."
Maeda Yoshiko said.
"They are not the only people you brought from Owari.
As long as those who work in the army serve the public with their heart, I will not reward them enough. Have I ever wronged our own people?
Those people who dared to mess with my armaments before and now dare to attack the Spozhong Fund are really doing their own thing."
Maeda Riku sighed.
"So, you want to kill them?
Did you know that they are all practitioners who are proficient in arithmetic, and I don’t have many of them who know the basics of arithmetic like this.
I finally managed to arrange them into the Spozhong Fund so that I can help you with more support in the future."
Maeda said coldly.
"That's because they are seeking death themselves.
You also know that in recent years, I have been in charge of the regular supplies of the Spur Leader, and I know best the thoughts of the grassroots warriors.
The Lord established the Sibo Zhong Fund to win over people with annuity benefits, and all the military families in the army were grateful.
For a reserve army to fight, it must have at least thirty to fifty Hime warriors as its backbone. In the army, it is not just the Hime warriors from my Maeda family who are working in the army, there are also people from all the families in Shibo in recent years.
Those people you arranged to join the Spozhong Fund are said to be able to help me in the future.
But have you ever thought that they are lining their own pockets and siphoning off everyone's annuity, which is ruining my prestige in the military?
If I can't expose this matter as soon as possible and cut off all ties with these people, how can I lead troops to fight in the future?
I, a member of the Owari faction, are greedy for welfare. If the Shibachu Fund is in deficit and annuities cannot be paid in the future, I will be afraid of being shot in the back on the battlefield.
Mother, you have also led troops in battles. How can Warrior Ji be a gentle person? How could I not be cautious?"
Maeda Riku frowned.
"What on earth did you do?"
Maeda said with a smile.
"It's nothing, it's just a push for Nizi to win.
The two annuities this year were worth two stones each. There were Sibo establishments at the grassroots level in the army. The family had enough to eat and drink, and everyone was in high spirits.
I sent people to secretly encourage the Ji warriors to write home, and together we begged the Lord to issue the announced six-stone annuity as soon as possible. Nizi Shengjiu couldn't bear the outpouring of public opinion, so he could only write to ask for instructions."
Maeda Toshihisa said angrily.
"You are coercing! You are inciting! What will happen if the master finds out!"
Maeda smiled.
"Mother, you underestimate me too much.
In recent years, the military power of the Sibo Territory has been in my hands, and the standing army has long been under my control.
If you do some tricks in secret, no one can see it. Even if someone sees the connection, they can't find it on me."
Maeda Riku looked at the confident Maeda and was speechless for a moment.
When the two Maeda families were separated, the Maeda family in Aroko Castle was torn apart by Maeda Toshihisa and Maeda Toshijia. The mother was so angry that her mother, Maeda Toshimasa, felt tight in her chest and scolded the two daughters for cheating on them.
The Maeda family of Arakoko Castle was an old samurai family from the four counties of Shimo-Owari, with many relatives and friends. Maeda Rihisa and Maeda Toshiie not only separated the family's samurai warriors, but also divided their connections in the four counties.
Maeda Toshijia encouraged the samurai family of Kaisei County and Kaitong County to go to Konka Shiba Territory to establish the Iga Maeda family. The Maeda Toshiie family poached Chita County of Aichi County to get close to the samurai family and established the prototype of Owari Shiba Territory.
The samurai family of Shimowari's four counties can be said to be the basic base of the Shiba family and the two Maeda families.
The Iga Maeda family was given important responsibilities by Shiba Yoshigan. Maeda's interests controlled the military affairs of Shiba in recent years, and Maeda Toshihisa was responsible for the domestic affairs. Mother and daughter divided labor and cooperated, and the family business was very prosperous.
But this year, the two gradually had some differences.
Yoshihiro Shiba returned to the recent Battle of Jolow, and Maeda did not participate in the battle. After that, the Shiba family's strategy changed and began to hide their capabilities and bide their time. She was unable to participate in the Settsu strategy led by the shogunate.
Maeda Toshihisa took the lead in housekeeping, but through the rise of the Shiba Tadashi Foundation, many people entered the administrative system of Shiba Territory in recent years.
Comparing the two, Maeda was very upset. The samurai of the Owari faction who came to Iga country with Maeda Rihisa also belonged to the internal affairs and military affairs, and followed Maeda Rihisa and Maeda's interests respectively.
At this time, Maeda Rihisa's people were messing around at the Shibachu Fund. Maeda was worried that it would affect his prestige in the military, so he secretly exerted his efforts.
Maeda Riku was inevitably a little sad, she sighed.
"You are old enough to have your own ideas. I am too lenient. From now on, you can make your own decisions."
After saying that, she got up and left.
Seeing that his mother was not in a good mood, Maeda Yoshihiro quickly grabbed her sleeve and shouted.
"Mother, I know I was wrong!"
Maeda Riku threw her away, pointed at her nose and cursed.
"You didn't know you were wrong. You were planning to kill them without telling me, right?
Submitting a letter is not a problem, the problem is how do you know that submitting a letter can pierce this layer of window paper? You and Ishida Mitsunari have a tacit understanding, and they cooperate inside and outside to kill my people!
I am angry, not because you have murderous intentions towards them, but because you conspired with outsiders but hid it from me. If you can't trust me, I will just run away. Why do you do these things to embarrass me?
As mother and daughter, we are of the same mind, what can't we talk about? Although you are not my biological child, I have always regarded you as a child of my own flesh and blood!
Do you think I don’t know? You acted rashly this time because of your prestige in the army, and even more because you wanted to stab Nizi Shengjiu!
Niko Katsuhisa was entrusted with an important task by his lord, and served as the acting official of Shiba in recent years, acting as the agent for Yamanaka Yukimori and Shima Katsume.
You were worried that she would be too powerful and block your way to marry into the family, so you wanted to open up the scandal of Spozhong Fund and throw dirty water on her.
Your power mainly lies in the military, and if something happens to the Spozhong Fund, it won't shake your foundation.
However, the Western Kingdom Faction controls the internal affairs of the Konji Spur Territory. Once something happens to the Shiba Chua Foundation, those who assist in the work will all come from the Konji Spore Territory, and most of them are from the Western Kingdom Faction under Nizi Katsuhisa.
Nizi Katsuhisa is the acting official of Shiba in recent times. She cannot escape the blame and will definitely suffer a lot.
You want to sacrifice my people to eliminate your hidden danger in the army, and at the same time trick a nanny into being, so you can kill two birds with one stone with one move!"
When her mother revealed her inner thoughts, Maeda suddenly blushed. This was the key reason why she hid her secret from her mother.
Although those greedy people deserved their death, Maeda's actions were really disrespectful to his mother who loved and cared for him.
In Maeda's life, she has been free and easy as if she were playing in the world. But one thing comes after another. The only thing she can't look away from is her feelings for Shiba Yigen.
If she were placed in Yiyin's previous life, she would have deceived her parents and cheated on her love brain. She was a talented and beautiful warrior Ji, but when she encountered something related to Yiyin, she instantly became stupid.
Maeda grabbed the sleeve that his mother had thrown away and refused to let go, with a look of pitiful pleading on his face.
Seeing that her daughter no longer denied it, Maeda Riku felt even more sad, angry and heartbroken. She tried hard several times but couldn't shake off the sleeve her daughter was holding. Finally, there was a loud sizzle and the sleeve was torn in half.
Maeda threw away half of his sleeves, knelt in front of his mother, hugged his mother's legs, and cried.
"I'm sorry, I'm very sorry. Mother, please forgive me!"
Seeing her face full of tears, Maeda Toshiie also shed tears and sighed.
"I originally thought that mother and daughter, you and I, depended on each other for life, and our deep love and righteousness were different from other martial arts families. There would be no fighting for power and tragic incidents of fratricide.
Benefit, you disappoint me so much."
Maeda Yoshida swallowed even more.
"To be honest with my mother, I have been having trouble sleeping and eating these days, and I have been tossing and turning. When I dream of butterflies in Zhouzhuang, it is also a different period of my life.
In the dream, you gave up the position of governor of the house to Maeda Toshiie, and you and I became officials for her. I left you in your service, and then traveled around the world, being an unrestrained admirer. It was very happy.
In his later years, he lived in Guandong, where he defeated tens of thousands of troops with a hundred horses. After the war, he went to work in the fields and enjoyed himself. He picked chrysanthemums under the eastern fence and saw the Nanshan Mountain leisurely.
But in that dream, he was not there!
I will never forget the first time I saw him in the tree when he went to study at Toshiie Maeda. He was such a unique young man, like a light in the darkness, making people unable to take their eyes away when he saw him.
I dressed up in red clothes, threw persimmons from the tree at him, followed him home, became an official for him, went to Luo with him, fought bloody battles side by side, and vowed to live and die with him!
My whole life has been changed by him. I don’t want anything now, I just want him!
Ashikaga Yoshiteru tried to forcefully marry him, so I turned a blind eye to the Kyoto Incident and let Ashikaga Yoshiteru die in Nijo Castle.
He blamed me for being messy, and would rather hand over the power of the recent Shiba region to Katsuhisa Nizi than trust me again!
Seeing Nizi Shengjiu coming from behind, I find it difficult to display my talents. I just stay here and watch others receive rewards from the public, while I rot silently.
Mom, I feel like I'm going crazy.
I lost my mind and made mistakes. But I really love you and respect you. Please believe me and please don’t abandon me!
Mother, I know I was wrong!"
Maeda Riku looked at the sobbing Maeda Kazuki, touched her cheek, and burst into tears.
"Slut, slut, you are really a demon.
Maeda Toshiie is your fourth aunt, how can you call her by her first name and ignore etiquette. The previous general was killed by three good people and three people. It has nothing to do with you. Don't talk nonsense.
That’s it, wipe away your tears and sit down. You and I will sum it up and pass this test first before we talk about it.”