Chapter 1741 Refusal to prevent Maori from being trapped in Stone Mountain
With the beginning of the New Year, the political situation in Kinki has changed again.
Because the Mori family sent envoys to various families in the Western Kinki in the name of Ashikaga Yoshiaki, the Ashikaga general, which caused a shock in the Kyoto shogunate, Mitsuhide Akechi, the foreign minister of the Shiba family, personally came forward to negotiate with each family.
The Shiba family's stern warning caused powerful military families from all over Western Kinki to draw a clear line with the Mori family. Araki Murashige, who had close ties with the Mori family, was immediately severely isolated.
In the end, Settsu's guardian Araki Murashige, under the pressure of the Oda family's army, abandoned the country and fled westward, accepting the asylum of the Mori family.
Oda Nobunaga easily captured Settsu and directly beheaded thirty-six of Araki Village's most important core retainers in public display, thus intimidating the place. The people in Settsu were extremely panicked and surrendered to Oda's power.
Settsu Province was captured by the Oda family, and Ishiyama Honganji Temple, which was completely exposed to Oda Nobunaga's soldiers, was in panic. The Master called on believers from all over the country to support Ishiyama and protect the legal system.
At the same time, another incident was exposed in Ji Yiguo.
Hosokawa Fujitaka, the governor of the Izumi Hosokawa family, and Suzuki Shigehide, the leader of the Zaga clan, cooperated with each other and killed Dohashi Morishige, another leader of the Zaga clan, in one fell swoop, wiping out the fanatical faction of the Ichiko sect among the Zaga clan.
The Zaga clan has always been the Dohashi of the Zaga village and the Suzuki of Togo. They are both called together. Now that the Dohashi line has been destroyed, Suzuki Shigehide has finally solved a serious problem in his heart.
At that time, Suzuki Shigehide followed the Miyoshi army of Tokawa Ichin to go to Luo, and went to war with Shiba Yoshigan in the Yamato Kingdom, and was beaten to pieces.
Togawa Ichin died in the battle, Suzuki Shigehide surrendered, and the Zaga people reluctantly followed Yoshihiro Shiba and helped the shogunate in the war, and in the end they got unexpectedly rich rewards.
Suzuki Shigehide has always wanted to clear his identity and become a member of the Kii family.
Yoshigan Shiba came forward for Suzuki Shigehide and asked Hatakeyama Takamasa, a noble man, to serve as a guardian of Kii Country. Suzuki Shigehide burst into tears of gratitude.
After being unable to defeat Shiba Yoshigan, the Shiba family gave him enough benefits. From then on, Suzuki Shigehide and other miscellaneous people obeyed the orders of the Kyoto shogunate, that is, Shiba Yoshigan.
But Morishige Dohashi, who was as famous as Suzuki Shigehide, found Suzuki Shigehide very distasteful.
The Suzuki family came ashore with a clear conscience and became a high-level martial arts family with status. Wasn't it true that the Dobashi family was stepped on by the opponent?
Tsuchibashi Morishige could not climb the high branch of Shiba's house, so he turned around and hugged Ishiyama Honganji's thigh.
Over the years, Ishiyama Honganji has had smooth sailing, closely cooperating with the Shiba family on the Hokurikudo trade route, and Suzuki and Dohashi have also competed in the Zaga community, and no one is weaker than the other.
But this time, the situation is very different.
The Oda family was in conflict with the Ishiyama Honganji Temple. Akechi Mitsuhide of the Shiba family personally went to Kii Country to persuade Suzuki Shigehide to be cautious and not to allow the Zaga Zhong, a group of brave and capable mercenaries, to go to Ishiyama to help in the battle.
Without the powerful Zaigashou, Ishiyama Honganji's will to resist the Oda family will be even weaker.
Suzuki Shigehide was naturally willing to listen to the Shiba family and keep his peace.
However, the Zaga people were followers of the Ichiki sect, and Dohashi Morishige took the opportunity to incite the Zaga people to send troops, thinking that he could take this opportunity to overpower Suzuki.
Tsuchibashi Morishige had a beautiful idea, but Akechi Mitsuhide didn't talk about martial ethics.
On the surface, Akechi Mitsuhide came to Kii Country alone, but secretly, her bedmate, Hosokawa Fujitaka, had already gathered people in Izumi Country.
Zahezhong is the sea and land of the island country, and what they pay attention to is an unruly person.
As the saying goes, thunder in the sky and Lu Feng on the earth will attack anyone who refuses to obey, officers and soldiers will go to sea to encircle and suppress them, and officers and soldiers to retreat will go ashore.
Relying on the advantageous geographical location of the Seto Inland Sea, the Zahe people have always been stubborn and unyielding, and they have been unable to do anything to this group of people in all dynasties.
This group of unscrupulous people are brave and united, and have mastered iron cannon technology. They are the most famous mercenaries in Kinki, and their combat prowess is off the charts.
Dobashi Morizhong doesn't take the Shiba family seriously. No matter how good Shiba Yiyin is, Zahezhuang is also on a high mountain and far away from the emperor. He can take refuge in the sea at any time without fear of encirclement and suppression by your saint.
She never expected that Suzuki Shigehide would betray one of his own people, which was not in line with tradition.
But Suzuki Shigehide just didn't want to stick to any lowly tradition anymore. She had always been dressed as a noble lady, and she wanted to clear her name and become a high-level samurai master in feudal society.
Ever since Shiba Yoshigan helped her connect the dots and became the legitimate guardian of the Hatakeyama clan, she has been active in Kyoto.
Song Jiang changed the Juyi Hall into the Zhongyi Hall in order to seek peace from the imperial court.
Suzuki Shigehide has already been imprisoned, but you, Dohashi Morishige, are still hanging out with religious rebel leaders and going against the imperial court. How can Suzuki Shigehide tolerate someone holding him back?
Especially that year, Dohashi Morishige led his people to Luo and bloody massacred the priests of the Southern Barbarians who were preaching underground in Kyoto. It also happened that the battle in Ashlibaba was heating up, and Takada Yukino carried out heavenly executions.
The muddy water made Suzuki Shigehide tremble all over and break out in cold sweat, and he wished he could tear Morishuji Dobashi into pieces.
Tsuchibashi Morishige claimed to be working for the society and working for Kenyoshi, but she dared to wantonly massacre in Kyoto. This was a clear slap in the face of the shogunate.
The Kyoto shogunate didn't care about the difference between Dohashi and Suzuki. They only knew that the daring madmen came from the Zaga community. Suzuki Shigehide's hard work in Kyoto was almost completely destroyed at the hands of Dohashi Morishige.
Fortunately, Yoshigan Shiba was generous and did not blame Suzuki Shigehide afterwards, but Suzuki Shigehide will always remember the grudge of Dohashi Morishige.
The incident in Kyoto made Suzuki Shigehide completely understand one thing. Unless he kills Dohashi Morishige, Dohashi Morishige can drag him down at any time and make all his efforts in vain.
Dobashi Morishige thought that the two were competing for the control of Zahezhong, but Suzuki Shigehide had long since not wanted to be the local overlord of Liangshan. She wanted to go down to the imperial court to get promoted and make a fortune!
The two people's thoughts were far apart, and they were no longer on the same page. In the end, Dohashi Morishige paid the price with his life for his innocence.
Without anyone to lead the way, outsiders will never be able to eliminate the familiar local miscellaneous people.
But with the help of Suzuki Shigehide and Hosokawa Fujitaka's surprise attack, Akechi Mitsuhide easily killed all the Zaga fanatics who supported Ishiyama Honganji.
Afterwards, Akechi Mitsuhide announced to the public that Dohashi Morishige had colluded with the Mori family and died in vain.
The tragic end of Morishige Dobashi greatly shocked all parties in Nishikinki. Some forces that originally wanted to secretly help Ishiyama also stopped their small actions.
———
Leaving Kii's mess in the hands of Suzuki Shigehide, Akechi Mitsuhide and Hosokawa Fujitaka headed north to Izumi Province and returned to Kishiwada Castle to rest.
Izumi Kingdom has developed commerce and is located in a strategic location. It has been a battleground for military strategists since ancient times.
When the Hosokawa clan was strong, Izumi Province was the bridgehead of the Hosokawa family and served as a military depot in and out of Kamiro. After the rise of the Miyoshi family, the first stop was to attack Izumi Province.
If it hadn't been for Shiba Yoshigan's efforts to protect it over the years, and the Izumi-Hosokawa family's own incompetence in fighting formations, they would have been wiped out long ago.
Kishiwada Castle is the residence of the Izumi-Hosokawa family and was first built by the Wada Taka family, a subordinate of Kusunoki Masashige.
Kusunoki Masashige was the emperor's loyal dog and was an enemy of the samurai family. The Hosokawa faction of General Ashikaga had been fighting against him on the Izumi front.
After this was accomplished, the Izumi Kingdom was controlled by the Hosokawa branch. This is the origin of the Izumi-Hosokawa family.
During the troubled times again, the Hosokawa clan was killed by Miyoshi Chokei. The Izumi-Hosokawa family was in a difficult situation and was forced to stay together with the Mibuchi family for warmth.
I originally thought that Mibuchi Haru was just a mediocre person, and in the center of the shogunate, he still needed the help of Hosokawa Motonsune, the elder sister.
Unexpectedly, foolish people are blessed with foolish things. Harumi Mibuchi actually fell in love with Shiba Yiyin, a rare man from the martial arts family who valued love and righteousness, and saved the prosperity of the Hosokawa Mibuchi family with the help of his aunt.
When Fujitaka Hosokawa was forced to kneel and lick Yoshigan Shiba by Akechi Mitsuhide, Fujihide Mibuchi was on the wrong team and was kicked out.
Hosokawa Motonsune and Mibuchi Haru had no choice but to hand over the family business to Hosokawa Fujitaka. The Izumi-Hosokawa family completely turned over to the Shiba family, and it was no longer possible to act haphazardly.
Hosokawa Fujitaka suddenly became a prince with Izumi and more than 200,000 koku in North Kawauchi. He climbed onto the throne of Shiba Yigen and captured the Sakai Port Customs. These two years can be regarded as high-spirited.
In particular, Mitsuhide Akechi and Fujitaka Hosokawa worked together in collusion. They made love to the saint together in bed and worked together off the bed. They had already established a solid alliance of interests.
In the inner room, Mitsuhide Akechi served wine glasses to Fujitakamitsu Hosokawa.
"The success of this trip to Kii is all thanks to Fujitaka's active cooperation. I would like to give you a toast."
Hosokawa Fujitaka said modestly.
"It's just a piece of cake. I think Suzuki Shigehide has been well prepared.
Even if I didn't lead the team to Kii, she would still take advantage of the situation and kill Dobashi Morishige.
Whether I go or not, the outcome will be the same."
Akechi Mitsuhide shook his head and said.
"The results were very different.
If you don't go, even if Suzuki Shigehide single-handedly suppresses the opposition within the Zaga clan, the Kii people will still be unruly and we will not be able to reach out.
But once you go, the situation will be different.
Suzuki Shigehide colluded with the shogunate and killed his own people. Many Kii people were dissatisfied.
Suzuki Shigehide must move closer to the shogunate and the Shiba family, and rely on the divine power of the saint to stabilize his position of power.
Now that she has taken this step, she will not be able to regret it in the future."
Hosokawa Fujitaka nodded.
"Mitsuhide is far-sighted, that's true.
The Kii Kingdom has always been unruly, and the Hatakeyama family's binding force has always been weak. By the time of Hatakeyama Takamasa's generation, the Hatakeyama family was simply driven out of Kii.
These Chinese people believed in the Shingon and Ichigo sects and had no respect for the shogunate. Once there was friction and the shogunate sent troops to encircle and suppress them, they would hide in the mountains and seas to fight guerrillas.
Izumi Kingdom is constantly threatened by them, and I also have a headache.
Nowadays, Suzuki Shigehide yearns for Kyoto and admires the shogunate. They are killing their own people, which actually saves me a lot of worry."
Akechi Mitsuhide sighed.
"Ki Country is a large country in Kinki, but because it is remote and not under the control of the shogunate, it has always been a problem.
But now, we can't take care of the little things here, so let's take care of the important things first.
Fujitaka, you control Izumi and Sakai Port, and the commercial network on the east coast of the Seto Inland Sea, all under your nose.
I would like to ask you to be more vigilant and not allow the Maori family’s supply ships supporting Ishiyama to enter and leave Osaka Bay at will, can you?”
Osaka is the collective name for Sakai Port Ishiyama. Osaka Bay is an oval-shaped harbor between Awaji Country and Osaka, which is the gateway to and from Sakai Port Ishiyama.
Hosokawa Fujitaka controlled Izumi Province on the coastline south of Osaka and garrisoned the Sakai Port.
If she carefully checks the ships coming and going, the Maori family's assistance to Shishan from the sea will be greatly reduced.
Hosokawa Fujitaka thought for a while, stretched out two fingers and said.
"I have two questions.
First, if I strictly inspect the Maori family's ships, will it trigger retaliation from the Maori navy?
The navy of the Hosokawa family is no match for those Western pirates under Mori's command."
Akechi Mitsuhide said.
"I have already informed Suzuki Shigehide of Kii Province, Nobuyasu Anzai of Awaji Province, and Miyoshi Yasunaga of Awa Province about this matter.
The Shiba family and other families made a fortune on the Hokurikudo trade route in Sakai Port, but the Mori family did not follow the rules and made money in the name of Ashikaga Shogun.
The Shiba family's rejection of the Maori family is also for everyone's benefit. Everyone supports you to strictly inspect the Maori family's ships, which is to support the just action of the Shiba family.
I believe that everyone will understand and help.
In addition, His Highness Oda will also send people to help, and the Kuuki navy from Shima Kingdom will come soon to help seal off the sea area of Ishiyama and force Master Xianru to surrender."
Hosokawa Fujitaka nodded.
"There is no problem in the military, but if I do this, it will lead to the second question. What does Takada Haruno say?
This Shiba town does not care about politics and military affairs. If we do this, it will restrict the logistics in and out of Sakai Port and affect the economy. She will be dissatisfied."
Akechi Mitsuhide smiled.
"Takada Haruno should understand one thing. She is first of all a high-level samurai who is loyal to the Shiba family, and secondly, she is a business warrior.
Over the years, she has been tainted with the stench of too many merchants in Sakai Port, but at this time, she should obey politics and the overall situation."
Hosokawa Fujitaka shook his head.
Akechi Mitsuhide is good at everything, but her eyes are always fixed on the Wu family group, and she looks down on the business groups that are always willing to spend every penny.
Therefore, in these years, Akechi Mitsuhide has been well aware of all the forces in Kinki and is good at utilizing them, but there is only a blank in the business area.
Akechi Mitsuhide felt that Takada Harano was irrelevant, but Hosokawa Fujitaka and Takada Harano had many dealings in Sakai Port and were full of fear of this seemingly amiable and wealthy Shiba Town leader.
Takada Haruno's energy is not small. Suzuki, Anzai, Miyoshi and others whom Akechi Mitsuhide mentioned just now all have financial dealings with Takada Haruno, and their interests in all aspects are tightly tied.
Mitsuhide Akechi used the influence of the Shiba family to check the ships of the Mori family and fight against the navy of the Mori family. In fact, it consumed the strength accumulated by Takada Haruno.
Such contempt and abuse of Takada Harano's influence can easily arouse Takada Harano's hostility.
Akechi Mitsuhide asked when he saw that Hosokawa Fujitaka was silent.
"Are you having trouble?"
Hosokawa Fujitaka shook his head.
"I have no problem here, but I still hope you can communicate with Takada Haruno first. After all, she is the person in charge of the Shiba family in Sakai Port, and you should respect her.
Mitsuhide, you have always been thorough in everything you do, why do you despise business so much? Politics, military, and diplomacy are of course important, but the importance of business cannot be taken lightly.
A thousand-mile embankment collapsed in an ant nest.
After all, the Takada family is the only descendant of the Shiba family, and the Takada sisters are deeply trusted and used by the saint, so you should not neglect Takada Haruno."
Akechi Mitsuhide was stunned when he saw Hosokawa Fujitaka being so cautious.
Although Hosokawa Fujitaka is an emotionally clumsy guy, he was repeatedly provoked by Akechi Mitsuhide and was driven to death.
But in politics, Hosokawa Fujitaka inherited the keen sense of the Izumi Hosokawa family, his vicious vision, and despicable methods. He was a very outstanding traditional martial artist of the shogunate, that is, a politician.
