On June 20, the eighth year of Tensho (1580), the grand tea party of the Oda family was held as scheduled in the tea room in the Azuchi Castle Castle. The usually careless "Owari samurai" had to change into decent attire at this moment.
Sit on your knees and make tea.
"He looks like a dog." Ikeda Hengxing was sitting next to Yu Qiuping, commenting on the clothes of his colleagues one by one in a low voice, "Look at that old guy Shibata, he is dressed like a bear. And Asura, he is dressed like a bear.
He is like a measured scholar, who doesn’t know that he is a petty person? And A-Inu, what are the color combinations, I can’t stand it. Oh, and our Touhachi…eh…where is Touhachi?”
Ikeda Tsuneaki was just about to comment on Sawaki Yoshiyuki, but he found that the latter's seat was empty. Then, his butt was kicked hard from behind. Ikeda Tsuneaki had a hard time not turning over and falling into his tea cup.
But I didn’t dare to make any noise during the tea party, so I had to endure the anger and turned around, only to find Yoshiyuki Sawaki standing behind Yu Qiupei and Ikeda Tsuneaki with a smile on his face, holding a cup of tea in his hand.
"Your Highness Ikeda, please give me some advice." Yoshiyuki Sawaki sent the tea he brewed to Ikeda Hengxing - in the eyes of outsiders who didn't pay attention to them, this was a tea ceremony discussion between good friends - no one knew
Sawaki Yoshiyuki just kicked Ikeda Tsuneaki hard. Ikeda Tsuneaki couldn't express his pain, so he had to accept the teacup with a smile, followed the etiquette, sniffed it, took a sip, and drank another sip.
.
"It tastes really bad." Ikeda Tsuneaki muttered angrily in a low voice.
"You talk behind people's backs, what else do you want to drink? Are you saying that I'm ugly again?" Yoshiyuki Sawaki sat down with a smile, got in between Ikeda Hengxing and Yu Qiuping, patted Yu Qiuping on the shoulder and said
, "Hongye, what was he going to say about me just now?"
"He was interrupted by you before he could talk about you." Yu Qiuping told the truth, but Sawaki Yoshiyuki obviously didn't buy it, "He must have said that I was dressed ugly."
"Who dresses well? Right?" Yu Qiuping said with a sloppy look, smiling.
"Aren't you dressed well?" Yoshiyuki Sawaki glanced at Yu Qiuping's mainly red and white clothes.
"This is my wife's ride. She is Princess Suruga. She is the best at elegance and so on." Yu Qiuping said this, but in his heart he was thinking about the girl who didn't like to learn etiquette and only loved to play wildly in the mountains.
.
"Why do we Owari bumpkins have to hold these tea parties?" Yoshiyuki Sawaki put the tea bowl on Yu Qiuping's tea table and grumbled, "Look at how many people are here, except for the lord and Xi.
Among those guys like Takashi Kawafuji, who else likes tea ceremony?"
"I like Fujiyoshiro very much." Yu Qiupei pointed his hand at Hashiba Hideyoshi in the distance. The latter was wearing a sparkling tea suit, holding expensive tea utensils, and visiting famous tea masters in the Kinki area one by one. He
His face was even smeared with powder, and with that monkey face, it looked so ridiculous. But those tea people also knew that Hashiba Hideyoshi was an important minister of the Oda family and a popular person in front of Oda Nobunaga. Even though
He was dressed in a nondescript manner, and he knew almost nothing about tea ceremony etiquette. None of the tea drinkers dared to show any disrespect, and they all entertained Hideyoshi Hashiba with a smile on his face.
"Arty." Ikeda Hengxing laughed softly after hearing this, "I live like a monkey wearing human clothes."
"Don't underestimate this tea ceremony." Yu Qiuping saw that his two good brothers were dismissive of it, and couldn't help but persuade him earnestly, "If you are just an ashigaru head, you are a stupid head who charges into the battle.
Samurai, it’s okay if you don’t know the tea ceremony. No one will talk about you. Maybe some people will praise you as simple Eastern warriors. But now that you have become the lords of a country and a city, you can no longer be the same as before.
That’s it. You have to learn what you need to learn, and you need to understand what you need to understand..."
"What is there to know about this tea ceremony?" Sawaki Yoshiyuki laughed a few times after hearing this, "What's the use? If you really want to learn it, it's better to learn the arithmetic and administration in the school opened by Hongye. I didn't do it last time
I went to attend a class and found it quite interesting.”
"It doesn't matter whether it's useless or not. What's important is that many people recognize it. It's not that the tea ceremony itself is useful, but because many ministers, celebrities, and samurai in the Kinki area recognize this tea ceremony, so the tea ceremony is useful. This concept
It is constructed..." Yu Qiuping tried hard to explain, but found that his two brothers were still absent-minded, so he simply said in vernacular, "To put it bluntly, if you don't understand tea ceremony, those who consider themselves to be cultural people
The ministers and samurai will think you are a country bumpkin. Although on the surface they dare not do anything to you due to the power of the Oda family, secretly they will definitely ridicule you for not knowing anything. If this continues for a long time, your reputation in the community will be reduced.
That’s too bad.”
"I don't care what my reputation is, do they still dare to rebel? They are a bunch of arty and mean scholars who have almost forgotten the nature of a samurai." Ikeda Hengxing snorted disdainfully and looked up rather vulgarly.
He took a big sip of tea.
"Don't underestimate these, don't underestimate culture and these constructed concepts. A regime based on military violence will always be unstable. Once something changes, it will be overturned by everyone. Only by winning people's recognition
, can we truly maintain our rule." Yu Qiuping continued to persuade like an old mother who wants her children to study hard, but Ikeda Hengxing and Sawaki Yoshiyuki seemed to go in one ear and out the other.
Just when Yu Qiuping was thinking about how to convince them, three figures suddenly approached the three of them. Yu Qiuping looked up and immediately found two old acquaintances: Imai Munehisa and Tsuda Muneki. Two of them.
The big businessman was dressed in jewelry, which was quite impressive. But the other person next to them looked much shabby compared to them. He was dressed in gray lining and coarse cloth clothes. He looked like an errand boy in a restaurant.
Same.
He must be a noble tea person, otherwise he wouldn't hang out with them. Yu Qiuping thought in his mind.
"I have met His Highness Momiji." Imai Munehisa and Tsuda Muneji bowed in front of Yu Qiupei's seat, and the man next to them also greeted Yu Qiupei politely and thoughtfully.
"Hello, you three." Yu Qiuping greeted the three tea people with a smile, but Ikeda Hengxing on the side said something that was embarrassing:
"It's not easy to get the two of you out of the eyes of money." As Yu Qiupei's partner for so many years, Ikeda Tsuneaki has had a lot of dealings with Sakai Town. He is very familiar with Imai Munehisa and Tsuda Mune.
Ji said sarcastically, "You two will make tens of thousands of taels of silver if you come here to Antu?"
"Hahahaha... His Highness Ikeda is joking." Imai Munehisa laughed happily, "This is General Oda's tea party. Even if it is a big deal worth hundreds of thousands of silver, it is not that important."
When it comes to Imai Munehisa and Tsuda Muneki, the first thing people will think of in later generations is the wealthy businessmen of Sakai Town, so that they ignore their other identities-famous tea masters. The two of them and later generations have the name of "tea saint"
Lixiu and Li Xiu were collectively called "the three craftsmen in the world" by people at that time.
However, Yu Qiuping felt that this "neglect" was not unjust. Ever since Yu Qiuping met the two of them, he had never seen them perform a tea ceremony. I don't know how the collective name of the "Three Masters of Craftsmen in the World" came from. Could it be that
Is it because they are rich that they can afford expensive tea sets?
Yu Qiuping thought to himself "the three masters of craftsmanship in the world", then raised his head and glanced at the three people in front of him... Could it be?
"Your Excellency, are you Mr. Qian?" Yu Qiuping bowed respectfully to the simply dressed tea man.
"It's an honor to be known by His Highness Hongye." The tea man responded politely, "I'm Qian Zongyi."
"I didn't expect His Highness Hongye to know Zongyi. I originally wanted to introduce him to you two." Tsuda Zongji said in surprise, "When have you met?"
"I've never met before. Although I've admired his name for a long time, this is indeed the first time we've met." Yu Qiuping cupped his hands to Qian Zongyi, "It's fate, it's a pleasure to meet you."
"I dare to ask, how did His Highness Hongye recognize me?" Qian Zongyi seemed not to agree with Yu Qiuping's explanation of "fate" and asked relentlessly.
"Ah... Judging from your temperament, I think you are very similar to the Mr. Qian Zongyi in the rumors. Plus you are with the two bosses, so I think it might be you." Yu Qiuping repeated his inner thoughts,
Somewhat unexpectedly, I saw a hint of helplessness on Qian Zongyi's face.
"I see...Thank you for your appreciation, Your Highness Hongye." Qian Zongyi replied politely as before, but the loneliness in his tone was unbearable. He glanced at the magnificent teahouse and the lively people, and sighed again.
He said in a self-concerned tone:
"With such a luxurious tea room and luxurious tea sets, how can one focus on one's own inspection without being disturbed by mundane things?"
Yu Qiuping winked at Imai Munehisa and Tsuda Muneji, and both of them shook their heads slightly. After Qian Zongyi said goodbye and left, Imai Munehisa quietly took a detour and ran back.
"So that His Highness will know that Zongyi is very quiet and has never liked these lively tea parties. This time, it was General Oda who sent the invitation, so he had to come." Imai Zonghisa leaned down and whispered in Yu Qiuping's ear,
"Zong Yi's temper has always been like that. Please forgive me, Your Highness."
"I know, it's okay." Yu Qiuping gestured towards Imai Munejiu, who left knowingly.
"Tea people really have a lot of things to do." Ikeda Hengxing snorted a few times, "Why do you give such a person a good look? They won't look at you seriously."
"Isn't the etiquette very thoughtful?" Yu Qiuping laughed and said, "And maybe I will ask him for help in the future."
"How can he help?" Sawaki Yoshiyuki looked at Yu Qiuping puzzled.
"If you want to hold a big tea party in Beiye..." Yu Qiuping said half of his words, and then stopped abruptly with a smile.