Akechi Mitsuhide saw a lot of people surrounding a young man, because the young man was very tall, he would notice it at a glance, especially the clothes on his body were very dazzling, and there was also the family crest of the Ogasawara family, as for the Rokubun Qian family crest next to him, he had also heard of it.

He asked the laborer next to him, "Wouldn't that young samurai master be His Royal Highness Ogasawara?" ”

Lao Li smiled: "Of course, His Highness knows that it is extraordinary when he looks at the past, but he is not an ordinary person." ”

It was the first time that Akechi Mitsuhide had seen such a magnificent hero, he was about the same age as himself, he was already a half-country guardian, and he was just a mid-level samurai.

Akechi Mitsuhide sighed, wondering what his future would look like.

Nobukata didn't know that he had Kirin Akechi Mitsuhide hidden under his nose, and he was caught by a piece of news.

That's the news that Kiyoshi Ideura just sent, that is, Takeda Harunobu is going to negotiate a marriage with the Imagawa Yoshimoto family.

Nobukata did not stay long, and immediately returned to Katsumao Castle with Sanada Yutaka to discuss the matter.

More than a year ago, Takeda Harunobu's sister, that is, the wife of Imagawa Yoshimoto, died of illness, and the relationship between the two families was not salty or light.

Takeda Harunobu was not in a hurry to find the Imagawa family to marry, but the Imagawa family had found Takeda Harunobu, and Takeda Harunobu found a reason to delay.

Now that Takeda Harunobu is having great difficulties in the war against Shinano, the Imagawa family has come to urge him again this year.

Sensing the difficult situation at home, coupled with his son Yoshinobu Takeda's own initiative, he received an envoy from the Imagawa family, making the marriage imperative.

He reprimanded Yoshinobu Takeda and then consulted with the envoys of the Imagawa family about the marriage.

When Nobukata returned to Katsubi Castle, he asked as soon as he saw Izuura Kiyoshi, "Is this just a simple marriage?" Did Harunobu Takeda ask the Imagawa family for reinforcements? ”

He was afraid that Imagawa Yoshimoto would be involved in this war, and now Imagawa Yoshimoto was very powerful, and Toe, Suruga, and Mikawa were all under Imagawa Yoshimoto's rule.

Tokugawa Ieyasu, who was also called Takechiyo, was taking hostage to the Imagawa family, and the Matsudaira family was completely subservient to Imagawa Yoshimoto.

And Oda Nobuhide, who competed with Imagawa Yoshimoto for Mikawa, has been dead for a year, and the new family governor Oda Nobunaga is still dealing with the housekeeping of the family, and Owari is in danger, and he is even more powerless to deal with the Imagawa family.

Looking at it, there are few people who can fight against the Imagawa family, maybe it is the Hojo family in the east, Imagawa Yoshimoto has the intention of fighting the Hojo family, and he wants to regain the territory lost in the Hanakura Rebellion.

Today, Imagawa Yoshimoto is the first Bowtori (first general) in Tokaido. Even if the letter side has a golden finger, in front of the daimyo of 700,000 stones, he has to retreat.

Izuura Kiyoshi replied: "There are no details yet, but His Majesty has sent someone to Suruga to inquire about the news, and it seems that the Imagawa family has news of a move against the Hojo family." ”

Of course, the Nobugata knew that Imagawa Yoshimoto was going to fight Hojo Shiyasu, but it was definitely not this year, so he immediately said, "Then send someone to investigate carefully!"

After checking the movement of the Imagawa family's movement of food and armaments, some information came out and handed it over to me for review. ”

"Hah!" Deura Kiyoshi nodded hurriedly, he heard the importance that the letter took on this matter.

After Izuura Kiyoshi left, Sanada Yutaka frowned and said, "Is the lord worried about the Imagawa family sending troops?" ”

Nobugata nodded and said, "It's not impossible, Takeda Harunobu is a mercenary person, and he will definitely use the marriage to get something."

If the Imagawa family sends troops, even if it is one or two thousand, once there is a loss in Shinano, it is difficult to guarantee that Imagawa Yoshimoto will not come to take revenge on us. ”

Sanada Yutaka was also a little worried.

At this moment, Imagawa Yoshimoto, who was worried about Nobukata, was in the Imagawa Pavilion, dressed as a minister, watching the Keju performance in the courtyard.

Shigezaemon Miura, who had returned from an envoy from the Takeda family, was beside Imagawa Yoshimoto and said, "My lord, the marriage has been agreed, and the wedding ceremony can be held this year.

However, His Royal Highness Takeda hopes that the lord can send troops with him this autumn to invade Shinano's Ogasawara family. ”

Imagawa Yoshimoto put away the fan and said with a smile: "Ha, this monkey in Kai Mountain is really useless." ”

Taiyuan Xuezhai on the side said: "Your Highness, please don't say that, the newly rising Ogasawara Nobukata is not a simple person. ”

Imagawa Yoshimoto faced Taiyuan Xuezhai and didn't dare to be too presumptuous, he nodded and said: "I can get the teacher's affirmation, it seems that I have to get a good understanding of this Ogasawara Nobukata." ”

The old lady Shou Guini said on the side: "This person can rise in two or three years, and let Qingxin ask for help from his family, which shows that he can fight well." ”

Imagawa Yoshimoto actually doesn't like Shou Gui Ni coming out to point fingers, after all, he is not a child.

He frowned and said, "The current Qingxin has not yet reached this point, he must have his own careful thoughts." ”

Taiyuan Xuezhai smiled: "Maybe it's to test our minds, but it's okay to go over and look at this enemy of Shinano." ”

Imagawa Yoshimoto nodded and said, "We'll see when the time comes." Teacher, there is one last point left for the addition of the kana directory, and I intend to finalize and promulgate it this year. ”

Imagawa Yoshimoto is talking about the "Imagawa Kana Catalogue and Supplements", which was originally set at the end of the Imagawa clan period, and is mainly the norms and requirements for the domination of the domain, involving land, people, power, economy, temples, timber, rivers, commerce, retainers, and other aspects.

Now, Imagawa Yoshimoto intends to add some additional rules to this catalog.

These additional provisions show that Imagawa Yoshimoto used his power and strength to advance the goal of domination of the domain rather than relying on the authority of the traditional shogunate, even though the traditional power of the shogunate was becoming increasingly weak.

Therefore, the law of separation is often regarded as having the advanced nature of territorial power and the high dominance of territorial power.

Taiyuan Xuezhai twisted the Buddha beads in his hand and replied, "Yes." ”

Imagawa Yoshimoto turned his head to look at Miura Shigezaemon and said, "Tell Takeda Harunobu that I agreed to this small request." Stand down, and don't disturb me to see Keju. ”

At this time, there was a loud cheer in the audience, which attracted the attention of Imagawa Yoshimoto, and Miura Shigezaemon immediately retreated.

In the corridors on either side of the viewing platform, nine-year-old Chiyo Takechiyo was also looking at Kemari, and he occasionally looked at Yoshimoto Imagawa and Yukisai Taiyuan in the middle.

He is now also receiving teachings from Taiyuan Xuezhai.

Then he looked over to the lady, and in the crowd he saw Senahime (Tsukiyamaden) at a glance, and there was a nun beside Senahime, named Jiro, that is, Naota Ii.

Senahime is Genjiro's cousin in terms of seniority, and because her mother is also a hostage of Ii, the two are relatively close.

Sena Ji also has some reputation and status in the Imagawa family, among the little girls, she has the best appearance, and her writing is also excellent, but Sena Ji thought that it would be best to marry Imagawa Shima, but she never thought that she would marry Takechiyo, who was still a hostage.

In the courtyard, Kemari continued, and Imagawa Yoshimoto's interest was very high, and the atmosphere was peaceful.

Takeda Harunobu received a reply from the Imagawa family, and the marriage had been decided, and the Imagawa family also promised to send reinforcements.

However, Takeda Harunobu was not happy at all, he looked at Komai Takahakusai below, and said, "I can already imagine what kind of face Imagawa Yoshimoto will be!" The tone was very dissatisfied.

Komai Takahakusai replied: "My lord, judging from the fact that the Imagawa family is still willing to marry with the main family, the Imagawa family will not give up the family for the time being. ”

Takeda Harunobu was still not very happy, and said, "What's the use of that?" If the family declines, he will definitely intervene strongly, I'm afraid I'll ... Forget it, let him be proud for a while.

Kansuke, how's the news from Shinano's side? Also, what is the attitude of the Kansai countries towards cheap paper? ”

Kansuke Yamamoto said, "The owner of the museum, the Kansai countries have begun to send Hosasaku into the territory of the Ogasawara family.

As for Ogasawara Nobukata, he is now urging the construction of Ueda Castle in his home, although this castle is a flat castle, but the perimeter is heavily defended, and if you want to attack it, you need to pay a certain price.

The owner of the pavilion, the Chuanbei saved a person, and the lord may be able to see it. ”

Takeda Harunobu nodded and said, "What person?" ”

Yamamoto Kansuke paused and said, "Mino pit viper, the retainer of the third highness of Saito Michi, the wise ten soldiers of Mitsuhide. ”

It was a pure coincidence that Akechi Mitsuhide was rescued by Kansuke Yamamoto.

From that day on, after Akechi Mitsuhide met Nobukata, he left Kikumaru to run errands at the construction site of Ueda Castle, while he and the guards went to Matsuo Castle.

There were no problems at first, but when he arrived at the village near Matsuo Castle, Akechi Mitsuhide noticed something unusual, and he sensed that someone was spying on him.

And he found that there were many more people in this village than in other villages, which was very abnormal.

It reminded him of going to Kyoto a few years ago to find a cannon craftsman.

He whispered to Yobei: "Cheer up, the surrounding situation is very dangerous, we won't go to Matsuo Castle later, just take a detour and leave." ”

He suspects that it is the Hosaku of the Ogasawara family who is watching him around.

He was suddenly a little annoyed that he had moved too quickly, and he should have thought that the area around Matsuo Castle would be heavily guarded.

Of course, he had already imagined it, but what he didn't expect was that the level of preparedness was more than he imagined.

The two of them rested in the village for a while, and immediately left from the other side, the road happened to be near Matsuo Castle, and the further they went, the quieter the surroundings became.

And Akechi Mitsuhide looked up at Matsuo Castle in the distance, and found that there were flags waving over there, and it could be seen that there were many guards in the city.

He has a big headache, and with such precautions, he is always versatile and wise, and it is difficult to get in to find out the news.

He had no choice but to pull the guards and leave quickly.

However, their movements were all seen by the ninjas of the Ogasawara family.

The ninja leader who was spying on Akechi Mitsuhide said to his subordinates, "Tell the nearby Ashigaru and let them check these two people." ”

One shinobi left immediately.

His subordinates asked, "Is there a problem with these two people?" ”

Banbing Zang sneered: "You have to remember that there may be problems with all raw faces, and you can't be too careful.

And among these two people, the one who seemed to be dressed ordinarily was clearly a samurai. A foreign warrior dressed in disguise must have other intentions. ”

The subordinate was puzzled: "But don't you think they're here to explore Matsuo Castle?" ”

Han-Hizo explained, "Maybe they saw the heavily fortified Matsuo Castle and felt that it was difficult for them to blend in, so they retreated. ”

While they were talking, a group of ashiki ran over from behind and stopped Akechi Mitsuhide and Yobei.

Wise Mitsuhide turned around with the guards and said with a sneer: "Is there anything wrong with the little one?" ”

The leader of the team shouted, "Where did you come from, where are you going!" ”

Akechi Mitsuhide hurriedly said: "The little one is from Mikawa, and he originally came to Shinano to join his relatives, but I heard that his relatives had already gone to Ueno, so he changed his route to Ueno. ”

Ashigaru suddenly stretched out his spear and pointed at Akechi Mitsuhide: "The samurai who escaped from Shinano are all people who colluded with the Takeda family, you are Hosaku!" ”

Akechi Mitsuhide looked confused, and Yobei had been in a state of mental tension, and when he saw that the other party had moved his weapon, he didn't wait for Akechi Mitsuhide's order, and rushed directly to the leader of the team, Ashigaru, pulled out his sword, and scratched his arm.

The leader of the team screamed miserably, hurriedly retreated, and shouted: "Kill them!" ”

He Bingwei immediately shouted: "Lord, you go first!" As he spoke, he deftly avoided a ashigaru spear and swung his sword at it.

Akechi Mitsuhide had no time to reprimand Yobei for his recklessness, so he could only flee with his way.

At this time, he naturally couldn't run on the main road, so he ran towards the mountain road.

There are many garrisons near Matsuo Castle, plus a lot of ninjas, of course, the ninjas generally don't move, they are responsible for providing directions for the ashigaru to capture.

Although he was brave with the guards, he was finally surrounded by guns and captured in the face of the constant reinforcements.

And Akechi Mitsuhide was running wildly in the mountain road in a very embarrassed way, he heard footsteps around him, and he could only roughly identify the direction and continue to escape.

Soon, he heard the shouts of Ogasawara Ashigaru behind him, and now he ran faster.

Coincidentally, there is a mountain temple on this mountain, which is the base camp of Yamamoto Kansuke to monitor Matsuo Castle.

The Messenger received a signal from Hosaku on the periphery and immediately ran to tell Kansuke Yamamoto.

Kansuke Yamamoto thought for a moment and said, "Be sure to save the person who was captured." ”

Akechi Mitsuhide was out of breath and would fall to the ground at any moment.

Then there was a sound of battle behind him, and when he looked back, it was a group of Hosakus who suddenly appeared, fighting with the Ashigaru of the Ogasawara family, and at the same time there were also Hosaku of the Ogasawara family.

Akechi Mitsuhide took a breath, lifted his spirits, continued to escape, and soon came to the front of the mountain temple.

He immediately knocked on the door, and the guard opened it after a moment.

Wise Mitsuhide hurriedly said: "Amitabha, can the master take refuge here for a while?" ”

Chuan Bing Wei was a man with short hair cut and dressed in monk's clothes, he glanced at Akechi Mitsuhide and said, "Please come in." ”

In this way, Akechi Mitsuhide hid in the mountain temple, and then Yamamoto Kansuke left from the tunnel with him.