The person in charge of arresting Yao Fang was the head of the staff, the Chisong family.

Kyoto attaches so much importance to this fish that slipped through the net, precisely because they interrogated Yao Fang's identity: the son of the Marquis of Ming and the eldest brother of Concubine Ming Guo. In addition to the news obtained from the envoys of the Ming Kingdom, the "monk traitors" arrested in temples in Kyushu and other places also corroborated Yao Fang's identity.

As early as the time of the former shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, the samurai had effectively controlled the power of temples and shrines; Therefore, the Muromachi Hall found out earlier that some Han monks had come to the temple. Not long ago, by order of His Royal Highness Muromachi, the chamberlain had arrested all those people, Han Chinese and monks suspected of being traitors.

Most of the officials in Kyoto believed that this Yao Fang was a relative of the Ming Emperor, and might be responsible for the errand of the traitors and spies; As long as you catch Yao Fang, you should be able to get a lot of news......

The central minister of power in the Muromachi Hall is divided between several major samurai families. In addition to the three leaders who assisted General Zhengyi, they were the "four positions" that held the power of finance, torture, paperwork, and litigation, and were appointed by the four families in turn. The Akamatsu clan now holds the official position of the chamberlain, which belongs to one of the "four positions".

The Akamatsu clan attached great importance to Yao Fang's affairs, and he led his people to stay near Hakata Port for at least a month. The group first conducted a secret investigation, and then openly interrogated the people involved.

Before Yao Fang's "disappearance", he had visited the local military attache who gave gifts, and was repeatedly interrogated by the officials of the waiter. But the Chisong clan gradually discovered that none of those people seemed to have anything to do with Yao Fang.

The search yielded nothing, and a long time passed. The people of the Chisong clan had to guess that Yao Fang might have fled.

Akamatsu Yoshinori, the "head" of the shogunate at the time and the governor of the Akamatsu family, heard the unfortunate news and decided to tell the shogun Ashikaga Yoshinori about the result. He took the entourage guard of honor and rushed to the general's residence.

The reason why the Muromachi Hall is so called is because the former generals who unified the Northern and Southern Dynasties lived in the "Flower Palace", also known as the Muromachi Palace; Therefore, the term Muromachi Hall refers to the actual power center of Japan. However, the new shogun, Ashikaga Yoshimori, has now moved away from the Hana-no-Gosho and lives in the large courtyard of Nijobo; The Nijobo Mansion is located to the south of Sokokuji Temple and Hananomiya.

When Akamatsu Yoshinori arrived at Nijobo, he found that several samurai ministers were already waiting outside the main hall, and the shogun was obviously not in the house.

The retainers of the Ashikaga family received Yoshinori Akamatsu and behaved very politely. After all, the Akamatsu family is not only a powerful guardian among the countries, but also has made great contributions to the Ashikaga family, especially when it came to quelling the "Meitoku Rebellion".

Akamatsu Yoshinori asked, "Where did the general go?" ”

The retainer only said that the general was not in the house, and then took out what the general had written when he left home.

Akamatsu Yoshinori took it, and when he saw that it was full of Chinese characters, he bent down and read it in Chinese seriously: "The autumn wilderness is long letters, and the beauty is chanting, and there is no medium on the path." Glory and disgrace, sorrow and joy, Jun En is shallow, and the grass is deep. ”

When I read it for the first time, Akamatsu Yoshinori already remembered that this poem was written by a monk Ikkyu, and it was very well written and very famous. But he still reread it a second time before handing it back to the retainers of the Ashikaga family.

At this time, Akamatsu Yoshinori had already roughly guessed the general's intentions. It's just that Akamatsu needs to meditate again to fully understand the deep meaning of the general. So he was

In the waiting room outside the main hall, he knelt down, closed his eyes and began to meditate on the Zen machine.

Yixiu was not called Yixiu, he went to Xijin Temple to worship Master Qian Weng as a teacher, and then took the "Yixiu" road name, the time was about two years ago. Ikyu's original identity was that he was the son of today's emperor, and later because of the palace battle, he was sent to the temple by his mother to educate.

Although Ikkyu has lived in the temple for many years, his emperor father still has feelings for him. Shogun Ashikaga Yoshinori personally visited the monk Ikkyu this time, and may be courting the emperor in various ways.

The emperor himself had no power, but there were many forces in the country that supported the emperor, including the ministers of the Kamakura Princess, and some samurai people.

Moreover, the relationship between General Yoshichi and the current emperor was a little misunderstanding before.

The reason is that the former general Ashikaga Yoshimitsu likes his sister-in-law, Ashikaga Yoshiji's younger brother Ashikaga Yoshiji; Yoshimitsu once introduced his youngest son to the emperor, meaning that he wanted to change the qualifications of the heir to the Muromachi Palace. However, after Ashikaga Yoshimitsu was violently killed, his eldest son, Ashikaga Yoshimori, who had real power, still became a general of the expedition.

Akamatsu Yoshinori pondered for a long time and believed that in the face of the threat of the Ming Kingdom, General Yoshichi had already expressed the difficulty of decision-making with his actions and transcribed verses.

"The general has arrived." Someone outside said something that interrupted Akamatsu Yoshinori's "meditation".

So Akamatsu Yoshinori and other samurai ministers walked out of the waiting room and walked north from different corridors to the main hall. It was only at this time that Akamatsu Yoshinori saw that the people of the Ouchi family also came.

In a large room, there is a large screen on the top. General Yoshichi knelt down in front of the screen and sat down in a very upright posture. The people who came to see it were all people from the samurai families from all over the country, and everyone knelt down below the general in an orderly manner, and then bowed to the upper position.

Ashikaga Yoshinori was a man in the prime of life who was less than thirty years old, probably about the same age as the Ming Emperor Zhu Gaoxu. Yoshimochi looked at the Akamatsu clan first. So the Akamatsu clan reported in detail the fruitless search for the Ming State spies in Hakata Port.

The Akamatsu clan had already explained in detail the efforts of the attendants in his narrative, so Shogun Yoshichi did not reproach him. The shogun then looked at the Ouchi family.

Although the Ouchi family has been weakened, it is still a strong guardian of the western region; Moreover, the threat of the Ming Kingdom is very likely to be the first to threaten the territory guarded by the Ouchi family.

Ouchi Morimi's retainer bowed and said in Kyoto dialect, "The governor still wants to advise the shogun that perhaps it would be more appropriate to negotiate with the Ming Kingdom. However, if the general and the guardians of the countries are determined to fight, the governor promises that it is incumbent upon the generals of the Ouchi family to charge for the general. ”

Yoshitsu didn't speak, but nodded slightly.

Ouchi said: "The new monarch of the Ming Kingdom, after Emperor Wude ascended the throne, pursued the national policy of using troops abroad. The northern expedition to Mongolia and the southern expedition to Annam, if our country provokes Emperor Wude, it is very likely to attract foreign aggression. Moreover, the Ming State took the opportunity of clearing out the Japanese invaders, occupied Tsushima Island, built additional fortresses, and there were signs of invading our country; Otherwise, why did the Ming Kingdom defend the isolated island? ”

At this time, the Spo family, who had just won the position of governor, immediately raised an objection: "If the Ming Kingdom has just a little trouble, our country will bend its knees and sue for peace, it will appear that the Muromachi Temple is weak and incompetent!" Damaging the prestige of the general is by no means a good thing for the country. ”

Ouchi said, "Leader (Spo Yoshishige), please calm your anger." The Akamatsutou (chief officer) can testify that from the confessions of the Ming people, Emperor Taketoku wanted to attack Japan for the silver mines of Iwami Province. All kinds of news and signs are by no means groundless. ”

"Hah!" Sibo Yizhong sneered, "Iwami has a state-owned silver mine, why don't I know? ”

The Ouchi clan seemed to be a little annoyed, but because the Si Po family came to the family governor and their identities were different, the Ouchi clan endured his tone and said: "If the Ming army really attacks on a large scale, and our country changes its national policy when the war is unfavorable, the situation will become even worse." Not only will it damage the prestige of the general, but also the national policy will change overnight, and it will be discredited to the world. ”

Si Bo said solemnly: "The person sent by the Ouchi family is simply cowardly! Emperor Hongwu of the Ming State once sent a war letter, threatening to attack our country, if the previous people were so cowardly, they would have surrendered a long time ago. The soldiers are coming, why be afraid? ”

Ouchi said, "The leader doesn't seem to understand the enemy's strength. The Ming army that attacked Tsushima was well-armoured and well-trained, and used powerful artillery and firearms. Although the number of the Zong clan is small, there are elite soldiers who can fight under his command, and he once used dozens of people to crisscross all parts of Kyushu, have you forgotten? However, the elite men and horses of the Zong clan were still vulnerable in the face of the Ming army, and the head of the Zong family could not bear the defeat and was condemned. The enemy that our country will face may be even stronger than the Yuan army of the past. ”

Ashikaga Yoshimori finally spoke: "All nations should be prepared, in case the Ming army comes to attack, they should all work together to repel the enemy army. ”

The two men immediately stopped arguing, and everyone present sat on their knees and bowed to the general. At this time, Ashikaga Yoshinori stood up and left through the side door.

Although the general did not say it explicitly, Akamatsu Yoshinori, who was present, had already realized that the general would not be easily deterred by the Ming Kingdom. Ouchi's words seem to be just a futile attempt.

In addition to reporting official duties, Akamatsu Yoshinori did not say a word about state affairs today, also because he had his own judgment. There is a lot of inside information in it, and it is impossible for the general to be willing to say it in public.

First of all, the former shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu died in a strange state, and it was rumored that he died in an assassination. One of the suspects is Ashikaga Yoshi's murder of his father to protect his position; The second suspicion is that the ministers of the Kamakura Principality are behind the scenes, believing that Ashikaga Yoshiman has the ambition to usurp the emperor, so he assassinates and eradicates them. At this time, Ashikaga Yoshinori did not dare to show his weak side, otherwise he might also be assassinated by the opposition forces.

Secondly, when Ashikaga Yoshinori first took office, at the request of the powerful guardian and the "confidant general", he refused the request for the canonization of the Ming State, and established the national policy of not being a vassal to the Ming State. If the slightest threat is made at this time, if the national policy is changed immediately, it is a manifestation of a sudden change of order and loss of authority.

In fact, Ashikaga Yoshimochi General has now been difficult to ride a tiger and can only continue to be tough. That's why the Muromachi Palace ordered the capture of the Ming envoy and others.

From Ashikaga Yoshimitsu to Yoshimochi, two generations of shoguns tried to weaken the powerful guardian daimyo and strengthen the prestige of the Muromachi Palace. Now, if it is too easy to succumb to foreign enemies, years of business will be wasted, and Ashikaga Yoshitomo, who is dedicated to hard work, will definitely not be reconciled.

Akamatsu Yoshinori believed that the shogun's determination might have been correct.

Even if the decision of the superior is wrong, as long as he persists wholeheartedly to the end, I am afraid that he will be able to maintain the rule of the country better than swaying from side to side.

。 Writing Chinese Network M.