After returning from Iga, Hirate Honhide stayed in Kyoto for only six days before being sent by Nobunaga to Izumi to take up his post.

He was accompanied by a number of retainers and an army of 4,000.

It has been two years and three months since I first came to Izumi.

The current Fusang is in the era of storms and clouds, and the time of two years is enough to cause changes in the vicissitudes of the sea.

The last time he served as an acting official in Izumi, Hirate Tsuhidesho was only a samurai who knew how to do ten thousand stones, and his reputation was limited to the Tokaido area, and he scraped together less than 2,000 troops, and with the prestige of the Oda family, plus a little means, he was able to gain a firm foothold.

Now, as a "Nakabu Shojo from the Fifth Rank", he is also a member of the Awaji and Izumi Kingdoms, and he plays an important role in the entire Seto Inland Sea, and he can easily maintain a force of 4,000 people, including 1,500 Bannermen and 300 Guards.

Therefore, Hirate no longer needs to play the trick of luring the snake out of the hole to catch the old man, but simply sends Kinoshita Hidenaga and Horio Yoshiharu to visit the major temples and shrines in Izumi and the people of the country, and conveys a very brief order—or an invitation:

"On the first day of September this year, please come to Kishiwada City for a gathering."

did not explain what exactly to do, did not announce the punishment of not coming, and the tone was very gentle.

But it's getting more and more scary.

The quieter the clouds are, the more chilly it is when the rain falls. The people of Hequan have generally read books and understand this truth very well.

So the Haozu Temple, which thinks that there is a problem with it, has become an ant on the hot nest.

Obviously, it was good to come to Kishiwada Castle on the first day of September, but actually-

Before he had even entered the territory of Izumi the next day, some people had already rushed to the front of the army to "report their work" and "explain their problems" to the chief of affairs of the peace department.

They also all got a prompt response:

"Lord Zhongwu Shaocheng occasionally feels cold and unwell, if there is nothing to burn his eyebrows, please talk about it later."

Not only did the main lord not come forward, but even people who could talk to him, such as Kawada Nagakin, Honda Masanobu, and Iwanari Tomoto, were difficult to see. I'll send a Shengzu Sadatsune, Sugihara Sunbei and the like.

These two low-level samurai who have some marginal nepotism with the flat hand show have always been mediocre, obscure, and completely unknown - it's right to be unknown, and it is clear that they are majestic, that is, they deliberately appear to be high enough and big enough.

Correspondingly, the other part of the people is raised eyebrows and relaxed.

For example, the party of Yasudaifu Terada, who took refuge in the Hirate Honshu and was able to obtain a large number of territories, and the Yasutaka Nobuyasu party who was transferred by the arrangement of the Hirate. When the new shogunate was dispatched, they still insisted on serving in the tie army, regardless of their ranks, so it was time to reap the rewards.

In short, a few families were happy and a few were sad, and under the gaze of everyone, he returned to Kishiwada Castle and became the manager of Izumi for the second time.

All the way to the point without mentioning.

On the morning of August 23, the army arrived at its destination.

Because of the "occasional cold", Hirate did not ride, but rode in a carriage, resting all the way.

It wasn't until he was under the city that the guards lifted the curtain and respectfully asked him to get off the wheel.

As soon as I stepped on my feet, I didn't have time to take a closer look at the old place, and my first impression was that the commercial town under the castle was much smaller, perhaps due to the influence of domestic riots.

Seeing this, she remembered the auction she had hosted. The fact that business has been thriving and thriving has stagnated and shrunk in recent months, and it is clear that it has something to do with the turmoil in Izumi.

Then I walked through the crowd and entered the Otemon Gate, where I suddenly found that a newly built wooden arrow tower had been added to the left and right sides, occupying the reserved plaza and making the originally spacious Sannomaru much narrower.

Not only the two arrow towers, but also Ninomaru has similar traces of transformation, adding a number of new defensive structures that are extremely aesthetically detrimental. Further on, when you enter Honmaru, you can see that the observation deck, which was specially built two years ago, has also been converted into a weapons warehouse and shooting platform. At first glance, it feels like it will be difficult to get back to the way it was.

"What a foolishness!" Tieshou Fan Xiu finally couldn't help but complain, "The land is small, there is no danger to defend, what's the use of building a few more arrows?" If you are in a place like Izumi, you should take advantage of trade and transportation, and the right way to defend yourself from enemies outside the country. ”

As soon as these words came out, the retainers who accompanied him on the left and right naturally praised in unison and boasted one after another.

Only Honda Masanobu understood the meaning, and as soon as his eyes rolled, he took two steps forward and said in a low voice: "Your Majesty got acquainted with a Shishan merchant a few days ago, called Yasui City Uemon, and after shaving his hair, he gave up his name Doton. This person is quite accomplished in civil engineering, and his ingenuity is unique and unique, which is the only one I have seen in my life, if the lord needs to use people......"

It's called Yasui City Uemon, and after shaving his hair, he is called Doton, so shouldn't it be called Yasui Doton?

The name seems to be a little familiar.,It seems to have appeared in the game of the Dark Shame Society.。

That should be a businessman of considerable level.

It's just that the word "stone mountain" is really a little harsh.

Hiteshu was noncommittal, frowned, and glanced at Honda Masanobu.

However, Honda Masanobu immediately understood, and Fu added, "Although this Mr. Yasui Doton, although he opened a shop in Ishiyama and did business, he was a follower of the Nichiren sect and had nothing to do with Honganji. ”

"That's ......"

Rao was like this, and the expression of the flat hand did not change at all, but he nodded lightly to indicate that he heard it, and then walked forward lazily with his hands in his hands.

After walking leisurely for more than ten steps, he stood still again, slowly turned his head, looked up and down, and commanded in a dull tone: "It's rare that you Honda Yahachiro personally recommended someone, so let him try it, you go find Hanzaemon (Ina Tadaji) and let him be in charge of arranging." ”

Ina Tadaji is currently the de facto chief executive of the Heite family (although theoretically Asano Nagayoshi) and is also a top five model worker. It is said that this identity and position should be dangling in front of the lord all day long, but in fact, he only reports once every three or two days, and he is in a hurry and purely talks about business.

Honda Masanobu got permission and hurriedly bowed down and said yes.

Fan Xiu didn't wait for him to reply, and walked into the depths of the city again.

The other attendants quietly met their eyes, and there was no lack of envy and jealousy in their eyes.

However, Honda Masanobu did not have the slightest intention of reining in his edge, but followed closely behind the lord, assuming a posture of arrogance and arrogance.

As an important minister in charge of diplomacy, etiquette, rituals and other affairs, Numata Yumitsu is usually noble and has no real power, and he also helps by the side of Hisho Hide.

He was originally a detached and cold-eyed bystander, but when he saw Honda Masanobu's arrogant appearance, he couldn't help but sneer in a low voice: "When the building was built, it took the contemptible people three full days to calculate the sun, moon and stars, mountains and rivers, to get such a direction. This is probably not something that ordinary civil engineering businessmen can do. ”

At this time, Tieshou Tsunoshi walked ten steps ahead alone, and he didn't react, I don't know if he couldn't hear or didn't bother to care.

Honda Masanobu smiled kindly and responded, "In that case, would it be nice to invite Numata-sama to repair the building together?" ”

Numata Yumitsu immediately stopped. When he usually participated in battles, he only wanted to be a staff officer rather than a pioneer, and this kind of hard and dirty civil engineering work was never respected.

The underlying value of the tie is that the more you do in practice, the more status and voice you have, and those who don't do the right thing will not be reused.

Maybe Honda Masanobu is the only exception, but this guy has always been scolded as a "lucky traitor" and is not ashamed but proud, and ordinary people really don't have that cheek.

Therefore, some retainers from traditional samurai families often feel uncomfortable.

Therefore, Numata Yumitsu often has the idea of changing jobs.

Outsiders will think that leaving the power of martial arts is a loss of mind, but everyone has their own ambitions.

Not to mention these trivial matters, Hiratsu Tsunohide blushed all the way, entered the Honmaru, and came to the gate of the Imperial Pavilion, only to be a little relieved, and said: "The acting officials sent by the shogunate always have some taste, so as not to purely add to the chaos." ”

Originally, there was only a small area near the Imperial Pavilion in the entire Kishiwada Castle, which showed no signs of being overly militarized, but some artistic parts were added, and a small courtyard less than 10 steps from the entrance was also decorated in the style of "dry landscape".

According to the rules, retainers can only come here when they are summoned, and the left and right attendants will work in the Honmaru government district on a daily basis. When they arrived at the gate of the Imperial Pavilion, they didn't dare to go any further.

In the past, it was customary for Hime Samurai Ii Naotora to accompany the lord to enter, but now she is pregnant, and she stays on Awaji Island with the rest of her family to raise the baby, and is not around.

The maids naturally followed the lady of the main room in the state city, and the city lord did not like to use small surnames very much, and the spacious palace only had a few servants doing rough work, so it seemed very empty.

Dozens of scribes and scribes who came over together, waiting for the arrangement of work,

Pingshou Fan Xiu was too lazy to speak, and casually stretched out his hand and pointed at Honda Masatin and said: "The paperwork during this period of time, you can straighten it out first, and just look at the trivial things." ”

Needless to say, everyone was envious and jealous.

In recent years, the Heite family has quietly implemented the separation of civil and military, and many retainers have gradually had fixed positions, Kawada Naga is generally in charge of military affairs, Nakamura Kazuji is in charge of intelligence, Ina Tadaji is in charge of finance, Asano Nagayoshi is focused on special tasks such as "auctions" and "stamp duty", Hattori Haruan is in charge of public security, his younger brother Hidean is in charge of internal guards, and pure generals such as Ieka and Honda Masashige are worshiped by Ieka and Honda.

The rest, in addition to the newly descended people who have not been arranged in detail for the time being, the sensitive and powerful people, who often haunt the side of Fanxiu, and whose identities are enough, are only two people left - Numata Yumitsu, who is diligent and upright and has a good reputation, is mainly responsible for etiquette affairs, and is high and powerful; and the treacherous and cunning notorious Honda Masanobu, one of the few retainers who can persuade the lord to be in a lowly and powerful position.

It is said that ordinary people finally become confidants, not to mention forming a party for personal gain, at least they must be kind to others!

However, Honda Masashi believed that this person had always been arrogant and disdainful of his colleagues. It's really uncomfortable to ask him to arrange everyone's work.

Hirata was about to walk into the Imperial Pavilion step by step, when he suddenly seemed to think of something, turned his head again, and smiled at the scribes and scholars below who had not yet dispersed: "I also know that many people have sent gifts to you to inquire about the news these days, right?" You have to think about it when you receive gifts, some people's things are not so easy to take, if you are implicated, don't say it unexpectedly! ”