Kyoto Honnoji Temple, is the main mountain of the Nichiren sect of Fuso Buddhism, north of the Rokkaku path, west of the Natsu road, east of the Omiya Road, south of the four Bomen Road, occupy the square of the two towns (about 200 meters long) of the estate, divided into more than 30 houses, 200 monks, currently headed by the Imperial family of the Nishiro Lord, under the jurisdiction of nearly 100 temples, mainly distributed in, Hokuriku, Seto Inland Sea and the southern Kyushu Tanegashima area.

On April 13 of the 6th year of Motogame (1573), Hideyoshi Kinoshita, who was over 40 years old but had no queen, suddenly noticed that a concubine seemed to have signs of joy, and was overjoyed, and hurriedly ran here to pray for the safety of mother and child.

Because this lord from Owari has recently been prosperous in Kyoto, and his power is flourishing, he is already a big celebrity who cannot be separated from the side of the princess, and the master of Honnoji did not dare to ignore it, so he deliberately found a majestic and quiet courtyard, dismissed ordinary believers and pilgrims, and sent a personal disciple to receive distinguished guests.

Kinoshita Hideyoshi, who is not good-looking, and has a short stature, followed the young monk into the specially prepared Buddhist hall, paid a visit with all his heart, offered the offering of silver, and then did not say goodbye and leave, nor did he talk to the monks, but was familiar with the way, turning around, and walking to a dead corner sandwiched between three walls, which normal people could not notice at all, let alone go to.

There were two colleagues waiting for him.

The middle-aged bald man sitting on the small horse, polite and polite, holding a folding fan, laughed and said: "Kinoshita Palace, your taste is getting better and better, the winding paths here are quiet, quiet and elegant, it really makes me feel at ease, and it is really a good place to choose!" ”

The other looked a little older, but he was a tiger with a bear's waist, with a beard like a halberd, frowning and pacing back and forth, and whining when he met: "Let's put your elegance aside, the most important thing now is safety!" Have you figured it all out? ”

Hearing this, Kinoshita Hideyoshi was solemn and solemnly said: "Master Hishiro is already over sixty years old, and he is about to die, and several of his apprentices are fighting fiercely, so I took advantage of this...... Shibata Temple, Wisdom Hall, please don't worry! ”

After that, Kinoshita Hideyoshi clenched his fists and his eyes were firm, Akechi Mitsuhide maintained a calm smile to hide his actual emotions, and Shibata Katsuie frowned and stared around for a long time before he reluctantly nodded and sighed: "Fujiyoshiro, it's not that I don't believe you, it's really what happened a few years ago that I remember vividly." Alas! I never dreamed that most of the Oda family's powerful ninjas would be cut off overnight, and it was Princess Aichi who caused their whereabouts to be exposed. ”

Speaking of this, the three of them couldn't help but lose their minds, and they all fell silent.

It took a long time to get back on track.

"Alas, it's all my fault, I'm too old to stop talking! Fujiyoshiro has finally found a place where he can communicate privately, so we can't waste time! Shibata Katsuya cheered up, looked left and right and didn't see Maza, so he found a big rock and sat down, hugged his hands to his chest, and said in a deep voice: "According to our previous tacit understanding, I have deliberately tried to build relationships around here in the past few years." The total number of soldiers that the entire shogunate can recruit now is about 13,000, and I have a number of who can fight and who can't. ”

"Hard work Shibata Temple!" Kinoshita Hideyoshi hurriedly asked: "If we raise an incident, how many people do you think we can respond?" Can there be a third? ”

"Well...... Shibata Katsuya touched his beard and pondered for a while, then replied hesitantly, "Now...... In Kyoto's neighborhood, at least half of the Hao people who can fight well are willing to listen to my orders. If I need to do something, I can bring 2,000 people to surround the palace in one day. ”

"Out of a total of thirteen thousand, only two thousand have been mastered?" Akechi Mitsuhide expressed concern: "Of course, it is not easy to master two thousand, but ......"

"These two thousand are elite warriors." Shibata Katsuie frowned and interrupted: "Plus I still have a few hundred cronies and private soldiers, which is enough to deal with a rabble of one or two thousand. With the backbone, it is not difficult to organize a large army, and it snowballs quickly. ”

"I believe that." Akechi Mitsuhide approvingly soothed, sighed, and said, "I'm just a little worried, worried that it's not stable enough......"

"Hall of Wisdom!" Kinoshita Hideyoshi opened his eyes wide and reminded: "When we engage in this kind of thing, of course, we already have the consciousness of nine deaths and a lifetime, so what can we talk about?" ”

"That's right." Shibata Katsuya added angrily: "What we did was originally a job of losing our heads!" ”

"That's true." Wise Guangxiu shook his head with a wry smile, and suddenly became high-spirited: "Understood, let's take a gamble with the two of you!" ”

"What is the situation in the Zhidian?" Kinoshita Hideyoshi asked.

"There is absolutely no problem with the imperial court!" Wise Mitsuhide said categorically: "The ministers' evaluation of the Lord Guan is much higher than that of the Lord Gongfang, and they will only be happy to see it." ”

"What about the reaction of the surrounding daimyos?" Shibata Katsuya hurriedly asked.

Hearing this, Wise Guangxiu thought for a while and replied, "Generally speaking, there are good and bad. If the small forces have no power to stop us, we will not mention it...... It is a good thing that Asai Nagamasa is focused on the western country and it is impossible to estimate Kyoto. However, the bad news is that the situation in Mino and Owari is more complicated, and many people may not be happy to see Danmasa-sama make a comeback. This, even...... Even including...... Includes ......"

"Including our young master!" Shibata Katsuya added with a wry smile: "This is also human nature!" So, we can't just escort Danmasa-sama and flee back to Gifu Castle - that will only cause internal strife in the Oda family! We must oppose the fact that the enemy is the main party and take control of Kyoto, and then the rulers of the two countries will willingly obey the orders. ”

"Indeed, it's much harder than escaping! But just like that, it makes me very motivated. Kinoshita Hideyoshi clenched his fists again to cheer himself up, and then continued to ask, "How about the other directions?" ”

Akechi Mitsuhide replied: "On the Hokuriku side, the Asakura Yu Party is too busy to take care of itself, so don't care. Ise's Takigawa Hall is obviously leaning towards our side, but he can't enter Beijing with great fanfare now, which will cause others to be alert. It is worth worrying that Takenaka's attitude is unclear, and behind him are the three members of Nishimino and Sakai, Nakagawa and others in Minami Omi, and the actual influence is not less than that of a strong daimyo......"

"I don't think there's a need to worry too much." Shibata Katsuya interrupted: "Mino Kirin is certainly very powerful, but the capital is not enough, the reputation is far behind, and she has always been weak and sick!" As long as we do things smoothly as planned, Shigeji Takenaka won't have to worry too much about this kid. I'm afraid that someone else will take the lead against us, and then Shigeharu Takenaka will echo it......"

“…… Are you talking about the Tie Punishment Department? Kinoshita Hideyoshi immediately guessed the meaning.

"Yes...... Shibata Katsuie sighed, "He can be regarded as the person I grew up watching, but I didn't expect it...... I didn't expect to be so capable, after the assassination of Lord Danmasa, all of us had a bad year, including Takigawa, who seemed to have retained the power of Ise, which was barely and unworthy of the name. Only this tie...... Alas! ”

"I don't think I understand this lord's city." Akechi Mitsuhide took over the conversation: "Although the contemptible people are very reluctant to admit it, judging from the experience of the past few years, the Tieshou Criminal Department Wen Taowu is comparable to Oda Dan, far above us. The only thing that can be used now is that he cherishes his feathers and has always considered himself a loyal servant of the Ashikaga family. If we can master the princess, we can make the tie hand a rat trap. ”

“…… That's all there is to it. Shibata Katsuie concluded: "After all, this is something that needs to be considered after the matter is completed, a little far, let's get back to the point, how is the situation on Fujiyoshiro's side?" ”

"Not bad!" Speaking of this, Kinoshita Hideyoshi became a little excited: "After our continuous and secret lobbying, after the execution of Takekimaru Gongzi, more than two hundred shoguns have expressed their distrust of Gongkata-sama, and less than fifty still firmly support Gongkata-sama. The rest are cold bystanders. In addition, the problem of money is also very smooth, in recent years, the wealthy businessmen who have sponsored our actions have promised to continue to sponsor, so far this year, I have raised as much as 14,000 yuan. ”

Akechi Mitsuhide nodded and pondered, "The sword and gold are ready, and all aspects of the government and the opposition are also in order. Everything is ready, only the east wind is owed, and now the only problem is how to rescue the Danzheng people......"

Kinoshita Hideyoshi responded: "Now Oda Danmasa is imprisoned in the Tenriin Temple of the Shokokuji Temple, and there are thirty soldiers guarding it in shifts. These thirty people are all directly under the shogunate, and my colleagues have worked hard to win over four of them, so it is still very difficult for me to contact Oda Management through secret letters, and to carry out rescue. ”

Shibata Katsuya gritted his teeth and said, "No way, you have to try!" Now that Ashikaga Yoshiaki killed the orphan of Yoshiaki, it is the most unpopular time! If he postpones it, he may have other ways to buy public opinion again. Besides, if we win over so many people in one go, sooner or later we will leak our traces, and once we alert the enemy, we will ......."

"Actually, it's been leaked twice!" Kinoshita Hideyoshi sighed: "Fortunately, the two whistleblowers have always been untrusted by the princess, and then my response was relatively appropriate, so I didn't arouse too much suspicion...... But it's only three things, and it's really as Shibata Hall said, there's no way to wait! ”

"Anyway......" Akechi Mitsuhide suddenly remembered something, "Kinoshita, you met Brother Ling in Kyoto two months ago, right?" I heard that the Hete Criminal Department sent Brother Ling to Kyoto to manage some business affairs? Won't this ...... Is it a plan to repair the plank road and darken the warehouse? ”

"Well......" Kinoshita Hideyoshi slowly shook his head while thinking: "I took the opportunity to observe, they did use the shop as a cover to find out the news, but there is no obvious direction of focus, I estimate that the Heishou Criminal Department is aware of some clues, but there are no specific clues yet." ”

"Then we're really going to speed up." Shibata Katsuya was very vigilant, "Let's engage in this kind of conspiracy and trickery, it's not the right way, and we won't be able to hide it for long." ”

Akechi Mitsuhide nodded, and added, "I also heard that the Hete Punishment Department asked the Imperial Court and the Shogunate for merit on behalf of his retainers and asked for official titles. There may be a delegation to Kyoto in the near future. ”

"Then whether it is the merchant house of the Pingshou family or the embassy, you must send someone to keep an eye on it! Now it seems that the tie is probably the one who is most likely to hinder us! ”

The three of them looked at each other and agreed.