It turned out that Kinoshita Hideyoshi was worried that this incident would disrupt the trade order of Kaimachi and further weaken his authority, so he took a more tough attitude, hoping to strengthen his presence and show favor to merchants by the way.

In addition, Asano Nagayoshi hurried over from Kishiwada Castle and donated 1,000 yuan of "labor army" funds, and at the same time exerted political pressure in the name of the Hirate family, demanding that the case be solved as soon as possible.

There were 300 sharp men under the command, all of them wearing armor and swords, two-thirds of them were equipped with iron cannons, 50 scribes, and 200 miscellaneous servants, all of whom were immediately mobilized and violently seized several shops and houses that were considered suspicious.

Kinoshita Hideyoshi was in office for three years, diligent, and very familiar with the situation in Kaimachi, which commercial houses were innocent business, which were involved in gray, which were half-black and not white, and which were basically pure black - they all knew in their hearts, so the goal of this operation was very clear, and it was aimed at the townspeople who were usually misbehaving.

However, the imaginary "counterfeit money distribution center" has not been found, and perhaps this thing does not exist in the first place.

Instead, he turned through the pile of papers and found some of the rest of the incriminating evidence.

And the cases involved are quite small.

A business called "Okiya" was found in a secret notepad, on which recorded private correspondence with Miyoshi Nagaitsu, Shinohara Nagabo and others.

The evidence is still in the commission, and Imai Munehisa took it out for Hirate Honshu to see.

Several of these records are –

"On the ninth day of the first month, I received an advance payment for the iron cannon from the Rouge House on behalf of the Araki family, and two hundred copper coins."

"On the second day of the second month of February, the Nanban ship arrived, the goods were put into storage, and the final payment of 360 yuan was paid."

"On February 13, the Araki family Arima Hall verified that the goods were correct."

"On February 16, I received a payment from the Araki family, thirty-five taels of gold, four hundred taels of silver, and five hundred and forty taels."

"On February 24, ten Nanban refined iron cannons were delivered to Shanzhufang, totaling 1,300 pieces. The remaining five hundred and sixty were unpaid. ”

"On the seventh day of the first month of March, I received 700 stone of military rations from the Rouge House on behalf of the Araki family, and negotiated to fold 520 yuan, and there were still 40 yuan."

Although the full name is not written, several names are of great concern!

Araki Murashige was originally a retainer of the Ikeda family, and once colluded with Miyoshi Nagaitsu to defect, and finally defected to Asai through the intermediary of Kuroda Kanwei, and there are many doubts about this series of behaviors.

As for the "Good Residence"...... It seems to be a common term for monks and monks, but when placed here, it can only be reminiscent of the number one suspect in Nobunaga's assassination, Sugitani Zenjubo.

Since this name appeared, it was a big case worth paying more attention to for the Oda family than the counterfeiting incident.

But—

The "Rouge House" involved in this process made Kinoshita Hideyoshi feel very embarrassed.

During the reign of Miyoshi, the three largest merchants in Kaimachi were Tsuda Muneki of Tennojiya , Ikenaga Heihisa of Notoya and Red House Soyo of Rouge House.

It is also the three giants in the "Thirty-six Men of the Meeting".

Imai Munehisa, Senshoyi and others courted Nobunaga and got the opportunity to develop rapidly under Oda's rule, but they could not be compared with the three predecessors in the short term.

Ikenaga Heihisa was "mistakenly killed" by Nobuei Sakuma last year, which caused a big wave of rendering.

Nobunaga let Sakuma Nobumori, who ranked among the top five in his family, live in seclusion and quit all his duties, which can be regarded as an explanation, so that the merchants can barely settle down.

If this matter is announced today, the Red House Zongyang of the Rouge House will certainly be eating jujube pills, but how much resistance will the Oda family suffer?

As for Kinoshita Hideyoshi, this dedication can't be stunned.

Asano Nagayoshi said: "Kinoshita-sama only understood the intention of pursuing the investigation, and the people rallied around Tsuda Muneyoshi and submitted a joint letter as a negotiation!" They demanded that the matter be silenced, otherwise it would ...... It's time for protest action! ”

The businessman's reaction was clearly expected.

The Miyoshi family has been in charge of the hegemony for more than ten years and has always treated each other with courtesy, and the Oda family has been acting against giants for two consecutive years, and the contrast can be described as strong. Everyone is in danger, and under the agitation of the same hatred and hatred, it doesn't matter if you have a valid reason or not, whether it is an accident or not.

If the hegemony is still there, it is natural that he can use the matter of the Rouge House colluding with the remnants of Miyoshi as a pretext to force the congregations to submit by force.

But now the hegemony is crumbling.

If Oda Nobutada really takes tough measures, Ashikaga Yoshiaki and Asai Nagamasa will not be able to laugh.

Speaking of which, Imai Munehisa had an embarrassed face. Although he was the first to stand in support of Nobunaga, and he had a close relationship with Hideyoshi in recent years, after all, he was still a member of the merchants, and it was impossible to deny the joint decision of the people, otherwise it would be tantamount to "self-isolation from the people".

Asano Nagayoshi originally had little to do with the whole thing, but he felt that it was a burden to be deceived and used, and secondly, he had a high sense of identity with the Oda family, and his face was quite sad at the moment.

If this matter is dealt with strictly, it will provoke violent revolt and lead to serious consequences. If you compromise with a businessman, you will not be able to avoid contempt and give someone a handle. In fact, no matter what, Kinoshita Hideyoshi's seat is unstable.

Regardless of how he chooses.

Tieshou Fanxiu suddenly thought of a side matter-

According to the current situation, the matter of "counterfeit banknotes" has always existed, but all the goods circulating in the black market are inferior goods, and it is not difficult to distinguish the authenticity, so there are not many people who have been deceived, and it has not attracted attention.

So, how did this big storm start?

Why do you think that counterfeit banknotes are "very similar in appearance, but confuse the real with fake", so they panic and are being used?

"It was the 'Shioya' who reported the incident first, and the Tsuda boss of Tennojiya testified for him, so he had to be cautious." Asano Nagayoshi was resentful and ashamed, and his mood was extremely low, "The tickets they sent over are indeed nine out of nine similar to the real soldiers' food coupons, and it took me half an hour to see a few small differences, so I thought that there was a particularly powerful counterfeiter...... Maybe those samples were originally real, but they were just sharpened and modified in a few places, deliberately thinking that the real was false! The subordinates have already asked the craftsmen of Yuyueya to identify it according to this idea, and it is estimated that there will be a conclusion within a day or two......"

"Alas! It's just that I and others are inexperienced, and they are all fooled! Imai Munehisa sighed, "In retrospect, it is indeed very likely that the truth is as Asanoden said. That secret notepad may also be intended to lead us to find it. As for whether the Tsuda sect and the big boss of Tennojiya were involved in the conspiracy process, or whether they were deceived like us, it is really difficult to say. ”

The original words are "hard to say". But his expression had clearly determined that Tsuda Munekichi was behind it.

According to this line of thinking, the focus of the conspiracy seems to be to break up the Oda family's control over Kaimachi, and the Heite family's "ration stamps" are only being involved, not being targeted by the secret enemy.

If so, that's fine.

The Oda family's control of Kaimachi will not be able to be maintained sooner or later, although it is regrettable but helpless, even if the tie is useless to Kinoshita Hideyoshi.

And Tsuda Zong and this person, the person who made the big news in front of him testified, and he was the one who put pressure on behalf of the people in the back, so he is indeed extremely suspicious.

How do you deal with it?

Hirata Hirahide's head saw Kinoshita Hideyoshi kneeling and sitting silent, and suddenly understood:

"Since Kinoshita has made the matter public here, so that I and the others all know the whole story, I guess I have no intention of concealing and compromising, but I must resolutely and thoroughly investigate the role of the 'Rouge House' in the assassination incident."

That's why I feel the pain - the last sentence is not spoken.

"It's worthy of the Tie Punishment Department, and I saw through the contemptible thoughts so quickly." Speaking of this, Kinoshita Hideyoshi finally slowly raised his neck, nodded his head slowly but firmly, and said softly: "I have been at odds with my stepfather since I was a child, and I have been working hard since I was twelve or thirteen years old, chopping wood, feeding horses, serving tea, and delivering water. But if you turn a blind eye to the assassin of Oda Danmasa, how will you see him in the future? In fact, this morning, I have already given the order to have people spy on suspicious elements. ”

"Kinoshita, ......" Hirata wanted to say something, but felt that any words were weak.

People are in such a delicate situation, if you can't help with all your might, no matter how much you encourage, it's just standing and talking without backache.

In addition to "I wish you good luck and prosperity." "It's useless to talk beyond this kind of.

Kinoshita Hideyoshi bit his lip and smiled reluctantly, and replied with a sentence of "Wuyun Changlong", and then suddenly said: "I heard that my brother Koichiro did a good job in the Heite family, and he has already received six hundred stones......

"Actually, there is no need to be so pessimistic, even if you leave the position of the town commissioner, there may not be a turn......around in the future," Hirate Honhide said with relief, but did not specifically say where the turnaround was.

At this time, there was a middle-aged man with half a hundred hairs at the door, who was allowed by the guards, trotted in, and went to Asano Nagayoshi to pass the word in his ear, and without saying a word, he saw the big leader beside him, and quickly crawled over to bow down.

Hirate Tsunohide didn't recognize this person, but depending on the situation, it should be Asano Nagayoshi's right-hand man or something.

The middle-aged man reported: "The sample of the ticket I got back yesterday was looked at by several craftsmen, and they all felt that this was the real thing, but someone who knew how to handle it deliberately made people feel that it was a clever fake." ”

The news came a little later, but it was still useful.

"So, did someone really induce us to discover the crime of the traitor in the Rouge House? Could this be a deeper trap? Imai Munehisa said that he seemed to be very reluctant to revoke or replace the Kaimachi.

"If those records are fake, it's a trap." Kinoshita Hideyoshi's eyes flashed, "But if it's true, I don't care if it's a trap or not, and the people involved in the assassination of Oda Danmasa will never be forgiven." ”

After saying that, the sun had completely set, and several people had their own thoughts, but they had no intention of resting, as if they would feel at ease when they sat down.

Hijo Hideyoshi was still calm, and asked whether to mobilize some troops to prevent the merchants from gathering to make trouble, Kinoshita Hideyoshi waved his hand and refused, saying: "If the merchants can unite as one, they can indeed gather two or three thousand soldiers, but the contemptible people are still recognized as the practice, and most people dare not face it openly." Summoning an army over may provoke change. ”

Seems to make a lot of sense.

However, Tieshou still secretly ordered the guards to strengthen their vigilance, and made some shady arrangements.

Then he planned to leave the office and return to his own Kishiwada Castle to rest.

As a result, when I went out, I happened to meet a burly and sturdy samurai who hurried to this side, and his face seemed familiar.

Heishou thought for a while, and then reacted: "Isn't this the Maeno Nagayaden?" It's been a long time, but now you're in Kaimachi? ”

The other party was stunned for a while, gave a salute in a panic, and then said with a wry smile: "The little sixth brother died in Sanuki, and we have also suffered heavy losses, and there is nowhere to go except to find Kinoshita Hall to eat." ”

Hirate Hoshu sighed with some emotion: "Now I can still say a few words on Shikoku Island, if you want to return to Sanuki, you might as well come to Kishiwada Castle to find me." ”

Maeno Nagayasu shook his head sadly: "Thank you, Lord Nakawu...... No, it's the Lord of the Criminal Department, but there is no need, if you go back, I am afraid that you will see the scene of the tragic death of the little sixth brother in your dreams......"

Seeing that his tone was firm, Pingshou Fan Xiu stopped talking. After saying goodbye to each other, they watched each other walk into the office.

A moment later, there was a shout of "sure enough" from behind him, which sounded like Kinoshita Hideyoshi's voice.

Tie Tsushu couldn't help but stop.