Cherry blossom is a kind of wild flower native to the Himalayas, which has gradually spread to the Yangtze River basin and southwest China after artificial cultivation. During the Qin and Han dynasties, cherry blossoms began to be planted in the court, and then gradually flowed into the people, and in the Tang Dynasty, from the palace corridor to the private houses, you can see the cherry blossoms blooming everywhere.

After the Battle of Baijiangkou, the shameful and courageous Wa sent a large number of envoys to the Tang Dynasty, and the cherry blossoms also crossed the ocean and settled down on the islands of the Wa Kingdom.

Therefore, every March, most of the aristocratic gardens of the Wa Kingdom are in full bloom with gorgeous cherry blossoms, most of which are white, and a small number of them are pink, and it is said that the pink cherry blossoms are dyed red by the blood of the unpaid samurai who killed themselves under the cherry blossom trees, and the more samurai who commit suicide under the tree, the redder the color becomes, of course, this is just a legend.

But at this moment, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu believes in this legend a little.

Like most Wakoku people, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu also loved cherry blossoms, so he planted a large number of cherry blossoms in his residence, Kitayama Hall, and when the cherry blossoms were in full bloom, a large number of banquets were held here for the emperor, various nobles, and samurai, both dancing girls and samurai who heard the song and dance. In addition, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu himself is also very fond of dancing swords in the cherry blossoms and drinking and singing.

After the sword dance and singing, Yoshimitsu would return to the temple of the relics to meditate, and at this time, his mind would become very calm and sensitive, and many unresolved questions would often be solved.

Therefore, the sword dance under the cherry blossoms can allow Ashikaga Yoshimitsu to get rid of distracting thoughts, unite his mind, and create good conditions for meditation later.

Sword dancing and meditation have always been very effective, but today they are a little different.

The clear mirror lake pond water, the gorgeous and fragrant cherry blossoms, the slightly blowing spring breeze, a dreamlike fairy scene, for some reason, in the eyes of Yiman, but with a kind of prosperity will go, Shaohua is no longer bleak, this beautiful scenery, in the past can be intoxicated by the heart of Yiman, but today it makes people feel a little unreal, and the heart of Yiman, but can not be quiet at all......

Ambition is not rewarded, swinging a sword to kill oneself, life is like a flower, death is like a flower, is life the pursuit of a moment of splendor?

......

"Go and call the righteous holders."

"Yes! Excellency! ”

After bathing, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu wore monk's robes, came to the relic's hall, sat on the futon, and planned to meditate, but soon gave up, and he sent an order to let his son Ashikaga Yoshinori come over.

The past year has been a nightmare for the Wa Kingdom.

The marines of the Ming State frequently invaded the coast of the Japanese Kingdom, killing and plundering the people and plundering the goods, except for a few areas where the Ming army was heavily armed, the Ming army was like entering a no-man's land.

In the past, when raiding the coastal areas of China, the Japanese people were very excited, and the samurai who went to China to plunder were all ronins who could not get along in the Japanese country, and the status in the Japanese country was like a beggar, and the emperor of China had nothing to do with them, and repeatedly sent envoys to cross the ocean, "begging" to beg the emperor of the Japanese country or the shogun to fight the Japanese invaders, all of which made the Japanese people, and even have a kind of idea that China is not enough.

But today, retribution has come, the Ming people have become pirates, and the Japanese people are also helpless, and they are even facing the disaster of destroying the country.

From the second half of the seventh year of Jianwen, the Ming navy surrounded the Wa Kingdom from the two directions of Ryukyu and Korea, and the coastal islands fell one after another, Tsushima Island and Iki Island in the north of Kyushu, Nakodori Island and Goto Island in the west of Kyushu, and Tanegashima and Yakushima Island in the south of Kyushu fell one after another, becoming the naval base of the Ming army, and the Ming army set out from these islands and entered the country along the coastline.

What's even worse is that in July of the eighth year of Jianwen, the Ming army attacked and captured the island of Oki in the north of Honshu, and the news reached Kyoto, which immediately shocked the Wa Kingdom.

Starting from Oki Island, it is only more than 100 miles to reach the mainland of the Wa Kingdom, and you can attack the countries of Kumo, Iwami, Inaba, Tajima, Tango, Wakasa, etc., and these places are the periphery of Kyoto, so it can be said that from the moment the Ming army attacked Oki Island, Kyoto changed from the rear to the front line, facing the threat of the Ming army.

Yoshimitsu once tried to recapture Yinqi Island, but in the face of the Ming army's navy, the Japanese navy was vulnerable, and the sampan boats were better, more flexible, and could exploit loopholes, and even rely on numerical superiority to smuggle to the island while the Ming army was not paying attention; As for those imitation ships, under the artillery fire of the Ming army, they often became targets and suffered heavy losses.

After three failed attempts, Yoshimitsu abandoned the idea of retaking Okiki Island and adopted the strategy of placing heavy forces near Kyoto to prevent the Ming army from landing.

Three days earlier, on March 4 of the ninth year of Jianwen, the Ming Emperor's envoy landed in Wakasa and brought the Ming Emperor's ultimatum.

......

"Your Excellency, the righteous son has arrived!"

"Let him in!"

"Father, I'm coming!"

"Sit down," Yoshimitsu gestured to the futon, gesture to sit down.

After sitting down, Ashikaga Yoshinori was a little nervous, and there was some gloom in the relics hall, he subconsciously looked left and right, and then breathed a sigh of relief.

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu didn't speak immediately, just stared at his son opposite.

Yoshito doesn't look very much like Yoshimitsu, he is thin, the bridge of his nose is high, his face is a little yellow, his eyes are blazing, which makes people a little daunting, he doesn't talk much, but he likes to be outspoken, and he once opposed Yoshimitsu's policy towards Ming in person, and opposed to being a minister to Ming.

Privately, Yoshichi and Yoshisho Spo have a close relationship, and as for the ten-year-old Yoshiki, there is no retainer who explicitly supports him.

Contrary to the imagination of the world, the real reason why Yoshimitsu does not like Yoshinori is not because of the difference between his descendants, but because Yoshinori cannot understand him, in the eyes of Yoshimitsu who is praised by everyone, his mind, bearing and even vision are not enough to undertake his own career, he still believes that the emperor is the heir of God, and feels that the emperor will be unified for all generations, which is a very ridiculous thing in Yoshimitsu's view.

After a long time, looking at his son who was becoming more and more uneasy, Yoshimitsu spoke: "Yoshito, recently, has anyone been looking for you?" ”

Hearing Yoshimitsu's calm words, Yoshimi shuddered involuntarily, and hurriedly bowed his head and said: "Father is wise, there are indeed many people who have looked for their son, and they mainly want to inquire about how their father plans to reply to Emperor Ming's envoy?" ”

"Hehe," Ashikaga Yoshimitsu laughed softly, but there was a hint of coldness in his tone: "So, Yoshimori, what do you think?" ”

"This," Ashikaga Yoshinori hesitated for a while, and finally looked up with difficulty and said: "Father, the son thinks that he should follow the example of the former Hojo Tokimune, refuse the letter of the Ming Dynasty, kill the envoy of the Ming Dynasty, and fight to the death with the Ming Kingdom." ”

"Oh?" Ashikaga Yoshimitsu frowned slightly, leaned forward slightly, and said, "Then do you think we can win?" ”

"I think," Ashikaga Yoshinori was silent for a moment, then looked up, met his father's eyes, and said in a deep voice, "at least we won't lose!" ”

"Really?" Yoshimitsu sat back, smiled, and said, "Tell me your reasons!" ”

"Although the Ming Kingdom is a big country, its cross-sea expeditions, whether it is military strength or provisions, will not be too much, according to my son's estimate, it will not reach the scale of the former Great Yuan, so as long as we adhere to the strategy of Imagawa Sadashi, resist step by step, retreat step by step, clear the wilderness, and cut off its grain route, we can win without a fight!"

"But the navy of the Ming Kingdom is invincible to me, how can we cut off its food routes?"

"Although the Ming Navy is powerful, it can't go ashore, we just need to attack its grain convoy on the shore!"

"Well," Yoshiman continued, expressionless, "what if our army can't resist the enemy's attack, and is defeated in a battle, and can't resist and retreat step by step?" ”

"Impossible, the Ming Army Marine Brigade that entered the Ming Kingdom is already the most elite army of the Ming Kingdom, directly under the Ming Emperor, even if they encounter our army to intercept them, they can only flee in a hurry, and they dare not confront our army, the combat power of the Ming army can be seen from this!"

"Moreover, according to accurate information, the First Army and the Second Army of the Ming State have been disbanded, and their commanders Zhang Lun and Cao Yushu are not in Korea, but have been recalled to China, and the combat strength of the other guards is not a concern at all."

"Hehe," Yoshimitsu suddenly let out a laugh like a night owl, "Yoshitomo, don't you think you're smart?" Do you think Emperor Ming is a fool? Even if there was no First Army, Second Army, wouldn't he have other Guards? As far as my father knew, Emperor Ming originally had ten guards under him, and if he was not absolutely sure, why did Emperor Ming disband the first army and the second army? ”

"The father's statement, the son can't agree," Yizhi leaned forward, supported the ground with both hands, and stared at Yiman's eyes without showing weakness: "According to the son, the Ming Emperor has been carried away by the pacification of North Korea, and always regarded himself as the Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, thinking that he was the master of the world, completely ignoring the huge manpower and material resources consumed in his SD chaos and pacifying Korea, he actually imitated the former Emperor Yang of Sui, paved the steel on the road, and let horses, cattle and even the people pull the iron cart to play around. Therefore, corruption was rampant in the Ming Kingdom, and the excellent weapons in the army were taken out and sold by the officers, and most of the maritime merchants in the Ming Dynasty were extremely rich, and they bought a large number of excellent weapons, which overwhelmed the samurai we sent. ”

"In addition, in Emperor Ming's ultimatum, the compensation has been increased to 10 million taels of silver, such a huge amount shows that Emperor Ming is likely to encounter a big problem, otherwise he would not be so frustrated, plus the first army and the second army with great military achievements were disbanded, my son thinks that as long as we persevere, defeat the Ming army, and even conquer Korea, it is no longer a dream."

"Father," Ashikaga Yoshinori left his position, knelt on the ground, and said loudly: "Please make a decision as soon as possible, kill the Ming envoy, and fight to the death with the Ming Kingdom, my son is willing to go to Kyushu in person, command the army to fight, and hope that my father will approve it!" ”