Awa's Katsurui Castle has been standing on this land for more than 300 years, and has always existed as the main castle of the Shikoku branch of the Hosokawa clan. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 Info is not only the political and economic center of the city, but also one of the most famous strongholds on the entire island of Shikoku.

Built on the impact plain, this stronghold controls the estuary of the Yoshino River, Shikoku's most important river, and also monitors movements in the Seto Inland Sea through two branch towns to the northeast. With this as a base, you can use the waterway to threaten Izumi, Settsu, and Kii, and retreat to defend yourself on the shore and block uninvited guests in the direction of.

The castle covers an area of about 18 towns (2 km) from east to west and 14 towns (1.5 km) from north to south, and is surrounded by 10 ken (18 m) wide Mizubori on the outside. There are countless temples, markets, and craftsmen's houses under it, which are thriving and prosperous. To the west of the castle is a horse farm that is rare on the island of Shikoku, and on the other side there is a harbor.

Many years ago, the seventh-generation lord Hosokawa Nariyuki was known as one of the representatives of the "Higashiyama culture", and under his influence, many ministers, monks, scholars, poets, calligraphers, painters, singers, and entertainers came to communicate, making this place known as the "Little Kyoto" of Shikoku.

Time has passed, and now the big names surnamed Hosokawa have fallen, and the current lord of the castle is Miyoshi Nagaji, the son of Miyoshi Yoshiken. It's just that the fifteen-year-old Changzhi doesn't have any real power, and the one who really speaks counts is the head of the family, Shinohara Nagafang.

This person was sitting in Ninomaru in Katsurui City at the moment, dressed meticulously, holding a bamboo pen in his right hand, and quickly wrote his own handling opinions on the document. After each sheet is completed, it is placed on one side and arranged in a stack by the little surnames.

It was not yet noon, and there were more than thirty documents on his right hand, stacked in a thick pile. But the servants continued to send the newly received letters, neatly placed on the left, and the matter seemed to never be finished.

Opposite the house where he works is a "dry landscape" garden designed by Kyoto artists, which is the crystallization of Higashiyama culture and a national treasure of Fuso. But now this courtyard seems to be a little lacking in maintenance, the shrubs used for decoration are really a little "withered", the rockery made of stones is slightly deformed, and the artificially drawn lines on the sand table are much shallower.

It's not that Shinohara Nagabo doesn't understand art and doesn't have aesthetics, it's really a matter of priority, and I can't take care of it.

At present, there are about 300,000 lords in the remnants of the Miyoshi clan's sphere of influence, and an average of sixty or seventy government affairs that need to be adjudicated will be produced every day. From organizing an army to fight Oda's invasion to a dispute over a piece of land in a machibu (about 15 acres), Shinohara Nagabo had to take matters into his own hands, no matter how big or small.

Because this is a special period, every inconspicuous little thing may cause unimaginable turmoil, and it is necessary to prevent it from happening.

The Shinohara clan was originally from Omi, claiming to be from the Tachibana clan, and had worked for Miyoshi for several generations, and was granted the domain of Kizu Castle. Nagafang himself made many meritorious deeds, earned the family business in Kamisakura City, and handed over the hereditary territory to his younger brother. But since he took power, he rarely returned to his home city, and he lived in Ninomaru in Katsurui City every day. All the documents sent over were reviewed by him, screened out, wrote down the handling opinions, and then symbolically sent them to Miyoshi Changji for signature. The people who come to complain and meet with him also need to be identified and questioned by him before they can enter Honmaru.

Shinohara's Nagabo also knew that this would make that child have a great rebellious mentality, but the situation was so difficult and dangerous, everything was helpless.

Outsiders think that the Miyoshi family still retains the land of Awa, Sanuki, and Awaji, which can be called dead but not stiff. Only those who were personally in the period could know that the last bit of surplus grain of the landlord's family was really not easy to keep.

Miyoshi's descendants are now in a very embarrassing situation, and the family has taken refuge with the enemy, but the retainers have returned to Shikoku with Nagayi. These remnants of the army, who faced Oda's repeated defeats, occupied a lot of resources and discourse, which made the people of the local tributaries very dissatisfied, and the two sides often used the excuse to have some trivial conflicts. Those who are not loyal are also ready to move because of the repeated defeats of Miyoshi.

Shinohara's Nagabo tried his best to maintain the situation and not let any of the hidden dangers come to fruition. But he can only be a pastemaker, treating the symptoms but not the root cause. Because the name is not right, as a retainer of the branch line, it is unreasonable to want to be the family of the lineage, no matter what, he doesn't dare to make any big moves now.

In the final analysis, it is necessary to build prestige in foreign warfare, and only then can we have enough political capital to sort out internal contradictions. However, you must not be as brutal as the three people, and you must find the weaknesses of the Oda family before you can fight back.

Although it is a matter of personal involvement, with the talents of Shinohara Nagabo, it is enough to deal with daily government affairs with half the effort at most. With his right hand, he wrote on the paper, "The canal is still owned by Umikawa Village, and the perpetrator will be fined three times and 500 letters," but his heart had already flown across the Seto Inland Sea, and he was obsessed with the situation in.

While signing the name "Shinoyou" (the abbreviation of Shinohara-Ukyo Shin), he stopped his movements, and instead of continuing to take down a document, he said to himself, "It's time to go see Mamoru Hinata again." ”

……

As his words landed, the six small surnames around him, without command, were automatically divided into three groups. The two of them bent down to sort out the paperwork placed on the tatami mats; The two of them stood up with their swords in their hands, ready to open the way; The two stepped forward to help the master straighten his clothes and hair. Shinohara Nagafang governs the family like an army, and orders must always be carried out, and the rules are strict, which is the case.

The "Hinata Mamoru mentioned earlier" is known without asking, referring to Miyoshi Changyi, who served as this official. This person is now nominally living in seclusion at the Bodhi Monastery in the city, and does not see outsiders. But Shinohara's long house is obviously not a "foreigner".

His Hinatamoru is completely different from Shinohara's Ukyojin. The latter is an official name granted by Miyoshi's private minister, and like the "prisoner" of the flat hand, it is not officially recognized, and it will be laughed at when it is taken to a formal occasion. Miyoshi Changyi's official position was applied to the imperial court for him before his death, and he was upright, such as a fake "from the fourth, the line is guarded". (The word "line" is used when the rank is higher than the official position)

This brand is comparable to the strong names of the four worlds such as Otomo, Takeda, Mori, Uesugi and Hojo. Oda Nobunaga went to Luoma, even though he owned both the United States, but he was far inferior to him. can let a retainer live in this position, which is enough to show how strong the Miyoshi family was back then.

But as a high-ranking official, Miyoshi Changyi is living in another capacity at this time.

In Shengrui City, there is a temple of the Miaoshin Temple of the Rinzai sect, the name is "Seeing Sex", and the mountain name is "Longyin", as the Bodhi Temple, it is dedicated to the ancestors of the Awa Miyoshi family.

The temple was built in the city, so naturally it was impossible to occupy too much territory. And in this small territory, there is a side room in the corner for the "seclusion" of Miyoshi Changyi.

There are only five or six tsubos (about 20 square meters) in total, but the Shinohara family's cronies Ashigaru ten people are sent to guard it, and as protection and surveillance, it is really impossible for flies to fly in. But considering this person's identity and talent, all the retainers of Shengrui City didn't think it was a big fuss.

When Shinohara-nagabo stepped in, Miyoshi Nagayoshi was meditating cross-legged on the floor, his eyes closed, holding a string of Buddhist beads in his hand, and his mouth looked like he was chanting, but he didn't make a sound.

Thanks to the tactics of Hite-Hide, in the past year, this samurai, who has reached the age of knowing the destiny of heaven, has almost turned his hair completely white, and his body has become more skinny, showing an old state in line with his age. He had shaved the hair on his forehead at the moment, changed into a faded blue monk's robe, and dressed like a real monk.

In late spring and March, the temperature was not low, and Shinohara Nagafang walked all the way unhurriedly, and some sweat drops had already grown on his forehead. It's just that he has always attached importance to appearance, and he will never untie his clothes outside the bedroom, preferring to endure it temporarily. But Miyoshi Changyi wrapped the monk's robe tightly, and his posture was still a little curled, and it seemed that his physical fitness was really not as good as before.

Shinohara Nagabo was very polite, and he didn't bother immediately, but waved his hand back to the little surnames, quietly closed the door, and stood quietly aside alone, watching this "zazen" kung fu. He knew in his heart that although Changyi was old, he was still very deaf and clear-sighted, and this was just a deliberate trick in front of him.

After waiting for a quarter of an hour or two of time to pass, Miyoshi Changyi stopped meditating and reached out to touch the teacup on his side, he bowed meticulously, and then said softly: "Contemptible long room, meet Hinata-sama." ”

Obviously as the main messenger who imprisoned the other party, Shinohara Nagabo used a pious gesture to show respect to the object of restricted personal freedom.

But Miyoshi Changyi didn't answer in the middle of the sound, and drank two sips of tea in a row before he opened his eyes pretendly, revealing his cloudy eyes, and said in surprise: "Sun Shilang is here!" Please sit casually. At the same time, he raised his left hand slightly, making a false gesture, and returned the courtesy.

Shinohara Nagabo actually has an official position of "Right Kyojin", although it is not recognized by the imperial court, but it also has a "legal effect" within the Miyoshi family. Even if Miyoshi Changyi was in power in the past, he shouldn't be so rude. What's more, now that the status of the two sides has been completely reversed?

However, Shinohara Nagabo, who has always been entangled in the order of dignity and inferiority, not only did not get angry when he saw this, but instead smiled.

Miyoshi Changyi, who was previously called "Shuangbi" along with Matsunaga Xiu, was regarded as the minister of the humerus. But unlike Matsunaga's amiable and religious corporal image, Changyi Chengtian is a stinky face, even if he is facing the head of the family, Changqing, and the son of Yixing, he doesn't have too much good temper. And the more you are to acquaintances, the more polite you are, but in front of outsiders who don't matter at all, you can still pretend to be a decent gentleman.

This old guy is revealing his true form today, and it seems that he deliberately wants to give some face and express his evil anger of being forced to "become a monk and live in seclusion". But in Shinohara's view, it shows that his recent actions have paid off, and Miyoshi Nagayi sees himself as a reliable person.

So he took two steps closer, threw out the topic directly, and said in a deep voice: "The plan you planned has achieved the first step, and Hiraite Honhide has issued a mobilization order in Izumi, claiming to gather 30,000 soldiers and horses to conquer the four countries. Please tell me what to do next. ”