On the 20th day of the first month of the fifth year of Bunroku, after resting for three days at Omiya Castle, Hideho set out again to travel eastward, preparing to cross Mount Hakone and enter Sagami Province.

The group first arrived at Kokokuji Castle, located at the western foot of Mount Hakone, where Honda Masan, the eldest son of Honda Masanbu, had been waiting for a long time. The first and only time that Kokokuji Castle became famous was due to the time of the castle lord Ise, which later became Hojo Sakumo.

At the beginning, Sakumo was rewarded with the castle and the territory of the twelve towns below Mt. Fuji for supporting the Imagawa clan, and it was with such a weak foundation that through the unremitting efforts of the four generations of Sakumo, Tsuna, Yasu, and Masasa, the Hojo clan finally developed into a daimyo sitting on 2.4 million koku in the Kanto region, which had to amaze later generations.

Of course, the Hojo clan's success was not only due to military victories, but also to the people-oriented philosophy of governance that the family had adhered to for generations. Although Kokokuji Temple was located at the foot of the mountain and had few fertile fields, it was located at the junction of Suruga, Izu and Sagami, and was the gateway to and from the Kanto region. At the same time, in order to appease the peasants, who accounted for the majority of the population, he implemented a good government at the beginning of the founding of the country, and even completely exempted the taxes of the people who were really in difficulty.

After Hojo Sakumo captured Izu and moved to Nirayama Castle, it was returned to the Imagawa family, and after repeated battles between Hojo, Imagawa and Takeda, it finally fell into the hands of Ieyasu after the fall of Takeda, and Kokokuji Temple was already devastated. The scenery is gone. Later, Ieyasu moved to the Kanto region, and the castle was supposed to be under the control of the Nakamura clan, but due to the coercion of the Omori clan and the Ashiwashi clan, the Nakamura family had to acquiesce to Ashihari Yoshisen's rule over this place and Shimofuji-gun.

In order to welcome Hideho's stationing, Ashishi Yoshiken had ordered someone to temporarily build the city gate. Previously, Xingguo Temple has been basically abandoned, after Yi Xian took over, slightly repaired as a place for soldiers to patrol the border, but it has also lost most of the functions of the city, only the ruins and broken walls and dilapidated palaces remain, and even the city gate has disappeared, and the place that should be the city gate is now only placed with a row of horse fences to restrict access and exit.

By the time Hideho arrived, Honda had already been waiting respectfully at the door. As the eldest son of Masanobu, this man fully inherited his father's wisdom and strategy, and was often summoned by Ieyasu to give him advice, and won Ieyasu's trust.

Hideho didn't expect Ieyasu to be so attentive, he hadn't even entered Sagami, he had already sent a heavy minister to greet him, although it was indispensable to guard against people, but he was currently in the Suruga realm, and he didn't dare to make any moves, out of consideration for the future, he should still have a good relationship with Masamune. Thinking of this, Xiubao hurriedly got off the sedan chair and stepped forward to greet Zhengchun: "I'm tired of Uenosuke crossing the mountains and mountains to greet him, and I'm very uneasy in my heart." ”

Seeing that Hideho was so polite, Honda Masamune's impression of him suddenly changed, and he immediately did not dare to slack off, bowed and replied: "Your Highness does not have to be like this, the humble position is to come to take over at the order of my lord, you are the three great ministers, and you are the envoy of His Royal Highness Taiko, you deserve to enjoy such treatment, no need to worry." ”

Hideho nodded after hearing this, and Masasumi was right, as a special envoy, he was going to Aizu instead of Hideyoshi, and the daimyo from all over the country should be approached with the courtesy of the quasi-Taiko, so thinking about it, his respect is understandable. Accompanied by the others, Hideho was attracted by the new gate, which was also a wooden gate, but with its high-quality wood and fine workmanship, it did not fit in with the surrounding wooden grids, and it looked like it had been built recently.

Xiubao stayed at the door, turned to look at Ashai Yoshisen, and asked a little seriously: "The wood used in this door is of the highest quality, and the degree of newness is not the same as the surrounding wooden fence, so it must have taken a lot of effort for His Highness to do it, right?" Ashishi Yoshixian replied with a smile: "Your Highness is really discerning, I heard that His Highness is preparing to garrison this city, and he hurriedly ordered someone to repair it, but the city gate has been in disrepair for a long time and has already collapsed, so he made a special trip to buy good wood from Izu, hired excellent craftsmen, and rushed to build this gate overnight, the workmanship is slightly rough, and I ask His Highness to forgive his sins if he is disrespectful." ”

Hideho walked to the gate, stroked the thick stake, and said to the crowd with feeling, "I don't know how much it will cost to buy such a huge amount of wood and transport it from Izu to make the gate." ”

Hearing him say this, he couldn't help but panic: he spent a lot of money to build this door, not only did he not please Xiubao, but it left him with the impression that he was working hard and wasting money, what is going on.

Xiubao didn't want to be able to get off the stage first, so he patted him on the shoulder and comforted: "I didn't mean to offend His Highness Zushi, but Mencius Youyun: 'The people are precious, the society is secondary, and the monarch is light', everything should put the people first, isn't this the righteousness that was adhered to when the early Yungong was here?" That's why I wanted to visit this castle. I only stayed here for three days, but the people here want to live here for a lifetime, Your Highness has spent so much wealth for me, presumably the taxes in the future will be heavier, right? How many such ornate gates can you build with the tax revenue of Fuji Prefecture, and is it possible that once a daimyo passes by, you have to make such a cost? I know that everything you do is for the sake of my face, and I am very grateful for your attention to you, but this kind of work and money is never advisable. Tomorrow I will leave for Edo with Uenosuke, and before that, I ask you to compile a statistical record of your expenses during your stay in the Lower Castle and give it to Takatora, who will return the money to His Highness for me. ”

It had already made Xiubao unhappy, how could he dare to accept his money, Zu Xiyi immediately knelt on the ground in fright, and said in fear: "What His Royal Highness said is reasonable, and in the future, he will definitely take this as a warning to put an end to the behavior of laboring the people, but His Royal Highness is a humble honor to stay in the cold house, how can he dare to accept His Royal Highness's money because of this, this, if His Royal Highness Taige knows, I will lose my life if I have more than 100 people in the Zuxi family, I implore His Highness to take back his life." ”

Xiubao hurriedly helped him up, and said solemnly: "Why should His Highness Ashiki be so alarmed, I, Xiubao, do what he says, you just have to take the money, don't worry about Taige, just rest assured that it will be handed over to me, I believe that His Highness Taiko will not blame you." With Hidebo's assurance, Ashora Yoshisen finally put his mind at ease, and after instructing Ashorai Yoshian to stay and take care of Hideho wholeheartedly, he set off to return to Omiyagi Castle to count the expenses.

Honda Masajun, who witnessed this scene, looked at Hideho in surprise, he couldn't believe what had just happened after all, and when Ngyian went to prepare the dishes, he asked Hideho curiously: "Forgive the offense, His Royal Highness Taiko and the former Sekihaku are known for their admiration for a luxurious life, but as a member of the Toyotomi family, how does His Highness restrain himself?" ”

Xiubao felt that his words made no sense at all, why should he be the same as them, he was not really Xiubao at all, and the historical Xiubao was also a gentleman. But since he mentioned it, he had to find a reason to perfunctory: "Uenosuke's question made Zai Xia confused, Zai Xia and His Royal Highness Taiko, they are very good at enjoying life, enjoying flowers, even songs, tea parties, and Noh dramas, if there is really any difference, I'm afraid there is only one point, that is, there is a limit to the enjoyment of life in Xia, and he will not do some meaningless things with people's fat and people's ointment." I wonder if you're happy with my answer? ”

Honda Masamune frowned slightly, squeezed out a smile with an effort, and stopped talking. When Xiubao saw his expression, he suddenly realized: he wanted to test himself by this. Mu Xiu will be destroyed by the forest wind, how can he not worry about his words? It seems that in the future, it is necessary to keep quiet and obscure, and it is impossible to make Ieyasu suspicious so early.

At this moment, a samurai rode to the castle of Xingguoji Temple, and when he saw Hideho hurriedly dismounting, he panted and said, "Your Highness, the envoy of the Taiko has now arrived in Sunfu Castle, and Lord Nakamura asks you to return to the castle, saying that there is a royal book of the Taiko to be read to His Highness." ”

Hideho was shocked: "Could it be that Ishida took advantage of this incident to sue himself in front of Hideyoshi?" "Honda Masasumi had heard that Hideho and Ishida Mitsunari had a disagreement, but he didn't expect it to be so stiff that he suspected Ishida of being involved in it without definite news. Even though this was a good thing for the Tokugawa family, Masasumi still persuaded him hypocritically: "What is the problem, Your Highness can only know when you see the envoy, so I am afraid that such a hasty conclusion will hurt the peace, right?" ”

Hideho ignored his words at all, and said to himself: "I can't hide it, it's not a day or two since Ishida Mitsunari was at odds, he relied on himself to be a favorite of the Taiko, and teamed up with Masuda Masamori and others to wantonly suppress our Owari faction, conceal the military exploits of Qing Masashi and others, appoint cronies, and expand his power in the court. ”

Honda Masachun sighed and said with empathy: "If it is really as His Highness said, the foundation created by Taiko will be dangerous, but please rest assured, if this thief dares to subvert the Toyotomi regime and take his life as a guarantee, my lord will definitely support His Highness to eliminate evil and protect the peace of the world." ”

When Xiubao heard this, he was immediately moved to tears, he held Zhengchun's hand tightly and said: "With your words, I can rest assured, His Royal Highness the Inner Mansion is benevolent and righteous, and he is really a model in the world!" After saying that, Xiubao led everyone to ride towards Junfu City.

Looking at the back of Xiubao leaving, Honda Masachun smiled coldly and said in a low voice: "Hmph, what kind of talent, what kind of talent, I think it's just the second Kobayakawa"