110

"Why did the lord give us such an order?"

I was holding in my hand the directive sent by Oda Nobunaga from Kyoto, or the "holy decree" of the Oda family, and I was a little depressed.

The gist of the "Holy Decree" is very simple, after all, the Isshiki family is a famous family on Sanyin Avenue for more than 100 years, and its prestige and influence are very high, if it is destroyed like this, it will have a great adverse impact...... In short, let's find a way to further win over the local tyrants on Shanyin Avenue and make it best for his Yishi family to take the initiative to surrender, no matter how ideal it is, we must also preserve the name of the Yishi family.

When I first saw this "holy decree", my father and I were dumbfounded.

As we all know, Oda Nobunaga has always been said to be a "knife mouth and axe heart", or "sword-based, slaughter-oriented", this time, he actually asked us to spare the Isshiki family, and it was still the kind of "no matter what" tone, it is hard to imagine......

Is this really a handwritten instruction from Oda Nobunaga?

The battle has been fought to this extent, and it is necessary to save the enemy? Did Oda Nobunaga's brain show tease?

I suddenly had a very strange and ridiculous thought: Is it really the same as those bloody TV dramas on the Celestial Dynasty TV in the later generations, Oda Nobunaga is actually the illegitimate son of the Isshiki family?!

Oh cake sellers! No, no, no!! You can't think like that!

All right! Regardless of whether Oda Nobunaga really has this important identity or not, we have to do what he says.

But then again, what should I do?

I was helpless to be slapped twice with my hand on the "Holy Decree", and said to the retainers sitting below:

"Everyone has seen it, and His Royal Highness doesn't know what's going on......"

"Ahem!" Just when I was thinking about complaining, my father was very good at coughing twice, and while coughing, he didn't forget to glare at me fiercely, so "frightened" that I had to swallow the words that I was about to say again.

"Is there anything you can do?" I looked at everyone, "I can get that guy from Isshiki Yoshiki to surrender to us." ”

"How is this possible?" Keiji Maeda was the first to complain, he didn't want me, there was a "strict father" like Akechi Mitsuhide in charge, usually bohemian and uninhibited, and he was used to being open-mouthed, "That old guy who is righteous in Isshiki will not surrender until he dies!" And the old guy died at our hands, if at this time as a son does not resist, but surrenders to the enemy, it is unreasonable, it is unreasonable! ”

"Honda-sama," I looked at the person in my family who usually had the most "ghost ideas", "you've always been resourceful, do you have any ideas?" ”

Honda Masanobu is still the same fox smile that has not changed for thousands of years.

"Back to the young master, in fact, this is not difficult? However, there are certain sacrifices that need to be made by the family. ”

"Oh?" I came interested, "What sacrifice?" ”

"The bottom line of the inner house, all we need to do is keep the name of the Isshiki family, right?"

"That's right."

"Then I want to ask you the young lord and the lord, how did the inner house pacify the Kitada family and the Kobe family when they were in Ise?"

"The lord's strategy at that time was to let the prince of Sanqi Pill and the prince of Cha Gong Pill succeed to these two families to be adopted sons, so that not only did these two families surrender, but also got the opportunity to seize the power of these two families!" I thought about it for a while and said, "Lord Honda, that Isshiki Yoshiki hates us to the bone, and your succession strategy is probably very feasible, not to mention whether Isshiki Yoshiki is willing to do this, even if he agrees, there is no suitable candidate in this family." ”

The old fox smiled, "Young master, we may have to go to him, or we can let him take the initiative to come." ”

"What do you mean?"

"This family chooses a woman of the right age and marries him, so as to achieve a wise marriage with the Isshiki family, at that time, once the marriage, the name of the Isshiki family can be preserved, and at the same time, Isshiki Yoshiki will be under our house arrest as a 'son-in-law', and at that time, it will be done!"

"Honda-sama!" Saito Toshizo questioned: "Will Isshiki Yoshiki really be so stupid to be the son-in-law of the family?" ”

"He can choose not to come, but we can also choose whether to use the knife or not to force him over!" Honda Masanobu's eyes shone with a cold light.

Saito Rizo was still unconvinced, "What if you force him to death like Isshiki Yoshimichi?" ”

"We can let out the news in front of the battle that Tachishiki is going to be the new governor of the Isshiki family," Honda Masanobu glanced at Isshiki Fujina, "In that case, Isshiki Yoshiki will find that even if he wants to kill himself like Isshiki Yoshiki, it doesn't make any sense, because the Isshiki family already has a new governor." ”

"But can this coercion work?"

"Of course you can, but there's still a need for Lauten-sama here."

"Me?" The head of the Isshiki vine is a little confused, do you really want to let yourself be the governor of the Isshiki family?

Honda Masanobu nodded: "Yes, Fuji-sama, I hope you can reluctantly accept this woman in the family as a righteous daughter, so that as the father-in-law of Isshiki Yoshiki, you will have the name of dominating the Isshiki family!" ”

The greatest charm of the military advisor is that behind the seemingly game-like political or military behavior, there is a keen insight hidden and can use it unexpectedly.

Because of this, everyone gradually became attracted to Honda Masanobu and began to admire and even admire this halfway monk from the bottom of their hearts.

"It's decided!" The father, who had not spoken, made up his mind, "Just as Uenosuke said, marry a woman from a family to Isshiki Yoshida!" ”

But then again, who should I marry?

There is no need to worry about this question, and soon someone will recommend themselves.

Hosokawa Fujitaka!

The psychology of the old man Hosokawa can be understood, since he lost Tanba, this old man has been facing a lot of pressure, although Oda Nobunaga did not trouble him, but the old man is still very guilty in his heart.

"Something has to be done to get out! Otherwise, I won't have the face to mix in front of everyone! ”

"I have a daughter, fifteen years old, and it is just right to marry Isshiki Yoshida," the old man paused, "Besides, although the Hosokawa family is not as good as it used to be, it is also one of the 'four positions of the shogunate', and it is against the Isshiki family, so there should be no dissatisfaction with Isshiki Yoshida!" ”

(The clan of the Hosokawa family was severed after the death of Hosokawa Haruhoto, and Hosokawa Fujitaka was appreciated by Oda Nobunaga and was able to inherit the Hosokawa clan)

"That's hard for you, Lord War." Father nodded.

The last question is, who to send to be this "matchmaker".

Regarding this, Honda Masanobu seems to have thought about it a long time ago.

"Young master! It's up to you and Fuji-sama to go together! ”

"Huh?" I was dumbfounded, "I'm going too?" ”

"Yes!" Honda Masanobu squinted his eyes, and I felt like I had let this old guy calculate again, "Only if you go can you explain to the Isshiki family how much we value this marriage." ”

"Good...... All right. "Just go, I don't believe that Isshiki will really be bad for me......

But by the time I arrived at the last stronghold of the Isshiki family, Yukiki Castle, it was already five days later.

In order to cause strong psychological pressure on the Isshiki family, in the past five days, the men and horses of the various queues of the Wise Legion have used all their resources to attack the city fiercely.

In fact, Gongmu City is not very strong at all, at most it has an old history.

Although the Isshiki family has continuously repelled the attacks of the Wise Army, people with a heart have a chance to quickly find out that several times the Wise Army is about to enter the Honmaru of Yukijo City, but they retreat inexplicably, what is going on?

Early morning in early July.

When he woke up, he stood up and opened the window, but it was still dark. The white morning mist rising from the Nogi River below the castle softly wraps around the old pine branches in front of the windows in the castle.

Because in the past few days, day and night, continuous attacks, this young master ...... Oh no, he was already the lord, and he couldn't sleep peacefully, and the young man quickly got dark circles under his eyes.

But even so, Isshiki Yoshiki didn't have any way, it was a matter of life and death, and he couldn't tolerate the slightest neglect, so after he got dressed, he quickly walked to the door.

"Gone."

At this time, Isshiki Yoshikiyo came.

"My lord, the messenger of the wise family has arrived."

"What? Wise? What's the matter? Isshiki Yoshiki was very annoyed, even a little annoyed, "I won't surrender, Yoshikiyo!" Boom them go! If they don't leave, they'll just kill them! ”

Isshiki Yoshiki said cautiously, "My lord, I advise you to meet you, because even Shinmitsu, the son of Akechi Mitsuhide, is here." ”

"Huh? Shinko? Isshiki Yoshita's brows furrowed, "Are you talking about that Oda Nobunaga's son-in-law?" ”

"Exactly!" Isshiki Yoshiki reported: "Akechi Mitsuhide sent all his sons, I'm afraid it's not so simple to persuade him to surrender." ”

"Well, that's right, I'll meet him."

And when the retainers heard the news, they were in an uproar!

"What else is there to see!" Yamanaka Hidetada, who has a fiery personality, was the first to lose his temper, "Later, I must speak up, ask the lord to kill that wise Shinko, and come to avenge the righteous and righteous prince!" ”

"Yamanaka-sama is right!" Another retainer with a slightly softer temperament also sighed: "Even if the lord is kind-hearted and unwilling to kill him, and does not let him enter the city, it is best to expel him!" ”

A group of military generals were still chattering there, and when I arrived around midnight, the atmosphere in the city was still very tense, and the Isshiki family was divided into two factions, Isshiki Yoshikiyo and Yamanaka Hidetada, as to whether or not to receive me.

Although neither faction knew what I was coming from, there was considerable agreement on the point that one obeyed the decision of Isshiki Yoshiki at the time of crisis.

Anyway, I'm busy