Owari Province.

The main castle of the Oda family, Komaki Mountain Castle.

Originally, Oda Nobukiyo of Inuyama Castle formed an alliance with Saito of Mino to fight Oda Nobunaga, who intended to unify Owari.

Because Inuyama Castle was too far away from Kiyoshu Castle, Oda Nobunaga wanted to shorten the attack distance, and it was also for the purpose of marching into Mino in the future.

So Oda Nobunaga made a bold decision to move the castle from Kiyoshu Castle to Komakiyama Castle.

The relocation of the city is the same as the relocation of the capital of the ancient dynasty, which is a huge project.

After many dynasties moved their capitals in history, they took this as a starting point for reforming the old and making new ones.

Just like the original Qin Empire, in order to enter the Central Plains, it moved its capital nine times, and finally seized the world with Xianyang as the center.

At that time, Oda Nobunaga played a small trick in order to reduce the resistance of his retainers.

When he first announced to his retainers, he said that he was going to move the castle to Ninomiya Mountain, next to Inuyama Castle, but this plan was too risky and was opposed by all the retainers, so Nobunaga pretended to compromise: "Then move to Komakiyama." ”

And this time most of the retainers agreed.

The exact location of Mt. Komaki is located in Komaki Township, Harumabe County, north of Owari.

In August of the 6th year of Eiroku, Nobunaga first sent 1,000 men to garrison the area, and then Niwa Nagahide, who was good at building castles of the Oda family, was in charge of building the castle. After more than 90 days, it was officially completed at the end of the year.

Immediately after the completion of the construction, Oda Nobunaga moved his residence and the residence of the retainer of the Spectrum Dynasty from Kiyoshu Castle to Komakiyama Castle.

Today, there are four to five hundred samurai houses, ashigaru long houses, and horse houses at the foot of Komaki Mountain. In the center is Nobunaga's Mansion, which is located in the middle like a moon of stars.

At this moment, Oda Nobunaga was in the castle tower at the top of Mt. Komaki, looking at the Nobi Plain at his feet, and the reason why he chose to build a castle on Mt. Komaki was because Mt. Komaki was a lone peak on this plain.

Standing on the top of the mountain and looking into the distance, you can see the military situation within a radius of several miles.

At this moment, in the assessment room of the castle tower behind Oda Nobunaga, four important retainers of the Oda family are sitting.

At the top is, Shibata Gonrokuro repairs Katsuya.

The second place is Nobumori, the captain of Sakuma Uemon.

Again, Niwa Gorou Saemon Captain Nagahide.

And in the end, there is a young man with a sharp mouth and a thin face, he is Kinoshita Tojiro.

At that time, there was a folk song in Owari Province, "Go forward Shibata, go back Sakuma, Yonegoro Sakuma, and Kapok Fujiyoshi", which refers to these four retainers who are now most valued and trusted under Oda Nobunaga.

Oda Nobunaga looked down at the scenery below Komakiyama Castle alone, strode to the other end of the room, put the knife on the knife holder, and grabbed a katana in his hand.

Hearing only a pop, Oda Nobunaga pulled out the sword from the sheath, and suddenly the sword light in the room was like snow, and the clear blade light reflected on the people's faces, which showed that this katana was a good sword.

Oda Nobunaga stretched out his hand, and then the little surname on the side understood, and hurriedly took a piece of silk cloth.

Oda Nobunaga took the silk cloth and slowly wiped the blade of the knife, and if you carefully looked at the small characters engraved on the knife, on the 19th day of May in the third year of the Lu year, Yoshimoto asked to capture the knife he was holding, and Oda Owari Morunaga.

After Oda Nobunaga finished wiping it, he returned the sword to the sheath and threw it to the small surname, and then said to his retainers: "It is said that this Sozo left script was given to the visiting head of the Takeda family, Takeda Nobuta, when Miyoshi Sozo was in Kyoto, and later Takeda Nobuta banished his son to Suruga, so he gave this sword to his son-in-law Imagawa Yoshimoto. ”

When Imagawa Yoshimoto was mentioned, Oda Nobunaga's solemn face showed a slight mockery, and he said: "After Imagawa Yoshimoto got this knife, he cherished it very much, so he held it by his side every day. In the night attack of the stabbing room, he was killed with this knife in battle. Now this famous sword has been transferred to my Nobunaga, and from now on this sword will no longer be called Sosanzuo script, but will be called Yoshimotozo script. ”

Oh!

After Oda Nobunaga finished speaking, the four retainers present bowed down at the same time.

Oda Nobunaga waved his hand and said: "Miyoshi Sozo, Imagawa Yoshimoto is dead, and Takeda Nobunatora is still there, but he is no longer strong. However, his son, Kai no Shingen, will be my Nobunaga's greatest rival in the world. At this moment, his fourth son, Suwa Katsuyori, actually sent someone to contact us, hoping that my Oda family can ally with Takeda and share the world, Oda Kamiraku, Takeda according to Kanto, repeat the pattern of Kyoto Kamakura, and the two princes stand apart, I don't know what you think? ”

As the head of the retainers, Shibata Katsuya took the lead in speaking: "As the lord worried, Kai's Takeda is a famous family of the Genji clan, and has always had the ambition to replace the shogunate, so the plot of Takeda Shingen Kamiraku is known to women and children, and I, Owari Province and Mino Province, are the only way for the Takeda family to go to Raku, and sooner or later there will be a war." Therefore, even if the two alliances are only temporary, they are not reliable, and they are by no means comparable to the alliance between the main family and the Tokugawa family. ”

"And Suwa Katsuyori's proposal to form an alliance with my Oda family was just a trade-off for him, and his brother Takeda Yoshinobu had the support of the Imagawa family behind him, so he wanted to use the Oda family to fight against Takeda Yoshinobu. And my Oda family's current priority is to merge Mino, so I really shouldn't be distracted by other things at this moment. ”

Oda Nobunaga was noncommittal to Shibata Katsuie's opinion, and turned to Niwa Nagahide and asked, "Nagahide, what do you think?" ”

Niwa Nagahide has always been known for his prudence and seriousness in the Oda family, so he has always been cautious in his words, and he said to Oda Nobunaga: "Returning to my lordship, I agree with Shibata-sama's analysis, but I think it is debatable about the response strategy, knowing that there is a connection between Mino Province and Shinano Province, and it is unknown whether Takeda Shingen has the ambition to advance Mino from Nakasendo." ”

"However, if you ally with Takeda, you can destroy the relationship between Takeda Shingen and the Imagawa family, and divert their attention to Tokaido, which is of great benefit to the family."

Oda Nobunaga crossed his hands on his chest, and nodded his head in response to Niwa Nagahide's opinion.

Shibata Katsuie and four other retainers saw that Oda Nobunaga had made a decision, so they did not make any other persuasions.

"Monkeys."

"Oh!" As the lowest head, Kinoshita Toyoshiro, who was short in stature, heard Oda Nobunaga's summoning, and enthusiastically agreed loudly.

Oda Nobunaga laughed and walked over to Kinoshita Toyoshiro.

Oda Nobunaga kicked Kinoshita Tojiro in the shoulder, and said, "Last time, you and Tadahiro went to the Takeda family, but they didn't get anything, and they also compensated my beloved horse Kuroforge, which I am very disappointed in. After the New Year, you and Tadahiro will give me another trip to Takeda's house, and ask Takeda Shingen in my name. ”

"If it doesn't work out this time, you will leave me in Jiafei, and you will be a mountain monkey, and you don't need to come back for me, understand?"

"Oh!" Kinoshita Fujiyoshiro mustered up all his strength and said loudly, looking full of energy, "My subordinates must bow ...... and die, and then ......."

Hearing Kinoshita Toyoshiro dropping his schoolbag, the retainers present laughed one after another, and the Shibata Katsuya, who was sitting on the head of Kinoshita Toyoshiro, Sakuma Nobumori had more mockery on his face, obviously looking down on him.

"Yes, it's just a matter of doing your best." Oda Nobunaga laughed while holding his stomach while correcting Kinoshita Toyoshiro's mistake.

"Oh, my lord is wise, that's exactly what he said."

Kinoshita Toyoshiro lifted his comical-looking face and smiled at Oda Nobunaga.

At this time, Oda Nobunaga flew up and stepped on his face, kicking Kinoshita Toyoshiro to the ground with a pop.

The laughter in the assessment room stopped abruptly, and Shibata and the other three hurriedly resumed their original posture of prostration.

Oda Nobunaga yelled at Kinoshita Toyoshiro and shouted, "Don't do anything like last time, or I'll really kill you, understand?" ”

A few points of blood oozed from the tip of Kinoshita's nose, and he quickly resumed his kneeling posture, and then bowed to Nobunaga's feet with a groan.

Oda Nobunaga walked back to the main seat and looked at Sakuma Nobumori and asked, "The matter of the Takeda family can be over, how is the matter of the alliance with the Asai family?" ”

Sakuma Nobu said: "There is still a stalemate, and the Asai family has always had ambitions for Mino to get involved, so they are quite resistant to the fact that the family will seize Mino. ”

"In addition, the attitude of the Asai family towards my Oda family is also divided, the head of the family, Asai Nagamasa, is an alliance with the family, while the former head of the family, his father Asai Hisasa, has an opposing attitude, and the father and son have their own opinions, and the vassals under him are attached to one of them. So after talking for a long time, it is still ...... Not...... There are results. ”

The more Sakuma Nobumori spoke, the more he realized that Oda Nobunaga's face was wrong, so he hurriedly ended his speech.

Oda Nobunaga took a heavy breath, and his retainers, who knew him well, knew that this was a sign before he became angry, so they became more cautious.

Oda Nobunaga said: "The current main enemy of the Asai family should be the Rokkaku family of Minami Omi, and the rest of the statements are just a pretext, okay, Nobumori, just take Ichihime's marriage to Asai Nagamasa as one of the conditions of the alliance, in order to show the sincerity of our alliance." ”

As soon as Oda Nobunaga said this, the four retainers were shocked, everyone knew that Oda City was Oda Nobunaga's favorite sister, so Oda Nobunaga's willingness to marry Oda City to Asai Nagamasa was enough to show the sincerity of his alliance.

However, among the four, the biggest reaction was Shibata Katsuie and Kinoshita Toyoshiro, who have been watching Oda City for a long time.

When he heard the news that Oda Nobunaga planned to marry Oda City to Asai Nagamasa, his face turned pale, and he seemed to hear the sound of heartbreak.

Oda Nobunaga smiled and said: "Asai Nagamasa is a rare hero in the world, and if Aichi marries him, it is not considered an insult, my sister Nobunaga." ”

After a pause, Oda Nobunaga's eyes revealed a clear color, and he said: "Right now, the Imagawa family has the Matsudaira family, and if the alliance of the Asai family can be reached, and then stabilize Takeda Shingen, I, Nobunaga, can rest easy and seize Mino, so ......"

"So...... Monkey, this alliance Takeda must be reached, understand? ”

"Oh!" Kinoshita Toyoshiro agreed loudly.

(To be continued)