Nobunaga resigned from his official position after learning that Hideyoshi Hara had captured Miki Castle. This was Nobunaga's long-awaited victory, and exactly one year had passed since July of last year.

The reason why it took so long was because Miki Castle was so strong. The castle was backed by Mt. Hachiman, and its original scale was not small, but when Betsunaji rebelled, it connected several neighboring branch castles and became a super-large castle with parts such as Honmaru, Ninomaru, Sannomaru, Higashinomaru, Nishinomaru, Nakajima Maru, Hirayama Maru, Shinjo, Takao Castle, and Unryuji Castle, with as many as 8,000 defenders, and Mt. Hachimanta in the south and the Misugawa River in the west were natural barriers. In order to capture the city, Hideyoshi built more than thirty castles around it, supplemented by multiple earthen sieges, to cut off the food supply of Miki Castle. However, for the first period of time, the Araki family in the south had been replenishing Miki Castle through the path of the Dansheng Mountain Meikyo Temple on the side of the castle, and the Mori family had also provided supplies from the sea route from Akashiura, so although Hideyoshi Hara had been besieged for a long time, Miki Castle still held on.

It wasn't until Araki Village's heavy yin and yang violations were exposed that he was forced to raise the anti-flag, and the passage to transport grain was cut off by Hideyoshi Yura, and then the Maori navy was also repelled by me who came back from Ryukyu, that the food supply of Miki Castle was really cut off, and the food stocks in the city began to slowly bottom out. In order to get out of this predicament, Besshoji once sent troops to Dansheng Mountain in an attempt to open up the connection with the Araki family, but at that time, Ikeda Tsuneko had already been ordered to come up and lead Nobunaga's Nishimino people to threaten Settsu, and Arakimura was too busy to take care of himself, how to continue to support Miki Castle?

Last month, the Uki family also took refuge in the Oda family, and as a result, Beschoji Nagaharu and Araki Murashige completely fell into the pro-Oda forces, and the morale of Miki Castle and Arioka Castle was also much lower all of a sudden. In order to punish the betrayal of the Ukita family and open up contact with Harima and Settsu, the Mori family tried their best to gather 30,000 people from the territory despite the restrictions of the agricultural time and the opposition of Kobayakawa Takakei, and launched an attack on Bizen with Yoshikawa Motoharu, Hoida Motokiyo, and Shimizu Soji as the main generals. Ukita Naoya came out of the battle with illness, led 5,000 people to garrison Iga Kutaka's Torakura Castle, and asked for help from Miyata Mitsuji of Tokiyama Castle and Utatsu Castle of Utatsu Castle nearby, as a result, Miyata Mitsuji and Beesuga Keikatsu led Crab River Bei and Mie Bei to raid the flank of the Maori army, and beheaded the general Zhuang (Ueki) Hidezi and others, and the Mori family was greatly defeated, and saw that the Uki family was heavily garrisoned, so they had to withdraw and continue the autumn harvest.

Hearing that the Maori family had retreated, the most powerful foreign aid had been cut off, and the city had fallen into a situation of running out of food, the other Changzhi completely lost his confidence in defending the city. In mid-August, he surrendered to Hideyoshi Hara, and on the condition that one of his clans commit suicide, he will be given the surnames of all the people in the castle. Naturally, Hideyoshi Hagara agreed to this condition, and then, in accordance with his will, he and his wife Teruko Hatano were buried together in the Unryuji Temple on the edge of the castle.

Upon hearing the good news, Nobunaga decided that the right time had come, so he officially sent a letter to the Imperial Court, resigning from his position as Minister of the Interior and General of the Right Guard under the pretext that "Araki had not been pacified, and the expedition had not been completed". This move shocked the imperial court, and Emperor Shokincho hurriedly sent a female official to comfort and retain, and asked Nobunaga to take up the position of right minister, so as to keep the Oda regime within the imperial system. But Nobunaga has made up his mind, which can be redeemed by a mere female official? As a result, His Royal Highness Oda Uchifu still insisted on becoming Nobunaga.

In September, the newly married king of the Ryukyus, King Shonaga, came to Sahonoto with his princess, and landed at Uwajima Castle under the guidance of Tamai Katsuyu and Futami Mitsutada, and then went to Azuchi Castle to meet Nobunaga with great fanfare. Nobunaga remembered my merits and sent Hasegawa Shuichi to Mie Castle to summon me to Azuchi, where I would be in charge of welcoming and placing the Ryukyu mission with Akechi Mitsuhide—I had been living in Mie Castle for more than a month.

After receiving the order, I naturally couldn't slack off, so I immediately set off for Azuchi Castle, and brought Nana and Fuyuhime with me so that they could be reunited with Shinkage. Then, it was time to receive the Ryukyu Mission. This is what Akechi Mitsuhide is very good at, and he is more familiar with the relevant specifications and etiquette than me, so I simply handed over the reception of King Shang Yong and his wife to Akechi Mitsuhide, and I was only responsible for receiving the other members of the mission, which was not only to let Akechi Mitsuhide show his strengths, but also to avoid embarrassment when meeting with King and Mrs. Shang Yong.

As to Nobunaga's identity, the mission apparently had some doubts. According to the previous information, they believed that Nobunaga's status was probably equivalent to the three officials of the Ryukyu Kingdom, or the head of the cabinet of the Ming Dynasty, so he had some words to say about the first Jin meeting, which could be used as a preparation for Jin to meet the emperor. However, now that Nobunaga has no official position and is just a white body, why do you want to meet him? I had to explain this to the head of the mission, and even made a faint threat, so that they willingly sent King Shonaga and his wife to Azuchi Castle to meet Nobunaga.

This incident seemed to explain Nobunaga's power to the world, and it also made the emperor and the imperial court extremely embarrassed and worried. They discovered that even without the title given by the imperial court, Nobunaga could rule over his retainers, daimyos, and wealthy clans, and this status was even recognized by his neighbors.

Fortunately, Nobunaga gave the court face, and did not let the Ryukyu mission go back directly, but still asked me and Akechi Mitsuhide to escort the mission to Kyoto to meet the emperor. In this way, a wonderful scene appeared: King Shoyong and his wife met Nobunaga with the etiquette of a vassal court, but when they met with the emperor, they did so as reciprocal status.

I don't care, anyway, I have no intention of maintaining the dignity of this court, and I have no obligation to do so; Akechi Mitsuhide was a little overwhelmed, as a traditional local samurai, the emperor was undoubtedly supreme in his heart, and when he heard that the emperor was meeting Nobunaga's vassals on an equal footing, he seemed to feel very inappropriate, and solemnly discussed with me whether it was appropriate to remind the emperor through the samurai biography.

"Although it is inappropriate, it was the imperial court that took the initiative to propose it to the Ryukyu side in order to avoid twists and turns! And His Majesty the Emperor has no objections. As His Highness, we are not even qualified to participate in the audience, so how can we have any room for beaks? I said helplessly.

"Really, what do you think? Is it necessary to make such a low gesture! Akechi Mitsuhide complained.

I smiled. The current ministers are afraid of being abandoned by Nobunaga! Now, it is estimated that they are trying to show their existence and authority, and try to win over valuable people...... Soon, my guess was proven. After receiving the Ryukyu Mission, the Imperial Court issued a reward to me and Akechi Mitsuhide through the current samurai Chuan and Nakano Terushi: for my merit in traveling to the Ryukyus and receiving the mission, I was promoted from the fifth Shimoemon to the fourth Shimosaemon Governor; Xu Zhizhi Guangxiu's merit in receiving the mission, from the sixth to the lower to the five.

Obviously, this is not so much a reward as a temptation. In the current situation, Nobunaga clearly didn't want to pay much attention to this imperial court, so the imperial court took this meeting with the delegation as an opportunity to test the attitude of me and Akechi Mitsuhide, and see if we, the two important ministers of the Oda family, respected the imperial court enough to risk disobeying Nobunaga.

In particular, my promotion from the fourth position is not only a temptation, it can be said to be ill-intentioned. Generally speaking, as a retainer or a wealthy family, being promoted to an official position from the fifth rank is almost the ultimate of the official career. In the Muromachi period, it was only possible for the samurai to obtain a higher position, or to obtain the qualifications of the shogunate, and such daimyo were often the overlords of the reading side, such as Imagawa Yoshimoto in the East China Sea, Miyoshi Nagakei and Matsunaga Hide in Kinouchi, Asakura Yoshikei in Hokuriku, Takeda Shingen in Kai, and Otomo Sorinin in Kyushu...... Although I am now in charge of Shikoku, and I am fully qualified in terms of strength, I am a retainer of the Oda family. Then, if you want to get this position, you must first go out from the Oda family.

In other words, accepting this promotion would be tantamount to announcing to Nobunaga that I no longer want to be a retainer of the Oda family, and that I am already a daimyo of the Reading Power side—this is a terrible thing!

Akechi Mitsuhide is also a smart man, and although he has great respect for the imperial court, he is even more in awe of Nobunaga. He also declined the promotion of the imperial court, and returned to Azuchi Castle with me to report to Nobunaga.

Hearing our report, Nobunaga laughed and almost burst into tears: "That's how the imperial court actually did? Interesting...... It's so much fun! ”

"However, His Majesty thinks that it is better for the lord to open the shogunate as soon as possible, so that he can rule the samurai of the world," advised Akechi Mitsuhide, "The sage of Middle-earth Confucius said: If the name is not right, the word is not good; If you don't go your way, you won't get ......"

"What do you think I can't do?" Nobunaga was in a good mood, so he just smiled and glared at him, "So, next, it's up to me how I destroy Araki Murashige?" …… Since I told the court then, I have to fulfill my promise. ”

"Is the lord going to go out in person?" I asked, estimating what he meant.

"No," Nobunaga shook his head, "It's enough to deal with Araki Murashige and let Nobutada be the chief general...... You two have done well this time, so I'll give you the chance to do the first thing! ”

"Yes." I answered at the same time as Akechi Mitsuhide.

……，…… Nobunaga's so-called first merit refers to the matter of the Nakagawa family and the Takayama family.

Araki Mura's current strength is mainly deployed in its own five castles, in addition to the allegiance of the four wealthy families in Settsu. Of the five castles, Araki Village resided in Arioka Castle in Kawabe-gun, which was originally the residence of the Setzu Itami family, but was later occupied by Murashige, so it was greatly expanded and changed to its current name. Araki Murashige's son-in-law, Araki Muraji, lived in Amagasaki Castle by the sea at the southern end of Kawabe County, and was rebuilt from Oya Castle of Hosokawa Takakuni, the former governor of Hosokawa Takakuni, who was later defeated and captured in the dye vat of the dye house in Amagasaki-cho under the castle; The other three castles were also expanded or newly built by Araki Murashige, namely Owada Castle in Nishijo County, Mita Castle in Arima County, and Hanakuma Castle in Rabbitbara County, all of which were garrisoned by Araki Murashige's Ichimen or Gendai, and ironically, these three castles were all built by Araki Murashige in accordance with Nobunaga's orders, Hanakuma Castle and Mita Castle were built to guard against the Bizen Ukita family, and Owada Castle was to besiege Ishiyama Honganji Temple.

The four wealthy families who are loyal to the Araki family are Shiokawa Kunimitsu of Tada Castle in northern Kawabe-gun, Noshi Yoriji of Nosaki-gun Noshijo, Kiyohide Nakagawa of Ibaraki Castle in Shimashita County, and Takayama Shigetomo of Takatsuki Castle in Shimashi-gun. Among them, the Nakagawa family and the Takayama family each owned the entire county, and the stone height reached 50,000 or 60,000, which was the strongest force to support Araki Murashige, and it was also the bridgehead of the Araki family to resist the Oda family.

However, when the Araki family surrendered to Cheng, the two families also surrendered successively as the Reading Wealthy Family, and there was no master-slave relationship with the Araki family, and later it was under the Araki family, but it was because Nobunaga gave Araki Village the title of Shigetsu Guardian. Moreover, the two families have always been very close to the Oda family, for example, Nakagawa Kiyohide's younger sister is married to Nobunaga's former minister Furuta Shigeran, and Takayama Shigetomo's sister is a loyal to Nobunaga's Wada Yushimasa Masato (although later she turned against Yumasa's son-in-law). Because of this, Nobunaga ordered me and Akechi Mitsuhide to separate the two of them and give them a chance to set things right.

With our current position, it is natural that we will not act as lobbyists ourselves, but will choose the right people to be messengers. Akechi Mitsuhide was ordered to adjust the Nakagawa family, and unsurprisingly chose his friend Furuta Shigeran on the tea ceremony, borrowing his righteous brother fate with Nakagawa Kiyohide; I omitted the Takayama family, and in view of Takayama Shigetomo's devotion to Catholicism, I invited Father Calable, a Catholic priest I knew well, to help.

In addition to the strategy, the Oda family's army also began to gather. The general of the whole army is naturally the current Oda family governor Oda Nobutada, with the gathering of Higashimino and Minori Beeya Yoryu, Mori Nagako, Saito Toshiharu and so on. Participating in the strategy, there were also Nobunaga's direct minister Ikeda Tsuneko, who led Nobunaga to match Nishimino's Inaba Ittetsu, Ando Morisho and the clan Naomasa and others; Yura Hideyoshi pacified the Bessho family and led the army to join the Arioka Castle Raiders, and Kuroda Takataka with him is still imprisoned in the city; On the other hand, Akechi Mitsuhide and I also dispatched a part of the army on the orders of Nobunaga, and Akechi Mitsuhide's department was led by Saito Toshizo and Miyake Yaheiji, and I dispatched the Tosa people of Shukei, and temporarily assigned the direct Tsushima Bei to his name.

It can be said that in addition to Shibata of the Uesugi family in Hokuriku Province, Tokugawa in the Tokaido strategy of the Takeda family, and Sakuma in the Kinai Province in Honganji, the remaining major armies of the Oda family in the Higashiyama Province Oda, Nankai Province Kira, Yama [***] Akechi, and Sanyo Province Hara all participated in the battle, and all dispatched some of the men and horses they matched, and the total army reached 50,000 people.

(To be continued)