……，…… The fifth day of July is the second important day of the year. On this day, bad news came from Osaka, and the army leading the army besieging Ishiyama Honganji Temple was attacked from the side, and the main camp at Mitsuji Temple collapsed, and Naomasa Harada himself was killed in the rebellion.

I couldn't believe it when I received the news. Historically, Naomasa Harada was indeed killed during the siege of Honganji, and it was Suzuki Shigehide who captured him. But now that the Saga people have been pacified by me, and Suzuki Shigehide has transferred to the Tosa Province Anyun Bangun for 13,000 stones, why is there such a result? Besides, it should happen next year!

I quickly ordered my attendants to gather information through the channels in Kyochu, and sent the Iga people around me to Osaka to find out the details. Soon, I was given a summary of the information I received from the people of Tsuya, Okuya, and those who had fled back to Kyoto, and I had a rough idea of what had happened. The attack on our forces was carried out by 30,000 Tsukinaki sect believers from the Kii side, who landed on the coast of Osaka by boat and then launched an attack from the flank, and Harada Naomasa's main camp bore the brunt of the attack and was immediately broken by the Ichijo clan believers.

"How can Kii have a follower of the Sect? How they got through Osaka Bay! "I'm just a little angry. If I can't give a reasonable explanation, the charge of ineffective handling is still light, and maybe it's a big hat with bad intentions. Because now Nobunaga has led his army to Hokuriku, and now that Naomasa Harada is dead, I am the only one who can control Kinai with prestige...... What now? I had to think hard about it.

The most reasonable course of action would naturally be to take advantage of my prestige at the Oda family and in the previous years in Jolo to pacify Yamato and Kawachi, gather the scattered forces, fill in the broken front, and then join forces with Araki Murashige, Nakagawa Kiyohide, and Takayama Shigetomo on the other side to surround this group of believers, so as to prevent them from taking advantage of the situation to wreak havoc on the rich areas of this area. However, if this were to be done, it would certainly arouse even greater suspicion among Nobunaga, and even if I surrendered his army at once, would he believe my explanation, or would he give me a chance to explain? This is no better than the last time he conquered Koga Prefecture in Minami-Omi, when Nobunaga had ordered him, and he had not yet moved from Gifu to Minami-Omi, but now that Kinai was his home base, he would never allow any surprises.

But if I don't, then I'll just have to watch things happen. At that time, the ins and outs of the incident will be ascertained, and the relevant responsibilities will be investigated, and there will be no good fruit for me to eat.

Time passed slowly, because the military situation has lost its main general, the situation is constantly deteriorating, and the military situation of various countries will undoubtedly choose to return to their own countries and defend their own territories. When the time comes, even if I want to gather forces again to besiege Ichijomune, because without Nobunaga's order, I'm afraid not many people will be willing to respond.

At this time, Hattori Masanari returned to Kyoto and brought further information. These followers of the Akatsu clan basically came from across the sea from Akaka-gun, and since Ataka Nobuyasu had returned to Kumano, and the main force of the navy was in the area of Kawanoe Castle, the Awaji Sea Aid Team was also mainly deployed in the Akashi Strait, focusing on monitoring the movements of the Ukita, Urakami, and Akashi families in the Bizen and Harima areas, so the monitoring of the Osaka line was almost blank, which gave the Akami sect followers an opportunity to take advantage of.

Like Arita County, the Mihama area of Taka-gun also has a Tsugako-gun temple. This annex and the Sagimori temple are known as the upper and lower palaces respectively, founded in the astronomical period, the first abbot Yukawa Nobuharu, the legal name Yucun, is the third son of the former Hanoi guardian Yukawa Naomitsu, the current head of the Yukawa family Yukawa Naoharu brother. After the uprooting of Ishiyama Gobo and Sagimori Besain, this annex became the largest stronghold of Ichijo Mune, and the area under its control was named Gobo City in modern times.

Due to the strict policy of nationalization in Arita County, and the focus on cracking down on the Ichijang sect, nearly 20,000 believers in the area, who were originally under the jurisdiction of the Skumori Temple, fled south one after another, merging with the Takabesuin Temple. When I heard that Ishiyama Gobo was under siege, the believers immediately gathered 30,000 people by sea to go to Osaka to provide support.

I don't know if I expected something similar when Nobunaga ordered me to continue to tighten my control over the Seto Inland Sea. But in any case, as the commander of the navy army at home, I have not been able to prevent the followers of the Zong sect from supporting Ishiyama by sea, and I must take responsibility no matter what.

"Is it the person who organized the transfer of the sect this time?" I asked Hattori Masanori.

"I heard that it was a monk named Oshima Kinchong...... He is the son of Miyoshi Naganobu of the Miyoshi clan, who originally lived on the big island next to Nagashima and was one of the backbones of the Nagashima Ichikoji clan. After the fall of Changdao the year before, he escaped by luck, and then hid in the high temple of the sect. ”

Oshima pro-worship? There is such a number one person. Speaking of which, he and Yura Hideyoshi can still have a relationship, Hideyoshi's sister Yuxiu, her husband is a member of the Miwa family of the Owari wealthy family, named Miwa Yasuke, and Miwa Yasuke's sister is the main room of Oshima's relatives, so he is Toyotomi Shuji's uncle. Later, Xiuji became the adopted son of Yasunaga Miyoshi, and Yasuke Miwa changed his name to Miyoshi Yoshibo, relying on such a kinship.

In other words, this group has nothing to do with Honganji, and it is completely formed spontaneously in Kii Province...... In short, it's hard to get away with it. I sighed.

In that case, let's take responsibility. I stood up and instructed Kazuki Joto, "Gather everyone immediately and prepare to go to Osaka!" In addition, he sent Noh Wakamaru to Awaji and ordered Hidekei-sama to go out into battle; Please go to the armies of Lord Araki in Hosokawa Akimoto in Kyoto, and in the name of my alliance with Lord Niwa, let them maintain the battle line in the northwest direction; Ordered Yamauchi Kazutoyo to rush to Hokuriku to inform the main hall of the news of the change in Kinai, and asked the main hall to quickly turn around and stabilize the situation; I sent Miyata Mitsuji to Mie Castle, and ordered the young lord and Lord Shigeji to immediately rush to the army of the Hokuriku main hall, report what happened, and ask the main hall to blame on my behalf, saying that I was not good at pacifying Kii and guarding the sea route, and asked the main hall to punish me. ”

"This ......" Hearing the last one, Kazuki Shiroto was a little surprised.

"What are you still doing! Hurry up! I said out loud.

"Yes!" Kazuki Shiroto took the order and left.

Soon after, I left Kyoto with a force of 300 guards and rushed to Mt. Kumi, south of Yamashiro Province. This is an important place leading from Osaka to Hanoi and Yamato, and if the two [***] forces are withdrawn, they will definitely have to pass through here, and the people of Nanshan Castle who fled from the main camp of Naomasa will naturally come here if they want to return to the territory.

After forcibly absorbing the defeated army of Nanzan Castle, and then persuading Sakuma Nobumori, Hatakeyama Yoshishu, Tsutsui Shunkei, and Matsunaga Hide, who led the army back to the territory, I gathered 20,000 troops and quickly advanced towards Osaka. At this time, there seemed to be some internal disputes within Kii, who had always been in a position of power, with some people following the orders of Honganji Xianru to go out to defeat the Settsu army on the other side, while others wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to turn southeast and go to Sakai Town and Kyoto to loot. These two opinions were at odds, and Oshima, as the main general, did not have enough foundation and prestige to reconcile for a while, so I was given precious time to react. After defeating the small group of two or three detachments along the way, I arrived near Tennoji Temple and set up my main formation, commanded the army to drive the main force back to the line of Mitsuji Temple, and temporarily stabilized the situation. Afterwards, I stopped my pace and held my ground, waiting for Nobunaga to return with his army.

Nobunaga's response was very quick. His Kaga strategy was originally going very smoothly, and not long after he went out of battle, he had already occupied the two counties of Enuma and Nomi in Kaga Province. However, after hearing the news of the death of the Kinai Ichisho clan and Harada Naomasa, he quickly made a decision and ordered the Shibata Katsuya to repair the Daishoji Castle, leaving his confidant Ryoda Hiromasa and the former Asakura retainer Horie Keitaka to garrison, and then led his headquarters to return, and led the army back to Minami Omi in only five days.

Hearing this, I handed over my military strength to Sakuma Nobumori and led a few guards to Shinmi at Azuchi Castle, which was under construction. When I was passing through Kyoto, I sent my attendants back and brought the newly minted Tensho money and the report that I had prepared earlier.

Probably because the Kaga raid was forced to be suspended, and because he was worried about the situation in Kinai, Nobunaga's expression was very serious. However, when he saw the Tianzheng coin I presented and the report explaining the details of the coinage, his expression softened a little.

"It seems that you are really bothered about the matter of minting money," he nodded, "So, what about the situation on the stone mountain?" ”

"Please rest assured, the situation has been largely controlled," I first gave him a reassuring message, "At present, the northwest front of Ishiyama is still controlled by His Highness Araki of Settsu, and the southeast is Yamashiro, Kawachi, and Yamato-san[***] forces, which are temporarily under the command of Sakuma. The two sides surrounded Ishiyama and Kii, and they only had to wait for the lord's order before they could proceed to the next step. ”

"Hmm," Nobunaga nodded, "Nobuyi and Takenaka Shigeharu, I've already met, and now they're in the army...... Let's not talk about the matter of Gao County, but there is such a mistake at sea, with your surname, it is really rare! Moreover, didn't I tell you to strengthen control over the seas! ”

"Yes. This is completely a dereliction of duty on the part of his subordinates," I can only plead guilty on the ground while trying to distinguish two sentences, "However, the situation in the entire Beiqian and even the entire Shanyang Dao is already very serious. With the support of the Mori family, the Ukita family has in fact separated from the Urakami family, which is the main family, and is plotting to complete the entire country, and the Mori family also intends to continue to advance eastward and take down the Harima country, which is currently inclined to our side, and also wants to avenge the defeat of the navy last time...... Now that the main force of the navy is concentrated in Iyo, the sea defense of Awaji Island is weak, and it is necessary to keep an eye on the movements of the Bizen navy to prevent them from transporting the Mori family army to attack Awaji. ”

These words made Nobunaga fall into thought. He held a folding fan and slapped it on the floor again and again.

After a while, Nobunaga took a Tensho Tongbao from the string of money, looked at it carefully, and threw it over: "For the sake of your solid work, clarifying the central government affairs, and stabilizing the situation in Kinai, this time the mistake will be forgotten...... However, Kii has always been in trouble, and it must be completely calmed down. How about leaving this one thing to you? ”

"My lord, is this a formal order for your subordinates, or is it asking your subordinates for advice?" I didn't take the money, let the copper coin hit my shoulder, and then confirmed it to him.

"In other words, do you disagree with this?" Nobunaga asked me rhetorically.

"There are some superficial opinions," I nodded, "the power of the Kii Kingdom has always been undominant, and now that it is surrounded by our side, there is no problem after crusading against the backbone of it; Even the Ichijo sect of Kaga and Ishiyama is shrinking in power. His Majesty believes that compared to the Ichizong, the Maori family is the main danger of the family, and they have the former general Yoshiaki as the name of righteousness, and their strength is still expanding, and if it is said in time, I am afraid it will be very difficult to deal with...... At that time, General Yoshimitsu was able to pacify the Southern Dynasty and surrender Ouchi, but he suffered a big loss from the famous people of San'in and Sanyang, which is a lesson from the past. ”

"Really?" Hearing me mention Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, who was the first to open the Kanbi trade, Nobunaga raised his eyebrows.

"Moreover, the lord has already given the guardianship of Yugao County and Kii to the Hatakeyama family, and it is inconvenient for his subordinates to act on his behalf." I continued.

"I understand your opinion," Nobunaga waved his hand, "Let's go down first!" There will be a formal order later. ”

"Yes." I bowed as I could, and then left the tent, feeling a little lighter.

Getting Nobunaga's forgiveness was expected. I sent my heir, Nobunaga's son-in-law, Nobuyo to apologize, and I left the army alone to meet Jinjin, which fully demonstrated the loyalty of the Kira family. With this loyalty as a guarantee, Nobunaga naturally did not criticize too much for the sake of having a reason for the cause and managing the matter. In addition to exchanging opinions, the exchange of ideas on the direction of the strategy was also a tacit bargain between Nobunaga and me.

The business of exploration trade is a cornucopia that can bring a lot of income every year, and with only 300,000 tariffs, it is equivalent to the annual tribute income of nearly one million stone territory. Hatakeyama Yoshishu was able to seal the Hequan Province because of his meritorious work in organizing goods, and Takeda Nobutaka received a share of the Toei from me, and thus shared a share of the credit for organizing shipping. Nobunaga asked me to raid Kii, in fact, I wanted to give me the mountains of Kotaka and even Minami Kii, but I wanted to increase the territory of Iyo Province, so I advised Nobunaga to make the Mori family the main target of the raid, and expressed my willingness to participate in the raid.

Of course, I don't have the luxury of getting the whole of Iyo, but the actual goal is just the eastern part of Iyo Province, or even just the two counties of Uma and Shini, where Besshi's copper mountain is located.

(To be continued)