Niwa Nagahide's words were very earnest, and to a certain extent, it could even be said that it was his request, but unfortunately I couldn't agree to him, although as he said, with his support, I think it is not difficult to suppress Nobutaka, Nobuo, Hideyoshi, and Shibata, at most, it is just a fight with Shibata, but what about after suppression? After the suppression, I had to accept a large number of former retainers of the Oda family and the system they constituted, especially to retain the status of Hideyoshi, Shibata and others, and to maintain the system of corps commanders. Once I have a big move, I will be greatly constrained, of course, it is impossible to rashly move Nobu Taka, Shibata and others, otherwise it will be a big loss of popularity, and I have to deal with the centrifugation and even rebellion of a large number of old Oda ministers; And even if I am cautious and try my best to maintain it, when I retreat, I am afraid that Shinkei will be overwhelmed, and in the end I will have to face the confrontation between the two systems of Kira and Oda.

This result is not what I wanted. I didn't want to tinker with the unfinished building of the Oda family, but to rebuild a new building with a solid foundation and clear titles.

"I'm so sorry! I'm afraid I can't do that," I shook my head.

"Why?" Niwa Nagahide asked, his words even carrying a certain degree of indignation, "I know that you cherish feathers and don't want to bear the name of usurpation. However, in order to preserve Tai Zhenggong's life's career and the reputation behind him, even I don't care, can't you sacrifice some of your reputation? Moreover, if you marry Princess Tokuji, you will become the son-in-law of the Taizheng Prince, and inherit the family business as an adopted son-in-law, which is also a reasonable thing, if you are worried that Xinjing will not be able to suppress the former ministers ......of the Oda family, then when Princess Tokuji has an heir, he will inherit to Xinkei's name as an adopted heir, so that the two families will become one, and your family business will be completely safe."

This is a viable path. If Nobuyori has both Oda and Kira's younger brothers as his adopted heirs, combined with the strength of his own family, he will indeed be able to win over the former retainers of the Oda family, and overpower Nobuo, Nobutaka and Yoshihoshi, and generally maintain the peace of the family. However......

"Princess Tokugi," I sighed, "I'm willing to take care of her, but I can't marry her...... Moreover, she is no longer able to have children.

"Can't have children?" Niwa Nagahide asked strangely.

"This is the secret ...... that Fuyuhime told me, and I nodded, "This is also the reason why Taisei insisted on executing Shinyasu in the first place." ”

"I see," Niwa Nagahide muttered, "then Nobuyasu will not be able to take on the mission of merging the Oda and Tokugawa families...... No wonder His Highness Hamamatsu would accept such an excessive order! ”

"So, instead of leaving hidden dangers and dragging them to the Xinjing generation, it is better to let the contradictions explode now, and then I will completely solve them," I owe to Changxiu, "It's not that I cherish feathers, but for the sake of long-term peace and security, please Your Highness Changxiu understand my position, as well as the responsibility to the sons and ministers of the family, after the incident, I will give up my family business and power, or go to the mountains and forests, or choose a temple in Kyoto to become a monk, and protect the peace of the world behind the scenes17351)"

……，……

Leaving Niwa Nagahide's Shibu Seien Garden, my heart was filled with regrets. Niwa Nagahide is a good old man, and he has been friends with me for more than 20 years, and he has always been very irreversible. His willingness to change his stance and support me in the name of betrayal in order to preserve Nobunaga's career, reputation, and bloodline is true loyalty. However, I can only live up to his kindness.

In this way, although I have always had the reputation of valuing love and righteousness, and I often use it to protect myself, there are really many people who have failed me. The first person to live up to was Nana, who served me for twenty years, and had always been virtuous, virtuous, and modest, but for the next ten years, she lived alone in Mie Castle, like a hostage, and finally became ill from hard work, and died at the age of thirty-four; Xiao Xia has put all her thoughts on me since she went out of the mountain with me, and she can even give her life, and I also love her very much, but I can't give her the position of the main room, let alone stay with her for a long time, so that she is often depressed and unhappy, and suffers from gains and losses; And the former lord Nobunaga, although he was stubborn, he was kind to me, and most of the time he was extremely trusting, and he saved Nobunaga on his deathbed and entrusted me with the future, but now I want to start a new stove and completely overthrow his inheritance. Then, there is Zhou Jing, who is cautious and self-suffering, and Jing Zheng, who is unwilling to be a tribe...... Even Mitsu, who is now living a happy life, almost committed suicide when he first married into the Gamo family?

For those who are now in the position of head of the family and the great name, none of the above may be nothing, and there are many people who have gone too far beyond me. But after all, I am a person hundreds of years later, and although the memories of my youth are very distant, my personality and the concept of morality were formed at that time. I can do these things, but I can't help but be conflicted.

And what I said to Niwa Nagahide is not empty words. I've never been a person who is greedy for power and enjoyment, and I've never cared too much about enjoying anything, and even a few side rooms are almost forced to marry. I worked so hard before, on the one hand, to follow my retainers, and on the other hand, because of Nobunaga's pressure and encouragement; Now I am so exhausted, but also for the long-term of the family business. Then, if I succeed in establishing the shogunate and dividing the princes and ministers, I will fulfill my responsibilities to them. When the time comes, retire and spend the rest of the years with Xiao Xia; Or become a monk in Kyoto to make up for your previous lack of cuisine, which is a very good choice.

At my point, power, property, and so on are just decorations, but I am more willing to live in the most comfortable way for myself, so as to enter the realm of returning to the basics. And, I remember having made such a promise to them before; Now the formulation of the family law and the strengthening of the authority of Xinjing are all paving the way for the smooth handover of the family business.

When Oda Nobutaka came to visit, it suddenly occurred to me that Yujin was his main room! According to my predetermined roadmap, it is basically impossible for Shintaka to survive, so it is inevitable that Yujin will be added to my apology list......

Although I thought so, my face was not revealing at all, and I received Nobuhya very calmly

Xinxiao was very excited. As soon as they met, he said in a sarcastic tone: "I heard that my father-in-law is going to marry my sister, Tokuji, I am surprised, but I am also very sorry, because I misunderstood your meaning last time...... Of course, you should also understand that you should not make such an attitude of staying out of the matter, then I can be in charge at that time! So you don't have to go to the trouble of going to Uncle Uenosuke in Minami Ise. ”

"You're so excited," I sighed. At this point, there was no point in arguing about what the misunderstanding was, so I acquiesced: "However, if you just want to talk to me about this, then there is no need to meet at all." ”

Shintaka snorted sullenly and raised his head to look at me. His appearance, as Frews's "History of the Chalk", is the most similar to Nobunaga himself among the sons of Nobunaga, and looking at me so closely that he actually has a bit of Nobunaga's attitude, which makes me feel a little inexplicable chill at a certain moment.

But he was not Nobunaga after all, and after looking at each other for a moment, he lowered his head again: "I roughly understand your plan. Unlike His Royal Highness Katsuya, you are not a lineage of the Oda family, but a lineage of your father, so you will give up Aunt Aichi and choose Tokuhime, who inherited the bloodline of your father, in order to inherit your father's career...... At this point, I am powerless to stop this, and your words are much better than that lowly born monkey, and I am willing to surrender. I only hope that you can send troops as soon as possible and destroy that lowly monkey immediately."

"Is that ...... I mean," I pondered for a moment, "is that what His Highness Shibata meant?" ”

"Not bad" Xin Xiao hesitated for a moment, and quickly nodded, "His Royal Highness Shengjia said that although he has never been very close to you, he admires your strategy, political strategy, family background and character very much. Therefore, I am willing to liaise with you in the middle and form an alliance with you. After that, all you need to do is guarantee the status of His Royal Highness Nagahide in Minami-Omi, His Royal Highness Katsuya in Kita-Omi and Kita-6, and hand over Ise Province to Uncle Uenosuke and Owari Province to Yoshibo-shi."

"Such conditions are really nothing," I said with a sigh and half-truths, "since you are so honest, then I will make it clear...... I don't have any plans for Princess Deji. Well, you must know that when I took her to Imabari, I used the name of visiting Fuyuhime, and if you still don't believe me, I can take her as a righteous daughter right away. ”

"Really?" Shin Hyo thought about it and nodded slightly.

"As for the conditions you proposed, they are very low, I agree with this spirit of determination, take a step back and open the sky! It's just that, at least for now, His Highness Hideyoshi didn't have anything to violate the Cheongju Council, so I have no reason to be hostile to him, and I can't agree to your terms...... And I also suggested that if it was just that level of request, the two of you could discuss it with His Royal Highness Hideyoshi. I can even guarantee that as long as Princess Aichi and Young Master Yoshihoshi are handed over, His Royal Highness Hideyoshi will definitely be willing to pay such a price, and compensate His Highness Nobuo and His Highness Nagano in another place, and I can also give up Kita-Ise. ”

"Bow down to that lowly monkey? And give Aunt Ashi to him? Nobutaka's face twisted as if he had eaten a king-sized fly, "That kind of thing is absolutely impossible."

"Then it can't be helped." I shook my head regretfully.

"I really don't know why you have been taking so much care of the monkeys" Nobutaka sighed, "I have been like this since Cheongshu, helping him to get out of office, helping him marry, and then helping him capture Inabayama Castle, lending him money to garrison Kita-Omi, and handing over the dominance of the Uki family to him in the past two years, and even giving up the title of the center and the profits of the exploration trade...... Don't you know why he built Fushimi Castle? And what did he build a water army for? ”

"I understand all these things." I nodded.

"Since that's the case...... Nobuhyo thought about it, and seemed to suddenly realize, "It's for his adopted son Jingxiu!" Because that's your nephew, and according to the current situation, when Hideyoshi dies, the family business must be inherited by Jingxiu...... isn't that right? ”

I am silent on this issue.

Nobuhyo thought that he had grasped my psychology, and a smile appeared on his face: "If so, then I will tell you a message." Your daughter, Yujin, is now seven months pregnant."

"Yujin is pregnant? Still seven months? I looked at him quizzically, "You should have known that a long time ago, right?" Why wasn't you told me before? ”

"Well, because I heard His Royal Highness Changxiu's plea for you before, I felt that both of them had bad intentions, so I was very dissatisfied with you and His Highness Changxiu, so I made the city hide the news, and treated Yujin slowly......" Nobutaka showed an embarrassed expression.

"So...... Yujin is really pregnant?" I felt a tightness in my heart.

"Yes," Nobutaka nodded again, "Although the news was deliberately blocked, I am actually very happy." This child is probably my sister-in-law and your grandson! ”

"That's a great way to congratulate." I forced a smile, but my heart became even more worried.

According to the current tense situation, it is likely that Hideyoshi will attack Nobutaka's Gifu Castle in two or three months, taking advantage of Shibata Katsuie's inability to play. The predecessor of this castle, Inabayama Castle, was captured by Hideyoshi before, and with his current strength and ability, it would definitely not take much effort. And at that time, Yujin probably just gave birth to a child, right? When the time comes, she will be another Ah Shi...... It's just that I don't know, for her, is Nobutaka Asai Nagamasa or Shibata Katsuie?

Perhaps, we can let her leave Gifu and move to a safe place first? This can't be done, even if Xinxiao agrees, in the cold weather, she is an eight-month-old pregnant woman, how can she not travel a long distance.

Thinking of this, I decided to remind Nobu Xiao.

"Nobutaka, if Hideyoshi joins forces with Nobuo and asks you to send Master Yoshibo to Azuchi Castle again, what are you going to do?" I asked him.

"Naturally, I refused again," Nobutaka replied without thinking, "Master Kichifa can't fall into his hands, otherwise he has the strength and fame, and there will be no way to stop him." ”

"But what if he sends out a large army to besiege Gifu Castle in the name of welcoming Young Master Yoshihoshi?" I continued.

"Defend the castle and leave," Nobutaka thought for a moment, "Gifu Castle is extremely strong, and it is the starting place of my father, how can it be captured by a mere monkey?" If he really dares to do this, His Royal Highness the Shengjia will definitely come out to support, and then the inside and outside should be together, and it is he who will suffer."

"There is no city in the world that cannot be attacked, let alone underestimate His Royal Highness Hideyoshi. You know, he was the first to attack Inabayama Castle back then," I shook my head, "As for His Highness Shibata, he lives in North 6 and is not ready to go out at any time. ”

"This ......" Nobutaka hesitated. It was impossible for him not to understand what I said. After thinking about it, he bowed his head and asked me, "What do you think?" ”

"Didn't you just say that take a step back and open the sky?" I took the opportunity to persuade, "If His Royal Highness Hideyoshi asks for Master Yoshi, you might as well let it out." After that, if he serves diligently, there will be no problem; If Weifu uses it for its own use, will it not fall into a place of injustice? When the time comes, I can also justifiably crusade against him. ”

"No! The monkey has bad intentions, and Yoshi-shi can't hand it over to him," Nobutaka categorically rejected my suggestion, "It's okay for you to take a step back, but as the after-sight of Yoshi-shi, I must try to keep him." If you give in to this, you will not be worthy of being a member of the Oda family, let alone the son of Taimasa."

Although his reaction was expected by me. However, I still felt very uncomfortable listening to him say it himself.

In this way, Yujin's fate may also be very worrying...... I wonder if she understands all this, will she resent this father who used to be very loving, but now only cares about family business and disregards family affection?

I sighed dejectedly and closed my eyes.